FitSugar

Diet Tip: Put Down the Fork Between Bites

FitSugar — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:00:00 PDT

One way to make sure you don't overeat is by slowing down so that your stomach has time to register that it's full. There are plenty of tricks to keep yourself from scarfing down dinner, such as eating with your non-dominant hand.

Here's an even easier one: Make sure you put down your fork between every bite. If you're eating something with your hands, such as pizza or a sandwich, put down the actual food. Then, don't pick up the fork or food again until you've chewed and swallowed the previous bite. When you start to feel full, put down the fork altogether!

The forced pauses will prevent you from racing through your meal and give you more time to savor it. Plus, not only is this a healthy eating tip, but it's also good table manners, don't you think?

Source

Easy Ways to Get More From Your Food Budget

LearnVest — Fri, 18 May 2012 05:15:48 PDT

Go the extra mile with your food budget with these tips from LearnVest.

For years, many people - my husband, mom, sister and even my son - told me to stop wasting so much food.

Throwing away half a piece of chicken here or a handful of grapes there never seemed like such a big deal to me. If I was full or no longer in the mood for that particular food, then I had no problem tossing it.

That is, until I experienced a bad case of sticker shock during a recent trip to the supermarket. The cost of bread, eggs, fish - basically everything I was purchasing - had increased. And, according to the USDA, we can expect prices to rise even higher this year.

As I forked over my money and left with only a handful of bags, I realized just how important it is for me to pay more attention to what I spend on food . . . and to confront how much of it I shove down the garbage disposal.

Unfortunately, I'm not the only one with wasteful ways. In 2010, 33 million tons of food was thrown away, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Obviously, wasted food means wasted money, but figuring out how to make your grocery budget go further can be a challenge.

To keep more food in your fridge (and more money in your pocket), try these expert tips.

1. Ward Against Freezer Burn

Those large bags or packages of frozen veggies or meat come in handy when you have a large family, but "each time you open a bag of frozen food, air gets in and will cause freezer burn within two to three weeks," says consumer saving expert Andrea Woroch. Freezer burn will dry out the meat and make it less tasty. Woroch suggests going small.

Read on for more.

21 Disposable Products You Can Reuse

Wise Bread — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:00:39 PDT

Even when the product is supposedly "disposable," you can always reuse it. Wise Bread shares awesome ways to reuse these 21 disposable products.

It’s said that we live in a disposable society. But the word "disposable" is a misnomer. Disposable is considered throwaway, something you use once and dump, regardless of the life that may be left in it. As a frugal shopper with a concern for the state of our environment, I think that just won’t do.

I often reuse many so-called “onetime-use” items, and I asked friends, family, and colleagues to tell me which disposable items they squeeze more life from. Here’s my list, including some of the surprising ideas I was given.

RELATED: 25 Things to Throw Out Today

1. Butter Wrappers

If you’re like most people, you unwrap your butter, pop the stick into your handy holder, and throw the wrapper away. But wait a second - instead of trashing the wrappers, keep them in a sandwich bag. The next time you need to grease a baking tray or dish, you’ve got something all ready to go.

Read on for more.

Two Easy Changes For Better Eating

Leta Shy — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:17:17 PST

We all know slowing down at meals helps our brains register that we are full before we overeat, but besides putting the fork down, you should also go one step further - try "meditating" while eating. Studies have found that relishing your food by putting the fork down, stopping the chitchat, and focusing on its taste and texture can help you appreciate your food so you'll eat less of it.

So, how can you make a change for the better? We've got two ways to help you eat less food, slowly, after the break.

Snacking Good: Natchitoches Meat Pies

OnSugar Blog — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:07:39 PST

We've always wanted to take a stab at rolling out a few Natchitoches meat pies. Thanks to an easy recipe from Food Orleans, this might be a dream realized sooner rather than later.

[Baked or fried? You decide.]

Natchitoches meat pies are one of those special little treats with a name as fun to say as they are to scarf down. Nackadish - that's how you say it - is a small town we drive through on our way north to visit Alexandria or Oklahoma, and it's where Steel Magnolias was filmed, and it's famous for these little pies. It's a beautiful little place, with a picturesque riverfront lined with shops and restaurants that have their own sort of French Quarter-ish wrought iron balconies (remember the Easter scene where Jackson slapped Ouiser? That's the riverfront!). But you don't have to go into the actual town to get yourself some meat pies; just stop at any gas station right off I-10. They all fry them up and they're all pretty wonderful.

For her recipe, continue reading.

6 Ways Couples Can Tell They're Financially Ready to Live Together

Business Insider — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:15:47 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Business Insider story here on Savvy!

Moving in together as a couple is more than deciding who gets the "good side" of the bed and finding the best spot to stash the PlayStation.

Not only will you be sharing household bills and probably setting up a joint bank account, but you'll also get up close and personal with your partner's money demons for the first time.

"A husband or wife, even a boyfriend or a girlfriend, is not a financial plan," says Dr. Taffy Wagner, CEO of Money Talk Matters. "We've seen enough drama on Court TV shows."

As a certified personal finance educator and author of Bride and Groom Money Talk FAQ, Wagner's an expert on all things relationships and finances.

Before you start building a bigger closet, make sure you're both ready to merge your finances by checking for these six signs:

1. You can talk money without arguing. Per Wagner: "When you can openly discuss finances without arguing and blaming the other person when there is a financial issue," you're on the right track. "The people in this situation would also be able to discuss a financial issue and reach a viable solution that is best for the overall relationship."

Read on for more.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Quotes About Weight Loss

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 01:13:02 PDT

I'm all for motivational quotes when it comes to staying fit and healthy, but there are a few popular ones that send a bad message about dieting and weight loss. Here are a few that make me shake my head in disappointment, but a few more that make it OK.

"A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips."
"No pain, no gain."
"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."
"Don't dig your own grave with your own knife and fork."
"If you put it in your mouth, it will just go South."
"Supermodels always go to bed hungry."
If you indulge, you bulge."
"Unless you want to look like a porky, come on missy, put down the forky."

These sayings are unproductive on so many levels. They either scare you into thinking anything you eat will make you fat, that losing weight is a painful process, or that being skinny is what's important in life. Thankfully there are also positive, uplifting sayings that motivate you to move and be healthy. Keep reading for eight inspirational weight loss and fitness quotes.

Nudge Yourself to Better Finances

LearnVest — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:15:19 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

We expect our gym membership to cost money. What we don’t expect is that it will charge us for not working out.

Yes, you read that right.

Gym-Pact is charging clients who skip workouts.

After we got over the shock, we loved this idea-using your pocketbook to prompt yourself to do the right thing.

It exploits our basic psychology: We hate our losses about twice as much as we like our gains, i.e. our distress over losing $500 equals our happiness over winning $1,000.

So, if the promise of rewards isn’t enough to keep you on track with your goals, do you think you would stay the course in order to avoid losses?

Nudging-prompting people to do what is good for them-was made famous in Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Cass Sunstein. People are using nudging principles to stop smoking or lose weight, such as with this website that charges you for not meeting your goals.

Here’s how you can nudge yourself toward financial health in three big money areas:

1. Retirement

Saving for retirement requires the most nudging. It’s so far in the future, it always feels like you can get to it later. But because your investment is likely to keep increasing more and more over the years (around 7%, historically speaking), postponing saving for retirement is like turning down free money-tens of thousands of dollars of it.

If you haven’t opened a 401(k) yet, you’re in good company-even Tony Snow, White House press secretary under George W. Bush, couldn’t be bothered to enroll in a 401(k), and so didn’t have any retirement money saved up at the age of 52.

Nowadays, companies have “opt-out” 401(k) plans to help fix this problem. These programs automatically enroll employees, forcing them to opt out instead. Companies that switched to these plans saw participation rates skyrocket from 20% to 90%.

Read on for how to nudge yourself to retirement.

Grey's Anatomy Rundown, "It's a Long Way Back"

Becky Kirsch — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:39:20 PDT

Grey's Anatomy is finally back this week, after a long hiatus to help us forget about that musical episode. Though the songs are gone, Callie's condition remains. The whole gang is on call to assist with her recovery, but the new mom is stubborn and frustrated that she can't hold her baby girl - who, we learn, is named Sofia!

Three months elapse over the course of the episode, and time changes lives for a lot of the doctors: as Callie recuperates, Karev makes a major play for Chief Resident, and Meredith takes action in a way that could cause a major rift in her marriage (not to mention cost her her job). Let's break it down after the jump.

A Day in the Life of Lee Schrager

YumSugar — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:30:35 PDT

Lee Schrager is the mastermind behind the nation's biggest food events, including the upcoming New York City Wine and Food Festival. Here's what he did on Saturday, Aug. 20.
6:00 a.m.: I was up and ready for the day in East Hampton, waiting for my yoga instructor to begin our morning class. I’ve been doing yoga at the house for the last three Summers with Corey, who is the ex-boyfriend of my regular yoga instructor in Miami. I’ve been coming out to the Hamptons since 1980, when I worked in the cheese department of the first Dean & Deluca on Newton Lane, and used to spend my days at the beach with Edie Beale (of Grey Gardens fame). We've rented this same house for the past six Summers - it’s a gorgeous run-down farm house on a great piece of property, literally three minutes from the center of town.

7:45 a.m.: I headed over to Levain Bakery in Wainscott to pick up some goodies for our house guests. I try and keep away from Levain if possible, as it’s truly addicting. This morning, I waited in line behind Russell Simmons, who literally buys every one of the mini brioche I wanted. I ended up bringing home some scones, blueberry muffins, Nutella-stuffed sourdough rolls and, of course, some walnut chocolate chip cookies for later in the day.

10:00 a.m.: I went over to Bridgehampton for a meeting at the Gilt City Hamptons House regarding the afternoon’s Burger Blood Bath that Ben Leventhal, from NBC Feast, is producing. I am the Chief Lifestyle Advisor for Gilt City and the Hamptons House is a project I proposed months ago, that includes bringing out over 30 of the nation’s top chefs to cook at the house this August. The morning meeting was to discuss set-up, weather back-up plans, sponsorship fulfillment, and registration.

Keep reading to find out whose beach Lee goes to!