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Snacks. The word alone brings up images of store bought, sugar filled fruit bars, cookies and fried potato chips. With more health food trends and new products coming out every week, its easy to see how you can become confused with not just what to eat, but when to eat it. Especially for those looking to lose weight. This is a topic that many of my clients ask me about when they come see me at my private practice: Should I snack or not, in order to lose weight. Well, lets just say that I usually surprise them with my recommendations of eating more frequently, not less, to lose weight.

Sarah Koszyk, MA, RDN, registered dietitian and author of 365 Snacks for Every Day of the Year, weighed in on the topic of snacking. Proper snacking can assist with weight management, increase metabolism, optimize energy, improve blood sugar control, reduce sugar cravings, better control hunger levels, and improve overall health. This can result in eating less at the main meals and/or choosing healthier food options during the main meals. This is great advice as Sarah is touching base on the mechanisms of hunger. Hunger is controlled by ghrelin, a hormone secreted in the stomach when we are hungry. Ghrelin is also known to increase appetite, so while the body is asking for food, it strategically triggers appetite in the brain. It also decreases our metabolism and ability to burn fat. So, when is the best time to snack in order to combat this little gremlin in our stomach?

Ghrelin spikes when we wait more than four hours between meals or skip them. Research tells us that eating every three to four hours is about the right interval to manage ghrelin, which controls both hunger and appetite. For example, within thirty minutes after a meal, ghrelin begins to rise steadily until the next meal. Studies have shown that a longer break between meals is associated with a more significant increase in ghrelin production. How does this translate into the type of food you eat? Some people go straight for food that are high in sugar, claiming an addiction. Koszyk says that People who are self-proclaimed sugar addicts and crave that sugar or caffeine pick-me- up in the afternoon can reduce their sugar addictions by eating a healthy, well-balanced snack containing both protein and fiber-filled carbohydrates. Studies show that carbohydrates are the best option to lower ghrelin, with proteins coming in second. This is because when youre not eating carbs, your glucose levels decrease.

Studies have also demonstrated that there is less ghrelin produced in the average person between breakfast and lunch (a three- to four-hour break) than between lunch and dinner (typically six hours), so timing the space between meals is a critical modulator of ghrelin. With this knowledge, most people may not need a snack between breakfast and lunch. But you most likely will need a snack between lunch and dinner. This is super important for controlling your hunger and helping you achieve your weight loss goals.

Another important thing to remember is that ghrelin spikes when we lose weight. Why? Because your body only cares about survival. It wants homeostasis, or the status quo. Your body thinks losing weight is dangerous, so as you start to lose, you need to be extra mindful of your ghrelin function. Your body will fight back if you dont approach weight loss in a steady, sensible way, working with your ghrelin instead of against it.

Now that we know the importance of snacking to lose weight, here are some good snack samples for you to try out. Remember, buy the ingredients over the weekend so you can plan your snacks for the work week.

365 Snacks for Every Day of the Year By Sarah Koszyk, MA, RDN

This Mediterranean inspired snack satisfies the salty-sweet cravings. Wrap the prosciutto around the figs for a deliciously tasty treat.

2 ounces prosciutto + 3 dried figs = 165 calories

Microwave Popcorn and Sunflower Seeds

Look for small bags of microwave popcorn that are air-popped with no added butter. Add a few sunflower seeds to give you the salty kick.

1 ounce air-popped popcorn bag + 1 Tablespoon salted sunflower seeds = 205 calories

Substitute regular butter with avocado by spreading avocado on your toast. Sprinkle a little bit of coarse sea salt on top for a delicious snack. This is wonderfully satisfying, especially if you use a bread with whole grains and seeds. Yum.

1 slice toast + 2 Tablespoons avocado = 125 calories

Endives with Goat Cheese and Pine Nuts

Use an herbed goat cheese and spread it onto the endive leaves. Sprinkle pine nuts on top for some extra crunch.

8 endive lettuce leaves + 1 ounce herbed goat cheese + 2 Tablespoons pine nuts = 170 calories

Hardboiled Egg with Green Olives

This power snack packs protein, heart-healthy fat, and flavor.

1 hardboiled egg + 10 large green olives = 115 calories

Tortilla with Pesto and Mozzarella

Herby pesto compliments creamy mozzarella on this low-carb tortilla.

1 high fiber, low carb tortilla + 1 Tablespoon basil pesto +2 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese = 185 calories

All recipes from 365 Snacks for Every Day of the Year By Sarah Koszyk, MA, RDN

Manuel Villacorta is an internationally recognized, award-winning registered dietitian/nutritionist with more than 18 years of experience. He is a trusted voice in the health and wellness industry. He is the author of three books, Eating Free (HCI, 2012), Peruvian Power Foods (HCI, 2013) and Whole Body Reboot: The Peruvian Superfoods Diet (HCI, 2015). Manuel is the founder of the Whole Body Reboot App, a weight loss program with emphasis on superfoods. He is one of the leading weight loss and nutrition experts in the country.

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To Snack, Or Not To Snack To Lose Weight - Huffington Post

Its something millions of Americans struggle with their weight. And right along with that are thousands of diets claiming to help people shed pounds fast.

But if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

However if you are ready for a change, there is a program that is changing lifestyles and helping people lose weight and keep it off. Its called the Balanced Weight Loss Program at Avera Heart Hospital.

My weights not going to change if I dont, said Carla Deutsch.

That was Carlas ah-ha moment. She had tried other diets before. Losing the weight wasnt the problem, it was keeping the weight off she struggled with.

I was just a point where I needed to, I decided I was ready. I needed to lose weight and this program came out, said Carla.

She started the Balanced Weight Loss Program at Avera Heart Hospital.

Its just grocery items and a dietitian to tell me how to do it, said Carla.

Registered Dietitian Lauren Cornay provides Carla tools she can use to not only help her lose weight, but maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Everyone who goes through the Balanced Weight Loss gets a resource book that kind of shows proper portions and what a balanced eating pattern looks like how much fruit, how many vegetables, how much protein, a good understanding of sort of where my calories should be coming from, said Cornay.

They started out with keeping a diary of what I was eating, not changing what I was eating, just keeping a diary. And then she looked at that and said oh well heres some problem areas, which I probably knew but just needed to be reinforced. It really helped me to see a lot of the things that I thought I was doing right that I was doing wrong, said Carla.

Motivation and accountability are the hardest things. For a lot of people I may not even be teaching them a whole lot they dont know, but a lot of us need that extra motivation or we need someone to be accountable to to make sure we can stay on track when life hands us curve balls, said Cornay.

Carla is a nurse and with that often comes odd hours.

In the morning Im planning -- okay so Im working night, what do I need to take with me? And at dinner, what am I going to do for dinner? So Im a much better planner now than I was before. I set a goal originally and I made that original goal and Ive set a second goal and Im struggling to get there but Im going to get there, yes. I think for me, goals have worked and its just something that you can look forward to and you know you have something that you can look forward to and you know you have something to work for," said Carla.

With Carlas positivity and drive, theres no doubt Carla will meet her goal.

Cornay says you must be willing to put in the hard work and effort to see and feel results from the Balanced Weight Loss Program.

For more information, just call 877-AT-AVERA.

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Avera Medical Minute AHH: Losing weight and keeping it off with Balanced Weight Loss Program - KSFY

In the past, the 57-year-old Gilmer, Texas, resident would try fad diets that did nothing but leave her feeling frustrated, she said.

"There was one called a grapefruit diet or something where you didn't eat anything but grapefruit," Henson said. "If you do something like that, that's what I meant by 'diet' being a failure."

She didn't consistently exercise, either. Although she didn't have any serious health conditions, she knew that her lifestyle was killing her. Henson was 5-foot-4 and 332 pounds.

Then, about six years ago, Henson was listening to the radio when an ad for Anytime Fitness blasted through the speakers. She said a quick prayer: "God, I wish we had one of those here."

Two weeks later, a gym opened in her neighborhood.

"I looked at it as an answered prayer," Henson said. "If that hadn't happened, there's a possibility I could have died or have any of the conditions associated with being obese. There's a history of heart disease and diabetes in my family. I was headed in that direction, and I didn't want to go there."

Ever since, Henson has been going to the gym daily with two of her friends and has been preparing healthier meals for herself. She has lost 175 pounds -- more than 50% of her previous body weight -- and she is keeping the weight off, she said. She has ditched fad diets and avoids placing too much emphasis on how much she weighs and instead focuses on how she feels.

But she remembers how easy it was to stick to the same old foods and avoid exercising, and how hard it was to find a healthier routine that led to long-term weight loss.

Experts are now trying to figure out why: whether it's because they don't realize they're at an unhealthy weight, because weight loss is hard or something else entirely.

The new paper showed that more than 30% of Americans said they were obese in 2015, compared with about 19% in 1997. Of those who were overweight or obese, about 49% said they were trying to lose weight in 2014, compared with about 55% in 1994.

"I've pondered that several times, as to why some people would want to be unhealthy when they can be healthy, but there are so many variables in someone's life that you don't know about," Henson said.

"I can't sit in judgment as to why that person wants to or doesn't want to. I just know what I needed and what I needed to do to change," she said. "You can't change what you've tried in the past, but you can set your sights for a better future.

"Everyone's on a different path, a different journey," Henson said.

For the new paper, "we hypothesized that the prevalent misperception may lead to a lack of motivation to lose weight. The current study just provides the missing piece of the puzzle," Zhang said.

"We are stuck in a vicious cycle. More people are getting obese; more are fine with their weight; when they are looking around, they find more persons with even larger bodies, and more are getting less motivated to lose weight, and in turn, we are getting even heavier," he said.

Dr. Randy Rockney, a pediatrician at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, has noticed the same thing happening among children, he said.

"Increasing obesity and overweight trends probably result in 'new normals,' " said Rockney, who was not involved in the new paper.

"Looking at society in general, overweight and obese people are less likely to perceive themselves as aberrant," he said. "It's really hard to lose weight, but it's not impossible, and I think there are a lot of people who have given up."

Rockney, 63, knows those challenges too well.

Standing at 6-foot-1, Rockney said his weight has fluctuated since he was in medical school, from the mid-180s to a high of 218, which meets the criteria for "overweight."

"The numbers are very sensitive to my weight," he said of his blood-sugar levels. "If I go up by five pounds, it will change the numbers adversely, and then, conversely, losing five pounds makes a significant improvement."

So Rockney decided to enroll in a weight loss study at work. He began calculating and restricting his fat and calorie intake, recording the foods and drinks he consumed, and weighing himself. He dropped to 193 pounds.

The weight loss was tough but not impossible, Rockney said. "I am more weight conscientious than I was, particularly regarding diet. I regained some of the weight I lost but remain well under where I started."

He said he currently weighs about 203 pounds, which technically still places his body mass index in the overweight category.

"A lot of physicians are conscious of this, that it's hard to preach healthy diet and exercise and healthy weight if you as a physician are not at a healthy weight," he said. "Among my patients and their families, excess weight continues to be a very common problem. We try to help them, but it can be challenging."

The new paper in JAMA included data on 27,350 overweight and obese adults who reported whether they were trying to lose weight between 1988 and 1994, 1999 and 2004, and 2009 and 2014.

"It's unfortunate that the current study was based on interviews rather than direct observation," Zhang said. "This is the reason we cannot rule out the possibility that many adults are actually fully engaging with a healthy lifestyle, but not on purpose to lose weight."

He added that the data did not include reports from the adults as to why they were not trying to lose weight, but he has some theories.

"First and foremost, it's painful. It's hard to drop pounds. Many of us tried and failed, tried and failed, and finally failed to try any more," Zhang said.

The researchers wrote that some overweight people are not trying to lose "due to body weight misperception reducing motivation to engage in weight loss efforts. ... The chronicity of obesity may also contribute. The longer adults live with obesity, the less they may be willing to attempt weight loss, in particular if they had attempted weight loss multiple times without success."

Yet Kelly Brownell, dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University and an expert on obesity, said he would come to a different set of conclusions.

"I think there are other possibilities that might be at least as important. One is that almost everybody who is overweight has tried to lose, and people are recognizing more and more that it's a very difficult challenge," said Brownell, who was not involved in the paper.

"Most approaches to weight loss produce temporary loss. People tend to regain and then go on more diets later, and so some people feel that it's not worth the effort and that the risk of failure is too high," he said. "Most people who are overweight realize that there are negative consequences and would like to lose weight if they could. But they realize that it's a very hard path to go down and that most people are not successful.

"It argues more than ever for the importance of prevention, because once people become overweight, it's very hard to lose, it's even harder to keep the weight off, and therefore preventing the weight gain in the first place has to be a national priority."

The researchers of the new paper, however, also noted that primary care clinicians might not be discussing weight issues with their patients, something that has been found in separate studies.

"Further, this decline was greatest in patients with obesity, patients at most need for physician intervention," she said.

"This may be due to a variety of reasons, including physician discomfort with providing counseling, less time available due to increased other patient conditions or even a greater acceptance of higher rates of obesity," she said. "We know that if physicians simply tell their patients they are overweight, they are more likely to be successful in their weight loss efforts. Therefore, it's critical we find a way to help reverse these trends."

However, pediatrician Rockney said he hasn't observed a decline in weight-related counseling in his own professional experience.

"For a long time, I could sense a deep cynicism about addressing the weight problem," he said. "But in recent times, there are a couple of my colleagues who have really taken on the obesity issue with kids and are really pushing intervention."

Before his weight loss, Rockney said, he sometimes felt self-conscious counseling parents and children about losing weight.

That patient turned to his mother and Rockney and said, "Hey, I think we all could stand to lose 15 or 20 pounds," making a reference to the doctor's weight.

Now, "I feel more confident in terms of advising families, people, what it is that can work for weight loss," Rockney said.

He often advises his patients to eat a healthy breakfast daily and monitor their caloric intake for weight loss. For instance, a blueberry muffin can take up about a third of your daily calories, since it has almost 500 calories, he said.

Rockney also advises his patients to weigh themselves daily, as addressing a lapse in weight loss can prevent even more weight gain, he said.

"One important principle I learned and still think to myself is, 'don't let a lapse become a relapse.' That's where regular weighings help, because I can potentially intervene before things get out of hand," Rockney said.

He said his effort to maintain his current weight or even lose weight again continues.

Beyond the clinic walls, having discussions about weight can be even more uncomfortable, Penn State's Kraschnewski said.

"Studies tell us that the vast majority of people who are overweight are interested in losing weight, but interest doesn't necessarily translate to action," she said.

If a loved one's weight might be putting their health at risk, Kraschnewski offered some advice on how to discuss weight loss.

"Look for opportunities to have a conversation, such as if your loved one makes a comment about their weight. If they aren't happy with their current weight, offer to help them talk to their doctor or look for other weight loss resources in your community," she said.

"Think about ways you could be active together," she said. "Having a partner on the journey to a healthier weight is one of the most effective ways for people to be successful."

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Why are fewer Americans trying to lose weight? - CNN.com

Women's Health

How To Lose 10 Pounds Even If You Hate Vegetables Women's Health We're going to tell it to you straight: It's not impossible to lose weight if you keep a veggie-free diet, but it's not going to be easy. That's because veggies are a great way to fill your plate for the least amount of caloriesnot to mention they're ...

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How To Lose 10 Pounds Even If You Hate Vegetables - Women's Health

Keeping up with everything on Outrage Nations daily agenda can be downright impossible sometimes. Other times, trying to draw readers toward a particular story breaks through the muck and warrants every bit of disdain thrown its way.

This is one of those times.

It all started with a (since-deleted) tweet from Cosmopolitan magazine designed to draw attention to a story (previously) billed as How This Woman Lost 44 Pounds Without *ANY* Exercise.

That is the type of line that's sure to garner attention. I mean, who wouldn't want to drop a few dozen pounds without having to go to the pesky gym or on an unappealing diet?

Well, I mentioned the phrase (previously) billed because over the course of the past two days, the story's headine has been changed toA Serious Health Scare Helped Me Love My Body More Than Everand the initial tweet promoting it has been deleted.

Those alterations resulted from thesort of backlashone would expect when a publication seemingly treats cancer as a primo weight-loss strategy. (See here, here and here.)

Yep,31-year-old Simone Harbinson of Melbourne, Australia dropped those 44 pounds, alright. And to tell readers how, the story starts with a nod to havingcomplicated relationship with her body before noting that her weight-loss journey was overshadowed by a waterfall of health scares.

In lieu of exercise, she battledseveral life-threatening setbacks and lost weight.This "approach" to slimming down included a severe kidney infection, a malignant carcinoid tumor of the appendix, the removal of part of a colon, infections and a partial lung collapse.

Obviously, cancer has brought pain and loss into countless families around the globe. And obviously, Harbinson's battle weaves a tale of bravery as she overcame steep medical odds.

So whats the issue here?

Well, when you lure readers with as magazines are wont to do weight-loss strategies before summer rolls around, its not exactly classy toinadvertently note that one would have to get cancer to drop thepounds in Harbinson's no-exercise program.

Exactly zero readers delved into that piece and walked away thinking, You know what, the perfect bikini body is worth going through all that.

Its one thing to employ the "present story in form of a question on social media to draw readers in" model. I've done it from time to time. Most people in this field have.

But it'ssomething altogether different to stoke interest in utilitarian weight-loss strategies by shielding thehorrors necessary to get there.

That Harbinson was able to fend off body image issues is an important point to make, but not at the expense of cancer-shielding, click-baity social-media marketing.

Make sure this doesn't happen again, writers and publishers of the world.

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No, Cosmo, battling cancer isn't an appealing way to lose weight - PhillyVoice.com

My fear of the scale runs so deep that it's sent me to therapy. The thought of seeing a numbera number that's way, way higher than what's considered "okay" by my doctor or by any article on "finding your healthy weight"makes me need a Xanax (or three). I always wondered if I just recalibrated my scale ever so slightly, giving the false impression that I was say, 20 pounds lighter, if that would do the trick. I asked my therapist about this tactic and she laid it out on the line for me: I'm not scared of the scaleI'm just in deep denial. Denial that my weight had been on a steady incline since my daughter was born just a little over two years ago. Denial that I need to take responsibility for the extra calories I consume when I cope via stress eating.

I mulled this over for a while. Months, to be honest. And then my husband and I were invited on a weeklong cruise. We hadn't been away from our daughter for more than three nights since she was born and desperately needed the time alone to reconnect and relax. Thankfully my parents didn't even hesitate to agree to watch her for the week. And we didn't hesitate to start referring to the trip as a second honeymoon.

But when I opened my closet to scan my vacation wear options, the honeymoon was already over (and we weren't even going to set sail for another month). Curating a wardrobe of tank tops, shorts, bathing suits and sundresses for an entire week felt more stressful than giving birth, moving, and searching for a new job combined. I needed to feel good about myself and not assume everyone on the ship would be judging my body. I knew I couldn't do that without a scale to guide me in the weeks leading up to the trip.

So, I went to the store and bought a scale. The last one I owned broke years ago, and I never bothered to replace it. I took the scale out of the box and placed it next to my side of the bed where it sat for a few days. I needed to get used to its presence. Just knowing it was there, waiting for me, forced me to stop and ask myself what I really wanted each time I opened the fridgefood or comfort? After a three-day standoff, I stepped on the scale. I winced like it was about to explode and shut my eyes tight. Now, to prepare for this travesty, I gave myself a range of numbers. The highest was slightly ridiculous (we're talking a scenario in which I'd need to be forklifted out of bed), but it helped because what I then saw didn't seem so bad. Yes, it was a lot higher than where I wanted to be, but I could now disarm its power. Here's why, and what I learned.

My diet varies from day to day. Some days I eat super clean (or at least I think I do) and cut out carbs and processed foods: eggs for breakfast, salad with chicken for lunch, and a protein/veggie combo for dinner. Other days I pay no attention to calories or ingredients and eat only what I cravewhich is usually pizza and chicken nuggets I rescued before my daughter threw them on the floor. Some days my jeans fit great and others they're so tight I can't breathe. Sometimes I'll even throw in a quick cardio sesh to counteract the "bad" days. The thing is, I had no real sense of what was working and what was derailing me because I wasn't tracking my progress. Yes, tight jeans are a great indication that maybe it's time to cut back on my afternoon mocha lattesbut the scale helps me much sooner. A few days of a plateau followed by an increase in pounds means I need to switch to iced tea before the lattes show up on my midsection. I started thinking of the scale as a brutally honest friend giving the tough love I don't want to hearbut know I need. Now when I lose a pound, I feel like the scale is winking at me, as if to say, "I got you, girl."

They say that ignorance is blissbut having access to my weight whenever I want has become an unexpected secret weapon. I'm the queen of the blame gamemy weight is up because work is crazy, because I've been worried about something going on at home, because I was sick. The pattern is to blame my weight on ANYTHING but what I ate. And because I wasn't getting on the scale, these excuses turned to fact (in my mind) because I wasn't taking any steps to get the facts straight. Now that I'm getting on the scale at least once a week, suddenly the excuses have stopped. I have the knowledgesuch as I went up a pound because I chose to have pizza instead of a salad. I went down a pound because of the workouts I committed to and the balanced meals I made. Stepping on the scale shuts down the excuses before they even take over.

I was so afraid that the scale would completely derail my mood every time I didn't like the number. But it turns out that avoiding it all this time simply gave it more power. Now that I faced my fear, I actually obsess over my weight a little less, and I don't let the scale define me. Just this week, I stepped on the scale and it was a few pounds higher than I would like. But, I've worked out 18 out of the last 18 days and can fit into my "skinnier" jeans because I'm toning up. Plus, I managed to cook dinner five out of the past seven nights all while working what felt like 24-hour days and taking care of my very active and curious 2-year-old daughter. Phew. I can put what I saw on the scale aside while I focus on and celebrate my life. I can stop obsessing about what number I wish I saw because here's the beauty of the scale: It's not a one-time thing. I can challenge myself this week to maybe eat one less meal out or cut out one glass of wine, and then actually look forward to what the scale has to say the next time I step on it. The shift in mindsetthat I have power over the scale and not the other way aroundhas been incredibly freeing.

And if you'll allow me to be a little vain for a second, I've also learned that the number on the scale has nothing to do with how I feel about my looks. Whenever I blow out my hair or rock a hot new pair of shoesI feel like Kate freaking Upton, and no number can take that away from me. While the scale can help hold me accountable for my habits, it can't dictate if I feel happy, secure, confident and most of allbeautiful.

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What Happened When I Weighed Myself for the First Time In 3 Years - Shape Magazine

Here is some very good news for guacamole lovers everywhere: A new review of scientific literature suggests that eating avocado is a simple (and delicious!) way to prevent metabolic syndrome. Dubbed "the new silent killer," metabolic syndrome is the term used to describe a combination of three or more risk factors for heart disease and diabetes (think high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and large waist circumference, for example).

The review, conducted by Iranian researchers and published in the journal Phytotherapy Research, looked at 129 previously published studies examining the effects of avocado consumption on different components of metabolic syndrome. Most of the studies involved the fleshy part youre used to eating, but some also included avocado leaves, peels, oil, and seeds, or pits.

The researchers concluded that avocados have the most beneficial effects on cholesterol levels, and that consumption of the creamy fruit can influence several different measurements: LDL (bad) cholesterol, HDL (good) cholesterol, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and phospholipids.

Thats not all, though. "The lipid-lowering, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, anti-obesity, antithrombotic, antiatherosclerotic, and cardioprotective effects of avocado have been demonstrated in several studies," wrote the authors, and most of those studies recommend eating the fruit on a daily basis. In other words, avocados can help fight pretty much every aspect of metabolic syndrome.

This is just yet another study to show that avocados truly deserve superfood status, says Healths contributing nutrition editor, Cynthia Sass, RD, MPH. Sass was not involved in the review, but says it includes an impressive range of studies.

Sass points out that avocados can help stave off belly fat, the most dangerous type of fat to carry. And even though theyre high in (healthy) fat compared to other fruits, its hard to go overboard and eat too much. Fortunately avocado is very satiating, she says. Its almost like they have a built-in stop-gap.

Research also shows that people who eat more avocados weigh less and have smaller waists than those who dont, even when they dont consume fewer calories overall. This is yet another example of how not all calories are created equal, Sass says.

RELATED: 18 Superfoods for Your Heart

Plus, avocados are a good source of antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, in addition to their heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. And, as the review notes, they're generally safe and better tolerated than synthetic medications.

Want to add more avocado to your regular diet? Besides using the fruit to make guacamole and super-trendy avocado toast, you can also whip it into smoothies, add it to omelets and salads, andwith a little seasoninguse it as a topping for sandwiches, soups, fish, chicken, pizza, you name it. Avocado can even be used as a replacement for butter in baking recipes, and its creaminess makes it a good base for desserts like ice cream and pudding. (For more ideas, check out 25 Amazing Avocado Recipes for the Avo-Obsessed.)

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If you've never tried avocado in these ways, trust me, you'll love it, Sass says. Avocado blends well with both sweet and savory ingredients, and provides the satisfaction factor that makes dishes decadent. Incorporating more avocado into your diet is like having your cake and eating it too!

Oh, and while the study looked at several parts of the plant, Sass recommends sticking with the flesh for now. We dont yet know enough about the safety of eating pits and peels, she says.

This article originally appeared on Health.com.

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Eating avocados every day can help you lose weight in this problem area - Fox News

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Eating chocolate can lead to weight loss. Ill give you a second to process that.

Ready? Okay, but before you take that on as your new life motto, learn why this is a controversial suggestion.

Im just as ready and desperate to embrace the fat-busting ways of chocolate as you are, but lets not just indulge in wishful thinking unless theres scientific proof to back it up. Luckily, weight loss and chocolate have quite the track record.

In a 2005 study conducted at the University of LAquila in Italy, researchers found that dark chocolate decreases blood pressure and improves insulin sensitivity in healthy persons.

Neuroscientist and author of Eat Chocolate, Lose WeightWill Clower claims that eating chocolate 20 minutes before and five minutes after lunch and dinner can help cut appetite by up to 50 percent. This effect is a result of the brain releasing hormones that fool the body into thinking its full.

In a 2009 study, scientists found that dark chocolate was able to reduce the metabolic effects of stress. High stress levels are associated with weight gain. Meanwhile, University of Copenhagen researchers found that dark chocolate lessens cravings for sweet, salty, and fatty foods, obvious culprits on anyones trek to a slimmer figure.

The research substantiates the claim that eating chocolate may help you to lose weight. And, eating chocolate before a meal, appears to be the best time, as chocolate will give your body the sensation of being full (better before than after a meal) and will weaken cravings for poor food choices (better before than after the fact).

But there are limitations. Most of these studies hinge on the premise that the chocolate is a simple, dark variety no dairy in the ingredients list and that it is consumed moderately. Too much of anything, especially of a food straddling the boundaries of that complex space called guilty conscience, can go sour.

Kimberly Snyder,nutritionist and New York Times best-selling author, also recommends eating chocolate, but not too much. We do not need chocolate in our diet at all for nutritive value, so you do not want to consume chocolate every day it is a treat!

Rather than treating chocolate as the only variable in your weight loss formula, make it part of a healthy, plant-based dietary lifestyle. Instead of fearing it, enjoy it on occasion, but not too much to the point it becomes its own food group.

In sticking to the dark chocolate theme, Snyder recommends organic and dairy-free chocolate with at least a 72% cacao content, of which there are many on the market.

Dark chocolate contains resveratrol, antioxidants, and is a good source of magnesium, she notes. But these nutritional perks are shrouded when excess sugar and dairy are added to the equation.

Another option is raw chocolate. The difference between commercial dark chocolate and raw chocolate is that the cacao beans for raw chocolate are never heated above 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius), thus maintaining the nutritional profile of the cacao. Many raw chocolate brands usually stick to the unrefined (or healthy) theme by omitting refined sugar, dairy, and low-quality oils in the blend. However, just as she warns against dark chocolate, raw chocolate shouldnt be consumed in excess and daily. For a homemade version of raw chocolate, try Snyders Raw Cacao Truffles.

While afew pieces of dark (or raw) chocolate before a meal may help you lose weight, dont abuse the science by overindulging or by, as Snyder recommends not to do, consuming it daily.

Related on Organic Authority You Can Lose Weight on a High-Carb, Low-Fat DietWant to Lose Weight? Pay Attention!Working Out and Getting Fatter? How to Eat to Lose Weight

Aylin is founder of GlowKitchen, a food blog with an emphasis on vegan and gluten-free fare. Aylin has been living in Istanbul, where she is founder and CEO of a cold-pressed juice and healthy foods company JS (www.jusistanbul.com).

Excerpt from:
You Can Now Say Your Chocolate Addiction is Helping You Lose Weight - Organic Authority

Jessie James Decker loves lifting heavy weights , and swears by protein to keep her full and energized throughout the day. But the country music singer and mom of twoVivienne, 3, and Eric Thomas, 19 monthsdidn't always make time for fitness or think about what she was eating.

"I relied on being young and my genetics and I just kind of stayed thin," Decker tells SELF. But after having kids, she decided it was time to adopt a healthy lifestyle , by consciously eating a healthier diet and working out regularly. "My body looks completely different than it did before kids," she says. In fact, Decker says she feels healthier and more content with her body than ever before.

"I feel like I have more energy now and I feel more proud of myself because I had two kids and know I really accomplished something." And, she says, she worked really hard to get to the happy, healthy place she is now. "Every woman has those days where she nit-picks herself, but I feel like there are not as many as there used to be."

SELF talked with Decker, who is the new brand ambassador of South Beach Diet , and got the scoop on the changes she's made since becoming a mom, what she's doing to stay healthy and happy, and why she wasn't in a rush to lose any weight after delivering her son.

"I decided to make a change and focus on [eating more] veggies and just eating really clean , and paying attention to nutrition," she says.

She decided to partner with South Beach, which offers healthy prepackaged and portioned meals and snacks, to make healthy eating a little easier. "Im running around with my kids, and there were times I used to forget to feed myself and would it be a problem because I would get exhausted and just crash," she says. She's now more conscious of portion sizes when she's making her own food or eating out.

On a typical day, Decker likes to eat a diet high in protein. Breakfast varies depending on what she's doing that day. "If Im in a hurry, I will have the South Beach Ricotta Muffins," she says. "Some mornings Ill just have turkey bacon and scrambled eggs." Either way, she focuses on protein to keep her energized.

Her favorite lunch: Texas chili. "For dinner, I'll grill chicken with asparagus and call it a day." As for snacks? "I love to do almond butter and celery with the kids. If I'm on the run, I'll have a South Beach Toffee Nut Bar."

When she decided she was ready to start a fitness routine , she "was open to trying everything," Decker says. "I work out now a couple times a week, and thats changed everything." It took her a while to find what she really liked and what worked for her body, but she says she loves doing weighted circuit training.

"I feel best when I do really quick circuit workouts . I love changing it up, keeping it fast-paced, and lifting heavy weights," Decker says. After a workout, she'll have a protein shake .

"I hate those unrealistic goals that people place on women. Its just not right," Decker says. "It took us nine months to have our babies and put on this weight. I gained 55 pounds with my daughter, so I get it, its tough. But you can't just pop out a baby and expect to be the size you were before, it just doesn't work like that. I hate that people make women feel thats what they have to do," she says. "You can get to all that stuff later when its right for you ."

Decker says she wasn't ready to even think about losing weight until eight or nine months after her son was born. "I decided not to focus on losing weight until I was done breastfeeding ," she says. "I just paid attention to my body. Im really in tune with my body and what it needs." While some women lose weight breastfeeding, others, like Decker, hold onto (or gain) weight. But she didn't sweat itand just considered it what her body needed to do to feed her babies.

Now, she's focusing on what makes her healthy and happyon her own timeline. "I feel so much more confident now that I changed my lifestyle," Decker says. "I want women to know that they can do that, too."

Watch: A 6-Move No-Equipment Workout You Can Do at Home

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Jessie James Decker Didn't Try to Lose Weight After Her Second Child - SELF

April 13, 2017 by George Wigmore Credit: Ivan Mateev/Shutterstock.com

It is unclear whether mindful eating can help with weight loss, according to a new City, University of London review.

The paper, which is published in the journal Clinical Psychology Review, found although mindfulness-based weight management programs have had some success, it is not always clear that the mindfulness components were responsible.

According to the review, research in this area is further complicated by the fact that the term 'mindfulness' is used to refer to a range of different practices. Additionally, there is still little understanding of the mechanisms by which mindfulness might exert its effects, and as a result further research is needed.

Levels of overweight and obesity have increased dramatically over the last three decades, and globally 1 in 3 adults are now overweight or obese, with more than 3 million deaths attributed to the condition every year.

As well as being associated with increased mortality, being overweight or obese is linked to a wide range of chronic health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and cancer. In addition, overweight and obesity are estimated to have a global cost of $2.0 trillion a year, which is equivalent to the cost of armed war, violence, and terrorism.

However, mindful eating is increasingly being promoted as a solution to being overweight, with the practice claiming that it will help us eat less, transform our relationship with food and end our battle with weight once and for all. Such techniques are currently being employed by a number of healthcare organisations, as well as being promoted as a strategy for weight management and eating regulation amongst the general public.

The term 'mindfulness' can be used to refer to a range of different practices and can be defined as 'awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment'. This definition includes two key ideas; that of paying attention to present moment experience, and also of taking a non-judgmental attitude towards this experience.

When it comes to mindful eating, such approaches can include attending to the sensory properties of food, and also decentering, which involves viewing ones thoughts and feelings as temporary events that are separate from oneself.

To investigate the evidence-base for mindful eating, a literature search was undertaken which aimed to identify all studies that examined the independent effects of mindfulness (or a mindfulness-related strategy) on either weight loss, or a behavioural outcome closely associated with weight management, namely quantity or type of food consumed.

The review found that there is little understanding of how mindfulness might work with respect to eating and weight management. However, the study identified that the two areas that show the most promise are present moment awareness of the sensory properties of food, and decentering. However, there is still relatively little research examining these techniques, and no rigorously conducted studies have examined their effects on weight loss or weight maintenance. As a result, whether such techniques can actually help with weight management remains to be seen.

Dr Katy Tapper, a Senior Lecturer from the Department of Psychology at City, University of London said:

"We simply can't say with confidence that mindful eating can help with weight management. A diversity of practices have been labelled as mindfulness, and the effects of each of these on weight management related eating behaviours are far from established. As such we need to invest in more carefully controlled experimental studies before developing and promoting additional mindfulness-based weight management interventions."

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