Friday, February 22, 2013

Can You Eat Late and Still Lose?

Lately we've heard the only thing that matters to you waistline is how much you eat. But there's a growing body of research that says when you eat really does make a difference in how much you weigh. "Your body is more prone to burn fat at certain times of day and store fat at other times," says Satchin Panda, Ph.D, associate professor in the Regulatory Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA. New studies reveal that to burn the most fat, you need to go 12 hours without eating, like from 8p to 8a.

To keep pounds off, don't eat after dark. Before electricity and all-night dinners, we humans used to spend a long stretch every night without food passing our lips. Staying up and eating late is a very recent phenomenon in human history. Our metabolisms are hardwired to expect a nightly fast, which is a key time for your body to burn fat.

During the day, your brain and muscles use some of the calories you eat for fuel, and the rest gets stored in the liver in the form of glycogen. At night, your body converts that glycogen into glucose and releases it into your bloodstream to keep your blood-sugar levels steady while you sleep. Once the stored glycogen is gone, your livers starts burning fat cells for energy. You burn fat while you sleep!

It takes a few hours to use up the day's glycogen stores. So if you snack until midnight and sit down to breakfast at 7a.m., your body may never get the opportunity to burn any fat before you start reloading your glycogen stores again. It doesn't help that you're also likely to overeat when you're up late. Night owls consume an average of 248 calories more per day than those who got to bed earlier, and most of those calories rack up after 8p.m.

Using this time method may mean that you can snack more and weigh less. In a study just published in Cell Metabolism, Panda's research team for that mice that ate a high-fat diet spread out over the day and night became obese and diabetic, while mice eating the same diet but only over an eight-hour period didn't gain any weight and remained healthy. "Fasting at night can even override most of the negative effects of an unhealthy diet, including weight gain," Panda says.

Source: Health Magazine

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Pre-Oscar Beauty Treatments


Normal people can't afford these treatments or have the time for them, but I still thought it was interesting enough to post. ;-)

The Hair Facial: Madonna and her daughter Lourdes are only two of the many celebs who've indulged in a "Hair Facial" from Kinara stylist Shelee Maeda—who, for $85, will massage soy protein into your follicles, then moisturize and steam your hair cuticles open so your locks can absorb all those good nutrients. The treatment aims to soften your hair and give it more shine—making it easier to style for big red carpet events.

BioSlimming Active Wrap: After your hair facial, stick around at Kinara for a slimming wrap. When you see actresses in person, they're teeny-weeny. Those waists fit into the most miniscule of dresses during awards season—and one secret weapon they use to lose the last few inches is the BioSLimming Active Wrap ($180), which uses an infrared heated wrap and essential oils, active algae extracts and caffeine to fight cellulite, boost fat metabolism and most importantly, reduce the size of your waist.

The Ultimate Blow-Out: Blow-outs are one thing LA does well—and the competition is fierce. Getting a slot is almost like trying to gatecrash the Oscars. The head-honchos are Adam Campbell at Prive Salon, who does Angie, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson and Jennifer Garner; and Rossano Ferretti, who just opened his 20th salon and, at $1000 per hair-cut, is probably the priciest hairdresser in the world. His clients include Gaga, Salma Hayek and Sharon Stone.

The Red Carpet Facial: There have been many imitators, but the bona-fide, real-deal original "Red Carpet Facial" founder (she even has that name trademarked), is Tracie Martyn. A friend went to her recently and found herself right between Tilda Swinton and Kate Winslet’s appointments. Using a ‘Resculptor’ device, which emits an electric current, Tracie stimulates the skin. Then amber LED lights help erase fine lines. Tracie uses her own products to reduce puffiness, lift the eyes and cheekbones, and define the jawline. Its basically like having facelift, without having a facelift.

Reformer Pilates: Reformer pilates (the type done in a crazy-looking machine with ropes attached to it) is all the rage in Hollywood right now. Perhaps because you get abs super-quickly from it, or perhaps because you get to exercise lying down and therefore not ruin your makeup, but celebs like George Clooney hone their bodies at Zen Fitness.

Resultwear: Halle Berry, Ginnifer Goodwin, Sofia Vergara and Cate Blanchett keep their curves going in and out at the right places with Resultwear, the latest suck-it-all-in underwear brand. This line has a reversible one-shoulder seamless underwire-free bra top, and an all-in-one minidress with a tummy panel that flattens everything.

Juice Cleansing: A three-day juice cleanse prior to the Oscars is fairly standard amongst many actresses (and actors—I hear Jake Gyllenhaal is a fan), but finally there’s one that doesn’t taste disgusting. Pressed Juicery let’s you pick the yummiest combinations—like cucumber, pineapple, coconut and aloe vera (tastes like a healthy pina colada) and almond milk, dates, vanilla bean and sea salt (tastes like a vanilla milkshake)—and delivers them to your door. The company has developed a hydraulic press which manages to release more than four times more vitamins and minerals than regular juicers. So there.

And another thing—Aloe Gloe is the latest drink fad—only 35 calories!—to sweep LA. Aloe vera improves digestion and rehydrates—both important things for pre-carpet prep! "The Organic Aloe Vera in Aloe Gloe is great for Skin, Digestion, and Immunity," says Aloe Gloe co-founder Danny Stepper. "Many of our drinkers believe that Aloe Vera has a calming healing effect when consumed, which I can imagine would be helpful for celebrities on the Red Carpet."

St. Tropez Tanning: The crop of whiter-than-pale starlets rocking the red carpet lately (Rooney Mara, Carey Mulligan, Emma Stone) has truly split the Hollywood crowd when it comes to skin tone trends. The beach bunnies like Eva Longoria and Sofia Vergara will hit St. Tropez’s super plush tanning lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel, where they will be sprayed, contoured and polished with the new Make Me Glow treatment, using a gold skin illuminator, bronzing rocks and body polish. At the other end of the spectrum is Jessica Biel’s favourite spa, Carasoin, who has a new Skin Brightening treatment, which gives you that porcelain-doll effect—lightening skin and smoothing pigmentation using lactic acid and a kefir scrub.

Stylehaus' Styling Suite: Most actresses will hire a top stylist to source their dress, shoes, jewels and clutch bag, but this year anyone can experience the A-list treatment at Stylehaus, a pop-up suite set up at the Mondrian hotel on Sunset Boulevard. Pay a fee, and you’ll get dressed by a team of professional stylists, in designers such as Valentino, Versace and Karl Lagerfeld. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Christina Milian and Sharon Osbourne have all been in—what a cool idea!

Source: Glamour

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Using Food Labels


Food labels are designed to help consumers make food choices based on the nutrients that are most important to good health. In addition to listing nutrient content by weight, the label puts the information in the context of a daily diet of 2000 calories that includes no more than 65 grams of fat (approximately 30% of total calories). For example, if a serving of a particular product has 13 grams of fat, the label will show that the serving represents 20% of the daily fat allowance. If your daily diet contains fewer or more than 2000 calories, you need to adjust these calculations accordingly.

Food labels contain uniform serving sizes. This means that if you look at different brands of salad dressing, for example, you can compare calories and fat content based on the serving amount. (Food label serving sizes may be larger or smaller than MyPyramid serving size equivalents, however.) Regulations also require that foods meet strict definitions if their packaging includes the terms light, low-fat, or high-fiber (see below). Health claims such as “good source of dietary fiber” or “low in saturated fat” on packages are signals that those products can wisely be included in your diet. Overall, the food label is an important tool to help you choose a diet that conforms to MyPyramid and the Dietary Guidelines.

Selected Nutrient Claims and What They Mean

Healthy A food that is low in fat, is low in saturated fat, has no more than 360–480 mg of sodium and 60 mg of cholesterol, and provides 10% or more of the Daily Value for vitamin A, vitamin C, protein, calcium, iron, or dietary fiber.
Light or lite One-third fewer calories or 50% less fat than a similar product.
Reduced or fewer At least 25% less of a nutrient than a similar product; can be applied to fat (“reduced fat”), saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and calories.
Extra or added 10% or more of the Daily Value per serving when compared to what a similar product has.
Good source 10–19% of the Daily Value for a particular nutrient per serving.
High, rich in, or excellent source of 20% or more of the Daily Value for a particular nutrient per serving.
Low calorie 40 calories or less per serving.
High fiber 5 g or more of fiber per serving.
Good source of fiber 2.5–4.9 g of fiber per serving.
Fat-free Less than 0.5 g of fat per serving.
Low-fat 3 g of fat or less per serving.
Saturated fat-free Less than 0.5 g of saturated fat and 0.5 g of trans fatty acids per serving.
Low saturated fat 1 g or less of saturated fat per serving and no more than 15% of total calories.
Cholesterol-free Less than 2 mg of cholesterol and 2 g or less of saturated fat per serving.
Low cholesterol 20 mg or less of cholesterol and 2 g or less of saturated fat per serving.
Low sodium 140 mg or less of sodium per serving.
Very low sodium 35 mg or less of sodium per serving.
Lean Cooked seafood, meat, or poultry with less than 10 g of fat, 4.5 g or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 mg of cholesterol per serving.
Extra lean Cooked seafood, meat, or poultry with less than 5 g of fat, 2 g of saturated fat, and 95 mg of cholesterol per serving.
Note: The FDA has not yet defined nutrient claims relating to carbohydrates, so foods labeled low- or reduced-carbohydrate do not conform to any approved standard.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Beta Carotene

Carotenoids, the colorful pigments that make veggies yellow, orange, or red, help shield skin from sun damage.  Beta carotene—a carotenoid that your liver converts into vitamin A—and flavonols—antioxidants found in plants—provide protection against sunburn and skin damage from exposure to the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays, say German researchers report who analyzed multiple studies. However, beta carotene supplements can increase cancer risk, especially for smokers, so your best bet is to get your beta carotene from food sources.

Conditions: Sunburn
Recommendations: Dark green and yellow-orange vegetables such as spinach and sweet potatoes
Interactions & Side Effects: Fulfills vitamin A requirement, so don't take extra A


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Lautner Abs: Hanging Leg Raises


Hanging Leg Raises
Grab a chinup bar with an overhand, shoulder-width grip (or use elbow supports, if available), and hang from the bar with your knees slightly bent and feet together. Simultaneously bend your knees, raise your hips, and curl your lower back underneath you as you lift your thighs toward your chest. Pause when the fronts of your thighs reach your chest, then slowly lower your legs back to the starting position. Do three to four sets of 8 to 12 reps.

Source: Men's Health

Friday, February 1, 2013

Taylor Swift's Preferred Covergirl Products

 With two platinum albums and millions of fans, Taylor Swift embodies the confidence, energy, and passion it takes to be a COVERGIRL. With 4 Grammys, 5 CMT Music Awards, 7 AMA Awards, and more, Taylor has taken the music world by storm, all before her 21st birthday.

Taylor's two top choices are the Natureluxe Silk Foundation







And Covergirl LipPerfection Lip Color 




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