Although it may not feel like it (what up gloves in March), but summer is coming. And with summer comes tank tops, short shorts and bikinis. You know you want to start getting in shape for all those beach photos, but you also know you’re not ready to cut out all your favorite snacks. After all, what is life without ice cream or cheese? What is a night out without beer followed by the drunk munchies.

Here are some suggestions on how to make your favorite and most unhealthy foods a little bit healthier. Although it’s not exactly the same, these options are still tasty AND they don’t include that guilty feeling in the pit of your stomach when you wake up the next morning spooning an empty pizza box. Trust me, you’ll thank yourself in June, when you’re feeling totally fabulous in that new string bikini.

You don’t need to give up your favorite junky foods while you’re trying to slim down — just keep these tweaks in mind and you’ll be cutting down on a lot of unwanted calories!

There’s really nothing better for a busy college girl than a dinner that tastes fantastic but took less than 15 minutes to make. Unfortunately, the two are almost mutually exclusive in my mind. I say “almost” because I can think of at least one notable exception: taco salad.

When I was a kid, taco salad was one of my favorite dinners. My mom would sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese on tortilla chips and pop them in the oven to make nachos, and we would eat the nachos as an appetizer while she made the taco salad. When we were done downing the nachos, the salad was ready to eat.

I love taco salad so much that sometimes I make the mistake of ordering it when I go out to eat. There’s nothing wrong with that—it’s usually pretty delicious—but then I remember that I can make almost exactly the same thing at home for a fraction of the cost. If you like restaurant taco salad, too, give this recipe a try. Read More »

Your mind says no, but your body says yes, yes, yes!

About to pop the lid off of that pint of Ben and Jerry’s? Ripping open a huge bag of salty chips? Read this before digging in.

New findings from the University of Texas Southwestern’s Medical Center suggest that the fat found in certain foods actually make their way to your brain before they add the dreaded cellulite to your hips and thighs. Once there, they order the brain to send messages to your body’s cells, telling them to ignore the appetite-suppressing signals that stop us from stuffing our faces (well, sometimes).

And the worst part? This only happens when you’re eating good (read: bad) food, so you’ll end up overeating foods high in calories and fat instead of healthy options like fruits or veggies. Read More »

Dodgeball. Track and field day. Recess… There was a time when these words were what made us tick, when all that mattered was whether you could feasibly be cast as your favorite Disney princess. That, of course, along with what was packed in your lunchbox.

Hot lunch was only cool on pizza and chicken nugget days in my hometown, with macaroni and cheese in as close a third as possible. So rather than stash our hot lunch tickets in our Lisa Frank pencil cases, the obvious choice was hardly your choice at all. Your parents packed it, and you ate it, so they thought. But we all know better. Lunch was a trading game.

Long before we were coveting Gucci bags and Tory Burch flats, ladies, there was a time where the following items were the only accessories of importance. Below are my top five snack foods from childhood lunches, most of which I had to argue my parents for, or trade for:

1) Little Debbie ANYTHING. Zebra Cakes, Swiss Cake Rolls, lots of cake-age going on. These were the crème-de-la-crème of snacking and what made suffering through yet another PB&J worthwhile. Read More »

Have you cracked out the hot dogs yet? The chips? The sparklers that you fully intend to try and burn your friends with? Well, us too. July 4th — even if you do nothing but stare at a grill for three hours or eat coleslaw with your fingers while watching fireworks on TV — is a day that just yells celebration. It’s summer. It’s a long weekend. Watermelon is in abundance…what isn’t there to love?

Well, apparently, one of your editors has found something not to love. The very thing many of us equate with the 4th…

Read More »

I’ve decided that the person that came up with the saying “easier said than done” must have been dieting at the time. This, easily, is one of the most difficult things I’ve done. I’m realizing slowly but surely that I can’t just eat healthily and everything’ll be fine; I need a total lifestyle overhaul. So I decided to sit down and think about the things I do that I know contribute to my weight. And as much as exercise and genes and lifestyle flashed into my mind, the thing that never left it was food.

I’ve always been a do-something person. Either I’m doing something, doing several somethings, or I’m not doing anything. I spend a lot of time at the computer or reading, and I always feel like I should be doing something else – specifically, eating. I think about food a lot, and thusly end up snacking a lot.

If I’m reading for class, I’m munching on gummi bears. If I’m writing a paper, I’m crunching away at chips. If I’m watching Project Runway, I’m chowing down on popcorn. I’ve pretty much conditioned myself that I can’t do something without eating. I eat when I’m bored. And we won’t even get into comfort eating. Read More »

So usually, I bring you a recipe or two each week that won’t cut into your tv time and will save that cash of yours to be spent on more important things (like Soko lime shots)

But, when the weekend rolls around and we spend our days hung-over and hungry on the couch, let’s be real, the last thing we are going to do is cook.

Enter… my favorite munchies I’ve discovered that are yummy and healthy(ish)

Better N Peanut Butter: This all natural treat is made out of peanuts, but has only 100 calories and 2.5 grams of fat per serving. While it doesn’t taste exactly like its cousin, PB, it’s close enough, and is a great alternative (also great in smoothies, or when cooking to get that PB flavor without the PB fat)

Trader Joe’s Flax Seed Chips. They look like tortilla chips, they taste even better and they come in different flavors. While they are higher in Calorie (140 per serving), they are full of complex carbs, are all natural and hits the salty-craving spot. Read More »

Against my wishes, Wilmer Valderrama is still famous.

IMDB says he’s got 4 movies coming out, including a remake of CHIPs where he plays Ponch.

Plus, he’s got that show on MTV…that show that makes me want to vomit in my hand and then throw it at the TV; Yo Mamma. A program so lame, so boring, and so repetitive, it has to potential to push viewers into an immediate coma.

I didn’t always wish Valderrama would go away. Years ago, when he was just starting on That 70’s Show, I thought he was adorable. Hilarious, too. But everything changed when he started dating Lindsay. His attitude and ego soared (although maybe they had already been that way?), he oozed skeeze, and was talking trash about harmless little Mandy Moore.

Then he started to design $80 T-shirts, and then…Yo Mamma. Read More »