If you’re trying to stay fit and slim this Christmas season, there’s no need for extreme juice cleanses or torturing yourself with deprivation the next time someone brings Christmas treats to work. It’s all about choosing your battles and knowing what holiday foods to totally avoid and what foods may make a healthier substitute.

The Naughty List

These foods spell trouble and definitely land on Santa’s naughty list. You should avoid them unless you want a lump of coal in your stocking (and a few extra lumps around your waistline).

Eggnog

Put that pitcher down! The holiday drink is at every party, yet it’s full of cholesterol — thanks a lot, raw eggs — and saturated fat, to say nothing about the cream, sugar and total calories. A single serving can have 400 calories or more, plus more than 20 grams of sugar. That’s similar to drinking a few candy bars. At the bottom of the page, find an equally delicious alternative to this naughty treat (and all the other holiday bad guys in this list)!

Baked Cheese Platters

They’re easy to make and popular at potlucks, but they’re bad luck for your weight. A single serving of baked soft cheese, such as Brie or feta, can quickly add up to a fourth of your entire daily calorie allowance. And for a true shocker, keep in mind that a serving is about equal to the size of a couple AA batteries.

Prime Rib

Nothing says holiday feast like a juicy slab of prime rib. The quintessential Christmas entree, it’s cut from the fattiest part of the cow. A tiny 3 oz. serving has approximately 300 calories and more than 20 grams of fat, including almost 10 grams of saturated fat. And most people wouldn’t stick to a 3 oz. portion.

Pecan Pie

Who can say no when this decadent treat is whipped out? Unfortunately, a serving of this pie has more than 800 calories, more than 60 grams of fat and more than 50 grams of sugar due to its rich, super-sweet filling. The pecan nuts are about the only healthy thing in this dessert.

The Nice List

These foods aren’t totally guilt-free, but no one wants to have a diet grinch at their holiday get-togethers. These treats work as the perfect, healthier alternative to  The Naughty List.

Holiday Beverages

Reach for hot chocolate, and you’ll skip most of the rich fats you’d get in eggnog. For a similarly festive drink, sip apple cider. It’s warm and spicy and smells delicious while saving you on calories and sugar.

Cheeses

Instead of reaching for soft cheeses, try a firmer, sharper cheese. Thin slices pack just as much rich flavor without all the rich calories and fat. Pair it with a lean meat and you have the perfect bite-sized appetizer.

Meat Entrees

Instead of prime rib, try beef tenderloin — just as flavorful, but much more lean. Or, opt for another holiday favorite: turkey. To save extra calories, stick with white meat and toss aside the skin.

Holiday Desserts

When making pecan pie, try sweetening it with lower-calorie sweeteners instead of the traditional white sugar or corn syrup ingredients. Dates can also enhance its sweetness without as big of a calorie hit. Or, stick with other holiday favorites such as pumpkin pie or chocolate fondue — you’ll satisfy your sweet tooth without the sugar overload.

But this number isn’t set in stone. You can boost how much you burn up — your basal metabolic rate — by tweaking your lifestyle and what you eat or drink. The more efficient and “hot” your metabolism, the more effortless your fitness and weight maintenance.

Wake up and chug water:

Your body requires proper hydration to flush toxins, transport nutrients where they need to go, and recover after hitting the gym. Just a slight level of dehydration can negatively impact your metabolism. For example, studies have found that proper hydration levels are crucial for metabolizing lipids — also known as fat! Drinking water also helps you stabilize your body temperature, lubricates your joints, and helps with proper elimination of waste through bowel movements and urination.

The Institute of Medicine suggests that men should drink approximately 13 cups of water a day, while women should drink approximately 9 cups. Water needs can rise or fall depending on physical activity, humidity and temperature levels and more.

Cut out sugary drinks:

Sugary beverages don’t just add empty calories to your diet, but they can actually slow your metabolism. Sugar can also mess with your blood sugar levels and insulin resistance, leading to further side effects. Instead, enjoy hot or iced green tea throughout the day. Green tea is one of the most popular metabolism-boosters on the market. Its catechins, an active compound in the tea leaves, can enhance metabolism rates. Plus, green tea offers additional benefits, such as potentially lowering your risks of some forms of cancer.

Add protein to every meal:

When planning your breakfasts, lunches and dinners, ensure there’s a nice protein source at each sitting. That’s because protein has a greater thermogenic effect on your body. This refers to how much energy your body needs to digest and process the food you eat. Compared to carbohydrates, the thermogenic effect of protein is 25% while the effect from carbs is 5%. In other words, your body uses dramatically more energy to burn off protein. Make your food work even harder for you at every meal!

Build muscle:

A big mistake that people make when trying to lose weight is focusing on cardio. Such exercises can boost your health, but they have a lower impact on your actual metabolism. Instead, focus on weight-bearing exercises, such as bench presses or dumbbell curls. Muscle tissue burns more energy than fat tissues, so changing the ratio of muscle to fat in your body can elevate your metabolism over time.

If you do choose to continue doing cardio, try high intensity interval training (HIIT). This combines brief spurts of high intensity exercise with slower, more moderate speeds, and the end effect can enhance the rate that your body burns up fat.

De-stress:

As your day winds to a close, take a deep breath. Hold it for a second, then exhale slowly to the count of five. Repeat for a few rounds to slowly calm yourself and release the stress you’ve accumulated throughout the day. Regular breathing exercises, yoga, meditation and similar mindfulness techniques can help you manage your stress in a healthy way. Chronic stress releases cortisol, which prompts your body to store fat. De-stressing and getting enough sleep boosts your metabolism, allowing your body to focus on itself instead of trying to manage all the various external stimulants our modern life throws at it.

This might not seem like a massive number, but it can really add up over the years. Plus, as time progresses, that extra weight can cause hormone imbalances, insulin resistance and other side effects that make the weight pile on faster than Santa Claus coming down the chimney.

This winter, make a pledge to yourself that you’ll find ways to work physical activity into your week. And because it’s a festive season, get off that boring treadmill! With snow days and twinkling lights putting us all into a great mood, winter is the perfect time to enjoy the crisp outdoors, burn off a few calories and have so much fun while we’re doing it that we don’t even realize that it’s — gasp — exercise!

Casual Dancing

When the DJ calls everyone onto the dance floor at your next holiday banquet, jingle it all the way! In just one hour of shaking it on the dance floor, the average 175-lb. adult burns 198 calories.

Housework

It’s easy to break a sweat while you dust the cabinets to make room for your Christmas snow globes, and wiping down said snow globes before your mother-in-law comes over also burns a few calories. In fact, cleaning up your home for the next family holiday get-together burns almost 200 calories in an hour.

Snowskiing

Head downhill and you’ll burn off 330 calories worth of Christmas junkfood. Head crosscountry instead, and the calories burned jump to moer than 460 calories.

Snowshoeing

Snowshoeing is the perfect way to immerse yourself in nature and squeeze a hike into even the most snowy of days. This classic Christmas pasttime will burn you almost 530 calories in an hour.

Walking

Take a brisk walk around the neighborhood after dinner, and you’ll burn just over 250 calories. The fresh air can wake you up after indulging in a bit too much food. Research has shown that daily walks can also brighten your mood, the perfect way to keep a cheerful attitude when the days are cold and short (and when family awkwardness often bubbles to the surface).

Practice Winter Safety

While enjoying your favorite winter activities, don’t forget that it also exposes you to a few safety hazards. Don’t let a winter hazard keep you away from the mistletoe. The CDC recommends the following safety precautions this holiday:

• Wear appropriate outdoor clothing: layers of light, warm clothing; mittens; hats; scarves; and waterproof boots.
• Sprinkle cat litter or sand on icy patches.
• Learn safety precautions to follow when outdoors.
  • Be aware of the wind chill factor.
  • Work slowly when doing outside chores.
  • Take a buddy and an emergency kit when you are participating in outdoor recreation.
  • Carry a cell phone.
• Protect your family from carbon monoxide.
  • Keep grills, camp stoves, and generators out of the house, basement and garage.
  • Locate generators at least 20 feet from the house.
  • Leave your home immediately if the CO detector sounds, and call 911.

I think we are in this great golden age of everyone being aware of the impact that our health habits have on our lives. After all, if we’re not caring for our body regularly, where else are we going to live? Unfortunately, that also means the market has been flooded with products and trends that masquerade as being healthy while really being anything but that!

This Halloween, I want to draw attention to four very popular “health” foods that are so spooky they’ll haunt your gut and your bathroom weight scale for months! It’s time to leave these “treats” in the garbage bin.

1. Juices and smoothies

I love me my kombucha. I’m an advocate of cold-pressed juice as a delicious way to stay refreshed. I cautiously support some of the health benefits of juicing, though there are many skeptics (like this and this and this) that make reputable science-based claims against juicing.

But my real gripe with our current infatuation with juices? Most of the delicious bevvies we see at juice trucks or in stores are loaded with sugar. For example, the exceedingly popular BluePrint brand builds its foundational basic cleanse around its “P.A.M.” juice. Guess how much sugar P.A.M. has? A whopping 49 grams of sugar in a single bottle. And you’re supposed to drink this juice, with three other sugary juices, six times a day to supposedly detox  and cleanse!

Out of curiosity, I checked to see how much sugar was in Coca-Cola. A can of the bubbly has “only” 39 grams of sugar. If we were judging just by sugar alone, chugging Coke is healthier than a juice cleanse! (Yes, flawed argument, but you get the point.)

Not all juices are like this, but many of the most popular and most delicious varieties out there truly deliver a ghoulishly sweet sucker punch to your waistline. If you’re not careful, you won’t be able to fit into your Halloween costume!

Here are a few points to consider as you navigate the juice aisle at Whole Foods:

• Check the ingredients label. Green juices, like kale or spinach, should make up the majority of the ingredients. Fruit juice should always be minimal or nonexistent.
• Consider the price. Juices are extremely pricey and completely devoid of fiber. Real food is always best! Eat an apple, with all its delicious vitamins, minerals and fiber, instead of just sucking on juice like a fruit vampire.

2. Protein bars

I eat protein like it’s for breakfast. No, actually. I drink protein and fiber supplements with my organic almond milk every morning before rushing off to work. Protein supplementation can offer several benefits, especially if you’re an active individual. But protein bars? Exercise extreme caution.

Here’s the ingredients label for a very popular protein bar on the market:

This is actually a great example of most protein bars on the market. Much of what you see in the nutrition facts is decent (not good, but not terrible) until you get to the carbohydrate section. This tiny protein bar manages to pack in 32 grams of carbohydrates, including 16 grams of sugar! In comparison, a standard 52.7 gram bar of Snickers has 33 grams of carbs. How is this protein bar, marketed by a major health company, “healthy”?

As with anything, nutrition facts are just one part of the story. When you dive into the ingredients, you notice a few more alarming things, such as the presence of whey protein concentrate (inferior form of protein) followed by six different forms of sugary sweeteners. Compared to the ingredients in a Snickers bar, Snickers seem positively glamorous!

If you still want to enjoy a protein bar — or a granola bar, as these are often even worse — consider these factors:

• Protein isolates only. Everything else is inferior.
• Try protein powder instead. It’s much cheaper per serving, and if you’re worried about convenience, you can easily pack it into a to-go bag or container. If it’s whey protein isolate, it’ll mix easily without a shaker bottle or blender necessary.
• Watch out for those sweeteners. Quest Bars and other healthier protein bars have just 2 or 3 grams of sugar per bar. There are good alternatives out there, you just need to search for them!
• If you can’t pronounce the ingredients, don’t eat it. The less ingredients on the label, the better!
• Be aware of the environmental impact that common food ingredients have. Palm oil is a key ingredient in many, many protein bars, and it’s one of the world’s leading causes of deforestation, animal extinction and human rights issues. (Read more about the perils of palm oil here and here, and boycott products that contain this oil)
• Get your protein from whole foods as much as possible. Protein bars should be a supplement when time is tight, not your main meal.

3. Agave syrup

When the world woke up to how bad high fructose corn syrup, sugar and other common sweeteners were, people began searching for naturally healthier options. Agave syrup seemed to be the Holy Grail of alternatives, but researchers are now recognizing that agave is a Nightmare on Elm Street (where “Elm Street” is your bloodstream). Even Dr. Oz, who is hardly an angel when it comes to making weird health recommendations, has recanted his endorsement of agave syrup.

While agave syrup is low on glucose, which is good, it’s extremely high in fructose. In fact, it has more fructose than high-fructose corn syrup! Fructose wrecks havoc on hormone levels, such as leptin, which influences your appetite. Extremely high levels of fructose have also been linked to liver damage and heart disease.

There’s no easy way to eat a “healthy” level of sweets. In this case, moderation may still be too much, especially when so much of our food is sweetened. The cumulative damage can be great! For the best results, talk to your doctor and try staying away from unnecessary sweeteners, even if it’s offered to you by a well-meaning trick-or-treater.

4. Added vitamins

I take a multivitamin daily, even though there’s an overwhelming amount of research that shows multivitamins do little good or no good at all. However, marketers often use artificially enhanced vitamin and mineral levels to make their food seem healthy.

When you see labels proclaiming “High in vitamin D!” or “A great source of vitamin C!,” you know what I mean.

The problem? Many products on the market have their nutrient levels boosted with synthetic vitamins. Other products claim to have natural forms of vitamins, though these added supplements may have actually been made in a lab from the precursors to these vitamins, making them anything but “natural.” In summary, so many of the health foods on the market have inferior or even unusable forms of vitamins added to them, which you can see when scanning ingredient labels.

Another huge issue is the fact that because many of our foods now have added vitamins, some people are running a risk of overdosing. For certain vitamins like water-soluble vitamin C, that presents a low health risk and you merely piss away the excess vitamins (and the money you spent on them). But other vitamins and minerals, like iron and vitamin A, may actually build up to toxic levels in our bodies.

• Know the tolerable upper limits of vitamins and minerals for your gender and age, and watch out for these vitamins in your food.
• Focus on getting your minerals and vitamins from whole foods and use commercially prepared foods with boosted vitamin levels as a last resort.

There’s more…

I had the privilege of recently outlining 10 more frighteningly un-healthy health foods in Alive health magazine. Check it out in the magazine or on their website!

Happy Halloween!

We are responsible for our own health, wellness and happiness. When we research and understand the ingredients and overlapping health factors in our foods, we empower ourselves to truly take control of our destiny. All of us must do our part in researching, understanding and acknowledging the role that food plays in our lifestyle, and cutting through the marketing crap that so many health companies throw at us. Be skeptical about everything you put in your body! You only have one body to use on this planet.

Protein shakes pack a muscle-building punch.

I’ve gone from obese to overweight to normal weight to pretty fit, in the last decade, and I’m sometimes asked what someone should eat if they want to lose fat.

I’ve tried many diets: Atkins, Mediterranean, South Beach, Paleo, Vegan, and a handful of others. I’ve created my own meal plans, I’ve tracked calories, I’ve done intermittent fasting.

And I’ve come to the conclusion that while calories do matter for fat loss, the easiest thing to do is to focus on a handful of high-quality foods, especially vegetables, and to avoid eating too much of other kinds of foods.

I should note that this is what works for me — what works for your body might be different. I can eat soy and gluten and nuts without problems, and avoid meat for reasons of compassion, but I don’t expect that everyone is the same as me. Experiment to find what works for you.

High-Quality Foods

Here are the high-quality foods that have helped me lose fat:

• Non-starchy veggies: These are the king, and I can eat an unlimited amount of these and only get healthier. Green vegetables are best, but red and orange and yellows are great too.
• Protein: I opt for vegan protein like tempeh, seitan, tofu and beans (mostly for reasons of compassion), but of course if you don’t care about the compassion reasoning, fish and poultry and smaller amounts of red meat will work too.
• Fruits: I eat these as snacks. Carrots work well too. I love berries, apples, stone fruit (peaches, plums, etc.), tropical fruit.
• Beans: This is actually under the protein category, but beans of all kinds are so good for you.
• Fats: I enjoy modest amounts of olive and canola oil, coconut milk, avocados, ground flaxseed.

I also eat lesser amounts of whole grains (not flour, just the whole grain) and nuts (which are great for you but dense in calories) and starchy veggies. And a glass of red wine at night.

Low-Quality Foods

The lower-quality foods to eat less of — more as treats than everyday items:

• Flour-based stuff: Breads, pastries, cereals, pastas. These are not bad for you (in moderation) but don’t have lots of nutrition nor do they help the fat loss.
• Sugar: It’s in everything. Sodas, coffee drinks, sweets, cereals, sauces. I’m not afraid of sugar, but it’s definitely something to do in moderation, as an occasional treat, not an everyday staple.
• Beer: I love beer, especially craft beer. But it definitely doesn’t help the belly. So I drink it on social occasions, about once or twice a month.
• Fried foods: While I’m not afraid of fried stuff, I know it’s not helpful for fat loss. So I do stir-fried dishes mostly, but also things like chili, baked stuff, fresh food.
• Other starchy stuff: White rice, white potatoes — not bad for you, but not full of nutrition.
• Processed meats: I don’t eat them all, as a vegan, but I’d stay away from them even if I weren’t. Full of fats and salts and nitrates.
• Prepared foods: Not evil, but definitely more expensive and full of fat and salt and sugar, without lots of nutrition. Think of things in the frozen foods section (other than frozen veggies) or that come in cans or boxes.

You’ll notice that these things make up the majority of most people’s diet. This is why people have a hard time losing fat.

What a High-Quality Diet Looks Like

How do we put all this together into a daily diet? There are lots of ways, but here are some examples:

• Example 1: Breakfast of scrambled tofu with veggies, lunch of tempeh & veggie stir-fry (with or without a bit of brown rice), snack of some fruit or carrots, maybe a protein smoothie if you work out, dinner of the stir-fry again, a glass of red wine in the evening.
• Example 2: Breakfast of steel-cut oats with berries & nuts, lunch of veggie chili, snack of apples and almond butter, a cup of green tea in the afternoon, dinner of chili again, glass of red wine.
• Example 3: Have some fruits and nuts for a light breakfast, workout and have a protein shake, have a seitan with kale, mushroom, spinach stir-fry for lunch, another protein shake with fruit in the afternoon, cup of green tea, the seitan & veggies for dinner, glass of red wine.
• Example 4: Oats, nuts, berries in soymilk for breakfast, then lentil curry for lunch and dinner, with carrots and hummus for a snack. Oolong tea after dinner.

There are an incredible amount of recipes online, and finding and trying them is most of the fun!

I tend to cook a big batch of food (the seitan or tempeh stir-fry with lots of greens is my go-to meal at the moment) and eat it for 3-4 days for lunch and dinner. This saves on cooking time.

Does this mean you can never have sweets or breads or French fries? No. I don’t believe in demonizing foods or being afraid of them … but I also believe that too much of those foods will stall any fat loss. So treat them as treats, to be enjoyed once in awhile but not necessarily daily. You can find enjoyment of life out of healthy foods and other activities, not junk foods.

Workouts for Fat Loss

The diet has been the most important factor for fat loss for me, but I combine it with exercise to get super healthy.

Here’s what works for me:

1. Strength training: Doing strength training helps you lose fat without losing muscle, and maybe even gain a bit of muscle, and it gets you strong and feeling empowered and confident. This is important for both men and women. I recommend starting with bodyweight exercises like pushups, bodyweight squats, lunges, and pullups. When you get good at those, add some weights. Barbell training is my favorite (especially squats and deadlifts).
2. Cardio: People who are into strength training often seem to hate cardio, but I think it’s a great combo with strength training. It gets your heart healthy, you burn some extra calories (don’t make up for it by eating more), and you get in better shape generally. I love running and hiking, but if you like to swim or bike, do that.
3. Sports: Do something you enjoy, like basketball, soccer, rugby, rock climbing, mountain biking, skiing, surfing.

A combo of these three, combined with a diet that’s mostly protein, veggies, fruits, with some whole grains and healthy fats, with some tea and a glass of wine … it has worked miracles for me. I hope it does for you.

Throw out your white bread and start using whole wheat bread in your sandwiches instead.

It can be a difficult thing to change our diets. I’m not a big fan of being on a “diet” in the first place, one that restricts you to bland food and makes you feel like you’re suffering. These diets are doomed to failure, as they might work in the short term but we will always, always fall off them. Trust me, I’ve tried and fallen off many: Atkins, South Beach, the Abs Diet, Slim Fast, Weight Watchers, and some you probably haven’t heard of.

As others have said before me, don’t go on a diet — go for a healthy lifestyle change instead. That means to make changes that you can sustain for the rest of your life.

Here are some simple lifestyle changes you can make and keep in your diet:

1. Substitute whole grains for refined carbs. Ditch white bread and eat whole grain bread (note that wheat bread and whole grain bread are different – the first uses enriched wheat flour, which is refined, and the second uses whole grain flour, which isn’t). Eat whole grain pasta instead of regular pasta. Eat brown rice instead of white. Whole grain bagels instead of regular. You get the idea. Whole grains are much healthier — more nutrients, slower to digest, more fiber. Refined carbs offer nearly no nutrition in exchange for lots of calories. And after a little while, you won’t want to go back — whole grains taste better and are more satisfying.

2. Eat more fruits and veggies. Yes, everyone will tell you this. But it’s an easy change to make — just stock up on them every week when you go shopping, and snack on them throughout the day. Have berries for breakfast. Snack on fruits at your desk in the office. Eat raw or steamed veggies with lunch and dinner. Fruits are a great after dinner snack. Fruits and veggies not only provide nutrients and fiber, but they fill you up without giving you too much calories and fat.

3. Eat leaner meats (or better yet, other forms of protein!). Switching beef for lean chicken or turkey is an easy switch to make. You might love red meat, but it’s killing you. There are very tasty dishes you can make using lean meat. And even better is soy protein, or nuts and whole grains, beans and other such forms of protein. All the nutrients with none of the saturated fat! If this is difficult for you, try doing it one day a week to start with.

4. Cut back on sweets. This is my most difficult challenge. I have not been completely successful on this, and this will be the topic of a future post, but I have made progress by cutting back on the pastries and candies and other sweet desserts — I usually just have a little now, and find healthier treats to enjoy instead.

Implement these changes one at a time, slowly and over a long period of time. Don’t start tomorrow by saying you’re going to drastically change your entire diet. You will have a difficult time, and suffer, and fail within a few weeks. When the change is very drastic and restrictive, it is too hard for most of us, and it’s just a matter of time before we fail.

A final tip: if you decide to cut back on sweets, or something similar, give yourself one cheat day a week. This will make it easier on you, and give you something to look forward to. It will also increase the likelihood of your success. Give yourself a break sometimes!

Apples and other fiber-rich foods can help you burn 30 per cent more calories.

When you’re trying to lose weight, you often shun snack food like a supermodel shuns carbs during New York Fashion Week. But that can be as unhealthy for you as it is for the models. You don’t have to give up snacks when you’re watching your weight. In fact, you may want to add snacks to your daily routine if you’re not a current snacker.

“This idea that snacking is wrong is almost part of a bygone era,” says Dr. David Katz in an interview with Explore magazine. That’s because snacks can keep you from binging on unhealthy things like donuts and potato chips. And even better, several snacking tricks may actually help boost your metabolism and help you get the leaner, slimmer bod you want.

Make Protein the Focus

Add at least one protein-rich snack to your schedule today, as long as it’s a lean protein source. A great example includes nuts and legumes, such as edamame. A 2004 medical study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that “convincing evidence exists that protein exerts an increased thermic effect…compared to fat and carbohydrates.” If you’re wondering what that medical mumble-jumble means, it’s basically saying that protein works your metabolism and requires more energy to process than fats or carbs, thus helping you to burn more calories in the long run. Numerous studies have also found that protein helps keep you feeling full, so you’re less likely to grab for that bag of M&Ms.

Hide the Sins, Focus on Fiber

Speaking of M&Ms, psychologists say that out-of-sight can really mean out-of-mind. Toss out any junk food in your home, or at least hide them away in really inconvenient spots — that top shelf above your fridge is a great idea. This keeps you from being tempted.

But absence truly does make the heart grow fonder, so be sure to swap in healthy snacks for the now-missing junk food. Focus on fiber-rich foods, which help slow the digestion process and keep your tummy happy for extended periods of time. And an additional benefit: Fiber-rich foods like carrots, celery and fruit often take more work to chew. In a 2011 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers in China found that being forced to chew food longer helped participants consume 12 per cent less calories. Meanwhile, a Japanese study reported that having to chew food caused a calorie-burning boost of approximately 30 per cent!

Watch What You Drink, But Drink Often

Snacking is often accompanied with a few sips of your fave bevvie, but be careful — drinks are the Trojan Horse in the calorie saga. For example, drinking a single can of soda every day for a year can lead to an average weight gain of 15 lbs., warns the Harvard School of Public Health. Instead, wash your snacks down with a few sips of crisp, refreshing water. Or, even better, drink cold or hot green tea. Several research studies have found that the epigallocatechin gallate in green tea boosts your metabolism and may help you to burn approximately 100 extra calories a day.

It’s also important to note that people often misinterpret thirst for hunger. Staying hydrated can thus help stave off perceived hunger pains.

Six Slimming Snack Ideas

1. Fat-free Greek yogurt (or vegan soy yogurt) topped with nuts and fresh fruit. A single 6 oz. cup of Greek yogurt nets you 15 g of protein in only 80 calories, while nuts and fruit boost the protein and fiber content.

2. 2% chocolate milk over whole-grain cereal. A 16 oz. glass of chocolate milk yields 17 grams protein, and a study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition concluded that chocolate milk may be one of the best muscle-building recovery drinks for athletes and bodybuilders.

3. Edamame seasoned with just a tiny pinch of sea salt. A 1/2 c. serving gets you lots of fiber and protein in under 100 calories. It’s the perfect panacea for any savory cravings you may have.

4. Roasted soy nuts. The average 1/4 c. serving gets you 6 g of protein in approximately 120 calories. Go for a spicy variety for added slimming help; some medical studies have hinted that spicy foods help to rev your metabolism.

5. A banana or apple with a dab of peanut butter. This sweet-and-savory pairing provides fiber, protein and healthy fats, plus a dose of electrolytes and antioxidants from the fruit.

6. Trail mix. This is for road warriors who can’t find a nearby grocery store. When you’re facing the vending machine, opt for the unsweetened trail mix. Nuts and dried fruits make a nice couple.

Breaking your New Year’s resolution has become a running joke, but this year you don’t need to be the punchline.

New Year’s resolutions are sort of like imaginary friends: they’re easy to make but kind of hard to keep around. This is especially true for resolutions involving weight loss and dieting — a resolution topic all of us have probably considered while wolfing down grandma’s Christmas pie.

At the start of 2011, a Barna Group study reported that 90 million Americans made New Year’s resolutions, 30 percent of which were related to weight and dieting. However, of their previous year’s resolutions, approximately half of them weren’t successful.

Want to free yourself from your annual resolution-breaking cycle and achieve your diet goals? It’s possible, experts say.

Stay real

“The biggest advice I would give is to set realistic goals,” says nutritionist Jennifer Adler, co-founder of the International Easting Disorders Institute and owner of Passionate Nutrition. “People end up being very black-and-white and set unrealistic expectations that are unachievable.”

Identify what you want your end result to be. Maybe you want to achieve a healthier weight, which could mean gaining weight or losing weight. Perhaps you want to build muscle bulk, or reduce the amount of saturated fat you consume. Whatever your ideal end result, choose an aspect of that and create a goal that will push you slightly beyond your comfort level while still being realistic. For example, someone who wants to be vegan could start by designating just three days a week as meat-free days.

“If someone is working out one time per week,” says Adler, “[setting a goal of] seven times a week is not the best goal; three times a week might be more realistic goal.”

Journal your food

It’s easy to underestimate the amount of calories you consume or drink throughout the day. A 2011 study conducted by a Harvard Medical School researcher found that 80 percent of young adults underestimate the calories in their meals, and 30 percent underestimated by 500 or more calories. To put that into perspective, eating 500 extra calories a day can lead to a weight gain of one pound per week!

Tracking what you eat throughout the day can prevent such underestimation. “Food journaling helps you keep detailed track of what you are eating,” says lifestyle dietitian Mary Barbour, who has been featured on HGTV’s international House Hunters and FOX’s Hell’s Kitchen. “It makes you think twice before popping that handful of M&Ms into your mouth because you’ll have to write it down.”

If you prefer electronic journals to the more traditional paper form, several apps and websites, such as MyFitnessPal and Calorie Counter, track and count calories for thousands of common food items.

Stay motivated

Meeting your New Year’s resolutions is just as much a head game as it is a health game. Many people find themselves throwing their hands up in despair because their resolution feels like punishment or restriction, and that makes it hard to persevere and stay strong.

Instead, reward yourself when you do well — as long as those rewards don’t involve something that breaks your resolution. For example, you could reward yourself with a spa massage after a month of meeting your gym workout resolution.

“I recommend keeping track of success and giving rewards for X  number of times of meeting your goal,” says Addler.

Or, try pairing up with a friend who has similar health goals. “Competition sometimes brings out the best in people and is a huge motivator,” says Barbour. “Plus, even if you lose — no pun intended — you still win!”

“Here’s some advice. Stay alive.” — Haymitch Abernathy in Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games

Every year, Americans spend $40 billion on dieting, estimates the National Eating Disorders Association. That’s enough money to pay Snooki — who recently came under criticism for promoting a potentially dangerous diet pill — to appear in 1.3 million Jersey Shore episodes (at her current rate of $30,000 per episode).

While diets can have their proper place in terms of helping people achieve healthy, stable weight goals, many individuals turn to fad diet products and risky diet plans. Don’t play hunger games with your health, and avoid some of the most popular diets that medical experts have warned could be risky for your long-term wellness.

The Master Cleanse

This detox diet, which commands followers to eat no food while drinking laxatives for a minimum of 10 days, was first “invented” in the 1940s. Today, it enjoys continued success, probably propelled forward by purported use among celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan — who we all want to emulate, obviously. However, the Master Cleanse could be a master health hazard. The Harvard Medical School warns that the Master Cleanse and its detox diet counterparts lower your metabolism and can lead to “rapid weight gain” once normal eating resumes, while also potentially causing impaired bowel movements, depleted electrolytes and dehydration. Fun? It gets funner. An American Dietetic Association representative tells MSNBC that such diets could cause muscle breakdown and major vitamin deficiencies. So, save your laxative consumption for your next colon exam.

The Cabbage Soup Diet

Cabbage is a rich source of vitamin A and vitamin C, as well as polyphenols and anti-inflammatories. But as Jesus said, “Man can’t live on cabbage alone.” Or something like that. This diet is “strongly disapproved of by most medical experts and the American Heart Association,” warns the University of Wisconsin, while Providence Health Services — where this diet purportedly originated at — says it has “major concerns” and does not endorse such eating practices. While cabbage is healthy, eating only cabbage for the diet’s duration can create several caloric and nutrition deficiencies. You may be better off just eating your Cabbage Patch dolls.

The Macrobiotic Diet

Amber waves of grain, Amber Alert for your health. This dietary plan, which focuses on eating mostly grains, started taking formation as early as the days of Hippocrates. But Hippocrates is dead, and you could be, too, especially if you follow this diet plan for too long. The University of Texas notes that “individuals will experience a lack of calcium, Vitamin D, protein, iron and other essential vitamins.”

Low-Carb Diets

The claim that Dr. Atkins, creator of the famous low-carb diet that bears his name, died of a heart attack is an urban legend. But what’s really legendary are the potential health risks related to his diet. A study published in the Preventive Cardiology medical journal concludes that the long-term effects of a low-carb, high-protein diet includes reduced cardiovascular health, plus “impaired renal, bone, and gastrointestinal health.” Meanwhile, the American Heart Association and American Dietetic Association have all warned of the potential health risks related to low-carb dietary practices.

How to Spot a Fad Diet

The above examples are, alas, the tip of the proverbial iceberg that’s just waiting to sink your health goals. When you’re evaluating a diet, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Does this diet overemphasize a certain food category?

2. Does it guarantee rapid weight loss? (You should lose no more than two pounds a week)

3. Does it not include any recommendations for physical exercise?

4. Would Snooki do it?

As always, talk to your doctor before changing your eating practices. However, knowing some of the most common dangerous diets out there, as well as what questions you should ask yourself, arms you in your battle against poor health guidance.