Top 6 Skinny Foods for 2010!!!

If you're looking for creative (and delicious!) ways to enhance your weight loss efforts, here's a fresh collection of six slimming foods you should add to your repertoire. I'm a firm believer that dieting and losing weight doesn't mean you have to subsist on bland, boring cardboard. With that in mind, I've put together a list of strategic skinny eats, each of which has its own unique way of satisfying your taste buds while blunting your appetite. I encourage you to peruse my list and use these tasty bites to your advantage!

1. Pumpkin Pudding: Decadent, creamy pudding for less than 150 calories--and it helps you lose weight! Just combine a 6-ounce container of nonfat vanilla yogurt with ½ cup canned 100% pure pumpkin puree and a dash of cinnamon. The pumpkin bulks up the yogurt--already a protein-rich, nutrient-packed food--and adds a hefty dose of fiber. This winning combo of protein and fiber expands in your stomach, keeping you full long after you finish, so you're not looking for more munchies an hour later.

2. Vegetable Soup: Studies have shown that just by starting a meal with a fiber-rich bowl of broth-based veggie soup, you can reduce your total calorie intake by 20 percent. That's because this "veggie first course" helps to fill you up, so you wind up eating less at the main meal.

3. Cucumber Tomato Salad: Thanks to their high percentage of water (95%!), cucumbers are low-calorie, high volume, and top-notch for weight loss! Slice up one whole cucumber plus a medium tomato, then toss with light vinaigrette or unlimited vinegar (balsamic or red wine is delish) plus 1 teaspoon olive oil. The entire salad has only 125 calories!

4. Ginger Green Tea: Nursing a warm mug of tea is a calorie-free way to de-stress after a long day without falling prey to emotional eating. As an added bonus, research suggests that regularly drinking green tea may give you a slight calorie-burning advantage. Steep your tea with a thin slice of ginger root for an extra punch of flavor.

5. Fiery Chicken Salad: Adding a few dashes of fiery hot sauce to your food slows down your eating big time so you're less likely to eat past the point of fullness. For a simple lunch, whip up a chicken salad with diced chicken breast, 1 tablespoon reduced-fat mayo, hot sauce to taste, and any diced veggies on hand. Serve over a bed of lettuce (and have a glass of water handy!).

6. Shrimp Cocktail: At around 8 calories a piece, shrimp are a fabulous source of lean protein, which helps rev your metabolism and keeps you feeling full for hours. Next time you dine out, start your meal with a shrimp cocktail appetizer. When you're eating at home, dunk your shrimp in this could-not-be-easier cocktail sauce recipe: simply combine 1 tablespoon ketchup with 1 teaspoon bottled horseradish.

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4 Ways to Improve Your Diet and Keep Your New Year's Resolution..

New year's resolutions aren't easy to keep, but if you're serious about changing your derelict diet—and losing a few pounds along the way—a resolution can help. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology reports that those who pledge to make behavior changes by means of a resolution were 10 times more likely to succeed than those who simply want to make a change. Going public and sharing your goal with someone can also bump up your odds for success.

But a commitment to better eating is only the start. You also need to figure out how and what to change. Here are four suggestions that can put you on the right path.

Keep a Food Record

To fix your diet you should understand where it's broken. One good way to do that, says Washington, D.C.-based registered dietician Katherine Tallmadge, is to keep a pencil and notebook handy as you go about your day. For at least a week, record everything you eat, when you eat, and maybe how you feel after you eat.

The exercise can be eye-opening, says Tallmadge, who is also author of Diet Simple: 214 Mental Tricks, Substitutions, Habits & Inspiration (LifeLine Press, 2004). By analyzing your eating routines, she says, you can discover both the good habits you practice as well as those that regularly route high-calorie, low-nutrition fodder toward your mouth.

It can also unveil such misguided behaviors as chronically skipping breakfast. "Studies have shown that if you eat breakfast," Tallmadge says, "you eat proportionally fewer calories the rest of the day."

Keeping an ongoing food record while trying to establish better eating patterns can make you accountable to yourself and discourage mindless eating.

And make sure to record one other item: your weight. Climb on the scale at least once a week if not every day, says Tallmadge.

Discover (or Rediscover) Veggies

Mothers have told us from the beginning of time to eat our vegetables. Now it's time to pay attention.

Melanie Polk, a registered dietician and nutrition director for the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), says by adding ample amounts of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans to your diet you reap a nutritional bonanza. You also benefit from non-nutritive plant chemicals that contain protective, disease-preventing compounds called phytochemicals.

Moreover, recent studies show that consuming plant foods can play an important role in weight loss, says Polk. High in water and fiber and low in "energy density," they create a feeling of fullness without delivering the big calorie load of high-fat foods.

If you suffered childhood trauma from having to face mushy, flavorless vegetables, Polk says cooking techniques today such as roasting and stir frying can help heal those memories. She suggests visiting the AIRC web site (www.aicr.org) for recipe ideas.

Remove Temptations

When retraining your eating habits, avoiding temptation is a better strategy than trying to resist it. "We're eating machines—that's instinctive," says Tallmadge. "That's why it's important to keep only healthy foods in your home."

Tallmadge recommends purging your home of chips, cookies and other items you don't want to ingest. Then make sure you have nutritious foods around that are easy to grab when you do feel like snacking. One good option is pre-made vegetable soup in your refrigerator that you can quickly heat up. Another is chopped fruit and vegetables that you can dip into humus, yogurt or light ranch dressing.

Also, be ready for the challenges you face outside of your controlled eating environment. "If you know you're going to overeat at a certain event, seriously consider not going," she says.

To avoid feeling deprived, Tallmadge says it's alright to occasionally indulge in the foods you have eliminated yet still miss. But better yet is to find an alternative, non-eating way to treat yourself, such as scheduling a massage.

Don't Give Up

Finally, if you begin to slide into your former eating patterns, refuse to give up and abandon your effort. Persistence is better than perfection.

"Accepting the setback and moving on is the best strategy," says Tallmadge. Tallmadge notes that weight loss studies have shown those who keep weight off and those who regain weight typically have the same number of slip-ups. "Successful people just know how to rebound from them better," she says.

And remember: making a resolution to eat better doesn't mean you have to fight your wayward dining habits all alone. Solicit the advice of nutrition counselors, doctors, or the 92-year-old marathon runner next door if you think they can help you help you get—and stay—on the right track.

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8 Best Foods for Fitness

Fitness foods that help burn fat, build muscle and boost your cardiovascular health.

It's true: Spinach is muscle fuel. But not because it instantly turns you lean and sexy. Researchers from Rutgers University found that a compound in the leafy green increases protein synthesis by 120 percent, helping your muscle tissue to repair itself faster after you work out. The problem, however, is that you’d have to eat Popeye-sized quantities to experiences dramatic results (we’re talking almost 2 pounds of the iron-packed veggies a day). The good news is that spinach isn’t the only food that can help you to look and feel better than ever—even when you're not exercising.

The right fitness foods help burn fat, build muscle, and even boost your cardiovascular health. Ready to eat your way to better results? These 8 great foods and drinks are guaranteed to make any type of exercise you do more effective—long after you’ve broken a sweat.

EAT THIS!

Pineapple and papaya

Good for: Muscle recovery

Both of these tropical fruits are loaded with bromelain and papain, enzymes that not only help break down proteins for digestion but also have anti-inflammatory properties to speed up your post-workout recovery.

Salmon

Good for: Cardiovascular fitness

Australian researchers found that cyclists who took fish oil for 8 weeks had lower heart rates and consumed less oxygen during intense bicycling than a control group did. The fatty acids in fish oil need to become incorporated into muscle and heart cells to have an effect, and that takes weeks of consumption—so either take fish oil pills each day, or try to eat fish rich in fatty acids multiple times a week to see similar results.

PB&J or pasta with meat sauce

Good for: Muscle building and repair

The perfect post-weight training repast has about 400 calories, with 20 to 30 grams of protein (to build new muscle) and 50 to 65 grams of carbohydrates (to repair old muscle). Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or a small bowl of pasta with meat sauce fits that formula.

Pork tenderloin

Good for: Waist-trimming

Lean meats are a great low-calorie source of protein, and scientists at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, found that eating more protein may reduce the fat around your midsection. People who ate 20 more grams of protein every day than the group average had 6 percent lower waist-to-hip ratios.

DRINK THAT!

Coffee

Good for: Pain relief

University of Georgia scientists revealed that taking a caffeine supplement (equal to two cups of coffee) after exercise reduces muscle soreness more than pain relievers can. Caffeine blocks a chemical that activates pain receptors.

Cold water

Good for: Endurance

Drinking cold water before and during exercise can help improve your endurance. In a British study, cyclists who drank about 30 ounces of a chilled drink in the half hour before riding in a hot, humid environment—and smaller amounts as they rode—were able to bike 23 percent longer than riders who downed lukewarm liquids. Drinking cold water may be the most direct way to reduce core body temperature, so it takes you longer to heat up and slow down.

8 ounces of chocolate milk

Good for: Hydration

The best sports drink may come from a cow. British researchers found that milk does a better job than water or sports drinks at rehydrating the body after exercise. Why? To begin with, milk has more electrolytes and potassium. The addition of chocolate gives milk the perfect balance of carbs, protein, and fat for speedy muscle recovery.

Green tea

Good for: Muscle recovery

Brazilian scientists found that participants who consumed three cups of green tea every day for a week had fewer markers of the cell damage caused by resistance to exercise. So drinking a few cups every day may help your muscles recover faster after an intense workout.


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