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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!

People can be monsters, and I don’t mean in the Lady Gaga sense. They can be downright vicious to others without even realizing the irreversible damage they cause in the process. Though I keep it hidden away in a corner of my mind, I have a lot of memories of this kind of often subtle ruthlessness. I spent most of my young life as “the fat girl.” This is what I remember.

I remember the rough cobblestone steps leading up to my grade school. I sat on them clinging my green vinyl lunchbox for all of recess when my classmates didn’t want to play with the fat new girl.

I remember how my first grade teacher would scowl and scrunch up her dark eyes when she watched me trying to tie my shoes. “How you struggle!” She sneered. She didn’t realize how much.

I remember how other kids in the school would pass me in the hallway and say, quite simply, “You’re fat.” Cue my self-consciousness forever.

I remember how my teachers would pass out school pictures to the class when they came back from the photographer. I knew I was about to get mine when they tightened their lips and dropped their eyes. Then they’d hand my pictures to me with the clear cellophane window face-down. They were that bad. Read More »

Always looking for new ways to curb your appetite and shed those stubborn pounds? Now that bikini season’s among us (or at least among those of us that don’t live on the East Coast, where it’s been raining for about 10 days now), finding a way to cut calories and look good on the beach is on everyone’s mind. Enter Sensa: tiny edible granules that, when sprinkled on food, are supposed to enhance the smell and taste of your meal and send olfactory messages your brain that make you fuller faster. What’s more, they release hormones that are supposed to suppress your appetite so that you’re not a member of the “clean plate club” at every meal.

A recent article in the New York Times quotes Dr. Alan Hirsch, the maker of Sensa, who says that you become full when your brain senses that you’ve smelled and tasted something. Basically, you’re tricking your body into thinking it’s satisfied before you get the chance to overeat. So I can sniff that glazed donut, maybe take a few bites, and feel no need to eat the rest? No more burrito binges?  No more digging into my pasta face first?

Where do I buy these magical crystals?! Read More »

[Jill has been dabbling in the 4 Day Diet and sharing her journey with us. We saw her first week and the challenges she faced on week 2.  She faced some challenges in week 3 and now she's finally dunzo. And happy about it.]

So I finished the month.

And while I think the 4-Day Diet has its positives and is a great eating plan for people new to the health/weight loss game, I realized why I don’t succeed on programs like this:

I become obsessed with food.

I stare at my food list 12 times a day and spend the rest of my time constantly thinking about my next meal or snack. Result: I think I’m hungry (always) when I’m not. And that’s not the best feeling when you are trying to lose a few pounds, eh?

The thing is, I know how to eat healthy and I know what I should and shouldn’t be doing. I personally did not need someone to tell me what kinds of foods are good for me and what are not. I just needed to stop eating the crap I knew was bad. Read More »

I hate diets. I do. I don’t believe in them. I think diets just lead to breaking diets which leads to eating a whole lot of pizza and then feeling guilty about it. And I don’t think anyone should feel guilty for indulging in the deliciousness that is pizza every now and then.

So imagine my own surprise when I found myself buying a copy of Dr. Ian Smith’s new “diet” The Four Day Diet last week.

Fact is, these past two years, I have been in a constant fight with my weight. It goes up 5 pounds it goes down 4 it goes up 3 it goes down 1. It fluctuates more than Christina Aguilera’s voice on any given song. I can’t seem to successfully lose and keep off these last couple of pounds. Even though I do eat pretty healthy. Even though I workout 5-6 days a week. Even though I know the importance of complex carbs. And lots of veggies. And fiber. Oh boy do I know about fiber. I’ve read it all – I know the spiels.

So after realizing that complaining about the lack of results doesn’t do me any good and just makes those around me more miserable, I decided that I wanted to do something to give my body (and my metabolism) the real kick in the ass that it needs. Something to get back on track, clean my act up a bit to start seeing progress again. I know it’s cliché to start some sort of weight loss resolution in January, but here it goes. I’m trying it out. And blogging about it for you here.

The 4 Day Diet drew me in because it seems simple. And it’s just that- only 4 days. Well, 4 days at a time. There are 7 modules each lasting for only 4 days. Surely I can stick to something for 4 days! It works out perfectly: just when you get sick of eating one way you switch it up. Read More »

This is probably going to sound crazy to a lot of you, but I promise, the underlying principle of what I’m about to write is worth while.

According to telegraph.co.uk, The University of Wisconsin-Madison recently did a little study about food consumption. The study required participants to take pictures of their food before eating it, which  would have sounded ridiculous 10 years ago, but let’s face it – digital cameras and Macbooks make it easier than ever to take pictures on a whim. After reviewing their findings,  researchers at Wisconsin-Madison concluded that photographing meals does in fact aid an individual in losing weight.

Do I think you should literally photograph all of your meals before eating?  I mean, not unless you’re compiling some sort of ironic food-on-the-table coffee-table book.  But I do think that you should take a mental picture of the things you eat before you eat them.

Ask yourself how the picture would look. Read More »

I was 14. My parents were getting a divorce. My father was also simultaneously dating a new woman. I was fighting with my brother all the time. So what did I do instead of properly dealing with my feelings? I internalized it and took it out on myself.

I was never a heavy person, but at 14, I was 5’8’’ and 160 lbs. Sounds big, I know, but I was a competitive swimmer and full of muscle. I used to eat whatever I wanted; I swam seven days a week so I had a good balance…I wasn’t heavy, but not stick thin, and I was happy with the way I looked. But when I abruptly quit swimming as a rebellion against my father, I realized that my eating of whatever I wanted had to come to a hault. I couldn’t snack on McDonalds Chicken Nuggets if I wasn’t spending two hours a day in a pool.

It started gradually…not sitting with my parents at the dinner table because I was upset, throwing lunches out that my mom made me at school, and making subtle attempts at lessening my food intake. Eventually, I narrowed it down to eating one single Pop-Tart or small sandwich a day…any single item with enough nutrients to get me through.

I also started stationary biking every day as a way to add exercise to my already starved body. I biked around 8 miles a day and did 400 crunches, so any food intake I did have was quickly wasted away by burning these calories. If I needed a boost to keep myself going, I’d pop a few sugar candies. Read More »

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I get asked about my diet a whole lot. As my peers are getting older every year (because I am…and you are, too), it’s become progressively more difficult for lots of my lady friends to keep the figures that they want. But, some way or another, it’s become easier for me.

I used to eat whatever I wanted and exercised only when I wanted to. My metabolism was sickly fast and I just figured I was healthy because I was skinny. Over the past few years, I have slowly learned to eat right and to exercise right, too. Now that it’s a part of my routine, it’s easier than ever to be healthy.

BUT I still need to be unhealthy here and there. Some people I know can eat healthy 24-7 without any screw-ups. I am not one of those people. My diet regime that I get asked about so much actually DOES include days where I eat all of the wrong stuff. I have these days maybe once every week or two and nothing sets me back on track for healthy eating faster than a day filled with fried food and chocolate treats.

Are they good for my arteries and liver? Hell no.

Am I being unhealthy by indulging in these days? Hell yes.

But I still feel as though I am better off throwing these days in here and there (and savoring my sweets) than to always wonder what I’m missing, or living a bland life full of carrots and bottled water.

Here is a typical day’s worth of food for me: Read More »