Flat Stomach with Healthy Fats

That bagel? It could go right to your gut. Literally. But a bit of olive oil each day may help keep your middle little.
That's what researchers are saying after testing two diets -- one high in carbs and the other based on healthy fats from olive oil. The "fat" diet kept bellies flatter.


Why Belly Fat Is So Bad
Besides making you sad when you zip up your pants, excessive abdominal fat increases your risk for high blood sugar and many other health problems. But in a recent study of overweight people, a Mediterranean-style diet -- where approximately 30 percent to 40 percent of the calories came from unsaturated fats, like those in olive oil -- seemed to help prevent tummy-expanding over time. Another bonus: The fat-focused diet helped people maintain better insulin sensitivity, too. Not so with the high-carb diet, which seemed to encourage body fat to relocate to people's bellies.


Adding international flair to your diet could quickly lead to a healthier heart.
After only 3 months of eating a Mediterranean-style diet, study participants reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by approximately 15 percent. Mediterranean diets emphasize whole grains, fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, low-fat dairy, and olive oil. Planning your meals around these items may be even better for your heart than a low-fat diet.

In a recent study, two groups of participants with moderate risk factors for cardiovascular disease were placed on a Mediterranean-type diet or a low-fat diet for 3 months. By the end of the study, members of both groups experienced improvements in body mass index, blood lipids, and other risk factors. While those in the low-fat diet group reduced their risk for cardiovascular disease by an estimated 9 percent, participants in the Mediterranean-diet group lowered their disease risk by approximately 15 percent. 

The abundant disease-fighting nutrients found in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, olive oil, nuts, and fish make a Mediterranean diet one of the healthiest around. Whole grains are rich in fiber, magnesium, and B-vitamins; fruits and vegetables are filled with heart-healthy antioxidants; and olive oil, fish, and nuts provide artery-friendly mono- and polyunsaturated fats. Make these delicious and healthful foods the foundation of your diet. In a few short months, you'll be on your way to reaping the long-term benefits.


Weight Loss Arithmetic
Keep in mind that extra olive oil isn't going to help you trim your middle. It could just help keep your pants from getting tighter. For serious waist whittling, you'll need two must-do's: a healthy diet and extra exercise. 


HERE IS A PERFECT RECIPE FOR A MEDITERRANEAN DIET

Mediterranean Chicken and Herbed White Beans

Serves 2

 Chicken Ingredients

• 2  bone-in chicken thighs without skin
• 1  tomato, chopped
• 1/2  onion, chopped
• 8  pitted calamata olives, halved
• 1 tablespoon(s) olive oil
• 1 teaspoon(s) red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• 1  small bunch fresh basil, chopped

Bean Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon(s) olive oil
• 2 clove(s) garlic, minced
• 1 can(s) (15 or 16 ounces) white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1  tomato, chopped
• 1/4 cup(s) chopped fresh mixed herbs, your choice
• 1 teaspoon(s) red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper (optional)

	Directions For chicken, heat oven to 375F. Place each chicken thigh on a large square of aluminum foil. Combine remaining chicken ingredients; spoon over chicken. Fold foil up and over chicken sealing edges forming a packet. Bake 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Meanwhile, for beans, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients; cook 5 minutes or until heated through. Carefully open chicken packets and transfer mixture to two serving plates; serve beans alongside chicken. Nutritional Information (per serving) Calories 458 Total Fat 24.59g Saturated Fat 4.09g Cholesterol -- Sodium 504.8mg Total Carbohydrate 36.6g Dietary Fiber 10.33g Sugars -- Protein 24.86g Calcium 0.122g
	--

Exercise and Appetite

Exercise and Appetite: A Weight Loss Tip and a Chicken Recipe for Dinner tonight.

 

If you exercise more, you're going to eat more, right? Not so fast.
According to a new study, adding more exercise to your life will indeed rev up your premeal appetite. But here's the cool news: You may find yourself getting full faster, so you end up eating less.

Flex Your Appetite
When overweight men and women burned an extra 500 calories a day through exercise as part of a small study, some interesting things happened to their appetites. After 12 weeks of working out, participants said their before-breakfast hunger was greater than it had been prior to the study. But they agreed that the same breakfast felt more filling than it did before they had started exercising. And the group continued to feel quite satiated for several hours after eating. Sounds like a little extra exercise may be a great way to avoid snack attacks! 


Four simple rules could turn your breakfast into a cravings crusher, pound shedder, and mood booster.

One, Two, Three, Four . . .
Here are four simple rules for using breakfast to counterbalance the biochemical mechanisms behind sugar cravings, obesity, and depression. 

Do it daily. Your goal is to make it a daily, automatic habit. The reward? You can kiss late-day low blood sugar and sugary snack cravings goodbye -- permanently. 

Do it sooner rather than later. For the best results, eat breakfast within an hour or so of waking up -- even if you're not hungry. Morning-time low blood sugar produces a brain chemical designed to mask hunger pangs -- but can cause sugar cravings later in the day. 

Make it complex. We're talking complex carbohydrates here (whole-grain cereals, steel-cut oats, high-fiber fruits, etc.) The fiber keeps blood sugar on an even keel and helps you feel full longer. 

Power it with protein. Protein slows digestion, helps prevent spikes and dips in blood sugar, and can even give you a dose of depression-fighting tryptophan. DesMaisons recommends that you get a third of your daily protein at breakfast.

Exercise Effects
Researchers aren't sure why working out seemed to have opposing effects on appetite, but it's encouraging to think it might help us do a better job of telling ourselves when we're full. Of course, whether you run marathons or walk around the block, you still need to listen to your body and judge your hunger realistically. No matter how many calories you've burned, force yourself to eat slowly and stop shoveling when you feel about 80 percent full. That will give the last bit of food time to really hit your stomach. 




WHAT’S FOR DINNER TONIGHT

Here is an idea for a healthy dinner tonight !!

 Chicken under a Brick with Rapini

Prep Time:

20 mins

Total Time:

1 hr

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 3-pound chicken
• 10 sage leaves
• 7 sprigs rosemary
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 bunches of broccoli rabe, stems trimmed, large leaves discarded

Directions

Butterfly the chicken by cutting out the back with kitchen shears. 

Lay the chicken on a clean work surface, skin-side down. Using your fingers, free the bone that separates the two breasts.

Lift the bone out and discard it.
Coarsely chop sage and rosemary. 

Using your fingers, gently loosen the chicken skin from the breasts; Rub salt and pepper and a little of the chopped herbs onto the breasts, under the skin. 

Slice the peel from the lemon and cut it into large pieces; reserve the peeled lemon. 

Scatter about a half of the chopped herbs and lemon on a large piece of plastic wrap. 

Add about a third of the sliced garlic. Lay the chicken, skin-side down, on the herbs and seasonings. 

Scatter the remaining herbs and lemon and about half of the remaining garlic (the rest will be used to flavor the rapini) over the chicken. 

Season the exposed side of the bird with salt and pepper, then season with a little olive oil. 

Wrap the chicken in the plastic and allow it to marinate for at least an hour, but better yet over night. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Unwrap the chicken and pick off the herbs and pieces of lemon peel. 

Season the skin side well with salt and pepper. 

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Place the chicken in the skillet, skin-side down. 

Flatten it with a heavy weight, a brick wrapped in tin foil works perfectly. 

Cook the chicken until the skin begins to color, about 45 seconds. 

Transfer the chicken to the oven and continue cooking until the thigh juices run clear, begin checking after 25 minutes but expect the chicken to take about 10 minutes longer. 

Remove the chicken from the pan and allow it to rest in a warm place for about 5 minutes. 

Reserve the skillet with the pan juices. 

While the chicken is cooking blanch the rapini in boiling salted water for about 3 minutes, then drain.

When the chicken is done and resting, heat the pan juices on the stove over medium high heat.

Add the reserved garlic to the pan and cook until it is fragrant and beginning to color, about 2 minutes.

Add the blanched rapini and cook, turning it in the pan juices, until it is tender, about 2 minutes.

Season the rapini with salt, pepper and a squeeze of of lemon juice then transfer it to a serving dish. Serve the chicken over the rapini.

 

Curb Dieting Hunger

Curb Dieting Hunger with This Trick

Nothing derails a new diet more quickly than constant, nagging feed-me pangs. But a new study presents a neat trick for turning the volume way down on hunger.
Here's the key: Stop counting calories. Instead, pack your diet with nutrient-dense foods. Research shows that jamming your diet full of nutritious edibles may be one of the most important steps to weight loss.


Food Withdrawal
In a study, when people switched to a diet full of healthy foods, they experienced hunger far less often and found their hunger much easier to tolerate. Just imagine what a leg up that would be to dieting if you never experienced hunger pangs! Researchers think that when people don't eat enough nutritious foods, it causes a sort of "food withdrawal" phenomenon in the body, characterized by inflammation and the release of toxic metabolic waste products. The result of all this? A more painful kind of hunger that can only be relieved by eating again. 


Quality, Not Quantity
Take-home message: Don't obsess about how much you should be eating. Instead, spend your energy thinking about what you should be eating. If nutrient-rich fruit, vegetables, and whole grains aren't making frequent appearances in your diet, your body is going to miss them and loudly ask for more fuel. Same goes for lean proteins and healthful fats. Once you feed yourself better, and your body gets past the initial junk-food withdrawal, your taste buds will start to crave the healthy stuff instead. Here are a few more tips for getting back into your skinny jeans:

Three Drinks to Lower Blood Pressure

When you want to lower your blood pressure, think beyond slashing salt, calories and fat -- and also consider what you can add to your diet. More vegetables, fruits and lean protein, says the Institute of Medicine in a February 2010 report on preventing and controlling high blood pressure. Plus, recent research points to three beverages that also may help to lower blood pressure. Consider drinking more...

Low- or Nonfat Milk

Both supply potassium and calcium, two nutrients that are associated with healthy blood pressure, and are fortified with vitamin D-a vitamin that new research suggests promotes healthy blood pressure. Substituting low-fat dairy -- including milk -- for full-fat versions may also help lower blood pressure, reports a 2009 study in the British Journal of Nutrition. In healthy people, arteries are "elastic": they relax (widen) and constrict (narrow) to keep blood pressure within a normal range. Full-fat dairy contains significant amounts of palmitic acid (much more than low-fat dairy), which can block signals that relax blood vessels, leaving them in a constricted state that may keep blood pressure elevated, explains study author Estefanía Toledo, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Navarra, Spain. 

Hibiscus Tea

Drinking hibiscus tea can significantly lower blcooood pressure, particularly when it is slightly elevated, according to a 2010 study in the Journal of Nutrition. Diane L. McKay, Ph.D., lead author of the study, believes that anthocyanins and other antioxidants in hibiscus tea may work together to keep blood vessels resistant to damage that causes them to narrow. Many herbal tea blends contain hibiscus, which brews up bright red and delivers a tart flavor. McKay recommends finding one you like and drinking three cups daily. To get the full benefits of the hibiscus, steep for six minutes before drinking hot or cold. 

Cranberry Juice

At your next celebration, raise a glass of...cranberry juice? Turns out, cranberry juice has the same blood pressure–lowering effects as red wine, according to a 2010 study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. (The study was partially funded by Ocean Spray.) Both beverages-as well as apple juice and cocoa-boast antioxidants called proanthocyanidins, which inhibit synthesis of a compound called ET-1 that plays a role in constricting blood vessels.

Healthy Recipes to Start the New Year Right

Easy, Healthy Recipes to Start the New Year Right

When the ball has dropped and the Christmas cookie dust has cleared, many of us start thinking about trying to eat healthy in the new year. To help you start the year on a nutritious note, I've put together this collection of easy and healthy dinner recipes that prove that eating what's good for you isn't about deprivation or dieting -- it's about tweaking your favorite dishes to cut back on fat, sodium and cholesterol and add nutrient- and fiber-rich ingredients. And since it hardly feels like salad season -- at least where I live -- I've chosen recipes that are robust and comforting, such as casseroles, soup and chili. See below for healthier takes on old favorites -- and perhaps you'll find a few new favorites too!

Elegant Yet Easy Chicken Dinner

Mustard Tarragon Chicken Cutlets
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts get dressed up with a simple sauce of white wine and Dijon mustard -- the combination adds a tremendous amount of flavor to the dish, without an overload of fat, sodium or cholesterol.

·  Prep Time:

20 mins

·  Total Time:

2 mins

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast cutlets (a.k.a. thin sliced chicken)
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

Directions

Arrange cutlets in 1 layer on a tray or baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a 12-inch heavy skillet (not non-stick) over moderately high heat until hot. 
Add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat bottom. 
Cook chicken in batches (don't crowd pan), turning once or twice, until just cooked through (adjust heat lower as necessary to keep bits on bottom from burning and add remaining tablespoon oil if pan begins to look dry in subsequent batches), 2 to 3 minutes total per batch.
Transfer chicken as cooked to a platter and keep warm loosely covered with foil.
Add wine to skillet and boil, scraping up browned bits, until reduced by half. 
Whisk in water, mustard, and chicken juices that have accumulated on platter. If sauce seems too thin, simmer, whisking, until thickened slightly. 
Whisk in tarragon and spoon over chicken.

about this recipe

Chicken in mustard sauce is a French classic and ooh la la, it's not hard to see why. By whisking Dijon mustard into the pan sauce, you instantly thicken it to the consistency of liquid velvet. When you spoon it over the chicken, it drapes the cutlets like an haute couture coat, transforming otherwise mild-mannered chicken breasts into something with a little French sass.

Healthy Pasta Meal

Roasted Cauliflower Farfalle

Don't let cauliflower's pale color fool you -- it's a bright star in the nutritional sense. Cauliflower is in the same cancer-fighting cruciferous vegetable family as broccoli; plus, a cup of cauliflower has almost a day's worth of vitamin C. Roasting the vegetable brings out its sweet and nutty flavors. Up the nutritional ante on this dish by using whole-wheat or multi-grain pasta. 

·  Prep Time:

15 mins

·  Total Time:

40 mins

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds cauliflower
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup (2 ounces) golden raisins
• 3 tablespoons brined capers, drained
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 pound dried farfalle

Directions

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle position.
Cut cauliflower into 1-inch pieces and toss on a 4-sided baking sheet with 2 tablespoons oil, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. 
Roast in oven, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is browned in spots and tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
Cook garlic, raisins, and capers in remaining 6 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, until garlic is golden. Stir in vinegar and cauliflower.
Boil pasta in well-salted water until al dente. 
Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water. 
Drain pasta then toss with cauliflower mixture, parsley, cheese, and then thin as desired with pasta cooking water.

Romaine-Parsley Salad

Unlike some fresh herbs, parsley is easy to find in most grocery stores year-round. It also has lots of vitamin C, so load up if you feel a cold coming on.

·  Prep Time:

0 mins

·  Total Time:

3 mins

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 12 pinch salt
• 12 large romaine heart, torn into pieces, about 6 cups
• 1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves

Directions

Whisk together vinegar, oil, 1/4 teaspoons pepper and a pinch salt in a large bowl, then toss

A Healthy Steak Dinner

Basic Grilled Flank Steak

Flank steak is a flavorful and relatively lean cut of beef, but with all meats, it's best to keep portions small -- vegetables and whole grains should take up most of the space on your plate. If looking at the word "grilled" makes you shiver, don't worry -- this steak can be cooked on an indoor grill.

·  Prep Time:

10 mins

·  Total Time:

30 mins

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 2-pound piece of flank steak
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Non-stick cooking spray

Directions

Place the garlic and oil in a small dish and stir to combine. 
Place the flank steak on a sheet of wax paper. 
Sprinkle both sides of the meat with the salt and pepper. Then rub with the oil garlic mixture.
Heat a large grill or grill pan over high heat. When the grill pan is hot, coat with cooking spray (if you're using a grill, spray the steak). 
Place the steak on the grill and turn the heat down to medium. 
Cook the steak 7 to 8 minutes until well browned. 
Turn once and cook an additional 7 to 8 minutes. 
Transfer to a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes so the juices can

Sizzled Garlic Broccoli

Garlic and hot red pepper flakes amp up the flavor of broccoli, a well-known nutritional star that boasts plenty of fiber and a host of vitamins and nutrients, including C, K and A. If you don't feel like fussing with garlic and chiles, serve simple steamed broccoli with a squirt of lemon.

·  Prep Time:

0 mins

·  Total Time:

15 mins

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1 1/2 pounds broccoli crowns, stems peeled, then cut into spears
• 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt to taste

Directions

Cook garlic in oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat, stirring, until sizzling and pale golden, 3 to 4 minutes. 
Transfer garlic with a slotted spatula to a plate. 
Add broccoli, pepper flakes, 1 cup water, and 1/4 teaspoons salt and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until broccoli is tender and water is evaporated, 6 to 8 minutes. 
Toss broccoli with garlic and salt to taste.

about this recipe

Red pepper flakes and golden garlic liven up broccoli.

TIPS FOR KEEPING YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

TIPS FOR KEEPING YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

You may prefer to accomplish your New Year's resolutions one by one. But here's an approach that might work better: Tackle them all at once.

That's right. When people in a study used this approach to achieve their health goals, it almost doubled the likelihood they'd check at least one of the goals off their need-to-do list.

Boost Your Success

Want to lose weight? Cut back on ice cream? Walk more? Cook healthier meals? We all know that making resolutions to change for the better is one thing, but keeping those resolutions is quite another. Here are a few more ways to help tip the scales in your favor:

4 Make-It-Happen Tools

• Get a diet/exercise buddy to help keep you on task.
• Look up healthier versions of your favorite foods.
• Spend more time in the sack.
• Work on relaxing more.

If you don’t have any left-overs from the holidays or if you’re already tired of re-heating them, here are a couple easy delicious pasta recipes.  They are easy and quick to prepare.

Fresh Sage and Brown Butter Fettuccine with Pine Nuts

Serves 4

 Prep Time:

10 mins

Total Time:

25 mins

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces fresh fettuccine
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh sage leaves
• 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
Add the fettuccine and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often to prevent the pasta from sticking together, about 4 minutes. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of the cooking water.
In a large saute pan over medium heat, heat the butter until it foams and begins to brown.
Add the sage and cook for 30 seconds, then stir in the pine nuts and the reserved cooking water. Add the fettuccine and toss to coat. Season the fettuccine with salt and pepper.
Using a two-pronged carving fork, swirl some of the pasta around the fork. Slide the pasta off the fork and mound it in the center of a plate.

Spaghetti with Tuna and Green Olive Pesto

 

Prep Time:

25 mins

Total Time:

25 mins

 

INGREDIENTS

• Coarse sea salt
• 3/4 cup firmly packed medium-sized pitted green olives
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup broken walnut pieces
• 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 pound spaghetti
• 1 lemon
• 1 (5-ounce) can imported tuna in oil, drained and flaked
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a food processor, combine olives, basil, parsley, walnuts, garlic and pinch salt; blend until finely chopped. With machine running, add 3 tablespoons oil in a slow stream. Blend, scraping down sides once, until smooth and well combined. 

Set pesto aside.

Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Reserving 3/4 cup pasta cooking water, drain pasta, transfer to a large serving bowl and immediately toss with remaining 2 tablespoons oil. 

Add pesto and half of the pasta cooking liquid to bowl; toss to combine. 

Zest lemon over pasta, add tuna and toss to combine. 

Add more pasta cooking liquid to moisten pasta, if desired. 

Season pasta with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately with cheese for sprinkling.