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Healthy Eating Tip: Plate Your Veggies First

FitSugar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:30:00 PDT

No matter the health issue, from losing weight to preventing cancer, we all should be eating more veggies. One simple way to accomplish this task is to stop thinking of veggies as garnish and plate them first.

Try to cover at least half of your plate with healthful side dishes featuring produce. I like to think of the meat as a side dish and my salad and steamed broccoli as the main dish. This mindset helps keep the portions in check and increases the amount of vegetables I eat daily. Ultimately, I find a well-balanced plate - 25 percent meat or protein, 25 percent whole grain carb, 50 percent veggies - leads to a well-balanced diet. Try it and see what you think.

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Are Restaurant Portions Too Large?

YumSugar — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:30:00 PDT

When we were in Los Angeles for the Sugar Party, a bunch of us ended up grabbing breakfast at the infamous Saddle Ranch. Little did we know that five plates could have fed 10 people or more! The portions were ridiculously large, and we all started talking about how out of control portions at restaurants can be. Do you think that's true?

At What Meal Do You Eat The Most Food?

partysugar — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 04:48:31 PDT

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Katy Perry Wears Skintight Costume - And Sings About Russell? - At Grammys

Molly Goodson — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:42:25 PST

Katy Perry's outfit left very little to the imagination as she hit the stage at the Grammys this evening. A Katy Perry impostor kicked off the performance pretending to be Katy singing "ET," before the real pop star emerged to debut her new single, "Part of Me," wearing a latex superhero-esque costume that clung to all her curves. The latter track is being included on the extended re-release of her album Teenage Dream, which means it's not a totally new song, but she did change the lyrics - perhaps to send a message to ex Russell Brand for the award show? Katy apparently rewrote a portion of the song recently to say: "You can keep the diamond ring/It don't mean nothing anyway/In fact you can keep everything/Yeah, yeah, except for me." Katy and Russell's divorce was finalized last week, just about a month after they initially announced their split. Do you think Katy was singing about Russell tonight?

Katy's red carpet dress landed her on Fab's best dressed at the Grammy Awards poll so vote in that and all their fashion and beauty polls!

An Easy Guide to 100-Calorie Portions

FitSugar — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:22:21 PDT

With all the large servings of food around, it's important to control your portions. Mindless eating can be controlled with little tricks, like not eating out of the container and using smaller plates to make them look fuller.

It's one thing to see what you're eating, but knowing what's in it is important as well. An easy way to keep portions in check is to be able to estimate how many calories are in your meal. Check out a handy guide on what 100 calories of your food looks like after the break.

Snacking Good: Natchitoches Meat Pies

OnSugar Blog — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:07:39 PST

We've always wanted to take a stab at rolling out a few Natchitoches meat pies. Thanks to an easy recipe from Food Orleans, this might be a dream realized sooner rather than later.

[Baked or fried? You decide.]

Natchitoches meat pies are one of those special little treats with a name as fun to say as they are to scarf down. Nackadish - that's how you say it - is a small town we drive through on our way north to visit Alexandria or Oklahoma, and it's where Steel Magnolias was filmed, and it's famous for these little pies. It's a beautiful little place, with a picturesque riverfront lined with shops and restaurants that have their own sort of French Quarter-ish wrought iron balconies (remember the Easter scene where Jackson slapped Ouiser? That's the riverfront!). But you don't have to go into the actual town to get yourself some meat pies; just stop at any gas station right off I-10. They all fry them up and they're all pretty wonderful.

For her recipe, continue reading.

Fat-Proof Your Life

Health — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:06:06 PST

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site.

By Maridel Reyes

It's true that there are certain times in your life when extra poundage seems to appear out of nowhere . . . and settle on you. In fact, experts have honed in on the exact moments when you're most vulnerable to weight gain.

"Life transitions, having a baby, and going through menopause cause many women to pile on pounds," says Susan Albers, PsyD, author of But I Deserve This Chocolate!: The 50 Most Common Diet-Derailing Excuses and How to Outwit Them. "But with planning and prep, you can stay thin."

We asked top experts for their strategies to help you ward off weight creep - and even shed pounds - at these tricky stages. Solutions ahead.

Getting married

Heavier ever after? It can be the flip side of wedded bliss: "Six out of 10 of my clients come back heavier after the honeymoon," says celebrity fitness and wellness guru David Kirsch.

Health.com: 25 Diet-Busting Foods You Should Never Eat

Young newlyweds pack on an extra six to nine pounds in the five years after getting hitched compared to singletons, according to research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And most of that gain happens in the first year of marriage.

"Couples start to mirror each other's eating habits," explains Albers. "You might be matching him calorie for calorie without realizing it."

Learn how to keep the pounds down postmarriage and in the mommy years, after the break.

A Doctor Dishes: Which "Superfoods" Are Worth the Cost?

LearnVest — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:15:00 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Most people you speak to these days are trying to stretch every dollar as far as possible - even the ones they spend buying apples and oranges.

Food prices are expected to increase yet again this year, and food manufacturers are making portions smaller without reducing prices. Not surprisingly, a recent Rasmussen poll found that 93 percent of adults report paying more for groceries now than they did a year ago.

So how can we supercharge our grocery dollars and get them to do overtime for us?

Yes, some foods are obviously a better nutritional deal than others (think apples vs. potato chips), but there’s another class of foods that blows the rest of the field away in terms of nutrients and health-protecting qualities: superfoods.

Superfoods can help prevent diabetes and heart disease, repair damage to your body’s cells, and more. But before you go piling them into your cart, know that some superfoods are better nutritional bargains than others. As a doctor and a mom, I’ve sleuthed out which ones are worth the extra cost in terms of their long-term health benefits. Below is the scoop on which ones may help you age better, ward off cancer, and more.

What to Know Before Buying Superfoods

Before we dive into what to buy, there are a few important things to remember about consuming these foods:

Eating foods fresh and in their natural state, especially fruits and vegetables (rather than in pill or powder supplement form), usually allows us to absorb the greatest amount of their nutrients. The way a superfood is processed or cooked can significantly lower its antioxidant content.
If the superfood can’t be eaten fresh, look for easy and appetizing recipes containing it. No matter how “super” a superfood may be, if you don’t know how to cook it, you’ll probably let it go to waste.

Are Superfoods "Good Buys" If I’m Shopping on a Budget?

Read on to find out.

Linguine With Sea Urchin and Caviar

OnSugar Blog — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:01:25 PST

Sea urchin is often a polarizing ingredient. Yoo Eatz encourages us to muster some courage and embrace this culinary adventure in the form of pasta.

What's so gross about sea urchin? Even some of the most adventurous eaters I know will make the most horrific faces when the topic comes up.

I asked my husband about this - he generally recoils when I suggest that we share a pair of nigiri at the sushi bar - and he offered that it's a textural thing. Some people say it resembles phlegm (or worse), and I heard one person characterize the briny bits as "little orange tongues" (although, let's face it: the truth of what uni is may actually be harder to stomach!). But a lot of these same people will tell me that the flavor doesn't bother them; in fact, they find it quite pleasant.

For more, plus a recipe, keep reading!

Foods That Can Make You Look Pregnant

Shape — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:29:06 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

Over the weekend, I saw a photo of a female celebrity (who is in a relationship with a male celeb) leaving a café with the caption, "Baby bump?" and I had to refrain myself from shouting out loud, "Come on, can't a girl eat without the world thinking she's having a baby?!"

The truth is having a perfectly flat stomach all the time just isn't normal. After you eat or drink, food and liquids naturally expand your stomach and intestines, so at least a little "bump" is inevitable every single day. So if you regularly get stalked by paparazzi or you have family members who are anxiously awaiting news of a new addition, here's the lowdown on when you might get mistaken for being pregnant:

See which foods may make you look pregnant after the break!