Eat it for your brain: A handful of MultiGrain Cheerios or Kashi Heart to Heart offers folic acid, which can help fend off the blues. Those with low levels of the nutrient experience more symptoms of depression, a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggests, and a folic acid deficiency may prevent your antidepressants from working.

Eat it for your body: A quick bowl of whole-grain cereal brims with iron and vitamins, and gets your metabolism humming—and it sure beats skipping breakfast altogether, since that can lead to all sorts of problems later in the day. People who skipped breakfast only once every three months were 34 percent more likely to be obese than those who didn’t, according to a study from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. So even if your body doesn’t want it when you first wake up, find a breakfast you can live with, and eat up.

By Lucy Danziger, SELF Editor-in-Chief

A Healthy Breakfast Has at Least 5 Grams of Fiber.  You can
get your grains at breakfast by having one of these:

-Hot oatmeal (or another hot whole-grain cereal).
-Cold whole-grain cereal.
-100% whole-wheat bread, small bagel, English muffin, or tortilla
-Pancakes and waffles made with at least half whole-wheat flour (you can also add oats, oat bran, or ground flaxseed for an extra nutrition boost).
-Muffins and cinnamon rolls made with at least half whole-wheat flour (you can also add oats, oat bran, or ground flaxseed).

Weekend breakfast tip: Make extra part whole-grain waffles, pancakes, or muffins during the weekend and freeze them in individual plastic bags for a quick breakfast. On weekday mornings, just pop them right from the freezer into the microwave or toaster/toaster oven.

Grains
You can’t have too many varieties. I think quinoa (keen-wa) is the grain of the future–great-tasting and easy to cook. Bulgur cooks in a flash and is delicious for breakfast; oats are a staple; a few kinds of rice add flexibility. Pasta is a grain, but it’s highly processed, so reserve it for treats.

Beans
Buy an assortment of dried and canned. If you can find frozen beans, grab ‘em. Use beans for snacks, sides, as a base for meals. High in carbs and protein, low in fat, cheap, and versatile, beans are a cornerstone of the modern kitchen.

Olive Oil
Extra-virgin is preferable, easy to find, and much less expensive than it used to be. Use it for everything. Don’t worry about country of origin; producers ship bulk oil everywhere, so labeling isn’t worth much. If it tastes good, and costs around $10 a liter, use it. You may also want peanut, grapeseed, canola, or corn; look for cold-pressed–not chemically extracted. And it doesn’t hurt to have some butter once in a while, either.

Long-Keeping Vegetables and Fruits
Carrots, celery, lemons, and limes keep at least a week. Potatoes (white and sweet), onions, garlic, and dried chiles keep even longer. Frozen vegetables like spinach, peas, and corn keep more or less forever.

Fresh Herbs
You can’t have them all, but buy one every week or so to add spirit to your cooking. Cilantro and mint are easy to find; in the summer basil, dill, and rosemary are abundant. Even parsley–so often taken for granted–can make a huge difference when chopped and added in real quantity to salads, grains dishes, and sauces.

Spices
Buy the ones you like; they keep at least a year. Fanatics buy whole spices, and toast and grind them as they need them, and this really is ideal, but in general preground spices are fine.

Vinegar
Sherry vinegar is the most versatile and best for the money; balsamic is popular and sweeter. Good cider, rice, and wine vinegars, are also fine standbys.

Soy Sauce
Look for brands (such as Kikkoman) that contain only soy, wheat, salt, water, and bacteria; that’s how real soy sauce is made, and it’s great stuff.

Parmesan
From Italy, please. It’s the easiest way to add complex flavor to pasta and rice dishes, and much more.

Dried Fruit and Nuts
There’s nothing better for snacking, and they’re useful for cooking. Store nuts in the freezer (they keep longer). Don’t forget about nut butters.

Eggs
Fast, inexpensive, and protein-packed.

Bacon
Store it in the freezer and use it for beans, grains, and vegetable dishes. An ounce or two goes a long way.

Canned Tomatoes
Indispensable. Wonderful for sauce, but you can add them to any soup or stew you like. Prechopped tomatoes make life a little easier.

Sweeteners
Sugar is fine in moderation, but maple syrup and honey are far more flavorful.

Dried Mushrooms
Especially porcini and shiitakes. Soak them in hot water until soft, then add them to anything.

Mark Bittman, avid home cook and author of “How to Cook Everything” and “Food Matters” shares his cooking philosophy—and explains how to create healthy, tasty, and simple meals that will help you run your best.

False. Calories eaten at night aren’t any more fattening — but they are more tempting. During a jam-packed day, you may barely think about food. But when you get home, you’re tired, you’re hungry, you want to relax, your resistance is down, and suddenly, everything in sight looks good. Whether you’re contemplating a lovely meal or a quart of ice cream for dinner, it’s easy to overeat after dark.

Sugar goes by many different names, depending on its source and how it was made. This can make it confusing to identify added sugar, even when you read ingredient lists and food labels. One easy way: Check for ingredients ending in “ose” &mdsah; that’s the chemical name for many types of sugar, such as fructose.

Here’s a look at common types of sugar and added sugar:

*Brown sugar. Granulated white sugar with added molasses for flavor and color, commonly used in baking.
*Cane juice and cane syrup. Sugar from processed sugar cane. Further processing produces brown or white solid cane sugar.
*Confectioners’ sugar. Granulated white sugar that has been ground into a fine powder, sometimes with a small amount of cornstarch. Commonly used in icings and whipped toppings.
*Corn sweeteners and corn syrup. Corn sugars and corn syrups made from corn and processed cornstarch.
*Dextrose. Another name for glucose.
*Fructose. Sugar that occurs naturally in fruits, vegetables and honey.
*Fruit juice concentrate. A form of sugar made when water is removed from whole juice to make it more concentrated.
*Glucose. A simple sugar that provides your body’s main source of energy. Also called blood sugar because it circulates in your blood.
*Granulated white sugar. This is table sugar, or pure crystallized sucrose, made by processing raw sugar from sugar cane or sugar beets. It’s commonly used in baking or to sweeten tea or coffee.
*High fructose corn syrup. The most common sweetener in processed foods and beverages, this is a combination of fructose and glucose made by processing corn syrup.
*Honey. A mix of glucose, fructose and sucrose created from nectar made by bees.
*Invert sugar. Used as a food additive to preserve freshness and prevent shrinkage, this is a mix of fructose and glucose made by processing sucrose.
*Lactose. Sugar that occurs naturally in milk.
*Maltose. Starch and malt broken down into simple sugars and used commonly in beer, bread and baby food.
*Malt syrup. A grain syrup made from evaporated corn mash and sprouted barley.
*Molasses. The thick, dark syrup that’s left after sugar beets or sugar cane is processed for table sugar.
*Sucrose. The chemical name for granulated white sugar (table sugar).
*Syrup. Sugar comes in many forms of syrup, a thick, sweet liquid that can be made from the processing of sugar or from sugar cane, grains such as corn or rice, maple sap, and other sources.
*White sugar. Same as granulated white sugar (table sugar).

Mayo Clinic Staff

Planning helps you pull your own fast-food act together. Get out the calendar and figure out your food needs for the week ahead. Make a quick list. Now it’s time to shop. Consider stocking:

Whole-grain breads and cereals, pasta, and prepared pizza crust.
Milk, reduced-fat shredded cheese, eggs, canned tuna, canned beans, peanut butter, lean ground beef patties, chicken, and meatballs.
Fresh, frozen, or no-added-salt canned vegetables; fresh and dried fruit; and fruit canned in juice.
Quick-cooking grains such as 10-minute brown rice and whole-wheat couscous.
Cartons of 100% orange juice, milk, applesauce, peanut butter, and yogurt in your fridge and cabinets. These food items work great for road trips, too.

1. It’s Like Portions to Servings
A portion is the amount of food you eat. A serving is a standardized measurement, just like a cup or a quart. Knowing the difference will greatly improve your effort to cut calories. A single serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards, while a single serving of a side dish like a vegetable or potato is the size of a tennis ball. A single serving of bread is just one slice. Practice eating portions of correct servings and you’re sure to see some weight loss.

2. All Things in Moderation
Sure, you can purchase special portion control plates that only hold small amounts of food. Or you can buy pre-packaged foods to eliminate the need to worry about portion control. That said, the simplest way to effectively control calories is to cut your current portions in half. Fix your plate as you normally would, then return half of what you’ve dished out. Moderation is key to eating enough, but no more.

3. Share and Share Alike
When you go to a restaurant, order one meal and two plates. Most restaurants routinely serve double or even triple the amount of food recommended by nutrition experts. By sharing your food you share an intimate meal with your dining partner, and ensure you’re eating only what your body needs instead of what your brain wants. If you want your own entree, ask your server to box half of the meal up for you and bring it to the table with your plate. This way, you control your portion and get lunch for tomorrow.

4. Feed Your Inner Child
Order from the children’s menu. The portions are smaller and so is the price. If the menu states it’s for the 12-and-under crowd, order it to go. You can still sit at a table and enjoy your meal. You might even get a cool toy to play with, but not until after you finish your vegetables.

5. Divide and Conquer
Make a grocery list and stick to it. Plan meals that are healthy and well-balanced, then cook up just enough food to feed your crew the appropriate serving sizes. If your family is still hungry, offer fresh fruits and vegetables instead of second helpings of potatoes and gravy. Divide snacks into small portions using resealable plastic bags or containers. Finishing off a small snack-size bag of pretzels is a much better than munching through a gigantic bag before you even realize it.

Livestrong.com

Foods with a high “satiety value” help reduce the amount of food it takes to halt hunger, help reduce cravings and extend time between meals. Satiety–the feeling that you are not being deprived and are full–often is the determining factor in successful weight management, according to Weight Watchers. Many low-calorie foods can help you achieve satiety. In general, the more water, fiber and protein a food has, the longer it will keep you satisfied.

Eggs
Eggs have been dubbed the “perfect protein,” with omega-3 eggs being best. Eggs are a nutrient-dense food that boosts brain power, thanks to the choline they contain. A 2005 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concludes that protein foods have a strong role in satiety. In the study, people who ate a daily diet with 30 percent protein consumed 441 fewer calories than people who got 15 percent of their calories from protein daily.

Protein
Other low-fat, high-protein choices can give satiety, too. Protein empties from the stomach more slowly than carbohydrates, leading folks to feel full longer, according to the Mayo Clinic. It also keeps blood sugar steady instead of spiking it, as some carbohydrates can. Good protein foods include lean meats, poultry without skin, and low- and non-fat dairy foods. Fish is more satisfying on a per-calorie basis than other proteins, according to the Diabetes Network.

Broth-Based Soup
Broth-based soup can fill you up without filling you out. Soup is a great way to start a meal and save on calories, thanks to its high water content. Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University’s chairwoman of nutrition, researched the difference between people who started meals with soup and those who began with entrees. Rolls found that people who ate meals with soup consumed 100 fewer calories during the meal.

Complex Carbs
Complex carbohydrates that are high in water and fiber, such as apples, oranges and grapes, give you more food for fewer calories. Also, high-fiber foods stay in your stomach longer, because they are processed slower. This leads to feeling fuller for longer, according to Elisa Zied, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

Popcorn
Popcorn is a great snack food that allows you to indulge your urge to munch without lots of extra calories, thanks to its bulk. Just make sure you don’t drench it in high-fat butter. Some herbs or spices can be used to give extra pizazz to your snack without adding extra calories. Choose popcorn over dry foods, including pretzels and crackers, that lack fiber and water and are low in volume, Weight Watchers recommends.

Legumes and Beans
Legumes and beans truly are magical when it comes to feeling full, because of their high fiber and protein contents. Lentils and baked beans both had high marks on the “Satiety Index” developed by Australian researcher Dr. Susanne Holt of the University of Sydney. Beans and lentils also have anti-nutrients that delay their absorption and keep you feeling fuller longer.

Salad
Salad gives you the satisfying crunch factor along with fiber and water. As with soup, people who start their meals with salad eat fewer calories than those who skip the greens, according to Rolls’ research.

livestrong.com

Dietitians often refer to plain yogurt as the perfect food, and for good reason: With its trifecta of carbs, protein and fat, it can stave off hunger by keeping blood sugar levels steady. In a study from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, people on a low-calorie diet that included yogurt lost 61 percent more fat overall and 81 percent more belly fat than those on a similar plan without yogurt.

“Use low-fat plain yogurt instead of mayonnaise in chicken or potato salad, or top a baked potato with a bit of yogurt and a squeeze of lemon juice,” Elie Krieger says. You’ll save 4.7 grams of fat per tablespoon. Look for Greek yogurt, which has more protein than other versions.

*Substitute non-fat milk and sugar-free syrup for whole milk and sugar in your favorite coffee drink
*Trim all fat from beef and pork and remove the fatty skin from poultry
*Use reduced-calorie ice cream instead of regular
*Enjoy raw vegetables with salsa or fat-free ranch, not chips

ACE Fitness Tips