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 All Entries For habits of healthy eaters Habits of Healthy Eaters: Pack Snacks When You Travel
By the time you read this, I'll be somewhere between Cincinnati and Istanbul, reuniting with a dear friend and starting an adventure two years in the making.  Want to Lose Weight? Keep It Simple.
I've always been an advocate for learning to eat healthy instead of learning to "diet". Diets teach most people to eat in ways that they can't sustain forever. It can be easy to lose weight, but as soon as you go back to eating normally, the weight comes right back. Learning to eat a healthy, balanced diet means that you make good choices most of the time. You learn what kinds of foods are important parts of your daily nutrition, and which ones should be eaten in moderation. When you first start eating this way, it can take some time and label-reading. But eventually, it becomes an easy way of living.  Want Bacon On That? I'll Pass, Thanks.
I'll admit it: I'm a total snob when it comes to processed meats. I like the taste of hot dogs and salami as much as the next person, and I used to eat those foods frequently. But when I got pregnant 4 years ago, I became much more conscious of the foods I eat and what is in them. Now I'm a label reader, and if something has a long list of strange ingredients in it, I won't eat it. Consequently, I won't serve it to my kids, either.  Putting Foods Off-Limits Can Sabotage Your DietDo you ever notice that as soon as you decide a certain food is "off-limits", it's the food you crave more than any other? For me, it's cake- specifically, yellow cake with lots of white icing. My husband's birthday is coming up, and I always make his favorite cake (which happens to be yellow cake with white icing.) He's content to eat one or two pieces, and then be done with it. I tell myself that I shouldn't eat any of it, because the less I have, the less I'll want. But as soon as I do that, I find myself thinking about how good it would taste, and usually I end up caving in and indulging more than I should. A new study shows that restricting certain foods increases the positive feelings associated with those foods. The more you make a food off-limits, the more tasty and delicious it sounds. Read More Extra Helpings: Out of Sight, Out of Mouth
Eating dinner as a family is very important to me. I grew up in a home where we sat down for dinner together for dinner, and I've carried that tradition on to my own family. I also grew up in a house where the food was left on the stove, you served yourself and brought your plate to the table. That's a tradition I've also carried on, although it's been more of a habit than an intentional practice. New research shows that practice could be saving my family from eating more than we really want or need.  Poll: Do You Struggle With Social Eating?
Whenever I spend time with friends, the gathering almost always revolves around eating. "Want to meet for dinner?" "How about coming over and we'll order a pizza?" It's rare that my friends and I do something together where food is not involved. I find it pretty easy to stay on track with a healthy diet when I'm eating at home. But when I get around other people, if they are ordering dessert I feel more of a reason to do it, too. If they finish their food, it gives me more of a reason to clean my plate even if I'm not hungry. Even though it's not direct peer pressure, social eating has a strong influence on the choices many of us make.  5 Secrets to Staying Trim from the One of the World's Healthiest Countries
Japan has one of the lowest rates of obesity in the world--less than 5 percent, compared to nearly 35 percent for the United States. How do the Japanese stay so slim? Journalist Alice Gordenker (USAGITWO) blogs in from Tokyo to share Japanese diet and health secrets – ones you too can use!
 Binge Eating to Become an Official Mental Disorder
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has just released a preliminary draft of the revisions planned for it’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). This is the manual that medical and mental health professionals use to determine when individuals are suffering from a mental illness, rather than a temporary emotional or situational problem. It’s also used by insurance companies to determine which illnesses and treatments they will cover.  Have You Found Your “Inner Normal Eater”?
One of the goals of making a “lifestyle change” (as opposed to going on a diet) is to develop a healthy relationship with food and eating that feels normal, comfortable, usually enjoyable, and relatively easy to maintain over time.  Habits of Healthy Eaters: Celebrate Holidays for One Day
In these modern days, with busy lives, blended families, and packed social calendars, the holidays would be better named the holi-weeks.  Poll: Would You Try the Cookie Diet?When it comes to weight loss, so many people are looking for a quick fix. They want to lose weight fast, easily, and don't necessarily consider the long-term. Am I making changes I can live with for the rest of my life? Am I creating new habits that are healthy? Those aren't always questions people consider when deciding they need to shed some extra pounds. Read More One More Reason To Drink Your WaterI'm routinely asked why SparkPeople focuses so much on drinking water. The idea that you need to drink 8 glasses a day is a myth, right? Although the amount of water you should consume varies from person to person, there are a lot of reasons to make sure you're getting enough. If you're looking for a few, a new study confirms that water drinkers tend to have better diets. Read More The Pressure To Be Thin Is Starting SoonerGrowing up, I remember seeing girls at the local swimming club and wondering why I didn't look like them. I never had a big weight problem (just a stubborn belly that has carried through to my adulthood), but my mom was a constant dieter and there were others around me who worried about what they were eating and how much they weighed. That was at a time when "normal" did not mean you had to be stick-thin, and there wasn't the airbrushing and Photoshopping of magazine covers like you see today. Some of those feelings about my body have continued through my life, so I can't imagine what that pressure is like for young girls these days. New research comparing then and now provides some interesting insights. Read More Poll: Do You Eat More When You're at Home or Away?
I'm writing this from Chicago, where I am currently enjoying a wonderful long weekend with my boyfriend. We've been doing plenty of walking, eating plenty of great food and doing plenty of yoga (well, just me)!  Study Says Parents' Diet Doesn't Influence Kids: Do You Agree?I've always worked hard to set a good example for my kids when it comes to food choices. I try to make fruits and vegetables a staple in our diet and prepare meals that are generally healthy. But a new study says my hard work might not payoff, because kids aren't paying attention to the example their parents are setting. Read More |
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