Buh-Bye Google Friend Connect!

As a Google Friend Connect (GFC) subscriber at SkinnyTwinkie.com (and likely many other sites), you may already know that GFC is going away for all non-Blogger websites effective March 1, 2012. As you’ve guessed, SkinnyTwinkie.com is not on Blogger! : /

Let’s face it, GFC never became as user friendly or as “main stream” as other social networking platforms. I kept thinking or what was going to “replace” GFC, and I decided I just wanted to keep things simple for you, the reader, as well as for myself.

Feel free to follow us, however you like: 

We will continue to write great articles, have fun giveaways, and stay connected with our audience. Thank you for being a loyal reader! 

Tags: facebook, GFC, Google Friend Connect, Google+, Pinterest, Twinkie, twitter

Hungry? Healthy and Filling Foods

If you’re trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, it’s important to find the right kind of foods to keep yourself full. These include high-protein foods, high-fiber foods, and healthy fats. Here are five ideas that will keep you feeling full longer:

Eat your veggies

Vegetables are key to feeling full longer. They are low in calories, and high in fiber. Try adding extra veggies to your meals or start substituting a salad for those high calorie dishes. This is a great way to help you stay slender!

It’s time to go nuts!

Nuts are filling, and have plenty of healthy fats in them. They are also high in protein. Remember to keep the serving size reasonable because they are high in calories – healthy calories! Try making a trail mix with dried fruit or use them as a side dish.

Snack on prunes

Don’t judge a book by its cover. While prunes may not be the most appealing to the eye, they are a high-fiber food filled with healthy antioxidants. This sweet, satisfying snack will keep you feeling full longer.

Start with soup

Studies have shown that if you eat soup before a meal, you are more likely to eat less. This is important when you are trying to reach your weight loss goals and still enjoy eating out. Broth-based soups are full of high-fiber foods. Stay away from creamy soups; they are high in fat and sodium! If you have time, you can even make a homemade soup and then freeze it for a quick on-the-go meal when you need it.

Oatmeal

Oatmeal is high in fiber and you can spruce it up by adding sliced fruit, rice milk, and sprinkling some nuts on top! This fiber rich food is easy to make and will help you feel full longer and manage your weight.

You don’t need to starve yourself to maintain or lose weight!

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Tags: Nutrition, Weight Loss

When Organic Isn’t Healthy

Having a product labeled as “USDA Organic” doesn’t mean that you should automatically consider the product to be “healthy”. You  need to take a deeper look…

Definition of Organic

That Organic label just means that the food is grown, processed, and packaged without the use of agricultural chemicals, artificial colors or flavors, genetic modification, irradiation, or other synthetic ingredients.

Simply put, the term “organic” doesn’t mean that a product is automatically “healthy” or good for your body.

Unhealthy Organic Products

There are a lot of unhealthy products out on the market today that are considered by many to be nutritious and healthy, partly due to marketing campaigns and an “All Natural” or “Organic” label on the front.

I have hand picked a couple of Organic products out on the market today that are about as guilty as the non-organic comparisons. I can’t say these are the “unhealthiest” organic products out on the market today, but they are just a few examples of products to avoid. These products just can’t be considered healthy, no matter how big that USDA Organic label is on the front of the package!

Organic Toaster Pastries

These can easily be compared to the popular Pop•Tart, nothing more than a sugary pastry. Yes, it’s made with “real fruit”, but it doesn’t quite make up for all of the other ingredients. The second ingredient is  evaporated cane juice invert (which is sugar) and the third ingredient is evaporated cane juice (sugar, again!), and dextrose (simple sugar).

Organic Cream Filled Cookies

Just like an Oreo cookie, these Newman-O’s are high in calories, fat, and sugar. The organic ingredients just don’t quite remove the side effects of eating junk food.

Organic Gummy Worms

These little gummy worms are organic and contain 100% daily vitamin C, so these must be really healthy for you, right? Wrong. There’s not enough vitamin C or natural fruit juice in this little bag of candy to compensate for the amount of sugar they put in these little gummy worms.

Organic Cereal

This organic cereal is marketed as a healthy cereal for kids, yet the second ingredient is sugar. Not only that, this cereal contains dextrose (fancy word for a simple sugar) and maltodextrin (which is a food additive, mostly found in soda and candy).

Organic Ice Cream

It’s “All Natural” and “Organic”, how could you go wrong? Even though this ice cream has been touted as different from other ice creams, it still contains key ingredients that keeps it on the naughty list: saturated fat and sugar.

Organic Tomato and Cheese Sauce

This organic canned meal is marketed towards kids, so it must be healthy, right? This product clearly misses the grade, primarily made with noodles made with semolina (processed wheat flour that removes the bran – and fiber), and evaporated cane juice (sugar).

Organic Cake Mix

You can make a healthy cake (organic or not), but this cake isn’t it. It’s loaded with 18 grams of sugar per serving (12 servings per box), and that’s not including the sugar and fat that will be in the frosting!

Organic Sugar is still…Sugar

If a product is full of unhealthy ingredients, whether it’s labeled as organic or not, it’s still going to be bad for your overall health. You can still gain weight or get sick by eating organic only ingredients. As I like to say, organic sugar is still…sugar. Organic doesn’t automatically make sugar and unhealthy fat (or any other unhealthy ingredient) magically become good for you.

If you would like do eat organic foods and are truly looking for healthy products for you and your family,  suggest buying fresh organic produce and organic products that don’t contain unnecessary ingredients. Check the list of ingredients thoroughly. Companies may try to deceive you by using fancy words, but ingredients will never lie. If you need to, look up the ingredient in the dictionary to decide whether an ingredient is healthy or not.

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Tags: Nutrition, Organic, Organic Products, USDA Organic

You Are What You Eat

I figured it was time we featured a bunch of fun, motivational, or just plan random health related pictures. Enjoy!

1. You are what you eat! 

2. I couldn’t have said it any better!

3. It’s time to get out of the McDonald’s parking lot…

4. Gym = Eternal Youth

5. Anyone else concerned about this?

6. Anyone else feel this way?

7. Now this is what I call a “Grass fed cow”!

8. Those Vegans lied to all of us!

9. The internet can be a good or a bad  thing. The choice is yours. 

10. You really shouldn’t procrastinate.

11. Ouch, I hate math too. Probably for a different than whoever this John guy is…

Hopefully one of these pictures made you laugh out loud or at least smile! :D

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No Surprise: Heart Attack at Heart Attack Grill

An unidentified man (described as a “normal” guy in his 40′s) had a heart attack while he was eating a Triple Bypass burger at the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas this last Saturday. Perhaps he was warned?

Heart Attack at the Heart Attack Grill. 

Oh, the Irony. Someone at the Heart Attack Grill gets a…(gasp!) Heart Attack. Sad? Yes. Surprised? No.

Every day we choose how we are going to eat, and every day those choices matter. Bad food choices on a regular basis have a negative affect on your overall health. An average 40-something doesn’t just get a heart attack! Those customers who weigh 350 pounds or more eat free at the Heart Attack Grill – perhaps this particular client (or as they call it, “patient”) was one of those who received a free meal?

Caution: This Establishment is Bad for Your Health

Everyone knows fast food is bad for you and can lead to poor health. The problem with those who eat at the Heart Attack Grill is that they have been fully warned about how bad the food is, yet they still willingly eat there.

Just as you enter the Heart Attack Grill, there is a sign on the front door that reads, “Caution: This Establishment is Bad for Your Health.” Probably the most honest advertising that I’ve ever seen.

The company slogan is, “taste…worth dying for”, which is sad and even ironic considering the last company spokesman for Heart Attack Grill was a morbidly obese man who died at the age of 29.

When are we going to wake up and actually do something about our health? What foods we put into our body matters. Act like it, please.

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Image Credit: Heart Attack Grill

Tags: Heart Attack Grill