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Tag: Getting healthy

  • King-Size Candy Bars Are Dead, Long Live The King

    In recent years, many popular snacks have become smaller in size. Though it may have been more about money than health.

    For Mars Inc., the decision to do away with “king-size” items is all about health and nutrition. The candy company, which makes M&Ms, Twix, and Snickers among others, has said that it intends to stop selling products that contain more than 250 calories per serving.

    According to the Chicago Tribune, the initiative was laid out in 2012 with plans to stop shipping out the king-size version of their popular candies by the end of 2013.

    Their king-size candies were probably never meant to be consumed all at once or even all by one person. But for those who did, they were taking in a whopping 510 calories with the king-size Snickers bar alone.

    That’s more than ¼ the average calories a person is expected to eat in an entire day!

    Calories aren’t the only concern for Mars. The company also intends to cut back on sodium levels by as much as 25 percent by 2015.

    “Mars has a broad-based commitment to health and nutrition,” said the company in a statement. They added that this commitment “includes a number of global initiatives.”

    Perhaps that initiative will be to be mindful of the serving sizes made available to customers. The soon to be defunct king-size Snickers only had a serving size of ⅓ the entire product. Let’s be honest: Exactly how many people break or cut off a third of a candy bar in order to be “calorie conscious?”

    It may be up to Mars to simply sell their products in portions more agreeable with what’s healthiest for consumers rather than trust these persons to always check the portions and serving sizes.

    A big question with regard to this change has got to come down to the pricing.

    As I said, it’s not beyond companies to shrink their serving sizes but raise their prices to make a profit.

    While Mars Inc.’s aim may be noble, if prices on the tinier versions of their chocolate go up, people may pass on their candy for reasons having nothing to do with health.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Best Diet Plans to Help You Lose Weight

    Best Diet Plans to Help You Lose Weight

    It’s the beginning of a new year, so you know what that means: resolutions. Many resolutions have to do with weight loss, so the search for the best diet plans begin. The trouble is, with so many diets available, how do you know which is the best? Here, we examine the basics of some of the recent diet trends, and some that have been around for some time.

    The Adkins Diet

    The Adkins diet is one that has been around for quite a while, likely because it has some merit. Those who are on the diet are able to eat high-quality proteins and good fats, like avocado. Meanwhile, they are to eliminate refined carbohydrates, such as white bread. Doing so cuts out excess sugar, which allows you to drop some pounds.

    The Slow Carb Diet

    If you want to enjoy as much flour, rice and sugar as you can, this diet is likely not for you. This diet requires you to eliminate all white refined carbohydrates, as well as fruit and dairy. Basically, you can nosh on veggies and lean meat, which isn’t much, but you are able to eat all you want once a week.

    The South Beach Diet

    The South Beach diet is good in theory, but quite difficult to put in practice, at least for any considerable length of time. Dieters are able to eat lentils, chicken, beans, leafy green vegetables, nuts, seeds and good fats in the form of olive oil. If you are able to eat only these ingredients forever, then good for you. If you can’t live without fruit and bread, however, this diet may not be the best for you.

    The Fast Diet

    The title of this diet can be misleading. “Fast” doesn’t mean you’ll lose weight quickly, it means you are “fasting,” at least on some days. The diet has its followers restrict their caloric intake to 500 or 600 a day, depending on the gender, on two non-consecutive days a week. However, on the non-fasting days, you are able to eat a variety of foods, including steak and alcohol. Score!

    Paleo

    The paleo diet takes you back; way back to the day of the caveman. This diet essentially encourages you to eat what your ancestors ate. Whole foods and meat take the stage here, while refined and processed foods are kicked to the curb.

    The bottom line when trying to choose your diet plan is determining what works best for you, and what you can actually see yourself doing. Dieting is a marathon, not a race, so pick what you think you can stick with for the long haul. And speak with your doctor before trying any of these diets.

    If you need any encouragement in your weight loss process, visit Twitter for some uplifting posts, like these:

    Image via Wikimedia Commons