Make the Portion and Calorie Cut

Americans have completely skewed ideas about portion size. No other country on earth offers portions as enormous as the ones here. Honestly, go anywhere else in the world and order a meal. You'll see the difference.

We're conditioned to believe that more equals better. Just look at the endless marketing of fast food; we're constantly encouraged to eat more in order to take advantage of a "bargain." But what kind of a bargain are you getting if you're eating 100 french fries in one sitting just to save a quarter you wouldn't have spent in the first place? And the reality is that Americans are paying for this illogical thinking with their health and their lives.

Here are a few techniques you can use to keep your portions under control.

• If you're at home, use smaller plates. This creates the illusion of eating a bigger serving. 
• If you're at a restaurant and you know the portions are going to be huge, ask the server to put half your meal in a doggie bag before it even hits the table. This saves you money as well as unnecessary calorie overload. 
• Share an entrée with your dining partner. 
• Make a new rule for yourself: Always leave something on your plate. This reminds you that you are in control of the food, not the other way around. A little bit of empowerment can go a long way!

Veggies: Canned, Frozen, or Fresh?

Quick, which is the most nutritious: canned, frozen, or fresh vegetables? You might think that the obvious answer is fresh, but not so fast. Depending on how long it takes to get the vegetables from the farm to your family's dinner table, the answer may vary.

Your best choice is organic, pesticide-free, just-picked fresh vegetables — they are delicious and nutritious just the way that nature intended them. However, depending on where you live, winter weather has most likely limited your ability to get locally-grown veggies. When it warms back up though, be sure to shop for in-season, locally grown veggies from nearby farmers markets and stands — or grow your own in a garden — to get the healthiest selection. Just buy what you need as close as possible to the time you plan to eat them. That's because the more time that has passed since the veggies were picked, the more they lose their nutritious content. While it's tempting and convenient to stock up, don't!

Frozen organic vegetables are great alternatives to fresh ones, especially in these cold-weather months. The veggies are generally flash frozen immediately after they have been harvested, which is when they are at the peak of their freshness and nutrition. In fact, frozen organic vegetables are a more nutritious choice than "fresh" ones that have traveled across the country to your local grocery store only to sit for days in a produce aisle or those vegetables that you bought and tossed in your refrigerator's bin a week ago.

Canned veggies, however, are the least nutritious of the bunch. While they are canned soon after they are harvested, many veggies lose up to 90 percent of their original nutrition power in the canning process. Also, canned veggies have higher sodium levels because they often have salt added to them. The worse thing about canned veggies is that the cans are lined with plastic that contains the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, which has been linked to insulin resistance, early puberty, prostate cancer, and diabetes. If you still choose to eat veggies out of cans, look for brands that are organic and have no salt added or low salt.

 F
inally, how you cook your vegetables also plays a part in their nutrient content. All veggies, regardless of whether they are canned, fresh, or frozen, will lose most of their nutrients — and flavor — if they are boiled in large amounts of water over a long period of time. Lightly steam or microwave them to preserve their vitamins instead.

How to Curb Mindless Eating

Okay, you've all heard the term "grazing" — you know, picking at food throughout the day instead of (or in addition to) eating regular meals. This constant, indiscriminate eating — especially when you're focused on another task, such as talking on the phone, working on the computer, or watching TV — is the downfall of many committed dieters, but it doesn't have to be.

If you're piling on pounds because you eat when you're distracted or bored rather than when you're actually hungry, try the following tactics to break the habit.

To curb daytime grazing:

• Don't eat while you're standing up, in the car, on the go, or when you don't have time for a full, proper meal. If you sit down at mealtimes and pay attention to every bite, you'll be more relaxed; you'll notice when you're satisfied, which m
• eans that you'll be less likely to overeat — and you'll actually enjoy your food! Don't skip meals. I mean it. You might think you're saving yourself calories, but it will only leave you famished and more likely to consume extra calories later on to feel full. 

To curb nighttime grazing:

• Why do most people graze at night? Because they're bored. If you've been thinking about taking up knitting, crossword puzzles, Ping-Pong, or some other hobby that will keep your brain busy in the evening, now is the time to do it. 
• Brush your teeth. Food never seems quite as appealing when you have that fresh, minty toothpaste taste in your mouth. 
• Try a cup of hot tea; the warm liquid in your stomach can help you feel satiated.

Dollar Store Food: 13 Frugal Recipes

Read About Dollar Store Food:13 Frugal Recipes HERE

Ditch Food Additives! Here's Why!

Did you know that processed foods make up almost 60 percent of our diet? That's a lot of food! For the good of your health, now and in the future, it's time to get rid of processed foods that contain harmful additives.

"Antinutrients" are foods that don't deliver any value to your diet, and here are the ones I want you to toss immediately: foods that contain artificial preservatives, colors, and flavorings. These additives pose health risks that aren't worth it when you can easily just say no!

Regarding artificial preservatives, you might ask, "How could an idea with such a good intention — to prevent spoilage and food poisoning — go so incredibly wrong?" Well unfortunately for us, most preservatives are bad news. A common preservative, BHA, is found in hundreds of foods, including cereals, sweets, and snack foods, and is "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen" by the FDA. Incredibly, though, it's still deemed safe. That's not what I'd want to put into my body, and you shouldn't want to either.

Instead: When you're at the grocery store, check packages for signs of BHA, which also goes by the names anisole, butylated hydroxyl-; antioxyne B; antrancine 12; butylhydroxyanisole; tert-butyl hydroxyansiole; embanox; nepantiox 1-F; phenol, tert-butyl-4-methoxy; phenol, (1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-methoxy-; sustane 1-F; and tenox BHA. Long list to memorize, huh? Better just to avoid BHA by staying away from processed foods altogether.

The same goes for artificial coloring. There has been an ongoing debate over whether there's a link between kids' behavior problems and artificial coloring and preservatives. One recent study showed that after preschoolers and grade school kids ate an additive-free diet for six weeks and then reintroduced additives to their diets, their hyperactivity levels rose dramatically. Artificial colors have also been linked to thyroid, adrenal, bladder, kidney, and brain cancer.

Instead: Always choose foods with the fewest artificial chemicals and colors for your kids. The worst color offenders are blue 1 and 2, green 3, red 3, and yellow 6. Choose color-free medication, and when you allow your kids a treat, make sure it's a small portion of the real thing, not something filled with fake colors and flavors. For example, give them real ice cream (small amount!) instead of a rainbow freezy pop.

Now we move on to our pals the glutamates, which are "flavor enhancers" added to foods to heighten the savory experience. They're produced by the hydrolysis of proteins, a process that "frees" the glutamates from the proteins. The most frequently talked about one is monosodium glutamate, or MSG, and it is in everything — canned foods, bouillon, ice cream, ranch dressing, corn chips, and the list goes on. MSG has been reported to cause headaches as well as more serious health conditions, and government regulations now require foods that contain it to be labeled "Contains MSG." While some glutamates exist in natural foods, like cheese and meat, the processed-food industry often adds multiple forms of glutamates — at times as many as four kinds — to pump up the flavor of a food and keep you craving more. High levels of free glutamates mess with your brain chemistry and nervous system big-time.

Instead: Don't be fooled by words like "natural flavor" and "spices"; foods marked like this may actually contain glutamates. Eliminate as many glutamates as possible from your diet, and explore ways to boost the natural flavors of foods. Fermented foods, wine, soy sauce, Parmesan cheese, anchovies, and ketchup are all naturally flavorful ways to enhance your dishes. Also, the cooking method you choose — roasting, smoking, or slow grilling — can make foods richer and more savory.

MYTH: Portion Size Doesn't Matter When You're Eating Healthy Food

The Truth: All foods have calories, and all calories, whether they're healthy or not, count — and add up! You still need to practice portion control whether you're eating a salad or a burger.

Americans have completely skewed ideas about portion size. No other country on earth offers portions as enormous as the ones we have here. Seriously, go anywhere else in the world and order a meal and you'll see the difference. We get excited to "super" or "value"-size our meals because we've been conditioned to believe that more equals better, but that is not necessarily true. How do you feel when you eat so much your stomach hurts? Not good, I bet. Even when you're eating healthy foods, it's important to measure out your portions and keep a watch on what you're eating.

Familiarize yourself with what healthy portions look like. It's easier for me to think of measurements in comparison to objects, so I can visualize it better. Here are a few to keep in mind that will make it easy when you aren't home and able to measure: 1 cup of yogurt, cereal, soup or pasta is equal to the size of a baseball; 3 oz. of most cooked meat is equivalent to a deck of cards; 1 sandwich on regular sliced bread is equal to two decks of cards; 3 oz. of cooked fish is equal to the size of a checkbook; and 1 cup of lettuce or cooked veggies is about the size of a wine glass. A few other cheats are to use the tip of your finger (from the first joint up) as a teaspoon and your thumb as a guide for a tablespoon. Jot these down on a piece of paper and keep it in your wallet until you start to commit them to memory to make measuring easier.

Use smaller plates. A recent study from Cornell University found that people who ate off of smaller plates believed that they were eating an average of 18 percent more calories than they actually were. No plate that you eat off of should be the size of a platter, or a restaurant-sized plate. Your dinner plate should be no bigger than 10 inches across. Some people even make their salad plate their main dinner plate because it keeps them from heaping it up with food. Whatever you choose to eat for dinner should fit on this size plate. If it doesn't fit on the plate — don't eat it, it's that simple! I know this can be a difficult rule to follow at restaurants when the plates and portion sizes are huge. Here is a little trick I use: Before my food even comes to the table, I ask the water to wrap half of it up in a to-go box. This way you have two meals for the price of one and only half the calories! Another idea is to share an entrée with a friend.

Make a commitment to eating healthy portions. When it comes to keeping your portion sizes healthy, a lot of the struggle is mental. It honestly isn't as much of a hassle as you think it is to measure things out — it only adds a few extra minutes onto your meal. Anything worth having in life requires sacrifice, time, and effort! Remind yourself every day of your healthy goals and that will help to keep you on track and motivated.

Get Ripped With Bench Dips

I don't condone sitting down normally, but sitting isn't always so bad. For example, if you're interested in working your triceps with bench dips, by all means pull up a chair. Get ready to get some strong, toned arms!

Bench Dip

Stand with your back to a sturdy bench or chair. Bend your legs and place your palms on the front edge of the bench, your fingers pointing forward. Walk your feet out in front of you until most of your body weight is resting on your arms.

Keeping your elbows tucked in at your sides, inhale, bend your arms, and slowly lower your body until your upper arms are parallel with the floor. Your hips should drop straight down toward the floor. Hold for a beat, then exhale and straighten your arms back up to the starting position, and repeat.

Be careful not to lower your body too far or lean forward or away from the bench. You'll overstress your shoulders.