The holiday season can be a challenging time to make healthy food choices. With all the office parties, family celebrations, and abundance of cake, cookies, and pies, it is easy to see why the typical American gains weight between Thanksgiving and the New Year. With food as the center piece for most holiday celebrations and social events, it is very hard to avoid, but with a little preparation and planning, you can still enjoy spreading the holiday cheer without spreading your waistline.

Don’t go to a party hungry. The hungrier you are, the faster you will eat. It is important to eat your typical breakfast, lunch, and snacks on the day of the party to avoid being famished when you arrive and therefore overeat.

Substitute traditional foods with healthy alternatives. Most of the traditional holiday meals can be prepared in a healthier manner. For example, try our Low Carb Pumpkin Casserole (link to recipe) as an alternative to pumpkin pie.

Watch out for holiday spirits. Alcoholic beverages can contain from 150 to 450 calories a glass. Limit your drinks to 1-2 glasses. The lower calorie, lower carb choices are dry wine, Bloody Mary’s, or spirits with diet mixers. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram (fat has 9 and protein has 4) and then is stored in the body as extra belly fat. Individuals who are overweight can gain weight more quickly when consuming alcohol.

Up Your Exercise. Yes, you can bond with family over bread and wine, but you can also bond through a brisk walk or bike ride. Try to plan some holiday events around fitness such as entering the family into a 5K Holiday Fun Run, or walk together, or enroll in a fitness class together.

Plan Ahead. Know what parties are you going to attend, what food you will be tempted by, what personal stressful triggers may drive you to eat, and make a plan on how you will deal with those situations. It is much easier to deal with difficult social eating situations if you already have a plan.

Practice conscious eating. Most people tend to eat beyond their body’s physical hunger at holiday events simply because the food is there, it is good, and everyone else is doing it! To avoid over-eating, make one plate of food of the items you really want to eat. Sit down, and eat slowly. Chew and saver each bite. Set your fork down between bites and take your time. When you are finished eating, pop in a mint or a piece of gum to keep your mouth occupied and prevent having seconds.

Bring your own healthy dish to the party. If you are not sure what you can eat when you get there, bring the food with you. Offering to bring a dish puts you in control. At least you know there is one healthy item on hand.

My name is Austin Barton with Medi-Weightloss Clinics a medical weight loss company. We are experts in the field of weight loss and living a healthy lifestyle.

Whole grains are finally starting to get the attention they deserve as a healthy choice for both flavor and good nutrition. In addition to fiber, whole grains are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, and proteins such as iron and it may be easier than you think to incorporate them into your diet.

Some of the most popular whole grains include barley, which is mild in flavor and ideal for thickening soups and stews, and there are two types that are most often eaten; pearled and hulled. Bulgur wheat is often used as a meat substitute in vegetarian soups and chili as it offers a similar texture but with a lot more fiber and a mere fraction of the fat.

Whole grains can be used to create so many different and delicious foods for every meal of the day including things like soups, salads, casseroles, and baked goods. In addition, did you know you can even make tasty treats like pizzas from whole grains?

Whole wheat flour is coarse in texture and is rich in proteins and vitamins. Whole wheat flour also contains more dietary fiber than its white counterpart making it the best choice for a filling, nutritious dish.

Greek Pizza Muffins Recipe

What You Need

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2/3 cup onion, finely chopped
• 2/3 cup red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup low fat milk
• 1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons Kalamata olives, chopped

How to Make It

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat before adding the onions and bell peppers. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent and tender while stirring often. Transfer the onions and peppers to a large bowl and allow them to cool for about 10 minutes.

Coat the inside of a miniature muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine that whole wheat flour with the all purpose flour and add in the baking powder, chopped oregano, sugar, garlic powder, and the salt and pepper.

Stir the milk, crumbled feta cheese, the beaten egg, tomato, and the chopped onions into the bowl with the onion and pepper mixture.

Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients then add in the wet ingredients. Stir everything until just combined.

Pour the mixture into the mini muffin tin until they are about two thirds of the way full.

Bake the muffins for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow the Greek pizza muffins to cool for about 5 minutes before turning upside down onto a wire rack where they should cool for another 2 to 3 minutes before being served.

Makes 24 for serving 6 to 8 Read the rest of this entry…

It is no secret that the beauty industry, which earns billions of dollars each year, is not necessarily the most honest, nor are they completely successful when it comes to results, though their bottom line certainly doesn’t show it. Men and women alike are constantly in search of the Fountain of Youth in a bottle and are willing to pay the big bucks for it. Pride and Envy may be two of the Seven Deadly Sins, but Vanity should be up there as one of the Seven Most Expensive Sins.

What we should be teaching our youth is that there is a way to eat that can be prophylactic. You can eat the right foods so as to prevent many of the skin problems that occur throughout your teens and into adulthood. Yes, some of it may be genetic, but the simple truth is still, “You are what you eat.” The environment wreaks havoc on our skin and if you haven’t learned by now, the right cream, the right ointment, or the perfect cleansing pad just doesn’t exist. Some products may work for some people; after all, any good moisturizer that you put on your skin is going to “plump” it up and “smooth” out those itty bitty wrinkles. What you want, though, is a life-long fix that will give your skin that healthy glow without resorting to those costly remedies after the fact. If the economy keeps going the way it’s going, celebs will be the only people that can afford those concoctions anyway.

With the right foods, you can do your body and your skin some good that will last and will make you look younger for much longer, not to mention the antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that you won’t have to supplement, also out of a bottle.

The first food is rich in isoflavones, a potent antioxidant. Eat beans…lots of beans, or legumes, if you prefer. They come in all forms, such as black beans, peanuts, chickpeas, soybeans and lentils. The variety is endless as is the number of healthy recipes that you can use them in. Studies have shown that over time, eating legumes, along with vegetables and healthy fats, can reduce wrinkles by 20%. Besides reducing wrinkles, isoflavones can reduce the risk of heart disease, protect against prostate problems, ease the symptoms of menopause, improve bone health and reduce your cancer risk. Isoflavones are a natural plant hormone. Other foods that are rich in isoflavones are: tofu, alfalfa, red beans and black-eyed peas. You also may want to note that these same foods are often rich in estrogen, so as well as preventing many health problems can exacerbate others. In addition to these foods, eat foods like berries, broccoli, green beans, grapes, melons, onions, pears, tapioca, white rice and white flour that block estrogens.

Secondly, Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fats, the same as what is in olive oil. Studies have found that people with higher intakes of olive oil had fewer wrinkles than those eating butter, or using it to prepare their foods, and where butter is loaded with saturated fat, which is definitely not good for you, the monounsaturated fats in avocados account for 1/2 of the calories in this same food, which is also a “good thing”. Avocados are also high in vitamin C, which has also been proven to be good for your skin, as well as vitamin K which helps with those dark circles caused by pigmentation under your eyes. You can also eat peanut butter and almonds.

Carrots, along with red bell peppers, sweet potatoes and pink grapefruit are rich in beta-carotene, which are actually tiny orange pigments. They cozy-up into your skin and can give it a healthy, sun-kissed glow. Research has even shown that beta-carotenes can prevent premature aging from sun damage. Granted, some people worry that this orange pigment can make you look like you’ve taken a dive into a bottle of bad self-tanner, but the truth is that only excessive loads of carotene-rich foods can lead to carotenosis, which makes you turn orange. You’d have to eat an awful lot of beta-carotenes to accomplish that, but make sure if you start eating these beta-carotene rich foods to not take a supplement in addition to what you eat. The crunch of a good carrot beats the swallowing of a pill any day.

Blueberries and grapes are rich in polyphenols, an antioxidant known to help keep skin from sagging when you reach middle-age. Polyphenols strengthen the collagen, which improves the skin’s elasticity. Grape juice works as well as grapes, so feel free to drink up, though munching on grapes will be much more gratifying if you are also dieting, which is another way to tighten your skin and improve your overall appearance.

Omega-3 rich foods, such as salmon, flaxseed, sardines and walnuts are not only “brain foods” and “vein foods”, but contain the essential fats that become concentrated in your epidermal (skin) cells and help to retain moisture. A more recent study also found that mice, after just two weeks of supplementation with omega-3 fats, had a 20% quicker recovery from ultraviolet light (sunlight) exposure. When health experts recommend that you eat 2-3 helpings of fish each week, it makes sense to work Salmon into your diet. You can also eat Bluefin Tuna, mackerel, herring, rainbow trout, shrimp, mollusks and Alaskan king crab. Anchovies and sardines are also an option, though they tend to be high in sodium.

Last, but not least, drink water. Not quite as good as red wine, in some people’s books, water does your body good. Moisturizing means locking moisture, sometimes known as water, into your skin. Hydration is necessary to all of your bodily functions and the truth is that most of us don’t drink enough. One notable study concluded that just a bit over 16-ounces of water could measurably increase the blood flow to your skin. It is also likely to increase your metabolism and energy, with not a single calorie. Just drinking water before a meal is one diet strategy that works. It makes you feel full just before you eat so that you don’t eat as much. To be thinner AND to have good skin is a dream-come-true, isn’t it? You can also eat watermelon, peaches and celery if you can’t drink enough water. Those items, of course, have the added vitamin value.

So, there you have it. It is never too early to start eating healthy and the younger those habits are developed, the better. It is also true though, that taste buds evolve and change and that younger children may not find these foods as yummy as his or her parents do. But, if you want to get your pre-teen’s attention and increase the “good food” that he or she consumes, just mention the benefits they’ll get in the way of pretty, clear and healthy looking skin. That is a HUGE incentive to eat better and one that won’t cost you a fortune, at least compared to what those bottles of creams, ointments and preparations will.

One of the ways Tina eats healthy, is by growing and eating her own vegetables. She gets most of her plants and gardening supplies from Garden Harvest Supply. They have everything she needs from frost protection covers to garden seed planter!