Cut 100 Calories a day, Lose 10 pounds a year!

Eat just a little less. Scientists at Harvard and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge found that people who lowered their calorie intake lost an average of 13 pounds in six months no matter what kind of diet they were on. "This is the best weight-loss news in a long time," says Frank Sacks, MD, nutrition professor at Harvard School of Public Health and lead author of the study. "If you don't like what you're eating, you're not going to stick with it. These findings give you flexibility to trim a bit here and there and still enjoy your favorites."

In fact, by nixing just 100 calories a day, you'll lose more than 10 pounds a year.

Cut 100 Calories at Breakfast

•Use skim milk in place of flavored Coffee-mate in your two morning mugs.
•Eat a bowl of high-fiber cereal and you'll consume fewer calories all day.
•Order bacon, not sausage, with your eggs.
•Choose a yeast doughnut instead of a denser cake one.

Cut 100 Calories at Lunch

•Use 1 tablespoon of mayo and 1 tablespoon of low-fat cottage cheese to make tuna salad.
•Put barbecue sauce, not honey mustard, on your chicken sandwich at Wendy's.
•Top your burger with onions, lettuce, and tomato and skip the cheese.
•Ask for the 12-ounce child-size soda instead of the 21-ounce medium at the drive-through.
•Slim down your sandwich by using Arnold Select 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins instead of whole wheat bread.
•Toss your salad with 1 tablespoon of dressing until every lettuce leaf is coated. You'll get away with using half the usual serving size. Try this trick at dinner too.
•Skip the crackers and shredded cheese on your chili.

Cut 100 Calories at Dinner

•Trade butter for a flavorful spread made with garlic, fresh rosemary, and light, trans fat-free margarine.
•Making meatballs? Mix half the amount of ground beef the recipe calls for with half as much cooked brown rice.
•Instead of two slices of medium pepperoni pan pizza, choose thin-crust.
•When munching on chicken wings, don't toss the bones midway through. Seeing the evidence of your feast may help you eat less, studies show.

Cut 100 Calories from a Snack

•Trade 1/2 cup of premium vanilla ice cream for 1/2 cup of Breyers Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream.
•Ordering a cone? Make it the sugar, not the waffle, kind.
•Munch on Pirate's Booty. In a study, switching to an air-puffed cheesy snack twice a day saved about 70 calories a pop.
•Grab a Dannon Light & Fit yogurt, not a low-fat fruit blend.
•Replace half the butter in cake, muffin, and brownie recipes with an equal amount of applesauce or mashed bananas. You'll save about 100 calories for every tablespoon you swap.
•Indulge in a slice of angel food cake drizzled with chocolate syrup rather than three cookies.

To read full article, click here.

source: Fitness magazine

How to Make Better Choices When Eating Out!

Do you want to cut down the calories but you can't resist the temptation of eating out? Then this article was written for you! In recent years, American restaurants have been pillin layers of fat, salt, all of which tricks our brain into craving more food, says former FDS commissioner David Kessler, Md., in his book The End of Overeating.

If you're watching your calories or your life expectancy, here a few tips to follow if you eat out at a popular restaurant chain:

1- Avoid anything with the word "sampler" or "platter," unless you plan to share it with three or more people.

2-Skip anything that comes in an edible bowl or includes the words stacked, stuffed, double, triple, slammed, or dunked.

3-Nachos are something best shared with a group, and subs are something best measured in calories, fat, and sodium -- not inches.

4-When you see the words crispy or glazed, realize that's what will happen to your arteries and your eyes, respectively, if you consume too many of these items.

5-Dressing and sauces are among the major calorie culprits of many restaurant choices, sometimes doubling the fat and sodium content of an entree. Ask for all sauces on the side, and try replacing cream-based dressings with mustard (straight mustard, not sugar-loaded honey mustard), suggests New York City-based nutritionist Sharon Richter, MS, RD. Other good alternatives: lemon and grated cheese (25 calories per tablespoon).

To read full article, click here.

Source: Fitness Magazine

Low-Carb Diets Best for Lowering Blood Pressure

A new study shows that a low-carb diet not only helps to shed the pounds but also helps to lower blood pressure.

The study consisted of 146 overweight patients. After 48 weeks, the low-carb group had lost about 9.5 percent of their body weight, compared to 8.5 percent for the orlistat group, which wasn't a significant difference. There also were similar improvements in cholesterol levels between the two groups. But the low carb diet did offer an advantage in terms of blood pressure reduction.
The low-carb group showed about a 6 percent drop in their systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) and a 4.5 point drop in their diastolic pressure (the lower number). In contrast, the orlistat group did not see a drop in blood pressure; the corresponding changes for the orlistat group were 1.5 (systolic) and 0.4 (diastolic).

To read full article, please click here.

Recipe of the Week!

Thai Chicken Wraps

Are you tired of cooking? Are you in a budget and you can't afford eating out? Are you also trying to cut calories? Then this is the perfect recipe for you! Quick, healthy, cheap,and easy to make! This great dinner idea is less than 200 calories, you will spend less than $10 in groceries for this entree and you can make it in less than 10 minutes! Do you think it can get better than that? Yes, it can! The mixture of the peanut butter sauce with the broccoli slaw brings out an exquisite taste to die for. Your guests will be having seconds!

Ingredients

12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken-breast strips
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Nonstick cooking spray
2 cups packaged broccoli slaw
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
3 10-inch whole wheat tortillas, warmed


Directions

1. Sprinkle chicken strips with garlic salt and pepper. Coat a skillet with cooking spray. Add chicken; cook over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until no longer pink. Remove from pan; keep warm. Add broccoli and 1/4 teaspoon of the ground ginger to skillet. Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes, or until vegetables are crisp-tender.
2. In a saucepan, combine peanut butter, 2 tablespoons water, soy sauce, minced garlic, and the remaining ginger. Heat over low heat until smooth, whisking constantly.
3. To assemble, spread tortillas with peanut sauce. Top with chicken strips and vegetable mixture. Roll up each tortilla, securing with a toothpick. Cut in half; serve immediately.

Makes: 6 servings

Nutrition facts per serving: 191 calories, 18g protein, 16g carbohydrate, 6g fat (1g saturated), 2g fiber

Source: Fitness Magazine

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Bios Life Slim is featured in 2010 Physicians' Desk Reference!

Unicity International is pleased to announce that Bios Life Slim is included in the 2010 Physicians’ Desk Reference® (PDR).

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Salt Reduction Could Save 92,000 Lives a Year!

Shaving 3 grams off the daily salt intake of Americans could prevent up to 66,000 strokes, 99,000 heart attacks and 92,000 deaths in the United States, while saving $24 billion in health costs per year, researchers reported on Wednesday.

Salt, which contributes to high blood pressure and heart disease, is widely overused in the United States, with 75 to 80 percent coming from processed food. Men typically consume 10.4 grams per day. For women, the average is 7.3 grams. Its use is rising.

In addition, high consumption of salt results in temporary weight gain as it causes your body to retain water. Conversely, low consumption of salt can result in temporary weight loss as it causes your body to expel water.

A reduction of 1 gram would prevent 11,000 to 23,000 strokes, 18,000 to 35,000 heart attacks and 15,000 to 32,000 deaths from any cause, the researchers reported in New England Journal of Medicine.

To read full article, please click here.

Source: Reuters

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Slim Tip of the Week!

Beware restaurant, frozen meal calorie counts, US study says

If you're counting your calories to help with your weight loss, than you should be more careful when purchasing frozen dinners and dining out.

Researchers at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy found that around half the dishes served in popular US restaurants delivered more calories than stated on the menu, with some packing double the stated energy value.

On average, restaurant foods were found to contain 18 percent more calories than what was stated on the menu, and frozen meals averaged eight percent more calories than stated on their packaging.

But some of the restaurant items contained more than twice the calories listed on the menu.

"If people use published calorie contents for weight control, discrepancies of this magnitude could result in weight gain of many pounds a year," the study's lead author Susan Roberts said in a statement.

To read full article, click here.