FitSugar

Organize Your Life: Add Brain-Boosting Recipes to Your Repertoire

Natasha Dantzig — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:29:00 PST

Brain food! Everyone knows that good nutrition is essential to just about everything regarding tots' development - mental and physical. Feeding lil ones a balanced diet is a good rule of thumb, but there are certain foods that have proven positive benefits for healthy brain development. Unfortunately, telling kids that something is "good for them" isn't the appetite stimulant parents would hope for, and anyone who's ever tried to get a decent amount of green vegetables down the gullet of a stubborn toddler knows that healthy eating can be a challenge. Click through for breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes chock full of brain-boosting ingredients so delicious the kids won't even have a moment to protest between bites.

Healthy Eating Tip: Pack Salad For the Week

FitSugar — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Are you struggling with eating healthy at lunchtime? I know if I don't plan out a healthy meal the night before, I'll end up going out to lunch. Not only will I be spending more money on food, but I am sure there a hidden calories in restaurant foods, even if they appear healthy.

Try this instead. On Sunday night, make a big salad and store it in five Tupperware containers for Monday through Friday. That way you don't have to deal with making your lunch every day, and you can just grab it in the morning before you leave, and you know you've got yourself a healthy meal. You can add leftovers from your dinner the night before to your salad to make it a bit more snappy. Don't toss those four leftover pieces of steamed broccoli; add them to your salad.

Keeping a bottle of salad dressing in the work fridge helps keep this plan intact. Need some ideas for fun and tasty salads? Check out Pimp Your Greens.

Fooooood Fight!

YumSugar — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:27:18 PDT

If you've ever wished you could throw a big plate of food at one of your friends, but social norms wouldn't let you go through with it, head over to The Good Food Fight where you can start a virtual food fight. It's part of the Eat Better America site which encourages folks to "eat better."

You choose from one of three healthy dishes, and one of three opponents. Then while you read about the recipe, your opponent pops out and throws food at you. You can then pick up the food on the screen and throw it back. Sadly I kept losing, as did the folks at Spluch, where I found this story, but maybe you'll have better luck.

Oh and when you're done fighting, you're supposed to head over to their main site and get some tasty, healthy recipes.

Healthy Meals Made Easy: Make a Big Salad

FitSugar — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 10:15:00 PDT

A great way to make sure you get your veggies for the week is to make one big salad. I'm more likely to eat a salad everyday if it's already made, as opposed to having to take time to make one everyday. Who has time for that?

It'll take about 30 min to an hour to buy all the stuff you need, and another 30 minutes to wash and cut everything up.

Here are some tips to make it go by even quicker:

Make a list of all the things you love in your salad including fresh veggies like carrots, cucumbers, yellow, green, orange, and red peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, and celery. Don't forget the fresh and dried fruit, nuts, flax seeds, and salad dressing as well. Having a list will help you remember everything. There's nothing worse than getting home and realizing you forgot the lettuce.
If you don't have a big huge plastic container with a lid, make sure to pick one of those up too.
Look for pre-washed lettuce in bags or plastic containers, and baby carrots. Buying these will save you a lot of time.

Want some more tips? Then

Once you get home, you won't even have to waste anytime putting your groceries away. Just wash everything and cut it up, and throw it in the container, pop on the lid and place it in the fridge.
If you like fresh fruit in your salad, cut it up, squeeze some lemon juice on it, and place it in a separate container.
Keep the dried fruit and nuts separate as well, and add them to the individual salads when you make them.

Now you'll have salad ready to have with dinner every night of the week.

Fit's Tips: If you prefer to eat salad for lunch, you can spread that big salad out into 5 separate containers instead of one big one. Then in the morning, you can just grab it before you go.

4 Time-Saving Tips For a Healthy Lifestyle

Leta Shy — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:18:40 PDT

Summers can be incredibly busy - between shuttling kids to and from activities to planning and going on vacation, all the activities that come along with the season can leave you pressed for time. Luckily, we've got a few suggestions for how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, even if you've only got minutes to spare.

Total-body in 20: Breaking up your workout in just 10- or 20-minute increments ensures that you'll break a sweat and burn calories without having to devote too much time out of your day. Even more efficient is making sure that your workouts target all areas of your body. For short workouts that you can do anywhere, check out our fast full-body workouts.

Home cooking: It's easier to cook healthily if you've already done the legwork. Shop for produce and other groceries at the beginning of the week so you can plan every night's dinners - check out one of our healthy dinner plans for the week here. You can also store individual servings of smoothies or sauces (using an ice-cube tray!) in your freezer to have at hand while whipping up a meal.

Read on for more time-saving tips!

Nighttime Fasting: A New Way to Lose Weight?

Shape — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:09:52 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian with master's degrees in both nutrition science and public health.

If you couldn’t let anything cross your lips from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., but you were allowed to eat anything you wanted for eight hours a day and still lose weight, would you try it? That’s the apparent bottom line of a rat study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, which recently stirred up the weight loss pot.

Top 50 Summer Diet Foods for Weight Loss

Scientists put groups of mice on different diet regimens for 100 days. One group of rodents ate healthy food while animals in two of the groups chowed down on high-fat, high-calorie feed. Half of the junk food eaters were allowed to munch whenever they wanted to while the others only had access to feed for the eight hours they were most active. The conclusion: even though they ate a fatty diet, the mice who were forced to fast for 16 hours were almost as lean as those who ate the healthy fare. Interestingly, the round the clock junk food eaters became obese and developed health problems, even though they consumed about the same amount of fat and calories as the time-restricted junk food fed mice.

See if a nutritionist thinks nighttime fasting works after the break!

It's National Salad Month! Healthy Tips to Get You Excited

Michele Foley — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:59:12 PDT

As if we need an excuse to enjoy a big bowl of veggies, fruits, and other goodies tossed together, May is National Salad Month. Grab your best greens and follow these tips and tricks for making a tasty and healthy salad.

Creative Ways to Build a Salad

Hitting the salad bar can be a good thing when you know the best way to navigate through all those choices. To maintain a healthy medium, follow our tips for crafting a healthy meal at the salad bar.
Get inspiration from other countries or cuisines known for being healthy. Start your week off with these easy ways to craft a heart-healthy Mediterranean salad, and give yourself a little longevity with these tips for making a Japanese-inspired salad.

Not All Toppings Are Created Equal

Candied walnuts, gobs of cheese, and bacon may taste good, but they also add a lot of unnecessary fat and calories. If you're not careful, then you might end up with a 700-calorie (or higher) salad! Skip unhealthy ingredients by using our smart swaps for salad toppings.
How you dress your salad matters too - ranch, blue cheese, or maybe a vinaigrette? The next time you're shopping, pick up one of these salad dressings with less than 50 calories.

A Little Recipe Inspiration

We love that creating a salad is as easy as throwing whatever ingredients you may have in a bowl, but a put-together recipe makes all the difference. Try one of these recipes for a vegetarian salad or one of these seasonal salads inspired by Summer ingredients.

Fit Tip: Keep It Up Long After Summer Ends

Leta Shy — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:59:20 PDT

Last-minute Summer shape-up plans may help you shed pounds and tone fast, but they do involve a lot of hard work and dedication as you race against the warm-weather countdown. So as you ramp up your healthy routine in time to don that bikini, make an even better resolution: stick to your new healthy resolutions, even after the Summer season fades.

Whether you're detoxing with a debloating meal plan or kicking your workouts up a notch, Summer prep can be the best time to jump-start a commitment to a healthier lifestyle, not only because you're making healthy eating and exercise a habit, but also because waiting until the last minute to prep for a beach vacay can be stressful! Insanity's Shaun T says it best: "Make it a lifestyle change so next Spring you're not cramming for the test," he recently told us. (In the meantime, you can read his tips for last-minute Summer prep here).

Does this season's frantic shape-up routine have you vowing to make a healthy diet and exercise routine part of your regular life? Luckily, you don't have to do it alone; follow our tips on how to stick to an exercise routine, and this time next year you can rest easy knowing you don't have to beat the clock!

Healthy Tip: Wait 30 Minutes After a Meal to Brush Your Teeth

Leta Shy — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:25:09 PDT

A healthy lifestyle means taking care of your teeth - after all, excess plaque has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, and too much icky bacteria in your mouth can lead to gum disease and cavities. But if you're an après-lunch brusher, take note: you should wait at least 30 minutes to brush your teeth after a meal, according to a report in The New York Times.

The directive is based on a study that followed people for three weeks, looking at the impact of postmeal brushing after they drank diet soda. The researchers found that those who brushed their teeth within 20 minutes of finishing their sodas had increased loss of dentin, the tissue found underneath your teeth's enamel. That's because, researchers say, brushing too soon after an acidic meal pushes the acid further into your teeth, causing erosion of tooth enamel and dentin.

So the next time you are eating a particularly acidic or sugary meal, wait at least 30-60 minutes before you brush your teeth. In the meantime, rinse your mouth with water or a solution of eight parts water to one part baking soda to get rid of the acid in your mouth, researchers recommend. Chewing gum afterward can also help.

Do you brush your teeth immediately after meals?

Back on Track: Map Out the Week's Healthy Dinner Menu

Jenny Sugar — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:45:06 PDT

After getting home from a busy day of work, especially if I hit the gym, the same question always pops into mind - what to make for dinner? Without a plan in mind, it's easy to fall back on boxed mac and cheese or Chinese takeout, which aren't the healthiest options. To prevent scrambling to whip together a not-so-healthy meal, take time to map out your dinner menu for the week. Knowing which dishes you're making will also make you more efficient in the grocery store. Here's a sample menu (complete with a grocery list) that you can follow to ensure your weekdays always end in a nutritious meal.

Monday: Salad With Grilled Chicken and Fresh Strawberries

What you'll need:

Chicken
Fresh spinach
Carrots
Cucumber
Green peppers
Broccoli
Strawberries (feel free to add other fresh or dried fruits)
Avocado
Goat cheese (optional)
Your favorite dressing

Continue reading for the rest of the week's healthy menu and grocery list.