I love fall! I think it's the prettiest and most dramatic season of the year.I was flying into Boston last week and, as I was looking out the window during the descent, I couldn't help but notice the sporadic dots of reds, yellows, and orange colors starting to take over the green foliage.Fall starts out gradually and slowly, so much so that if you don't take time to notice the one leave here, one leave there... you wake up one morning and fall has suddenly spray-painted the landscape. But like all things, the changing leaves got me thinking about weight...

Jack LaLanne, Susan Powter, Richard Simmons, Jazzercise, Dwight Eisenhower, Pilates, Billy Blanks, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John F. Kennedy...What am I getting exactly? Well, they are all part of the history of fitness.Fitness, for Americans per se, became popular in the 1950's, when Eisenhower was president. In sum, an exercise fitness test was conducted on America children to then be compared against children in European countries. It was during the Cold War so competition was everything.Unfortunately, we did not fare well. Subsequently, President Eisenhower took the first steps toward gaining national attention for the failing fitness levels of our country. Later...

Special for DiettoGo.comby Sarah Maria,author of Love Your Body, Love Your LifeHow many times have you waited for something to change so that you could finally start feeling beautiful? If you are like most women, the answer is "all the time."Here is the problem: Most of us tend to live with the delusional belief that we somehow need to change in order to be beautiful. It usually sounds something like:When I lose this extra weight, then I will be attractive.If I can just get my abs a little more toned, then I can wear that bikini I love.I feel so...

DiettoGo.com reader Sally K. recently asked me this interesting question: Are there gender differences with regard to food cravings?YES Sally... there are important differences regarding our biological needs, which create different cravings.Estrogen causes cravings for fat/sugar combinations to create our beautiful breasts, hips and thighs, which aid us during pregnancy. Testosterone creates cravings for fat/protein combinations to build strong muscles for the "hunt."Doesn't it ring true that women want their sweets but men want their steaks?See, it's not our fault; it's hormonal!Additionally, women have lower levels of serotonin, the brain chemical which regulates calmness, wellbeing and depression. Precursors of serotonin...

Who doesn't want fewer colds, softer skin or youthful vitality? Frances Sheridan Goulart, author of the ever-popular Super Healing Foods (McGraw-Hill), now brings you a program for the 25 foods that strengthen the body's six immune centers and help heal and reverse the most common ailments. Super Immunity Foods: A Complete Program to Boost Wellness, Speed Recovery, and Keep Your Body Strong (McGraw-Hill) focuses on the top 25 foods and provides a simple plan that you can easily incorporate into your lifestyle.With delicious recipes and complete menus, the newer, healthier you is just within reach. Ready to achieve optimal...

If you haven't heard it before, I'll say it again: muscle responds to resistance or load. Whoever told you that loading the muscles with weights just gets you big, is a load of crap.Whether your goal is to increase bone density, get stronger, or sharpen the nervous system; the level of tension placed on the muscle dictates the measure of results.If you're a woman doing bicep curls with those 2-pound "insect weights" -- those cute little colorful dumbbells stacked neatly in the gym -- it's going to take you a long time to get lean.Or if your a man who's...

Special for DiettoGo.comby Susan Burke March, MS, RD, LD/N, CDEAuthor of Making Weight Control Second NatureAre you looking for love in all the wrong places? If it's food for love and sexual desire, your corner Italian bistro is your best bet. Select these foods, some red wine, definitely some soft lighting, and perhaps a misty rain and voila... romance is on the menu. An aphrodisiac is a food, drink, drug, scent, or device that can arouse or increase sexual desire, or libido. When looking at the list of foods that have traditionally been considered "foods of love,...

I want to welcome everyone to the first ever Diet Blog Carnival.What is a Blog Carnival? A blog carnival is a fun way to showcase great bloggers and blog posts in a particular genre. In this case, dieting, health, and fitness!Here's how it works: bloggers that write about dieting, weight loss, health, etc. will submit their best articles monthly. At the end of each month a host will read them all and publish their favorites. It is a really fun way to read some great articles and get introduced to some of the best...

You have undoubtedly heard that childhood obesity is rapidly on the rise. It now outranks all other health problems as the #1 concern for children in the United States. Equally disturbing is the fact that stress now ranks among the top 10 child health problems in America. I'd be willing to bet that the rise in childhood obesity and stress directly corresponds with three things:1. The decline in physical activity − the once obligatory recess and P.E. class − in schools.2. The invasion of technology.3. Fast empty calories.Kids today are simply not moving like they used to. Of course neither...

Emotional eating is not always just emotional eating. Sometimes, it is a full-fledged addiction with obvious-and very serious-consequences.Acknowledging this addiction is the first step. Just ask yourself how many people you know who have endangered their health through eating! The fact is, once food is "installed" in an individual's mental computer as a way to deal with problems or stress, it can become so deeply embedded in his or her mind and so important that he or she would literally die to keep it. It is hard to describe the intensity of this addiction because it is so commonplace and...

Trainer shmainer... who needs one? Well, I'd say most people can use one. In our service-oriented society where people are hiring people to do everything from financial advising to holding their umbrellas, why not personal training?The rewards for personal training are far greater than the common services requested by most patrons. Besides peace of mind, there's nothing greater than having a sound and healthy body to take you anywhere you need to go.A personal trainer is your best bet to getting into the best shape of your life! Let's look at my top 5 reasons you should...

This week's blog focuses on how whole fitness can impact diabetes.It seems you can't pick up a newspaper or magazine without seeing a feature on the diabetes epidemic overwhelming the U.S. and other westernized nations.Although 8% of the population has this disease, there's still a lot of confusion as to what is diabetes.There are three types of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2 and gestational. All are caused by the body's inability to make or utilize insulin. Without enough insulin glucose stays in the blood and can subsequently cause damage to the kidneys, heart, eyes, nerves and other organs.Type 2 diabetes...

School's back in session and there's no better time to enroll your family in a healthier lifestyle. What's that... you say you don't have time to fit in fitness for you and your family? NONSENSE! That kind of talk could earn you a dunce cap and a seat in the corner. Seriously, all it takes is a few minutes here and there to come up with a fitness plan that'll both entertain and energize your children -- and set them on the path to a healthier lifestyle. It really is as easy as ABC. I'm Ms. Havey and I'm...

Special for DiettoGo.comby Monica Reinagel, host of Nutrition DivaPerhaps you saw the headlines a few weeks ago: British researchers announced that organic vegetables were no more nutritious than regular ones.I think a lot of people were shocked and disappointed to hear this. If you've been shelling out the extra dough to buy organic produce, you might wonder whether you've been wasting your money.This week, I'd like to talk about why organic vegetables may still be worth the extra money, as well as some tips on how to get the most nutritious produce.To hear the Nutrition Diva's podcast, Are Organic Vegetables...

It's National Chicken Month so let's focus on incorporating more chicken into your healthy diet. The good news: Chicken is low in fat - it only serves up half the fat and calories of red meat. With 8 grams per ounce, it's also a wonderful source of protein.There is a flock of great ways to prepare chicken. But be sure to always remove the skin before eating your chicken. The skin is where most of a chicken's fat roosts!Perhaps you've gotten into a rut by preparing the same chicken dishes over and over. No worries. There are more than a...

About 80% of all people who start an exercise program stop working out within a few months. This usually follows a familiar pattern: After a short time the novelty of training starts to wear off. Enthusiasm wanes. You begin to skip workouts. Little by little, the number of missed workouts increases until your goal of getting into shape becomes a distant memory. Don't become a statistic. You can beat the odds and become a life-long fitness success story. All it takes is a commitment to goal setting. Goals are a function of your motivation-the reasons for wanting to exercise. So...

Diet-to-Go has partnered with HCI Books to give away 10 free copies of the hot new title The Secret to Skinny by the Nutrition Twins, registered dietitians Tammy Lakatos Shames and Lyssie Lakatos.Winners will be chosen at random but to be eligible for a shot at this great book we want you to go to the Diet-to-Go Community ForumYour secret can be anything from a full length mirror on your fridge to replacing regular mayo with fat-free mayo.Subtitled "How Salt makes You Fat and the 4-Week Plan to Drop a Size & Get Healthier with Simple Low-Sodium Swaps," The Secret...

I have been motivating and educating people on exercise and fitness for almost 20 years. I enjoy teaching people the truth concerning how their body works-either for or against them-depending on how they exercise.I believe it's best to first exercise your mind before you exercise your body. Comedian Emo Phillips once said, "I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this." Very funny! But seriously, it is your brain that tells you what to do. So if you expect your brain to instruct you accurately, it...

Much of the news on the benefits of diet, fitness and attitude -- what I like to group together under the Whole Fitness umbrella -- focuses on prevention. I am among the first to jump on the wellness benefits bandwagon.However, many of my clients, as well as much of the general population, don't come to wellness as prevention first. They often come to the idea of wellness only after a diagnosis of some scary medical condition.One of the things I focus on with my clients is the benefits of whole fitness even after there has been a diagnosis of disease....