Every year exercise and weight loss are ranked as the top New Year resolutions that people make. Were you one of them? Whether you’re looking to drop a few pounds, tone up those muscles or improve your overall health, creating a gym in your house can give you the comforts of home while not having to worry that you don’t have time to get to the gym.

Here are some low cost items that are handy to have around the house as well as ideas on how to use items you may already have.

Cardio
Pick up a good sturdy and fairly heavy jump rope at your local sports retailer. If you are planning on jumping rope indoors, make sure you have at least a nine foot ceiling, if not, head outside! Jumping rope burns approximately 110 calories in just 10 minutes. Change the speed at which you’re jumping to create interval training and to ramp up your cardio experience.

If you are looking for a lower impact cardio workout, head out doors. It is recommended that people walk 10,000 steps a day to maintain their weight. By clipping a pedometer to your belt will help you know how close you are to the 10,000 steps a day. Take the jump rope with you and try connecting with your inner child and skip down the street; trust me, it’s fun.

Building Strength
While you are out grabbing the jump rope you can pick up a few low cost free weights and they can be easily stored under your bed. For a change from weights, get a kettle bell. In just 20 minutes, you can burn up to 400 calories and get firm all over. There are plenty of online videos to assist you in creating a routine.

If weights just aren’t your thing, a rubber resistance band, which mimics machine moves, can help target back, hip and inner thigh muscles as well as biceps, triceps and shoulders. Most come with a door attachment or handles for you to change up your routine.

Many household items can easily be used for exercise too. Rather than purchasing hand weights, use gallon sized milk jugs filled with water and that can be used for any exercise that requires dumbbells. Adjust the amount of water in the bottles and you can change how heavy the weight is.

One of my all time favorite pieces of equipment is a stability ball. You can get creative and do many different exercises to flatten the belly, work out the back muscles, do pushups and much more. Of course, when all else fails, there are always the basic body-weight exercises, most of which only require a bit of empty space on the floor or wall. Squats, push-ups and jogging in place are all great ways to work up a sweat and burn calories and they don’t cost a penny to do.

Use these simple tips to help keep you on track with your exercising and weight loss resolutions. Have fun with your exercise routine, utilize free weight loss tools and there’s never any reason why you can’t succeed. If you have questions on how to make your home a gym and using things around your house, just ask! Our Fitness Coaches are always willing to help.

Antioxidants have been popular in the world of weight loss lately and we have guests at our weight loss camps ask us if antioxidants are as beneficial as everyone is making them out to be. The answer is, it depends. Here are six myths and truths about antioxidants provided by ConsumerReports OnHealth to explain what we mean.

Myth: Antioxidants are all vitamins
Truth: There are thousands of antioxidants and only a limited number of them are vitamins. Antioxidants have the ability to block free radicals. Free radicals are unstable chemical fragments that cause damage throughout your body and can cause abnormal cell growth and reproduction.

Myth: All antioxidants are created equal
Truth: According to Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D. and director of the Antioxidant Research Lab at Tufts University says, “Different antioxidants fight different free radicals.” But what’s nice is that all antioxidants work together like a well oiled machine. For instance, vitamin C recycles vitamin E, meaning that when vitamin E blocks a free radical, vitamin C takes the remaining vitamin E and changes it back to its original antioxidant form.

Myth: Be sure to eat pomegranates, berries and other super fruits
Truth: There is no official definition of a ‘super fruit.’ It can mean whatever someone wants it to mean, therefore it does not hold any significance. All fruits and vegetables have a unique blend of healthy components and some of those include antioxidants. By only focusing on ‘super fruits,’ you are missing out on a variety of other beneficial fruits and vegetables.

Myth: You should amp up your intake with supplements
Truth: Don’t focus on supplements when you can get the nutrients you need from food. Clinical trials have shown that consuming nutrients in supplement form does not produce the same results that found when consuming them in foods. Why waste your money on a single supplement that may work when you can buy foods that can provide multiple nutritional benefits?

Myth: If some antioxidants are good, more is better
Truth: We’ve all heard the saying that “there is no such thing as too much of a good thing,” that saying does not apply to nutrients in supplement form. There has been some evidence to indicate that when taken in megadoses (which many supplements come in) it can cause antioxidants to become pre-oxidents which may actually increase the production of free radicals. The opposite result of what antioxidants are intended to perform.

Myth: Packaged food with labels that promise antioxidant benefits will boost your health
Truth: Just because a package advertises antioxidants, does not mean that they carry a health benefit as well. Since antioxidants are desired by consumers, manufacturers will add vitamin C or E and then advertise that their food contains antioxidants. They do this in hopes to drive up the sales and price of their product but in turn do not yield the benefits that consumers expect. Some products may already contain the antioxidant and the manufacturer is not even adding anything to the product.

We are still discovering more about how antioxidants work within our body so the best advice we can give you to promote a healthy diet and help you achieve your weight loss goals is to make sure that you eat a variety of fruits, veggies, whole grains and legumes every day. Sometimes staying true to eating a balanced diet of whole, natural foods is still the best way to go.

Did you know that regular exercise not only makes your body fit, but your mind and spirit too? It can help ease anxiety, stress, and depression; as well, as boost your self-esteem and energy levels. People who exercise more also tend to eat more nutritiously. In a study of 278 adults ages 60 and older, those with depression had a lower intake of fruits and vegetables (the main sources of antioxidants) and a lower intake of dietary antioxidants overall compared with those who weren’t depressed. Studies have also shown that individuals who are stressed tend to not only consume lower amounts of antioxidants. But individuals also tend to consume more food overall, which can make it very difficult for weight loss, which can in turn cause more stress.
You only need to exercise for a minimum of 20 to 40 minutes, this amount of time is better for reducing anxiety and increasing energy than shorter bouts of exercise. Choose any exercise you enjoy and you’ll be more likely to make it a habit. It’s easy, just taking a brisk walk outside clears your head, helps you absorb vitamin D (another depression fighter) and relieves tension. Studies have shown that if you incorporate walking into your fitness routine, you are more likely to stick to it.

These strategies can help you incorporate exercise a part of your routine:

• Enjoy exercise by keeping it at a level that is comfortable for you
• Maintain a regular schedule – exercise before work or at lunch. Try joining a class, basketball league, cycling club, or other group
• Change your outlook. Focus on the positives, like how it gives you more energy and can help reduce stress in addition to helping with weight loss

In addition to reducing stress and helping with weight loss, staying physically active as you age may also prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s and other memory disorders. In one study, older adults who spent a decent amount of time on mentally challenging activities had about half the risk of developing Alzheimer’s as those who rarely engage in physical activities. This test also included brain-saving activities like playing cards, or checkers, reading, working crosswords, or other puzzles and visiting museums. Just remember if you are doing anything seated for long periods of time, get up and move around every hour or so to keep your blood flowing.
Another mental and physical challenge to explore is orienteering – a race in wilderness navigation using a map and campus. Visit their website for information, events and resources. Shane Diet & Fitness Resorts Instructors have a lot of mental and physical challenges to keep you motivated and moving.

Have you ever caught yourself saying, “I’m too tired to exercise”? We’ve all done it, either skip a workout or cut a workout session short because we are “too tired.”

Fatigue is the reason many of us skip our exercise for the day, but did you know it can be a self-inflicted factor? That’s right! Fatigue is a perception – and your perceptions are easy to acknowledge and change. Believe it or not – exercise itself can make you feel less tired and more energized. We have combed through research to list Shane Diet & Fitness Resorts top five fatigue fighting tips to try on those days you need an extra kick in the pants to exercise and continue on your path to lose weight. Make working out part of your routine and over time you should feel less tired and function better.

1. Eat Carbohydrates. Eating a low carbohydrate diet keeps your body from the maximum benefits from strength-based activities. Carbs equal energy. This is why diets like Atkins are not recommended for athletes. If you are planning to work out and it has been more than three hours since you ate anything, fuel up with a banana, 3 or 4 whole wheat crackers with peanut butter, or 100% whole wheat toast with tahini. Try to stay away from refined simple carbohydrates like white bread. The optimal fuels for fighting fatigue are complex carbs like legumes, starchy vegetables and whole grains.
2. Variety is the spice of life. Repetitive training can cause boredom and fatigue. Your body becomes use to the same work out and after a few weeks you reach a plateau. Mix things up and your body will react differently. Try using a different cardio machine on every visit to the gym. Change your weight lifting program every four weeks. This will also increase the benefits, since you’ll be regularly working different muscle groups.
3. Stay hydrated. It’s important to drink lots of water. When you are dehydrated, your cardiovascular system feels the effects, weakening the blood flow to your muscles and decreasing energy and function. Drink cold water before during and after exercise, even more so if you are working outside or sweat heavily. Often the sensation of thirst might not signal when you need to drink, especially with older people and those that take over-the counter or prescription drugs. Just make sure that you always have your water bottle handy.
4. Track your activity and success. Keeping an exercise journal will help motivate you, just like counting calories can help a dieter. Physical changes occur gradually, so we don’t see the changes in a physical way. Keeping track of the total times you exercise, your distance and times during cardiovascular training, and the number of repetitions, sets, and increases in resistance during strength training will keep you going strong. Also think about logging your waist circumference and how many push-ups you can complete in one minute every month. This will also help you see the physical changes and strength you are developing.
5. Partner up. This can be the biggest motivator of all! It can push you to do more than you would alone. Now you are accountable to someone else and the last thing you want to do is let them down – right? Don’t worry if you partnered up with someone stronger than you are, you will be motivated to exercise harder and you will be driven to excel. If you don’t have a buddy available, try using some of the new equipment with virtual training partners and other interactive features. Sometimes getting your mind off the work can get you moving faster without realizing it.

We know these five tips will help you hurdle over the road blocks of fatigue and keep you on the track toward achieving your personal weight loss and strength goals. Get going!

Why is it so hard to lose the last 10 pounds?” Weight loss is tricky in that multiple factors play into how much weight is lost, how quickly it comes off and for how long the weight loss is maintained. To successfully lose a sizable amount of weight, a person needs to be committed to significant long-term lifestyle changes. With a lot of effort you can achieve a new steady-state, but it requires a great deal of persistence and effective nutrition and physical activity strategies.

A few tips:

1. Change up your endurance routine. The goal is to burn more calories. You can do this without increasing the amount of time spent on cardio by upping your intensity. Otherwise, you’re going to have to increase the amount of time committed to cardio whether that’s adding 15 or 20 minutes to your current routine or increasing the number of days per week.
2. Strength train at least twice per week. When you lose a lot of weight, about a quarter of weight loss comes from muscle if you don’t include a strength-training component to your workout routine. This helps explain why those last few pounds are so hard to lose. Your metabolism has slowed down; therefore, you’re burning fewer calories at rest. The metabolic rate is directly linked to the amount of muscle you have. For every pound of lean muscle mass, you burn about six calories per day. While that doesn’t sound like much, if you lost 20 pounds of fat and kept all of your muscle mass, the five pounds of muscle mass you kept (versus what you might lose without a resistance training program) would help you lose about three extra pounds. Maintain muscle mass while continuing to lose weight by committing to your resistance training routine.
3. Eat a little less. To have successfully lost weight in the first place you have to have made some significant dietary changes. If you want to continue to lose weight, you’ll need to make further cuts. Assess your approximate daily caloric intake and then come up with strategies to cut an additional 250 calories per day (provided that will still keep you at a healthy calorie level and not at risk for nutrient deficiencies). If you eat 250 calories less per day and do not make any changes to your exercise regimen, you’ll lose those last 10 pounds over the course of the next five months.
4. If you exercise more, it will come off faster. Anyone can finish a 5K or a 10K but not everyone can finish a marathon. It takes a high level of commitment and ongoing diligence to successfully train for and compete in such a long race.

Weight loss application: Somewhere around 40% of women and 30% of men are trying to lose weight at any given time. Some are successful initially but most are unable to lose and keep off the weight.

Losing weight is tough. Keeping it off requires a constant effort. To achieve and maintain your weight loss goals you’ve got to be in it for the long haul. Slowly and steadily progress to your goal with each of the small decisions you make every day take the stairs instead of the elevator, go for the fresh apple instead of the apple pie. After all, being the first one done isn’t the goal, it’s just about having the strength, endurance, and mental toughness to successfully cross that finish line. And if you’re looking to lose your last 10 or first 10 Shane Diet & Fitness Resorts is here to help.  With help from our expert Nutritionist, Fitness instructors and Behavior Change coaches, we give you all the tools you need to be successful in losing weight and keeping it off for good.

Question: What has a major impact on weight reduction, better cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, improved blood sugar control, stronger bones, a healthier heart, and more?

Answer: Exercise, pure and simple.

If that weren’t enough for you to slide on your sneakers, here are some more reasons to get moving, get healthy and lose weight. Every month new studies appear listing more benefits. Here is a sample of some discoveries during 2012.

• Arthritis: Aerobic and aquatic exercises reduce the disability of osteoarthritis in the knees and other forms of arthritis. The study form Annals of Internal Medicine also showed that strength training reduces pain and improves function. Adherence to an exercise program was the key to its success.
• Brain Health: According to a study published in Neurology, older people who are more physically active experience less brain shrinkage (linked to cognitive decline and dementia) then their sedentary counterparts. MRI’s revealed that participating in mental or social activities did not affect brain size.
• Breast Cancer: A large study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reported that women who exercise regularly (both in the past and present), had a reduced risk of developing the disease. Maintaining a healthy weight is also essential, the study found. Weight gain, especially after menopause, nearly wiped out the exercise benefits, so it is important to work out and eat right on a regular basis.
• Dementia: A multi-nation European study reported in the journal Stroke, found that exercise was associated with a 40% reduction in the risk of cognitive impairment and a 60% decrease in vascular-related dementia (such as those resulting from a stroke).
• Fatigue from Cancer: A study involving people with breast or prostate cancer confirmed that exercise like brisk walking or cycling can help reduce fatigue related to cancer and its treatments. This was a review of 56 different studies by the Cochrane Collaboration.
• Longevity: Analysis from the National Cancer Institute in PLOS Medicine used data from 650,000 people in six long-term studies and found that physical activity can add years to people’s lives. Those who exercised moderately (like walking briskly 150 minutes per week) lived about 4 years longer than their sedentary counterparts. Even those who did modest amounts 975 minutes of walking per week) lived about 2 years longer and the benefits were seen in everyone from obese to thin.
• Sense of Well-Being: Two studies from Penn State, published in Health Psychology reported that participants who increased their usual daily exercise by even modest amounts, reported a greater sense of satisfaction with life and positive attitude.

So log off your computer and get moving! Not sure where to start? Search the Shane Diet & Fitness Resorts web site for fitness ideas, or come to one of our resorts to become inspired and to get a jump start on losing weight and getting healthy!

Most baked goods are often high in fat and sugar. Muffins, often assumed as a healthier choice, can even sometimes be a “cupcake” in disguise. You may think it’s impossible to create a lower calorie, healthier baked good that is just as tasty as the original.

Try these simple swaps the next time you’re baking.

As we move into the tail end of January, some of us are still going strong with our weight loss goals and some of us or not. There have been recent studies on willpower and its ability to help us stick to our fitness and weight loss goals. Willpower is a real form of mental energy, which is powered by glucose in the bloodstream.  Glucose is a simple sugar that we take in from food and is converted to energy.  Glucose is also used up as you exert self-control.  The result is called “ego-depletion,” as a state of mental fatigue.  The best way to keep your resolutions going and stave off this mental fatigue is to anticipate the limits of your willpower.

A new study published in December 2011 by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, tracked people’s reactions to temptations throughout the day.  The study showed that individuals with the best self-control are the ones who use their willpower the least.  Instead of fending off one urge after another, these people set up their lives to minimize temptations.  They play offense instead of defense, using their willpower in advance so that they can avoid crisis, conserve energy and outsource as much self control as they can.

These strategies are particularly important if you’re trying to lose weight.  The more you starve your body, the less glucose there will be in your bloodstream, and that means less willpower.  Because of this vicious cycle, even people with the greatest self-control in other parts of their lives can have a terrible time remaining slim.

• Set a Clear Goal – Instead of resolving to “lose weight” or “eat healthier” set a specific goal- say, lose a pound a week. And limit yourself to one big resolution at a time but do make them.  With a finite amount of willpower, it’s hard to keep up with multiple resolutions. Individuals are 10 times more like to change behaviors if New Year’s resolutions are made compared with non-resolvers that have the same goals and motivations to change.

• Pre-Commit – Plan meals in advance, keep junk food out of the kitchen, schedule workouts with friends or, you can be more extreme and bind yourself by emailing your goals to friends or by posting it on Facebook. There are even sites such as www.stickK.com that allow you to set goals, put up money on your goals and list a referee to check on your progress.  The more you pre-commit, the better you will do.

• Keep Track – In the past, you were always recommended to weigh yourself once a week so you’re not hung up on daily fluctuations. Now research has shown that daily weigh-ins work better. Self monitoring is vital to any kind of resolution.

• Don’t Overreact to a Lapse- One major reason that dieters fail is because they deal with a phenomenon called “counter regulatory eating”- otherwise known as the“what the hell effect.” Instead of just stopping where they are, they continue to eat thinking the entire day is blown anyway.  This thought process is far more dangerous than just realizing that you can stop what you are eating and immediately get back to eating healthy.  So when the desert cart arrives, promise yourself that you will have a sample, but just not tonight.

• Reward Often- Don’t just use willpower to deny yourself of pleasure; it makes it a boring thankless form of defense.  Instead, reward yourself for each milestone. Once the waistline starts to shrink, reward yourself with new clothes. Even the tiniest and silliest rewards can make a difference.  If you want your willpower to last all year, every little bit helps.

At Shane Diet & Fitness Resorts, we are here to assist you with all of your weight loss obstacles through fitness classes, Behavior Change coaching and nutrition education.  Registration is already underway for our summer 2012 season! Hope to see you there!

Nutritious eating is key to your healthy lifestyle. The key foundation to any healthy diet is moderation.

Many “dieters” believe that pizza is off limits when trying to lose weight. That’s why diets don’t work. Try not to think of food as being “off-limits”.  The second you decide certain foods are off limits, it becomes natural to crave them more.

Think smaller portions. Start small and think about serving sizes in realistic terms. Restaurants typically have 2-3 servings on one plate, which can lead to overeating and weight gain. Split an entrée with someone and order a salad with it. At home, try using smaller plates to encourage a healthy portion for weight loss.

Growing up, my family usually ordered pizza on Friday nights.  Many people on a weight loss diet view foods like pizza as “cheating.” No food should be viewed as cheating because after eating it, a feeling of guilt will occur. You can still enjoy pizza without feeling the guilt.

Tip #1: Enjoy your pizza with a side salad.

Tip #2: Cut your piece of pizza in half. Now you have two pieces to enjoy.

Tip #3: Skip the extra cheese and meat for toppings and swap for vegetables.

Tip #4: If the pizza place offers a whole-wheat crust, choose that.

Tip #5: Try thin crust pizza.

We’ve heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it is important to make sure that the first meal of the day sticks to your healthy diet plan for weight loss. There is no need to over-indulge and eat too many calories in one sitting, so it’s best to keep your breakfasts homemade rather than driving through a fast-food restaurant. A recent online article from Prevention highlights the worst fast-food breakfasts, with their healthy alternatives. Don’t subject yourself to extra calories and potential weight gain! Stick to a low-calorie meal to lose weight.

Starbucks Zucchini-Walnut Muffin

Muffins may be delicious, but they can definitely pack on the calories and leave your stomach grumbling. Although the Starbucks muffin seems to be made with healthy ingredients like zucchini and walnuts, it still has close to 500 calories and 28 g of fat.

Try Instead: Zucchini-Raisin Muffin

These delicious muffins are half the calories and nearly a third of the fat as the Starbucks alternative. Be sure to load up your bread batter with lots of zucchini shreds and add raisins for sweetness.

Zucchini-Raisin Muffin

Ingredients (makes 12 servings)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup shredded zucchini

1/2 cup raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F, and butter a 12-cup muffin pan.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, honey, and vanilla.
3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, wheat germ, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center, add the egg mixture, and stir just until combined. Fold in the zucchini and raisins.
4. Pour the batter into the muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the muffin tin and cool on a rack.

Nutrition Facts per serving: 198.9 cal, 10.4 g fat, 1 g sat. fat, 184.2 mg sodium, 25.4 g carbs, 15.6 g sugar, 2.1 g dietary fiber, 3.5 g protein

Sonic Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Toaster

A classic sausage, egg, and cheese seems harmless enough- filling and protein-packed. However, the Sonic  version has over 620 calories, 42 g of fat, and 1,400 mg of sodium. That’s the sodium equivalent of eating an entire bag of salty potato chips before lunch!

Try Instead: Open-Faced Broiled Egg, Spinach, and Tomato Sandwich

Swap out the sausage for tomato and add spinach to get a serving of veggies first thing in the morning. This alternative has nearly a third of the calories of the Sonic sandwich, a quarter of the fat, and over 1,000 mg less sodium.

Ingredients (makes one serving)

1/2 whole wheat english muffin

1/4 cup fresh spinach, cooked and squeezed dry (about 4 ounces)

1 slice tomato

1 hard-boiled egg, sliced widthwise

1 tablespoon omega-3-enriched mayonnaise

salt-free seasoning blend (such as mrs. dash)

1.    Set the muffin half on a toaster oven pan or double sheet of foil. Top with the spinach and tomato. Lay on the egg slices in an overlapping spiral. Dollop on the mayonnaise and swirl slightly to partially cover the egg slices. Sprinkle on seasoning to taste.

2.    Place under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, watching carefully, until the mayonnaise is lightly browned.

Nutrition Facts per serving: 213.3 cal, 11.4 g fat, 1.8 g sat fat, 389.6 mg sodium, 18.8 g carbs, 3.9 g sugar, 4.2 g dietary fiber, 11.2 g protein

McDonald’s Big Breakfast with Hot Cakes

The immediate red flag in this menu item is the word “big.” You don’t need to eat a tremendous breakfast off of a fast-food menu. This breakfast includes scrambled eggs, sausage, a buttermilk biscuit, hash browns, and two hot cakes. That is a lot of food! You can see why this one dish has over half your day’s calories and over 55 g of fat, plus a whopping 2,150 mg of sodium.

Try Instead: Pancakes with Berries and Cinnamon

Try these light and fluffy low-calorie pancakes as an alternative. The trick is baking them in the oven. Top them with berries and cinnamon and you’ve got a delicious and nutritious breakfast for the whole family to enjoy.

Pancakes with Berries and Cinnamon

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)

4 large eggs

1/2 cup 2% milk

1/3 cup oat flour

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons raspberry or blueberry fruit spread, warmed

1. In a blender, combine the eggs, milk, flour, and salt. Process until smooth, about 15 seconds. Remove to a medium bowl, cover, and let rest for 45 to 60 minutes at room temperature. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a 9″ oven-safe skillet over medium heat and cook until frothy. Pour in the egg-flour mixture. Place in the oven and bake until puffy and set, 14 to 16 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the cinnamon. Spread the fruit over the pancake, and dot with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Using a spatula, fold the pancake in half (or roll it up) and slide it onto a platter. Slice into 4 pieces.

Nutrition Facts per serving: 222.7 cal, 14.9 g fat, 7.5 g sat fat, 120 mg sodium, 14.7 g carbs, 7.8 g sugar, .8 g dietary fiber, 8.4 g protein

Cinnabon Regular Caramel Pecanbon

If you’ve ever been to a shopping mall, you probably know how amazing Cinnabon can smell. Try to resist that urge to eat one of their treats, as one caramel-pecan bun comes in at almost 1,100 calories. It’s also loaded with more fat than nine chocolate chip cookies.

Try Instead: Maple-Pecan Cinnamon Roll

This homemade version still has the delicious gooey characteristics, with nearly a third of the calories and a quarter of the fat. You can even pop it in the microwave for that “just baked” taste and scent.

Maple-Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients (makes 12 servings)

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

2 large eggs

1/4 cup fat-free plain greek yogurt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 cups white whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup raisins

3 tablespoons trans-free margarine

3/4 cup maple syrup

1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

1. Warm the milk in the microwave until the temperature reaches 100° to 110°F, 30 to 40 seconds. Stir in the brown sugar and yeast and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes, or until bubbles form. Combine the eggs, yogurt, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl.
2. Combine the flour, 1 tablespoon of the cinnamon, and the salt in a large bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Slowly add the milk and yogurt mixtures while the mixer is running on low. Knead for 8 minutes, adding the raisins after about 5 minutes. Coat the bowl and dough with cooking spray. Cover and keep in a warm place until the dough is doubled in bulk (about 1 hour).
3. Meanwhile, mix the margarine and 1/4 cup of the maple syrup in a small bowl and set aside. Combine 1 cup of the pecans, 1/4 cup of the syrup, and the remaining 1 tablespoon cinnamon in another small bowl and set aside. Coat a 13″ x 9″ baking dish with cooking spray and pour the remaining 1/4 cup syrup over the bottom. Cover with the remaining 1/2 cup pecans. Set aside.
4. Punch down the dough and transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 1/2″ thick. Spread the margarine mixture over the dough, leaving a 1″ border around the edges. Slowly pour the pecan-syrup mixture into the center and spread over the margarine mixture.
5. Starting on a long side, carefully roll the dough into a log shape. Slice into 12 equal pieces. Arrange the pieces cut side up in the baking dish. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the rolls uncovered for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool slightly and serve warm.

Nutrition Facts per serving: 421.7 cal, 14.8 g fat, 2.5 g sat fat, 156.5 mg sodium, 64.7 g carbs, 26.9 sugar, 7.8 g dietary fiber, 9.1 g protein

Hardee’s Double-Loaded Omelet Biscuit

This omelet packs 800 calories and comes with three types of breakfast meat – bacon, sausage, and ham – all on top of a buttery biscuit.

Try Instead: Hearty Egg Sandwich

This sandwich alternative still fills you up but swaps out the fatty breakfast meats for avocado and tomato slices. This version has less than 400 calories and cuts down on fat and calories with reduced-fat Cheddar.

Hearty Egg Sandwich

Ingredients (makes 1 serving)

1 whole egg

1 egg white

1 toasted whole wheat English muffin

1/4 C mashed Hass avocado

1 slice reduced-fat cheddar cheese

2 tomato slices

1. Scramble 1 whole egg with 1 egg white in a skillet coated with cooking spray. Place on toasted whole wheat English muffin spread with 1/4 c mashed Hass avocado, and top with 1 slice reduced-fat Cheddar cheese and tomato slices.

Nutrition Facts per serving: 367.5 cal, 16.8 g fat, 4.2 g sat fat, 723.6 mg sodium, 34 g carbs, 7.2 g sugar, 8.6 g dietary fiber, 24 g protein

Dunkin’ Donuts Chocolate-Coconut Cake Donut

You probably already know that a doughnut isn’t a very safe food for your healthy diet. This particular doughnut accounts for over a quarter of your day’s calories and has nearly as much sugar as a whole chocolate bar.

Try Instead: Strawberry-Banana-Topped French Toast

You can still satisfy your sweet tooth without going overboard on calories. This rich meal is less than half the calories of just one doughnut.

Strawberry-Banana-Topped French Toast

Ingredients (makes 1 serving)

1 egg

1/4 cup fat-free milk

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 slice (1 ounce) whole grain bread

1 teaspoon trans-fat free spread

1/4 cup sliced strawberries

1/4 cup sliced banana

1. In a shallow bowl, beat the egg with the milk and cinnamon. Dip both sides of the bread in the milk mixture.
2. Melt the spread in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Place the bread in the pan. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until golden and cooked through. Cut in half diagonally. Place half on a plate. Top with half of the strawberries and bananas. Cover with the other toast half and the remaining strawberries and bananas.

Nutrition Facts per serving: 254.2 cal, 9.7 g fat, 2.8 g sat fat, 267.9 mg sodium, 29.5 g carbs, 11.9 g sugar, 4.5 g dietary fiber, 13.5 g protein