Category Archives: Health

Recommended reading over leftover salad

Feeling guilty about all those holiday leftovers?

Then turn ‘em into a salad!

For lunch yesterday, Marcy took leftover turkey, cut it into bite-size pieces, tossed it in with some arugula, walnuts and blue cheese crumbles. She added a dollop of cranberry sauce and topped it with dressing, which we pretended were croutons. Save perhaps for the dressing-as-croutons, it was a healthier use of leftovers than, say, putting a couple slabs of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and gravy between two pieces of white bread and calling it a sandwich. It was also mighty tasty, and if you’re into point counting I’m guessing it had about a third the calories of a leftover sandwich. read more

Wii Fit: Simple fun or actual fitness?

I’m weak, I could stand to lose 22 pounds and I have the agility of an 80-year-old (I’m 53).

I paid $324 for this?

On Christmas Day, the Wii Fit entered our home, storming in with the attitude of a boot camp sergeant none-too-happy with its new recruits. It told the 11-year-old she was teetering on being overweight (she’s nowhere near: she eats better than any kid I know and is twice as active). It told the 15-year-old he was weak (he won the high school division of a local mountain bike race series this summer). And in addition to telling me I’m weak, a bit heavy and old, suggested I’m “unbalanced” as well. read more

Study: Exercise keeps your tank feeling full

If you embark on a new exercise program on Jan. 1 don’t be discouraged if you find yourself hungrier than before. The upside: You’re likely to feel more satisfied after a meal — especially breakfast — which should help keep you from overeating at a meal and snacking. This according to a study at Australia’s Queensland University of Technology and published in the October American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. read more

Getting your cardio kicks

Another in a series of peeks into your exercise options.

It was a thing of beauty in an evening otherwise dominated by sweat and missteps. Two women stood facing one another, red vinyl body bags on their left and right. On cue, they began punching the bags with side kicks – left foot/right, left foot/right, left foot/right. After less than a half dozen kicks, they were in synch. Bam! Bam! Bam! read more