This question is one that I have needed to research for awhile...When my cousin, son and I started our journey we decided to eat out on Saturday's after our weigh in...We all know that fat is flavor, so when you eat out you can't control the fat completely.  With that said...I feel that eating out would kick start my next week. Does my body need more fat then I am giving it?  Can we eat to healthy?  Let take a look at the facts about fat...

Too little fat can be detrimental to many healthful goals. So how little is too little fat? The American Heart Association recommends that 30 percent of a healthy adult's daily calories come from fat. In fact, if you go lower than 20 percent, experts say it can hurt your health by limiting the absorption of some vitamins, like vitamins A, D, E and K. 

A deficiency of essential fatty acids, like those found in flaxseed and fatty fish, has been linked to depression and other mental disorders. Heart disease and risk of some types of cancers increase when fat is severely limited. Research shows that a high intake of omega-3 fatty acids limits prostate tumor growth and inhibits some cancers. Too little fat increases levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol and inhibits HDL, or "good" cholesterol from helping to excrete cholesterol.

All fats are not created equal. Trans fats - the "worst" kind - should be limited or eliminated altogether, and saturated fats should be limited as well. Monounsaturated fats are beneficial and can be found in avocados, canola and olive oil, fatty fish, and nuts, so most dietary fat should be derived from these sources. When you eat the right kinds of fat, you can prevent overeating because fat creates a sense of satiety. So enjoy the right kinds of fats and reap the benefits.

Eating Fat Doesn't Make You Fat!!  Excess calories combined with a lack of physical activity makes you fat. Eating too many carbs or too much protein will have the same effect that eating too much fat has. At the end of the day, if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. It doesn't matter whether those extra calories come from carbs, proteins or fats, the result will be the same.

I have always heard that walking is the best exercise....but I also thought you must get your heart rate up, as in cardio!  So today's topic lets take a look at the facts and then you can determine your own thoughts on the matter. First, we all know that in order to lose fat and pounds, you must burn more calories than you consume!  So where do you get the most bang for your buck.

One great way to gauge how far you are walking or how many steps you are taking is to get yourself a good quality pedometer. This will also allow you to keep track of how much walking you’re doing in a day including while you are at work or just walking around the shops.  Walking 10,000 steps a day is now widely recommended by exercise experts as a target number for improving your health. You'll typically use between 300 and 400 calories by walking 10,000 steps.

Once you're feeling the benefits of 10,000 steps a day, you're bound to start thinking about other forms of activity.  Let's face it the more you move the more you WANT to move.  I started on my bike riding (in the living room) riding 10 minutes a day was all I could do in the beginning and now I ride 45 minutes a day and enjoy it!  You have to find what you enjoy!  I also have a treadmill and I change it up and switch between the two.

Let's get back to the walking vs. cardio concept.  By moving your arms, legs, hips, and torso while walking, you begin to breathe heavier, your heart beats faster, and blood flows more freely between your muscles and lungs. Your blood vessels widen to deliver more oxygen to your muscles, and your body begins to release endorphins (natural painkillers that promote a sense of well-being). A 30-minute walk can burn around 150 calories and boost your metabolism at the same time. A faster metabolism helps your body burn calories and absorb nutrients from your food, and will fuel your desire to drink water, which helps with detoxification and digestion.

Walking can be cardio and it's a natural exercise we all do everyday.  I understand that not everyone has a mountain in their backyard to climb while walking...but even if you live where it is fairly flat just pick up the pace a bit! Soon you will be walking to a healthier and better you.

 Whole eggs have a long nutritional history of being good for you, then bad for you (during the low-cholesterol craze), and then good for you again. The main reason why eggs were placed in the "don’t eat" basket several decades ago was due to their high cholesterol and fat content; a large egg has 200 mg of cholesterol and 6 grams of fat. The belief was that by removing cholesterol from your diet, your cholesterol levels would go down – sounds like it makes sense, right? Wrong, your body is much more complex than that. 

So it’s time to revisit this and HOPEFULLY put an end to the myth that egg yolks are bad. Here’s the deal.  The yolk has all the cholesterol and fat.  That is correct.  It also has ALL the nutrition! While some still shun the yellow goodness in the egg, egg yolks are fantastic for you.  

There has NEVER been a connection between eating eggs and heart disease. You see, while it was once though that eating dietary cholesterol meant it went directly to your arteries to form plaque, we now know that dietary cholesterol doesn’t play much of a role in plasma cholesterol. 

Outside of the cholesterol "concern," eggs are high in some nutrients that may be otherwise difficult to get in the diet – choline, which is great for brain health, carotenoids, which are important for eye health, and zeaxanthin, which is an antioxidant.  And those are just a few of the benefits.

A recent study published in the International Journal of Obesity fed subjects an egg based breakfast (2 eggs/day) or a bagel based breakfast for 8 weeks.  It’s well known eating breakfast boosts fat loss.  This took it one step further. Their findings?
Those eating the egg based breakfasts had a 65% greater weight loss and 34% greater decrease in their waists.

Many of us middle age adults can agree, at some point, your body just starts hurting.  It can be sudden or gradual, but we begin to notice pain in places we didn’t before.  What can we do? How do we continue to exercise? Often people’s first reaction is that they should stop exercising to avoid more damage to their joints. But research has shown that regular, moderate exercise is better than no exercise at all even when it comes to arthritis.  Exercise can actually reduce joint pain and stiffness, help to build strong muscle around the joints, and increases flexibility.

Starting an exercise program can seem like a daunting proposition. The important thing to remember is to start slow and make it fun. It is always good to start with flexibility exercises, which are basically stretching exercises that will improve your range of motion and help you perform daily activities. 

When you have arthritis, you need strong muscles to lessen the stress on your joints. Strengthening exercises can help build your muscles so they can absorb shock and protect your joints from injury, as well as help you get around better. These exercises use weight or resistance to make your muscles work harder, thereby helping them get stronger.

Try to include aerobic activity in your fitness program three to four times each week, with a goal of working in your target heart rate for 30 minutes each session. You can work up to this goal slowly, starting with as little as 5 minutes and increasing as you get stronger and are able.

If you’ve tried exercising before, but were unsuccessful, don’t make a mistake by trying the same way this time. Do something new. Pick activities you can easily work into your day or find a buddy to exercise with. Bottom line just move..it does help relieve pain. 

The first myth buster blog was so popular we will add to it from time to time.  To recap it's all about marketing, after all marketing sole purpose is to sell the product.  Whether it is the spectacular super bowl commercials or just the packaging.  With that said let's dive back into busting some myth's.

Organic foods are are better for me? Depends on the product....if you peel a banana then no, but if you eat a strawberry then yes. If you eat the skin or the outer layer then organic is worth the extra money.  Organic chicken or free range chicken just means the chicken have the option of going out the door outside....doesn't mean they do!  See the blog on organic for more details

Fresh vegetables are better than frozen? No! The frozen vegetables are picked at the peak of ripeness and frozen immediately all the nutrition is packed in those little frozen bags. Some veggies are picked before ripe so in transit they ripen.  Depending on the veggies some are actually better frozen.  Frozen can also be cheaper!

Light Olive Oil is healthier for you because it has less calories...NO! Light means the color, not the fat content!

It's best not to eat after 7 pm? It's not the time but the type of food which you eat that counts. Eating more calories than you burn will make you gain weight. But late snacking can push your calorie intake over the edge. Eating just before you go to bed can hamper sleep patterns in that it messes with your insulin. I'd suggest you don't eat for two to three hours before bed.

 Chocolate has lots of fat, lots of sugar so I can't have it? NO! I am sure many are happy to hear this one (personally I would rather have my carbs) Dark chocolate contains flavanols, antioxidants that seem to have a blood-thinning effect, which can benefit cardiovascular health. And, recently, researchers in Switzerland reported that eating dark chocolate (1.4 ounces of it) every day for two weeks reduced stress hormones, including cortisol, in highly stressed people. But, remember to count points/calories, this doesn't give you free reign to all things chocolate.

I read this quote 'Why were people so surprised when the New England Journal of Medicine reported that obesity is a contagion you catch from your friends?' and truly felt the need to research this topic further. Some friends cause hypertension, some cause inebriation and some, it is now confirmed, cause obesity. Or the opposite. After all, food and drink are the ampersands that unite so many of us: it's how Ben found Jerry, how Mike met Ike, why Baskin embraced Robbins.

If your friend, or even your friend’s friend is obese, you are 57 percent more likely to be obese. Wow that is some study! Happily, that isn't yet the case. For while the study can explain some friendships--it doesn't account for so many of history's finest partnerships: Laurel & Hardy, Skipper & Gilligan, Abbott & Costello, Siskel & Ebert, and those most enduring of all buddies, Ernie & Bert.

Not everyone agrees with the study's findings. Some scienticists say that maybe fat or happy people like to hang out together because in general, we like to be around people who are like us, so it might just be correlaton (or association), not causation. Also, it could be the environment that causes friends to get fat at the same time. Maybe they all live to close to a McDonalds that just opened up. One counter study found that if a high school student was tall, his or her friends were more likely to be tall. You can't catch height from someone else.

The studies used a "looser" mathematical model (not sure what that means here). But they also found that if person A considered person B a friend but not vice-versa, if person B got fat, then it increased the chance of person A getting fat. But if person A got fat it did not affect the chances of person B getting fat. So if something in the environment caused one person to get fat (like a new McDonalds), it should affect both people. But it did not always do so. That means there has to be another reason. Maybe what you do is affected by what you think other people think is okay.

Are liquid calories getting in the way of your weight loss?  We talk about tracking BLT's (bites, licks and tastes) but what about your liquids....we all drink water and we know that is zero points. Sugar sweetened beverages are the number one source of calories in the United States.  In fact, most american's down an average of 11/2 cans a day....that's 600 a year!! 

Consider this, a 12 ounce can contains the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar.  Over the course of a year that adds up...indulging in just one can of regular soda a day can cause you to gain as many as 10 pounds a year. If you have already made a switch to diet soda your not alone, in a recent survey 59% of soda sippers have opt for diet over a regular soda.

Keep a log of all the beverages you drink in a 24 hour period. Also, take note of the times of day you tend to crack open a can. Your goal? To do away with mindless guzzling, whether it's in the car, at your desk, or in front of the TV. If you drink only regular soda try to make an effort to switch to diet.  Start by swapping one can of regular for one can of diet per day.

Once you've switched to diet soda, the next step is to dial down the amount you drink to a few servings a day.  If you're finding it hard to cut back opt for an occasional glass of iced green tea, which is mildly caffeinated and has been shown to boost immunity.

I can make the sandwich into a simple snack or a gourmet meal, we can toast them, we can wrap them and put them in the oven.  If your idea of a healthy sandwich is a slice of meat between two slices of bread — you can do better!  How about a chicken parm sandwich, crab salad stuffed pita, avocado & white bean wrap, is your mouth watering yet?

While you might think of sandwiches as just for lunch, they are great for dinner too. Sandwiches are endlessly versatile—you can pile lots of delicious, healthy toppings on whole-grain bread with a delicious tangy sauce for added zip. Try to stay away from things like typical lunch meat, many have very high sodium.  Try to move more toward mixing fruits and vegetables, and incorporating ingredients and condiments and spreads that one wouldn't normally think about putting on a sandwich. They can be vegetarian or have meat on it, as long as it's good for you.  Here are some examples:

Whole grain: Sliced bread, bun, roll, tortilla, pita, ciabatta, baguette, focaccia, naan, English muffin, bagel, flat bread, cracker

Spread or relish: Mustard (regular, hot or sweet), low-fat mayonnaise, cranberry relish or other fruit spread, hummus, honey, pesto, peanut butter, salsa, low-fat refried beans, BBQ sauce

Toppings: Lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, peppers (sweet, hot or spicy), celery, radishes, cucumbers, herbs, apple, pear, grapes, raisins, chopped nuts

Preparation method: Traditional (layered), toasted, grilled or panini style, roll or wrap, stuffed, open-faced, salad-filled

Bottom line, be creative use leftovers from the night before or Grilled Goat Cheese Sandwich with Fig and Honey.  How about a Smoked Mozzarella, Spinach, and Pepper Omelet on an english muffin for breakfast.  Have a side of fruit with that sandwich and you have a healthy and satisfying meal.

Let's face it I have never seen something healthy on a 99 cent menu....It can be expensive to eat healthy!  The number one post I see on weight watchers facebook page is many can't afford to go.  So I felt a huge need to see how we can stretch our dollar further and purchase healthy foods....cheaper! So how can we watch our wallets as well as our waistline?

When I do research for the snack cupboard and check out nutritional information I come across coupons on the manufacturer's websites.  Progresso Soup has a dollar off today on their website.  Skinny Cow and Laughing Cow have coupons all the time. Check the brands you buy before you go to the grocery store.  

Okay how else can we save?  Lets look at the price of some specific foods, some of my favorite food stretchers are:

Eggs: Instead of expensive chicken, fish or beef for dinner, why not cook up a veggie omelet or frittata.  An egg-cellent source of protein and the antioxidant lutein (for healthy eyes, skin, and heart), one large egg contains 75 calories and 6 grams of protein. Boil up a few and store them in the fridge for a quick grab-and-go snack.  A dozen large eggs range from $1.50 to $3.20. If you buy them in 1.5 dozen packs or larger (bulk warehouses sell seven to eight dozen packs), you’ll pay even less per egg. If that’s too many eggs for your fridge basket, split them with a friend.

Oats: The large canisters of plain rolled oats — not those single-serving, sugary ones — will give you the most for your dollar. One serving of oatmeal (made from a half-cup of dry oats) contains 150 calories, 5 grams of protein and 4 grams of cholesterol-friendly fiber — all that for a mere 30 cents. Dress up your oatmeal with any budget-friendly fruits. Add rolled oats to your smoothie for a little extra fiber.

Canned Tomatoes: Fresh tomatoes can cost you a pretty penny depending on the time of year. But you can still get plenty of the antioxidants vitamin C and lycopene from the canned varieties. The larger the can, the more you’ll save. A 48-ounce can of crushed tomatoes costs around $1.50 (that’s 5 cents per ounce!). Add crushed tomatoes to soups, stews, chili and pasta dishes.

Non-Fat Yogurt: Full of calcium and a good protein source, this creamy treat is an easy breakfast or on-the-go snack. But the real superstars in yogurt are those healthy, live bacteria called probiotics. They help your body fight off bad bacteria and keep your digestive system in tip-top shape. Choose yogurt made with skim milk and without sugar substitutes. The generic brands cost less, especially if you find them in large 32-ounce tubs. They will save you 20% for the same amount in single-serve containers. Choose plain yogurt and top with your favorite add-ins — raisins, chunks of fruit or even fiber one cereal.

Oranges: Add affordable fruits to your weekly shopping list — oranges, apples, and bananas. In season now are vitamin C-rich oranges, so you’ll find them at the best price (about 50 cents each). In the fall, fill your cart up with fresh apples. You’ll find bananas at a great price year-round (I’ve recently seen them at 19 cents each). Use these bargain fruits as snacks and cereal toppers (as opposed to some of the more pricey berries and tropical fruits). Frozen bananas also make a tasty addition to healthy fruit smoothies.

Also don't forget to check the weekly ads (you can also find those online) and stock up your pantry and freezer!

Let's face it to truly change your lifestyle...you need to start cooking!  Don't get me wrong ...you can live off of smart ones, progressive soup, packaged products and still lose weight, but you better watch your blood pressure.  Processed food is load with sodium.  For every excuse you make not to cook, I can give you a better reason why you should.

Pressed for time?  Cooking a complete dinner can be faster than going to a restaurant.  Too tedious for you? Cooking can be a creative outlet. Many recipes on the website are as little as five ingredients....start there!  Once you learn basic skills you will built confidence and will want to try more challenging recipes.

Focus on mastering essential cooking techniques such as braising, steaming and blanching.  Grilling can be one of the healthiest ways to prepare protein, vegetables and yes even fruit.  Give grilled peaches a try for a wonderful dessert.  Even add a scoop of sorbet in the center for a real refreshing treat.

Once you have built a repertoire of go to recipes, making dinner will become a no brainer.  Measuring, peeling and dicing ingredients in advance can be a surefire recipe for success.  Let your creative juices flow in the kitchen and make it a family event, even let the family pick out foods at the grocery store with your recipe in hand.  This activity can be fun and also teach everyone to cook.....TOGETHER!  Soon it will not be a chore but an activity!