Plateaus and other info

I love getting Prevention magazine! It always has lots of very helpful info.

The May edition has a "2 week Total Body Turnaround" workout schedule I'm going to try and here is something Chris Freytag said in answer to the question: Can this help women who already exercise but aren't losing weight? "Yes. Many active women plateau because they're not strength-training or doing cardio at a high enough intensity. This program requires you to do both, which is the only way to boost metabolism and burn more calories long-term."

Stay Sharp with Healthy Carbs
In one study, women 22 to 55 followed either a low-carb Atkins-style diet or a low-calorie diet rich in fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. After ONE WEEK of eating very few carbs, the women on the Atkins-style diet performed, on average, 50% worse on memory tasks than those on the low-calorie diet. Once the women started eating carbs again, their scores improved.

WOW! That's pretty significant.

Think natural and organic is too expensive? Check out the websites of Stonyfield Farm and Organic Valley for coupons or visit mambosprouts.com for coupons.

And here's my favorite tip of the month:
Control cravings with chocolate
Trying to lose weight? Eat some dark chocolate. It may help you feel full, according to a new study from Denmark. Researchers gave 16 participants 100g of either dark or milk chocolate, and 2 hours later offered them pizza. (Where do I sign up for this research?????) Those who consumed the dark chocolate ate 15% fewer calories than those who had milk chocolate, and they were less interested in fatty, salty, and sugary foods. Try a chocolate with 70% or more cocoa. Two tablespoons of dark chocolate chips alongside fresh berries as a midafternoon snack should give you some of the benefits without breaking your calorie budget.

The Flat Belly Diet that encourages a MUFA at every meal has 1/4c (4Tbsp) of chocolate chips as one of the MUFAs. Using Dove dark chocolate satisfies those chocolate cravings without eating too much. It's soooo rich and creamy, I usually just have 2 Tbsp. 100g is around 3.5 ounces. Not sure if I could eat that much in one sitting!