1. Slice Fat from Pizza
Always order your pizza with double tomato sauce and light cheese. Men who eat a lot of tomato products tend to have less prostate cancer—probably because tomatoes are a rich source of lycopene. Reducing the mozzarella by just one-third (you won’t miss it) will save you 20 grams (g) of fat per pie. That’s as much as in a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder.

2. Order the Steak Fries
If you love french fries, always order the steak fries. Large-cut fries don’t absorb as much oil as shoestring or curly fries, which lowers the fat count.

3. Juice a Stir-Fry
With a can of frozen orange-juice concentrate, you have a great way to add flavor to stir-fried chicken (or beef) and vegetables without adding fat. Just a few spoonfuls will do. (It’s even better if you add some garlic.)

4. Soften Your Spread
Soften butter or margarine at room temperature or in a microwave. Chances are you’ll spread your bread with one-quarter of the fat and calories you do when you put it on cold.

5. Cool Your Cans
Refrigerate canned meats, soups, gravies, and other canned foods containing fat. The fat will rise to the top and collect, so you can scrape it off.

6. Dilute Your Fruit Juice
Fruit juice is sneaky fattening—a 16-ounce bottle of cranberry-grape blend, for instance, contains about 275 calories. Dump half and store it, then refill the bottle with water. You’ll barely notice the difference, and you’ll be cutting half the calories.

7. Oil Your Potato
To save calories and fat, put a splash of olive oil on your baked potato instead of the usual butter or sour cream.

8. Say Goodbye to Rubbery Cheese
To prevent low-fat cheese from turning to rubber in the microwave, spritz your nachos with a quick blast of cooking spray, such as Pam, before nuking them. A similar trick involves spraying the inside of a grilled-cheese sandwich before you toss it in the frying pan. This adds just enough fat to make the cheese stay gooey and creamy as it slowly melts.

With holiday mouth watering dinners wreaking havoc to our diet regimen,  we need all the help that we can get to survive.  Browse the internet for weight loss tips and ideas and what have yous that actually make sense.

There’s no one food that can magically transform an overweight body into an ideal figure. Eating plans that consist solely of grapefruit aren’t realistic or effective, nor are plans that promote eating only cabbage soup or special “weight-loss cookies.”

But there are foods that are beneficial to eat on the journey to a slimmer body.

Yogurt

A recent 14-day study was conducted by General Mills, makers of Yoplait yogurt, at the Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition in Minneapolis. The researchers investigated the diets of approximately 3,000 women ages 19 and older, and found that the women who consumed three or more servings of yogurt over the two-week period had a 15 percent lower body mass index (BMI) than those who did not eat any yogurt.

The weight-management potential of yogurt may come from the fact that while it can be high in calories, it’s still a relatively healthy snack food that promotes satiety. The women who ate yogurt regularly were also more like to have higher overall intakes of nutrients including calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B-12, magnesium, and phosphorous.

Oatmeal

Oatmeal is packed with fiber, and there are several ways that dietary fiber may reduce the risk of weight gain or obesity. Dietary fiber, for example, slows digestion, prolonging a feeling of fullness, and foods high in fiber are usually low in fat and calories.

Fiber’s weight-loss benefit comes from the feeling of fullness it gives without adding many extra calories. Fiber may also reduce the absorption of fat to some extent. As an added benefit, oatmeal helps to lower “bad” LDL cholesterol.

That said, it’s best to avoid instant oatmeal, which may contain added sugar, and instead go for hearty, steel-cut oats topped with fresh berries or sliced bananas.

Soup

Soups contain a high percentage of water and can help dieters feel full quickly. Some health experts recommend eating a bowl of broth-based soup before a meal in order to curb hunger.

In a 2007 Consumer Reports study of diet plans, the highest marks were awarded to the Volumetrics diet created by U.S. nutritionist Barbara Rolls, which encourages dieters to consume a low-fat soup or salad before a meal to take the edge off their hunger.

Soup can also serve as a low-calorie meal, with added vegetables to increase the nutrient content. And it’s easy to make a large batch once a week and enjoy for several days. But remember, weight-loss benefits only apply to broth-based, low-calorie soups, not heavy, cream-based chowders and stews.

An interesting and enlightening article from LeBlanc. Read on for some important tips.

You pick me up at 8, and it’s game on.

I want you to win. But I fear failure.

Yours. Mine. Ours.

In the court of dating and mating, women are judge and jury, but the testimony we hear—mostly from our hearts, but also from our Greek chorus of girlfriends—will all take place out of your earshot. The rules are unwritten (until now), but they are set in stone. Give us a really good reason, however, and we’ll toss the tablets aside, along with most of our clothing and inhibitions. That’s because we want you, the right guy, to make the decision easy for us: not guilty by reason of insanity (i.e., crazy in love).

We hear every message you send—intentional or not. So your attitude is nearly everything. We want you to show a certain degree of eagerness, but not desperation. We want you to believe in yourself and demonstrate why we should believe in you, too. We want you to be spontaneous, but also a man we can count on.

Sound like a lot to ask?

It should be, because this is the process whereby we’ll choose a mate for life. Yes, the burden of proof is on you, but we’re looking for the case of a lifetime.

Ready to go? Here’s how to clear all objections, from the best counselors I know: the single, the available, the hotties who’ve been waiting for you to come along.

So, see you at 8?

Women are notoriously bad at recognizing “The One.” We nurture dreams of marriage after one great date. We abide by draconian rules about who’s our “type.” And, most of all, we fall over and over again for men who are the human equivalent of dirty-water dogs.

Conversely, we’re experts at knowing a good woman for you when we see her—it’s embedded in the female genetic code. And, just as important, we can spot a bunny boiler in the making.

You’re at a disadvantage, especially when smitten. Which is why you need our list of questions you must ask yourself about your gal before offering her a permanent position. Our grading scale: Three strikes is forgivable, otherwise neither of us would pass our own test.

Four strikes is a bit sketchy, though, and as for five or more—don’t make us say, “We told you so.

1. You can put down the weights and the protein shakes. You might want us to be perfect looking; we simply want you not to be fat.

2. Replace all of those hideous size-extra-large T-shirts with something that actually sort of fits. We think you might be a medium.

3. Never allow anyone who listens to baseball on the radio to cut your hair.

4. Purchase sheets that don’t contain polyester and that are white.

5. Blue Book value isn’t everything. Take the money you were going to spend putting the backseat DVD theater in your Honda and buy a nice pair of shoes.

6. We don’t care what the plan is. Just have one.

7. Candles. They are so cheap and they are so effective.

8. When you give her a gift, include a card. You can spend less on the gift if you write something nice. Don’t buy a card with a message in it, unless you’re dating Danielle Steele.

9. She arrives home from work eager for attention. You arrive home from work eager for several beers and the Simpsons-King of the Hill hour. The moment you come home, hug her, look into her eyes, and say that you’re happy to see her. This simple gesture, done with sincerity, will earn you lots of time on the couch.

10. Buy covered garbage cans for your kitchen and bathroom. They hide stuff we don’t want to know about anyway.

11. Make a list entitled “Intolerable Behavior from Women,” and when you see it happening, speak up. Let us know you won’t be around no matter what, and we’ll want to keep you.

12. Drive a stick shift. Men look ineffectual driving automatics.

13. Never utter the phrase, “I know I’m no Brad Pitt/Denzel Washington.” You’re a guy. Merely acting like you think you’re hot makes you hot. Be grateful, because women actually have to be hot to be hot.

14. Short sleeves are for golf only; sandals are for Jesus only.

15. When a woman asks you to accompany her to a wedding or a family event, R.S.V.P. within 24 hours. If you find that you can’t commit, do everyone a favor and break it off.

16. Stop operating on the in-trouble/not-in-trouble paradigm. Just because we’re not yelling at you doesn’t mean everything is okay.

17. If you’re late, call.

18. Brush your teeth a lot.

19. Realize that if you “keep forgetting” to trim your nose hairs, we will “keep forgetting” to initiate sex.

20. If your television is of a size such that it is regularly commented on, hide it in a cabinet. You might have a penchant for a) sloth, b) passivity, or c) tuning out the world, but she need not be reminded of this every time she walks into your living room.

21. You might not know what she wants you to get her for her birthday, but her friends do. Ask them.

22. When we are together, sometimes we are occupied with tasks—closing a window, putting on a new CD, petting the cat—that cause us to focus our gaze elsewhere. May we suggest these windows of time as the most favorable for scratching your balls.

23. Buy a Swiffer and use it. They come in dry (living room) and wet (kitchen and bathroom). Wash your dishes. Pick up your clothes. Swiff. She’ll think you’re a responsible adult.

‘Tis the season to be merry—and stuffed with goodies—so you better be prepared. Holiday parties and dinners are ripe with opportunities to overeat and feast on fattening and calorie-laden treats. Learn how to do damage control before and after splurging on your favorite seasonal treats by incorporating these tips into your normal diet plan.

Evelyn Tribole, MS, registered dietician and author of Eating on the Run, has suggestions on how to survive with as little diet damage as possible.

Don’t assume that weight gain is a given during the holidays, she stresses. “Despite the fact that for many years, it was commonly accepted that people gain approximately five pounds during the holidays, a New England Journal of Medicine study found that the average weight gain was only about one pound. The philosophy of feasting during the holidays because tomorrow you diet can actually make matters worse.”

Instead, Tribole suggests that you try these strategies to help avoid overindulging:

• Don’t come hungry. Don’t arrive to dinner on a ravenous stomach, as this can easily lead to overeating. Have a small snack (such as a handful of almonds or an apple with a tablespoon of natural peanut butter) to prevent binging.
• Don’t avoid your favorites. All year round, make a conscious effort to not completely restrict yourself from your favorite foods. This attitude makes holiday food less magnetic, and you’ll be less likely to splurge.
• Set a limit. Instead of scooping out a serving from every single dish, limit yourself to the holiday foods that you simply can’t do without.
• Pass up food that you won’t miss. For example, a roll with butter at mealtime is not likely to be missed, and forgoing it is not likely to lead to feelings of deprivation.
• Beware of lingering. When you are finished eating, either remove your plate or put a napkin or your silverware on top of it to prevent unintentional nibbling at the table.
• It’s not all or nothing. If you eat more than you intended, let it go, rather than thinking you blew it.  All-or-none thinking can lead to even more eating.

Taking a realistic approach to eating at the holidays is the smartest way to prevent yourself from falling into common traps.

1. Always Eat a Man’s Breakfast
No more Lucky Charms—you want some protein and fat. Scrambled eggs and a few sausage links will keep you fuller longer than an airy doughnut will.

2. Eat More!
We’re talking three good snacks and three healthful meals. But what do you serve during the bowl game if you can’t have chips and dip? Mixed nuts—especially almonds—will satisfy your craving for something crunchy while helping to build muscle.

3. Just Say No to Starches
Foods like pasta, white bread, and potatoes make you fat. If you must have pasta, make yours whole-wheat. Same goes for bread, and swap white potatoes for sweet potatoes. Just don’t eat too much!

4. Lift Weights
Yes, you have to hit the gym, and no, lifting beer cans during happy hour doesn’t count. The muscles you build will not only improve your performance, they’ll stoke your metabolism so you burn calories long after your workout is over.

5. Think Before You Eat
Don’t just stuff your face with the stale cookies left over from the holidays, eat what tastes good and what’s good for you. Take your time eating; you’ll stay fuller longer.

6. But Have Fun Once in a While—or Once a Week
Stifle those cravings for too long, and you’ll be miserable and might fall off your new plan forever. Just splurge reasonably—two slices of pizza, not the whole thing.

7. Go Low-Carb
It’s the easiest way to lose weight fast. The cravings are hard at first, but it gets easier—especially when you see the results.

8. Run Intervals.
It’s easier to alternate between hard and easy running instead of going for a long run—especially if you don’t like running. Plus, you’ll be done faster and burn more fat.

Taiwanese investigators report that an ointment made from an extract of Indigo naturalis is effective in treatment-resistant plaque psoriasis — and the treatment appears to be safe.

Indigo naturalis is a plant that is the source of a dark blue dye. The extract has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of psoriasis, the researchers explain in the Archives of Dermatology.

Forty-two patients with recalcitrant plaque psoriasis applied indigo naturalis ointment or vehicle (sham ointment) topically to two symmetrical psoriatic plaque lesions on each side of the body for 12 weeks.

Dr. Yin-Ku Lin of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taoyuan, Taiwan, and colleagues report “significant reductions” in scores of scaling, rash, and induration with indigo naturalis ointment.

The mean sum of these scores was 6.3 with indigo naturalis ointment and 12.8 with the vehicle, and the percentage of the plaque area remaining was 38.5 percent after indigo naturalis treatment compared with 90 percent with the vehicle ointment. Thirty-one of 42 patients (74 percent) experienced clearance or near-clearance of psoriasis lesions with indigo naturalis ointment.

Lin’s group reports that “severity was not a significant factor in predicting treatment success.”

They also point out that “the color and smell of indigo naturalis may affect compliance of the patients and the longer-term durability of the benefit simultaneously. The indigo naturalis ointment slightly stains the skin and clothing, which can be cleaned thoroughly by common detergents. Repeated application has no significant effect on skin color and will not change the skin appearance.”

On the plus side, “Indigo naturalis ointment treatment has neither adverse effects, such as those found with corticosteroid treatment, nor other toxic effects based on our past 5 years of clinical observation. Furthermore, it costs much less in comparison with other topical agents,” Lin and colleagues write. “We anticipate that indigo naturalis ointment can be an alternative or complementary therapy for psoriasis and believe it will be a great benefit to this large patient population.”