FitSugar

Fit Tip: Finding "Moderate Intensity" For You

FitSugar — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:15:00 PDT

The new exercise guidelines recommend getting cardio exercise at moderate intensity. The question is what is moderate intensity for you - how do you find it and measure it? Well, Dr. Margolis, over at Yahoo Health has provided three ways to determine your intensity level.

The talk test. If you can hold an amiable conversation, then you are not working in the moderate intensity zone. You need to be breathing hard to be in this zone so a normal conversation should not be possible. Run by yourself? Then try singing with your playlist and if you can belt the entire chorus, you need to pick up the pace.
The "8 to 20" scale. Imagine a scale of intensity between 8 ad 20, with 8 being barely moving (like holding your toddler's hand while he or she navigates the early stages of walking) and 20 being working as hard as 007 in the "parkour/free running" scene in Casino Royale. You want to workout at and be able to maintain intensity of around 12.
Heart rate. Moderate-intensity exercise means working between 50 and 70 percent of your maximum heart rate. Check out the Fit Calculator to determine your numbers. You want to be work in the Endurance Training Mode - "going the distance."

Writing about all this makes me want to go for a run or a ride! See ya later!

Source

Weight Loss Rules You're Allowed to Break

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:58:49 PST

If you love to eat, losing weight can seem so structured, you immediately get frustrated and grab the first decadent food you can find. Even though there are some very specific guidelines that can help you reach your goal faster, there's no one-size-fits-all weight-loss plan for everyone. Here are five rules you can bend and still drop pounds from the scale.

No Cheesecake, Wine, or French Fries
While dessert, alcohol, and fried foods tend to be high in calories, just because you want to lose weight doesn't mean you have to live without the foods you adore. Actually, denying yourself the bites you crave can backfire, causing you to feel deprived, resulting in bingeing. You can't eat these foods all the time, but it's perfectly healthy to enjoy a few spoonfuls of ice cream or a small glass of chardonnay every once in a while. Just limit your portion sizes and only indulge about once a week.

Salad, Every Day
Salads aren't for everyone, and the dissatisfied feeling you get afterward could cause you to head to the nearest pizza joint. Plus salad toppings can really add up. When a bowl of greens is covered in candied walnuts, cheese, dried cranberries, avocado, and creamy dressing, a seemingly healthy salad can run higher in calories than a burger. If you're not into a bowl of raw veggies, choose other low-calorie meals that incorporate veggies such as sandwiches, broth-based soups, grilled veggies, and whole-grain salads. You have to enjoy the foods you're eating in order to stick with a healthy meal plan.

Keep reading to find out three more diet rules you can break and still lose weight.

Know Your Techniques: Large Dice

Camilla Salem — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:13:58 PST

A large dice is a relatively straightforward knife cut. Measuring at about 3/4-inch on each side, this cut may not seem as complicated as a julienne or a chiffonade, but with the right technique, you can really speed up your prepping process.

This cut's ideal for large vegetables, like tubers. A peeled potato is an easy example.

Cut the potato into 3/4-inch planks.

Keep reading to find out how to finish this simple cut.

Craft of the Day: Decoupaged Tray

Stylelist Home — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:00:28 PST

I'm happy to present a post from Stylelist Home!

Trays are one of the most useful home accessories, so they make a great starting point for a mini-makeover. Exhibit A: This Craft Of The Day. You can lay the finished tray on the coffee table to contain remote controls, put it on the kitchen counter to catch house keys, or use it for a romantic breakfast in bed. Keep reading for the how-to!
What You'll Need

Unfinished wooden tray
Paint (wood-friendly)
Decorative paper
Paint brush
Mod Podge
X-acto knife
Ruler

How To Make It

Paint your tray. (You can leave the tray surface uncovered because that is where the decorative paper will go.)
Let the tray dry.
Measure the inside of your tray and cut the decorative paper down to size.
Cover the entire bottom of the tray in an even coat of Mod Podge.
Lay your decorative paper down. (It is easier to start from one side and press/smooth as you go, rather than drop the entire piece down at one time.)
Add a second layer of Mod Podge over the paper.
(Optional) Lay embellishments like monogram letters or strips of different paper (like the lime green pieces in the photo) down on the tray.
Apply one to two more layers of Mod Podge.
Let everything dry and you're done!

For the full photo tutorial, visit Prudent Baby. And, be sure to check out the other great crafts in our Craft Of The Day slideshow.

Link Time: Check Out the Cover of Lucky Peach 3

Susannah Chen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:07:49 PST

Check out the cover of Lucky Peach issue 3 - Grub Street SF
Dip versions of your favorite Super Bowl dishes - So Good
Wolfgang Puck will get the 2012 James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award - Diner's Journal
We're loving these Swiss measuring spoons - Baking Bites
Game day fare from around the world - Epicurious
New Tabasco Buffalo: How does it stand up to Frank's RedHot? - HuffPost Kitchen Daily
Where did Frito pie come from? - Smithsonian

Know Your Techniques: Brunoise

Camilla Salem — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:37:59 PST

Don't be scared off by the fancy name of this cut; it's actually quite simple. If you followed along with our lesson on how to julienne vegetables, then you already know most of the steps to achieve this fine dice. A brunoise is classified as a tiny cube, measuring 1/8 of an inch on each side. Luckily for us, a julienne leaves us with sticks that are 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch by 2 1/2 to 3 inches. What happens next is easy as pie.

Get your julienned vegetables together.

Organize them together, a few at a time, evenly. Using your knuckles as a guide, cut 1/8-inch cubes from the sticks. Repeat this until you have the desired amount.

It's really that easy! Do you have any recipes you want to try that call for a brunoise?

30 Ways I See Love Differently at Age 30

YourTango — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:00:44 PST

We're happy to present this excerpt from one of our favorite sites, YourTango.

Writing about love is daunting. It really is.

To paint an accurate illustration of the way I felt when I first began tackling this topic, I ask you to envision me-a skinny, uncoordinated white girl measuring all of 5'3"-facing off with Shaquille O'Neal on the basketball court.

The entire scenario is silly and farcical, and that's exactly how I felt trying to form accurate conclusions about love, a force that is much like a giant on a basketball court. It's towering and intimidating and has the capacity to undo me. The challenge was intriguing, however, so I couldn't say no.

As I started brainstorming everything I’d learned about love over the short 30 years of my life, I quickly recognized that in pondering the mysteries of love, I was actually placing myself in the company of others who had sung and written and theorized about it. As I listened to their music, read their novels, and watched their films, the insights I gained helped shape my own. They bore witness to my experiences and gave voice to feelings I couldn’t otherwise articulate.

I share some of them with you here, intermingled with musings of my own.

Make a list, but don't let it rule you. It can be helpful to make a list of things you want in a romantic partner, and it can be equally helpful to throw that list away. Love asks that we remain open, and always ready for surprise.
Love doesn't require perfection. There were so many presumptions that I'd allowed to be built into my own mind about what a wife should be. I thought she should be a show-stopping cook and a brilliant entertainer, a nonstop quick wit, a wild thing in bed, an effortless nurturer . . . but, if I can be honest, my grandmother was none of these things and she still enjoyed one of the most legendary lives and marriages that I've ever seen.
Be realistic.In generations past, there was far less talk of "compatibility" and finding the ideal soul-mate. Today we are looking for someone who accepts us as we are and fulfills our desires, and this creates an unrealistic set of expectations that frustrates both the searchers and the searched for . . . In other words, some people in our culture want too much out of a marriage partner.
Let go. The more I let people be who they are, instead of cramming them into what I need from them, the more surprised I am by their beauty and depth.
Men are not from Mars and Women are not from Venus. Contrary to popular belief, I don't buy the idea that men and women come from different planets. We both live here on Earth, and in spite of a few rudimentary differences, such as personal interests, or ways of approaching the world, I see more similarities between the sexes with every year that goes by.

Find out the other lessons when you finish reading the rest of the story on YourTango: 30 Ways I See Love Differently at Age 30

Written by Christy Krumm for YourTango.

Nike Gamifies Fitness With the Nike+ FuelBand

Kristy Korcz — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:59:21 PST

Nike introduced the Nike+ FuelBand ($149) into the competitive fitness gadget arena today. Like Striiv, Motoactv and Jawbone Up did before it, the Nike+ FuelBand will come with some familiar tracking features that monitor your steps, calories burned, and time, but introduces a game-like point system (called FuelPoints) to keep you motivated.

FuelPoints are a metric to measure your overall fitness, based on your oxygen intake. The more you move, the more FuelPoints you'll earn. Seeing how many FuelPoints you're earning is easy, too - a series of 20 LED lights goes from red to green as you earn points. You can even set your FuelPoints goals ahead of time to challenge yourself day to day.

Ready to kick-start your 2012 fitness goals? The ergonomic Nike+ FuelBand will be available for preorder in the US starting today! See it in action in the demo video after the break.

Step Off the Scale! There Are Better Ways to Gauge Your Weight

Leta Shy — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:49:47 PST

Using the scale has its place, especially if you are carefully tracking your weight-loss progress. But spending too much time focusing on a number can discourage you when you think you've dropped weight after a rigorous diet and exercise plan only to find that you haven't lost as much as you thought you have (which can happen for several reasons, usually because you are gaining muscle instead). If you dread stepping on the scale, here are three ways to gauge your weight instead.

Your clothes: One of the best ways to figure out if your diet and exercise plan is working? Nix the scale for your favorite pair of jeans. The fit of your favorite clothes can be more accurate than knowing how many pounds you are.

Your energy level: Chances are, if you're eating healthy, drinking water, and exercising, you'll be feeling the effects - you'll have more energy, sleep better, and be less lethargic overall. Feeling healthy is the first step in looking your best, so don't discount the inside-out effects of your new lifestyle, even if weight loss is your main goal.

Your body fat percentage: Your body's muscle-fat ratio can make the scale tip up even when you are feeling svelte. So be sure to keep your fat percentage in mind when it's time to step on the scale. That means investing in a model that includes an accurate fat percentage measurement so you can track your progress accurately. Or get your body fat percentage measured professionally with one of these tests. And don't always rely on your body mass index (BMI) to gauge whether or not you're in a healthy weight range; it's not always the most accurate measurement. Read more about the difference between BMI and body fat percentage here.

How do you measure your weight-loss progress when you're not on the scale?

A Warm Welcome Back to Tabatha Coffey!

Guest Writer — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:02:00 PST

We are so excited to announce that celebrity stylist, reality TV star, author, and all-around hair guru, Tabatha Coffey, will be joining us once again as a guest writer on BellaSugar! Be sure to check out the season four premiere of her renamed series, Tabatha Takes Over, tonight at 10/9 central on Bravo, but first, a few words from Tabatha herself:

My life has been an absolute whirlwind since my last blog for you: six months of filming Tabatha Takes Over, a nationwide book tour for It's Not Really About the Hair, endless press interviews from Seattle to Australia, and a few red carpet events thrown in for good measure.

In one recent instance, my crazy schedule got the better of me; I found myself, just days before an event, without a dress, and even worse, without a "beauty dream team" to get my hair and face red carpet-ready. In the end, everything turned out fine, which leads to the subject of my next blog for you: products and tips for combating your hair problem blues. See what else Tabatha has coming our way when you read more.