By Rachel Berman RD, Director of Nutrition for CalorieCount.com

DietsinReview recently interviewed the dietitian team of the Olympics and they found that many athletes aren’t aware of the amount of calories they are consuming. Calorie counting is not just relevant for weight loss. The more strenuous a sport, the more calories an athlete needs to refuel their bodies and muscles properly for the work they are doing. In addition, it’s not as though an athlete can just copy the diet of someone else on the team. Calories burned at rest and during exercise depend on age, height, weight, body composition, among other factors. Therefore, it’s important for an athlete to get an idea for the amount of calories they burn off personally so that they can consume that much in their diets. If not getting enough or proper nutrition, athletes can definitely put their energy, endurance and game at risk.

We know of at least one Olympian who is well aware of the calories he is consuming. Gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps has been reported to eat as much as 12,000 calories per day to match the 50 miles he swims per week during training. It is more than calories that count – getting enough complex carbohydrates from sources such as grains, legumes, and starchy vegetables help give athletes the energy they need during strenuous activity.
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By Rachel Berman, RD, Csr, Cdn for Calorie Count

As summer rolls in everyone wants to take full advantage of the longer days and warmer weather. This year, make the most of your summer by focusing on simple, healthy activities that you can do every day of the week!

Get moving together with your friends or family every evening for a walk, jog, or bike ride. This is a great way to enjoy the weather, have some bonding time with your loved ones, and get your exercise in. Working out with others will motivate you and keep you accountable, too. On the weekends, head to the local pool for a great full body workout.

Take a trip to the farmers market and check out what’s in season. You’ll be surprised at the vast variety of fruits and vegetables available, and each week you’ll find something new. Because this produce is recently harvested it will be more fresh and nutritious than produce from the supermarket. Buying from the farmers market also supports the community and local farmers!
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By Rachel Berman, RD, Director of Nutrition at CalorieCount.com

Whether you are a new graduate off your campus meal plan and living on your own for the first time, or just need tips on how to stock your kitchen without breaking the bank, below are tips and staples for eating healthy at home when it’s a setting for one.

Plan Your Menu

Meal planning reduces stress, saves money, and reduces food waste. A fun money saver is to pick a “theme” each week. For example, if you pick Mexican food for one week, versatile ingredients for various meals might include salsa, black beans, avocados, cheese, corn, and whole wheat tortillas. With these ingredients plus staples (see below) you could make plenty from black bean quesadillas to spicy egg scrambles and southwestern salads or wraps.

Minimize Mess and Save Time with One Pot Methods

Slow cookers are inexpensive, come in many sizes, and recipes that use them do not require a lot of effort or clean up.  Same idea goes with anything that stir-fries and just uses one skillet.
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This week Calorie Count unveiled Calorie Camp, a new healthy-living social networking site that allows users to connect with other members, share status updates, daily progress reports, and receive community support and feedback.

“Technology is playing an increasing role in weight loss and daily heath and wellness maintenance,” said Rachel Berman, RD, CSR, CD/N, Director of Nutrition for CalorieCount.com.

People use the internet for business, communication, e-commerce, education, entertainment and more recently, for weight loss and healthy lifestyle maintenance. With the number of diet and weight loss-related mobile applications increasing, people continue to look to technology to aid in their healthy living efforts.

“On CalorieCount.com, members utilize a variety of free tools,” said Berman. “Users can look up nutrient information of foods, keep track of what they’ve eaten throughout the day and log activity completed and calories burned.”

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By Rachel Berman RD, Director of Nutrition at CalorieCount.com

You may have spent the past couple of months gorging on holiday treats, avoiding the gym, and making promises that you’ll get back on track come January. Have you starting living your healthy lifestyle yet or are you still overcoming a holiday hangover? Either way, here are tips to help you recover from your holiday indulgences and make healthy changes all year long.

1) Avoid fads

At the beginning of each New Year, we are bombarded with the marketing of diet and exercise products and services. Don’t be fooled by lofty promises of ‘easy & fast weight loss.’ Restrictive fad diets, and extreme exercise might result in weight loss but it will not get you very far. Research shows that extreme programs are unrealistic to maintain for the long term and once you go off of it, you are likely to gain back all the weight you lost, plus more. When we make small, manageable changes to our everyday routines, we are more likely to have long term health success. What healthy changes are realistic for you? If you can incorporate one of these changes at a time, and be patient with reaching your goals, come March, you will still be on the path to a healthy lifestyle. Having support from your loved ones or a community can help make those changes stick!

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