Finals are done, break is here, and Christmas songs are a playin’.  Life is as sweet as mom’s home-made apple pie.  As we enjoy this holiday season, with the glistening, bright lights, beautifully decorated Christmas trees, and much needed home-cooked food, it is also time to start planning those annual New Year’s resolutions.  As a senior in college, I can report from experience that there is a prevailing rationalization among my peers that, given its deleterious consequences on one’s health, clearly needs to stop. Hence, a perfect New Year’s resolution.  The rationalization spoken among my peers goes very much like this:

“Because I am young and in college, I can now treat my body like crap and get away with it.  After all, college really is only about three things: studying, relationships and overindulgence.  Heck everyone else is drinking to what would technically be considered alcoholism in the real world, indulging in all-you-can-eat dining halls, pulling all-nighters and living off of coffee and candy in between.  What is socially acceptable must be okay! I’m still healthy because [insert a plethora of excuses here].”

If this sounds a bit like you, I’m going to bring you back to reality.  Even if you feel reasonably fine now, this lifestyle will surely lead to ill health in the long run and will just perpetuate bad health habits post graduation. There is a reason why over two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese and cancer and heart disease rates are skyrocketing. Our bodies cannot handle the stresses we are placing on them over time and the long-term effects are sure to appear if we do not take action NOW to protect ourselves.

After all, there is nothing more empowering than taking care of oneself and feeling great. Why not make this year’s New Year’s resolution about just that?  Here’s a list of suggestions, along with motivating facts, to make a healthy New Year’s resolution become a reality: Read More »

Sodium is like that annoying, socially awkward kid who just can’t take a hint. No matter where you go, he’s there, usually sporting some short jorts, trying to get your attention.  He knows he’s not welcome, at least he should,  but he can’t take a hint. And then you’re bloated.

OK, so I might be mixing up my analogy here (I don’t think sodium wears cut-offs or weird kids make you retain water), but you get my point: sodium is annoying, it’s bad for you and it happens to be in everything. Which might be tasty, but is also a problem when we’re only supposed to consume around 2,300 mg of sodium a day (which is basically a teaspoon of salt). Besides the other harmful effects sodium has on the body (think high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, etc), the biggest offender – especially in bikini season – is bloating.

Blah. Bloating. Even the word sounds fat.

Summer bloat is every girl’s worst nightmare. No matter how hard we hit the gym to get fit for summer, that extra water retention always manages to come back and haunt us right before we hit the beach. So how can we prevent it? Easy, avoid sodium. And how do we avoid sodium? Well, you gotta know where to find it….

On average, only 5% of our daily sodium intake is from adding salt into our foods. The real culprits are processed and prepared foods. A whopping 77% of our daily sodium intake comes from these foods! In my personal war against all bloat-inducing-foods (BIFs?), I’ve come across a few unlikely salt culprits that you should consider before slipping on your bikinis this summer – and probs during the rest of the year too. Read More »

While I have not done an algebra equation since the 10^th grade my stomach still churns in the same way every time I attempt to decode the nutrition facts on my favorite foods. Reading food labels can leave any head spinning with questions about daily caloric intakes and serving sizes (especially knowing that some of them are way off!). But navigating a food label doesn’t have to be as hard as finding a decent guy on a college campus; with this simple guide you will have the power to understand any ingredient that comes your way and make instantly healthier choices in the grocery aisles.

Let’s start at the beginning and work our way down.

Serving Size: Ever wonder why the French are so skinny? They actually pay attention to the word “serving.” Don’t be deceived by products that look like one serving size; there can actually be two or three servings packed in! The facts on the nutrition label are based on one serving; if you are planning on two, plan to double all the info on that sucker. Read More »

We all feed our stomachs daily, but are we really giving them what they want and deserve?

Sometimes it’s hard to fit healthy food into a busy schedule, making it even harder for us to keep our digestive tract happy and healthy.  Unfortunately, one of the most common side effects of an unhappy tum-tum is bloating (ew).  Luckily, with a few easy tweaks to our diet, we can get on our way towards a fitter and flatter stomach.

Tummy Tip #1: Drink tons of water.  Water is probably the closest thing to a silver bullet you’ll ever find.  Not only does it improve the look of your skin and stimulate mental clarity, it also aids in digestion.  This translates into a flatter, bloat-free stomach for you.  Make sure you’re getting enough agua by listening to some advice from the Institute of Medicine.  They recommend that the lovely ladies, like ourselves, drink about 9 cups of H20 a day.

Tummy Tip #2: Hold the salt. As a general rule of thumb, wherever salt goes water will follow.  This is good for maintaining a good balance of minerals in the blood, but can be bad when it comes to belly bloat.  You don’t have to cut out salt completely to diminish bloating, but try to avoid overly salty foods like chips, canned soups, frozen meals, and salted nuts. Read More »

Now that half my friends are on a diet, thanks to effing New Years, I have to share something with y’all. You know that bathroom scale that you get on every morning? It’s lying to you. You heard me. It’s lying. So, everyone can just stop freaking out about what it told you this morning, because it probably isn’t true.

There are a multitude of factors, from water consumption to plain old hormones, that can artificially – and temporarily – affect that ever important number on the scale, anywhere from 1-5 pounds in a day.

#1. Water water water.

Water can affect your weight in a couple of ways: drinking too much, and not enough. As a substance, water is pretty heavy, so if you drink a couple big glasses, you’ll see an immediate impact on your weight. On the other hand, dehydration can also lead to a higher number, because it causes the body to retain what water it does have (it thinks there’s a draught or something?). Our bodies are made of 60% water, so any changes in that arena are going to have a noticeable impact overall.

#2 Food

This one seems so obvious, but people sometimes forget that food weighs as much in your stomach as it does on your plate, at least initially. Take that into account when you step on the scale, or better yet, wait ’til you’ve digested before you get anywhere near it. Read More »