Tag Archives: Diet Tips

Weight Loss is Possible Even During the Holidays

Renée Ross leverages the power of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to raise awareness of important social and health-related causes. Renée has lost over 50 pounds and utilized social media to document her journey. She ran her first half-marathon in October 2024 and raised over $5000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as a member of Team in Training. This year she has run the Disney Princess Half-Marathon, the NYC 13.1, the Rock n Roll Savannah ½ Marathon and will run the Atlanta Thanksgiving Day 1/2 Marathon and the Miami Latin Music ½ marathon. Renée is also a licensed Zumba instructor. You can read more tips by Renee on her blog ReneeJRoss.net

Healthy living. I have been on a journey to healthy living on and off for the majority of my life. And we are all familiar with the hardest time of the year for healthy living – the holidays! But, I truly question this. Is the holiday season truly the most difficult time of the year? When you think about it, there are several major holidays in a 6 week span of time. But because it is the holiday season, why do we think we have carte blanch to forgo all of the healthy habits we’ve developed during the year?

When I started my weight loss journey in 2024, it was the week of Thanksgiving. THANKSGIVING! That week, I ended up losing 8 pounds. And not only did I have a lovely Thanksgiving meal but I also went out for sushi! So, by making healthy choices we can indulge and enjoy the holidays without going overboard and having ten extra pounds to lose when the New Year rolls around!

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Posted on December 23, 2023 by GuestBlogger

Workout in the Spare Time You Didn’t Know You Had

The biggest excuse in the book is not having enough time to exercise. Truth is, whether you’re a stay-at-home-mom, CEO of a major corporation, school teacher, or a student, everyone is pressed for time. The other truth is, everyone has a few spare minutes they just aren’t seeing.

In college I took a “gateway” class, a requirement for freshmen. In one class our teacher asked how many of us were working out. Few raised their hands, all lamented their busy schedules of sleep very little, race from class to class, cram for papers and exams, inhale pizza, repeat. She asked us to write down every single thing we had to do during the day. Low and behold, most of us found a spare hour we didn’t even know we had.

The same is probably true of your schedule. If you’re already sitting on the couch watching reruns after the kids go to bed, throw a yoga DVD in instead. If you and the kids are already up at the crack of dawn, put their dry cereal in a snack cup, load up the jogging stroller and head out for a run. If you’re the type who works through lunch, trying walking through lunch instead.

The time is there, and our friends at Fitness Magazine have helped identify a few places you may be squirreling away time. It’s time to bring it out of hibernation and put it to work for you!

View Find Time to Exercise Slideshow

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Natalie K

How to Ask Your Family For Help With Your Holiday Diet

Holidays are hectic and everyone walks in with certain expectations and hopes. People have prepared food in anticipation of sharing it with loved ones. Others may be wanting everything to be just like it was the year before. At the dinner table or even at the family gathering may not be the best time to tell your family about your food plan or to ask for their help in sticking to your weight loss goals.

To avoid emotional reactions from your loved ones, you may want to share this information several weeks in advance to give them time to work through any disappointment they may be feeling or to plan healthier options for the entire family. With large families like mine, it is difficult to get everyone in the same room or make sure everyone is hearing important announcements. There are times that it is most helpful to have individual conversations with the majority of family members; however, there are also times when sending a kind of newsletter may be the most effective and non intimidating way to share your goals with family members.

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Posted on November 16, 2023 by Brooke Randolph

The Best Healthy Holidays Tips from Shape Magazine

In a live video chat yesterday, Shape magazine’s senior associate health editor Bahar Takhtehchian shared her best tips for beating the bulge during this holiday season. The chat was sponsored Fiber One, which is launching a new line of high-fiber brownies. Aside from all the tempting holiday foods, Takhtehchian says it’s easy to gain weight this time of year because “a lot of people associate eating with relaxation.”girl exercising while wearing a santa hat

Takhtehchian says that by planning to make smart meal choices, you can avoid unwanted weight gain despite the many temptations of the holiday season. Her first big tip is always eat a filling breakfast, even if you know you’ll be eating something rich later in the day. Starting the day with a meal that has plenty of protein and whole grain, which can keep you fuller throughout the day and less tempted to eat something you shouldn’t. In the afternoon, Takhtehchian recommends eating a lighter lunch and a snack. “Snacking will rev up your metabolism,” she explains, as long as you pick foods with plenty of fiber, like a handful of almonds or a piece of fruit. For those with a sweet tooth, she also suggested the Fiber One brownie. “One of the benefits of fiber is that it does keep you full,” she says.

The health editor also offered tips for navigating holiday parties. Takhtehchian advises against ever going to a party feeling hungry. “When you show up starving, you know what happens,” she says. “You eat everything in sight.” Instead, eat a filling meal before arriving. Cocktails are another healthy diet downfall, not only because they’re loaded with calories but also because one drink too many will lower your guard against unhealthy foods. Pick cocktails that are low in sugar, and swap soda water for tonic. “Vodka soda is one of my favorites,” she says, adding that you can give this drink a kick with a wedge of lemon or lime. Another good strategy to avoid extra calories is to drink a glass of water in between each alcoholic beverage.

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Posted on November 2, 2023 by Margaret

10 Whimsical Ways to Cut 100 Calories

Written by Randy Fritz, co-creator with Diana Herrington at Real Food for Life

One hundred calories doesn’t seem like a lot, but you can easily add at least one or two of these fun, easy strategies and they will add up over time.

I’m not lazy by any means, but in my opinion, if you have to strain or deprive yourself, you may not keep it up. To eliminate calories, you can either burn them up by adding a preferred activity or avoid the calories by making a smart substitution of some common food you are eating.

I have listed only healthy, green tips. Hopefully these examples will help jog your mind to others. What steps do you take to be active and be smart?

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Posted on October 12, 2023 by GuestBlogger

Prepare Your Home For Weight Loss Room by Room

I love the heat of summer, so although there is much to love about fall – football, cider, pumpkins, boots, etc. – I cannot say I look forward to fall. I certainly relish it once it arrives though, because fall also brings tailgating, Halloween candy, Thanksgiving feasts, and the promise of Christmas parties. It can be a dangerous season for dieting, especially combined with more inclement weather which tempts us to stay inside and inactive. At the advent of the autumn season, I encourage you to prepare your home to help you meet your weight loss goals throughout the cooler months when you will likely be spending more time inside.

Kitchen: Clean out the pantry and fridge, eliminating temptations. Place the healthiest options within sight and easy reach. Take the fruit out of the crisper and put it on the top shelf or on the counter. Make it easy to grab smaller plates, bowls, and flatware. According to Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink, when we choose a 12-inch plate over a 10-inch plate we are likely to eat up to 22 percent more, we eat up to 14 percent more using a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon, and we will fill a shorter, wider cup 30 percent more than a taller, thinner cup.

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Posted on September 28, 2023 by Brooke Randolph

20 Ways to Cut Breakfast Calories Without Noticing

Try as we might, there’s no way to escape the science of calories. Every calorie counts and unfortunately lots of our favorite foods have too many calories. But don’t fret, life doesn’t have to be lived eating flavorless celery and lettuce. There are lots of great ways to cut calories without feeling like you’re being deprived.

Here are 20 great tricks we’ve compiled to help you get through the most important meal of the day with fewer calories, and without sacrificing taste.

1. Use Blue Diamond Almond Breeze milk instead of cow’s milk
While a cup of whole milk contains nearly 150 calories, Almond Breeze contains no more than 45 calories. The unsweetened flavor has 40 calories per cup and the vanilla and chocolate flavors have 45 calories per cup. Yes, chocolate milk for 45 calories per serving, you read that right.

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Posted on August 2, 2023 by Lacy

10 Simple Ways to Beat the Battle of the Bulge

By Michelle Schoffro Cook for Care2.com

Do you have a spare tire, love handles, or a belly bulge? Don’t fret. Here are a ten simple tricks from my best-selling book, The Life Force Diet (Wiley, 2006) that can help you make this a lighter and healthier year.

1. Drink plenty of water throughout the day to beat dehydration. Alcohol consumption, fatty foods, and insufficient water are some of the main reasons people feel “hung over” and heavy. Every cell in your body needs adequate water to function properly so try to drink at least two liters a day to flush fat and toxins out.

2. Take a high-quality B-complex and vitamin C supplement, both of which are depleted by alcohol consumption and stress, and chances are you had both recently.

3. Eat fruit in the morning on an empty stomach. Fruit is the best food to keep the lymphatic system cleansed and moving properly. The lymphatic system is what I call “the body’s version of a street-cleaner” — it sweeps up toxins, fat, and the by-products of bodily processes to lessen pain, inflammation, cellulite, and toxic overload in the body. Just don’t overdo. (more…)

Posted on July 24, 2023 by GuestBlogger

How to Handle the Moments That Make You Fat

When you are trying to lose weight it can be easy fall off the diet wagon and slip back into patterns of unhealthy eating and lack of exercise. Recently, CNN identified “The Moments That Make us Fat” which included your friends suggesting a buffet restaurant for dinner or finding tempting dessert options at a cocktail party.

According to James Hill, executive director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado, it can be dangerous to rely on your willpower to carry you through difficult diet situations.

“Willpower is not inexhaustible,” Hill told CNN.com. “You only have a certain amount of it, and it’s gone.”

Instead of relying on willpower, Hill recommends planning ahead. Identify the situations that tempt you to veer away from your healthy habits and plan strategies to keep yourself on track.

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Posted on June 2, 2023 by Maris

Don’t Overcomplicate Your Healthy Lifestyle

This guest post comes from Paige Corley, a Program Director at the Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge.

It’s very difficult to really know what you need to do with your workout these days. Between the fad workouts that claim high calorie burn in a short amount of time to the magic pill that will result in miracle weight loss, we are constantly bombarded with misinformation that leaves us feeling confused and overwhelmed.

Advertising can make matters even worse when all we see is “Healthy Cookies” and “Fat Free Potato Chip” products claiming to lower cholesterol and have a lot of fiber. Even tougher, we hear that we can’t simply go to the gym and workout; we have to be concerned about what order we do the exercises, how high we get our heart rate and what formats are the best.

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Posted on May 26, 2023 by GuestBlogger

5 Food Temptations and Solutions

Cake with candlesSocial expectations can be huge pitfalls to healthy eating. It feels wrong to skip the cake at a friend’s birthday or a cocktail when celebrating your co-worker’s promotion. How do we get out of these situations without being a wet blanket? We’ve got solutions for some common food temptations.

Temptation: Office Birthday

Solution: Bring your own mug of coffee or tea, which will keep your co-workers from offering you soda, plus hot liquids can help you feel full. It is probably obligatory to eat a few bits of that store-bought cake, but don’t feel bad asking for a thin slice or ditching your portion at an appropriate moment.

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Posted on February 25, 2024 by Margaret