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16 ways to make blueberry muffins healthier Filed under: Food and Nutrition, General Health, Healthy Habits, Vegetarian, Healthy Recipes The blueberry muffin: an eternal favorite, bursting with moist flavor, sabotaging diets everywhere. Your love of blueberry muffins doesn't have to translate to bigger hips; you can have your muffin and your slim figure. The trick is this: adding more nutritious ingredients while cutting out the excess bad fats and calories. In a past post, Jessica has rehabbed blueberry muffins into a pretty decent healthy breakfast treat. Let's take it several steps further. Add more nutrition Blueberries are one of the top antioxidants, but you can add more goodies to your muffins to make them even more nutritious: sunflower seeds, which also add a nice crunch, about 1/4 cup lemon peel and/or juice, zest and juice of one lemon whole oats, about 1/2 cup chunks of other fruits, like apple, pear or other berries nuts of your choice, 1/2 cup ground flax seeds, about 1/4 cup Continue reading 16 ways to make blueberry muffins healthier Permalink | Email this | Comments   We Love To Gawk At Fit Celebs: Misty May-Treanor joins DWTS cast Filed under: Fitness, Celebrities, We Love To Gawk At Fit Celebs See you later, Kerri Walsh -- it looks like beach volleyball superstar Misty May-Treanor will be trying out a new partner ... at least for this season's Dancing With the Stars. She's not only content to be the winningest beach volleyball female of all time, or to have two beach volleyball gold medals -- she wants to be the best dancer, too! I'm a little biased, since I'm a huge fan of Misty to begin with, but I have to say this is the most excited I've been for DWTS. While I enjoy seeing celebrities out there dancing, I like watching the athletes on the show even more. Seeing people with quick feet on the court or field translate that talent to dancing footwork is fascinating, and is a big reminder that athleticism comes in many forms. Misty will be joined by fellow gold medal winner Maurice Greene, a sprinter, and retired football player Warren Sapp, along with Brooke Burke, Kim Kardashian, Susan Lucci, and others. Will you be tuning in? %Gallery-30424% Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Slim down, the vitamin way Filed under: Food and Nutrition, Diet and Weight Loss Vitamin C might help you lose a few, and it might help you keep those few off too. Research shows that the human body needs sufficient vitamin C to burn fat, the key to keeping excess weight from stacking up. Nothing too difficult about what to do with this news: Pop your C supplement or chew on some vitamin C-rich foods before your next fitness feat. Even better, snack on it throughout the day if you can. Try some grapefruit in the morning, have an orange for lunch, and fill your dinner plate with treats like red bell peppers, broccoli, and brussels sprouts. Some background: Vitamin C study participants with low concentrations of C in their blood walked on a treadmill for one hour and burned 25% less fat than people with adequate C in their blood. It didn't take much to bring fat-burning levels up, though. A dose of C is all it takes to create carnitine, a substance that turns fat into fuel. How much C do you need? Click here to find out. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments   Can you spot an edible aphrodisiac? Filed under: Food and Nutrition I've heard that the oyster is an aphrodisiac -- you know, an agent that arouses sexual desire. But Women's Health tells me it really isn't -- unless your man is able to down 50 of them all at one time. Then, it might just increase his libido. What about a banana? I've certainly never heard that this fruit can do the trick. But WH says it can. It's not just the shape that is suggestive, though. Eating this healthy fruit can give your sex life a boost with its powerful potassium and B vitamins -- both are nutrients essential to sexual hormone production. What about red wine, chocolate, cinnamon, chili peppers, pomegranate, and asparagus? I'm not telling. But I will send you over to this quiz where you can test your sexy smarts on these foods and more. As it turns out, I'm not so fit when it comes to spotting sensual foods. Maybe you'll do better. Let us know. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Madonna's pre-show prep: Free weights Filed under: Fitness, Celebrities Madonna's people are talking. And what they have to say gives a visual of one high-energy 50-year-old woman whose 51-date Sticky and Sweet tour has her working hard and feeling great. "The harder Madonna works the happier she is," says a longtime friend. "Because she was a dancer, that's why. It's practice, practice, practice." Besides ensuring her shows are perfect and her family is happy, Madonna is all about taking care of herself. A massage helps prep her for performing. So does a facial. And of course: Free weights, to maintain that rock-hard and strong body. I like how Madonna operates. Work, family, a little pampering, and a nearly-perfect physique -- not to mention truckloads of money. Seems to me it doesn't get much better than that. %Gallery-30629% Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments   Fit Beauty: Body Scrubs 101 Filed under: Natural Beauty, Healthy Products, Fit Beauty Most women are familiar with body scrubs, even if they don't use them. Scrubs are designed to get rid of dead skin and rough patches, leaving you with skin that's smoother, healthier-looking, and more radiant. However, certain types of scrubs are great for your body, but not your face -- and vice versa. Additionally, if you're working on a particularly dry, scaly area of skin, like your elbows or your heels, you need a whole other level of scrubby goodness to get the desired effect. Check out the gallery to get schooled in Body Scrubs 101. There's a little homework involved in the form of DIY scrubs, but don't worry -- a successfully scrubbed post-bath body is all you need to get an A! %Gallery-29987% Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Fructose makes you fat Filed under: Food and Nutrition, Obesity Not all sugars are created equal, and new research shows that eating a certain type of sweet stuff can make you gain weight at an alarming weight. We're talking about Fructose, not to be confused with naturally-occurring glucose. According to the New York Times, regular sugar is normally processed by the liver, which acts as a sort of 'traffic cop' and directs the sugar where to go. But fructose by-passes the liver and heads straight to your hips in the form of unhealthy fat. I know what you're wondering: Why would anyone eat fructose? The answer is simple -- it's everywhere. It's cheaper than sugar, so many food manufacturers use it. It's your responsibility to read the labels and make sure you're avoiding this tasty poison. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments   Put 'em in coach: The kid wants to play Filed under: Healthy Kids Your TV screen might offer a home-field advantage when it comes to enjoying the big game, but did you know that most kids would rather play sports than watch them on television? That's what 80 percent of children ages 6 to 18 said in a recent survey. The lesson: Be sure to make outdoor time readily available for young sports fans and/or offer them a chance to join a team or league. Other results from the survey revealed these interesting athletic nuggets: Among 6- to 9-year olds, 43 percent said they play their sport "because they love it," versus 32 percent of the 13- to 18-year olds. Ten percent of 13- to 18-year-old girls quit playing sports after being told they weren't good enough by a coach. Girls attend practice in greater number than boys. Nearly 50 percent of the kids said their parents urge them to play a team sport. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Your Turn: Do you agree with the 'Obesity Fee?' Filed under: Your Turn Here at That's Fit, we're constantly telling you what we think about things, but sometimes it's nice to know what you think. So from time to time, we'll ask you a question. Don't be afraid to speak up -- we love feedback. Maggie recently told us about a new fee that Alabama State employees can expect to see in 2010: An obesity fee. That's right, state workers with a BMI of 35 and over will be expected to fork over and extra $25 a month for medical insurance. This comes after a policy that has smokers forking over extra money for medical insurance as well. On one hand, such a policy reduces costs for those who practice healthy habits and it could reduce obesity rates in the long run. But on the other hand, isn't it a human rights violation to have to disclose your weight to your employer and pay more if they think you're too heavy? View Poll Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments   How can a full English breakfast kill you? Let me count the ways Filed under: Food and Nutrition, Obesity It's no secret that a traditional English breakfast isn't healthy. That's just what happens when a meal is made up of fried eggs, fried bacon, fried hash browns, fried tomatoes and--good lord--fried bread (though to be fair, the breakfast is also served with baked beans, which are hopefully not fried as well). But while proponents of the fry-up may look towards any kind of benefit in the menu -- protein! healthy egg whites! -- it's clear that the full English does more harm than good. Here's what's wrong with it: It increases your risk for bowel cancer by 63%, according to recent reports. It also significantly increases your risk of obesity, high cholesterol, hypertension, heart disease and a number of other killer ailments. I'll say it again: Moderation. No one died from eating a full English fry-up once in their life, but having a meal of these proportions every day can literally kill you. Proceed with caution. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments What you do in your 20s matters Filed under: Healthy Aging, Healthy Habits When you're in your 20s--especially your early 20s--you feel invincible. You can eat what you want, live on tequila and go without sleep for days at a time and you'll still look fresh-faced. Well, in the short term, at least. The long term is a different story. As far as your health and looks go, what you do at any age in your life will affect you later in life. Take sun tanning, for instance. It will age your skin, fast, because tanning equals wrinkles. No two ways about it. Wearing heavy earrings? How does lobe surgery sound? Wearing high heels too often can irreversibly damage the tendons in your legs, and toting a heavy purse around on one shoulder can lead to shoulder damage that may force you to carry around a backpack. Sexy, huh? What you do in your 20s matters. Read this article for more proof. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments   Brawny and brainy Filed under: Fitness, General Health, Healthy Aging, Women's Health, Men's Health, HealthWatch We spend hours upon hours each year working out our bodies, yet we frequently forget to give our brain a good workout. Just like your biceps and your quads, challenging the brain helps keep it in proper shape. To keep your mind sharp, try some of these brain-boosting techniques, which were sourced from MedicineNet.com and the Cleveland Clinic: Go over in your head what it is you want to remember, and be habitual in your tasks. Put things in the same place, for example. Get plenty of social interaction, sleep and regular physical exercise. Reduce stress whenever possible. Challenge yourself with activities. Try a crossword puzzle, take a class, or build something. Try to avoid distraction when learning something new. Give it your full attention, and use all of your senses to become familiar with it. Break an activity into multiple steps, and stretch it out over several days. For example, take a few days to learn how to program a new electronic device. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Think twice about double dipping Filed under: Food and Nutrition, Healthy Habits 'Do you mind if I double dip?' a friend of mine asked over shared appetizers and wine at one of our favourite restaurants. I replied as I always do: Of course not. I'm not a germaphobe, and even if I was, double dipping doesn't spread many germs, does it? Well, actually, it does. According to this article from Prevention Magazine, double dipping deposits thousands of saliva bacteria into the dip, hundreds of which can be transferred onto the next clean chip or cracker. Yuck. Still, a little bacteria won't hurt you if you have a normal immune system, but if you're concerned about germs, it's good to know what you're putting into your mouth. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments   Be wary of Ayurvedic medicines Filed under: Alternative Therapies, Natural Products, Vitamins and Supplements Alternative medicine may not always works as effectively as traditional western medicine, but they can't harm you, right? Not true. Recent studies recently found that one in five Ayruvedic medicines contains poisonous metallics like lead, arsenic and mercury. Of hundreds of Ayurvedic remedies purchased from 25 different websites in the USA and India, 21% contained detectable levels of at least one of these metals, and of that 21%, half had higher levels than would be considered healthy. Ayurvedic medicine is an ancient practice that promotes overall health using a balance of medicine, meditation, exercise and diet, and while it can be part of a healthy lifestyle, it's always a good idea to talk to your doctor first before taking any kind of remedy, natural or not. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Constant thirst may signal health risk Filed under: General Health, Women's Health, Men's Health, HealthWatch Here in the U.S., we're fortunate enough to have clean drinking water at our disposal almost at all times. As such, when we're thirsty, we either fill up a glass with some tap water, take a sip from a water fountain, or spend a buck-and-a-half on a bottled water. Whatever method we choose, the end result is the same: we're no longer thirsty. But what if a glass or bottle of water isn't enough to satisfy your thirst? And, what if you're excessively thirsty all the time? HealthCentral.com reports that this may be a sign of a serious health problem. Health Central lists the following causes of excessive thirst, courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine: A side effect of certain drugs, including anticholinergics, demeclocycline, diuretics or phenothiazines. Significant loss of water or salt, possibly caused by not drinking enough water, profuse sweating, diarrhea or vomiting. Significant blood loss or loss of body fluids, caused by an underlying health condition. Diabetes or diabetes insipidus. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments   Go for a multiple Filed under: Fitness, Food and Nutrition, General Health, Women's Health, Men's Health Women's Health magazine suggests tackling multiple health goals at once, as it will help keep you on track and resist temptation. Citing a recent study published in Archives of Internal Medicine, which revealed that fitness goals are more successfully met when they're set in groups, the article states that if you just finished a hard run on the treadmill, you'll be less inclined to reach for an unhealthy treat. This exemplifies how by doing so, you've now stuck to your plan of exercising and eating healthy. The article also suggests making a list of up to three objectives and set daily and weekly mini-goals for each. Every time you reach one of those goals, award yourself with a point. Once you've reached a pre-determined amount of points, reward yourself with a small indulgence. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Back on track Filed under: Fitness, Healthy Aging, Women's Health, Men's Health, HealthWatch The lower back is an important stabilizing muscle group that's called upon during many other exercises (not to mention simply keeping you standing upright). But, it doesn't exactly rank high in terms of areas we think about toning and firming. This is unfortunate, as a failure to work your lower back can lead to muscular imbalance and injury. To help prevent this from happening, try implementing at least one of the following exercises (clicking on each will bring you to a video demonstration) into your resistance training workouts: Hyperextensions Supermans Deadlifts Good Mornings Seated Row Be sure to use extra care when performing lower back exercises. As you may have found out in the past while lifting a heavy box or piece of furniture, if you do not use proper form, it may result in a pulled muscle or even a slipped disc. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments   Get your style in shape at the new StyleList blog! Filed under: Fit Fashion While fitness is about feeling great and being healthy, for many of us it's also about looking good. And so, you can just imagine how excited we are to announce the merging of the lifestyle blog StyleDash and AOL's style channel, StyleList, to create a mega-channel blog! StyleList will continue to offer its service while the blog will take the content to a whole new level, offering of-the-minute style and fashion tips, news, and advice. You can read all about it in the StyleList blog introductory post. If you have StyleDash bookmarked, don't worry -- it will continue to redirect to the StyleList blog. If you don't have it bookmarked yet, head on over and check it out! We're proud of and excited about this news, and we hope you will be, too. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Fitness for every body Filed under: Fitness, Food and Nutrition, General Health, Diet and Weight Loss, Obesity In what by this point seems like a past life, I was at one time a personal trainer. And it was during those couple of years that I met some truly inspirational people, many of which had never before stepped foot in a gym. Why? Because they felt as though they were too heavy to work out. Seems almost counter-intuitive, doesn't it? Yet, when you factor in the greater difficulty and the understandable feelings of insecurity, reluctance of this kind begins to make perfect sense. So for those you remarkable folks out there who are looking to start a workout, but wonder if there are any tips a heavier person should be aware of, here are I few I feel are worth mentioning: Don't starve yourself. Heavier people tend to burn calories more quickly than skinny people, so you do not want to deny yourself the fuel you need to complete your workouts. Drink plenty of water. Bigger people tend to sweat quite a bit, which means that they are losing plenty of water. Be sure to replenish that lost water and then-some. Continue reading Fitness for every body Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments   I'm on my way! Welcome to the Good, the Fat and the Hungry. I'm Karla and I have been -- or am -- all those things. Here, I will share with you my lifelong struggle with my weight and I hope you'll follow along on with my determined attempt to lose nearly 40 pounds. I promise to tell you every win and setback along the way every Tuesday and Friday. Can you say 195.5? I can because as of last week, that was my weight! I've lost 3.5 pounds of that dreaded 40. Only 36.5 left to go. To many, that may still seem like a very high number for weight but not when you consider that same number a few years ago was knocking on the door of 400 pounds. It has absolutely thrilled me to see my weight decrease although I'm not always happy about the work it takes to make it happen. I've had a hate-hate relationship with the scale for as long as I can remember. I can vividly recall a school nurse at the tender age of 11 telling me that I was too fat and would die by 40 if I did not lose weight. As if getting on a scale in front of my peers wasn't bad enough, this chick had commentary. I watched the other kids hop on and off the scale without an ounce of hesitation. When you're "normal", it's no big deal. But as the biggest girl OR boy in the class, my heart pounded as I awaited the ridicule that would surely come from the other kids. As I prepare to step on, I step on halfway in hopes that maybe it wouldn't capture the full truth. But it did. At 11 years old, 183 pounds was looking me in the face. That was the last time I ever saw a 1 in front of my weight and that was more than 25 years ago. So you see, when I scream that I weigh 100 ANYTHING, I'm absolutely thrilled. Not only did I prove that awful nurse wrong, I've proven to me that I'm no longer the fat kid anywhere and as I shed the pounds, I shed the skin of insecurity that came with it. I'm growing in ways I never imagined and doing things I never thought I'd do. Like jogging. I've started jogging and power walking in the morning before work and can truly attest to the benefits. I am more alert and even when I don't feel like it, I'm always glad that I did. I can't ever recall running without being chased. And even then to make ME run, it would need to be something critical chasing me like a lion, tiger or gang member. Now, I'm doing it just for me. Not only is it beneficial, it just feels good. Good to know that I can run and because I can, I must and I will. Keep the faith! Permalink | Email this | Comments

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