FitSugar

DrSugar Answers: I Over Indulged - What Now?

DrSugar — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:30:53 PDT

DrSugar is in the house! And she's answering your health-related questions.

Dear DrSugar,
Last weekend I went to a party hosted by foodies, and oh boy was the food good. And oh boy did I overeat. I have been dieting for 6 months now and am so close to my goal weight, so the pigging out freaked me out. I was wondering what the body does when you seriously over eat and what I can do in this situation to right my wrongs? Do the excess calories turn into fat immediately? Should I skip my next meal? Will exercising a lot the following day help?
- Freaking on Food

This is a great question, since the holiday season is going to be kicking off soon with Thanksgiving, which is right around the corner! But, there is nothing new about overindulging at a party, a friend’s birthday dinner, or a holiday meal. We’ve all done it and in all likelihood, most of us will do it again at some point in the future. Before I get started on answering your question, I'd like to make one comment. What’s done is done. There is no use in beating yourself up or feeling guilty about overindulging. Although they are normal feelings to have after overindulging, realize you overdid it and recognize that you are human and move on! To learn more about what you should do after you overindulge in food, keep reading!

Speak Up: What Foods Cause You to Overeat?

FitSugar — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:05:10 PST

Certain foods just keep me reaching for more, particularly salty snacks. Refusing to buy the food that makes portion control impossible for you is one way to go, but totally depriving yourself of the things you love is usually asking for trouble. Measure one serving of whatever it is that causes you to overeat and put the larger package away for the next time you have a craving. You might always want more, but savoring the single serving will satisfy without the guilt. Now that you have learned a great technique for dealing with your trigger foods, tell me below what foods cause you to overeat?

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Healthy Eating Tip: Stop While You're Ahead

FitSugar — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:30:56 PDT

Do you tend to eat fast and until you are absolutely stuffed? If so, you might want to rethink your eating habits. A new study has found that people who eat quickly and until they're full are three times more likely to be overweight than those who don't.

Try to slow it down during your meals and snacks. Slowing down your eating process will give your brain the chance to realize that your stomach is filling up before you've already eaten the whole kitchen sink. Besides, it's not fun feeling absolutely stuffed, so you may even be saving yourself a bit of discomfort as well.

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Diet Tip: Ease Up on the Crime TV

FitSugar — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 03:00:00 PDT

Find yourself with an empty bag of chips after a night of must-see TV? You're not alone. MSNBC recently reported on a new study that found that consumers who have been recently reminded of their own mortality on TV actually eat more and spend more.

Does this mean we should all ditch The Closer, Criminal Minds, and CSI altogether? Not necessarily. Just use this rather interesting finding as a reminder that watching television often leads to overeating, which can be troublesome since most of us eat in front of the TV. Try and dine away from the tube most nights of the week, especially if it's murder mystery night on Dateline.

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Fat People Don't Go to Heaven? Since When?

FitSugar — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 07:12:36 PST

The lengths that people will go to, just to lose weight, never cease to amaze me, but this method may take the cake.

Recently I have been hearing a lot about the Remnant Fellowship Church in Franklin, Tennessee. This church preaches about God and weight loss in the Weigh Down Diet program. Amazingly enough, Weigh Down is the most successful Christian weight loss program in the country, which has many people flocking to Gwen Shamblin (pictured), the leader of Remnant, like fixated moths to a bright light.

The basics of the Remnant Fellowship are this: overeating is a sin. Her book The Weigh Down Diet, which has sold over a million copies worldwide stresses the benefits of eating tiny bites and objects to exercising to offset your caloric intake. The scare tactics and shame methods keep followers in line by telling them overeating will result in hell.

The best part. Remnant does not allow theological debate, and free will is basically out the door. Shamblin directs those with questions to her 800 number.

My take on this whole thing: The best way to lose weight from the Weigh Down Diet is by running (very, very fast) in the opposite direction of the Remnant Fellowship. This diet is cult-like and unhealthy, not only for the body but for the mind as well. I am all for a support group when trying to get fit, but not a support group that tells you it's either weight loss or hell. Shamblin is making millions while her followers are contemplating suicide, that's just not right.

Do You Pack Healthy Snacks For Your Road Trips?

Leta Shy — Sat, 26 May 2012 03:44:05 PDT

It's finally here - the weekend where you pack up, suit up, or eat up to celebrate the start of warmer weather. For many, that also means packing up the car and heading somewhere to celebrate Memorial Day.

Staying healthy on vacation, no matter how short, can be difficult, especially when you're on the road. It's so easy to pull over and grab fast food or gas station fare instead of searching out healthier options, and sometimes packing your own snacks can take too much time to prepare.

If you're taking a road trip this weekend, will you be bringing healthier options with you, or will you be stopping for fast food? (If you need quick snack ideas, then check out these 150-calorie travel snack packs you can make fast!)

Shawn Johnson Talks Weight Loss and Learning to Love Her Body

espnW — Fri, 25 May 2012 03:05:26 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from espnW here on FitSugar!

By Shawn Johnson

Shawn Johnson is blogging for espnW throughout her training for the Olympics in London this summer. Follow hers other Olympic hopefuls' journeys on espnW.com.

Four years ago, I was standing on an Olympic podium, wearing a gold medal, and still thinking to myself how I could have been better. It had nothing to do with my performance - it was all how I looked. Back then, I always felt like I could have been a few pounds lighter. But the irony is, when I look back at the pictures, I look unhealthy and too thin. It's easy to get into a trap as an elite athlete, because you're made to feel that you're never perfect, that you can always be better. That's how you improve in your sport, but it's also tough because you aren't satisfied with yourself ever - it's second nature not to be. I'd always think, "Just get a little stronger, a little lighter," until it was completely ingrained in my mind.

Shawn Johnson takes us inside training camp

It's easy for people to blame gymnastics for this mentality, but I feel like the sport has improved a lot. The horror stories we heard from generations ago (think Joan Ryan's infamous book Little Girls in Pretty Boxes), you don't hear at all anymore. But I do believe it can improve further and that good nutrition could be a key to all of this, if it were only taught at a young age. Many gymnasts go into the elite level at 13 or so, and a 13-year-old isn't going to go to the library to read some book on nutrition! She needs to be given the right information on how to eat well. Otherwise, it's not until she's out of the sport that she realizes the damage she's done to her body by not eating enough over the past 20 years.

Shawn Johnson in the driver's seat

I see all the success we have as a country where the gymnasts aren't 100 percent healthy, and I imagine how amazing we could be if we were doing it in the healthiest way possible. I don't think it's a failure on anybody's part; the education just isn't there right now, and it's just not thought about in our sport. My parents have told me since I was little, "You're given your body for a reason. It's OK to be different. Being unique is a good thing." But I always struggled to believe it. I'm stocky, muscular and short, and I wanted to be thin and flexible so bad! My mom would say, "You're not made that way, and you're not going to become that, so you have to learn to accept and love the body you're in." Well, some people are born with that appreciation, and some people have to work really hard to get there. Put me in that second camp.

Read on for more on what Shawn Johnson has to say about body confidence and how she feels in her gymnastics leotard.

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!

Must-Have Products to Keep Portions Under Control

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:25:19 PDT

Whether you're trying to lose those last stubborn pounds for bikini season or you want to maintain your current weight, keeping a close eye on portion sizes is critical. You could always eyeball amounts, but let's face it, our eyes tend to be bigger than what our stomachs should be eating. Keep yourself honest and prevent overeating with these portion-control products.

5 Things You Always Wanted to Know About Paying For College

LearnVest — Wed, 23 May 2012 00:15:23 PDT

Paying for college is such a complex issue. LearnVest helps simplify it by answering some key questions in regard to paying tuition.

If you believe everything you read, then you might think you need to be a Rockefeller to have kids.

That, of course, isn't the case.

Yes, kids are expensive, and thinking about paying for a college education can be scary and frustrating . . . but that's where we come in.

As with everything else in life, figuring out what to do about your kid's college savings is all about the planning, says Stephany Kirkpatrick, CFP, LearnVest's director of financial planning. Depending on where you are in life right now and how old your kids are, you may have questions about how to set up a 529 plan (which is an education savings plan designed to help families set aside funds for future college costs), what to look for, and when to start saving.

If you're pregnant or have a newborn and are starting to think about this, then good for you! The earlier you get started socking away cash for their college, the easier it will be. You'll learn a lot in this article, but you should also check out our Baby on Board Bootcamp, which will tell you everything you need to know - financially - to be ready for a baby. It includes 529 advice, as well as financial tips on everything from putting together a will and picking out a life insurance policy to buying nursery basics.
If your kid is slightly older and you’ve done your research but haven’t yet started saving in a 529 plan, then first read the four mistakes to avoid when choosing a 529 plan, and then check out the different college savings plans available to you.
If this is the first you’re thinking about it, no matter your kid's ageI, then don't worry about it. You have to start somewhere!

Read on for more.