No, I’m not talking about a new diet from the Kardashian Klan (God, can you even imagine what that would entail?). This DASH Diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, was named the number one diet for the second year in a row by U.S. News. Though it was designed for individuals suffering from hypertension — not those specifically looking to lose weight — the diet is one of the most nutritious and most-well rounded out there.

If you’re looking to kick off 2012 by revamping your healthy eating habits, check and see if the DASH Diet works for your lifestyle.

Alas, my challenge has come to an end. But rewind a week ago and it was Thanksgiving – a pretty big hurdle as a vegan. Yeah, the whole not being able to eat Turkey thing was obvious but I didn’t know just how many Thanksgiving meals are made with eggs or milk as well, so a lot of dishes had to be made differently to make them vegan. Luckily, my family had a low-key holiday and cooked ourselves. So I got to make all sorts of vegan goodies like sweet potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, sautéed spinach and brownies. Of course we did get a tofurkey to top it all off, which was a total disappointment. But overall, I actually didn’t miss the meat and it turned out well.

The whole experience has made me want to continue with a vegan diet, but I’ve definitely had my doubts. Even as I hit my stride and it got easier toward the end, I still get tempted to just get a slice of pizza or chicken teriyaki for a quick dinner, but I try to remember that more often than not, this is what I want and after learning about the ethical reasons of veganism, that food just wouldn’t taste as good anyway.

Doing a challenge like this has actually really made me realize a few things:

1) I can do it! I know it’s cheesy to say “you can do anything you put your mind to!” but really, it’s possible to take a step totally out of your comfort zone and actually finish strong. I NEVER would have thought that I could live without chicken fingers, mac and cheese, or froyo, but I did it because…

2) Pulling it off is easier when you tell someone what you’re trying to do. In my case, I was broadcasting my challenge to all of you lovely CollegeCandy readers. But for any sort of goal you are working toward, filling someone in on it makes you feel more accountable for actually achieving it. I sure wasn’t going to chow down on a steak because I knew I’d have to come clean about it with all of you later. But sometimes…

3) Social factors can really throw you off track. Holiday traditions, going out with friends, the pressure of what everyone around you seems to be doing – all of these things can stress a girl out when she’s trying something a little different, especially if it’s something food-related. I know, it’s not groundbreaking news that any kind of dieting can be hard when you’re influenced by people around you, but this was something I hadn’t felt this extremely until this challenge. And finally…

4) Eating is not an automatic, robotic action. Giving thought to what foods I am and am not eating has made me realize how people are able to actually focus on what they choose to eat. Yes, we need to eat to survive and it is a necessary, natural thing, but a chance for people to think about what makes them feel best. I’ve definitely learned about how eating differently can totally affect my mood and body. And also that junk food and pigging out is a completely real possibility for a vegan – it’s not all kale and wheat grass – and it’s just as bad to go on a binge, even if you’re staying true to veganism!

Just because this happened to work out well for me doesn’t make me feel like some sort of crazy vegan cult recruiter. I’m not necessarily into converting people; it just makes sense the way I see it. It’s interesting to think that what people think of as the “norm” is not always the best way for everybody. It makes me wonder what other things seem normal just due to the fact that people haven’t tried it differently. So go and try something way out there that seems too hard, too weird or too unexplainable. It’s fun! And you might learn something about yourself you never would’ve before.

Pretty much what I look like now, well give or take a few pounds.

I have always been a fan of any quick fix diet plan. If there was a pill that would melt away pounds within a day, I would be first in line to buy it. So when I was perusing the web one day and happened upon the Slim Fast website, I saw an opportunity and ran with it. After all it has ‘fast’ and ‘slim’ in the name, so how bad could it be?

Within the first day I realized this was going to suck.

First let me just explain to you what it entails. Everyday you eat three snacks that are 100 calories, Slim Fast provides snack bars and the website also offers healthy 100 calorie snacks of real food you can make yourself. Then you also eat two 200 calorie meals, both are provided by Slim Fast and  you can choose between a shake or meal bar. Lastly you have one 500 calorie meal. It doesn’t seem too hard, right?

Getting the meals down wasn’t an issue, the issue was when my parents would bring home Chinese and I was sucking down a shake that tasted like chalk. Now I have a sweet tooth and it’s usually my downfall during diets. But Slim Fast has actually gotten rid of my need for sweet — every single bar and even the shake was so sickly sweet I was wishing for something savory and actually healthy.

By the third day I was ready to go off the diet and just start eating healthy, but for obvious reason I powered through and lost 3 pounds. (Now this was combined with working out, so please don’t think you can sit on your butt all day eating Slim Fast chocolate bars and milk shakes and still lose weight.)

But powering through wasn’t always easy. Or tasty. One of the things I struggled with the most was the taste of the shakes — it was like drinking melted chalk. Luckily they suggest you try it in smoothie form, which makes it much more tolerable. Once I added fresh fruit to the smoothie, it actually start to taste good.

Overall I found it a really good one week diet, I don’t think I could have done it for much longer. The plan is safe and there are plenty of calories to sustain you throughout the day. But if you do start this diet, just know that the first day is going to suck. Although, I will admit after the first day I had a lot more energy than usual.

It gave me useful tools to kick start a new healthier lifestyle. As for whether it works for you, I’ll let you be the judge of that. But when it comes to me, I not only lost weight but also got the motivation I needed to get my butt in gear. So yes, I think it works. If for no other reason then to get me into a very needed “get healthy” mode.

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I guess that whole “time flies when you’re having fun” thing really is true, because between the Justin Bieber concert and the 4th of July, this week flew on by. Let’s reflect:

- Remember that little kid from Sixth Sense? Or the boys from Boy Meets World? What the hell happened to them? We get the low-down on the cuties of the 90′s. Newsflash: they’re not such cuties anymore.

- Are you a Diet Coke fanatic? We are. Oh sweet nectar of the Gods.

- It seems like everyone has fallen in love with Bethenny Frankel from The Real Housewives of New York City. Yes, when we grow up, we all want to be Bethenny.

- Should you get implants? The Dude weighs in.

- Dating is tough, especially when you don’t want to come off as the clingy girl. So should you be channeling your inner G.I Joe? Helmets on, ladies.

- Trying to get by in the sweltering heat? CollegeCandy has the Dos and Don’ts for beating summer heat.

- When it comes to summer friends, there are 9 you should avoid at all costs, and 5 you NEED to keep around.

- Not sure if it’s time to take your friend home and put her to bed (with a bottle of water and a garbage can)? Here are 88 reasons why you should. Warning: it ain’t pretty.

- Summer = bikinis. Bikinis = Diet. Learn how to get off that weight loss plateau and lose weight the healthy way.

- The Boho looks back! Get 8 tips on how to look chic and relax for just under $20.

I’ve always known caffeine isn’t the best method to induce an energy boost, but I think it’s usually the easiest and most available choice. (Plus it’s an appetite suppressant, which satisfies the slightly calorie obsessed voice in my head.)

In an effort to make myself more nutritionally savvy and less lethargic, moody, or bitchy, I’ve uncovered which foods mend any state of mind and body. These foods are better for your bod and much more effective than the sugar/caffeine you usually turn to in your times of need.

Lacking Energy
Grab a handful of trail mix, and I’m not talking about the fattening, full-of-disgusting-preservatives kind. I mean, nuts and raisins. Nuts, like almonds, peanuts, and cashews stock the body with protein and magnesium which is important in metabolism, nerve function, and muscle function. All things we need to stay alert.

Feeling Fat
Ugh, I hate these moments and the last thing I’d ever want to do is eat. But research suggests you eat some lean meat. The protein fills you up and speeds your metabolism, which ultimately cuts cravings. High-protein diets have been proven to help build muscle and attack extra belly fat. Although I’m not sure I totally believe this one, I’m willing to give it a go.

Hanging Over
Usually when I get home from a long evening of binge drinking, I’ll eat multiple slices of pizza and chug glasses upon glasses of water. Apparently we can do more to ward off feeling like poo the next day: Drink O.J. Fructose, a sugar found in orange juice, can speed the body’s metabolism of alcohol by as much as 25%, so by morning you’ll feel almost normal. The Vitamin C also helps combat cell damage that results from excessive drinking.

Getting Laid
Unfortunately there isn’t a food out there that will ensure you get action whenever you want. However, if you need a little help getting in the “mood,” dark chocolate is the best way to go. The cocoa in chocolate contains stimulants that increase your body’s sensitivity, as well as a chemical that can give you a slight natural high. A study found that women who ate chocolate (with at lease 60% cacao), had a higher sex drive than those who didn’t. Um, any excuse to eat chocolate sounds good to me.

Working Out
In the past, I’ve been unsure about what to eat post-workout. I know it should include protein, but it’s been proven that carbs are very important too: 20-30 grams of protein along with 50-65 grams of carbohydrates help build new muscle and repair old muscle. So grab a slice of toast with peanut butter or some brown rice with chicken.

It’s kind of incredible how certain foods affect the body. Eating the right thing at the right time can make all the difference!

So, let’s bring it all out in the open. Right here. Because you are not alone - we’ve all been there before.]

You woke up early to work out before class. After an hour on the elliptical and thirty minutes in the weight room (20 of which were spent staring at the dudes at the bench press), you head home to get ready for your day. You shower, throw on a pair of jeans, and grab a yogurt and some fruit on the way out the door.

For lunch you eat a salad (with the dressing on the side), and an huge glass of water.

Your afternoon snack is a Ziploc baggie filled with Kashi and, if you really need it, a Grande coffee with 2 pumps of Sugar Free Vanilla from Starbucks.

For dinner you have a veggie burger and a baked potato. You treat yourself to a can of Diet Coke. You feel full and satisfied; all this healthy eating and living isn’t really as hard as you were expecting it to be!

While you are downing the last of your D.C. your roommate runs into the room and invites you to the bar.

“Come onnnnnn. Pleaaaase? I don’t wanna go aloooooone. I promise it will be fun. I’ll buy you drinksssss!”

You weren’t planning on going (in fact you were planning on laying in bed and watching Sister Act 2 with a bag of Smart Pop Kettle Korn), but she looks so pathetic…and you wouldn’t mind having a drink.

So, you go. And one Vodka and Soda (a very low calorie beverage) leads to two, which leads to shots, which lead to cigarettes, which lead to beers. Eventually you are too drunk to make good decisions and all that hard work you did all week is out the window. Even that dance you did to “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” can’t touch the calories you just ingested.

And then it gets worse.

When you get home you remember that whole healthy living thing you’ve been doing. You beeline to the kitchen for some carrot sticks, but it only takes one bite to realize that carrot sticks are the last thing a drunk person wants to eat. You try some whole wheat toast (ew), a bowl of cereal (nope), and even some salty pretzels (make you want to vom).

Then your roommate’s pizza gets delivered. It smells so good. Mmmm, look at that gooey cheese.

Before you know what you are doing, you are elbow deep in cheese and sauce, and dipping breadsticks into Ranch dressing. It is over in a minute, but the damage is done: 3 slices of pizza and 4 breadsticks. You begin to feel guilty (even though you know it was totally worth it), so you get up and go to bed.

In the morning you wake up feeling hung over, achy and in serious need of some water. As you get up to head to the kitchen you spot yourself in the mirror…with tomato sauce smeared across your cheek. And the whole night (especially the ending) comes rushing back to you. You quickly realize that you are going to have to get back to the gym after class.

Dammit.

Max weight loss FAST! Melt away belly fat! Lose 30 pounds in 30 days by eating more and exercising less! The Womanizer Diet: Get slim like Britney!

Unless your diet method of choice is a hearty bump of Adderall for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snack, getting/staying trim is not that easy; however, it’s also not rocket science. As a long time devotee to the business of taking care of my body, I have fully explored the spectrum of ways to stay feeling good about my body (that includes eating disorders, which is, helpful hint, not recommended.), and I found that by putting the suggestions I’ve listed below into practice, I actually lost weight in college and have kept it off since, without the aid of prescription amphetamines.

So suck on that, Britney.

Tip 1: Get off your ass

Granted, I will say that I am more of a gym addict than others, but I’m not suggesting running a marathon here. Little things like taking the stairs in your dorm instead of the elevator, or biking to class in lieu of the bus can make a huge difference. And don’t underestimate walking; a friend of mine took a job caddying and lost 25 pounds just from walking around the golf course all day. If you take every opportunity you get to squeeze in a little physical activity, I guarantee you’ll notice a difference. That said, I also recommend penciling the gym into your schedule a few times a week. Both cardiovascular and strength training are essential for peak fitness, and I can tell you from experience that nothing helps to alleviate some of that midterm stress like churning out a few miles on the treadmill.

Tip 2: Make healthy food choices whenever possible

I love to eat, especially crap food. We’re talking chocolate, chips, fries, ice cream – who doesn’t love that stuff, right? But the thing about modern America is that most of us eat it all the time, which is not only unhealthy and gluttonous, but frankly, pretty disgusting. It’s really not hard to eat healthy. The main things to remember are:

- Whole grains, most/all of the time. Seriously, refined carbs are crap. They have no nutritional value, where as whole grains are loaded with fiber, antioxidants, protein, minerals, vitamins and, in my opinion, are much more flavorful. So think whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, brown rice, high-fiber cereals. If nothing else, your digestive system will thank you.

- Fat free/low fat/low cal = good. This tip can be a little iffy because these are not all created equal. Fat free does not always equal low cal and vice versa. However, fat free dairy products such as skim milk and fat free yogurt are always preferable to the straight-out-the-udder variety (unless you’re a newborn calf, which I highly doubt is the case), and the less calories something has, the less calories you’ll have to burn off. See how that works? Science.

Eat fruits and veggies. If you don’t know this by now, I can only assume that you are a deaf, illiterate cave person raised by wolves. Low in calories, high in vitamins, minerals, and basically everything else you should be consuming, fruits and veggies are the Weezer “Blue Album” of the nutritional world; you need that sh*t.

Tip 3: Embrace the Sugar Free.

The jury is kind of out on this point, as many articles on healthy eating will tell you that consuming sugar free items like diet soda will actually make you feel hungrier and therefore more likely to overeat. Also, conclusive studies on the long-term effects of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharine on the body have yet to be conducted, but from personal experience, I can tell you that when I was writing an essay at 11 pm and was JONESING for something sweet, a Diet Cherry Coke totally did the job and left me feeling not icky/bad about myself. I guess check back with me in 20 years to see if I have brain cancer, but for now I’m stickin’ with Splenda.

Tip 4: Reevaluate your drinking habits.

I’m from the Midwest, so lord knows I know the lure of a good, thick beer, but if you’re pounding back ten to twenty of them 4 days a week, chances are it’s affecting your body. Calorie-wise, liquor with a low cal mixer like diet soda or tonic is a much better option, as is interspersing beverages with glasses of water, which has the added benefit of severely cutting down on your chances of waking up to find yourself sprawled out in an unfamiliar bathtub. For you ladies who don’t want to give up your frosty brew, Michelob Light and Amstel Light are both decent lower cal options that don’t skimp on flavor. Or you could just not drink as much. And, like, give up all your worldly possessions and join a convent. Whatever your steeze is.

Tip 5: Read labels

If you haven’t caught wise to this tip already, you’ll be amazed at what food labels have to tell you. So many foods that claim/appear to be good for you are so totally not. The first thing to check out is the calorie content versus the serving size. If the calorie content seems high in comparison to the serving size (ex: 180 calories in a half cup of granola!), you might want to think it over before digging in, keeping in mind that the recommended daily calorie count for ladies is somewhere around 1800 calories. The second feature to look at is the ingredient list. If one of the first few things listed is refined flour or corn syrup, check out similar products to see if you can’t find something less junky.

I realize that in the high-stress, heavy-drinking, cheap-eats atmosphere of college life, it’s easy to put your body on the back burner. But as a girl who’s been there, I can assure you that if you put these tips in to practice, you’ll discover that exercising a little awareness surprisingly easy, and reaps excellent results both in body and in mind. Stay posi, ladies!

Well, now researchers at UC San Diego have performed the first U.S. gastrectomy, a procedure where 80 percent of the stomach is removed, through an area that should never have anything other than a baby coming out of it.

Yup, that’s right, they removed a chunk of stomach through a woman’s vagina.

All in the name of weight loss.

I was baffled after reading this and had to find out details… Apparently, the procedure is very promising for the future of obesity surgery. According to the article, “This new ‘natural orifice’ technique may be an attractive alternative for the 200,000 U.S. patients who undergo surgery for the treatment of obesity each year.”

I’m sorry, but I think I’ll keep my ‘natural orifice’ off limits as an exit route for parts of my insides. But maybe that’s just me. The article goes on to note some positives about the procedure for those who have specific complications that would prevent them from getting the surgery any other way.

What do you think? Would you ever consider this?

Needless to say, I could stand to lose a few pounds. But more than that, I want to feel better about myself and the food choices I make. I can live with an extra pound or two, but I’d rather not have the diabetes or high blood pressure that runs in my family.

The problem is, I’m in college, and my budget is always tight. Running from class to work to home, sometimes all I can do is grab something fast and it has seemed as though there was almost nothing out there quick, cheap, and healthy.

It’s true that eating and cooking at its healthiest is not a cheap feat nor is it necessarily quick, but it’s absolutely doable on a college student budget. Here are some quick tips to stretch your wallet without stretching your stomach.

Stop eating out. At least as much as you can. Not only do even the cheapest meals add up money-wise, they are most often fairly bad for you. When you cook at home, you have more control over portion, and what you use to cook with.

Eat and plan your meals before you go shopping. So you won’t be tempted to buy something on impulse and you can have an idea of how much each item you need is going to cost, thereby fitting it better into your budget. Also, look at mailouts and try to plan your meals around sales. This website has some good recipe ideas

Replace soda and sugary fruit juices with water and skim milk.

And stop buying bottled water. It’s bad for the environment and tap water is actually more regulated that bottled, so its better for you. Sometimes bottled water is just water from a local municipal supply, anyway.

Buy produce from a farmer’s market, if you have access to one

Start making your lunch and bringing it with you to school/work.

Buy in bulk, especially meat that you can freeze.

Stock up on cheap, basic items like pasta and rice that will last for a relatively long time and can be paired with a meat or veggie to make a quick meal.

Here are some websites with more tips:

Eating to Thrive

Eating Healthy on an Unhealthy Budget

The Diet Channel

[Any other healthy / cheap food ideas? Do share!!]