dieting

My 2016 Budget Challenge: How to Lose Weight Without Counting Calories

Max Wong — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 10:00:08 +0000

[Editor's Note: This is another episode in Max Wong's journey to find an extra $31,000 this year. Read the whole series here.]

One yucky, unintended side effect of my 2016 Budget Challenge is that both Mr. Spendypants and I have chubbed out in the last six months. Since most of our methods of saving and earning extra money this year involve sitting down, we aren't burning our usual number of calories to balance our power snacking. So now, in addition to finding an extra $31,000 by December 31st, we've added Lose 10 Pounds to our To Do list. Boo.

There's a reason why Asians dominate at eating competitions. Asian metabolism is real. The biblical plague of locusts looks positively junior varsity when compared to my Chinese family nibbling its way through the Beef Jerky Store in Las Vegas. In my family, eating through the pain is a mark of character. And don't even think about skipping Second Breakfast. Didn't your mother tell you that Second Breakfast in one of the eight most important meals of the day? No?

I'm just going to blame my poor food habits on my cultural norms.

What Is Hara Hachi Bun Me?

Luckily food sport isn't the only famous Asian eating habit. Hara hachi bun me, which translates roughly as "belly 80% full," is the Confucian practice of purposeful eating. The hara hachi bun me eating practice is based on a very simple idea: Stop eating when you are 80% full. Since it takes about 20 minutes for the stretch receptors in your stomach to tell your brain that your gut is at capacity, it's easy to overeat. So, if you put down your chopsticks while you still feel a little hungry, chances are that 20 minutes later you will actually feel full.

Why Did We Choose Hara Hachi Bun Me Over Other Diets?

Mr. Spendypants and I decided to try this method of weight loss for several reasons.

Budgeting Is No Fun

Counting calories is basically making a budget about food. What an unappetizing thought. With hara hachi bun me, we don't have to do any math. We just have to stop eating the moment we stop feeling hungry instead of the moment we start feeling full. It's super easy.

You Don't Need Special Equipment

Although I am sure hara hachi bun me tools exist, practicing hara hachi bun me does not require special equipment. We don't have to download an app, pulverize our food in a $700 Veggisaurus Rex blender, or use a Breathalyzer to tell us that our diet is working. (I know that my diet is working because my favorite dress no longer fits me like a sausage casing).

You Don't Need Special Food

We don't have to buy special food, either. We don't have to live for weeks on maple syrup and laxatives harvested by endangered Canadian squirrels. We don't have to ingest a choco-malt meal replacement — that smells like burned rubber and tastes like sadness — twice a day, along with a sensible dinner.

You Won't Become a Diet Humblebragger

Lastly, our friends won't hate us. Okay, let me elaborate about how not to lose friends when you lose weight.

Since I live in Los Angeles, the epicenter of every food-denying trend, I don't want to hear your opinion on what I should stop eating. I follow you on Instagram and already know about the unsweetened twigs you ate for breakfast today. People who tell me about their juice fasts are the worst. Really, stop talking about your diarrhea. Also, if you are a vegan who does CrossFit, how do you decide which lifestyle to talk about first? (Answer: neither). Because hara hachi bun me is based on portion control, we can eat out with friends, anywhere, without making the meal all about us.

So How Does This Save Money?

We went out to lunch with friends last weekend and split two entrees, two large salads, and two appetizers between five people, and we still had food left over. American restaurant portions are huge. So, when we go out to eat, we save around 40% by splitting meals. At home we immediately cut 20% off our grocery budget by eating 20% less food at every meal.

Progress Report

July was fun, but fun costs money. We just spent the weekend in Napa Valley commemorating my in-laws' 60th wedding anniversary. Although their six-decade marriage is a marvelous achievement, the dress code for the family portrait was not. "The color palette for the reunion photograph is gold, navy, and white, with touches of red," read the email from a relative who will go unnamed. Because I apparently don't know how to dress appropriately for important family events, a helpful reference photograph — of Mitt Romney's family — was included.

Since my closet is tiny, pretty much everything I wear is black, so I was forced to find something suitably Ann Romney meets the Naval Academy for the picture. I resigned myself to doing a little catch and release shopping. I went to the nearest consignment store to buy the first navy blue dress that fit me and looked moderately Republican. My plan was to wear the dress for the portrait and then sell the dress back to the store the following week to recoup 40% of the cost. As luck would have it, I found a brand-new, super cute (as in Zooey Deschanel owns this) dress for $28. Shockingly, the dress fits me so perfectly that I'm going to use it as a sewing pattern for future dresses. It's a keeper, but I'm out $28.

We also spent a few days at the beginning of the month in San Francisco for the baptism of Mr. Spendypants' godson. Luckily, we didn't have to purchase Catholic apparel for that event.

Although we lucked out with free housing from family and friends, the cost of everything from haircuts to food to airfare for those two trips cost $1500. When Mr. Spendypants finally got a chance to balance his books we discovered that we had a whopping $8 to add to the savings challenge. Uhn. At least we didn't have to dip into savings to pay for anything.

Better luck in August, maybe?

Goal: $31,000

Amount Raised: $21,506.41

Amount Spent: $12,153.66

Amount Left to Go: $21,647.25

This article is from Max Wong of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

4 Clever Ways to Control Your Spending -- and One That Will Shock You!

Claire Millard — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 09:30:26 +0000

If your spending is spiraling out of control, then it can be tempting to take extreme measures. After all, it will be worth it in the end, when you're debt free and living the high life — won't it?

And if you're thinking that the extreme end of cutting spending might be simply staying home on Friday nights, or dabbling in a little light couponing, then you're simply not using your imagination enough. Taking the lead from other fields of behavior modification, tools, techniques — and even apps — are all available to help you to go all out on zapping that spending.

Would you be tempted by any of these wacky approaches?

The Shocking Solution

Pavlok is a bracelet style device that delivers a mild electric shock when you take an action you have committed to quit. Read that again one more time. Yep — you can pay for a device to give you an electric shock every time you splurge online, splash the cash on coffee, or whatever else you're trying to quit.

The basic theory is to train your brain into associating bad habits with mild pain, and therefore remove the temptation in the long run. The device's makers claim great successes, from people who have quit sugar, stopped biting their nails, or even stopped smoking. There are training guides to help you use the tool, and one of the suggested habits it can be used for is, indeed, overspending.

Try a Fast

If you thought that the Pavlok was a bit cruel and unusual, then maybe a spending fast will work better for you. This is a method that many people have employed to either quit spending on non essentials entirely, for a defined period of time, or to stop themselves from making purchases without a "cooling off" period to think more about the decision.

If you're tempted by the total fast, the results can be dramatic — as this Wise Bread writer found, when she completed a year long spending fast to tackle mounting debt. But if a year sounds like too much, you could still make a difference with a month or even a week — and might find that simply taking the time to consider your purchases more carefully establishes new habits which contribute to your financial wellness in the long run!

For a slightly less dramatic way to curb your bad habits, think about freezing your credit cards in an ice block — an approach that forces a cooling off (or maybe warming up) period before you can make a purchase. (See also: 13 Creative Ways to Avoid Spending Money)

5:2 Your Finances

You may have heard of the 5:2 diet in which you eat normally (but reasonably healthy) on five days of the week, but have two days of fasting, during which you have an extremely limited calorie intake. Well, why not try the same with your finances?

It might sound a bit out there, because logically, cutting your spend for only a couple of days shouldn't have a massive impact on your overall spending. But psychologically, this can be a winner. If the barrier to saving is a fear of doing without, or you can't think of ways to restructure your life to cut out excesses that are hard wired into your routine, then the small adjustment of cutting back only a couple of days can be the trick you need to get moving.

For example, if you feel bad for depriving yourself of something on a fast day, you can simply tell yourself you can pick it up tomorrow instead. In reality, this forces thinking time, during which you may well reevaluate the purchase and decide to do without. Similarly, if you have some expenses that you simply cannot think of losing — like buying a work day lunch out, or taking taxi cabs to appointments — then doing so only a couple of days a week could show how easy these small adjustments actually are. After all, how hard is it to pack a sandwich a couple of mornings? If you force yourself to notice the savings as they add up, the net result might actually be behavior change with relatively limited pain.

Commitment Contracts

Back in the world of dieting, making a public commitment to lose weight, by joining a slimming club and going to weigh-ins on a weekly basis, has long been a popular strategy. It works because we are far more likely to follow through with something when we tell others that we are committed to it.

The act of making a public commitment works outside of the diet sphere, too — and thanks to new apps, you can leverage this power to get your spending back in order. You need to choose a platform that allows you to make a public commitment contract — usually with an agreed punishment if you fail to keep up your end of the bargain.

There are many different options out there, but one of the best established is StickK. Here you choose a goal and create a commitment contract. You set the stakes (the punishment), which could be a financial penalty, and choose a referee if you want an impartial verdict on your success. By sharing your goals with followers and friends, you can then get their support on the way as you work towards your goal.

One interesting thing with StickK is that your money is then given to a charity (or "anti-charity") if you forfeit it. So you can choose an organization you would be happy to donate to — or go the opposite and choose a cause (or sports fan club) that you do not like, to really up the odds. Would that be enough to motivate you to stick to your non-spending goals?

Just as juice fasts and boot camps have become popular to give fitness and diet lifestyle changes a kick start, taking some dramatic action to tackle your spending habit could be a good plan. It all hinges on building momentum — once you get moving, it is easier to keep moving, whether that is in shedding some excess pounds from your waistline, or squirreling a few dollars away in your bank. By hitting it hard for a short period at first, you can build momentum that can keep you moving, until the changes you are trying to establish slip into habit. And if the end result is healthy finances, then maybe a few electric shocks along the way are all worthwhile.

What do you think? Would you consider these extreme tactics to quit your excess spending habit? What's the most full-on approach you have ever heard about when it comes to cutting expenses?

This article is from Claire Millard of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

5 Fitness Gadgets Actually Worth the Money

Claire Millard — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 09:00:12 +0000

It's no secret that some exercise routines are costly, and without complete commitment, the benefits might be minimal. You could spend a fortune on a gym membership and personal trainers, but certain small, clever fitness investments can do the same (or more) for a much lower cost.

Here are a few fitness tech gadgets that really pay off.

Fitness Trackers

Fitness trackers have been hot for a couple of years now, and they are certainly a smart way for those of use with a sedentary lifestyle to gently increase exercise and improve overall wellness. As a bonus, they're cheaper than a gym membership and can help you incorporate more movement in your real life, rather than trying to make huge — and ultimately unsustainable — lifestyle changes.

If you're in the market for a fitness tracker, Fitbit Blaze could be the thing for you. At around $200, it is more expensive than bracelet style trackers, but makes up for that in both form and function.

Aside from the aesthetics (this is a watch design), the tracker includes all you would expect — step count, activity and sleep trackers, and so on — and more. The gadget has a heart rate monitor built in and even allows you to monitor your calls and texts on the go. The main bonus is the ability to access workouts on your device, which might make this a worthwhile investment if it means you can drop that costly gym subscription.

Smart Shorts

Lumo products are perfect for runners seeking to improve performance. The tracker clips onto your clothing, or can be inserted into a specially designed pocket in Lumo's own range of smart apparel, and measures your running style like no other. This gadget is more like having your own running coach in your pocket than an average fitness tracker, providing lab-standard biometric data all the way through your training. Get details about your stride pattern, bounce, and cadence, which can then be converted by the app into drills and exercises for improvement.

Use the sensor with headphones to get live, on-the-go coaching based on the measurements being taken, or simply download the data after your run for some analysis and action planning. Even better, the gear is available for preorder at a discount, starting from under $80 for the tracker and clip.

Fitness, Diet, and Goal Tracking Apps

The world of apps and gadgets has exploded in recent years. The theory goes that by monitoring as much as you can, you have a better opportunity to understand and ultimately improve your health and wellness. Over time you build a data set which allows you to see the progress, either through getting more active, eating better, improving metrics like your weight or heart rate, or cutting back on bad habits.

If you go out running or cycling regularly, try Strava, which is designed to track and share your training, and can help you share your progress by linking to your social media accounts. For an all round support system covering nutrition, stress, sleep and exercise, try Noom, a smart app that allows you to track your progress and receive expert advice.

Finally, if you're in the UK, check out Sweatcoin, the app that makes your exercise pay you. Track your steps and swap them for "sweatcoins" you can cash in for real rewards. Going global soon, so get ready!

Digital Coaching

Digital coaching is a great halfway house if you want some human input into your training but can't afford the time or money for a personal trainer. Apps such as coach.me are designed to allow you to track your progress against a goal, and enlist the support of a remote trainer.

If the midriff is looking a little wobbly, and the prospect of summer on the beach is sending a shiver up your spine, then don't be tempted to throw money at the problem. Instead, do a bit of research into the tech products and services that can help you get in shape without breaking the bank. The range on offer is developing every day, leaving very little room for excuses when it is time to bust out that bikini.

What fitness tech products are working for you? Tell us in the comments.

Like this article? Pin it!

This article is from Claire Millard of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

11 Smoothie Bowls You Want Right Now

Marla Walters — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 09:30:20 +0000

It's getting warmer, and hot oatmeal, or scrambled eggs, just don't have the same breakfast appeal. Rather, a cool smoothie bowl, with fruit, nuts, and grains, sounds much better. The prices, though, when buying them, gives me sticker shock. How about making your own smoothie bowls?

Here is the basic concept for the smoothie bowl, in case you haven't tried one yet.

Your smoothie is made a little thicker, either by not adding as much liquid, or by adding other ingredients (avocado, banana, nut butters, etc.) to make it thicker. Think "spoonable." Toppings are then added, which usually consist of sliced fruits, seeds, nuts, grains, granola, and maybe some small sweets like cacao nibs or flaked coconut. Like a lunchtime power bowl, they are usually artfully concocted, so that they look decorative and appealing. This time in prep, plus the sometimes expensive toppings, are what drive those high take-out smoothie bowl prices. Here are 12 delicious, healthy, and frugal smoothie bowls that you can make right at home.

1. Healthy "Peach Pie"

This peach pie smoothie bowl reminded me of summertime at my aunt's house, where we'd eat fresh peaches with cream at breakfast. You don't need fresh peaches, though, for this bowl. In fact, frozen ones work better when making a smoothie. To keep things frugal, check your pantry for nuts before you buy more, as most nuts have a shelf life of less than a year.

2. Peanut Butter and Banana

Bananas are one of the most inexpensive fruits to buy. When on sale, buy extras, slice, and freeze. You'll be glad you did when you want to try this peanut butter and banana bowl. To keep it more frugal, skip the chia seeds, which are expensive, and use your favorite nuts.

3. Creamsicle Bowl

Remember cxreamsicles, or "Fifty-Fifty" bars? I still love those things. Try making a creamsicle bowl, smoothie-style! I love this recipe because this is all stuff I have around the house, so I can easily satisfy a "popsicle" craving with something much healthier.

4. Healthy "Apple Pie"

Apples are another wallet-friendly fruit, and they keep well, so you'll want to bookmark this apple pie smoothie bowl. I substituted granola in place of the rolled oats; it was delicious. Keep it even more frugal and learn to make your own Greek yogurt. (I make my own, and it's simple, and so much cheaper.)

5. Blackberry Bowl

One of my favorite berries are combined here with shredded coconut in this blackberry smoothie bowl. Although expensive in grocery stores, you can forage for free! In summertime, go berry picking, then wash and freeze. Berries freeze very well. Or, look for a U-Pick farm and take your kids along.

6. Green Smoothie

My friend Chuck drinks a green smoothie every day (and he did lose a lot of weight). It gets a little boring, though, so he was glad that I shared this recipe for a green smoothie bowl. Keep it frugal: Buy your spinach in a bunch, and wash/dry it yourself, rather than buying the "prewashed" in the small bags.

7. Carrot Cake

I love carrot cake, but it is usually really fattening (which seems so wrong). Good news, because this carrot cake smoothie bowl has the flavors — but it is so much healthier. The spices (cinnamon, ginger, cloves) are spot-on for carrot cake flavor, and the toppings seal the deal.

8. Chocolate and Fiber

I loved the ingenuity here of combining oats and quinoa for more fiber and texture in this healthy chocolate smoothie bowl. To keep it easy, make a larger batch of the porridge so that you have it on hand.

9. S'Mores

Kids love these s'mores smoothie bowls, and so do big kids, like me. Using yogurt instead of ice cream keeps the calorie count down, a little.

10. Oat, Coconut, and Banana

This is another recipe I love because the ingredients are things I have on hand. I can whip up an oat, coconut, and banana smoothie bowl at the drop of a hat. However, I must confess: I did not use a vanilla bean. Just toss in a quarter teaspoon of vanilla extract. (Sorry, Martha.) I also like that this is not overly sweet, unless you use a lot of syrup.

11. Cherry Bowl

Cherries were on sale today at the market, and so I grabbed a bag, hoping that I could find a smoothie bowl recipe to suit. As luck would have it, yesterday I bought a bag of cacao nibs. What a glorious combination in this dark cherry smoothie bowl! My husband and I ate it for dessert. What a treat.

Tips for keeping your costs down: Watch for fruit to go on sale. Chia seeds are really expensive, so if you have a friend who also loves to use them, consider splitting a package of them. Don't limit yourself to the type of nuts in a recipe. Use what you have, or what you need to use up. Experiment!

What's your favorite smoothie bowl?

Like this article? Pin it!

This article is from Marla Walters of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

5 Reasons Cold-Pressed Juice May Not Be All That

Jennifer Holder — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 11:00:27 +0000

At the beginning of the year, as cold-pressed juice became all the rage in Los Angeles, Jimmy Kimmel took to the streets to point out the absurdity of spending $10 on a glass of fruit juice. Kimmel and his team mix sugary drinks, fun dip, and even Skittles and tell people they are actually cold-pressed juice. And of course, in true Kimmel fashion, everyone buys into it.

But Kimmel's segment raises a good question: Why are people spending so much money on juice if they can't tell the difference between something healthy and unhealthy?

I should point out that I personally love cold-pressed juice. It's tasty and gives me a midday pick-me-up when I'm really feeling tired or recovering from a long night. In fact, this past spring, I tried using cold-pressed juice over a doctor's visit to combat a cold. And it worked! But unfortunately, cold-pressed juice is expensive and making it an everyday part of my life is next to impossible.

So why do people do it? It's no secret that cooking vegetables makes them lose their nutrients, so this is the same basic concept. Cold-pressed juice is supposed to contain all of the nutrients that a regular centrifugal juicer loses. In order to avoid cooking the vegetables (the fast-spinning blade in a centrifugal juicer gets hot), most people recommend using a cold press juicer (although some experts say even a cold press juicer gets hot, too).

But as with all fads, cold-pressed juicing is so new that we won't be able to tell the long term effects for, well, a long time. So what do we know?

1. Every Gut Is Different

Wired Magazine points out that, simply put, every gut is different. For instance, I have Crohn's disease, which means I rarely absorb nutrients unless I have the perfect balance of food in my body. Sometimes drinking juice does a number on me so I have to be careful. But no matter what, unless you pair the juices with other foods, you might not absorb the nutrients at all. You can try the Michael Pollan method to see what nutrients you absorb and when (as Wired points out), or The Plan to figure out which foods are reactive, but really just listen to your body. If you still feel tired after drinking a juice, you might not have the right bacteria or proteins in place to absorb the nutrients.

2. Juicing Is a Supplement, Not a Replacement

Do not replace your daily fruits and vegetables intake with juicing. You should still maintain a healthy balance of fresh fruits and vegetables — try a salad every once in awhile! Now, if you're on the go, an occasional replacement is fine. Either way, a healthy diet has a variety of types of fruits and vegetables.

3. Not Enough Fiber

When most people think of fruits and vegetables, they think fiber. Unfortunately with juicing, the fruits and vegetables lose their fiber almost instantly. The pulp is the part that contains the fiber and with most juicers, the pulp is stripped away. So try adding back some of the pulp or supplementing fiber with other foods such as lentils or black beans.

4. Higher Calories

Juicing is high in calories, but that just means you should pay attention to the labels and ask lots of questions when you purchase your juice from a juice bar (or Google a lot until you find out exactly what you're adding to your juicer). Balance your juice by adding a protein like almond milk or peanut butter.

5. Too Much Sugar

Because juice is metabolized by your body quickly, it can be dangerous for diabetics. Most fruit and vegetables are high in natural sugars, so be careful as you choose the right juice (or raw fruit or vegetable) for you.

No matter what, listen to your body. If you aren't feeling well after drinking juice, don't drink it. If you feel better, drink it. As for me, I will continue to occasionally drink cold-pressed juice when I can afford it (or until a doctor tells me not to).

Are you a cold-pressed juice aficionado? Tell us why!

Like this article? Pin it!

This article is from Jennifer Holder of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Eat Less Sugar With These 10 Simple Tricks

Camilla Cheung — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 17:03:27 +0000

If you want to be healthier, one of the best things you can do is to cut down on the amount of sugar you consume daily. Most of us enjoy a sweet treat once in a while. But there are ways you can treat yourself without going overboard on the sugar.

The World Health Organization's recommended daily intake of added sugar is about 25 grams for an adult of average body mass. That's not a whole lot, considering that a can of soda can contain up to 40 grams of sugar. Read on for ways to cut down on sugar in your daily diet. Even if you start with just one of these ideas at a time, you'll be doing your body a favor.

1. Eat a Slow-Burning Breakfast

Start your day off right, and stave off mid-morning sugar crashes, by eating a protein and fiber-rich breakfast. Unfortunately, many breakfast foods tend to be packed with sugar — pastries, waffles, pancakes, sugary cereals, jams and jellies — so start substituting a more nutritious first meal. A veggie omelet with a slice of whole-wheat toast, or low-sugar yogurt with fruit and chopped nuts, are better options. If you're in a rush, have some hard-boiled eggs ready in the fridge so you can grab an egg and a piece of fruit on your way out the door.

2. Eat Before You Go Out

Eat a healthy meal or snack before going out. You'll be less likely to indulge in a sweet treat because of hunger, and if you're going grocery shopping, you'll be more likely to make rational and healthy choices.

3. Cut Drink Sweetening in Half

My Achilles' heel is sweet drinks. I love having an iced coffee or tea whenever I go out. To cut down on the massive sugar overload such drinks can entail, I've made a habit of always asking for "half the sugar" whenever I indulge in a specialty drink. It has become so routine that a fully-sweetened drink now tastes excessively sweet to me. While I still need to cut down on these indulgences (a Grande Caramel Frappucino from Starbucks contains a whopping 63 grams of sugar! Even with half sugar, that's just not healthy), it at least gets me a step in the right direction.

4. Substitute Unsweetened Alternatives

I realized that part of the reason I loved having a sweet drink whenever I went out was simply the ritual of getting a coffee and carrying it around, whether it was at a morning playdate at the park, or during a shopping trip at the mall. I switched to ordering a black decaf Americano instead of a sweetened drink. Although I'll still sometimes order something sweet, most of the time, it's just black coffee. (Yes, I realize I would save a lot of money if I made it at home, but... baby steps, baby steps.)

5. Make It Yourself

Making your own treats at home means that you can control the sugar content. How about making a commitment to stop buying packaged cookies and making your own instead? You can usually cut out ⅓ to ½ of the sugar called for in most recipes without sacrificing flavor.

You can also make your own low-sugar, protein-rich granola instead of cereal. Instead of buying sweetened yogurt, add a bit of honey to plain yogurt. And if you (or your kids) are partial to chocolate milk, trying swirling milk, a banana, and some cocoa powder in your blender instead. A friend of mine also makes a raw, sugar-free, chia seed jam, which her kids love.

6. Start Reading Labels

If you haven't started reading nutrition labels on the food you buy, now's a good time to start. You'll be shocked at how much sugar is in your favorite foods. Once you know which foods are the biggest culprits, you can start replacing them with lower-sugar alternatives. For example, Honey Nut Cheerios have nine grams of sugar per ¾ cup serving, but regular Cheerios have one gram per one cup serving. (Yes, the serving sizes are different. The world of nutrition labeling is an imperfect one.) Even so-called "healthy" foods, such as juice, can have an excessive amount of sugar and may need to be limited.

7. Be Aware of Hidden Sugar

Even foods that we don't think of as sweet can contain a lot of added sugar, contributing to your daily quota. That ketchup you dipped your fries in could be chock-full of sugar, as is the BBQ sauce on your ribs or the dressing on your salad. Reading nutrition labels is your friend in these cases — limit these hidden-sugar foods or substitute them with a no-sugar alternative.

8. Get Sugar Out of the House

It's too much to expect the average person to resist temptation when it invades their own home — give yourself a fighting chance by keeping added sugar out of the house. Make a rule that sweet treats are just that — treats — meant for a special occasion, not for everyday.

9. Stay Hydrated (With Water)

You might feel a bit peckish, but in reality your body is craving hydration. Fill up a water bottle and make a goal to empty it within a certain time frame. With the extra water, chances are you won't feel as hungry (and you won't be reaching for a soda when you get thirsty). If plain water doesn't appeal to you, make a pitcher of cucumber or lemon water to keep in the fridge.

10. Don't Go Cold Turkey

It's okay to allow yourself an occasional treat. You're more likely to be successful in cutting down on sugar if you do it gradually, instead of by cutting it out completely. Perhaps you can allow yourself dessert on weekends, or ice cream as a reward for fulfilling a goal. Once your body gets used to consuming less sugar, you won't crave it as much.

Do you have any strategies for resisting those sugar urges?

Like this article? Pin it!

This article is from Camilla Cheung of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The 7 Most Calorie-Burning Breakfasts

Laurel Randolph — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 17:00:07 +0000

Everyone knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but did you know that it can help you lose weight, too? Eating a morning meal jump-starts your metabolism, and leads to better eating throughout the day. Making smart breakfast choices can mean even better weight loss, since some foods burn more calories than others.

Try the following breakfasts for their weight-loss properties and start your day right. (And don't forget that cup of metabolism-boosting green tea!)

1. Oatmeal With Cinnamon and Walnuts

High-fiber foods like oatmeal have been shown in studies to help people lose weight. Whole grains help you stay full for longer, leading you to eat less. They help eliminate waste in your body, and they are harder to break down, so your body burns more calories to process them. Steel-cut and rolled oats are best since they contain more fiber than quick-cooking oats. Add cinnamon to your oatmeal for an extra bonus: Cinnamon is lightly sweet, so it adds sweetness without adding calories. It is also believed to aid in metabolizing blood sugar. And nuts add protein and healthy fat for a well-rounded meal.

2. Tofu Fruit Smoothie

Tofu is perfect for a healthy or weight loss diets since it is a complete, lean protein. A half cup serving of regular tofu provides about 10 grams of protein and is low in calories. Protein keeps you full for longer, keeping hunger (and junk food cravings) at bay. Silken tofu can be surprisingly good for breakfast — just cube it up and throw it in a blender with some frozen fruit, soy milk, and juice, and you have a filling and tasty smoothie. Add in yogurt, chia seeds, or flax for an extra boost.

3. Low-Fat Yogurt With Berries

The calcium, protein, and vitamin D in low-fat dairy products can help you lose weight by working in your body to persuade calories to deposit into muscle rather than fat. The calcium found in dairy also helps decrease the level of a vitamin that encourages the growth of fat cells. That's why a bowl of low-fat plain yogurt with berries is a great way to start the day. Plus, the yogurt provides protein and the berries are full of fiber.

4. Almond Butter on Whole Wheat Toast With Banana

For a breakfast that won't let you down before lunchtime, toast some whole wheat bread, slather it with a tablespoon of almond butter, and top with sliced banana. The whole grains in the bread will burn extra calories while you digest, the almond butter provides protein and healthy fat to keep you satisfied, and the banana contains resistant starch. Resistant starch is being studied for its effects on blood sugar, body fat storage, and more, and researchers think it could be useful for weight loss.

5. Omelet With Avocado, Tomato, and Chili

Eggs are an excellent source of protein, which boosts your metabolism. They also contain vitamin B12, which helps to break down and burn fat within the body. Avocado is full of healthy fat that's proven to keep you full for longer, along with boosting your post-meal metabolism. Tomatoes are low-calorie and high-fiber, and chilis contain the red-hot chemical capsaicin. It's what gives hot peppers their bite, and it may help increase energy expenditure after eating, leading to more calories burned. An omelet wraps up all of these calorie-burning ingredients into one healthy and delicious dish.

6. Grapefruit With Whole Grain Cereal and Low Fat Milk

Grapefruits are being studied for their weight loss properties, and may help you burn more calories. One study showed that participants that ate half of a grapefruit before every meal lost 3.6 pounds more than the participants that didn't eat grapefruit. You may not want to eat grapefruit all day, but starting with a half topped with a drizzle of honey will start you on the right foot. Pair it with a cup of low-sugar, whole grain cereal (look for six grams of sugar or less) for a healthy dose of fiber that'll burn calories while you digest. Topped with high-protein low fat milk, you'll have a complete meal to start the day.

7. Whole Wheat Apple Muffin With Ginger

If you love breakfast pastries like muffins (who doesn't?), bake a batch that will keep you burning calories and fat after you've gobbled it up. Whole wheat takes extra effort for the body to digest, so you'll burn more calories. Add apple for more fiber and nutrients and natural sweetness. Fresh ginger has been shown to help regulate blood sugar and provide energy while adding lots of flavor to your muffins. Whole wheat muffins packed with good stuff are a delicious way to eat a serving of whole grains, and are easy to take on the go.

Like this article? Pin it!

What's your delicious, healthful breakfast of choice?

This article is from Laurel Randolph of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Which Workout Foods Are Actually Worth the Money?

Sarah Winfrey — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 13:00:08 +0000

So you want to lose weight, or get stronger, or have more energy, or feel better. Well, there's probably a supplement for that. Be it a protein bar, a meal-replacement drink, or a meal supplement, there are a million products out there that claim to help your health.

But these products are usually more expensive than plain old food, and almost everyone you talk to will recommend something different. So how do you know what will work for you? How do you know what actually works, period?

Well, checking out the list below is a good place to start.

Protein Bars

Why in the world would you want to eat a protein bar? Well, studies show that weightlifters who eat three of these bars a day will gain significantly more lean muscle mass than the ones who don't. So if you're looking to gain muscle — as many of us probably should be — protein bars can probably help.

But there are a million types of protein bars out there, even more that claim to be healthy but aren't necessarily focused on protein. How in the world do you choose the ones that will help you and not tank your entire self-improvement project?

When it comes to protein bars (or any bars, for that matter), the biggest danger is sugar. Many of these bars, even the ones loaded with good protein, have as much sugar as a candy bar. While these will taste good, and the protein might help you, no one needs that much added sugar in their lives.

You also want a protein bar that contains high quality protein. Some experts recommend whey protein, or a blend of whey and casein. They claim that soy protein is often easier for manufacturers to get and is usually cheaper, but it can be harder for your body to utilize. Studies, however, show that athletes consuming soy protein have muscle mass gains, too. So look for whey, casein, or soy protein, because the best bars will be full of these.

When you want to buy a protein bar, the best thing you can do is read the label. Make sure the bar actually focuses on protein, doesn't have too much sugar, and is made from quality ingredients. If you need some help, there are a few websites out there that recommend particular bars or offer a comparison or ranking. If you can find high quality bar that helps you meet your goals, these are definitely worth your money.

Shakes and Drinks

Shakes and drinks can fall into several categories. First, there are the ones focused on delivering protein. These are basically protein bars in a can (or a glass or shaker). As such, they should be examined and purchased based on the parameters outlined above. Avoid sugar and poor quality ingredients, and you're good.

Other people use drinks or shakes as meal replacements, often in order to lose weight. Drinking a shake can be easier than eating, especially if you end up skipping meals because you're always on the go. They also provide you a set number of calories, so you don't have to think about calorie-counting or recording detailed data about everything you eat.

If you decide to buy some meal replacement beverages, there are some things you should think about:

Sugar. Once again, many of these drinks only taste good because they're full of sugar.
Fake ingredients. If eating clean is important to you, most of the drinks on the market won't qualify.
Price. Some meal replacement beverages are very expensive. Unless they offer something that another drink doesn't, avoid these.
Your long term plan. Do you want to buy shakes forever? Will you eventually transition back to food? And how do you plan to not regain weight if you make that transition?

If you decide to look for shakes in order to lose weight, you can get some guidance online regarding which ones might be healthiest for you. Check them out for yourself, though, before you buy a case, to make sure they are worth your money.

Meal Supplements

We talked about the bars and shakes above, but any other meal supplements you choose will be based on your overall health and physical goals. For instance, if improved weightlifting is your goal, you may want to try creatine or caffeine. If your joints hurt, glucosamine may help you reach your goals. Many doctors recommend vitamin D to almost everyone, because most of us don't get enough.

Speaking of your doctor, before you start any supplements, it's a good idea to give him or her a call. Sure, everyone says that, but we say it because it's true. Some supplements can be hard on your kidneys or liver (like creatine), especially if you have a history of problems or tend to be sensitive to supplementation. And if your doctor has concerns about a particular supplement, they may be able to offer you another option that will work better with your body.

Do you use any of the products mentioned in this article? How do you decide whether they're worth your money?

This article is from Sarah Winfrey of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 Health Rules You Should Be Breaking

Brittany Lyte — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 11:00:08 +0000

The real rules of healthful living aren't black and white. But oh-so-many of the tenets of good health we all grew up with — drink eight glasses of water a day, don't read in the dark — are precisely that restrictive. Now new research is finding that many of them are also false.

"Research is revealing that whoever wrote the old guidelines didn't have the whole picture, and that there are more paths to optimal health than we previously thought," said Harvard Medical School psychologist Alice Domar.

So rule breakers, rejoice! And then read on for our roundup of all the things you thought were good for your health — but actually aren't.

1. Don't Swim on a Full Stomach

As it turns out, the 30-minute rule every child loathes — don't get in the water directly after eating — is a full-blown myth. Though enforced by well-intentioned parents (and begrudgingly followed by their water-loving children), experts have debunked the theory that swimming on a full stomach leads to cramps, which increases the risk of drowning. In fact, less than 1% of all drownings in the U.S. occur after the victim has eaten a meal.

2. Avoid Reading in Dim Lighting

The notion that reading in a lowly lit room will damage your eyesight is false, although it will tire your eyes out more quickly. Experts say the best lighting arrangement for a night in with a juicy book is a lamp with an opaque shade pointing directly at the reading material, so as to avoid a glare. However, reading by candlelight won't do you any harm.

3. You Need Eight Hours of Sleep

The ideal amount of sleep is different for everyone, depending on factors like age, genetic makeup, and gender. Ten-year-olds need about nine hours of slumber, while adults older than 30, including senior citizens, require about seven hours. Women tend to sleep longer than men, but only by 14 minutes. "It's not difficult to figure out how much sleep we need," writes sleep expert Till Roenneberg. "When we wake up unprompted, feeling refreshed, we have slept enough."

4. Drink Eight Glasses of Water Per Day

There's simply no scientific evidence to back up this claim. Drinking eight glasses of water certainly won't harm you, but there's no reason to think your health will benefit from meeting this daily threshold. The purpose of drinking water, of course, is to hydrate your body, flush it of toxins, and improve various bodily functions. But most of your required daily water intake is contained in foods — no liquid required.

5. Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

Anything made of vegetables is healthy, right? Not necessarily. A veggie burger is still a burger, and can contain more than 1,000 calories when loaded with toppings and a bun. Plus, the vegetables in these patties undergo a good deal of processing, which zaps many of the nutrients. Another example: Avocados. These delicious green fruits are packed with vitamins, minerals, and… lots of fats. Healthy fats, but fats nonetheless. In fact, about 85% of the total calories in an avocado come from fat. If you overindulge, you're likely to start packing on the pounds. Even healthy fats can cause weight gain when over-consumed.

Dried fruit is another misleading health food. That's because dried fruits are packed with up to eight times more calories as fresh fruit. Fresh grapes, for example, have 60 calories per cup while raisins have 430.

6. Eat Something Every Three Hours

The theory that your metabolism will crash if you don't snack throughout the day has been debunked. Research shows that it's the amount of food eaten, and not the rate at which it is consumed throughout the day, that determines the health of your metabolism. In fact, those who adhere to a diet of snacks rather than meals run the risk of over-snacking, thereby consuming too many calories for a single day.

What stale health rules are you happily breaking?

This article is from Brittany Lyte of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

17 Ways to Enjoy Greek Yogurt

Ashley Marcin — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 11:00:03 +0000

Maybe it's because I live near Chobani, one of the largest manufacturers in the entire country, but I am obsessed with Greek yogurt. As a vegetarian, too, I am always looking for tasty, convenient sources of meat-free protein to add to my diet. To avoid added sugar, I usually go for the plain variety, but that doesn't mean this healthy stuff can't be dressed up from time the time. (See also: Yogurt: Should You Make Your Own?)

Per cup, nonfat Greek yogurt contains 17 grams out of the daily recommended 46 grams for women and 56 grams for men. So, here are 17 smart and surprising recipes to tantalize your taste buds plus three helpful tips for how to make Greek yogurt your new favorite ingredient.

1. Chocolate Cake

You'll enjoy the goodness of Greek yogurt in both the base and frosting of this chocolate cake. Top with crushed cookies or even fresh fruit.

2. Cinnamon Buns

These Overnight Cinnamon Buns look worth the wait. There's a half cup of yogurt in the actual bun, and I'd suggest replacing the cream cheese in the frosting with more Greek yogurt in equal ratio.

3. Pancakes

Take your morning meal to the next level by adding a dose of lowfat protein to the mix. These 10-Minutes Pancakes are easy to make and only 240 calories per serving.

4. Frozen Bites

Perfect for summer, these Frozen Pomegranate Bites are encased in cool Greek yogurt. Yet another genius use of an ice cube tray and totally adaptable. Use whatever fruit you have on hand! (Related: You Won't Believe How Much You Can Save With an Ice Cube Tray)

5. Yogurt Pops

All my favorite flavors mingle in these chocolate, peanut butter, and banana Greek Yogurt Pops. After you blend the core ingredients, pour into plastic cups or molds. Once frozen, top with melted chocolate and any toppings your heart desires.

6. Tropical Smoothie

Greek yogurt works wonderfully in smoothies and sounds particularly delicious in this tropical mix. I love a quick, portable breakfast that's full of good protein. (Related: 15 Grab-And-Go Post-Workout Breakfasts)

7. Cookie Dip

I'm salivating at the mere idea of this Cookie Dough Greek Yogurt. It has all the flavor without the guilt, and you can use whatever nut butter or sweeteners you have in your pantry.

8. Chocolate Pudding

I most often eat Greek yogurt this way: Combine 1 cup nonfat yogurt with 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder and about 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup. You can also add vanilla extract to taste. Mix together with a fork until fully incorporated. A healthy pudding snack!

9. Breakfast Bowl

And you can't beat the classic breakfast bowl combining a cup of Greek yogurt, sliced seasonal fruit, and cereal or granola. It's the fastest way to get all the health with an extra punch of flavor.

10. Mac and Cheese

Please the whole family with this Mac and Cheese recipe is incredibly creamy and also full of spinach for some extra flair.

11. Brownies

Who doesn't love a dense, chocolatey brownie? This particular batch contains over a cup of yogurt and seems to have replaced some of the butter/oil and the eggs.

12. Dipped Fruit

Another cool trick (literally): Take fruit — like strawberries, bananas, blueberries, etc. — and dip them in Greek yogurt. Then freeze atop a baking sheet. That's all you do for this good-for-you treat!

13. Biscuits

These Fluffy Greek Yogurt Biscuits are like dinner rolls on steroids. I've made this recipe several times, and I make them savory by omitting the sugar and lemon zest and adding extra pepper.

14. Popsicles

Impress your friends with these Blueberry Greek Yogurt Popsicles at your next party. They're not only gorgeous, but you can also use a wide variety of fruit to flavor the base recipe in equal ratio.

15. Cheese

Yes. Greek yogurt cheese is a thing! And all that's involved is cheesecloth, a sieve, and some patience. Just drain the whey from the yogurt, which takes three days, and enjoy.

16. Deviled Eggs

That backyard picnic is just begging for these healthy Deviled Eggs made with — you guessed it — Greek yogurt. Just boil your eggs, then mix the hard yolks with the yogurt, some mustard, and spices, and you're ready to relax before company arrives.

17. Ice Cream Sandwiches

Delicious strawberry yogurt ice cream is the highlight of this frozen dessert recipe. Just mix all the ingredients together, line a baking dish with graham crackers, spoon on the ice cream, chill, and proceed with the chocolate coating.

Non-Specific Greek Yogurt Tips

Crazily enough, Greek yogurt's viscous reach extends beyond these 17 recipes! True yogurt heads may find the following tips helpful.

1. Make a Simple Swap

I make a habit of swapping out certain ingredients — like sour cream — with Greek yogurt. If you're looking to streamline your refrigerator, check out Stonyfield's helpful guide for subbing in yogurt for butter, oil, mayonnaise, heavy cream, buttermilk, and more. Most are a 1:1 swap.

2. Shop Around

Large quantities of Greek yogurt can cost upwards of $6 or more per container. Over time, that can feel like quite an investment. I recently discovered that a 32 ounce container of Greek yogurt at my local Aldi store is only $3.89, which saves my family around $110 per year from our previous buying habits.

3. Try Homemade Yogurt

Still, if you find yourself grabbing for that container more and more each day, you might consider making your own Greek yogurt at home. All you need is milk, nonfat milk powder, and a little yogurt to get started. The trick is in the straining, which will take around 7-8 hours to let 2 cups of liquid drain and create the classic consistency you're after.

What's your favorite way to enjoy Greek yogurt? Please share some in comments!

This article is from Ashley Marcin of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

8 Reasons Why It's OK to Eat Meat

Tim Lemke — Mon, 05 May 2014 09:00:15 +0000

These days, it seems like meat doesn't have many friends. Vegetarians hate it. Environmentalists rail against it. And your doctor has probably told you to avoid it.

But it may be time to come to meat's defense. After all, there is considerable evidence to suggest that lean beef and other meats can be a meaningful part of a balanced diet.

No one is suggesting you must eat an 18-ounce Porterhouse for every meal. But you may be surprised to find that meat can be very good for you in ways you never considered.

Consider these great benefits of eating meat.

1. It's Packed With Protein

One six ounce steak has about 44 grams of protein, or nearly 90% of the daily recommended intake for an average middle-aged man. That's great for building strong muscles and repairing damaged tissues.

2. It's a Great Source of Iron

If you're feeling tired or lethargic, more meat may be what you need. Most meats, especially beef, have high amounts of iron, a mineral that helps ensure good oxygen content in the blood. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the iron in meat can be absorbed two to three times faster than the iron in plants. In fact, the CDC said eating meat can help the body more effectively absorb the iron we get from other foods.

3. It Has Lots of Other Vitamins, Too

Meat is also a great source of vitamin B12, which is only available from animal products and helps release energy from food. It also contains helpful amounts of vitamin B6, zinc, selenium, phosphorous, and riboflavin, according to the US Department of Agriculture. People who avoid meat have to work extra hard to find these vitamins and minerals in other foods.

4. It Has Fat, but Not All of It's Bad

It's important to know that there are different kinds of fat, and some are more healthful than others. Saturated fat is generally not good for you, but monounsaturated fat — the kind found in olive oil — can help boost your HDL (good) cholesterol. And guess what? About half of the fat content in beef is monounsaturated. Beef also has a small amount of polyunsaturated fat, including the heart-helpful Omega-3 and Omega-6.

5. It Fills You Up and May Help You Lose Weight

In part because of that great protein, beef takes a while to digest. That's a good thing if you are looking to keep your appetite in check. Beef rates quite high on the Satiety Index, which scores foods based on how long they can keep a person feeling full. Beef has a score of 176, meaning that it is 76% more satisfying than a similarly sized portion of white bread. (See also: 9 Foods That Will Keep You Satisfied Longer)

6. Our Bodies Know What to Do With It

Many health-conscious people have adopted the "Paleolithic" diet, which essentially eliminates any food that we humans didn't eat in the early days of our evolution. The diet is based on the theory that humans haven't really changed much genetically in thousands of years, so it's best to stick with foods we commonly ate during our hunter-gatherer days. That means we're essentially left with meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds. Our bodies, in theory, know exactly how to digest and process these foods.

7. It May Be Good for the Environment

OK, there are many people who will surely disagree with this one. After all, a United Nations report estimated that livestock are responsible for as much as 18% of all greenhouse gases. But there are some who argue that figure is actually lower, and that livestock can actually be helpful to the ecology when properly raised.

In his book, "Meat: A Benign Extravagance," author Simon Fairlie writes that livestock can play a role in a well-balanced ecosystem.

"Livestock provide the biodiversity that trees on their own cannot provide," he writes. "They are the best means we have of keeping wide areas clear and open to solar energy and wind energy. They harness biomass that would otherwise be inaccessible, and recycle waste that would otherwise be a disposal problem."

8. It's Great for Your Mental Health

I count grilling out on a summer evening among life's greatest pleasures. And there is at least one study that suggests cookouts can be beneficial to your psyche. A study in Psychology Science said that many "comfort foods" — such as those found during a typical family cookout — can play a role in making people feel less lonely. Environmental psychologist Sally Augustin further theorizes that there is an additional benefit to being outside, and that the music played at barbecues can improve a person's mental outlook.

What's your favorite reason to eat more meat? Please share in comments!

Like this article? Pin it!

This article is from Tim Lemke of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

11 Painless Ways to Trick Yourself Into Eating Less

Sarah Winfrey — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 11:24:25 +0000

It's here: the time of year when New Year's resolutions curl up and die. We're already at the end of February, which means that most resolutions have been broken, if not abandoned outright. (See also: How to Make Your Resolutions Stick)

If you are considering giving up your resolutions for weight loss and/or eating better, think again. Sometimes, these resolutions are too difficult to attack head on. However, if you can trick yourself into eating less, you just might be able to achieve more success with these resolutions than you had dreamed possible.

1. Dine With a Fast Eater

When you eat with dining companions, you are likely to finish when they do, no matter how much you have actually consumed. So if you eat with someone who eats quickly, you won't have as much time to consume calories. Try to avoid eating large meals with people who linger, or you might find yourself eating even more than usual.

2. Eat Off a Smaller Plate

People who eat off smaller plates eat less food. Think about it this way, and it makes sense: When you fill a small plate and eat it all, you feel like you've eaten a whole plate of food, even when, in fact, you haven't eaten nearly as much as you might have eaten if you'd had a larger plate.

3. Lower the Lights

Experimenters changed the lighting in part of a restaurant and then examined how that changed the ways people ate. While people ordered just as much rich and high-calorie food when the lights were low, they ate less of it and reported themselves happier and more satisfied after their meal. Echo these results by eating in dimmer light at home, too.

4. Take Smaller Portions

In general, people eat the food they are served. Therefore, if you serve yourself a small portion, rather than a large one, you're likely to eat less. Even if you're very hungry, eat your small portion, and then take some time to evaluate whether you're still hungry. It's better to eat two small portions that you actually want, rather than a single large portion that you're not actually hungry for. (See also: Losing Weight With Portion Control)

5. Drink More Water

When you drink water while you eat, you may find yourself craving vegetables, rather than french fries or other salty and/or unhealthy snacks. No one knows exactly why this works, but it seems especially effective for some people. The only way to know if it works for you is to try it, so what are you waiting for?

6. Use a Larger Fork

While it seems counterintuitive, people who eat with a larger fork tend to eat less. Psychologists surmise that this happens because eating with a large fork helps people see more clearly the fact that they are consuming the food on their plates. They feel like they are accomplishing the goal of alleviating their hunger, so they eat less overall.

7. Contrast Your Food and Your Plate

The higher the contrast between the color of the food and the color of the plate it's on, the less you will serve yourself and, therefore, the less you will eat. Whenever you have a chance, pick a plate that is very different in color than the food that will be put on it. This is especially true when you are serving yourself, as studies show you will put less food on it.

8. Snack With 100-Calorie Packs

If you want a snack but you don't want to eat too much, try eating from one of those 100-calorie snack packs. If you don't want to spend the extra money that those cost, or the snack you want doesn't come in a 100-calorie portion, try buying in bulk and then repackaging the items yourself. Either way, you are likely to consume fewer calories than if you were to snack out of a large bag. (See also: Delicious and Healthy Snacks)

9. Snack on Appetite-Suppressing Foods

There are many foods that can make you feel less hungry, such as almonds, fat rich avocados, foods rich in fiber like oatmeal and apples. Include these in your diet regularly, and you're likely to find yourself eating less than you did before. Make sure you don't overdo it, though. While most of these foods are considered "healthy," eating more food than you are hungry for is never a good thing.

10. Remember How Much You Ate

People who think they ate a lot at their last meal are less likely to think themselves hungry than those who think they didn't eat very much. Apparently, our perceived hunger is actually more about how we are thinking about our food and portion sizes than it is about what we actually eat. So don't think about deprivation, and instead convince yourself that you are eating well, and you will eat less overall.

11. Limit Your Selection

When people are presented with food with which they are familiar, they generally eat less. This, it seems, happens because we do a better job of predicting just how full familiar foods will make us, and so we don't take more than we need. When we're not familiar with the foods we're offered, we serve ourselves more and eat more, because we think we might need it in order to feel full.

If any of these suggestions help you find success with your resolutions, let us know! And if you have any other tricks or tips that might help people out, send those our way, too.

This article is from Sarah Winfrey of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 "Good" Eating Habits That Are Keeping Us Fat

Sarah Winfrey — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 10:30:47 +0000

We all know how to eat, right? Open mouth, insert food. Chew, swallow, and you're done. Piece of cake.

For most of us, though, eating also involves some spoken or unspoken rules, many of which we learned as children. These rules influence what we eat, how much we eat, how often we eat, and when we allow ourselves to stop eating. They form many of our habits around eating, some of which we may not have ever thought about before.

Some of these habits are good for us and allow us to feed our bodies well and enjoy eating with others. Others, though, could actually be hurting us, damaging our bodies and causing us to gain weight. Are you wondering where your habits fit in? Check out this list of "good" habits that may actually be harmful. (See also: Healthy Habits That Can Hurt You)

1. Eat Faster

As a mother to small children, I know exactly how frustrating it is to sit at the table for an hour with a child who eats roughly one bite every five minutes. And I understand exactly why our parents told us to hurry up, to stop playing with our food, and just eat already.

However, thinking that we need to eat faster, to not dawdle, and to not play (or take time to enjoy) our food means that we end up eating more. It takes our bodies up to 20 minutes to register that we are full. If we are cramming food into our mouths that whole time, we will eat more than that we need, and we will miss enjoying ourselves and our company.

2. Clean Your Plate

Another habit, one often related to eating faster, is the instruction to clean our plates. Again, this is something that many of us learned as children. Our parents wanted us to eat well and not waste food, so they instructed us to clean our plates. (See also: How to Cut Waste When Feeding Kids)

While this is good when it comes to not wasting food, it's bad for our waistlines. It's not uncommon for us to only realize after we have filled a plate that we are not actually hungry enough to empty it, and if we make ourselves eat that food, we will eventually gain weight.

3. Taste Everything

Having a picky eater is a terrible thing, and parents try to combat that by making their kids try everything that's offered. Sometimes, we even learn that we need to take a certain number of bites of every single food on the table.

While this may be successful in expanding our culinary horizons, it can be dangerous. When we apply the "try everything" philosophy at, say, a buffet or a cocktail party, we'll end up consuming way more calories than we need. And if we do this too often, we will definitely gain weight.

4. Don't Snack

When you want kids to eat well at meal time, you have to limit their food consumption at other times. However, when we make this a hard-and-fast rule for our entire lives, we may actually end up eating more than we need.

Think about it. If you know you're going somewhere where most of the foods will be high calorie, you can stave off some of your hunger if you eat a healthy snack ahead of time. Or, if you end up starving at mealtimes, you may eat a lot more calories than you need, simply because of how hungry you are.

Think about this along with the fact that some medical professionals think small meals may be best for weight loss, and smart snacking could help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight. (See also: 6 Cheap and Healthy Snacks)

5. If You Want to Lose Weight, Go on a Diet

In western culture, when you want to lose weight, you go on a diet. There are a myriad of options, from those backed up by quality science to those touted by Hollywood celebrities.

However, a diet is not a good way to lose weight and keep it off. Studies show that the majority of people who lose weight on a diet cannot maintain it. In fact, they tend to regain more weight, over time, than the weight they lose while dieting. Apparently, dieting messes with your brain hormones in such a way that it actually makes it harder to keep the weight off. Clearly, this is another "truth" that isn't true. (See also: How to Lose Weight With Portion Control)

6. Eat Low-Cal/Fat-Free, Et cetera

As part of our "diet to lose weight" mentality, most of us think that eating low calorie, fat free, and otherwise "healthy" food is the best for our bodies and our waistlines. However, many of these foods are actually worse for us than their high-calorie, full-of-fat counterparts. These foods can do things to our bodies that are worse than gaining weight.

In case that isn't bad enough, these foods may make us gain weight, too. When we eat low-fat, for instance, we aren't as satisfied as we are when we eat the full-fat varieties of these foods. Thus, we can end up eating more, in order to achieve this satisfaction, than we would if we just ate the full-fat foods from the start.

If all of this sounds discouraging to you, take heart! Eating healthier and losing weight is totally possible. Sciences shows that making simple changes, like exercising more, eating fewer calories, and cutting out sugars all lead to lower weight and improved health. Remember to start small and allow each change the time to become a habit. Over time, you'll replace what you thought were good habits with ones that will actually improve your well-being.

Do you have any of these habits, or have you already overcome them? Tell us your story below!

Like this article? Pin it!

This article is from Sarah Winfrey of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Lose Weight and Eat Better With the 8 Best Diet Apps

Debbie Dragon — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 09:48:32 +0000

Staying accountable and keeping track of what you eat when you diet are two things that contribute to a successful weight loss program. With an increasing number of people carrying a smartphone with them everywhere they go, dieting apps make it possible to remain accountable to your goals and keep track of what you eat no matter where you are. Here are eight great dieting apps for reaching your weight loss and fitness goals. (See also: 10 Self-Improvement Apps to Make You Smarter, Stronger, and Happier)

1. Lose It!

Create individualized goals for weight loss, nutrient consumption, exercise, sleep, and more with the free Lose It! App for iPhone. There is a searchable database where you can find and keep a log of the foods you eat, or you can use the included barcode scanner to scan barcodes of packaged foods you consume for quick tracking. You can even keep track of calories and other nutritional facts in complete recipes that you make yourself.

You can get started by entering your goal weight — and let the Lose It! app calculate a daily budget for number of calories to consume based on your current weight and height in relation to your goal weight. The Lose It! app will integrate with many wireless scales, other workout apps, and pedometers, and there are options to turning it into a social experience as you can connect with friends who also use the app.

2. Noom Weight Loss

Similar to Lose It!, Noom Weight Loss app is available free on Android. Each day, "The Coach" gives you tasks to help you make positive lifestyle changes to encourage long-term results. Noom will help you create your weight loss goal, keep track of what you eat and how much exercise you get, and guide you toward healthier choices for eating and physical activity. The Noom Weight Loss app even has a built-in pedometer to track how many steps you take each day.

3. Weight Watchers Mobile

If you are following the Weight Watchers diet plan, the Weight Watchers Mobile app is the ideal way to keep track of your points each day. The app is free to people who subscribe to the Weight Watchers plan, and it offers a database with more than 30,000 foods and their corresponding Weight Watchers point values. As you use the app to track what you eat, it will let you know how many points you have available each day. Available for iOS and Android.

4. MyFitnessPal

Designed for just about every smartphone on the market (iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7, and Blackberry), MyFitnessPal lets you track your exercise and calories burned as well as your calories consumed. There is a huge database containing the nutrition information for restaurant menu items and over two million foods. You can use MyFitnessPal Mobile with your online account to synchronize things you enter via your phone or your computer, so you can always have an up to date account to keep you on track no matter where you are.

5. Eat This, Not That!

If you get tired of simply tracking what you eat and what physical activities you participate in, you might want to use the Eat This, Not That! game for your iPhone. The app will show you two different meals or food products, and you get to guess which one is healthier for you. While the app will not immediately contribute to your ability to lose weight by tracking calories or exercise, the knowledge you gain from learning which foods are healthier can guide you toward making better decisions when choosing what to eat in the future.

6. The Eatery

You can use The Eatery app for the iPhone to keep track of what you eat by taking a photo of it. Over time, this will help you see trouble areas and find ways to improve what you eat to lose weight. But then the Eatery also takes things to a social level, allowing other members to rate your meals based on whether they feel it is healthy or not. Instead of counting calories, you aim to eat healthier.

7. Calorie Counter PRO MyNetDiary

Android users can buy the Calorie Counter PRO MyNetDiary app ($3.99) to help keep track of calories consumed and burned. There are over 416,000 foods in the MyNetDiary database to help you quickly keep track of the nutrients in the foods you eat, and your purchase also includes access to the website for additional food entry and backing up of your data. The app includes a barcode scanner and an analysis tool to help you find ways to improve what you're eating. There are over 500 activities in the exercise section, so you can quickly choose your daily exercise and see how many calories were burned, or you can enter custom exercises and calories burned.

8. Fooducate

With the Fooducate app, you can scan the barcode on products you eat to get a health grade between "A" and "F". Try to eat healthier foods based on the health grade to reach your health and fitness goals. You can use the app to keep track of your weight and to create healthy grocery lists. The app is free and available for both Android and iPhone users.

Did I miss your favorite dieting and weight loss app? Please share in comments!

This article is from Debbie Dragon of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Weight Watchers for Your Wallet

Emily Guy Birken — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 11:36:31 +0000

As both a financial blogger and an “amateur nutritionist” (and no, those are not sugar cookie crumbs on my chin, and you’ll never prove otherwise), I have often noticed that many of the behavioral tips for dieting really overlap with the behavioral tips for paying off debt. In fact, the willpower necessary for avoiding spending temptations is very similar to the willpower needed to avoid the office donut box — and just as difficult to harness. Changing your habits and behaviors is what really leads to long-term changes in both your overall and your financial health. So, with that in mind, let’s look at four common diet tips out there and see how they relate to paying off your credit card debt. With these tips, you can kill two New Year’s resolution birds with one stone. (See also: 4 Tips for Making Resolutions Stick in the New Year)

1. You Should Consider Whether You’re Really Hungry

At first glance, this advice from WebMD seems to have little to do with your Visa bill. But getting in touch with your body’s hunger cues has a lot to do with listening to your own emotional state. Just as we will often eat mindlessly when we are bored, stressed, or upset, we will also find ourselves heading to the mall or surfing Amazon to relieve an emotion that has nothing to do with our need for more stuff.

How to Implement This Advice

If you truly have a hard time determining the difference between a shopping need and want, go on a fast. Even though completely cutting out food is an unhealthy way to learn what hunger really feels like, going on a week- or month-long financial fast can be truly cleansing. It helps you to determine the difference between shopping to fill an emotional need and buying things you truly need. The bonus is that at the end of a financial fast, the money you saved by not spending at all can be added to your credit card payment.

2. You Should Step on Your Scale Daily

This tip comes from Cosmopolitan (that bastion of excellent reporting). You can’t know what work you have to do on either your diet or your debt payoff plan if you don’t know where you are in the journey. That means you have to do two of the most dreaded personal chores: weighing yourself and logging into your credit card account. Often, the first time you step on the scale or check out your credit card balance, it’s enough for you to shut down and try to forget you ever knew how bad you let it get. But as long as you are willing to do work to improve your situation, your daily weigh-in/log-in will become first informational, and then inspirational, as the numbers improve day after day and week after week.

How to Implement This Advice

Check your account balances. Right now. And don’t just look at the big total — go back over your individual purchases. This might give you some ideas for things you can return or help you to find charges you need to dispute. Taking care of those right away will help that big, scary number go down. (The only way to get such immediate improvement with a scale is to strip down to your birthday suit — and even then it’s rarely an improvement worth freezing off your tooshie.)

Then keep looking at your accounts online regularly. It is a habit that will help you to remember why you are working so hard to send every extra penny to your credit card bill. And it will keep you honest if you fall off the wagon and go on a shopping spree.

3. Go Ahead and Have That Cookie

Follow this advice from Shape Magazine, because going cold turkey on your favorite things, whether they be Mallomars or shopping with your Mom, is difficult. So difficult, in fact, that deciding that you will never do that again! is a great way to set yourself up for failure. Because ultimately the cookie or the mall will call your name, and once you’ve cheated a little bit, why not go ahead and cheat a lot?

Psychologists and behavioral economists refer to this as the “what-the-hell” effect, and we have all felt it. (In point of fact, psychologists actually call this “counterregulatory behavior,” but calling it the “what-the-hell” effect is much more concise, if slightly profane.) This effect explains our sense that dieting or refraining from spending money is either all or nothing, so the moment we have given in to temptation a little bit, we might as well throw our own guidelines out the window — “What the hell! I’ve already bought myself a new lipstick/eaten a brownie, I might as well go buy some new shoes and a purse/have a burger and a milkshake.”

The way to combat this effect, both when you are dieting and trying to pay off debt, is to allow yourself cheats and consider that part of your plan. No one is capable of always avoiding temptation, and our brains our wired to think of ourselves as either dieting/refraining from spending or not, so the first time you slip up is often an opportunity to binge on whatever you’ve been denying yourself.

How to Implement This Advice

Plan ahead for when you will indulge in little shopping treats, and save up the cash to pay for them. If you love buying new clothes, save up about $100 in cash and go for a spree at a consignment store, where that amount of money can buy quite a lot. You will not only satisfy your desire for shopping, you can also feel virtuous because it’s not detracting from your debt pay off plan.

4. Celebrate Success (but Not With Food)

One of the universal truths of the human makeup is that we are wired to want immediate gratification. According to Dan Ariely in his book "Predictably Irrational," “if a particular desired behavior results in an immediate negative outcome (punishment), this behavior will be very difficult to promote, even if the ultimate outcome is highly desirable.” In English, that means it’s really hard to give something up now even if what it’ll get us later is, in a word, awesome.

So, we need to bribe ourselves to behave. That’s what celebrating little successes is all about. Every time we reach a small milestone — whether that’s losing the first two pounds or getting our credit card balance below a particular dollar amount — we need to reward ourselves for all that hard work we’ve been doing.

Where this gets tough is in choosing the right type of reward. If you’re dieting, rewarding yourself with a hot fudge sundae after running five miles leaves you basically where you started. Similarly, if you’re trying to pay off your credit card, buying yourself a new video game to reward your thrifty ways will mess with your debt payoff mojo.

Following advice from Medicine.net, if you’re only dieting or only paying down credit card debt, the fix is easy: you can spend money on rewards for weight loss successes, or you can eat something sinfully fattening as a reward for debt payoff successes. Now, the problem is if you’re trying to do both (or at least, you’re trying to be generally healthy in both of those areas of your life).

How to Implement This Advice

Find rewards that cost no money or calories and still make you feel great. Those include a chat with an old friend, allowing yourself a free 30 minutes or more to get lost in your favorite (non-shopping) sites on the internet (provided you don’t already do this on a daily basis), pampering yourself with an at-home pedicure, taking a long nap in the middle of the day, or giving yourself a day off from chores you hate. There are plenty of free ways to celebrate your small victories — you just have to think about the things you normally don’t allow yourself and pick out the one or two that require no cash outlay. Having those rewards to look forward to in the near future will help you stay on track overall.

The Bottom Line

Reducing your waistline requires very similar behavior modifications to reducing your debt burden. Like losing weight, reducing debt needs a two-pronged approach: lowering your consumption and increasing your (payment) activity. So as you read through New Year’s weight loss advice lists (and they are plentiful!), remember that with just a little tweaking, many of these same pieces of advice can be used in your debt payoff journey.

Like this article? Pin it!

This article is from Emily Guy Birken of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: