Spinach-and-Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

• 

  2  cups  (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2  cup  fat-free sour cream
• 1/4  cup  (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 3  garlic cloves, crushed
• 1  (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1  (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1  (8-ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened
• 1/2  (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
• 1  (13.5-ounce) package baked tortilla chips (about 16 cups)



Lean & Luscious Seven Layer Dip

Ingredients:
16 oz. can fat free spicy or zesty refried beans
1 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lime juice
1-1/2 tsp. chili powder
? tsp. ground cumin
? tsp. garlic powder
11-1/2 ounce (about 1-1/4 cups) jar guacamole dip*
? cup chopped green onions
1 cup light sour cream
3 Tbsp. canned, drained, diced green chilis
1-1/2 seeded, chopped vine-ripened tomatoes
4 oz. shredded 75% light cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp. finely chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 cup sliced, drained black olives

Instructions:
In medium bowl, mix together beans, lime juice, chili powder, cumin and garlic.

Spoon bean mixture into a 6-cup glass serving bowl. Using a spatula, spread evenly to form a flat layer. Pour guacamole evenly over beans and smooth with back of a spoon. Sprinkle green onions evenly over top.

In a small bowl, mix sour cream and chilis. Spoon mixture evenly over onions and smooth. Sprinkle tomatoes over top.

In a second small bowl, mix cheese with cilantro. Sprinkle evenly over tomatoes. Sprinkle olives over that. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.

Makes 6 cups.

1 serving = 2 tbsp
29 calories, 1 g protein, 4 g carbohydrates, 1 g fat (trace saturated), 3 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 138 mg sodium

Low Fat Guacamole

Directions 

In a blender or food processor, puree the green beans, avocado, garlic and lemon juice until very smooth. Stir in the peppers and cilantro.

This spicy vegetarian stir-fry is a great way to use green beans when they’re bountiful and inexpensive at the supermarket. You can also try it with other vegetables, such as broccoli or peppers, just make sure to cut them into small pieces so that they cook quickly. Coating the tofu in cornstarch before you cook it gives it a light crust.

The bathroom scales can fool you, a new study shows.

If you eat too many calories, you will gain about the same amount of body fat no matter how many of those calories are protein.

But you may gain less weight on the scales by overeating on a low-protein diet than on a normal-protein or high-protein diet.

The reason: You lose lean body mass (muscle and organ tissue) on a low-protein diet and you gain lean body mass on a normal or high-protein diet, the research shows.

"You may gain less weight by overeating on a low-protein diet, but it's because you lose lean body mass, not because you store less fat," says George Bray, lead author of the study and an obesity researcher at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge.

He and colleagues had 25 healthy adults, ages 18 to 35, live in an inpatient setting for three months. Based on their caloric needs, participants were overfed by 950 calories a day for eight weeks.

They were given those extra calories as either a low-protein diet (5% of calories from protein, about 1.6 ounces of protein a day); normal-protein diet (15% of calories from protein, 5 ounces a day) or a high-protein diet (26% of calories, 8 ounces a day).

The carbohydrates stayed the same at 41% of calories. The percentage of fat varied depending on the protein. Protein-rich foods include lean meat, fish, chicken, low-fat milk, eggs and beans, Bray says. Participants were monitored and ate everything they were served.

Among the findings after eight weeks, reported in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association: Participants in all three groups gained about the same amount of body fat, 7.7 pounds. This is measured with a special instrument.

But what showed up on the bathroom scales was different. Those on the low-protein diet gained about 7 pounds compared with 13 pounds for those on a normal-protein diet and 14 pounds for those on a high-protein diet.

The reason: Lean body mass decreased by 1½ pounds in the low-protein diet group, compared with a gain of about 6 pounds of lean body mass in the normal-protein diet group and 7 pounds in the high-protein diet group.

Protein contributed to the changes in lean body mass, and "the bathroom scale doesn't tell you what the composition of your body is," Bray says.

So what should a person do? "My take-away message from this study is that we need to eat enough good lean protein to help maintain our lean mass," says Barbara Rolls, a nutrition professor at the Pennsylvania State University.

She advises people to keep their protein intake at the recommended level, whether they are trying to lose weight or keep weight off.

The Institute of Medicine recommends a diet containing a range of 10% to 35% of calories from protein.

The government's choosemyplate.gov recommends 5.5 ounces of protein foods a day for those on a 2,000 calorie diet, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian in Chicago and nutrition blogger at yourlife.usatoday.com.

For the slick yogie: ToeSox will keep help him or her get her Om on without slipping on the mat. Even if he or she has a sticky mat or sticky yoga towel, the mixture of wear, time, and sweat can accessories to lose their grip. These socks help fix the stick! $15

For the pocketless  runner: In my opinion, there is never a good place to keep your keys, ID, or phone on you when running without it jingling and jiggling all over the place. Until now…. (imagine that in my infomercial voice). The Banjees Wrist Wallet is a cross between a sweat wristband and a wallet, allowing you to keep your stuff snugly against your wrist without any bouncing around. $15

For the blue-armed bicyclist: Even on warmer days, the wind while on your bike can chill your arms to the bones. That’s where Run Pretty Far’s arm warmers come in handy. Their just like the leg warmers you loved from Flashdance but not for the upper body. $18 per pair–and they come in all kinds of awesomely fun patterns.

For the lifter who can lift more than he or she can hold: I have horrible grip strength, which makes lifting weights tricky sometimes since it’s hard to lift what you’re unable to hold. When I was training with my husband years ago, he had me try a pair of lifting straps to help. The padded strap cinches around your wrist leaving a canvas tail to wrap around the bar a couple of times and hold in your hand. It’s not a perfect solution, but it does help when your body says yes but your hands say no. $12.99

For the numb-toed skier: All socks are not created equal, which is especially true for ski socks. Ski socks, like the Sweet Silver Ski Socks by Eurosocks, have additional padding where a pair of ski boots can start to wear on your legs. They are also built to keep feet warm and wick away sweat. $19.99

For the desk jockey who’s been meaning to start working out: You know the saying, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. Well the same is true for those who say they want to work out, but no gift or trip to the gym seems to convince them otherwise. That’s where a stability ball comes in handy. They can do all the sitting they want and even watch TV, stalk people on Facebook, read a book, or even knit, and still get in a decent core workout. Should they be doing more? Probably. But let’s take baby steps when needed. $17.41 (Note: Stability balls come in all kinds of sizes, colors, and prices.)

For the newbie trainee: Anyone just getting started with working out of any kind is going to painfully become aware of muscles he or she never even knew they had. It sucks, but it’s just part of being healthy. Hot showers, pain gels, heating pads, massage (if they can tolerate being touched), and ibuprofen are all helpful solutions–and could be items that could make up a nice gift basket. But it was at CrossFit that I was introduced to the pain-relieving wonders of foam rollers. I sometimes think they’re magical in their simplicity. You just put it under a body part, move back and forth on it, and it massages and loosens tight muscles. It can make you feel a tad tender while using it, but it’s amazing how much it helps. The GoFit Roller comes with a companion instructional DVD, which is helpful to get the most use out of the roller. $19.99 for the duo (but you can find the foam rollers solo for less).

Enjoy!

...

Constructing a Balanced Salad: 
400 Calorie Breakdown

100 calories: vegetables

• greens: romaine, baby spinach, mixed baby lettuces, arugula, frisee, red or green leaf, butter, bibb
• carrots (grated, sliced thinly on the diagonal, or shredded with a vegetable peeler)
• peppers: any color
• red cabbage (shaved)
• cucumber (seeds removed, halved and chopped into crescents)

100-150 calories: protein

• 3 oz of chicken, beef, pork, tofu, tempeh, or fish
• ½ cup beans or lentils
• 2 hard or soft boiled eggs
• 1 can tuna fish
• 1/2- ¾ cup cottage cheese (I buy 4% milkfat because the more velvety texture is unmatchable in lighter versions- so creamy, so thick)

100-150 calories: fat

• 1/4-1/3 of an avocado
• 2 tablespoons any dressing (all will generally clock in around 150 calories on average)
• 2 tablespoons chopped nuts/seeds: almonds, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, pepitas
• 3 tablespoons full fat sour cream (excellent topping for a Mexican salad along with salsa)
• 1 ounce or ¼ cup shredded/grated/crumbled cheese: any kind

100 calories: fun

• ¼ cup dried cranberries or raisins
• handful croutons
• mandarin oranges and fried wonton sticks (if I’m lucky to have them on hand for an Asian-style salad)
• ¼ cup hummus
• sweet beets
• 2 crisp slices bacon, crumbled

Dressing:

Now, here’s an interesting part of my salad-making. I don’t often use traditional dressings- bottled or homemade. This is mostly because I’ve gotten accustomed to using thicker, more concentrated flavors in the form of:

• hummus (¼ cup makes a creamy topper)
• guacamole (¼ cup)
• fresh salsa (and often full fat sour cream- this combination becomes creamy sweet with the right amount of acidity)
• peanut butter (1 tablespoon thinned with equal parts soy sauce and water (1 tbsp each) and a ¼ tsp ground ginger)
• cottage cheese (½ cup of 4% milkfat- what I find to be the richest, creamiest variety)
• sweet preserves: jams, cranberry sauce (at Thanksgiving), orange marmalade, apricot preserves, honey
• ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce (excellent on a meat or veggie burger salad with cheese and all the fixin’s you’d normally find between a bun next to fries)

The beauty of using these thick creams and spreads is that they add much more to the vegetables in terms of mouthfeel. Whereas vinaigrettes and other dressings might be fairly high in calories (for such a small portion) and light in terms of ‘wow’ flavor, these thick creams coat the vegetables in a more pronounced, distinguishable way. They’re saucy rather than just slippery.

Via Eating Well

Via Women's Health

Drink Your Milk

Think you're getting a nutritional boost from your morning cereal? Up to 40 percent of the vitamins in fortified cereals dissolve in the milk. If you don't drink the leftover cow juice, you're not getting the fancy-pants nutrients!

Ice It, Ace It

Drink a few glasses of ice-cold water before and during exercise. Studies show that the cold stuff can improve endurance by about 23 percent. And ice water forces your body to expend calories warming it up, boosting your metabolism as well.

Lift, Damn It!

Verbally expressing emotion while lifting increases muscle strength by up to 25 percent. (Of course, it also increases your risk of being tossed out of the gym by the same percentage…) Or get someone to scream at you: You'll be able to lift 5 to 8 percent more weight if you get verbal encouragement from a trainer or workout partner.

Bribe Yourself Fit

Bet a colleague (like the one who's not so secretly gunning for your job) 50 bucks that you can stick to your workout program for 6 months. Studies show that those who do achieve an average 97 percent success rate. Alternate plan? Schedule your workouts, then put a few bucks in a jar for each one you make. Pledge the money toward something sweet, like a new bike or a trip to Vegas.

Pick The Red One

Red cabbage has 15 times as much wrinkle-fighting beta-carotene as green cabbage. Red bell peppers have up to nine times as much vitamin C as green ones.

Spear a Hangover

To reduce the severity of a hangover, order a side of asparagus. When South Korean researchers exposed a group of human liver cells to asparagus extract, the extract suppressed free radicals and more than doubled the effects of two enzymes responsible for metabolizing alcohol.

Listen To Your Feet

If you can hear yourself running, you're setting yourself up for injury. Pounding the pavement comes from bad form. Keep your feet close to the ground and use a quick, shuffling stride.

Don't Buy Wheat Bread

Huh? Isn't it good for me? Actually, "wheat bread" is often just white bread dyed with molasses to make it look dark. Look instead for "100 percent whole wheat" or "whole grain." Even better: rye bread. Swedish researchers found that 8 hours after people ate rye, they felt less hungry than those who noshed wheat bread, thanks to rye's high fiber content.

Cheat With Your Weights

Lift a weight as many times as you can. Then, when you can't complete one more repetition, use your free hand (or a workout buddy) to help push your weighted hand through another rep. Once you're at the top of the move, remove your free hand and slowly lower the weight. Studies show that negative resistance exercises like this are more effective at muscle building than standard exercises.

Dry Off Head To Toe

After a shower, you'll prevent a chill by drying your head and neck first. You'll also reduce the risk of anything nasty from the shower floor making its way up your body.

We’re officially in full-force holiday mode now, which means plenty of opportunity for overindulging at festive celebrations. No need to get all Grinchy—or put such strict limits on your eating that you end up feeling deprived. Here’s how to enjoy yourself this party-packed season and still be able to fit into your pants when it’s all over.

Bring a healthy dish. If you’re really trying to rein it in and worried that there won’t be anything healthy at the party, bring a delicious lower-cal dish. 

Have a healthy snack before you go. You’ve heard it before: Have an apple before the party so you’re not so starved at the start of dinner that you wolf down everything in sight. It works. (Try one of these under-250 calorie snacks.) Or down a couple of glasses of water: in one 2010 study, people who drank two cups of water before meals lost more weight than those who didn’t.

Survey the scene. When faced with a holiday spread, before you dive in, assess all your options and decide what you really want.  Do you really need cheese and crackers, a handful of nuts and a mini quiche before a multi-course meal? Probably not. If it’s your style to taste a little of everything at a big holiday dinner, go easy on the appetizers so you actually have room for it. (Stick with mostly the veggie platter and go easy on the dip.) If, on the other hand, you’re a sucker for starters, keep that in mind when you’re dishing out those starchy sides: choose the mashed potatoes or the stuffing—or smaller servings of each.

Move away from the dessert table. Research by EatingWell Nutrition Advisor Brian Wansink, Ph.D., suggests that simply moving away from treats may help keep us from overindulging. In his study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, people ate an average of 7.7 chocolate candies from a clear bowl directly in front of them versus 3.1 candies when they were in an opaque bowl out of arm’s reach.

Make a plate—and don’t be quick to empty the “discards.” Research has shown that seeing the “evidence” of what we’ve eaten—like bones from chicken or turkey and the shells of nuts—helps us to eat less. 

Prepare this dish up to a day ahead, and store, covered, in the refrigerator. To reheat, bake at 350°, covered, for 45 minutes. The temperature and time work well with Sausage and Mushroom Stuffing, and the turkey can stand while this reheats.

12 servings

Ingredients

• 6 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into (1-inch) cubes
• Cooking spray
• 5 tablespoons honey, divided
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Place potatoes in a single layer on 2 large baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Lightly spray potatoes with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 1 hour or until tender, stirring occasionally. Place the potatoes, 1/4 cup honey, butter, and salt in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon honey.

Nutritional Information
Amount per serving