Do you have a trip planned to Surprise, AZ for Rangers Spring Training? Wondering about the Rangers schedule? How to meet players? Where to stay, eat and play?
There are few things I love more than a huge bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. Seriously. The cinnamon-y sugar goodness on top of those little squares is better than, well...you know...a lot of things.
The thing is, a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (or just about any other cereal, for that matter) can do more diet damage than good.
Here are 3 reasons why cereal makes us fat:
1. We don't stick to one serving size. Who does? I don't. A serving of Cinnamon Toast Crunch is only 3/4 of a cup. Really? NO ONE eats only 3/4 of a cup. It's more like two cups. That's serious damage: 325 empty calories and 22 (!) grams of sugar, without even adding the milk. Try eating your cereal with a teaspoon, instead of a tablespoon and out of a coffee cup instead of a bowl to trick your mind you're eating more. (Tweet this).
2. We add too much dried fruit and other crap. Craisins, raisins, dried apricots and the like can all be fat pills. They have barely any water which means they're dense in calories. While nuts are great, don't go too far. Add a few, not a handful. Use fresh fruit to get the benefit of more fiber and water content to help fill you up. Try higher-fiber and lower calorie berries. Half a cup of raspberries, for example, have 4 grams of fiber.
3. We eat kids cereal. There's a reason I don't keep Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the house: I would eat the whole box. These children's cereals provide a ton of sugar but little nutritional value. Kinda scary, actually. Look for cereals with fewer than 5 grams of sugar. Or make this oatmeal with peanut butter, apples and cinnamon. Delicious.
Why I Gave Up Breakfast Cereal
I gave up breakfast cereal about 15 years ago. Not coincidentally, I believe, I lost weight. I have no "off button" when it comes to breakfast cereal. I can't stop eating it, that's why I rarely eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Even when I'm trying to be "healthy" and have something like Fiber 1 or Kashi Go Lean, I usually end up eating two bowls of it and, you know what, I'm hungry a few hours later. Cereal is not a satiating food. In my opinion, it's a fat pill (Tweet this).
When you're eating breakfast, get some protein in the mix, whether it's eggs, whey protein powder, nut butter, low-sugar/high-protein yogurt or lean meat. Protein takes longer to digest than carbohydrates and keeps you full longer.
I love two scrambled eggs with salsa and spinach with a side of berries or a green smoothie with whey protein powder (make it with two handfuls of spinach or kale, half a banana and whatever berries you or other fruit you have on hand). When all else fails, I'll grab a few hard boiled eggs (boil a half dozen of them at the beginning of the week). If you can't give up your cereal, here are some low-sugar cereal options.
Do you like cereal or are you like me and try to keep out of the house? I'd love to know what your favorite breakfast is. Let me know in the comments section.
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Eggs and coffee can be part of a healthy diet. Whoo-Hoo!
Coffee and eggs are hip. In a big, fat healthy way.
The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services assemble experts every five years to study and recommend dietary guidelines. Why? Because it's a dynamic thing. Scientists and experts are continually studying and learning new data. New dietary guidelines will be released at the end of 2015 but preliminary recommendations were released on Thursday.
Among the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee's recommendations:
Eggs Are Ok - experts say that dietary cholesterol is "not considered a nutrient of concern for overconsumption". In English - don't be so worried about the cholesterol in egg yolks or shrimp, for that matter.
Coffee Is Cool - between 3-5 cups of coffee per day can be a part of a healthy diet and can actually reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Don't add extra calories with tons of milk, cream or sugar. Out on coffee? Drink green tea.
Watch Added Sugar - added sugar should be no more than 200 calories a day. Average Americans are getting about 268 calories from added sugar right now. These are completely empty calories.
While You're At It, Watch The Salt - stay under 2300 milligrams per day. This can add up quickly.
Eat A Plant-Based Diet - duh. We know we need to do this.
Get my free guide, "The 10 Easiest Diet Tips: Simple Secrets To Help You Lose Weight & Maintain Your Weight Loss For Good". It's yours free when you sign up for The Real Skinny, my weekly newsletter that shares super simple diet and fitness tips like this one about the wonders of, what else, coffee.
As always, take all this advice to heart but check with a trusted medical professional if you plan on making significant dietary changes. Image via Justin Leibow
From jocksniffing to dawdling and donkeyjacking (the art of doing nothing when you should be doing something), I have seen interns do it all. Too often, we see interns doing things they shouldn't be. It's not solely their fault. Many times young professionals come into an internship without a solid understanding what is and isn't acceptable behavior. While we don't want to dwell on negative experiences, it bears discussing.
Whether you're a first-time intern or a seasoned, internship pro like Suzi Mellano (click HERE to read Suzi's story), here are important things to consider during your internship.
What Is Dermaplaning?
Dermaplaning is a fancy name for shaving your face with a scalpel blade. It takes off superficial layers of dead skin cells while also removing hair. It leaves your skin baby-bottom soft.
Every time you shave your legs don't they feel super soft? You're dermaplaning them! That's because you just shaved off superficial layers of skin.
If you are dieting and happen to have an avid dater (first of all, Lucky You!), the marriage of the two can be a bitch, though. You don't want to be that person who orders a salad with no dressing or pulls out your Weight Watchers app to calculate your point total for the day.
So how can you date while you're on a diet? It's not that difficult. You can still find love without losing control over your eating habits. Here are a few tips:
4 Tips To Diet While Dating & NOT Be High Maintenance
1. Don't Hesitate To Recommend The Restaurant - pick a place whose menu you know and trust. 2. Plan Ahead - when you know where you will be dining, check out the menu online so you can figure out what to order and what works within your diet. 3. Give Yourself A Break - this is perhaps my favorite tip. When you eat a quality, well-balanced diet, you don't have to be that high maintenance chick on a diet. There are so many ways to incorporate dining out into an overall healthy eating strategy. My Bonus Tip: Order two appetizers for dinner: select the smaller one as a starter and the larger one as your main course. The portions are smaller while the options are generally more interesting. Plus you can always nibble on your date's dish.
U.S. News & World Report has more. Want More Simple Diet Tips?
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I have to vent: I have met so many new countless new-moms who are struggling with breastfeeding their newborns. You are not alone.
Three years ago, I was that struggling-to-breastfeed, sleep-deprived, maniacal new mom. I hear loads of stories from mothers who went through the same thing when their kids were young, too.
There are thousands of mothers out there struggling with this and not enough women talking about it.
