How the 'Instagram diet' works

At 37 years old, Lisa Pessah-Bloom, a mother of three, was pre-diabetic, struggling with losing postpartum pounds and concerned about her health. "I had gestational diabetes for all three of my pregnancies. After my third, my A1C (blood sugar measurement) kept rising, and the doctor told me for the first time to be careful, because I was on track for diabetes." Pessah-Bloom knew that she had to shed her pregnancy pounds and get her blood sugar under control. She did a Google search on diets for diabetes and stumbled upon the Paleo diet, which includes protein-rich foods like meat, fish, eggs and nuts, as well as vegetables and fruit, but excludes grains, dairy, legumes, sugars and salt. "People said that their diabetes was reversed," she said.

She started eating more vegetables and unprocessed foods. But while following Paleo helped Pessah-Bloom eat a clean, lean diet, it wasn't enough to get her to her goal. She needed something else -- a support system of sorts -- and so she opened an account on Instagram under the handle @paleoworkingmama. "I started my Paleo page for motivation, really for myself," Pessah-Bloom said. But it wasn't long before she found people with health issues like herself who were also using the photo-driven app. "I started following others who reversed Crohn's and IBS too, which I also had," she said. "The more I followed people, the more I felt empowered. And then something unexpected happened. After some time, people who followed me told me that I -- me! -- empowered them. It was a chain of support," she said. "I got it from others, and I gave it to others. People asked me to come to their house to perform refrigerator cleansing! They are inspired by the pictures I post of the food I make and what I keep in my kitchen, like my spices."

The community support that Instagram provides may be its most valuable asset for those hoping to achieve their health goals. "The first picture I posted was a mason jar of water with lemons," Pessah-Bloom said. "I had just learned about my high blood sugar, and I wrote, 'Making lemonade out of lemons.' " The post marked the start of Pessah-Bloom's new diet and exercise journey, and in her post, she encouraged others to follow and support her.

"One person posted my post on her page -- she had over 15,000 followers, and she said, 'Let's give @thepalemoworkingmama our support' -- and then all of a sudden I had 100 followers. This was someone I didn't even know ... someone who has plenty of her own followers, but she really wanted me to succeed on my journey." There's also the benefit of being part of a more intimate community. "With Instagram, you can have a separate part of your profile dedicated to food journaling, and you don't have to be worried that your family member or neighbor who just wants to see pictures of your dogs or vacations will be turned off," said Christina Chung, a doctoral student at the University of Washington and lead author of a study that analyzed women who consistently use Instagram to record and share what they eat, in order to learn about the benefits and challenges of using the platform to achieve one's health goals. "Instagram is just pictures. There are no posts about politics. It's easy to navigate, with no chaos or clutter," Pessah-Bloom added. "If you follow someone, you're following them for a specific reason ... and often someone with a similar goal." Pessah-Bloom also appreciates the convenience that Instagram provides. "People are so busy, and sometimes you can't go in person to a Weight Watchers meeting. With Instagram, it's in your face. You're seeing it all the time. When I eat something bad ... and I see someone preparing something wonderful, I say, 'Why did I do that?!' It keeps you inspired!" Food pictures that create cravings for tasty, healthy food help, too. "When you see something so mouthwatering and appetizing, you're more likely to try it, and then you get hooked on eating well," Pessah-Bloom said.

For those who use Instagram to track what they eat, the ease of snapping a picture is particularly helpful during a jam-packed day. "The benefit of photos is that it's more fun to do than taking out a booklet or typing hundreds of words of description in an app," Chung said. "Plus, it's more socially appropriate for people who are trying to track their diets to snap a photo of their plate when they're out with friends: Everyone's doing it, and it doesn't look weird." As one of the study participants noted, "if I was out with friends or something, then a quick snapshot of the food would be easier than saying, 'Hold on, guys, I need to pull up MyFitnessPal and put everything down and the right serving size.' "

But just how accurate is Instagram as a tracker for weight loss? Can you really know the portion sizes, fat grams and calorie counts of what you ate -- or should eat -- when you swipe through photos? "When it comes to losing weight, food pics may or may not help," said Angela Lemond, a registered dietitian nutritionist and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "The food could be great quality, but even an excessive amount of 'good' food will cause weight gain." If, for example, someone spots a picture of healthy chicken parmigiana as food inspiration for weight loss, it may be difficult to figure out the correct portion size, unless it is listed. "It's not very accurate if you are looking for tracking information such as detailed nutrients, portion size and calories, since it might be difficult to assess this information from photos," Chung said.

f you're looking for a 200-calorie meal, you might search using the hashtag #200calories and find some options. But in Chung's study, participants used the platform in conjunction with other apps if they were seeking more detailed nutrition data. Calories aside, for those who use Instagram, the visual cues that the app provides -- actual pictures of food -- may be just enough motivation to continue eating on plan, or in some cases to eat less. "Before (when using MyFitnessPal), I would have a small snack pack that was a bag of chips and be like, 'Oh, that doesn't really count because it's just a little tiny bag.' But I think with Instagram, it helped me because I was taking a picture of it: It's real, and it exists, and it does count towards what I was eating. And then putting a visual image of it up really helped me stay honest," one study participant said. Tensions between tracking honestly and posting something perceived as more desirable were also observed in the study. That could present a dilemma, leading some to spend time on making photos look better, explained Chung. But the thought of posting something "off-plan" may also help people stay on track, she added.

Want to Lose Weight? Weigh Your Food for a Week

Journalism professor Michael Easter is weighing new eating habits. The 6’1" tall Las Vegas resident was hardly overweight at 185 lbs. But Easter, who spends his mornings running the canyon trails outside the city, was suffering from knee pain, and thought losing a few pounds would make running less stressful. After getting advice from a nutritionist, Easter began weighing his food to get an accurate idea of how many calories he was eating.

He was surprised to discover it was a lot more than he realized. “I had the same lunch every day and it was a protein shake with an apple and peanut butter and it’s like, ‘Oh that’s totally a healthy lunch — this is a great lunch.' But when I weighed peanut butter for the first time I was taking like three servings and I thought it was only one,” Easter told NBC News Better. “So here I was thinking I’m eating 200 calories, but I’m really eating 600,” he said.

Using a small kitchen scale he purchased for $14, Easter weighed all his food, from the cream in his morning coffee to the chicken he ate at dinner. He input the weight into the MyFitnessPal app on his phone, which calculated the exact number of calories in the food. Easter realized he previously didn’t have an accurate understanding of the portion sizes he was eating, especially when it came to calorie-dense foods. “I thought I was eating like 2,600 or 2,700 calories [a day], and it was a lot more than that,” he explains. “It was definitely above 3,000.” “A lot of times we make assumptions. For example, if I were to just put banana — generic banana — in a calorie counting app, [the results] could have been more than I actually ate, it could have been less than I actually ate,” says Easter.

“Same with nuts. If I took a handful of nuts and I throw them in the shake I could potentially be off by more than 100 calories depending on how many I thought that was.” He said weighing his food helped him see that the snacks he ate between meals were adding unnecessary calories too. “When you have to weigh everything, you realize that all adds up, and some days it was as much as 500 calories for me,” he says. “That’s enough to really move a dial in terms of weight gain or weight loss.” To lose weight, Easter cut his calories to 2,500 a day. He developed easy go-to meals for breakfast and lunch that made the process easier.

“There were definitely days where I resented that scale and I wanted to throw it on the ground, but to make things easier I would tend to fall into patterns and eat the same thing every day,” he says. The 30-year-old found that sticking to meats, vegetables, potatoes and nuts helped him feel full throughout the day. He said potatoes in particular helped him stay satisfied. “Most nights when I’m home weeknights I’ll usually do potatoes with chicken and some vegetables and then I’ll put sour cream on the potatoes and stuff like that, but now I just know don’t take too much [sour cream] because those kinds of fats are calorie dense,” he says.

Easter dropped 10 pounds in about 3 months. He said that weighing all of his meals is no longer necessary. But he has a much better understanding of what and how much he can eat to prevent the weight from coming back. “I found a sweet spot for how much I should eat,” he said. “So at the end I was eating about 2,950 calories, which is a lot, but I was staying at 175 pounds. My weight wasn’t fluctuating at all, which sort of told [my nutritionist] that’s an ideal amount of food for [me] to be eating at 175 pounds.” Easter feels better after shedding the extra weight. “I don’t have aches and pains that come along with running just because it’s a lot less force going to your joints when you lose 10 lbs,” he says. The professor believes everyone can benefit from weighing their food. “I think there is a lot you can learn about how much you eat and some of your eating patterns by just tracking it for a week and the scale lets you really track it,” he says.

HOW IT WORKS

• Purchase a kitchen scale. 
• Weigh all your food and input the results into a calorie tracking app like MyFitnessPal app. This will tell you the real number of calories you are consuming. 
• Unhealthy foods will cost you calories. Healthier foods like meats, poultry, fish, nuts, vegetables, fruits and especially potatoes will help you feel full throughout the day. 
• Creating go-to meals will establish a healthy eating pattern and save you time.

How Can I Lose Weight? Best Diets Evaluated!

U.S. News evaluated 38 of the most popular diets and identified the best. Find which top-rated diet is best for your health and fitness goals.

Best Diets Overall
#1 DASH Diet
#2 Mediterranean Diet
#3 MIND Diet

Best Weight-Loss Diets
#1 Weight Watchers Diet
#2 Jenny Craig Diet (tie)
#2 Volumetrics Diet (tie)

Best Commercial Diet Plans
#1 Acid Alkaline Diet
#2 Dr. Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Diet
#3 The Fast Diet

Best Diabetes Diets
#1 DASH Diet
#2 Mediterranean Diet (tie)
#2 Vegan Diet (tie)

Best Diets for Healthy Eating
#1 DASH Diet
#2 Mediterranean Diet
#3 MIND Diet

See the complete list

Cardio vs. weights: Which is actually better for weight loss?

For decades, conventional wisdom (and Jane Fonda) said cardio was the best exercise for weight loss. Then strength training muscled its way into the spotlight as the must-do move for revving your metabolism and losing weight in your sleep, prompting many exercise enthusiasts to join #TeamNoCardio.

So a few years ago, Duke University researchers took to the lab and conducted the largest study of its kind to compare the two and get an answer once and for all. After 8 months of tracking 119 overweight and previously sedentary volunteers while they performed resistance training, aerobic exercise, or a combination of the two, the clear winner was ... aerobic exercise. By a lot. The cardio group lost about 4 pounds while their resistance training peers gained two. Yes, the weight gain was attributed to added lean mass.

However, that muscle mass didn't lead to any meaningful fat loss over the course of the study. In fact, the aerobics only group shed more than 3½ pounds of fat while the lifters didn't lose a single pound despite the fact that they actually exercised 47 more minutes each week than the cardio group. Not surprisingly, the cardio-plus-resistance group improved their body composition best -- losing the most fat while adding some lean mass.

But they also spent twice as much time in the gym. It's simple math, says study co-author Cris Slentz, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Duke University. "Minute per minute, cardio burns more calories, so it works best for reducing fat mass and body mass." That's not to say that you shouldn't lift weights, especially as you get older and start losing muscle mass, he notes. "Resistance training is important for maintaining lean body mass, strength and function, and being functionally fit is important for daily living no matter what your size."

For the biggest fitness gain/weight loss bang for your exercise buck, combine the two, doing your strength training first and finishing off with your cardio. An American Council on Exercise study on exercise sequencing found that your heart rate is higher -- by about 12 beats per minute -- during your cardio bout when you've lifted weights beforehand. That means more calories burned. It's also important to remember one essential fact about exercise and weight loss, says Slentz. "Exercise by itself will not lead to big weight loss.

What and how much you eat has a far greater impact on how much weight you lose," he says. That's because it's far easier to take in less energy (calories) than it is to burn significant amounts and it's very easy to cancel out the few hundred calories you've burned working out with just one snack. Where exercise appears to matter most is for preventing weight gain, or for keeping off pounds once you've lost weight, says Slentz. "Exercise seems to work best for body weight control," he says. The National Weight Control Registry, which since 1994 has tracked more than 10,000 people who shed an average of 66 pounds and kept it off for at least five years, would agree. Ninety percent of successful weight loss maintainers exercise for about an hour a day and their activity of choice is cardio, simply walking.

7 Weight Loss Tips for Hypothyroidism

Start with these seven strategies to jump-start weight loss with hypothyroidism:

1. Consider going gluten-free.Tina Beaudoin, ND, president of the New Hampshire Association of Naturopathic Doctors and medical director of HealthStrong Integrative Medicine in Manchester, New Hampshire says going gluten-free can help people with hypothyroidism lose weight. Gluten is high in goitrogens, which interfere with iodine uptake and suppress thyroid function, she says. The association between gluten intolerance and thyroid disorders has long been noted, but she says she also see results in her practice when people with hypothyroidism cut gluten from their diets. “When people with hypothyroidism cut out gluten and add integrative support, their antibodies steadily decrease in the majority of cases,” she says.

2. Cut out simple carbs and sugars. Dr. Austin recommends a moderate- to low-carbohydrate diet that focuses on complex carbohydrates (think starchy vegetables and legumes) and avoiding simple sugars (pass on the candy and soda). According to Harvard Medical School, eating complex carbohydrates and avoiding simple carbs can help reduce the production of cytokines, which are tiny proteins that can influence inflammation in the body. But Austin stresses the importance of eating enough calories because "low calories can cause a stress response and result in decreased T3 production.”

3. Eat more anti-inflammatory foods. Anti-inflammatory foods can help ease joint aches and pains and depression, all of which can result from hypothyroidism, Austin says. And anti-inflammatory foods can help soothe the immune system, which is often in “overdrive” in people with hypothyroidism, Dr. Beaudoin says. “An anti-inflammatory diet can help calm the immune system and excessive inflammation,” she says. Leafy green vegetables, tomatoes, fatty fish, nuts, fruit, and olive oil are all good foods to battle inflammation.

4. Stick to small, frequent meals. Hypothyroidism slows digestive function, Beaudoin says. “Eating smaller, more frequent meals with balanced macronutrients — quality proteins, complex carbs, and healthy fats — supports balanced blood sugar and helps avoid the highs and lows of oversized, highly processed meals," she says.

5. Keep a food diary. Your daily caloric intake can quickly skyrocket unless you log everything you eat and drink, Corsino says. It can also help ensure that you’re eating a balanced diet. “Keeping a food journal is important for someone with hypothyroidism to track their macronutrient intake,” Austin says. “A diet high in healthy fats, moderate proteins, and moderate- to low-carbohydrates is best for thyroid function.”

6. Keep your body moving. Exercise is an important complement to a healthy diet in order to help burn calories, Dr. Corsino says. But consider the individual case, Austin says. “If a person is terribly fatigued, exercise can further suppress hypothyroidism," she says. "If a person has properly managed their hypothyroid and has the energy, exercise is encouraged.”

7. Take thyroid medication as directed.Thyroid hormone should be taken on an empty stomach first thing in the morning with plenty of water, Corsino says. Don’t take it with any other medications and wait at least 30 to 60 minutes before eating breakfast. If your thyroid levels still aren’t where they should be when you take your medication properly, it could be affecting your ability to lose weight. Talk with your doctor about treatment adjustments that might be right for you.

New study suggests strategies for keeping off pounds

You've succeeded in losing weight. Now, what can you do to keep the pounds off? Most people seem to struggle with long-term weight loss. By some estimates, only about 20% of overweight individuals are successful in keeping off at least 10% of their initial body weight for a year or longer. A new study, however, suggests that using specific strategies -- such as weighing yourself regularly and planning for situations in which you might backslide -- could modestly slow the rate of weight regain in obese adults who have lost weight. In the study, employing such strategies in a maintenance program increased the proportion of adults who stayed at or lowered their weight, after initial weight loss, by 13.9 percentage points, said Corrine Voils, research career scientist at William S. Middleton Veterans Memorial Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin and lead author of the study.

However, more research is needed to determine which specific strategies offered the most benefit and which may have not had much of an impact. The study, which involved mostly men of various races and involved self-reports, was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday. "We went into this study unsure what to expect," said Voils, who is also a professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "We knew that maintaining weight loss is hard and that previous maintenance studies have tended to focus on middle-aged white females. We were unsure if a mainly telephone-based program would work in a population that is primarily men and of mixed race," she said. "We were happy to see that our strategies reduced the rate of weight regain." More than one-third of American adults are considered to be obese, meaning their body mass index is 30 or higher, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity has been linked to numerous health problems, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and several types of cancer.

'Obesity is now recognized as a chronic disease'

The new study involved 222 obese patients, of whom only 34 were women. All of the patients had lost at least 8.8 pounds in a 16-week weight loss program. They were randomly assigned to participate in either an intervention group that provided weight maintenance strategies for an additional 42 weeks or a group that received usual medical care, with no emphasis on weight maintenance. Those in the intervention group participated in three in-person group meetings and eight individual telephone calls, in which they were given a maintenance calorie budget and strategies on how to exercise, get support from their family and friends, and monitor their weight.

The phone calls also involved the patients reflecting on how their lives have improved as a result of weight loss, making a plan for situations when they might feel tempted to go back to old habits, and specifying how frequently they weigh themselves and revisit weight loss efforts if they have gained weight. All participants, in both groups, were scheduled for assessment appointments at the beginning of the study and then after 14, 26, 42 and 56 weeks. After 56 weeks, Voils said, 58.6% of patients in the intervention group either regained some weight or saw no change in weight, while 72.5% of patients in the other group regained or saw no change, a difference of 13.9 percentage points. The average weight regain in the intervention group was only about 1.6 pounds, compared with about 5.2 pounds in the other group, the researchers found.

"Although this may not seem like a lot of weight, given the low program costs and the high benefit of carrying less weight over the longer term, this is an important finding that adds to our understanding about how best to help patients with obesity," said Dr. Jennifer Kraschnewski, associate professor at the Penn State College of Medicine, who was not involved in the new study. "Obesity is now recognized as a chronic disease. However, we still don't treat it this way in the clinical setting. Clinically, we typically help patients engage in weight loss efforts, stand back and watch as they regain, and then try to re-engage them in additional weight loss efforts," she said. "We wouldn't treat someone's high blood pressure with a medication for only a year and then scratch our heads as to why their blood pressure is high again two years later. For obesity to be treated as a chronic disease, new approaches to management are critical." Yet, the new study had some limitations.

What might help weight control the most?

It remains unclear in the study whether regular weighing, planning for high-risk situations or obtaining outside support was most effective in weight loss management, Voils said. "Our study design did not allow us to say which component of our intervention was most effective," Voils said. "There is evidence that self-weighing and relapse prevention help people maintain weight loss. Our intervention incorporates those skills and adds having patients reflect on the benefits they experienced with weight loss and talking with a support person about what they can do to support weight maintenance efforts," she said.

 Though it remains difficult to establish which part of the intervention had the most impact on patients, having constant interaction with a supportive coach probably played a significant role in weight maintenance, said Dr. Samuel Grief, associate professor of clinical family medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago, who was not involved in the study. "Group dynamics tend to be more helpful, or a team-based approach using care coordination," Grief said. "That would be my answer. Because strategies like food journaling or diaries or writing out what activities you do every day or emotions that you're feeling, all that is relevant, but there's not a lot of science behind those causing weight loss or mitigation of weight regain.

Otherwise, everybody would do it," he said. "Also, it would have been helpful to gauge their self-efficacy." Studies suggest that having self-efficacy, or believing that you will be successful in losing weight, has been linked to greater success in weight management, Grief said. Additionally, the researchers were unable to assess longer-term weight maintenance and relied on self-reports about dietary intake and physical activity. "Our population was primarily middle-aged men who were white or African-American, and results may not generalize to other populations," Voils said.

Tips for keeping the weight off

The National Weight Control Registry, which has tracked more than 10,000 individuals who have maintained significant weight losses, offers some recommendations on how to maintain weight control. Rena Wing, a professor at Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School, and James Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, established the registry in 1994. "To maintain weight loss, there must be continued adherence to a low-calorie diet and high physical activity," Wing said.

She said the registry suggests that the following strategies may help someone who is trying to maintain their weight loss:

• Maintain high levels of physical activity, in which the recommended goal is 250 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity, such as brisk walking. 
• Monitor your weight by weighing yourself frequently. 
• Monitor and keep track of your diet and activity. 
• Take immediate action in the face of small weight regains.

The 25 Best Fitness Apps for 2016

• BY JILL DUFFY

Staying fit and healthy and losing weight were the two most popular New Year's resolutions for 2015, and doubtless the same is true for 2016, too. If your idea of a new you for the new year includes ramping up your fitness and trimming down your waist, you'll want some tried-and-true fitness apps on your phone to help keep you on track.

Mobile apps are ideal assistants for health, fitness, and weight-loss resolutions because they are always with you and they're quite personal. Fitness isn't something we can take care of in just one day. It requires daily habits and lifestyle changes, and a few little nudges in the right direction from your mobile phone might make all the difference.

Whether you're trying to lose weight, walk more steps in a day, or make time for a seven-minute morning workout in your living room, fitness apps can help.

Some of the apps highlighted here are tracking tools. You can log workouts, count calories eaten, and collect stats about all your runs to see overtime how you're improving. Fitness apps can also be coaching apps that put you in touch with a personal trainer or nutritionist who will check in with you once a week. And some, of course, combine all these things.

One of my personal favorite apps for health and fitness is MyFitnessPal. This free app lets you count calories that you consume as well as tally up the calories you expend every day. It's compatible with a number of fitness trackers, which means MyFitnessPal can keep track of the calories you burn automatically by pulling them in from your tracker. MyFitnessPal is wonderful at helping you become more aware of your eating habits and just how much exercise it takes to burn off the food you eat.

Another app I love is The Johnson & Johnson Official 7 Minute Workout because it helps anyone get some amount of exercise in a very short amount of time. Unlike other seven-minute workout apps, The Johnson & Johnson app adjusts its level of difficulty based on your current fitness level. It also has workouts that are longer than seven minutes for days when you have a little more time. It's great for busy travellers, too, because it doesn't require anything more than a chair, so you can easily bang out this workout in a hotel room.

Not everyone in the market for a great fitness app wants to count calories or get coached through a quick workout. Some are just looking for a little music to motivate them. Music workout apps were a hot item in 2015. FIT Radio, for example, specializes in create playlists that you can play over your headphones for a variety of workouts, such as running and yoga. All the songs in the playlist have a consistent beat. The music streaming service and app Spotify has a great feature for Premium subscribers that lets them find their running tempo and get songs with a beat that match it. Once the app finds your tempo, it leaves the beats-per-minute setting alone, so your music becomes a metronome of sorts. RockMyRun has a similar feature, only the music it plays speeds up and slows down in real time as your cadence changes.

Other apps tap into your competitive side to motivate you to work out. For example, Strava is a running and bicycling app that lets you compete against every other person who has signed up to use the app. You use Strava to track your runs and bicycle rides, and other Strava members do the same. The app collects everyone's routes and times, breaks them into segments, and then tells you who has the best time along different stretches of roads and trails. If you're the fastest on the road, everyone else using Strava near you will know it.

Another superb app for competitive types is Pact (formerly called GymPact), you can wager money on whether you'll go to the gym as often as you say you will. The app uses your GPS location to verify whether you actually made it to the gym and stayed to work out. If you hit your goal, you'll earn a chunk of change.

Perhaps you're more motivated by helping others than by winning a pot of cash yourself. There's an app for that, too. Charity Miles is a workout tracking app for runs, walks, and bicycle rides that donates a little money for every mile you complete. The app developers find corporate sponsors who make donations on your behalf for any charity you choose from a list.

No matter what kind of motivation or daily prodding you need to meet your fitness goals, there's an app that can push you in the right direction.

Charity Miles
Free

Earn money for charities every time you run, walk, or bicycle by using the free Charity Miles app. Corporate sponsors (whose information you'll see as a backdrop image in the app) agree to donate a few cents for every mile you complete. Browse the app's list of charities, find the one that you support, and then hit the road. When a lot of people use Charity Miles, those little bits of money add up.

Cyclemeter
Free, $4.99 upgrade optional

The best bicycle-ride tracking app I've tested is Cyclemeter by Abvio. This iOS-only app collects a wealth of data, is very accurate, contains several well-thought-out features, and appeals to fitness enthusiasts who participate in more than one sport. Despite the name, you can use Cyclemeter to track walks, runs, and other activities. It does not include a calorie-counting component, but it is packed with data about your biking outings.

See the rest of the list here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2485287,00.asp

Where Thanksgiving calories hide -- and how to burn them off!

When you sit down to a traditional Thanksgiving meal, the cards will be stacked against your diet. Those favorite dishes are just so high in calories -- hello, stuffing and sweet potato casserole! -- and there are just so many of them, it can seem impossible not to splurge.

But with the right planning and a serving of willpower, you can have a healthy (or healthier) Thanksgiving.http://ow.ly/UZG9e

6 Common Mistakes That Can Prevent Weight Loss

By Chris Freytag

Spring is around the corner, and it's all about change. You shake off those winter blues and come alive again. You spring clean your house and your get rid of clutter in your closet. See ya, big winter sweaters, it's finally safe to venture outside again. Then you realize there's something else you want to change... your body! If you are on a mission to lose weight and improve your body by summertime, make sure you don't make one of these six common mistakes that prevent weight loss.

1. You don't break up with starchy carbs.
If you want to slim down, one of first things you should do is reduce your intake of starchy carbs. Avoid white breads and white rice, potatoes, fried foods and processed foods. Aim for more healthy fats like avocados and nuts in small quantities, and increase your intake of fruits and veggies. Squeeze fresh lemons into your water, too. Water helps you fill you up and lemons benefit your body in lots of ways! I always start my day with a tall glass of lemon water.

2. You are the queen of the same 'ol routine.
Your body gets used to the same exercise if you do it every day, and weight loss can be much more effective when you surprise your body once in a while. Change up your workout and mix it up by increasing the intensity or duration of your exercise. If you really want to blast fat, try some high intensity interval training. Called HIIT training, it involves shorter cardio workouts at a higher intensity. Getting your heart rate up in bursts revs up your metabolism and burns those calories. Oh, and make sure your workouts involve this sparkly glistening thing called "sweating."

3. You forget it takes two.
If you want to get right to it, you need two things for weight loss -- clean eating and exercise. Period. Not just clean eating. Not just exercise. It takes two to tango, as the saying goes. Try healthy eating and increased exercise to steadily lose weight. For every pound you want to lose, you need a deficit of 3,500 calories, or put another way, you need to burn an extra 3,500 calories. Create the 3,500 deficit with a combination of reduced caloric intake and an increased calorie burn with exercise. Most people have a tendency to overestimate the calories they are burning and underestimate the calories they take in, so keep that in mind! Remember, you can't lose weight for the long term without a combined effort of healthy eating and exercise. You won't be able to lose weight and keep it off if you only choose one method.

4. You live in stress mode.
Often overlooked in weight loss, stress can keep you stuck at a certain weight or cause you to gain, according to the Mayo Clinic. If you are stressed to the max, your body produces a hormone called cortisol, and if not controlled, your body can increase its fat storage. Plus, how often have you turned to a favorite food or snacked endlessly when you are stressed out? Get ahead of your stress and you can watch the numbers go down on the scale. Take a walk, get some fresh air, meditate, do something fun, read a book, laugh, call up a friend or seek some alone time. Find ways to reduce your stress and commit to doing a few of those things each week. Managing your stress effectively is an essential component of weight loss.

5. You love cardio (yeah!) but you ignore your muscles (boo).
Too often people get psyched that they are exercising most days of the week -- with some type of cardio -- and they forget about building and maintaining muscle. The less muscle you have, the lower your metabolism. The more muscle you have, the more calories your bod burns even when you aren't working out! For weight loss and a strong body you need to do some form of weight training. Don't be intimidated by the term, it doesn't mean you have to become a body builder and lift barbells. Grab a set of hand weights or try workouts that combine cardio and strength training. You also can use your own body weight and do planks, push-ups, squats or lunges -- they are all muscle-building exercises.

6. You skimp on sleep.
Straight to the point: Missing sleep increases your stress level and makes you hungrier. With a lack of sleep (less than seven hours a night) your ghrelin level gets off and stimulates your appetite more and your leptin level (responsible for suppressing your appetite) goes down, according to WebMD. If you want to lose more fat, get more sleep! You will be more likely to have mental clarity to make healthier decisions and your body will be able to operate at its best.

If you find yourself stuck on a plateau or not losing weight like you want to, put a little spring in your step and avoid these six things that can sabotage your weight loss! You can successfully push past a plateau and lose weight this spring!

5 Best Free Apps To Reach New Year's Resolutions: Lose Weight, Increase Happiness And More

By  Abigail Elise

We’re barely into 2015, but many have undoubtedly compiled a list of resolutions that they hope to stick to this year – maybe lose a few pounds, snag a few more hours of sleep or eat a healthier diet. Though some of these may require some good old-fashioned willpower and planning, technology has made some of these tasks significantly easier, and there are a ton of apps that can help people reach their goals in no time. Check out our list below of the best apps to help reach and stick to New Year’s resolutions.

5. Pact

Like a personal trainer, Pact will make sure you don’t skip your daily workouts. Users commit to exercising a certain number of times per week, and if they miss a day money will be subtracted from their credit card or Paypal accounts. Payouts are small, but consistent gym-goers can expect to earn a little extra cash if they don’t skip. Users can also participate in challenges that encourage them to eat more vegetables or keep a food diary, two factors that scientists believe contribute to lasting weight loss.

4. Mint

Those who hope to get their finances on track should download Mint. The personal finance app allows users to place all of their bank accounts, credit card information and student loan data in one place. Users can track where they spend most of their hard-earned cash, and the app will also allow them to set budgets on different categories of spending – clothing, dining out, groceries, etc. Mint will alert has alters if users go over their spending limit. It will also help identify patterns in spending, as well as help users discover what their financial priorities are.

3. Sleepbot

Don’t want to purchase an expensive sleep tracker? Sleepbot is a free app for Android and Apple smartphones that monitors sleep patterns – a virtual sleep journal. Sleepbot even has sound and motion recording that allows users to fully understand what wakes them up at 3 a.m. or why they toss and turn. Forgetful? The app will remind users to set it to sleep mode before they turn in for the night.

2. MyFitnessPal

Not sure how those 12 pounds crept on last year? Studies show that dieters who keep careful record of what they eat are much more likely to lose weight. MyFitnessPal has a wealth of nutritional data for thousands of fresh and packaged foods, including counts for carbohydrates, fat, calories, sugar and protein. If users can’t find a food in the database, they can always add it, along with custom meal plans they often eat. MyFitnessPal can also be linked to a number of other apps and is compatible with fitness bands like the Jawbone UP24.

1.Happier

Who couldn’t do with a little more happiness in their lives? The Happier app is bright and cheery, from its festive orange color to its positive subject matter. The app is highly social – users subscribe and can submit their moments of happiness and gratitude for others to read. Happier also has online courses that users can take to learn a number of useful skills – from how to stress less to basic yoga moves.

Top 5 Healthy Go-To Snacks

It's National Snack Food Month!

Here are 5 Healthy Go-To Snacks:

Greek Yogurt: A 6 ounce serving of non-fat greek yogurt with a teaspoon of honey is not only a great snack, its also a great source of calcium, potassium, protein, zinc and vitamins B6 and B12. Don't forget that honey is also full of antioxidants.

Brussel Sprouts and Carrots: Try half a cup of brussel sprouts or carrots right before dinner to help curb your hunger. They are full of beneficial nutrients like fiber, Vitamin A and vitamin C.

Fresh Fruit: A cup of fresh fruit like blueberries, raspberries or apples will give you a boost of energy to get through the day.

Mixed Nuts: A handful of mixed nuts like walnuts, almonds and pistachios are packed with antioxidants, healthy oils and protein.

Nutrition Bars: Although nutrition bars are an easy and quick snack choice make sure that you choose bars that are minimally processed and contain a good amount of nutrition. Some excellent choices are: Luna Bars, Kind Bars and Kashi Fruit & Grain Bars... Stay away from Kashi's GoLean Chewy Bars.

Slow eating might aid weight loss

As people look for fresh strategies to cut back on calories and shed pounds, a new study suggests that simply eating more slowly can significantly reduce how much people eat in a single sitting.

The study involved a small group of both normal-weight and obese/overweight. All were given an opportunity to eat a meal under relaxed, slow-speed conditions, and then in a time-constrained, fast-speed environment.

The catch: Although all participants consumed less when eating slowly and all said they felt less hungry after eating a slow meal compared to a fast meal, only people considered normal weight actually reduced their calorie intake significantly.

Feeling full

"One possible reason for the calorie drop seen may be that slower eating allows people to better sense their feelings of hunger and fullness," said study author Meena Shah, a professor in the department of kinesiology at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

Slow eating also seemed to increase water intake and stomach swelling, Shah said, while also affecting the biological process that determines how much food people consume.

The study was published online Jan. 2 in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

To explore a potential connection between slow eating and reduced caloric intake, the team focused on 35 normal-weight men and women and 35 overweight or obese men and women.

Slow vs. fast eating

During a two-day study period, all were asked to consume the exact same meals under two conditions. The "slow" meal was spread over an average of 22 minutes per meal, involving small bites and deliberate chewing without concern for time. The "fast" meal involved large bites and quick chewing, under the notion that time was of the essence. The average fast-meal time was about nine minutes.

The result: Normal-weight participants were found to consume 88 fewer calories when eating slowly, a decrease deemed "significant." By contrast, the obese/overweight group saw only a 58-calorie reduction during the slow-eating session.

The researchers said the obese/overweight group actually consumed less food overall during both the slow- and fast-eating sessions than the normal-weight group. That finding might explain the smaller calorie drop during the first group's slow-eating trial, they said.

Both groups ate less when eating slowly, however, and a notable spike in water intake during the slow-eating test might be a major reason why. When eating slowly, water intake increased by 27 percent among the normal-weight group, and by 33 percent among the overweight/obese group. 

Best Weight Loss Apps of 2014!

Year after year, weight loss reigns as one of the most popular New Year's resolutions. Yet obesity remains an epidemic in the United States. Whether you want to lose 5 pounds or 50, stick with it in 2014, so that next year your goal is just to keep the weight off. With countless apps and wearable tech designed to help you meet your fitness goals, there are no excuses this year. Eat well, work out, and stay motivated with the help of this technology.

Lose It!
www.loseit.com

Lose It! has been one of the most popular health apps on iTunes for several years now. The easy-to-use app makes it easy to keep track of weight loss goals. Enter your current weight and your desired weight and the app will tell you the maximum daily calories you can consume to meet your goal. Log fitness activities and scan barcodes on food items, to easily keep track of your progress. Weigh yourself every day and see a line graph of your progress. This free app is available on iOS and Android, with additional charges for upgrades.


Daily Workouts
www.dailyworkoutapps.com

Save money on a gym membership this year. Work out at home! The Daily Workout app is essentially a workout video for your smartphone or tablet, broken up into five or ten minute routines. This app will get your butt, arms, abs and legs in shape, while saving you a time. The workouts are as effective as your local fitness class. This free app is available on iOS and Android, with additional charges for upgrades.

Jawbone UP
www.jawbone.com

"Wearable tech," was definitely a catchphrase of 2013 and that's expected to continue into the new year. With fitness-tracking wristbands gaining popularity, there's no sign that the momentum is slowing down. The Jawbone UP band is one of the more popular devices and recently came out with a new version, called the UP24. In addition to tracking steps taken and calories burned, the water-resistant band keeps tab on sleep patterns via its smartphone app. Set an alarm to wake you up in your lightest sleep phase, and the band promises you'll be refreshed. Add friends to your "team," and tell them to step it up! The Jawbone UP24 retails for $149.99


Fitbit
www.fitbit.com/iphone

The Fitbit is another contender for the hottest in wearable tech. The recently released Fitbit Force, is an upgrade to the Flex. Like the Jawbone UP, the Fitbit bands track steps taken and hours slept. Yet unlike the previous Fitbit, the Force displays real-time data on the band's screen, doubling as a watch. Sync with the app to track progress and compete with your friends. The Fitbit Force retails for $129.95


ShopWell
www.shopwell.com/home/mobile

In an era where people track everything from carbs to gluten, ShopWell helps you keep track of all your dietary needs. Next time you're at the grocery store, scan barcodes of food items and ShopWell will tell you if the product meets your requirements. If not, it will suggest another similar product that does. Whether you're looking to lose weight, avoid allergies, or help with diabetes, ShopWell will do you well. This free app is available on iOS and Android.

Lymphedema and Weight Loss

If you're overweight, you're more likely to experience problems with lymphedema. The theory is that when your body has extra fat, those tissues require more blood vessels. This creates a higher volume of blood and lymph in the arms and chest, placing a greater burden on the remaining lymph nodes and vessels after breast cancer treatment.

Overweight is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 25-29.9 and obese as a BMI of 30 or greater. For example, a 5'5" woman weighing 150 pounds or more is considered overweight, and she is considered obese if 180 pounds or more. There are a number of online tools you can use to calculate your BMI, such as this one from the National Institutes of Health.

Some studies have shown that losing weight can significantly improve lymphedema symptoms in people who are overweight. Talk to your doctor or lymphedema therapist about creating a diet and safe exercise plan for bringing your weight down to a healthy range. You can also ask if there is a nutritionist who can help you make an eating plan that will help you lose weight. Many hospitals and cancer centers have nutritionists on staff.  Since being overweight also increases the risk of breast cancer recurrence, it's doubly important to take steps to reach and maintain a healthy weight.

If you're at a healthy weight now, work to stay within your current range. Good nutrition and safe exercise are your best allies.