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Many people start their day off on the wrong foot by eating an unhealthy breakfast. While sugar filled cereals and pancakes topped with butter and syrup are popular breakfast food options, you can find much healthier choices without having to sacrifice taste.

1) Cereal with fruit
If you love sweet cereal, you aren’t stuck with sugared cereals. Instead, you can eat healthy whole grain cereal and add fruit. Blueberries, strawberries and bananas are examples of fruits that go great with cereal.

2) Low fat, low sodium bacon
Low fat, low sodium bacon has all the great taste you expect from bacon, but it’s much healthier. You can also try turkey bacon, which doesn’t taste quite the same but is even better for you!

3) Protein shake
If you want to add more protein to your diet, a good way to do so is to start your day with a protein shake. You can either buy a premade shake at the store or you can blend your own. You should be able to get at least 20 grams of protein per glass.

4) Eggs with salsa
Instead of using butter to add taste to your eggs, use salsa instead. Salsa is very low in calories and tastes great when mixed with scrambled eggs. You can also add vegetables such as onions, peppers and tomatoes.

5) Peanut butter pancakes
You can replace the syrup on your pancakes with peanut butter. Peanut butter has a lot more healthy vitamins and minerals than syrup. You can also top your pancakes with fresh fruit or low sugar jelly.

Do you ever feel like you are having trouble thinking? Take a look at these brain foods. Brain food, as the name suggests, is food that aims to feed your brain and help it work as well as possible.

Here is a list of the top ten brain foods:

1. Water: Water doesn’t contain any vitamins but it’s essential for your body. Dehydration is a big enemy for your brain so make sure you drink enough water throughout the day.
2. Grape juice: With a healthy amount of antioxidants, grape juice is great for brain function. It should help you short-term memory and hand-eye coordination.
3. Eggs: Having eggs for breakfast is a great way to start your day. Eggs contain choline, which is great for improving your memory.
4. Beef: Beef has a lot of iron in it, which is vital for your brain – especially for children. Lean beef is perhaps the best source of iron available.
5. Hot cocoa: If you want a dessert, consider having hot cocoa. Cocoa has antioxidants that have proven to slow the aging process.
6. Olive oil: Olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil, is very good for your brain. It contains polyphenols which helps regulate your blood pressure.
7. Milk: Milk has a lot of vitamins that help your brain including phosphorus and vitamin D. It also contains a healthy amount of protein.
8. Spinach: If you eat a lot of salad, consider switching from lettuce to spinach. Spinach is nearly four times healthier for you than lettuce.
9. Almonds: Although almonds have a relatively high amount of fat, the type of fat in almonds is actually good for your body – and specifically your brain.
10. Blueberries: Blueberries are the ultimate brain food. Not only is it a fantastic source for antioxidants, it has many other vitamins and minerals helping your brain.

The biceps are a tough muscle group to build up with only one exercise. You need to use a variety of exercises for your biceps to see results.

Here are five biceps exercises:

1. Dumbbell Curls – Standing: Start with a manageable weight and do dumbbell curls from the standing position. Be sure that you are concentrating on your biceps and not using your back or any other muscles to do the curls. The best way to do standing dumbbell curls is to have a dumbbell in each hand and rotate biceps as you do a set of either 10 or 20.
2. Dumbbell Curls – Incline: These curls are the same as standing curls but you perform these curls while seated at an incline bench. The incline adds a different angle to the exercise, while also giving you a different range of motion. When doing incline dumbbell curls, your biceps may tire more quickly than usual so you can start with sets of 5 or 10.
3. Barbell Curls – Standing: Stand with your feet the same width apart as your shoulders as you raise the bar using an underhand grip. The good thing about standing barbell curls is you get to exercise both arms at the same time. That helps you make sure you are giving equal time to each arm. While you do these curls, make sure your back stays completely still.
4. Barbell Curls – Sitting: Using a preacher bench, doing these curls will strengthen both your biceps and your forearms. Start with a low amount of weight until you get comfortable. Don’t do too many reps as this is a very muscle-intensive workout. Avoid leaning back as you bring the barbell toward you.
5. Concentration Curls: You can do concentration curls using either a barbell or a dumbbell and you can do them in any position. The difference with concentration curls is you do the curls very slowly. As a normal curl lasts about one second, concentration curls should last about five seconds.

By using each of these five biceps exercises, you can see progress rather quickly.

If you’re on a high protein diet, it can sometimes be difficult to find a variety of foods that are high in protein. It’s easy to tire of a high protein diet if you only limit yourself to a few select options of meat. Fortunately, many other foods that you wouldn’t think of right away are also high in protein.

The best and most obvious source for high protein foods is meat. While virtually any type of meat contains protein, for a quick meal, you can find some fat-free meat products at your local grocery store such as fat-free hot dogs and fat-free ham. These options are convenient for days when you do not have time to prepare a meal.

Perhaps the best type of meat for you is turkey, which is virtually all protein. Look for low-fat cuts of turkey, such as breasts, as opposed to the legs. The same holds true for chicken - as chicken breasts are a source of high protein and very little fat.

Fish and shrimp are two other great sources of protein. Almost all types of fish is low in fat and high in protein. Consider fish that is high in Omega-3 fatty acids, such as mackerel, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon. Shrimp, depending on how it’s prepared, is almost always fat-free. Avoid breaded fish and shrimp and do not deep fry it. Instead broil, grill or bake your seafood.

Other sources of protein that might surprise you are milk, cheese, beans and nuts. Fat-free milk and cheese is a great source of healthy protein. Fat-free refried beans are popular and taste almost exactly like regular refried beans. Nuts are also a terrific source of protein, as well as nut based products such as peanut butter. However most nuts are also high in fat, so watch your portion sizes.

There are also a number of foods specially designed for those people on a high protein diet. At your local grocery store, look for protein shakes, protein bars and even products such as protein fortified breads and protein fortified water.

A high protein diet is a good way to gain muscle while losing weight. If you are doing a weight training program, you’ll need to consume more protein than the average person. However, you should also consider the fat content of food because many foods that are high in protein are also high in fat.

You’ve heard of skinny jeans? Now we’re talking about the skinny gene, a recent discovery by scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

If you’ve ever had a friend who positively swore that she couldn’t gain weight, had to eat hamburgers 10 times a day just to maintain, and had never been able to “pinch and inch,” you may have felt more than a bit frustrated. But Janine Geredes says this is a true condition: just as some individuals are predisposed to being overweight, there are those who suffer from being underweight their entire lives as well.

Though the gene was recently discovered over 50 years ago at Yale University, the connection wasn’t made between the gene and weight until recently. After some initial experimentation, the scientists genetically engineered mice with efficient versions of the gene and found that they had one-third the body fat of wild mice.

Scientists are working on how to engineer the gene into an obesity treatment that would effectively combat a person’s predisposition to being overweight. Though outlook is good, don’t binge just yet: a future pill to combat obesity is still far into the future.

Christmas is upon us and New Years is right around the corner. Every year millions of people make the New Years resolution to lose weight, get in better shape, improve their health, etc… But with a slumping economy, falling US Dollar, poor performing stock market, high oil, gas and natural gas prices, rising healthcare costs, and the mortgage crisis – it is a wonder anyone has a dime to spare on getting fit.

Continue Reading Five Alternatives to an Expensive Gym Membership »

On average, each person in the United States throws away over 670 cans and bottles each year. This adds up to billions of cubic feet of trash in landfills.

In 2006, according to the Container Recycling Institute, American consumers drank more than 200 billion bottles and cans worth of all beverages, including soda. That’s 50 billion more than in 1996. At the same time, recycling rates have plummeted from about 48 percent of all containers to just 33 percent in the last decade.

Soda-Club has developed a line of on-demand soda machines that eliminate cans and bottles all together. With the Soda-Club machine you can make a liter of soda, sparkling water or even energy drinks in about 30 seconds.

This is great for big families. While some people in your household may drink diet soda, others may want an energy drink. Everyone can make their choice without using cans, bottles or electricity. These home soda makers don’t use electricity or even batteries.

To use the machine, you simply fill the reusable Soda-Club carbonating bottle with tap or filtered water from your faucet, screw it into the machine, press the button, and you’ll have sparkling water in 30 seconds.

For soda, you just add a capful of the regular, diet or caffeine-free Soda-Club syrup of your choice. Sodamix flavor include cola, cream soda, lemon-lime, root beer, pink grapefruit and cranberry-raspberry. I recently tried the Soda-Club machine and the sodas are really great - particularly the diet soda, which seems to have less after taste than most of those in the stores.

One press of the machine creates a few light bubbles; several presses gives you as much fizz as you want. Special bottle caps are provided with hermetic seals to keep your beverage stay fizzy longer than the conventional soda.

Prices for Soda-Club starter kits begin under $100, which includes a seltzer/soda-making machine and related supplies. Soda-Club sodamix concentrate costs $3.99-4.99 for a bottle that sweetens the equivalent of 36 cans of soda.

For more information, visit sodaclub.com or call 1-800-SODACLUB.

Fitness expert and best selling author Eric Harr and CARE, the global poverty fighting organization, have joined forces with the I Am Powerful Workout with Eric Harr.

This is an amazing campaign that will help you achieve your fitness goals while also taking action to fight povery.

Here’s how it works:

You work out with one of Eric Harr’s customized training programs or set your own program. And just by exercising, you raise money for CARE. For each hour that you work out and log, Eric will donate $5 to CARE (up to a maximum of $50,000). So if you work out 30 hours this month, that’s $150 you have automatically raise for CARE.

You can also set up your own personal I Am Powerful Workout with Eric Harr webpage at CARE Corps online where you can accept donations. For each $1 your raise through your webpage, Eric will match it with $5 (up to $50,000).

CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters, and helps people rebuild their lives.

You can read all about this special workout program on Eric Harr’s blog.

Steaz Energy is a new kind of energy drink for athletes or anyone looking for a healthy, organic fuel. An all-natural source of energy that promotes endurance and increased stamina for peak athletic performance, Steaz gives you a natural boost without highly refined sugar, artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Steaz Energy comes in four flavors - Berry, Orange, Lime and Diet Berry. The Diet Berry has 50% of the calories of the original without using additives or artificial sweetners.

Steaz is also the maker of a wonderful group of Green Tea Sodas that contain the same health benefits as a full cup of green tea including antioxidants and healthy minerals. The company usea organic cane juice instead of conventional sugar or high-fructose corn syrup like other beverages. The soda comes in a variety of flavors, including Ginger Ale, Root Beer, Cola, Grape, Raspberry, Lemon Dew, Orange, Key Lime and Diet Black Cherry.

I recently had an opportunity to try various flavors of both Steaz Energy and Steaz Green Tea Soda. The energy drinks are refreshing and give you a quick boost. The taste of the Diet Berry is so similar to the regular Berry that it’s probably to your benefit just to get the diet. As for the Green Teas Sodas, it takes some time to get adjusted to the taste compared to traditional sodas. But they are definitely flavorful.

Visit steaz.com to find out where to buy Steaz products.

In a recent study, Americans were found to have higher blood pressure, a greater risk of heart disease, and more arthritis than citizens of ten European nations. These chronic diseases are all associated with obesity and smoking.

What these statistics translate to is a U.S. healthcare budget $100 billion higher than it could be. Americans have an obesity rate of 33 percent, compared to 17 percent among Europeans.
So what can we do about it? To begin, what we’re already doing. Caring about health and fitness is half the battle, and being interested in healthy foods and different form of exercise is a great step. Of course, we have to act on these interests, making healthy food choices and exercising as often as we can.

Looking great is a fantastic benefit of being healthy, but there are also benefits that the eye can’t see: Obesity and smoking affect our longevity, and the Europeans in the study live longer than us by an average of up to 3 years. Furthermore, if we take care of ourselves now when we get older, we won’t suffer from diseases such as the painful arthritis and high blood pressure. And, as a gift to our pocketbooks, our national healthcare costs would go down significantly, lowering our premiums and our taxes.

Who could argue with that?

New research suggests that having a nice cool beer just after you have completed your workout can help your body recover more quickly than your average glass of water.

Professor Manuel Garzon at the  University of Granada in Spain has found that it is the bubbles that do the trick. They help the body retain liquid much better than water does, and of course because beer has a calorific content this will help to replace the calories used up in the physical activity.

The results came from a test in which students who had just competed rigorous exercise were given a pint of beer or a pint  of water. The athletes who drank the beer showed better hydration than those who had the water.

So make mine a large one please!

Source [Frost Fire Fizz]

(Photo via flickr cc)

As the weather turns cold, we all need to change our beauty routine. Skin and hair both need extra moisture and attention to combat the effects of cold, dry weather and seasonal weather changes.

Here are some terrific products from ULTA that contain traditional Thanksgiving ingredients, which will have you looking and feeling beautiful this holiday season.

ULTA Cranberry Lip Balm ($3.00)
Even if you don’t like cranberry sauce, you will love this creamy, cranberry lip balm. This sweet, yet tangy, balm leaves your lips smooth and soft.

Healthy Sexy Hair Pumpkin Rehydrating Shampoo & Conditioner ($13.99)
These haircare products are packed with pumpkin enzymes which will promote circulation in the scalp and nourish dull, dry hair. Great for everyday use this season.

Frederic Fekkai Apple Cider Clearing Rinse ($17.50)
Pour yourself a mug of warm, comforting apple cider on a cold Thanksgiving day. Then use this weekly purifying treatment to fortify your hair. This product removes build-up and other impurities, leaving your hair shiny and manageable.

L’Eau D’Issey for Women By Issey Miyake ($46.00)
Quench dry, thirsty skin with this cinnamon treat. L’Eau D’Issey body lotion hydrates and revitalizes you skin with a touch of cinnamon holiday sweetness.

All these products are available at ULTA stores and online at ULTA.com.

Researchers recently discovered that, in addition to paving the way for a healthy lifestyle and smaller waistline, low-fat foods may help reduce your risk of ovarian cancer.

Though science has claimed in the past that low-fat diets would reduce the risk of various cancers, no definitive evidence could be produced. But in a recent study of post-menopausal women, the subjects who cut their dietary fat to 20 percent of their total caloric intake also cut their chance of getting ovarian cancer by a stunning 40 percent.

The only caveat? This isn’t a quick fix: you have to stick with the diet for the long haul. This is great news, however, as up until now, the only measures to prevent ovarian cancer were for women of childbearing age to take birth control pills or to have the ovaries removed completely.

While subjects in the study showed reduced risk for ovarian cancer, the rates for breast cancer and colo-rectal cancerwere unaffected. However, unlike other cancers, ovarian cancer is particularly lethal, with a five-year survival rate of only 45 percent.

If you are busy with your family, you may not have time to go to the gym or establish a typical workout regimen. Working outside of the home, taking care of your kids and managing your household can leave little time left for fitness. However, you can still stay in shape by adding exercise to your daily routine.

Exercise at the Workplace
Take the stairs instead of the elevator each day; climbing stairs is a fabulous way to get a lower body workout. You can also take a walk on your lunch hour. Instead of driving to a restaurant, bring your lunch and take a brisk walk to a park and eat outdoors.

Choose a Distant Parking Space
When you head to the mall or the grocery store, instead of finding the nearest parking place, choose a distant one. Adding the extra walk from your car to the door and back is an easy way to exercise. Of course don’t do this at night in a dark parking lot.

Play with Your Kids
Instead of watching your kids play outdoors, get out there with them. Whether it’s playing catch, chasing them in tag or pushing them on a swing, you can exercise with your children.

Housework
Don’t overlook the exercise involved in housework. Scrubbing the bath tub, mopping the floor, and even vacuuming will get your heart rate going.

Don’t drive when you can walk. Don’t walk when you can run.

The key to staying fit is to keep moving!

If you have bad acne, a new study shows that in addition to your usual skin care regimen, a low-glycemic diet may be your ticket to healthier skin.

In addition to helping improve insulin sensitivity, a low-glycemic diet will help with the pathogenesis of acne. In other words, reducing your intake of foods high on the glycemic index may help clear up skin problems and diseases. Of course, a low-glycemic diet is also known for helping reduce body mass and weight, as these foods decrease blood sugar spikes and help you feel full for longer. For this reason, foods low on the GI index are integral parts to diets such as the South Beach Diet.

So how do you get on a low-glycemic diet? It’s easier than you might think: first, eliminate “white” foods. This includes potatoes, white bread, pastas, and other treats made with white flour. Try replacing with sweet potatoes, whole wheat bread and whole wheat pasta. Snack on raisins, veggies, and fruits throughout the day, adding some peanut butter for fat and protein.

Other low GI foods include low-fat yogurt, banana bread, baked beans, wild rice, oatmeal, and a host of other goodies. Check out info, facts, and delicious recipes at the Glycemic Gourmet.