7 Tips for Controlling Your Hunger’s On and Off Switches

Simon & Schuster authors Michael F. Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D. shared this guest blog post, which offers tips on keeping your hunger in check.

From You: On a Diet:

Duct tape over your mouth isn’t how your body regulates food intake. Your body does it naturally, through hormones. Here are some quick tips for satisfying your appetite.

Get Over Sticker Shock. You should read food labels as actively as you read the stock ticker or the horoscopes. Don’t eat foods that have any of the following listed as one of the first five ingredients:

• Simple sugars
  
• Enriched, bleached, or refined flour (this means it’s stripped of its nutrients)
  
• HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup -- a four-letter word).

Behind the Scenes on Chef Meg's Video Shoot

In addition to my blogging and editing duties here on the dailySpark, I'm also the editor of SparkRecipes.com, which means I spend a good bit of time working with Chef Meg and reading the recipes you submit. Some of you might have read on my SparkPeople Friend Feed that we taped another round of recipe and cooking videos with Chef Meg Galvin this week. We tape at the Midwest Culinary Institute here in Cincinnati in a state-of-the-art demo kitchen that is also used to tape a local cooking show called "The Dish," which stars Chef Meg.

Working with Chef Meg to develop and test recipes for you is one of the most interesting parts of my job. (OK, I admit. There is really no uninteresting part of my job!) Though I consider myself a pretty good cook, I'm no master chef, and each time we tape with Chef Meg, I learn more about cooking and food! Though it's hard work to produce the videos, it's also great fun for everyone involved.

I thought you might enjoy a behind-the-scenes blog post and a sneak peek at some of the recipes we'll be posting on the site in coming weeks! (Chef Meg adds new recipes to the site each week, so be sure to check out her Healthy Home Cooking page on SparkRecipes!)

11 Tips to Help You Feel at Ease at Your First Yoga Class

September is National Yoga Month, so there's no better time to summon the courage to give it a try. You've heard all about how yoga can help increase flexibility, decrease stress and even relieve minor back pain. You've dispelled the myths that all yogis are human pretzels who wear skimpy clothes and patchouli.

Now it's time to find a yoga studio or a class at your gym and head to class.

In my classes, I always try to approach new students before class begins to ease any apprehension they might have and answer questions. Here's a primer to help you feel right at home on the mat! While yogis are known for their kindness and compassion, no one wants to make a fitness faux pas!

Shoes
Yoga is practiced barefoot, so be prepared. There's no need to get a pedicure for the occasion, but I like to give my feet a quick rinse before class, especially if they've been cooped up in closed-toe shoes all day. You spend a great deal of time focusing on gripping your feet, spreading your toes and evenly distributing your weight over your entire feet. Sweaty, dirty feet stick to yoga mats, and if you have lotion or cream on your feet, you can slip.

Wear whatever shoes you'd like to the class, but take your shoes off before entering the yoga room. Most studios have shelves for shoes either just inside the door or in the lobby. At a gym, most people take off their shoes as they enter the room.

The Magazine Photo People Can't Stop Discussing

When we open the pages of most magazines, we're often greeted by airbrushed photos of women whose job it is to be skinny. If we're looking for validation of our own bodies or positive body images, we're in the wrong place.

Like most media outlets, magazines are still dominated by underweight, unattainable ideals of beauty. But recently, one magazine featured a photo that people can't stop talking about.

I saw mention of it on several healthy living blogs last week, and then SparkPeople member Mardee (flutterbymim) contacted me about the photo:

"I love it. It's about a photograph in Glamour of a "real" woman, and how she's comfortable in the skin she's in."

Readers kept writing to Glamour editor Cindi Leive about the woman, on page 194 of the magazine's September issue. Her response in a blog:

More Recipes from Chef Meg

A couple of weeks ago, we introduced you to Chef Meg, SparkPeople's newest resident expert. (Miss that post? Read it here.) You all had wonderful compliments and great suggestions for her.

In addition to the two recipes and videos you saw here on the dailySpark, Chef Meg has plenty of others available on SparkRecipes--and we'll be adding more each week.

We've taken 20 of her made-over and original recipes and compiled them in a downloadable, printable cookbook. And, like everything else on SparkPeople, it's 100% FREE!

Try Chicken and Vegetable Satay, Blueberry-Flax Muffins and Mama's Red Beans and Rice, among others.

Reports: Alli Linked to Liver Damage; FDA Investigating

Alli, the only U.S. FDA-approved nonprescription weight-loss drug, is under investigation by the agency after more than 30 reports of liver damage in patients taking the pills.

The FDA, after much criticism over its slow public notification after problems with other drugs, now notifies consumers sooner of any reported side effects.
It's important to note that while the reports are being investigated, the FDA has not advised consumers to stop taking Alli or halted sales, as it did with the dietary supplement Hydroxycut back in May. The reports are preliminary.

According to the Associated Press:

"Regulators said Monday they have received more than 30 reports of liver damage in patients taking alli and Xenical, the prescription version of the drug. The reports, submitted between 1999 and October 2008, included 27 hospitalized patients, and six who suffered liver failure.

Confession: I Let Comments about My Weight and Appearance Affect My Self-Esteem

In our recent dailySpark survey, most of you said that you love our "Confession" series. While all of our bloggers are SparkPeople employees, we're also members, which means that like all of you, we have our own battles with weight, healthy living and self-esteem. After a year on the dailySpark, I'm comfortable enough to start sharing my own "confessions." I've been writing them for awhile, but I haven't published any. This is the first in what I hope will be many!

Two weeks ago, I posted a new profile picture on Facebook.

In it, I'm dressed to go out to dinner with friends, in a loose-fitting purple printed tank top, slim-fitting gunmetal pants and heels. My hair, which was cooperating splendidly, is extra curly and bouncy. I'm wearing makeup, and I'm happy.

I had gone to Spinning and yoga that day, so I felt particularly fit.

Arms akimbo, chin up and smile on. My yoga-toned arms are looking good--more defined than usual.

A couple of days after posting the photo online, I got these two comments from friends:

You are looking skinny!
I second her comment - rockin' body!

I got really excited and actually broke into a smile when I read them. I felt extra comfortable in my skin all night long. But then I started thinking.
Why did hearing that word--skinny--have an effect on my self-esteem? Though nothing about me had changed, I suddenly felt thinner, more attractive and more confident.

And it brought back memories of my youth, when my height, pale skin and long dark hair were fodder for mean-spirited, insecure teenage boys.
For something intangible, self-esteem is among the most delicate and easily fractured parts of the human body.

We're Giving Away 5 MISSION Skincare Prize Packages

The dailySpark is celebrating its first anniversary this week! We couldn't have reached this milestone without devoted and engaged readers such as yourselves, so we would like to say thanks for making this such a successful, fun year.

Each day this week, we'll be launching a new giveaway!

Today's prize is a package of skin care essential for fitness lovers from Mission Skincare! Five lucky readers will win one!
The five prize packages could include: various sunscreens, anti-friction cream (great for long walks or runs), and lip balm with SPF. We've all tried the Mission products here in the office, and we love them! (Stay tuned for our review!)

To enter, click here. (For complete rules, please click here.)

We'll choose all the winners for our giveaways on Friday, Aug. 28, 2009, at 9 a.m. EST.

Don't forget to return tomorrow for our final prize of the dailySpark Anniversary Giveaway!

Please note that we've changed the way you enter for contests. Do NOT comment on this entry; it no longer counts as an entry. You need to click on the link above and fill out the official entry form!

Win 1 of 5 Sets of Workout Clothing from SparkPeople!

The dailySpark is celebrating its first anniversary this week! We couldn't have reached this milestone without devoted and engaged readers such as yourselves, so we would like to say thanks for making this such a successful, fun year.

Each day this week, we'll be giving away various prizes!
Today's prize is five sets of workout clothing from SparkPeopleStore.com!

I don't know if you've heard the news, but we've got plenty of new styles of T-shirts in the SparkPeople Store--many of them with fun and inspiring messages! "I'm making my life an adventure," "WooHoo!" "Fitness in Progress!" and "I finally lost it!" are just four of the shirts we offer. (See all of our apparel here.) If you win this giveaway, you'll get to choose any SparkPeople shirt you like, in the size and color of your choice, plus either a pair of Capri pants or a workout towel. The T-shirts aren't just for the gym. Wear them out on the town, too, as a way to Spread the Spark!

The dailySpark's Best Food Reviews

In the last year, we've tried dozens of foods. We buy some at the supermarket, request others from companies and receive still others unsolicited. We're full!

The SparkPeople team has been incredibly helpful along the way. They've suggested products to try, eaten more than their fair share of healthier snack foods and responded to my numerous requests for their opinions.

If the general consensus is that we like something, we feature it on the blog. If not, we don't write about. (Also, if we didn't pay for something, we tell you that the product was sent to us. However, even if we get a food for free, we don't necessarily review it and that doesn't guarantee that we'll like it.)

From bread to ice cream and everything in between, plenty of snack foods have crossed our lips. Here is a list of 10 of our favorite foods we've reviewed since launching the dailySpark (in no particular order).

1. Skinny Cow Chocolate Truffle bars
   100-calorie chocolate goodness. That's all we need to say. Control yourself. It will be hard, but you can do it!

   Posted 8/19/2009  10:00:00 AM By:   : 58 comments   16,854 views

   Read More ›

Quick Survey from the dailySpark

As you already know, the dailySpark is celebrating its anniversary this week. We've had a great first year, but we'd like to make our second year even better--and we hope you can help!

We'd like to know what you like--and what you don't like--about the dailySpark. Do you want to see more recipes? Like product reviews? Tired of seeing celebrity news? We write this healthy lifestyle blog for you, and we care what you think!

Please take a few minutes to complete this survey.

Thanks for your help, and keep reading the dailySpark!

Follow-Up: How to Cook Vegetables, Simplified

Last week, I blogged about How Cooking Affects Your Vegetables' Nutritional Value. We learned that adding a bit of fat helps you absorb more phytonutrients from your vegetables and that microwaving and steaming retain more of the nutrition than boiling or frying.

Afterwards, many of you had questions, good ones:

"Like several people mentioned, I love roasted veggies. But how does that impact nutritional value?? Does anyone know?"
"What about soup? I know the veggies are boiled more or less but everything is still in the pot. Is soup a bad process for keeping the nutrients of veggies?"

As I'm not a nutritionist, I headed straight to the source. I contacted the Journal of Food Science, which had published the original study.
I was sent the full study, which cleared up many of our questions.

What Hungry Girl Really Eats, the Scoop on Her Next Book and More!

Back in 2004, Lisa Lillien was a woman with a dream--she wanted to share her love of better-for-you snack foods with the world. Having lost 30 pounds, she knew how hard it was to navigate the supermarket shelves, searching for treats that would scratch an itch but not blow her calorie budget.

After a frenzied trip to a food lab to test a too-good-to-be-true snack food, Lisa's passion for truth in food labeling and discerning palate merged. Her alter-ego, Hungry Girl, was born, and what started as a small website and e-newsletter sent to fewer than 100 people has become a much larger newsletter with almost 800,000 subscribers, product endorsements and two best-selling cookbooks. Her website is www.hungry-girl.com/.

Lisa, aka Hungry Girl, is honest about what she likes and dislikes, the former list being much longer than the latter: VitaTop muffins, Tofu Shirataki noodles, Fuji apples and broccoli cole slaw are just a few products that pop up repeatedly in her recipes. She's as gaga for popchips as we are, and she will coat just about anything in crushed Fiber One cereal as a way to "faux fry."

Her endorsements are so passionate--and so influential--that her animated likeness now appears on various products, including a new Fiber One 50-calorie yogurt that she raved about during our interview. (Our review will appear soon!) After seeing the commercial featuring Hungry Girl, Lisa said, "I got really excited. I think it's ridiculously cool and I'm thrilled every time I see it."

Before my interview, I asked you what you wanted me to ask Hungry Girl, and you had some great questions! Lisa chatted with me for about 20 minutes last week about topics ranging from her food philosophy and her retro breakfast that morning to how she stays on track while traveling and what she role she thinks her recipes play in a healthy diet.

She was kind, funny and, of course, hungry! (There's really just one food she says she doesn't like on its own: Ironically enough, it's celery--that iconic food that dieters everywhere have munched begrudgingly for decades!)

dailySpark: What did you have for breakfast today?

Hungry Girl: Today I had a breakfast that I never normally eat, and as I was eating, I said, 'Wow! It's like my mom in 1975!" I had half a cantaloupe with fat-free cottage cheese iced coffee. Very 1975, my mom. Normally I have egg whites or egg substitute with low-fat cheese.

dailySpark: How do you stay on track when away from home?

Hungry Girl: Luckily, when I travel, I don't think about food as much as I'm thinking about other things. So five hours go by and I'll grab an apple just to make sure I'm not ravenous the next time I have a meal. I'm not one of those people that tends to go crazy when I eat out. I think I've trained myself to order well off of menus so I don't freak when I show up and there's room service or I'm at a restaurant.… Plus I'm moving around a lot, carrying bags and staying on my feet, so I'm probably burning extra calories, too.

2 New Healthy Recipes to Try Tonight

As you might know, we've added a chef to our team of experts. Chef Meg Galvin, who is a faculty member at the Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, is working with us to develop healthy recipes, test some of our best member-submitted dishes and teach cooking basics through videos, articles and, now, blog posts.

In addition to being a World Master Chef (one of only 13 women in the world to have earned that title) and full-time chef instructor, "Chef Meg" is a wife and mother of three preteen boys--and an avid runner. She puts a home-cooked meal on the table almost every night of the week (yes, even chefs have those nights from time to time). She doesn't have all day to spend in the kitchen and, like all of us, wants the best value for her dollar at the supermarket. Influenced by her childhood spent on her family's farm in Kentucky, Chef Meg creates recipes that are healthful and tasty--and they've all been approved and tested by her family.

From time to time, we'll be featuring some of Chef Meg's videos and recipes on the blog to help you answer that age-old question: What's for dinner?

With More Nutritional Info Available at Restaurants, Are You Making Healthier Choices?

From coast to coast, nutritional info on restaurant menus is slowly becoming the norm--whether volunteered by companies or (usually) mandated by governments. Though a fight is expected, the U.S. Senate is considering its own legislation to require menu labeling nationwide, and health advocates laud the practice as a way to help staunch the obesity epidemic.

Restaurants are starting to pay attention to consumers. Olive Garden and other eateries owned by Darden Restaurants, which is the world's largest nonfranchise table-service chain, decided this summer to disclose nutrition info online after much criticism by consumers. (Darden also owns Red Lobster, Smokey Bones, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Bahama Breeze.)

Some examples, as gathered by Healthline.com:

Better skip lunch

• Olive Garden fettuccine alfredo: 1,220 calories; 75 fat grams
• Bahama Breeze calypso shrimp linguine: 1,220 calories; 56 fat grams
• Red Lobster classic fried-seafood platter: 1,090 calories; 62 fat grams
• LongHorn Steakhouse chop steak: 1,220 calories; 80 fat grams

• Olive Garden linguine alla marinara: 430 calories, 6 fat grams
• Red Lobster wood-fire garlic-grilled jumbo shrimp: 365 calories, 6 fat grams
• Bahama Breeze grilled ahi tuna with cucumber pepper-slaw: 340 calories, 5 fat grams
• LongHorn Steakhouse Sierra chicken: 410 calories; 12 fat grams