Big changes for Law and Order: SVU!

The best of the best: Maybelline beauty.

80% sure Mariah is with child.

The 12 coolest mascots in college football.

Don’t eat that: the worst foods in America.

The Situation’s got a vodka line now.

Unfortunately, though, we’re only 23 days in and most people will toss their lofty hot-body goals out the window in only a few more weeks. And who can blame them? Losing weight and getting fit isn’t easy and most of us probably aren’t doing it right.

Thankfully, there’s a really helpful book to aid in this giant transition.

I’m sure everyone reading this has heard of Dr. Oz before. If not, then get out from under that rock! Dr. Oz got his start as Oprah’s go-to health guru and has now graduated to his own daytime medical show. People love Dr. Oz because he’s cute (at least to moms), smart and really breaks down the confusing stuff about our bodies and health in a way we can all understand. He also happens to talk about poop, which is probably what attracted most people in the first place.

Anyways, my mom is a health-nut, so naturally she owns every single one of Dr. Oz’s books (with the exception of YOU Having a Baby, thank god ) and she raves about them. While home, bored, and tempted to eat another brownie last weekend, I spotted my mom’s copy of YOU on a Diet and decided to see what all the fuss was about. If Dr. Oz could take the entire country by storm perhaps he had something useful to say. And maybe reading a book about health would distract me long enough that I wouldn’t eat an entire tray of brownies.

YOU on a Diet is written like a toned-down textbook. It’s got all the essentials from physiology, anatomy, nutrition, etc, without all that boring and confusing medical jargon. It’s not dumbed down in any way – just straightforward enough that everyone can understand what’s going on.

The book is broken down into 4 great sections: What a Waist!, The Biology of Fat, The Science of the Mind and The YOU Diet and Activity Plan. In the first three, you learn about EVERYTHING to do with dieting, from how food travels through your body to the psychological impact of a failed diet. Dr. Oz’s goal is to really teach what’s going on in our bodies so we understand what will work and what won’t work when we finally start section four, the diet. Having this knowledge, according to this book, will allow us to make informed decisions and truly be successful at maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

This book was incredibly informative and even interesting. It didn’t really feel like I was reading some boring textbook, but I still took so much great information from it. And I have definitely changed the way I approach food and my body.

If you are having trouble sticking to that Cabbage Soup diet or don’t really trust those shakes the Kardashians are pushing, You on a Diet is a really great read.  It will teach you how to not only appreciate your body, but about the processes of eating, exercise and metabolism. In the immortal words of Schoolhouse Rock, “Knowledge is power” and that is certainly the case when it comes to your health!

Because they did such a good job convincing us before…

Will all this practice really help Heidi Montag?

Glamour magazine celebrates real women.

Japanese TV is…interesting.

Don’t eff with Oprah, people.

Billy Ray likes Miley’s pole dancin’ ways.

As a freshman, you might have been awed by the mere expanse of food before you. Inspired by the hustle and bustle of upperclassmen milling expertly around the different food stations, you were elated to find that dessert is served at every meal. But come October, the honeymoon glow dimmed to a faint flicker, and your affair with the dining hall turned into something of a mess.

The economic, all-you-can-eat style buffet, serving food that is generally fatty, sugary, and over-processed, leads many collegiates to pack on the pounds as they struggle to navigate this danger zone. Whether you’re shoveling tasteless food as fast as you can to make a class in ten minutes, or leisurely enjoying a couple hours of all-access binging while chatting with friends, the cafeteria offers a wide variety of ways to overindulge. Here are a couple of tricks to help you avoid the pitfalls of college dining:

1. Survey the Scene. Make a tour of the available options of the day so that you don’t load up on all the stuff at the beginning of the line, only to have to nab a second plate for the food at the next station.

2. Use Your Head. You’re in college. You know that salad is healthier than a cheese steak. Make sure that you fill up on foods that are high in fiber, with good protein and complex carbohydrate content, like big leafy salads with lots of veggies, or a sandwich on whole grain bread. In general, limiting fat is a good idea, though there are such things as “good” fats (think avocadoes, or fatty fish, like salmon). Beware though: things that should generally be high in fat and sugar (like cookies or chips) but that claim to be healthier versions are generally just loaded up with sodium and artificial sweeteners, which are TERRIBLE for your body.

3. Subsitution When You Can, Moderation When You Can’t. What this little motto means is that, if you’re happy to enjoy an apple instead of your banana-split sundae, that’s a great way to cut down on sugar- and caloric-intake (obviously). But if you really just can’t make this switch, be sure to observe moderation, whether that means only eating half the portion offered, or maybe even just a couple of bites.

4. DON’T Deprive Yourself. If you’ve ever tried a diet that demands you give up all the “bad” (and often delicious) foods you enjoy, you know that these sort of cold-turkey routines fail. When they do, they leave you diving for the forbidden food, only to gobble up five times the amount that would normally have satisfied you.

This lesson is very relevant in a dining hall setting, where chances are menus will repeat on a bi-weekly basis. Don’t get caught up in the famine-mentality that tells you to eat everything you can now because you’ll never be able to eat this meal again. If you really enjoy a particular dish made at your dining hall, don’t deprive yourself. But if it happens to be a full-fat macaroni and cheese, or a double fudge brownie the size of your knee, make sure that you limit how much you allow yourself to indulge (see tip 3).

Yum.

Well, Dr. Oz has a daughter and she is awesome. She also happens to be an expert in healthy living in college and shares her expertise with you in her book, “The Dorm Room Diet.”

The Freshman 15 has no chance when you have Daphne Oz on your side.

She will be guest blogging with us this week and sharing great tips for surviving the cafeteria and fitting workouts in between all that partying studying.

If you are struggling with the free ice cream in the caf., stick around – Daphne’s got your back.

I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Anyways, I don’t know about you but I know that I am pretty careful when using the bathroom. I lay TP down on the seat before I sit down, flush the toilet with my foot, and never (EVER!) put my handbag on the floor.

But until I saw this new invention, I never even considered the gross factor that is the toilet paper dispenser.

Who knows who/what has touched that thing? And the long strip of paper hanging out from the roll when you get in there? Lord knows where that’s been dangling. I don’t even want to think about it.

Okay, I just did and now I’m getting sick again.

This invention is awesome. Not only does it prevent me from having to actually interact with the toilet paper roll, but it is also a great force of conservation, considering how much toilet paper people waste. People like me, unfortunately, who have to wrap the entire seat before settling in.

I just hope they get these at my neighborhood bars ASAP. I may still have to play the game of “Vomit or Some-Other-Gross-Substance” in the stall, but at least I won’t have to touch a thing.