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.”
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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It’s breakfast time and you want to start your day off right with a healthy and nutritious meal that doesn’t take long to make. You open your pantry and grab the Fiber One Original cereal. Then for lunch time, you are away from home so you run to McDonald’s and get their Premium Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken. Around 3:00, you need a snack so you snack on some Wheat Thins Fiber Selects. Then for dinner, you have some spaghetti and meatballs from Pizza Hut.
What do all of these foods have in common? They all contain wood cellulose, which means that you are eating wood. Many companies, including those listed above, use wood cellulose in their foods all the time, and therefore, you are eating wood on a fairly regular basis. It is shocking to realize that many of the foods we eat when we are trying to make healthier options are so processed that they really are not as healthy as we may have thought.
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Like any other child-at-heart, I love cereal. Whether it be a small bowl with breakfast or an afternoon handful, I simply can’t get enough. Cereal can be a good source of nutrients but it can also be an even better source of excess sugar (among other things.) While some cereals are falling to the wayside in a quest to introduce healthier foods to the masses, Fiber One has created a new option for cereal-lovers.
According to the nutrition panel, each ¾ cup serving of the Fiber One 80 Calories Honey Squares contains only 140 mg of sodium and a whopping 10 g of dietary fiber- that’s 40 percent of your recommended daily value! The ingredient list boasts whole grain corn as the number one ingredient but it also contains sucralose, which is fine in moderation although I personally prefer a natural sweetener.
It tasted great as a morning meal and I tried it with both vanilla almond milk and regular skim milk on different occasions. The texture was light and crunchy and it was very filling. I also tried it on top of a yogurt parfait and it added just the right touch of crunch without the amount of sugar that’s in the granola I usually splurge on.
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Dietitians recommend that we eat 25 to 30 grams of fiber daily, but the average American only gets less than half this amount, according to WebMD. There are many reasons why fiber is important to your health, from lowering your cholesterol to helping regulate your digestion. Plus, high-fiber diets can help you to lose weight and feel full and satisfied from fewer calories.
More and more fiber-enriched food products are popping up in grocery stores. You can find fiber-enhanced yogurt, toaster pastries and muffin mix. But are these foods as good for you as good for you as naturally occurring fibers? Nutrition scientists don’t think that fiber additives like inulin, maltodextrose and polydextrose have as many of the health benefits as naturally occurring fiber, although there is debate as to why.
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This week, we love Yoplait’s new Fiber One yogurts. From Greek to non-fat and from fruit-on-the-bottom to probiotic, there is no shortage of yogurts lining grocery store dairy cases. And while yogurt is a DietsInReview.com favorite healthy food, we are particularly excited about this new line from the yogurt gurus at Yoplait.
Each small tub contains just 50 calories, zero fat, five grams of filling fiber (that’s 20 percent of your recommended daily amount), ten percent of your calcium needs, 15 percent of your Vitamin D needs and live active yogurt cultures. Plus, this new line of Fiber One yogurts is endorsed by best-selling author and food expert, Lisa Lillien, a.k.a. Hungry Girl.
Continue reading to learn how you can try it for free, and see more of our review.
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