Source: Icky People

With obesity rates soaring, food costs climbing, and family food budgets shrinking, this easy-to-use guide is hitting stores just in time to put shoppers back in control of their health, their wallets, and their waistlines. Available nationwide in stores today, this groundbreaking book reveals hundreds of easy food swaps that can save readers thousands of unwanted calories – without dieting!

What many Americans don’t know is that food marketers have altered the reality of the weekly trip to the supermarket, making it impossible for shoppers to truly see where the battle lines fall in the fight against fat. The food industry spends $30 billion a year on advertising–nearly half of it pitching convenience foods, candy, soda and dessert. Now more than ever, Americans need help deciphering misleading food labels and dubious health claims, as the food we consume today is considerably different from the food that we ate 20 or 30 years ago. And the reasons are as simple as they are sneaky:

– We’ve added extra calories to traditional foods. Today, high-fructose corn syrup is in an unbelievable array of foods, from breakfast cereals to bread, from ketchup to iced tea.
– We’ve been trained to supersize it. The problem is the way we look at food–we should be looking at cutting down calories, not adding them.
– Our fruits and vegetables aren’t as healthy as they once were. Six out of 13 nutrients showed major declines between 1950 and 1999: protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin and Vitamin C.
– We’re drinking more calories than ever. We consume 450 calories a day from beverage, nearly twice as many as 30 years ago, which amount to an extra 23 pounds a year!
– We don’t know what’s in our food. There are now more than 3,000 ingredients on the FDA’s list of “safe food” additives, and any one of them could end up on your plate.

All of these disturbing trends in our food supply are a lot to chew on–but chew on them we do, often because we feel we have no choice. But now you can make the right choices with EAT THIS, NOT THAT! SUPERMARKET SURVIVAL GUIDE.

Packed with smart shopping strategies and savvy food-buying tips, readers will also learn to:

– Pick Produce: From avocados to zucchini, know when produce is ripe, when it’s in season, what nutrients it contains, and how to store it.
– Make Sense of Meat: Understand the healthiest protein options in the store and decode USDA labeling and grades.
– Understand Organic: When it comes to pesticide contamination, not all fruits and vegetables are created equal. Learn when to pay extra for the organic label.
– Make Smart Swaps: By choosing Breyer’s Mint Chocolate Chip over Haagen-Dazs Mint Chip, you’ll save nearly 7 pounds this year! Learn hundreds of other simple changes to cut calories fast.
– Make Budget-Friendly Food Plans: Find out the best day of the week to shop, then maximize a week’s worth of groceries with food plans and healthy, great-tasting recipes.

Investigative and compelling, EAT THIS NOT THAT! SUPERMARKET SURVIVAL GUIDE will show readers how to avoid nutritional pitfalls lurking in every aisle while helping them lose weight, save cash, and make the right food choices every time.

DAVID ZINCZENKO, SVP/Editor-in-Chief of Men’s Health magazine, is the author of New York Times bestsellers The Abs Diet and The Abs Diet for Women. Once an overweight child, Zinczenko has become one of the nation’s leading experts on health and fitness. He is a regular contributor to the Today show and has appeared on Oprah, Good Morning America, Primetime Live, 20/20, The Rachael Ray Show, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

MATT GOULDING is the food and nutrition editor of Men’s Health. He has cooked and eaten his way around the world, touching down in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he divides most of his time between keyboard and stovetop.

According to a study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, women who ate breakfast regularly tended to eat fewer calories overall during the day. A healthy breakfast fuels the body and replenishes blood sugar levels to rev up metabolism for maximum calorie burn from morning until night.
Skipping breakfast deprives the body of the fuel it needs and often leads to impulsive snacking later in the morning. According to a study conducted by the Weight Watchers Smart Ones brand in 2008, two-thirds of Americans believe eating breakfast will help them maintain their weight. Surprisingly, 25 percent of those same men and women admit skipping breakfast as their worst breakfast habit!  For such breakfast offenders, the 10:30 a.m. run to the office vending machine can be all too common and may mean unhealthy choices.

To break bad habits, food lovers can actually focus on the most appealing part of their morning meal — great taste. In the same Smart Ones brand survey, eight in 10 people ranked good taste as most important when considering what to eat for breakfast.

Devin Alexander, television host and author of “The Most Decadent Diet Ever,” offers simple solutions for maintaining a healthy eating regimen in the morning without sacrificing taste or resorting to the same old boring routine.  “There are a variety of low-fat, flavorful foods that help you start the day the right way, even if you’re too time crunched to cook,” says Alexander.

She recommends new choices from the Weight Watchers Smart Ones Morning Express breakfast line as a nutritious way to sneak breakfast in each day. The line boasts four convenient and delicious varieties, including the savory Breakfast Quesadilla and a Stuffed Breakfast Sandwich, which can be ready in the microwave in three minutes or less, contain 240 calories or less, and are made with lean proteins, low-fat cheeses, vegetables and egg whites for a healthy start to the day.

Alexander offers a few other tips for quick, delicious morning meals:

* Make a large container of oatmeal to last for the week and store it in the refrigerator. Each morning, reheat the oatmeal and flavor it with your favorite fresh fruit or fruit spread for a finished breakfast in minutes.

* Always leave a bowl of fresh fruit on the counter, so you never walk out the door hungry even if you’re in a rush.

* You can never buy too much yogurt. Try a variety of flavors for a quick, calcium-pick me-up.

Now, Devin brings her tips and advice to the masses on The Morning Express Breakfast Club (eatyourbest.com/breakfastclub), an online destination for healthy breakfast recipes, tips and advice to fuel the day with ideas that appeal to everyone from breakfast connoisseurs to women on the go.

The secret to eating right and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to make smart choices that are good for you, but also taste good, too. So listen to the advice your mother gave you and don’t skip the most important meal of the day.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

“Skipping breakfast only delays hunger, and often leads to overeating later in the day,” explains Bob Greene, an exercise physiologist, personal trainer to Oprah Winfrey and author of ‘The Best Life Diet Cookbook.” “But not just any breakfast will do. Some standard options like Danishes or doughnuts are simply empty calories. Instead, choose a balanced, nutritious dish.”

That means your breakfast should include all three “macronutrients”:  carbohydrates, such as whole-grain toast; healthy fats like nuts or nut butters; and lean protein (such as egg whites and nonfat or 1 percent dairy). This combination offers a wealth of nutritious ingredients, but is also the most satisfying for the calories and will keep your hunger in check until lunch, Greene explains.

Protein — especially high-quality protein, such as eggs — helps quell appetite. Greene recommends Crystal Farms AllWhites and Better’n Eggs as a convenient way to add lean, high-quality protein to your morning meal. Made from real eggs — but with no fat, no cholesterol and half the calories — AllWhites and Better’n Eggs are optimal sources of protein. Both products come in easy-to-pour cartons and can be found in the dairy case of your local grocery store.

“We all have busy lives, but it couldn’t be easier to add lean protein to your breakfast,” Greene says. “From traditional scrambled eggs to increasing the protein in a smoothie recipe, egg alternatives bring healthy convenience right into your fridge.”

For an on-the-go breakfast option packed with protein, Greene recommends this makeover of the traditional greasy breakfast sandwich. Prepared in just 10 minutes, the Spicy Bacon and Cheese Eggwich combines high-protein egg substitutes with cheddar cheese and lean turkey bacon in a whole-wheat English muffin. With 17 grams of protein, this sandwich also includes good sources of fiber and calcium — two other essential nutrients that are often lacking from morning meals.

Spicy Bacon and Cheese Eggwich

Time to Table: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup  (8 ounces) Better’n Eggs

1/4 teaspoon cayenne hot pepper sauce

1/8 cup (1/2 ounce) shredded Cheddar cheese

2 slices turkey bacon, cut in half crosswise

2 whole-wheat English muffins, split

Directions:

Spray 10-inch nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray.  Heat over medium heat.  Add Better’n Eggs and stir in hot pepper sauce.  As egg substitute starts to set use spatula to lift edge of eggs, letting uncooked eggs flow to bottom of skillet.  Cook until egg substitute is set but still moist.  Sprinkle shredded cheese on top and then fold over the egg substitute so the cheese melts in the middle.

Place turkey bacon on microwave safe plate.  Cover with paper towel. Microwave on high for 30 to 40 seconds or until warmed.

Toast each half English muffin in toaster.  Spoon about 1/2 cup mixture on top of two toasted muffins.  Top each with one piece cooked bacon.  Top with remaining toasted muffins.

Makes two servings. Nutrition per serving: 226 calories, 54 from fat; 6 grams total fat; 2.5 grams saturated fat; 15 mg cholesterol; 534 mg sodium; 27 grams total carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 17 grams protein.

For more healthy on-the-go recipes, visit www.betterneggs.com and Bob Greene’s Web site, www.TheBestLife.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent