Healthy Dessert: Baked Pears With Maple Greek Yogurt and Granola

Spring is coming soon, but for many of us, we still have some cold nights ahead of us. This time of year I always try to make my favorite cold weather foods like soups, breads, and warm treats before Spring officially blows in. Here’s one my family loves that’s easy to make, tastes oh-so decadent, but is a great source of fiber and protein. Make it to enjoy for breakfast or an after-dinner dessert. Check out this simple recipe when you read more. Baked Pears with Maple Greek Yogurt and Granola Modified from recipe found in Snack Attack Group Ingredients 2 firm pears (Bartlett or Anjou) 1/2 cup apple juice 1/2 cup water 1 tablespoon honey 16 ounce container plain Greek yogurt 4 tablespoons maple syrup 1/2 cup granola 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts Directions Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cut the pears in half lengthwise, and remove cores with a spoon. Place in an 8×8-inch baking pan, cut-sides down. Pour apple juice and water over pears, and drizzle with honey. Cover pan loosely with foil and bake about 35 minutes or until tender. When pears are done, pour the leftover baking liquid into a small saucepan and reduce over medium heat until about 1/4 cup of syrup remains; set aside to cool. Open the container of Greek yogurt and stir in the maple syrup. Divide yogurt into four bowls. Place a half of the warm pear in each bowl, cut side up. Top with granola and walnuts, and drizzle with syrup you set aside. Makes four servings. Print recipe with images | without images I also like serving this dish for brunch. If you have a tasty and healthy recipe to share, post it in the Healthy Recipe Group . I am always looking for new ones to try.

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Healthy Dessert: Baked Pears With Maple Greek Yogurt and Granola

Minutes to a Healthier You: Instead of Waiting, Go For a Walk

If you think about how much time we spend in life waiting, it starts to add up quite a bit. I spent at least two hours of last week waiting on things - there was a prescription that needed filling, a load of laundry that had to be done, and a friend who was running 30 minutes late for our coffee date. From now on, I’m going to use this wait time to my advantage by being active. This all goes back to the idea that even a few minutes of exercise are better than nothing at all . So the next time my doctor is running behind, or I’m waiting for a friend to get ready, or my lunch order to come up, I’m going to go for a walk around the block. If I’ve got something in the oven or water boiling for tea, it might be a good time to do a set of push-ups. Heck, my friend has even been known to lift dumbbells or jog in place during commercial breaks while watching TV. Though these little bursts of activity may seem trivial, my friend burns 34 calories every commercial break - that’s 130 calories in an hour! How are you going to spend your time waiting?

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Minutes to a Healthier You: Instead of Waiting, Go For a Walk

How Do You Pass Time on Cardio Machines?

One benefit of gym membership is the wide variety of cardio machines. Treadmills, ellipticals, rowing machines, stepmills . . . but while I find these machines a convenient way to get my hear rate up, I get bored easily when doing an aerobic workout indoors. I have created some strategies to fight cardio machine ennui, like mixing it up with interval workouts and rocking out to new playlists. What about you? How Do You Pass Time on Cardio Machines? I listen to music. I watch TV. I read a book or magazine. I use the time to think. I do intervals. I do something else, and I will tell you below. I don’t use cardio machines.

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How Do You Pass Time on Cardio Machines?

Guinness - It Really Is Good For You!

Happy almost St. Patrick’s Day, and TGIF! Now is the time of year that we celebrate our country’s Irish heritage by knocking back some Jameson whiskey and a pint or two of Guinness. Oh, and we wear a lot of green and eat Irish soda bread too. Before you start feeling too bad about the alcohol and carb overload, you’ll be glad to know that all those ads from the 1920s that read “Guinness Is Good For You” were no joke. When tested on dogs, antioxidants in Guinness helped reduce blood clots and slow down deposits of cholesterol on the artery walls. It looks like a little bit of Guinness may be heart healthy, then. Researchers say that a pint a day may work as well as a low dose of aspirin in preventing heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks. Some other reasons you may want to enjoy a pint of beer on St. Patty’s Day or this weekend: better bones , weight management , and a better memory . This is not a license to go out and get wasted though. As always, everything is better in moderation! And remember: don’t drink and drive.

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Guinness - It Really Is Good For You!

Smarter Eats: Have Meals at the Table

One way I’ve been eating healthier this year, is by practicing mindful eating . What I mean by that is I’m really taking the time to be aware of the food I eat. By doing so, I’m developing healthier food habits and eating in more responsible ways. I know it may sound a little zen, but it really works. Besides giving myself a meat budget and focusing on the simple act of chewing , what’s really helped is eating my meals at the table. In the past, whenever I ate at home I would cook my meal in the kitchen but eat it in front of the TV. Most of my friends are guilty of the same. Eventually, I started to realize how bad it is because the television - or laptop, book, etc. - becomes a big distraction from our food. Instead of taking the time to sit and really enjoy it, we’re sort of just scarfing it down while something else takes center stage. Think about it: how many times have you watched a movie and were then amazed at the amount of popcorn you ate through the whole thing? Eating at a table, free of distractions helps in a lot of ways. First of all, I take time to enjoy the taste of my food more, and by doing so I tend to eat a lot less. And since I am giving myself more time to eat, I also chew my food more . It may seem like a silly point, but chewing helps with digestion and makes you feel satisfied sooner. And now, I will get a little zen on you - for me sitting down at the table is a small way to respect the food you’re eating. You put a lot of hard work into cooking it, now take the time to really enjoy it! Although it may sound silly that little bit of awareness has made me a better cook and more responsible eating. Ultimately, I care more about all aspects of the meal in a way I didn’t before. My challenge for you is to try and eat all of your meals, for the next seven days, at the table (your desk does not count as a table). Check back in with me and let me know how you did!

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Smarter Eats: Have Meals at the Table

Short on Time? Push Yourself Twice as Hard

It’s almost 6 p.m. and you just couldn’t pull yourself away from work to get in a workout until now. The only problem is, the sun is going down and you won’t be able to fit in your normal 45-minute routine. When you’re short on time, definitely don’t skip out on your workout, and don’t give up on getting in a good sweat session. Use the time you have to push yourself twice as hard. Move a little faster, add incline to your run or bike ride, do faster sets of strength training moves, increase the size dumbbells you normally use, or do something new that will work weaker muscles. Short workouts at a high intensity can be great for burning mega calories and for endurance, so use the time you have to work it.

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Short on Time? Push Yourself Twice as Hard

[Forum] Weight Loss: Starting Again

So the other day it was almost 50 degrees out. I’ve been hiding in my sweatshirts and sweaters all winter like I always do, but I don’t want spring to blindside me this time. I don’t want to have to go shopping for all new clothes that I feel comfortable in because I’ve let myself gain weight again. I have tried to start a healthy lifestyle over and over and over again. In the past it has never been so important though. For some reason in college I could drink every day and live off of handy snacks, dunkin donuts, pasta, and lean pockets and only gain 5 pounds here and there. Those 5 pounds were easy to lose too. Now it feels like they are nearly impossible to shed. Maybe if I blog my daily meals, snacks, exercise, etc. then I will feel more obligated to stick to my guns. I like instant results and have little patience when it comes to weight loss, but I know that it is a slow process and I need to get motivated. So, here it goes.

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[Forum] Weight Loss: Starting Again

[Forum] Need Help With Motivation and Self-control

I’m 21 years old and I know weigh 210 pounds and am 5′6. Pretty much my whole life I thought I was fat. My mom had an eating disorder for many years and she’s obsessed with working out and eating the bare minimum now. My dad has struggled a little with weight but he’s a very busy business man and can’t find the time to always go to the gym. Nobody in my family is obese, weight has never been a huge issue. My parents always told me I needed to workout, so therefore I always thought I was big. I didn’t choose the best foods to eat when I was young, but I never over ate. I was active in basketball and baseball, then P.E. in jr.high. Then during and after high school I started to party, and stopped doing sports, etc. I still was not fat. Looking back at pictures during that time, makes me so sad. I went to hawaii about 3 years ago with my family and I was so miserable there bcuz I felt like I had never been this fat and I didnt want to walk around in a bathing suit. I look at those pictures now and I kick myself big time for not flaunting what I had bcuz I had a good body, no one ever told me. So throughout the years, I kept gradually gaining weight. I’ve developed a habit of craving food at night time. I’ve turned into a closet eater. I will go buy snacks and then hide them in my room until everyone goes to bed, then I bring them out and eat them. I don’t eat in excess in front of my family. I feel too embarrassed. I was in a bad emotionally abuse relationship from summer 2007 until pretty recently and that, according to my mom, is when I really started putting on weight. He made me feel like he could have any girl he wants, that he didn’t need me. He had a way of yelling and making me feel so ugly and worthless. But I never left. He was an alcoholic and I felt the want and need to be there to try and help him. I know it wasn’t my position and you can’t help someone that doesn’t want to help themselves. I wanted to be the first girl in his life to actually make a difference. As the months passed, the fights progressed. He eventually started breaking things in the house (we lived together), he called me every bad name in the book, and then he started calling me fat. That was the killer for me. ANYTHING but that. I started feeling so ashamed of myself, embarassed to ever eat infront of him. I feel like I started putting on the pounds when I was with him because he beat my self esteem down so bad that I had a whole in my heart and my head. I think I turned to food because I’m not interested in drinking (my mom is also has an alcohol problem, so it turns me off), I want nothing to do with drugs, and what else is there? I didn’t know what to do for comfort or for an escape. I suppose food did that for me. Now days, I struggle to go to the gym. I’m a member at the women only gym, Curves. Its an absolutely great program and you really have no excuse to not go. This is my 3rd time signing up, I’ve quit every other time. I usually have a good 2 weeks of eating smaller portions and better foods, drinking 4 bottles of water a day, then something always happens or a switch goes off in my brain and I stop all of it. And that is what I do NOT understand what so ever. I know that I need to lose weight, I know what I need to do, WHY can’t I do it? I wanted to tell my whole story on here just so everyone could get a better perspective about my life and issues. I’ve never told anyone my weight or my life, so I thought maybe this could turn into a positive thing. I would love to get advice on how to help myself, motivate myself, anything at all. Thank you very much for reading

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[Forum] Need Help With Motivation and Self-control

[Forum] Do Changes in Weather Cause Weight Fluctuations?

i always thought if you excerise hard everyday you can eat whatever you want because you will work it right off. well that maynot be true……… hi i am 30yrs. old with one child. i been exercising consistently for about 4yrs. i do agree sometimes change is good. However, i used to weigh 230lbs and i am little under 5′10. i workout and i have been for about 4yrs now. i had got down to 170 to 175. i have been running about 4mi a day because running is the quickest way to lose weight and its better than being indoors on treadmill. sometimes depending on the time i have available i will run 2 - 3mi. or 6mi. but most of time its 4mi. everyday during the week. every winter i tend to pick up weight and this winter i am having more of a problem of getting my weight back down under 180. now it flunctuates from 185 to 190. i do understand during the winter it gets cold for us in the south so i don’t run as hard as i would during the summer and plus you sweat more in the summer. my mom tells me i should change my diet during the winter and then when the summer comes around i can go back to just eating what i want. some people say that you cannot eat what you want and expect to lose weight but apparently i have been with no problem. i really think i am gaining weight because of the change in weather and not being able to exercise as hard as i would like as during the summer. i kind of like to run because i feel that whatever i eat i can run it off and plus it keeps the metabolism up. i hoping that this summer as gets hotter and i continue to run that my weight will reduce back if not i am going to be very disappointed. people say i should change up my workout routine, which i do. i do taebo often on days that its either raining, cold or if i am just tired. primarily i always thought that running or jogging would be the most effective and quickest way to take off the weight and keep it off. also it makes your calves look AWESOME in heels. I’m open for some advice. what is the problem is it just me or will i be gaining my weight back. i never want to be overweight again thats why i can run everyday. for the last few years i had not had a problem with keeping my weight between 170-175 sometimes 180 during the holidays but now i have increased to 185-190 and i still try to excerise whether its running my 4mi. or doing my taebo everyday.. please some advice. i want my ideal weight back regardless if i am tall and big boned lol….

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[Forum] Do Changes in Weather Cause Weight Fluctuations?

Daily Green: Lunch With a Side of Sustainability

Check out this great eco tip from the OnSugar blog The Green Life . I pride myself on having made the switch from plastic to reusable water bottles long ago but still find myself shamefully relying on plastic sandwich and snack baggies when packing lunch. Not sure what my options were, I spent a little time shopping around this weekend and found a huge market of sustainable alternatives to plastic. Options range from organic cotton to recycled, but all divert waste from our landfills while saving you money in the long run. Reusablebags  has a great selection with lots of different design choices and prices from $3 to $30+.  If you have the time I recommend the DIY approach. The crafty people at CraftyStylish can show you how to make a reusable sandwich  in a snap. For more tips on green living, start following The Green Life or start your own OnSugar blog . Maybe we’ll post your story here on FitSugar!

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Daily Green: Lunch With a Side of Sustainability

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