Wednesday, July 22, 2015

How to Go Blonde the RIGHT Way

BY SHANNON FARRELL


If you have dark hair, you don't have to feel intimidated about trying a sun-kissed color; there is a way to go light that won't destory your strands and leave you with a miscolored mess on your head. Just follow these tips from Sally Hershberger stylist Lucille Javier, who specializes in hair-color transformations.

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Wednesday, May 13, 2015

How to Eat Happy: The Joy Diet

 Good foods

by Susan Hall

From Health magazine

Some foods can alter brain chemistry to boost your mood. So to stay blissful all day long, in addition to doing our Joy Workout, try these recipes from John La Puma, MD, author of Chef MD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine.



Next: Breakfast: Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa with Blackberries  Read more!

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17 Ways to Lose Weight When You Have No Time


Slim-down strategies for busy people

by Amanda MacMillan

If packing your lunch, cooking dinner every night, and getting to the gym regularly sound like things you'll be able to do half past never, you may think that real weight loss just isn't in the cards for you right now. It's true: healthy weight loss can be a time commitment, especially if you're overweight thanks to a job that keeps you sedentary for much of the day or a schedule that lends itself to fast food and unhealthy snacking.

Don't throw in the towel just yet. You don't need extra minutes in your day to eat less or to move more, the two basic pillars of weight loss. Here's how to reevaluate the time you do have, and smart strategies to make dropping pounds easier, no matter how swamped you are. Read more!

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Thursday, January 15, 2015

5 Love Languages For A Healthy Heart

By Emily Barr, MS, RD, CNSC “I love you with all my heart” one term of endearment you may hear or say this Valentine’s Day. But how healthy is your heart? Are you doing all you can to keep your heart beating strong for your loved ones? This Valentine’s Day show your love to your heart by speaking these five “love languages”! 1. WEIGHT – Yes, your weight plays a major role in your heart health. If your BMI is over 25 kg/m2 (that is the Healthy Heart photo: eatingright.org overweight/obesity range) and/or if you have extra love around your midsection, you are at a higher risk for heart disease, including heart attack and stroke. The good news is that you can improve your heart health by losing weight. To achieve weight loss, try to focus on exercise, food selections, and portion sizes. 2. FAT – Of course fat plays another major role in heart health! Be alarmed if your diet is loaded with higher fat foods, specifically foods high in saturated fat from animals including beef, pork, poultry fat and whole or 2% dairy. Guidelines: Saturated fat should be limited to 7% of your total calories, due to its contribution to increasing your blood cholesterol. Following the American Heart Association’s guidelines, a heart healthy 2,000 calorie diet should be limited to 65 grams of total fat and 15 grams of saturated fat. 3. SODIUM– Our bodies need a little bit of sodium (a.k.a. salt), though too much sodium can raise your blood pressure – not in the heart throbbing, good loving type of way – and increase your risk of heart disease including, heart attack and stroke. Guidelines: The average American takes in 3,800 mg of sodium per day, which is nearly 2 times the recommended intake of ~2,000 mg per day for a heart healthy diet. Helpful Tips: To lower your sodium intake, be sure to read the labels of any food in a package, jar, or can. These processed foods have a lot of sodium to help preserve them to sit on the shelf. Look for foods with reduced sodium label claims, such as “Sodium-free”, “Very Low Sodium”, or “Low Sodium”. Another route is to go for the foods without packaging, especially the lovely colorful fresh fruits and vegetables! 4. CHOLESTEROL – Increased circulating cholesterol in your bloodstream can slowly make its home on the walls of your blood vessels, narrowing those important passage ways from your heart to your brain, lungs and other important parts of your body. Our bodies naturally make cholesterol; therefore, it is important to limit the cholesterol in our foods to keep our blood flown properly! Helpful Tips: One of the most important foods to be aware of when limiting your cholesterol is eggs! One egg has 213 mg Cholesterol which is enough for your entire day! Try to substitute those eggs with a cholesterol free egg substitute, just as it claims 0 mg of cholesterol and no fat! Double heart loving bonus! 5. FIBER – Fabulous, functional fiber can also help keep that lovable fiber heart of yours healthy. Specifically soluble fiber, which binds with cholesterol and then takes a lovely ride out of the body, in turn reducing your blood LDL cholesterol (that’s the “bad” one). Helpful Tips: To maximize the benefits of soluble fiber, include fruits, such as apples, bananas, pears, plums, peaches and citrus fruits, vegetables, such as carrots, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and chick peas, whole grains, such as barley, oats, psylium, and beans in your diet. Renew your love for your heart and commit to making these heart healthy changes! Have questions? Please don’t hesitate to contact us, we’re here to help! By Emily Barr, MS, RD, CNSC Read more!

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Feed Your Family With Love

By Emily Barr, MS,RD,CNSC – V.P of Nutritional Services and Co-creator of Ignite Your Skinny Gene Program Love your mate Our instinctive nature tells us to shower our loved one with sweet treats or rich decadent meals, all of which are loaded with an unimaginable number of calories, heart stopping saturated fats, and sweetened with sugar that could turn our blood into syrup! Our goal is to show them our undying love, not poison them with unhealthy, non-nutritive foods! Ideally we show our love through food every day, not just that special day in February. In order to love our mates the right way, we need to take a look at the big picture. Take a look at our special someone’s family history, generations before can provide us with a lot of information of their possible health risks. Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes all travel down family blood lines. Identifying the risk is the first step; next we need to modify their diet to help reduce their risk of carrying on the family disease. Heart disease – limit saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol Cancer – limit saturated fat, alcohol, tobacco, and sun exposure Diabetes – limit intake of concentrated sweets and extra calories and fat Love our mate’s body. Over the years, extra weight may have snuck its way onto our bodies, extra pounds that may not have been present early on in our relationship. Weight gain is an indicator that the current diet situation may not quite be on target. Of course, that doesn’t change the love we have, but we do want to live long healthy lives together, so a change in lifestyle may be necessary! If you are showing your love in a healthy way every day, then the special occasion splurge is a-okay! Love your kids Our instinctive nature with our children is to feed them kid foods, peppy little animal sugary shape snacks, juices in fun containers, chocolaty flavored cereals, and cartoon character endorsed cookies. As much fun as these foods are, they are not the healthy choices that our little ones need. Our kids have the same health risks as adults (like you and your spouse), and not to mention the additional risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes growing up in this generation of excesses. Our goal as parents is to teach our children about healthy food choices and the importance of eating them at every meal and snack time. This can be a challenging venture, but over time, it only gets easier and easier as it becomes routine. We need to make healthy habits mandatory in our homes, leaving the junk foods out of the house and filling the refrigerator and your child’s plate with the healthy ones. Don’t forget that we need to model healthy eating habits. That means that everyone in the home is eating the same healthy foods, no exceptions. Of course, it seems harsh, but we are only doing this out of love. Love your dog How can we forget to show our four legged companion some love? Walking the dog is the best reward they need, which is great because it benefits us, as well! Oh yes, and don’t forget to love ourselves. Surrounding ourselves with our loved ones is the greatest gift of all. Knowing we are teaching and providing our families with healthy, nourishing foods will definitely allow us to sleep w Read more!

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Healthful Living for Busy Moms!

By Rennie Aranda – Skinny Gene Nutritionist While being a mother means caring for others, it may be hard to find time to care for themselves and be mindful of their health. In the midst of karate lessons, soccer games, bake sales, errands, work, laundry, and dinner (just to name a few), moms often find it impossible to spend time taking care of their health. How will everyone manage when mom is too sick to take care of them and their activities? This article will identify some of the barriers that mothers face to good health and how to overcome them. Squeezing more time into a jam-packed day may sound unmanageable, but the best way to look at it is including physical activity and healthful eating into the daily routines that moms already partake in. Fitting in Physical Activity Mothers may want to be more active but have to overcome barriers to fit fitness in. Here are ways busy moms can include more physical activity in their day: Busy healthy mom I don’t have enough time. 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (or “cardio”) a week is recommended for adults. This may seem like a lot of time, but you don’t have to do it all at once. You can break it up into 10 minute increments at a time! (Sound a little better?) Try going for a 10 minute brisk walk, 3 times a day, 5 days a week. You can include this during your lunch break, running errands, or as a family activity after dinner. Try parking further to allow more walking in your day or take the stairs instead of the elevator. Try bicycling to the store if it’s not too far and the area is safe. As long as it lasts for 10 minutes and gets your heart rate up, it counts! It’s hard for me to get motivated to exercise. Buddy up! Ask a family member, friend, or neighbor to take a walk with you or join a class together. Chances are, you will be more motivated to exercise if you have a partner to join you. Motivate each other to exercise. Find another mom and set up active play dates with the children so that everyone can join in on the fun! I am too tired and have no energy to exercise. Believe it or not, but taking a walk may be better than a nap for boosting energy and fighting fatigue. Research suggests that engaging in regular exercise helps in increasing energy levels in the long run. Your body creates more energy as your activity increases! Fatigue is often caused by dehydration so be sure to keep yourself hydrated! I don’t have anyone to watch my children. Take them with you! With all the activities they’re involved in, why not join the fun? Children are encouraged to be engaged in 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Practice their sports with them. Play with them outside or at your favorite park. Take a walk around the neighborhood. Play tag. Throw around a football, Frisbee, or baseball. Not only is the exercise good for you and your children, this is also a good time for family bonding! Healthy Meals for the Whole Family Don’t forget to include healthful eating in the mix! With more working mothers, there is lower frequency of weekly family meals, which can lead to unhealthy choices such as fast food or TV dinners. It may be hard to get a healthy meal together when there is a lot going on, but here are some tips to include more healthy meals that the whole family can enjoy: Healthful eating may be achieved by pre-planning. It is hard to pack meals when you’re busy or have a lot going on. The evening before, try to make it a routine to plan what you will eat the next day. Package snacks into portion sizes and try to make it easy and accessible to put together meals the next day for you and your children. Take advantage of weekends or not-so-busy days to cook several meals for the week ahead. Separate meals into containers. Freeze them to be warmed up later to save time during busier days. Get the family involved! Make it a fun activity for the whole family to prepare meals together. Kids can partake in tasks such as mixing, sprinkling, washing, and assembling ingredients together. Not only does it save time for you, but it can be a great learning opportunity for the kids as well. Plan economical and healthful food shopping. Plan a day to complete all of your grocery shopping for the week. (Again, this ties into planning ahead). Research and choose produce in season, to get the best prices and food quality. Pick healthy items that can be used in multiple dishes. Read more!

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Fitness Gifts Under $5

By Hayley Gurriell, Skinny Gene Intern This is a great article from Popsugar that suggests a variety of inexpensive gift ideas for that fit friend or family member in your life. Still need a present for that holiday party’s white elephant game? Pack more punch with a combination of 3 or 4 of these items that will still keep you under the $20 cap and have everyone fighting for what you brought. Fitness Gifts That Cost Less Than the Almond Latte You Had This Morning From POPSUGAR Sometimes big things come in small packages, and when you’re lucky, with an even smaller price tag. Whether you’re looking for a little extra something to add to an existing gift or are on a tight budget, we have more than 15 fitness- and health-inspired gifts that do not go over the $5 mark. With prices like these, you can gift everyone on your list with ease. 1. No-Crease Hair Elastics No snagging or creasing make these hair ribbons ($4 for a pack of four) a must have for the fit fanatic in your life! 2. Theo Dark Chocolate Peppermint Stick Bar Give friends a boost of antioxidants by adding a Theo Dark Chocolate Peppermint Stick bar ($4) to their stockings. 3. Weight-Lifting Decal Friends can show their love of fitness loud and proud with this weight-lifting decal ($5) that easily affixes to laptops and tablets. It peels off easy, too, so there’s no worry of sticky residue! 4. EOS Sweet Mint Smooth Sphere Lip Balm Whether she runs outside or lives her days on the beach, your active outdoor friend will love the EOS Sweet Mint Smooth Sphere Lip Balm ($3). SPF 15 will keep her lips protected, and the moisturizing balm will protect against wind or dry climates. 5. Wide Yoga Headbands Anyone who practices yoga — especially of the hot variety — knows that not any old headband will do. These handmade headbands from etsy seller Fitness Fox Collection($5) are wide and secure enough to hold hair in place — even during the sweatiest class! 6. Printable Meal Planner If you have a friend who likes to keep everything in check, then help her make meal and workout planning easy with this Diet & Fitness Journal ($4, originally $5). It includes pages for daily and weekly goals, along with resource guides containing fitness tips and a nutrition index. 7. Tea Bag Buddy Finally a simple fix to the common teatime dilemma. The Tea Bag Buddy ($5) holds a tea bag firmly in place while it steeps and, when done, flips over to work as a coaster to hold the used tea bag. 8. Surefoot Foot Rubz Tired feet get some much-needed rest with the help of Surefoot Foot Rubz ($4). Using acupressure techniques, all the user has to do is roll feet over the small massage ball for instant relief. 9. DIY Mat Spray Anyone in your life who practices yoga will appreciate the thought that goes into making this DIY mat spray. Made from tea tree and lavender oils, the scent is sure to invigorate her practice. 10. Guyot Designs MicroBites Utensils The backpacker in your life is going to get big use out of the five-in-one Guyot Designs MicroBites Utensils ($4, originally $5), which works as a spoon, fork, knife, spatula, and spreader. The lightweight set won’t weigh her pack down, and it can withstand temperatures up to 450°F. 11. Exercise Ball Whether as a chair or a piece of workout equipment, there are so many healthy ways to use an exercise ball. The low price of this exercise ball ($5) proves that fitness doesn’t have to be expensive. 12. Homemade Granola While the supplies to make our homemade granola will barely break the bank, the care and effort you put into the gift will make it priceless. 13. Psssst! Dry Shampoo On those days where there’s just not enough time to wash hair after a sweaty gym session, there’s Psssst! Dry Shampoo spray ($5, originally $6). The bottle will fit into just about any gym bag, making it the perfect stocking stuffer for almost everyone in your life. 14. Versa-Loops The closed-loop design of Versa-Loops ($3-$4) fits comfortably around the upper or lower legs, taking an everyday workout routine from ordinary to intense. 15. GOGO Yoga Mat Harness Strap The GOGO Yoga Mat Harness Strap ($4, originally $10) will help her get to yoga class with ease. 16. Twistband Shoelaces These Twistband shoelaces ($5) are a dream! Not only will they liven up shoes with a punch of color, but the laces also stay tied. Never again do you have to worry about tying laces mid-workout. 17. Earth Mama Lip Balm Smoothies aren’t just for sipping! She’ll love this tasty and nourishing coconut-smoothie lip balm ($3) made by Earth Mama Angel Baby. It’s all-natural, petroleum-free, and vegan. 18. Grease Monkey Wipes The cyclist in your life is going to love Grease Monkey Wipes ($2 for a pack of three). Say goodbye to pesky chain tattoos forever! Read more!

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7 Ways to Fit in Fitness!

By Rennie Aranda – Skinny Gene Nutritionist Between work, school, children, errands, hobbies, and spending time with family and friends, finding time to exercise seems like an impossible task. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (such as brisk walking) a week to obtain important health benefits. This is about 30 minutes of exercise during 5 days out of the week. For some, 24 hours in a day doesn’t seem like enough time to fit in work, school, family, and their daily life activities. Fear not! 150 minutes can be broken up whichever way you’d like during the week. With these tips, you’ll learn to squeeze fitness into your busy schedules in no time 1- Extend physical activity during your commute. Jog/walk to and from work (if distance and weather permits) Bike to and from work if possible For those taking public transportation, take a bus or train stop earlier to increase walking time For those driving, leave a little early and park the car further to give time for extra walking 2- Cross your workout off your to-do list ASAP by setting your alarm clock early. (But don’t skip out on sleep!) Reset sleep schedule to get enough rest to wake up early for a workout Wear your workout clothes to bed. Wake up and sweat it out! 3- Squeeze in a lunch break workout. Studies show that exercising during lunch increases productivity at work (and reports fewer sick days) in comparison to those who do not exercise during lunch Take a walk during your lunch break. For extra calorie-burning, add some weights to your walk. For those easing physical activity into their lunch routine, start with stretches at the desk. 4- Make use of your down time at work. If permitted, keep dumbbells at your desk. On breaks, squeeze in 12-15 reps of exercises such as dumbbell curls, overhead presses, and ab crunches. Try to do at least 2-3 sets of each. 5- Get your friends and family involved and have fun! Buddy up with a friend or make it a family routine to increase exercise in the day. Hike your favorite trails, take walks after dinner, play active games or sports, or visit your neighborhood park. Get creative in your physical activities to keep you and your loved ones motivated to exercise. Experience new workouts or fun classes for everyone to enjoy. Challenge and motivate one another to achieve your workout goals for the week. 6- Can’t miss your favorite show? Make room between the couch and the TV, so you don’t miss anything while breaking a sweat. See how many reps of ab crunches or bicep curls you can do during commercials. Keep your favorite fitness tools (dumbbells, jump rope, etc.) by the TV as reminders while you watch your favorite shows. 7- When there’s a chance to take the stairs, take it! Don’t just leisurely walk up a flight of stairs. Increase your speed! If able to perform safely, skip steps to target those glutes even more. Read more!

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Breaking the Sugar Addiction

By Rennie Aranda, Skinny Gene Registered Dietitian We all go through it — the sudden urge to taste something sweet. Perhaps it is a craving for a delectable dessert after dinner, or even as simple as adding sweet sugar to our morning cup of Joe. The energy and joy we feel as the sugar settles in can become an addictive feeling that we crave time and time again. Unfortunately with sugar “highs” come the sugar “lows” when we feel tired and the urge for something sweet starts all over again. It’s time to uncover the truth about sugar cravings and how we can finally tame our sweet tooth and break our sugar addiction. Sugar Addictions How it works – Sugar fuels every cell in the brain so the brain perceives sugar as a reward, which causes our sugar cravings to want more. Simple sugars found in syrup, soda, candy, and table sugar quickly gets absorbed into the bloodstream, causing our blood sugar levels to spike (known as the “sugar high”). Once the blood sugar is moved out of the bloodstream and into our cells for energy, (with the help of the hormone insulin), it causes a drop in blood sugar levels. These rapid changes in blood sugar levels leads to the crash, or sugar “low”, leaving us to feel tired and wiped out and in search for more sugar to regain the “high”. This sets us up for bad eating habits that are hard to break. The Good News! – Sugar is not needed as much as we think. We can retrain our taste buds to enjoy things that are not as sweet or find ways to curb our sugar cravings. The best way to do this is to gradually cut down foods or drinks with added sugar. This change is more doable for long term so that we are not likely to fall back into bad habits. Try one less sweet food or drink from your diet each week. For example, pass dessert after dinner or use less sugar in your coffee or cereal. Over time, you will lose the need for the sweet, sugary taste! Most Americans consume about 19 teaspoons or more of added sugar a day, which equates to up to 285 calories. You should be aiming for no more than 6 teaspoons daily for women and 9 teaspoons for men, cutting it down to 100 calories and 150 calories, respectively. Try some of these tips to cut down on added sugar consumption: – No need to completely give up on sweet treats. Simply replace table sugar or sweet processed foods with the “good-for-you” sweets such as fresh berries or fruit in oatmeal instead of sugar. Try dried, frozen, or canned fruit without added sugar. Also, a low-sugar yogurt can help provide you with natural sugars to satisfy your cravings. – Protein helps! High protein foods digest more slowly, keeping you feeling full for a longer period of time and curbing the sugar cravings. Lean proteins such as lean meats, low-fat yogurt, eggs, nuts, or beans are good choices and also do not make your blood sugar spike up and down the way refined carbs and sugars do. – Fill up on fiber. Like protein, fiber helps in keeping you full and giving you more energy. Fiber does not raise your blood sugar, preventing any crashes or sugar “lows”. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are some good examples to aim for. Smear some peanut butter on an apple for a protein/fiber combo! – Watch out for hidden sugars. Get in the habit of reading food labels and filter out high sugar foods before they hit your shopping cart. If sugar is listed in the first few ingredients, the product is likely to have more than 4 total grams of sugar, or 1 teaspoon. Sugar can also be labeled differently with names like: agave nectar, brown rice syrup, high fructose corn syrup, evaporated cane juice, malt syrup, molasses and words ending in –ose (glucose, lactose, sucrose, etc.) Foods that are not commonly seen as sweet may contain high amounts of sugar such as ketchup, barbecue sauce, pasta sauce, and reduced-fat salad dressings, which is why it is important to read food labels to help control added sugar intake. Halloween Game Plan This Halloween, help your friends and family control their sugar intake by offering “treasures” instead of treats. Try to offer healthier options or fun replacements for the usual candy and chocolate delights. Examples of healthier choices to pass out this Halloween include dried fruit packs, a healthy trail mix, granola bars, veggie chips, and plain popcorn. Some fun treasures to hand out instead of treats may include fun, small toys, toothbrush/toothpaste, stickers, small bean bags, Halloween charms, yarn bracelets, or small bouncy balls. For other fun ideas, take a look at the previous article, “Tricks for Healthy Halloween Treats” for lighter party treat ideas for the upcoming holiday. Read more!

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Clean Eating

By Rennie Aranda, Skinny Gene Nutritionist Springtime has arrived and with this season comes spring cleaning. While you’re getting ready to clean out old storage items and organize closet spaces, why not spring clean your bodies as well by throwing out processed foods in your kitchen and replacing it with fresh fruits and vegetables? Spring clean your metabolism by clean eating and improve your life one meal at a time. What exactly is “clean eating”?SpringCleaning2IMG “Clean eating” is a trend that is suddenly everywhere, but what does “clean eating” really mean? The term means to eat the best and healthiest options in each of the food groups, embracing foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy proteins. This includes staying away from junk foods and processed foods. When you are eating clean, you try to give your body the best fuel that is out there, which are foods that will keep you healthy and at a healthy weight. Clean eating is not necessarily about weight loss, but it focuses on general health. The current craze of “cleansing” or eating only raw food or fresh juices for a set period of time is not the same as clean eating. In fact, our organs are what cleanses are bodies of toxins. The main idea is to replace processed foods, pastries, and fried foods with more fruits and vegetables. You’ll definitely feel the difference! Clean eating can also entail looking more closely at where your food comes from. This could mean buying organic produce to avoid pesticide residue, or avoiding meat that comes from large factory farms. It is possible you might spend a little more money on high-quality meat and produce and more time preparing meals from scratch rather than heating up packaged convenience foods. But, as clean eating advocates say, it may be more expensive to eat clean and healthy, but it is an investment in your future health that you may otherwise pay for in the long run. Here are some tips to get you started on clean eating: Try fresh fruits and vegetables instead of salty and sugary packaged foods to eat as snacks. Instead of buying blueberry yogurt with added sweeteners and less than 5% real blueberries, buy unsweetened yogurt and add your own fresh fruit. Try to buy meat from a farmer’s market in your area or at a grocery store, look for grass-fed meat and dairy products without hormones or antibiotics. Instead of margarine, try substituting it with grass fed butter or avocados to have with your whole grains or veggies. When you’re screaming for ice cream, save calories and fat by drinking a fruit and low-fat yogurt smoothie instead. If you love to savor the crunch, skip the full-fat chips and try more satisfying crunchy snacks such as pretzel chips, nuts, or whole-grain tortilla chips. Read more!

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