Barbara Aldrich can hardly remember a time when she wasn't a little overweight.
While the quintessential pairing of ripe tomatoes and lettuce is certainly enjoyable, a good salad can be so much more. Adding fruits, nuts, and other well-chosen ingredients offers a welcome change. More importantly, incorporating a few more nutritious ingredients is an easy way to serve a more healthful dish.
Gathering together for old-fashioned, home-cooked meals was just a way of life for Brandon Hollas, who was raised on his family's farm in Cameron, Texas.
Come out and join CNN's Fit Nation! Our tour is coming to your city with a digital interactive experience, free Fit Nation gear and a chance for you to be on CNN TV with chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The Fit Nation bus will criss-cross the country starting in July to connect with people who are on ready to commit to a healthy lifestyle. Check the list of scheduled stops below to find out when the tour is coming to a city near you. Upcoming Tour Dates - July 4-7: Essence Music Festival, New Orleans, Louisiana - July 11-13: Taste of Dallas, Dallas, Texas - July 18-20: Bite of Seattle, Seattle, Washington - July 26: Aquatennial River Blast Minneapolis, Minnesota - August 1-3: Ohio State Fair in Columbus, Ohio Do you have a weight loss success story you'd like to share? Send us your story, photos and video.
New research challenges the notion that you can be fat and fit, finding that being active can lower but not eliminate heart risks faced by heavy women.
If you're like us, you eat out more than ever -- and, as nice as it is to not have to cook, those meals out can actually feel like work. How do you navigate the minefields of huge portions, hidden fats, and sky-high sodium levels?
In 2005, the government's revised Dietary Guidelines for Americans introduced the term "nutrient density," which sounds complicated but simply refers to how much nutrition a food provides. For example, a slice of 100 percent whole-grain bread is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, while a slice of regular white bread is lower in all three.
It appears the global food crisis can be averted. The solution? The humble potato.
A middle-aged woman arrives at yoga class, a guide dog beside her wheelchair. She slides onto a mat on the floor and begins warming up with help from the instructor, stretching her knee and leg muscles to the side.
Hardly a week goes by without news of antioxidants' health-promoting benefits. Experts believe these nutritional substances may help prevent heart disease, fight certain cancers, ward off dementia, and even slow certain aging processes.
Barbara Aldrich can hardly remember a time when she wasn't a little overweight.
While the quintessential pairing of ripe tomatoes and lettuce is certainly enjoyable, a good salad can be so much more. Adding fruits, nuts, and other well-chosen ingredients offers a welcome change. More importantly, incorporating a few more nutritious ingredients is an easy way to serve a more healthful dish.
Gathering together for old-fashioned, home-cooked meals was just a way of life for Brandon Hollas, who was raised on his family's farm in Cameron, Texas.
Come out and join CNN's Fit Nation! Our tour is coming to your city with a digital interactive experience, free Fit Nation gear and a chance for you to be on CNN TV with chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The Fit Nation bus will criss-cross the country starting in July to connect with people who are on ready to commit to a healthy lifestyle. Check the list of scheduled stops below to find out when the tour is coming to a city near you. Upcoming Tour Dates - July 4-7: Essence Music Festival, New Orleans, Louisiana - July 11-13: Taste of Dallas, Dallas, Texas - July 18-20: Bite of Seattle, Seattle, Washington - July 26: Aquatennial River Blast Minneapolis, Minnesota - August 1-3: Ohio State Fair in Columbus, Ohio Do you have a weight loss success story you'd like to share? Send us your story, photos and video.
New research challenges the notion that you can be fat and fit, finding that being active can lower but not eliminate heart risks faced by heavy women.
If you're like us, you eat out more than ever -- and, as nice as it is to not have to cook, those meals out can actually feel like work. How do you navigate the minefields of huge portions, hidden fats, and sky-high sodium levels?
In 2005, the government's revised Dietary Guidelines for Americans introduced the term "nutrient density," which sounds complicated but simply refers to how much nutrition a food provides. For example, a slice of 100 percent whole-grain bread is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, while a slice of regular white bread is lower in all three.
It appears the global food crisis can be averted. The solution? The humble potato.
A middle-aged woman arrives at yoga class, a guide dog beside her wheelchair. She slides onto a mat on the floor and begins warming up with help from the instructor, stretching her knee and leg muscles to the side.
Hardly a week goes by without news of antioxidants' health-promoting benefits. Experts believe these nutritional substances may help prevent heart disease, fight certain cancers, ward off dementia, and even slow certain aging processes.
Taking antioxidants like vitamins A and E to prolong life may actually have the opposite effect, new research has found.
When Wal-Mart announced last week that its private label milk would be produced exclusively from cows that had been given no artificial growth hormones, it sparked nationwide concern about how milk is produced and how its production may affect your health.
Tim Welch was never the kind of guy who worried about his weight.
If someone had asked Kelly Pless to describe herself three years ago, the word "fit" would have never crossed her mind.
When Maggie Sorrells looks at her husband, Andy, she doesn't see the man she married. In fact, most days, she doesn't even recognize herself.
Two years ago, Tim Lenczowski dreaded walking from the parking lot into his office.
Standing near the coffin of one of her closest friends, Patty Hill made a promise that would forever change her life.
Growing up, Heather Davis wasn't the kind of kid people would have called fat or even chubby.
Two years ago, Phill Novak weighed 387 pounds.
Hardly a day that goes by that you won't find Tracey Wygal working out at the gym.
She was never really skinny or terribly overweight.
Like many young girls, Jennifer Marnell always dreamed that one day she'd become famous.
Jonah Pesner is looking ahead to his crucial carb-loading, fuel-up meal on the night before running his first Boston Marathon. On the menu: matzoh.
Mashed bananas or baby food prunes don't sound very appetizing on their own, but substitute one of those ingredients for the vegetable oil in a store-bought brownie mix and it will add moisture while cutting the fat and calories.
From the outside, Bill McGahan looked like he lived a pretty good life.
Long gone is the era of four food groups and three square meals. It seems that every day brings a new revelation about which foods belong in a healthy diet. Eat this. Avoid that. If you feel a little overwhelmed, you're not alone.
Lois Fletcher started taking the subway to work nine months ago to save money. It turned out to be an excellent way for her to lose weight -- more than 30 pounds to be exact.
To celebrate our 20th year of publication, Cooking Light wanted to know what places best fit our philosophy to eat smart, be fit, and live well. Using statistics from such organizations as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Zagat Survey, we ranked major metropolitan areas on 15 criteria. The result, we think, is a ranking of U.S. cities that best provide the resources people need to live healthful lives.
We ranked major metropolitan cities on the following 15 criteria, calculated on a per-capita basis, then grouped into categories--eat smart, be fit, live well--and factored on a four-point scale.
She was never really skinny or terribly overweight for most of her life.
I'm often asked how I got started on my weight loss journey. I wish I had a simple, perky answer, but the truth is, I had a lot of internal housecleaning to do first.
Are money worries making your get-in-shape resolution harder to achieve? Nothing like a tumbling stock market to make you reach for that extra slice of chocolate cake, right? But don't hang up the towel just yet. Fiscal fitness doesn't have to tank your physical fitness. There are ways to recession-proof your goal for a new you.
A small new study gives the strongest evidence yet that obesity surgery can cure diabetes.
The New York City Board of Health voted unanimously Tuesday to require all city chain restaurants to post calorie data on their menus.
You are what you eat -- and what you don't eat. And so if you are like many of us, not quite hitting the entire food pyramid, you might be trying to outwit your body by giving it nutritional supplements to make up for the sins of food-group omissions.
Obesity is the No. 1 health crisis in the United States, and the nation could be at risk without immediate action, former President Clinton said at CNN's first Fit Nation Summit.
If you've been avoiding burgers, ice cream, and pizza thinking you're doing your waistline a favor, don't. They can actually help you lose weight -- and keep it off, too. Here are the hidden slim-down perks of five foods that get a bad rap and the best way to add each one back into your diet.
Health magazine went to the top weight-control experts for their No. 1 tips to get the weight off now. Take a look.
Ann Cooper is on a one-woman whirlwind campaign to change the way kids eat in schools. "We're killing our kids with food," she says.
We've learned that some varieties of fish are low in fat and contain oils that keep the heart healthy. But recent reports about contaminants such as mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, have prompted some health experts to rethink their advice about seafood.
Where a teenage girl sees herself on her school's social ladder may sway her future weight, a study of more than 4,000 girls finds.
You would expect to find pre-algebra, American history and grammar in a middle-school curriculum, but what about a lifetime lesson in fitness?
If you've been avoiding burgers, ice cream, and pizza thinking you're doing your waistline a favor, don't. They can actually help you lose weight -- and keep it off, too. Here are the hidden slim-down perks of five foods that get a bad rap and the best way to add each one back into your diet.
An out-of-work David Thomas walked into a Milwaukee food pantry just seeking groceries. Thomas learned he was a stroke waiting to happen and got blood pressure medicine along with his bread.
The lights are dim, the music is pulsing and couples are circling the dance floor in elaborate, revealing costumes.
Is it just me or does everyone hear the "Jaws" theme in his or her head when arriving at a holiday buffet? The only question is whether I'm the shark going on attack or it's some sort of mating call to those extra pounds that will no doubt settle somewhere on my body. It's probably a combination.
Mormons have less heart disease -- something doctors have long chalked up to their religion's ban on smoking. New research suggests that another of their "clean living" habits also may be helping their hearts: fasting for one day each month.
U.S. adult obesity rates seem to have leveled off, at least temporarily, the government reported Wednesday.
Maybe getting schoolchildren to eat healthy foods isn't a hopeless struggle.
This shouldn't come as a surprise: Thanksgiving is not the green light to a six-week indulgence that precedes the waddle back to the gym Jan. 2.
Thanksgiving begins a season of special meals and once-a-year indulgences. We all look forward to turkey, mashed potatoes, pecan pie, and other goodies. And because it's that time of year, we may take an extra helping of our favorite side dish or dessert.
Americans are exercising more than in the past, but most are still not working out enough to meet federal guidelines, a new survey shows.
Think cooking the perfect Thanksgiving dinner is stressful? Something else is far more likely to raise your blood pressure: salt hidden in all those goodies.
Three diet drugs recommended for long-term use result in minimal weight loss and carry some serious side effects, a review of research found.
When cold and flu season comes around, many people head to their medicine cabinets in search of relief. But a trip to the kitchen may be the smarter move.
It's 9 p.m. and you know just where that bag of peanut M&Ms is -- it's stashed in the pantry behind the ultravirtuous oatmeal and seriously fortified cereal. Out of sight, but not out of mind.
For bleary-eyed new moms, the image of Paula Radcliffe celebrating her astonishing New York marathon victory just nine months after giving birth is more than slightly surreal.
It's a fight that has the nation's largest chicken producers squabbling, Big Sugar and Big Corn skirmishing and Sara Lee mixing it up with Farmer John.
Being 25 pounds overweight does not appear to raise your risk of dying from cancer or heart disease, says a new government study that seems to vindicate Grandma's claim that a few extra pounds won't kill you.
Bad reputations tend to stick, even with foods. Continued negative press about a fruit, vegetable, or beverage is enough reason for many of us to banish it. Or maybe we indulge on occasion, but with a measure of guilt.
Certainly, the best way to consume these five healthful foods is to just eat them. Our recipes suggest ways to introduce or incorporate them into your diet. And you can also enjoy them simply.
Here's another reason to get the kids to bed early: More sleep may lower their risk of becoming obese.
Even at 5:30 in the morning, Marlene Mauk is wide awake and smiling as she walks through the door of the Buckhead Athletic Club in Atlanta, Georgia.
Before you grab that leftover piece of Halloween candy, you might want to rethink the decision. It could cost you, in wrinkles. It now appears the sweet stuff might make us happier and possibly more hyper, but also make us look older.
Khalil Colon was sweaty but smiling after 25 jumping jacks and 20 laps around the school gym. A year ago, the 9-year-old said, running made him feel "like I'm about to drop on the middle of the floor."
More than any other meal, breakfast is an investment in good health. Eating in the morning helps you stay focused and energized through busy days. Breakfast increases the likelihood of meeting recommended daily doses for essential vitamins and minerals that help prevent disease. And recent research makes the idea of a morning meal even more appetizing. A study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that individuals who eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight -- and more likely to exercise -- than non-breakfast eaters.
The people who brought you the Monster Thickburger and the 1,100-calorie salad are at it again -- this time for breakfast.
Fourth-grade teacher Elisabeth Beckwith wants her students at Fernbank Elementary School in Decatur, Georgia, to pay attention to a lesson on Greek mythology.
If you want to know where American food traditions are headed, look back. Many of today's most healthful eating trends bear a strong resemblance to yesterday's: Nearby farms offering nutritious, peak-of-season produce; slow-cooked dinners that foster leisurely family meals; an emphasis on meatless dishes and minimally processed foods.
It's lunchtime at Café Sunflower in Atlanta, Georgia. The kitchen is humming as the chef prepares the most popular item on the menu: sesame chicken. That's not what you'd expect at a vegetarian restaurant. But the so-called chicken is actually a seasoned soy product made to taste like the real thing. "It's a treat for vegetarians who miss meat," says restaurant owner Edward Sun.
I joined this program because my doctor told me that my test results showed I was pre-diabetic and more than 20 pounds over my weight according to my age and height.
Adrian McHargh grew up active and skinny in Kingston, Jamaica. An enthusiastic swimmer, he had the pristine waters of the Caribbean for a playground until two years ago, when he and his family moved to America.
If you're searching for a villain in America's obesity epidemic, most nutritionists tell you to put one picture on the wanted poster: a cold, bubbly glass of soda pop.
We are powerless to ignore the clarion call of the candy jar, the beckoning of the buffet, the summons of the snack cupboard.
To a degree some may find hard to swallow, science is proving the old adage "you are what you eat."
We are powerless to ignore the clarion call of the candy jar, the beckoning of the buffet, the summons of the snack cupboard.
In recent years the number of diet developers and holistic healers hawking products to purge your body of harmful chemicals and foreign substances has exploded. But do your liver and lymph nodes really need cleaning? Some detox regimen -- like herbal supplements, spa treatments, and special diets that are designed to mop up pollutants, dietary waste, and even unwanted pounds --can actually do you some good. But how to know whether you should be trying any of them?
If you've vacationed in an international destination, you know that learning about its food is one of the best ways to become familiar with a new culture. But lately, Americans have also taken greater interest in global cuisine because of health benefits attributed to certain styles of eating.
Burger King pledged Wednesday to offer healthier fast-food items for children under 12, with plans to sell and market flame-broiled Chicken Tenders and apples cut to resemble thick-cut french fries.
A judge struck down a New York City rule Tuesday that required fast-food restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus.
Teenager Jeffery Trimble used to wolf down as many as six cheeseburgers in a day and wasn't worried about being overweight. But then his school sent home an obesity report card.
Nearly one in four people in the Atlanta area are exercise enthusiasts stuck in neighborhoods without sidewalks or other walking amenities, according to a study that illustrates a problem for many Americans.
A gold star rating system aimed at helping food shoppers make healthier choices seems to have some influence -- meaning more Shredded Wheat, Raisin Bran and Honey Nut Clusters in shopping carts.
Americans are already among the fattest people in the world, and they just keep packing on the pounds. A new report finds that obesity rates have swelled during the last year in 31 states with not one state reporting that its obesity rate shrank.
While most Americans continue to get fatter, Coloradans stand out as being among the fittest in the country, the Trust for America's Health says.
Like other branches of science, nutrition is constantly evolving. As researchers learn more about vitamins and minerals, for example, dietary advice changes.
Anything made by McDonald's tastes better, preschoolers said in a study that powerfully demonstrates how advertising can trick the taste buds of young children.
When you snack, you can fill in nutritional gaps, boost your intake of fruits and vegetables, keep your mood on an even keel, and help with appetite and weight control.
Depressed and tired of trying diet after diet, Andy Sorrells began a faith-based weight loss program.
No longer able to fit into a booth at a restaurant and too embarrassed to ask for seatbelt extensions on an airplane, Maggie Sorrells was desperate to lose weight.
Overweight children are stigmatized by their peers as early as age 3 and even face bias from their parents and teachers, giving them a quality of life comparable to people with cancer, a new analysis concludes.
Stephen Wallace hopped off an elliptical machine and got a pep talk from his personal trainer about his bench-press goals. Wiping away sweat, he said social commitments can make it hard to get to the gym every other day.
Creating custom food plans for patients isn't the hard part of Bethany Thayer's job. For the Michigan-based registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, one of the most difficult aspects of her work is helping patients interpret the often-contradictory health news they hear each day.
Tired of squeezing into a size 22 and with her marriage on the verge of collapse, Sharon Twitchell decided it was time to change her life.
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