Try This Slammin' Salmon!

I'm always surprised when people tell me that they won't eat fish. It's one of my all-time favorite foods because it's so lean, delicious, and versatile. I like monkfish, cod, and halibut — actually, all of the firm, white-fleshed fish — and also bluefish and mackerel, which are high in omega-3 fatty acids and have a different taste. And I especially love salmon. I buy it fresh, frozen, and canned — the latter is also high in calcium. I recommend serving this dish with some fresh, steamed green beans or zucchini.

Teriyaki Salmon With Scallion-Cucumber Relish

Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds skinless salmon fillets, in four equal portions
1 cup chopped cucumber, preferably hothouse
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup slivered fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons prepared teriyaki glaze

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a shallow nonstick baking pan with cooking spray. Rinse the fillets with cold water and pat dry. Place in the pan. Bake for 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the cucumber, green onions, basil, vinegar, and salt; set aside.

Brush the salmon with the teriyaki glaze. Bake for 3 to 4 minutes more, or until the salmon is opaque in the center. Serve with the cucumber mixture on the side.

Makes 4 servings

Per serving: 220 calories, 3g carbohydrates, 29g protein, 9g total fat, 80mg cholesterol, 0g dietary fiber, 450mg sodium

A Healthy Take on Italian Food

If you love Italian food, here's good news! You don't have to give it up as part of a healthier lifestyle. But it may be a good idea to make some changes to the items you usually order. You can trim calories and fat while still enjoying a great meal. Try these tips for eating Italian the healthy way:

• Skip over the bread dripping in garlic butter or dipped in olive oil.
• Start your meal with a green salad or a healthy appetizer like marinated vegetables.
• Choose pasta paired with low-fat sauces like marinara, primavera, red or white clam, mushroom, white wine, or tomato and basil.
• Control pasta portions. Aim for a 1½-cup serving. Since many Italian restaurants serve about twice that amount, it may be a good idea to have half of your portion boxed up to go right away. You won't be tempted to overeat if there isn't too much food on your plate, and you will have leftovers to enjoy another time.
• Be careful with pastas stuffed with cheese. Watch portions and choose a low-fat sauce like marinara.
• Avoid creamy sauces like Alfredo — they're high in calories and fat.
• Watch out for risottos made with butter and cheese.
• Cacciatore, scampi, and marsala dishes are good lower-fat choices (remember to watch the portion size and inquire about preparation).
• When eating out, consider splitting an entrée with someone else. If you share one pasta dish and one lean protein dish with a companion, you can both have a balanced meal and enjoy a reasonable portion.
• End the meal with fresh fruit or an espresso or cappuccino. If you'd like to order a richer dessert, share it with your companion.

The Mega Benefits of Omega-3's

Most of America was still in the clutches of the fat-free craze, and my classmate’s views weren’t at all uncommon. Dietary fat was being blamed for heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and many other impairments of health. But instinctively, I thought that banning fat was a bad idea—I just didn’t have the facts to back up my theory. Now, a decade later, research is proving my hunch—that some types of fat can actually prevent disease and improve health. The key lies in a general understanding of fats, and in knowing which fats to emphasize in your diet.

The Fat Family Tree
The family of fat is very complex, so to make it less confusing, picture it as a family tree. At the top, there are two different families of fat—saturated fat and unsaturated fat. Saturated fat (butter is one example) is packed with hydrogen atoms, making it solid at room temperature. Unsaturated fat (like olive oil) contains fewer hydrogen atoms, so it is liquid at room temperature. The family of unsaturated fat includes two children: monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat. In the polyunsaturated fat family, you'll find omega-6 fatty acids and omega-3 fatty acids, and it is the omega-3 family that has been making headlines in the nutrition world.

3 Types of Omega-3's
There are actually three types of fatty acids that are collectively referred to as omega-3's: ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic), and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). Besides being hard to pronounce, they are extremely important to your health. Omega-3's are "essential" fatty acids, because they are necessary for health and must be included in your diet (because the human body cannot manufacture them on its own). But what exactly are they used for, and what do they do for human health?

Mega Health Benefits
Extensive research indicates that omega-3 fats reduce inflammation, helping to prevent inflammatory diseases like heart disease and arthritis. In addition to warding off inflammation, omega-3’s are also essential to the brain, impacting behavior and cognitive function, and are especially necessary during fetal development. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMM), omega-3’s may also:

• Improve artery health by helping to reduce plaque buildup and blood clots in arteries that lead to the brain.
• Improve cholesterol by lowering triglycerides and elevating HDL (good cholesterol) levels. These benefits come primarily from DHA and EPA. Learn more about fats that fight cholesterol.
• Improve joint health by reducing joint tenderness and stiffness associated with arthritis and osteoarthritis.
• Improve bone health by positively impacting the body's calcium levels, reducing the incidence of bone loss.
• Improve mental health by helping to insulate nerve cells in the brain, allowing these nerve cells to better communicate with one another. People who are deficient in omega-3’s may suffer from depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and ADHD.
• Improve skin health by helping to alleviate symptoms related to skin disorders like acne and psoriasis.
• Improve bowel health by reducing inflammation of the bowels, helping alleviate symptoms of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
• Improve lung health by reducing inflammation in diseases like asthma. To read more on this topic, click here.
• Improve menstrual health by reducing the pain associated with PMS and menstruation.
• Help prevent cancer. Colon, breast, and prostate cancers have all been correlated with low intakes of omega-3's.

Sources of Omega-3’s
The three different types of omega-3’s are found in specific types of foods.

• ALA is found in foods of plant origin. The richest source of ALA is flaxseed, but it is also found in hempseed, canola oil, soybeans, soybean oil, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seed oil, linseeds, walnuts, and walnut oil. Once ingested, the body converts ALA into EPA and DHA, allowing it to be more readily used by the body. However, this conversion isn't very efficient. That's why experts recommend including EPA and DHA sources in your diet as well. *Note: Flaxseed oil supplements are available in liquid and capsule form, but always consult your health care provider before taking any supplements.
• DHA is found in seafood, algae, and coldwater fish such as salmon, sardines and albacore tuna. *Note: Fish oil supplements and vegetarian DHA supplements (containing algae) are also available in liquid and capsule form, but always consult your health care provider before taking any supplements. Only use fish oil supplements that have been certified to be free of heavy metal contaminants like mercury.
• EPA is found in many of the same foods as DHA, including cold-water fish such as salmon, and sardines, as well as cod liver, herring, mackerel, and halibut. *Note: Fish oil and vegetarian algae supplements are also good sources of EPA, but always consult your health care provider before taking any supplements. Only use fish oil supplements that have been certified to be free of heavy metal contaminants like mercury.
• Enriched eggs that contain all three types of omega-3 fatty acids are readily available these days. These eggs are enriched by adding flaxseed or algae to the hens' diets so that they produce eggs that are rich in healthy fats. According to the Flax Council, omega-3-enriched eggs provide almost half of the recommended daily level of ALA and one-quarter of the recommended daily level of EPA and DHA—the same amount that can be found in 3 ounces of fish.

To get the recommended levels all types of omega-3's, aim for:

• 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed (or 1 tablespoon of flaxseed oil) daily. To learn more about storing and using flaxseed, click here.
• 2 to 3 servings of the above-mentioned fish sources per week. In general, fresh fish contain more DHA and EPA than frozen fish. To learn more about fish selection and safety, click here.

Omega-3's might seem overwhelming at first. But once you understand the types and "mega" health benefits that come with them, you'll be on your way to improving your health. Now that's something to brag about!

Courtesy of SparkPeople.com

Don't Go It Alone!

I know it's tough to revamp your eating habits, start an exercise plan, and improve your overall lifestyle! These are big changes we're talking about, and you could probably use more support and encouragement. You know I'm always here for you — but the more support you can get, the better!

Research has shown that people who have support are the most successful at diet and exercise programs. Plus, when you make a commitment to improve your lifestyle along with someone else — a close friend, your significant other, a child — you're more likely to stick with it. It's not just about you anymore — someone else is counting on you! So ask your neighbor to commit to walking together for 30 minutes three times a week, or plan to cook healthy meals each weekend with your spouse or kids. Sign up for a sports team or a dance troupe — you'll have to come to practice and put your best foot forward because the whole team is counting on you!

Look online for support as well. If you have a close friend whose schedule is not similar to yours (so you can never chat by phone), e-mail him or her for support and encouragement. There are great motivational Web sites where people who have been successful at losing weight and improving their lifestyles share their inspiring stories. Members can even sign on and visit the Message Boards to chat with other members and find weight-loss buddies who are facing similar challenges.

How you go about finding that extra support doesn't matter — as long as you do it. C'mon, start building that support group today. There's no time to waste!

Think Outside the Box

Have you ever had one of those "Aha!" moments, when the solution to a seemingly impossible situation just comes to you, or suddenly you see the situation in a whole new way?

So often, we can get stuck in a rut when it comes to problems. We may fixate on one solution, trying to make it work time and again, rather than moving on to another approach. Thinking outside the box can help you break out of a pattern that isn't working.

For example, let's say eating fast food too often is a problem. After thinking it over, you realize that it's not a love of fast food that does you in. It's that as you drive home from work, you often are so hungry that when you see that fast-food restaurant's sign, you stop and buy dinner there — even though you have a healthier option waiting at home.

After brainstorming a list of possible solutions to this problem, you decide to try having a healthy snack before you leave work and then driving a new route home that doesn't pass that fast-food restaurant. Suddenly, your old strategy — to rely on willpower alone to bypass the drive-through — isn't needed anymore.

After a few weeks, you look back and see that thinking outside the box worked. Instead of stopping for fast food, you're avoiding getting too hungry, taking the new route home, and eating a healthy dinner. Well done!

This week, spend some time thinking about some of the old problems standing in your way of success. Try looking at them in a new light. Is there another way to approach them? Give it a try.

Hello, Carbs!

Who hasn't been tempted by no-carb diets? They seem to work, and they yield results quickly. But what about those of us who can't part with fresh-baked bread or steaming rice? I don't know about you, but I'm not willing to give up all that good, nutritious food that quickly! Plus, breads and cereals can add important fiber to your diet and give you energy to keep going! We all need those benefits!

I've learned that you can eat carbs and still lose weight. You just need to make good choices and watch your portion sizes. Here are some seriously healthy carbs for you to experiment with:

• Whole-grain bread
• Whole-grain or legume-based pasta
• Whole-grain cereal
• Barley
• Quinoa
• Brown and wild rice
• Oatmeal
• Popcorn
• Sprouted grains

Coping With Cravings

This week, let's focus on cravings. You know, those urges that tell you to stop everything and eat a certain food? The truth is, these cravings and urges are normal and to be expected. They are not a sign of failure. Instead, they provide an opportunity to learn what your triggers are.

Try thinking of cravings as ocean waves. Just as a wave recedes after it peaks, a craving will recede if you do not feed it with your thoughts or actions. Instead of giving in to a craving right away, give it some time to pass. Distract yourself for a few minutes by reading or writing in your journal, taking deep breaths, going for a walk, talking about how you feel, or using such positive self-talk as "This urge won't last forever, and I am in control. I am feeling uncomfortable, but I can wait this out." Remember, bingeing might make you feel better for a short while, but you will feel better in the long run if you find a healthier outlet instead.

After a few minutes, check in with yourself. Feeling better? If not, give yourself a few more minutes. Once the intensity of the moment passes, look back and try to analyze what was going on at the time the craving began. Can you identify what triggered it? A feeling? Situation? Person? Event?

Once you've identified the trigger or triggers, develop a short list of other ways you can react to them besides eating. In time, you'll learn to recognize situations that trigger cravings in advance and be better prepared to face them. Be patient with yourself. It takes time to break old patterns.

Remember, the more you confront your cravings, the better you will be able to deal with them. So when you experience a craving, don't run away or give in. Use it as an opportunity to become aware of what you really need. Soon you'll be riding the wave instead of the crave!