Best Fitness Blog

... By Karli Taylor

Diet is DIE with a T on the end of it… How many times have you heard that one? As the temperature rises, we start to think a little bit more about those extra few pounds that have snuck on around our middles and we start throwing around that D word. The last thing any of us want to do is go on a diet, right? Luckily there are ways to ban that bulge without taking drastic measures. The trick: Eat just a little bit less every day at every meal.

In fact, by cutting out just 100 calories each day, you'll lose more than 10 pounds a year. Up that to 250 calories and you're down 26 pounds! Need it gone sooner? Cut 500 calories daily and you'll drop those 26 pounds in half the time. Keep reading for some easy ways to give up a little to lose a lot.

At Breakfast:

• Use skim milk in place of cream in your coffee.
• Eat a bowl of high-fiber cereal and you'll consume fewer calories all day.
• Order bacon, not sausage, with your eggs.
• Order your toast dry and put on your own butter- just one serving

At Lunch:

• Use 1 tablespoon of mayo and 1 tablespoon of low-fat cottage cheese to make tuna salad.
• Put barbecue sauce, not honey mustard, on your chicken sandwich at your favorite fast food joint.
• Top your burger with onions, lettuce, and tomato and skip the cheese.
• Ask for the 12-ounce small soda instead of the 21-ounce medium at the drive-through.
• Slim down your sandwich by using Arnold Select 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins instead of whole wheat bread.
• Toss your salad with 1 tablespoon of dressing until every lettuce leaf is coated. You'll get away with using half the usual serving size. Try this trick at dinner too.
• Choose thin crust pizza with veggies on top instead of regular with meat toppings

At Dinner:

• Choose EITHER butter OR sour cream for your potato
• Skip the bread before the meal OR if the bread is your favorite part, skip the potato that comes with your entrée
• Ask for sauces on the side and when you prepare food at home, go easy on the oil, cream and butter in your sauce- use stock instead
• Have a big salad before you start your entrée
• Drink water with dinner instead of something caloric
• Stop eating after your first helping and wait at least 15 minutes before helping yourself to seconds. If you are eating out, eat half of what’s on your plate and do the same thing.

Any of your own tricks to share?

... By Karli Taylor

Have you seen the commercials downplaying the effects of high-fructose corn syrup? Are you wondering why it has gotten such a bad reputation over the years if it really is no worse for us than simple sugar? The advertisements made me start to wonder, so I decided to look into it a little bit further. There are a ton of studies out there about high fructose corn syrup, but I have noticed that nothing compared it directly to sugar.

For example, a recent study at a well known university found that consuming high-fructose corn syrup ultimately leads to abnormal increases in body fat--especially in the abdominal region. So corn syrup must be bad right? Not so fast… the study compared rats eating a diet rich in high fructose corn syrup to another group of rats eating no added sugar at all. The study actually proved only that excess sugar increases abdominal fat- it said nothing about the source of the sugar.

Similar studies have compared diets rich in simple sugars to diets very low in sugar and have come up with similar findings. Though more research is needed to find out which type of sugar is the bigger offender, all of these studies are leading me to the same conclusion: there is definitely valid reason to limit your intake of all sugars.

Excess sugar results in excess calories. Excess calories results in excess weight. In other words, excess = excess. We knew that already, didn’t we?

So how do we cut back on sugar? Here are some little changes that can make a big difference:

• Limit your intake of sweetened beverages. You may be shocked at how many calories you are drinking every day…
• Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables
• Limit your intake of packaged foods
• When you do eat packaged foods, read the labels and stay away from food that are high is “ose” words. Sucralose, fructose, lactose etc- they are all types of sugar!