Foods that make you hungrier

Put down that light yogurt, it may be making you fat. As it turns out, a number of foods that are commonly thought to be great for weight loss can actually stimulate the appetite. We spoke withMarjorie Nolan, R.D., National Spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, to get the skinny on foods that can trigger hunger and sabotage your diet.

1. Light yogurt

The blast of sweet (often artificial) flavor causes the stomach to start producing gastric juices. With only four to six ounces of yogurt and no fat in a typical container, the body doesn’t have enough food to digest leaving the tummy rumbling for more.

Better choice: Nolan likes the creaminess and high protein content of plain, low-fat Greek yogurt. Add fruit and a sprinkle of cinnamon for flavor. If you choose the non-fat variety, add a tablespoon of sunflower seeds for crunch and satisfaction—the fat in nuts and seeds is slow to digest so a small serving keeps you feeling full.

[Related: The new Nordic diet: The next big weight loss trend?]

2. Puffed cereal with skim milk

The combo of skim milk and puffed cereal has too few calories to keep you energized for long. Many dieters reach for puffed cereal because it looks filling in a big bowl. However, the low fiber content leaves you wanting more soon after breakfast. Puffed cereal also has a high glycemic index, which causes blood sugar to drop after an initial boost of energy.

Better choice: Rolled or steel cut oats. Oatmeal is high in fiber, which makes it a satisfying breakfast. Add a spoonful of maple brown sugar if you need something sweet. Cooking your own plain oatmeal and adding a small amount of sweetener is much more nutritious than using pre-sweetened packets. Nolan likes to cook oats with low fat milk or stir in a tablespoon of peanut butter for even more stick-to-your-ribs goodness.

3. Big green salad with low fat or fat free dressing

The typical dieters’ lunch of a salad with low fat dressing can have a boomerang effect on the appetite. It’s full of fiber and visually filling but the low protein and fat content won’t satisfy for long. Stay away from fat-free dressings, which are loaded with sugar.

Better choice. Add three to six ounces of lean protein such as lean beef, chicken, or beans (the leaner the choice, the more you should eat) to your salad bowl.

4. Rice cakes

One rice cake=good, four rice cakes=overindulgence. And that’s about how many it will take to feel truly satisfied. Low in fiber with a high glycemic index, these classic diet snacks won’t leave your tank full for long.

Better choice: Spread a tablespoon of peanut butter or cream cheese onto a rice cake for a more balanced nosh. Or choose whole grain crackers with a spread or small portion of cheese for fiber and carbs plus protein.

5. Chewing gum

A little stick of gum is a stealth saboteur. While some chewing gum advocates say that it can stave off snacking, Nolan disagrees. She explains that the burst of flavor gets the gastric juices flowing. The act of chewing revs the digestive system even more, preparing it for a meal. If you want an express ticket to the all-you-can-eat buffet, chomp on some gum.

Better choice: We all have our munchy days, so if you are just looking for something to keep your mouth busy, air-popped corn or raw veggies are a safer bet.

6. Diet soda

Like gum, the sweet flavor wakes up the digestive process with no nutritional pay off which stimulates the appetite. Caffeine and carbonation may dampen your hunger pangs for a short time only to have them come roaring back along with an energy slump. If that’s not enough to make you rethink your daily fix, a study carried out by the University of Texas Health Center in San Antonio showed that people who consumed diet soda had a 70-500% increase of abdominal fat over ten years compared to those who didn’t drink diet soda.

Better choice: Drinking a hot beverage can slow down the appetite and allow you to think through your craving. Also, sometimes thirst signals are confused with hunger, so you may just need hydration. Non-caffeinated herbal teas won’t cause an energy crash.

7. Apple

Yes, apples are great for you—they contain lots of vitamins and fiber, but a single apple is not a balanced snack. If you don’t eat anything else with your afternoon apple, you may overeat at dinner.

Better choice: Apple with 5-10 almonds or a cheese stick. Spend a few more calories on your snack so you won’t be ravenous later

8. Low-calorie frozen entrees

Light frozen entrees contain little fiber and only about half the calories you will need to feel satiated. They are also loaded with salt. If you don’t have another option, look for a frozen dinner that contains 400-500 calories, 20-30 grams of protein, around 5 grams of fat, and 5-10 grams of fiber.

Better choice: If you are too busy to cook, Nolan suggests an “assembly based meal.” Roast chicken from the deli, a slice of whole grain bread, some salad bar vegetables, and a piece of fruit add up to a quick, healthy dinner.

9. Fat-free graham crackers or other baked goods

Nolan says people who are watching their weight tend to automatically reach for food labeled “fat free” on the package assuming it is more diet-friendly than the regular version. However, when manufacturers make fat-free foods, they often up the sugar content. Check the nutritional information on the back--the light versions sometimes contain more calories.

Better choice: Regular graham cracker. A small indulgence such as a graham cracker or square of quality chocolate keeps things interesting and won’t break the bank calorie-wise. Nolan points out that boredom is the enemy of dieters and causes people to fall of the wagon. “You are better off eating real food and more calories and feeling physically and emotionally satisfied than eating ‘diet food’ and being hungry in an hour.”

http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/9--diet--foods-that-make-you-hungrier.html

How to Really Listen

How to Really Listen

by Peter Bregman

"One morning, my wife Eleanor woke up, turned over, and said, "I am not looking forward to this day." I asked her why.

What came out is that we were at the start of the Jewish high holy day season, which means colder weather and three weeks of big social meals, long religious services, broken routines, and children out of school. Eleanor didn't grow up with these traditions, and they can be overwhelming.

Now, I run a management consulting company; problem solving is what I do. So it didn't take me long to jump in.

"Cold weather means ski season is about to start," I said. "You love skiing. And these holiday meals are fun and filled with people you love — they'll make you feel better. And I'll be with you; you won't be alone with the kids. Also, you know, Jesus was Jewish, so it's kind of your tradition too."

Even as I said it, I knew that last one was a reach. It became clear that I was making her feel worse and now she wasn't just sad, she was angry.

And when she got angry, I felt myself get angry too. And self-righteous. Here I am trying to help her and this is what I get?

But then I smartened up. Instead of giving in to my anger, which would have really blown things up, I shut up and listened. When I did, I began to hear the real stuff, the things that neither of us was actually saying.

What I discovered was that she was upset because the focus on mothers during the Jewish holidays taps into her insecurities about motherhood, not being a Jewish mom, and not having time to spend on her own work.

I also discovered that my own babbling wasn't so much to help her feel better as to help me feel better. I'm the reason she's in New York City, living through cold winters, and part of a Jewish family.

In other words, by trying to make her feel better, I was doing the opposite of making her feel better. I was arguing with her. In fact, most of the time when we try to make people feel better, we end up arguing with them because we're contradicting what they're feeling. Which, inevitably, makes them feel worse.

Listening, it turns out, is magic. Not only did it help me understand what was going on with both of us, but it helped Eleanor feel better, too. It made her feel that she wasn't alone in her feelings; I was with her.

All I had to do was listen.

But listening isn't easy. The more we listen to others, the more likely we will react — or overreact — to what they say. Listening, it turns out, is much harder than speaking. We have to allow things we might disagree with to hang in the air. We have to move over a little and create space for those things to linger.

That kind of listening takes tremendous courage.

But if we're interested in learning — about ourselves as well as others — then it's worth it. And if we're interested in being connected to others, showing them respect, helping them feel better, and solving problems between us, than it's more than worth it. It's essential.

Until people feel heard, they will fight to be heard. But once they are heard, there is little left to fight for, and then we can move on, not as "us vs. them" but simply as "us."

So how do you listen in a way that transforms conversations and relationships?

1. Actually listen. And only listen. That means don't multitask. I'm not just talking about doing email, surfing the web, or creating a grocery list. Thinking about what you're going to say next counts as multitasking. Simply focus on what the other person is saying.
2. Repeat back. This feels a little silly at first but works magic. If someone says she is angry about the decision you just made, you can say "you're angry about the decision I just made." I know, I know, she just said that. But it shows you're listening and it communicates to the other person that she's been heard. If you don't have the courage to try it with an adult, try it with a child. You'll see what a difference it makes and it will embolden you to try it with a colleague or your spouse.
3. Ask questions. Explore the other person's thoughts and feelings more deeply. And "You don't really believe that, do you?" does not count as a question. You are not using the Socratic method to prove your point; you are trying to better understand what's going on so you can better understand your partner in this conversation.

Really listening can feel risky, which seems strange because listening doesn't materially change anything. But sometimes you'll hear things that are hard to hear.

Remember that listening is not the same thing as agreeing. And it will never force you to take any particular action. If anything, it will reduce the intensity of people's insistence that you take a specific action. Because in many cases what they're looking for is proof that you've heard them. So if they feel you've really heard them, their need for action diminishes.

As Eleanor spoke, I noticed my own resistance to various things she was saying. There's no question that it's hard to really listen. But once I relaxed into it, I heard her in a much deeper way. That made her feel better. Call me co-dependent, but it made me feel better too.

It turns out that sometimes, just listening is problem-solving."

When women lose their hair...

Losing your hair? You can blame fall
By Nadine Bells

(Thinkstock)

With the wind, rain and dropping temperatures comes... hair loss?

A recent Swedish study found women tend to lose the most hair in autumn. It’s all part of a strand of hair’s lifecycle.

A human hair grows for about two to six years. Scientists have discovered that at any one time, about 90 per cent of our hair is growing, while the rest is in the telogen stage — a resting phase — for two to six months before falling out. That hair follicle rests for about three months, and then another strand grows.

It’s normal for women to lose up to 100 hairs a day.

Researchers found that in a study of 800 healthy women, the highest proportion of hair in the telogen stage was in July.  The stage ended — with hair shedding — in late October and beyond.

[See also: Are you eating right - for your hair?]

This autumn hair-loss pattern is likely evolutionary. We don’t need our hair to protect our scalps from the sun in the wintery months.

Hair is also a barometer for health.

'Hair cells are the second-fastest produced cells in the body after bone marrow, so hair is often the first thing to suffer from any bodily upset,' said Glenn Lyons, consultant trichologist at the Philip Kingsley clinic.

We don’t need our hair to survive — just ask Bruce Willis, who appears to be thriving nicely without it — so your body knows to prioritize other organs.

“If it’s a choice between your hair growing or keeping blood going to vital organs, the former will suffer,” Marie Claire reports.

“Hair is an incredibly sensitive barometer. It can even forewarn you when there are no other symptoms of illness,” said Dr. Hugh Rushton of the University of Portsmouth.

Hair loss outside of normal growth rhythms has been linked to a number of other factors, pointing to disruptions in health, medication use, nutritional deficiencies and crash dieting, stress, pregnancy and birth-control usage, thyroid conditions and infections.

So if a hairbrush with more rogue strands in it than usual is causing you to panic, talk to your doctor. Here’s a list of blood tests to request. No use stressing over hair loss — since stress might be partly to blame.

5 ingredients of a get-skinny supper

I’m crazy about fall foods. I love apples and squash and most of all I love... chili. I honestly could eat it every day. No exaggeration. In my book, EatingWell’s Zesty Wheat Berry-Black Bean Chili, with a green salad on the side, is not only a perfectly wholesome, yummy dinner—it’s an ideal get-skinny supper because it contains 5 ingredients that research shows help with weight loss. (Get a week of get-skinny supper ideas with our 7-Day Diet Meal Plan to Lose Weight.)

Here are the 5 key ingredients of my favorite get skinny supper.

Beans, beans... They’re good for your heart. They’re also good for keeping you feeling full and—according to recent research—blasting belly fat. The secret? Soluble fiber. Researchers at Wake Forest Medical Center reported that for every 10-gram increase in soluble fiber per day, visceral fat (the more dangerous kind deep in your belly, surrounding your organs) dropped by 3.7 percent over five years. (Other sources of soluble fiber include oats, barley, apples, okra, citrus.)
Recipes to Try: Zesty Wheat Berry-Black Bean Chili & More Bean-Packed Chili Recipes

Whole grains are also rich in fiber (soluble and insoluble!) so adding things like wheat berries or barley to your chili gives it even more staying power. Of course, if you’re like my husband and want to eat something besides chili once in a while, you could expand your whole-grain repertoire to include other whole-grain recipes for slimming soups, herb-studded pilafs, and more.

Chile pepper: Research suggests that capsaicin, the compound that gives fresh chiles, and spices including cayenne and chipotle, their kick can boost metabolic burn. In other words, you can torch more calories with spicy recipes (including chili)—so try a few new ones.

Salad greens: Starting with a salad may prevent you from overdoing high-calorie fare later. In fact, research out of Penn State shows that eating a first-course salad can reduce overall calorie intake at a meal by up to 12 percent. Check it: Starter salads and soups to keep you slim.

Vinegar: At our house, side salads are simple: mixed greens with some snap peas, cherry tomatoes and sliced black olives topped with a little olive oil and vinegar—another ingredient that may have weight-loss benefits. In one 2005 study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, including 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar with a meal resulted in subjects eating 200 to 275 fewer calories through the day. “The acid in vinegar may inhibit the digestion of the starch, so the starch is rendered into something like fiber, which can’t be digested well,” says Carol Johnston, Ph.D., R.D., professor and chair of the department of nutrition at Arizona State University.

What's your go-to get-skinny supper when you're trying to shed some pounds?

By Nicci Micco

Nicci Micco is editor-at-large for EatingWell and co-author of EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners. She has a master's degree in nutrition and food sciences, with a focus in weight management.

The secret to living happily every after?

More than 200 women in long-term relationships are interviewed to find out what they're secret is. 
What they all did

Is distance the key to a happy marriage?

(Thinkstock Photos)

Boredom.  It’s the leading deal-breaker in marriages, according to a recent survey of over 100 family and divorce lawyers.  Not to mention Brad Pitt. 

Married for 23 years, journalist Iris Krasnow has a personal antidote to the long-term marital rut that  creeps into relationships over time: separate summer vacations.

Once a year for about a decade, she’s spent a portion of her summer away from her husband. When her four sons were young, she’d work as a counselor at their camp in the Adirondacks while her husband, an architect and furniture maker, focused on his own projects back at their Annapolis, Maryland home. “I love nature so I just thrived up there and he’d get so much work done back home,” says Krasnow, an associate professor of communication at American University.

Related link: The one reason you should get married

After seven weeks away (with a visit in between) their marriage was usually stronger than ever. “When I’d come home, the grind of an ordinary marriage seemed extraordinary,” she says.

It’s one of the trade secrets she’s learned in her own marriage, and through interviewing over 200 women in long-term relationships, for her new book, "The Secret Lives of Wives". 

A little distance is key to growing "separately, together," as Krasnow calls it. "You can't live happily ever after in your marriage if you're not happy outside of it," she says. One major misconception in marriage, as Krasnow sees it, is believing your spouse is your only source of happiness. "No one person can make you happy, it has to come from within," says Krasnow. “When you live with someone day in and out the 'hot' doesn’t stay 'hot' unless you take time apart to discover yourself and what makes you happy independent of your partner.”

Related link: Canadian marriages on the decline

For Krasnow, that means a few spouse-less weeks away.  For some of the women she interviewed, it's come in the form of a girlfriends' getaway or a newfound hobby that forces a little separation between family life and personal identity. "All of the women I've interviewed with strong marriages have great girlfriends they can drink, travel, and vent with," she says with a snicker.  "The trick is having separateadventures and pursuits from your spouse, not separate lives."

She limits her time apart from her husband to three to four weeks maximum and she’s learned in her time  away to feel comfort in her husband’s absence. “It’s okay to miss someone you love,” she says. “It’s a very powerful aphrodisiac.”

Some couples take it one step further, dividing their time between two separate homes. In 2006, 3.8 million married couples were considered “living apart together.” Judith Newman and her husband of more than a decade, are one of them.  “Living apart has allowed us to stay married and remain in love,”Newman writes in Self Magazine. From the get-go they had different ideas about how to keep a home, how to  decorate, and how to live peacefully inside their shared space.  Their solution was to keep two separate apartments nearby, even after they had kids.  “We do find each other essential,” she writes. “It’s just that, like many couples, we find each other deeply annoying, too. The only difference with us is that sometimes we can breathe a deep sigh of relief at the end of the day and say: I love you, honey; now get the hell out of here!”

Related link: Three risks to take in your marriage

One reason a little distance goes a long way in a marriage: it fosters self-reliance. A study published in the journal Family Relations found that wives of men with fishing or trucking jobs that took them away from home for weeks at a time were more likely to take on male roles in the house. The ability to fix things in the home, and accomplish tasks they’d otherwise rely on their spouse for, bolstered confidence and diminished the "neediness" factor that festers in a long-term relationship.    

But not everyone believes co-dependence is a bad thing.  Dr. Paul Amato, author of  "Alone Together: How Marriage in America is Changing", found that couples are spending more time apart than ever. Over a period of 20 years, more spouses are vacationing, networking, and making friends outside of their family units.  He suggests that too much independence and self-reliance can make the idea of divorce more palatable.

A partner-free vacation is only a problem if your marriage is unstable,  says psychologist Ruth A. Peters,  PhD. “When the relationship is intact, occasional separate vacations can add a terrific dimension to your marriage,” Peters tells MSNBC. “But if trouble is already brewing between partners, a separate vacation may do more harm than good. Consider your true motivation for the vacation, the stability of your finances and relationship, ages of your children, and willingness to compromise.”

Related link: Is it your job to make your partner happy?

For Angela Neustatter, compromise saved her marriage. So did a little time apart under one roof. After a protracted marital rut characterized by frustration and bickering, she and her husband considered separating, until they came up with a plan. “Separate togetherness,” is how Neustatter described their deal in the Telegraph. Together the couple assigned themselves “private spaces in our home to retreat to,  allowing us to choose when we wanted to be together.” It did wonders.  “It was the best thing we could have done. We went back to behaving as we had much earlier in our relationship...And as we grew closer, we were able to talk about having felt we’d grown apart and the pleasure in growing together again. “

Sometimes a little distance, be it a few feet or few thousand miles, goes a long way. 

Protect your pearly whites and avoid these teeth-damagers

You may eat for your shape, but do you eat for your teeth? 

TLC lists the common foods and habits that can hurt our dental health — and what we can do to reduce their negative effects.

Dental Destroyer: Carbonated Drinks

Maybe it’s time to ditch the soda once and for all. We already know there’s no nutritional value to the diet stuff, and the full-sugar versions are bad for both bone density and the waistline. The sugary drinks may seem like the obvious cavity-makers, but diet and sports drinks included contain enamel-eroding acids, too.

While a less destructive option, sparkling water can also weaken tooth enamel because the fizziness comes from a weak acid solution containing carbon dioxide. 

If you must sip carbonated drinks, do so through a straw so the liquid hits the back of your throat rather than hitting your teeth directly. Rinse your mouth with still water when you’re done to make sure residue of the acidic beverage isn’t left on your teeth. 

[See also: 5 dangers your dentist never told you about]

And wait for a while before brushing your teeth — you don’t want to scrub the softened enamel.

Dental Destroyer: Hard Candy

Hard candy isn’t exactly a diet strategy, but many of us will suck on a mint or Jolly Rancher to keep the mid-afternoon munchies at bay. The problem with hard candies is two-fold. First, they’re “tooth crackers,” threatening to crack your teeth and secondly, they dissolve slowly giving sugar direct access to your teeth for a long time.

“Mints, cough drops or hard candies you suck on have a demineralization effect," Dr. Walter Vogl, a Toronto dentist, told Best Health, "because usually the lozenge ends up sitting in one area for longer periods of time and you get a very concentrated build-up of acid.”

When you do eat candy, down a glass of water or milk when you’re finished, especially if your toothbrush isn’t readily accessible. 

[See also: 5 secrets to a brighter, whiter smile]

Dental Destroyer: Ice

It’s calorie-free and refreshing. Some people crave ice, others just munch on it out of boredom when they get to the bottom of their glass. Chomping down on ice can chip, crack or break your teeth, and can also wear down enamel. 

Unlike the other habits that come with contingency plans, this is one habit you actually need to break. 

Drink from a straw so you don’t have easy access to ice, or just order your drink without it. If you legitimately crave ice, see a doctor — you may be suffering from an iron deficiency.

Read how medications that cause dry mouth and starchy foods can also be bad for your dental health in TLC’s Top 5 Worst Things to Eat for Your Teeth article.
http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/protect-your-pearly-whites-and-avoid-these-teeth-damagers.html
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Canada’s women will disappear in the year 4400, statistics show

Don't worry about any pending apocalypse, Canada is due to become extinct in a few thousand years.


The Economist reports this week falling fertility rates around the world spell doom for many countries as the single life appeals to more women than replacing themselves through children.

Women in the wealthier parts of Asia, for example, are literally on a "marriage strike" leading to a drop in birth rates.

The United Nations reports women in 83 countries and territories around the globe won't have enough daughters to replace themselves unless fertility rates suddenly rise.

Using Hong Kong as an example, 1,000 women there are expected to give birth to 547 daughters. Those daughters would in turn be succeeded by only 299 daughters and so on.

At that rate, Hong Kong's female population would shrink from 3.75 million to just one in 25 generations. The last female would be born in 2798.

If you apply that theory to Japan, Germany, Russia, Italy and Spain, their populations won't last out the millennium.

Canada's last woman, using current statistics, would be born sometime around 4400. We fare better than most countries except Brazil, which will see its last woman born close to 5000.

And, China isn't about to save the world from eventual declining fertility rates either. Using the same UN population figures, it has a mere 1,500 years left before it too can't replace its women.


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