Eat Every Four Hours

Eat every four hours ― breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. This way of eating keeps your stomach from rumbling and your metabolism happy. Starve yourself for any portion of the day and you cheat yourself out of a bump in your metabolic rate. When you first start to eat every four hours, you might find that you're not very hungry when the four hours are up. But that's the idea ― you don't want to be famished by the time you eat again. You want to head off extreme hunger, which is a signal that your blood sugar has dipped too low and will lead to cravings and overeating.

Alternative Workout!

If you’re trying to get into top-notch shape, consider alternatives to a standard gym routine. Disciplines such as yoga, tai chi, and Pilates offer additional benefits, such as flexibility and balance.

Just Quit It!

Okay, here's a no-brainer: Smoking is bad for you. But you probably never suspected some of the ways in which it's bad. This destructive little habit affects a slew of endocrine glands — pituitary, thyroid, adrenals, testicles, and ovaries — in addition to the lungs, heart, brain, and, oh yeah, every other cell in your body. To give you a breakdown of the metabolic risks, smoking helps cause insulin resistance and drives up your cortisol levels. It can make you infertile and throw your body into menopause years before your time. Smoking is also a huge risk factor for problems with your thyroid. Think quitting will make you fat? I have news for you: Smoking fills your body with a number of pollutants that not only won't help you lose weight but will make you fat. Seriously, people, just don't do it.

Tomato Power

Cooked tomato products, like tomato paste or puree, stewed tomatoes, and even ketchup, deliver more of the cancer-fighting antioxidant lycopene and potassium than raw tomatoes do.

A Cheap Diet Tool

One small piece of kitchen equipment can help you control your food portions and drop these pounds: A food scale!

No Carbs Before Bed

To slip into stage 3 or 4 sleep, you need to have a high level of hunger hormone ghrelin before bedtime. Carbs depress ghrelin faster than any other nutrient, so eating anything, especially carbs, before bed can delay your entry into deeper sleep for several hours. If you don't get enough restful sleep, you're likely to be hungrier and eat more. So to help you sleep well and deeply, let the hormones do their thing and don't eat after 9 p.m.!

No Alcohol Before Bed

Although a glass of wine before bed may help you feel relaxed, you shouldn't rely on alcohol as a sleep aid. Alcohol affects your quality of sleep, and can cause you to sleep lighter and wake up during the night.

TV Dinners

Turn it off and put it down! When you're watching television or reading, it's hard to gauge how much you are eating or how full you are. Get old school at mealtimes — set the table, sit down, and enjoy!

Go Mediterranean!

Following the Mediterranean diet — which stresses fruits and vegetables, "good" fats like olive oil, and spices instead of salt — might improve heart function, according to researchers

The Age Game

I can’t tell you how many people just let exercise slide as they get older — then turn around and blame their lagging metabolism on their hormones. Yes, as we age, our hormones naturally shift in ways that encourage weight gain. But it's just too easy to blame your protruding belly on your advancing years. The truth is, you probably haven't been taking care of yourself! The more you eat clean, live clean, and work out, the better your hormone balance will be, and the healthier your metabolism will remain.

Refined Is Not Fine

Avoid refined carbohydrates like white bread, white rice, and white pasta. The nutrients and fiber have been removed from these foods, leaving simple sugars that deplete your energy.

Straighten Up

Bad posture places a great deal of stress on the spine. For good standing posture, hold your chest high, keep your shoulders back and relaxed, pull in your abdomen and buttocks, and balance your weight evenly on both feet.

Life Is About More Than Just Food

Find some activities that comfort and interest you so you'll have the power to combat your emotions without resorting to food. Think about what (apart from eating!) soothes you. What makes you feel beautiful or sexy and desirable? If you steer yourself toward feelings of self-worth, you'll pick activities and behaviors that inherently contradict self-loathing and self-sabotage. Take a bubble bath and listen to tunes you love. Go for a longer-than-usual walk with your pup. Go out dancing with friends. Get a massage or a mani-pedi. Learn to reward and nurture yourself with things that make you feel happy to be alive, and you will break the cycle of self-destruction caused by emotional overeating.

Bite Into Brain Food

You can best help your brain stay sharp by following a healthful diet that's low in fat and cholesterol; loaded with fruits, vegetables, whole grains; and that includes oily, cold-water fish like salmon that are rich in essential omega-3 fatty acids.

Having Fans Never Hurts

Once you turn your negatives into positives, you might just become your own biggest fan! But having a network of people who genuinely want to see you happy and successful is also essential. The key is to find people who are supportive without being asked. Whether it's your mom, your partner, your kids, or your best friend, an encouraging and steady presence in your life can bring strength and courage when you need it most.

Eating on the Go

If you're eating out, it’s hard to judge the correct portions sizes at restaurants. Here are some useful tips for assessing portion sizes using your hand.


-The size of your fist is roughly equal to a cup-size serving of cereal, wild rice, black beans, etc.
-The size of your thumb is roughly equal to an ounce-size serving of cheese.
-The tip of your thumb is roughly equal to a teaspoon of olive oil or butter.
-The center of the palm of your hand, without fingers, is roughly equal to a 3-ounce serving of fish, chicken, beef, etc.


Keep these in mind and feel more in control so you enjoy your time out on the town.

Give Yourself a Break

When you're feeling particularly stressed, just step away from the situation for a while. If you're thinking about a scenario that's creating anxiety, distract yourself by working on another activity. Return to the stressful situation when you're more level-headed and relaxed.

Avoid Skipping Meals

Skipping meals may sounds like a good idea. But it could make your body think it's being starved and start building body fat in an attempt to store energy for later.

Don't Sit Back

So you've mastered one level of exercise. Time to kick back and enjoy the ride, right? Think again. If you get too comfortable with one set of exercises, you'll stop losing weight. That's why it's important to tune in to your body and rate your comfort level with each exercise you try. If you're still feeling the burn from fairly simple exercises, stick with them until you don't anymore ― then, whether you want to or not, ratchet it up.

Know Your Enemies

It goes without saying that you should try and pick the healthiest restaurant possible, but if this isn't an option or you don't know what the restaurant will offer, try to identify ahead of time which menu items could throw you off your diet. Address them in advance by checking out the restaurant's menu online. Simply search for the restaurant’s name, and if they don't post their menu or have their own Web site, see if you can look up some general nutritional facts for dishes that the restaurant is likely to serve. If the restaurant serves an unhealthy dish that you know you can't resist, like the best French fries or soft breadsticks in town, pick another place. There's always another restaurant. If your kids are hell-bent on the pizza joint, resist the urge for a slice of the pepperoni pizza and you'll probably still be able to enjoy a salad, chicken, or fish.

Green Is Good

Trees benefit our HEALTH and the environment. They reduce air-conditioning costs by providing shade, pull carbon dioxide out of the environment and create oxygen, improve water quality by reducing storm water runoff, and provide us with calming surroundings.

Keep It Cool

Keep your cool for better sleep. A cool room at bedtime helps decrease your core body temperature, which leads to sleepiness. Find your best temperature somewhere between 60 and 70 degrees.

Rest Up to Build Up!

You’ve got a lot on your plate these days. While we all are busy with work, family, and personal responsibilities, it is still an absolute necessity to lie down at night and get at least seven hours of sleep. Sleep is NOT something that can be neglected, especially when you’re trying to get into shape and shed pounds. Depriving your body of sleep will actually aid in weight gain and could put you at greater risk for diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, and depression. In addition to the plethora of negatives that come with sleep deprivation, if you don’t rest properly, you won’t have enough energy to exercise to your maximum potential. Simply put, get your rest! Try keeping a consistent sleep pattern, and you will feel much better for it!

Cherish Your Memories

Pull out snapshots from a photo album of a family vacation or fun moments from your childhood. Reflect on your memories of that occasion and what made it so enjoyable. A quiet moment spent reminiscing will help you feel relaxed.

The H2O Equation

There is no real one-size-fits-all approach to water consumption. As a general rule of thumb, men should consume 128 ounces of water daily, and women should consume 88 ounces, but this doesn't mean you need to drink this amount of water every day. Other beverages, as well as the moisture content of foods, also count toward your water intake. Exercise and environment, such as hot and humid weather, are also factors that affect how much water you should consume. 

Antioxidant

A potent antioxidant, vitamin C protects the body against cell damage that can occur during exercise.

Soy Isoflavones

Recent studies find that soy isoflavones may enhance short term memory and executive function in women.

Health Benefits of Cherries

Cherries belong to the same family as almonds, apricots, peaches and plums and cherries HEALTH benefits and nutritional value has come to the fore recently. Cherries are usually expensive to purchase but their health benefits outweigh this by a huge margin. Cherries nutrition is known to be helpful in various diseases, which range from heart ailments to joint pain. Cherries health benefits are conserved in every form of the fruit that can be consumed and this makes cherries the most versatile fruit around. Concentrated cherry juice is known to be extremely beneficial due to the antioxidants and anthocyanins that they contain, making cherry juice as one of the most beneficial concentrates.

Get Out at Lunch

Instead of eating at your desk, use your lunch hour to get some fresh air outside or squeeze in some exercise at a local gym. Make it your hour.

Make Substitutions

Remember, just because you’ve made it a point to eat healthy doesn’t mean you can’t go out every now and then to enjoy restaurant food. You just have to know what to look for, what to avoid, and where to make substitutions. You can order the chicken fajita, but instead of the Mexican rice and refried beans, ask for black beans or a salad on the side. Opt for the grilled vegetables instead of the twice-baked potato or French fries. Substitute the hash browns for sliced tomatoes. You get the idea — this stuff will take a little extra thought at first, but in no time it'll be second nature.

The Truth About Cardio

There is an established misconception that cardio is most effective first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. The theory is that you won’t have eaten in 8 to 10 hours, so there will be less blood sugar available for fuel, which will force your body to draw on and burn more of its stored energy. This is absolutely untrue. A calorie is a calorie no matter what. It doesn’t matter if the calories are from fat or from carbs — as long as you are burning more of them than you are taking in, you will lose weight. If anything, working out on an empty stomach could make you feel weak and could inhibit your performance. The best advice is to do your cardio whenever you have the energy for it, whether it’s morning or evening, on an empty stomach or following a snack. All that matters is that you are putting as much into every workout as you can — do that, and you’re guaranteed to get the most out of it.