Tis’ the season to over indulge. Between the shopping, parties and traveling it’s no question this is a stressful time. This is also a time to munch on the party trays, gift baskets and holiday food. There are some ways to prevent mindless munching during the holidays and beyond. Dr. Lavinia Rodriguez, author of Mind Over Fat Matters: Conquering Psychological Barriers to Weight Management shares some tips.

Have a pre-party plan. If you know you’re going to be faced with a seemingly endless array of food choices at a given event, force yourself to stop and think about what you’d most like to eat before taking your place in line. The fact is, many of us have eyes that end up being bigger than our stomachs, but we feel compelled to join the clean plate club regardless.

Focus on your friends and family—not the food. When you walk into your company’s holiday party or your daughter’s dance recital, don’t hone in on the snack table. While the hors d’oeuvres table might be crowded with treats and people, focus on socializing with friends and family instead of on the food. Remember, conversation is calorie-free! “When you go to holiday gatherings, slow down and enjoy the atmosphere and then think about eating. Most people will already be on their second (or third!) plates, and you’ll still be on track with your healthy lifestyle,” advises Dr. Rodriguez. Read the rest of this entry »

The Daylight Savings Time expression, “Fall Back”, shouldn’t hold weight (no pun intended) when forming—and keeping—your fitness schedule.   Follow these tips from Life Fitness  to squeeze the most out of your day by maximizing every hour—techically you gained an extra hour, so why not use it effectively?

1.Use Your Extra Hour To Plan
Everyone’s days are 24 hours long, but how we use these hours can make all the difference. Start on the right foot by marking your calendar. If you’ve decided to make your fitness needs a priority, enter your workouts on your daily planner or in your electronic calendar. Record it like you would any other important appointment and you will be more likely to follow through.

2.Mix Up Your Workout By Heading Outdoors
Gone are the sweltering days of summer, so if you are an outdoor person, use the crisp coolness of fall to motivate you to do some refreshing exercise outdoors. Take a morning walk or run to check out the changing colors of fall. Clip on a pedometer and hit some of those fall festivals or farmers market for some healthy fruits and veggies. See if you can accumulate the recommended 10,000 steps per day by adding outdoor activities to your daily steps.

3. Power Up
Use this time of year to renew your resolution to stay—or get—fit. With the holidays around the corner, it’s good to have your momentum going when temptations surface. Your body can be a fat-burning machine just in time for all of those family gatherings. When your fitness regimen becomes a regular routine, you are less likely to get off track. Set yourself up with a habitual programs that you will stick with during the crazy weeks between Thanksgiving and the New Year. By incorporating these tips, the only thing falling back will be your clock.

There is nothing like eating soul food. Southern fried chicken, black-eyed peas, ham hocks, cornbread—it’s all bliss. However, the way it’s prepared—usually with a lot of oils and flour—can be detrimental to your health, possibly causing diabetes, high cholesterol, and hyper tension.

With Thanksgiving just around the cornor, there’s no reason to stop eating and enjoying the flavorful dishes, just switch up your options and change the way it’s prepared. Here are some quick and easy ways to make your soul food truly food for the soul.

Bake the Bird:
Fried chicken isn’t so fly anymore. Baked chicken will give you the health benefit of the protein AND flavor without all of the extra fat and oil. There are many low/non sodium seasoning and marinade options that you can use. I recommend using Mrs. Dash.

Bye Bye Sweet Potato Pie:
Keep sweet potatoes on the dessert menu, and create tarts. Sweet potatoes are healthy and a great source of protein. Boil and mash the potatoes. Add Stevia to the mixture, (which is a great spice full of fiber, iron, calcium and magnesium), and place it into mini tarts. Bake for 25 minutes and you have a tasty dessert that is as healthy and sweet.

Keep the Greens Healthy:
Collard Greens are a wonderful option to fill up your plate. But add all the sodium and seasoning; and it quickly becomes not so healthy. Season your greens with meat. Just put the meat in the greens and allow the natural sodium from the meat to soak through.

There are many items on a soul food menu that are tempting, but think of healthy alternatives. Do you have ideas and/or recipes for healthier soul food options?

—Yvelette Stines

As Halloween approaches, chances are your kids are ready to have fun carving pumpkins, but did you know those soon-to-be jack-o-lanterns are nutritional powerhouses with a host of benefits. Consider these benefits provided by Dr. Helen Lee, DC of Chicago Healers:

Nutritional Benefits of Pumpkins:

1. Vitamins
Pumpkin and its seeds contain nutrients such as vitamin C, E, iron, zinc, magnesium, potassium, both beta & alpha carotenoids (anti-oxidants which help prevent cell damage), and lutein (support healthy eyes).

2. Organ Health
The nutrients in pumpkin and its seeds help support the health of your kidney, bladder and prostate.

3. Sickness Prevention
Helps with minimizing osteoporosis, increases digestive health by helping with parasites & tapeworms, and lowering cholesterol.

4. Protein
Pumpkin seeds are high in protein.

5. Improved Digestive Health
Pumpkin seeds help the body get rid of parasites and other unwelcomed digestive inhabitants, and they contain healthy essential fatty acid oils.

6. Important Fact
Organic, raw pumpkin seeds will provide you with the most nutrients and enzymes.

Easy ways to incorporate pumpkin into your diet:
1. A handful of raw pumpkin seeds as a snack or mixed with trail mix, on top of cereal
2. Pumpkin seed butter spread on toast
3. Pumpkin pie/desserts/pancakes/waffles
4. Pumpkin baked or browned with spices in risotto, chili, rice, spaghetti

As we inch toward 2012, do you have 2011 goals that have yet to be completed? If you answered yes, chances are there were and are a series of reasons (read: excuses) that kept you from making things happen—”lack of time”, relationships, work, and—the greatest obstacle—fear. But with nearly 3 months until “Auld Lang Syne” has its one-night only rotation; you still have ample time.

This year I got a late start on my goals and I am fine with that. What I embraced was the art of slowing down and understanding myself through the process. I also learned how to celebrate the little accomplishments that lead to the completed goal. For example, want to lose ten pounds by the end of the year? Easy. Start small, by determining a goal a week. By doing this you create habits that will help you reach that end goal. The breakdown? Week one promise to drink more water, carry that habit into week two, as you change your eating habits (getting rid of all the junk food). Carry those two habits into week three, when you make a self-promise to exercise more, and so on.

Convinced to go for the goal? Check out these tips:

1. Take Baby-Steps
Going step by step can be quite virtuous. In the literally sense this is a huge accomplishment for a baby, but in the figurative sense, we as adults take this approach for granted. Whatever goal it is write it down and make a bullet point list as to how you can make it happen. Start today cross out an item each week. Learn to celebrate your accomplishments.

2. Embrace The Growth
Even if the outcome is not what you wanted to happen you challenged yourself to do something different and stepped outside of your comfort zone.

3. Stay Present And Appreciate The Journey
I truly believe in synergy. Once we plant the seed there are people and situations that enter our life that help us prepare for the next chapter. Keeping this in mind we can stay clear and aware.

 Don’t give up. You have the vision and the light so make it happen.

Want more from Yvelette? Check out her site Calming Corners, a lifestyle blog that leads you to a calmer life through wellness, fashion, culture and beauty.

It is estimated that over 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in each year, and over 30,000 of them succumb to the disease. October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so there are a slew of events, outreach programs and pink inspired fashion and beauty products that will promote greater education in the form of preventation.  Did you know preventing cancer is as simple as change bad eating habits? The following foods will help you prevent cancer and stay healthy:

1. Flax
Flax is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are know to protect against colon cancer and heart disease.

2. Garlic
Despite it’s strong aroma, garlic has immune-enhancing compounds that appear to increase the activity of immune cells that fight cancer and indirectly help break down cancer causing substances.

3. Tomatoes
While not a favorite amongst many people, tomatoes contain lycopene, an antioxidant that is known to fight free radicals. Tomatoes also have vitamin C, an antioxidant which can prevent cellular damage that leads to cancer.

4. Whole Grains
Leave the white breads and rice alone! Whole grains contain a variety of anti-cancer compounds including antioxidants and fiber.  These can help decrease the risk of developing most types of cancer.

Remember: In addition to eating healthy it is important to get plenty of exercise.

—Yvelette Stines

If this semester marks your son or daughter’s first year in college, chances are you have warned them about the dreaded—and in most cases, inevitable—”freshman 15″. According to a recent study, college students start putting on pounds their first semester and continue to do so throughout their sophomore year. The cause? This typically varies person to person, but typically the causes are the same: Stress of entering a new school, being far from home, schedule changes and the copious amounts of junk food readily available at all hours of the day and night.

Need help providing your young adult tools needed to dodge gaining those extra pounds? Follow these tips from the experts of Top Trainers (www.buytoptrainers.com):

Buddy System- Staying motivated may require some help from a peer. Partner up with a friend and put together a weekly workout routine. Scout locations. Utilize the space on your campus, check out the track, hills or find the gym closest to your quad. Partnering up with a friend helps keep your focus on the right track when it comes to staying in shape. 

Dorm Room Moves- Late night and didn’t get a chance to make it to the gym? There are simple exercises you can do in your room to stay fit. Grab your iPod and begin by marching in place and keep it moving. Dance your way into shape. Throw in reps of jumping jacks, squats and lunges. If you are not much of a dancer, use your building stairs. Run or walk up and down the flight of stairs, while listening to your favorite playlist. 

Fitness Night- Grab your group of friends and have a weekly fitness night. Hit the college lounge area with your favorite fitness DVD and workout, while having a great time with the girls. Try a different workout every week to keep it new and fresh.

Mindful Munching- Think twice before you pick up the pint of ice cream or bag of chips. Stop and think, find healthier snacks that have nutritional value and will help you maintain a healthy weight. Think, carrots, fruit, sunflower seeds.

Check out Yvelette’s Calming Corners, a lifestyle blog that leads you to a calmer life through wellness, fashion, culture and beauty.

September has marked the celebrations of both Self-Improvement Month and National Yoga Month—the two of course go hand in hand. Yes the month is almost over, but why not join in the celebration and try a new workout routine? Or expand explore yoga (wink)? The benifits of yoga are life changing. Check out some of the positives from our friends at Life Fitness:

In today’s fast-paced and stressful society, yoga is an exercise that is popular for rejuvenating the mind body and soul. Most traditional yoga styles don’t raise the heart rate high enough or long enough to be a substitute for cardio exercise, but yoga is a natural complement to both cardio and strength workouts. One style of yoga that can serve as a great cardio workout is Bikram Yoga.

In general, yoga can provide a deeper stretch than traditional stretching moves. With age and overuse, hips, hamstrings, ankles, knees and even feet need more attention and the gentle, low-impact yoga postures will help stretch and tone muscles, relieve muscular tension, increase elasticity, lubricate joints and keep ligaments healthy.

Not only does yoga enhance flexibility, it also teaches deep breathing techniques that calm and cleanse the body and mind. When paired with poses, yoga breathing techniques expand your lung capacity and improve the flow of energy within the body. This can improve circulation, help you gain strength, and build endurance.    

Since yoga is also a stress fighter, practicing it naturally lowers cortisol levels and increases a sense of self-esteem. According to the Cortisol Connection website, cortisol is a chemical hormone produced by your body to manage stress. The stress can be physical, mental and emotional. Cortisol continues to be released when the stress continues. Many people are attracted to yoga as a way to keep their bodies lean, supple and fit. Some try it in order to get relief from stiffness, pain and tension. If you are new to yoga, start slowly and take your time to learn the poses.—Yvelette Stines.

Check out Yvelette’s Calming Corners, a lifestyle blog that leads you to a calmer life through wellness, fashion, culture and beauty.

If you want to get your dance on and get in shape, move and groove with Zumba. This workout is compromised of a variety of Latin dance and music that includes a mix of Latin-based rhythms with additional musical influences from Africa, India, America and the Middle East. Zumba is a great cardiovascular workout that is fun, sexy and participants can also learn new dance moves in the process of loosing weight and getting in shape.

Zumba “was created by Columbian Fitness Instructor, Beto Perez. One day he forgot his music for his class and used the Latin music that he had in his car,” says Debbie Lim, Zumba Instructor and Creator of Fitness Motivators (www.debbielim.com). “Almost 10 years later, Beto brought the class idea to the United States and was approached by two entrepreneurs to create what the world knows today as Zumba. Now there are over 20,000 official Zumba instructors all over the world,” Lim continues. Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know the more colorful your food, the more health benefits you yield? The following is a short guide to powerful fruits and vegetables that will help you keep your plate colorful and body healthy.

Red: The majority of red fruits and vegetables are colored by a pigment called lycopene. This is known to reduce the risk of cancer, particularly prostate cancer. They also contain antioxidants that promote heart health tomatoes have a large lycopene content which is stronger when it’s cooked (think ketchup and pasta sauce). EAT: red cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, red peppers, radishes.

Orange and Yellow: These fruits are usually colored by carodenoids, an agent that is good for your eyes, skin, immune system and heart. Carrots have a good source of beta-carotene which can convert to vitamin A in the body. EAT: grapefruit, lemons, peaches, sweet corn, mangoes, pineapple and pumpkin.

Green: Green foods are colored by a natural plant pigment called chlorophyll. Green fruits and vegetables include iron, calcium, fiber and antioxidants. Avocados have a lot of fiber and the kiwi has more vitamin C than an orange. EAT: limes, peas, zucchini, collards, cucumbers, cabbage, and honeydew melon.

Blue, Purple, and Black: Colored by a pigment called anthocyanins, these foods protect cell damage and may reduce the risk of cancer, stroke and heart disease.  Blueberries can assist in memory function while black beans are high in protein and help detoxify the body. EAT: prunes, raisins, eggplant, figs, plums, purple grapes, and blackberries.

Do you incorporate different fruits and vegetables into your diet? Let me know below. —Yvelette Stines