Tag Archives: fall

HealthBuzz September 21: 7 Fall Family Activities, Jennifer Aniston’s Smartwater Commercial, and Banana Filled Recipes

Today marks the first day of fall! Before you clock out for the weekend take some time for a healthy dose of news. This week’s HealthBuzz consists of hot headlines from DIR and our partner sites, including Shape, IVillage, and Fitday, as well as some delicious banana recipes from Undressed Skeleton and Thinin10.

Don’t wait until the last day of the week to hear from us! Follow us on Twitter and Pinterest! Also, don’t forget to ‘Like Us’ on Facebook for the chance to win a year’s supply of guacamole from Wholly Guacamole!

Choose the Right Gym For You (So You’ll Actually Use the Membership)

With the fall and holiday season quickly approaching, gyms will be filling up with people wanting to maintain their health and figure for social gatherings and special events. Gyms can be uncomfortable and expensive and there is nothing like wasting money on a membership that you don’t use! Let us help you choose the right gym with this helpful guide.

Seven Fall Activities For the Whole Family

September 21 is the official day of fall! What better way to enjoy the weather then with your family? Stephanie Mansour from Step It Up With Steph shares seven fall activities for the whole family. There is even a healthy recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds! Fall has never been so healthy before. (more…)

Posted on September 21, 2023 by Samantha

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds and 5 More Healthy Fall Snacks

Finding healthy snacks can be difficult, especially amidst a sea of more unhealthy than healthy options. Couple the issue of availability with the season’s change, which leaves people out of their bikinis and into layered clothes, and we’re all of the sudden far less aware of what we’re putting into our bodies.

But if healthy snacking is important to you like we think it is, take heart and fight developing that unwanted “winter layer.” Try these six healthy do-it-yourself fall snacks from fitness expert and CEO of Step It Up With Steph, Stephanie Mansour.

Pumpkin seeds – You can buy store bought pumpkin seeds or you can roast pumpkin seeds yourself! After carving pumpkins collect all of the seeds, give them a rinse, and spread them out onto a cookie sheet lined with foil. Then, sprinkle with salt and place in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 to 20 minutes. Making your own pumpkin seeds is a cheap and simple way to create your own nutritious fall snack. (more…)

Posted on September 20, 2023 by GuestBlogger

Seven Fall Activities For the Whole Family

September 21 is the official first day of fall! Once the season begins leaves start to change to beautiful shades of yellow and orange, the weather starts to cool down from the triple digits, and apples and pumpkins begin to fill the market. For these reasons, we think fall is the best season of all with the weather at perfect temperatures and every possible food combination using pumpkin at our fingertips. 

As we enter this ideal season, how can families get outside and enjoy it? Fitness expert and CEO of Step It Up with Steph, Stephanie Mansour, shares some of her favorite activities for families to enjoy this fall.

The first family activity is pumpkin picking. Before Halloween, lots of families head to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin perfect for carving. Stephanie recommends turning the hunt into a workout. “Show your kids how to do squats while holding the pumpkin, or make an obstacle course out of the pumpkins you and your family pick out,” she said. “Have the kids jump over the pumpkins and run around them!”

After your family has picked out the perfect gourd, head home for carving. And after you’ve sculpted your best designs, set the seeds aside and teach your kids how to roast them. Stephanie recommends rinsing the seeds, spreading them out onto a cookie sheet lined with tin foil, sprinkling them with salt, and then baking them in a 400-degree oven for 10 to 20 minutes. This is yet another fall activity that provides a fun and healthy way to bond with your children.  (more…)

Posted on September 19, 2023 by GuestBlogger

Healthy Fall Decadence with Pumpkin Spice Protein Balls

If the dawn of fall brings thoughts of pumpkin spice lattes and plenty of seasonal sweet treats, then you’re in the right place. However, what you won’t find with these pumpkin spice protein balls is butter, added sugar, eggs or anything refined for that matter. Instead, you’ll find four simple ingredients: oats, almonds, dates and pumpkin pie spice. The top ranked diets are featured in a comprehensive list made available in the link here.

We whipped these up last week as the weather was starting to cool and it was rainy outside. As the pulse of the food processor brought all of the ingredients together, the aroma of pumpkin pie spice filled the air – it was almost enough for me to wish summer good riddance, even though it’s undoubtedly one of my favorite seasons. But fall? It takes a close second. (more…)

Posted on September 17, 2023 by Dana

Six Reasons to Start Your Diet on Labor Day

I’ve been writing for Diets In Review for a while, but I just found out recently that Labor Day is the second biggest diet day of the year; I am assuming following New Years Day.

With the rush of back to school and getting ready for the holiday season, I did not expect weight loss to be a high priority for many people. As the weather cools off and we look forward to boots and sweaters and layers, I expected fewer people to be concerned with dieting.

While I am slightly surprised to find out that Labor Day is the second biggest diet day of the year, there are reasons why it makes sense.

Back to school time, at least for me, brings to mind fresh notebooks and clean slates. If you grew up thinking of each fall as a new beginning, then autumn might be the perfect time for a habit change for you. (more…)

Posted on September 3, 2023 by Brooke Randolph

Kick-Off College Football With Healthier Man-Approved Tailgate Recipes

Finally! The weather is just starting to cool off, my favorite alma mater T-shirt is hanging front and center, and college football kicks off tomorrow. It’s almost more excitement than I can bear. I know I’m not alone, and I know I’m not the only one preparing a first game feast for my friends.

Whether you tailgate at home or from your couch, you can consume A LOT of calories in the four hours it takes to win a football game. I, for one, don’t want to be bloated when the big score comes in at the end, so I make a healthier spread. It’s far from rabbit food, but it’s also not the calorie bomb that most of my fellow fans are dishing up.

If I can promise you bold-flavored, sticky-fingered buffalo chicken, wicked dips, and killer desserts, can you promise to try at least one lighter tailgate party this season? I’m pretty sure everyone scores in that deal!

BBQ Pork Sliders

No one needs a half-pound pile of pulled pork, but a tiny slider or two can really fill you up. Our little pork sliders are smothered in a homemade barbecue sauce and a little coleslaw for a cool crunch.

Lighter Buffalo Chicken Dip

We guarantee everything about this recipe is the same as any you’ve tried before, except we’ve cut more than 200 calories out of it! A few simple swaps make this appetizer just as creamy, spicy, and in demand as its gut-busting counterpart. (more…)

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Natalie K

The 15 Best Healthy Pumpkin Recipes You Haven’t Tried

Matthew Kaplan is the Editor for FaveDiets.com, a free online resource featuring hundreds of free healthy recipes, healthy cooking tips and loads more. Be sure to check out FaveDiets on Facebook and on Twitter.

Oh, pumpkins – what would fall be without you? After all, from Jack-o-lanterns to pumpkin pie, it is awfully hard to avoid those seemingly ubiquitous orange orbs this time of year. Try as you might, pumpkins are always the “it” food item this time of year.

However, while pumpkins and pumpkin dishes appear everywhere, the one place where they rarely make an appearance is the average home kitchen. This is too bad, as pumpkin recipes are delicious and, when done right, highly nutritious as well. If you have seemingly banned pumpkin from your recipe repertoire, then it’s time to reconsider. (more…)

Posted on October 22, 2023 by GuestBlogger

Infuse Your Favorite Fall Recipes with Seasonal Vegetables

Fall weather typically means cooler temperatures and heartier meals. However, eating heartier doesn’t have to mean you are eating foods that are unhealthy. You can easily use seasonal vegetables that are available this fall to add flavor and nutrition to your traditional fall recipes.

Vegetables that are available during the fall season include Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, broccoli, potatoes and turnips. For fruits, be on the look out for apples, dates, pears, kiwi and tangerines. Simply putting some of these items on your grocery list can help inspire you to infuse them into your meals. Since these items are at their peak during the fall season, you can get them at a good price and while they are at their freshest.

Below are a few ideas that incorporate seasonal produce with your everyday fall favorites.

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Posted on October 20, 2023 by Descygna

New Turnip Recipes for Delicious Fall Meals

Matthew Kaplan is the Editor for FaveDiets.com, a free online resource featuring hundreds of free healthy recipes, healthy cooking tips and loads more. Be sure to check out FaveDiets on Facebook and on Twitter.

Fall has always been such a wonderful time of the year. From the leaves changing colors and crisp weather to holidays and football games, it’s hard not to enjoy the season. To top it all off, I adore fall foods. Apples, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and more are in season, making fall all that much better.

Fall is the ideal time for root vegetables (think sweet potatoes, beets and carrots). One of my favorite root vegetables to cook with is the turnip. Sure, other root vegetables, like potatoes, may get all the glory, but try a turnip before you shun this colorful root.

If you have never seen a turnip before, first think of what a beet looks like. Now imagine if that beet was mostly white but with a light pink crown next to the greens. That’s what a turnip looks like. I find it has a subtly sweet taste when cooked, but it can be bitter if eaten raw. When buying turnips, look for smaller ones that have a smooth skin and a slightly sweet aroma. (more…)

Posted on October 10, 2023 by GuestBlogger

Top 10 Superfoods for Fall

By Melissa Breyer for Care2.com

I, for one, love the idea that there are superfoods–certain edibles that go the extra mile in terms of nutritional chutzpah. They may not leap tall buildings, but superfoods are purported to fight the evil villains of heart disease, high cholesterol, cancer and a host of other diseases. Blueberries, for example, have become a superfood darling for their powerful punch of antoxidants–and I have to say, they do seem pretty mighty to me.

That said, I think some of the trendy superfoods are stealing the spotlight from the true heart of the matter–from the everyday heroes. It seems to me that almost any grain or produce that is grown organically, unprocessed and prepared gently has much to offer. Aside from just a listing of antioxidant values, I can’t see a list of ten superfoods that earn obvious rank. In fact, if you look at 10 “Top 10 Superfoods” lists, you will see that they vary widely.

The truth is, most good food from nature is pretty super. So with that in mind, I like taking a seasonal approach. Rather than debating the merits of acai berries over goji berries, I prefer to look at what’s in season, and work with the nutritional workhorses that I can get here and now. These are my favorites for fall, based primarily on nutritional variety and strength, but that also give me that primal, sensuous satisfaction that comes with eating what’s in season:

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Posted on October 9, 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