10 Reasons You Feel Cold All The Time

Reasons your hands, feet, and body are always chilly even when the temperature is high.

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12 Ways to Beat Summer Weight Gain

Yes, you can pack on pounds during the warmer months. Here are the summer fat traps to watch out for.

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7 Ways to Keep Alcohol From Ruining Your Diet

If you have more than a few drinks a week, the calories start to add up fast. Slim your drink order with this expert advice.

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18 Health Benefits of Whole Grains

You’ve heard whole grains are healthy. But why? Here’s the lowdown on why you should be eating them.

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6 Steps to a Healthy Weeknight Dinner

Too busy to make a nutritious supper? Not anymore! Start with a few choice ingredients and you’ll have power meals on the table in a flash

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New Ways To Go Mediterranean

Fresh, heart-friendly foods and a relaxed attitude toward mealtime add up to the ultimate feel-great diet

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Happy No-Guilt Thanksgiving!

These calorie-reducing tips will help you enjoy your favorite foods and avoid holiday weight gain.

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Beat 16 Summer Health Hazards

Summer’s short—with this guide, you won’t spend any minute of it sick or injured.

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12 Weight-Loss Secrets From Celebrity Chefs

These pros work for some of the biggest names (and hottest bods) in the business. Now they’re ready to dish out their best advice to you.

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How to Treat 8 Common Injuries at Home

Paging Dr. You! Here’s how to treat burns, cuts, sprains, and more.

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10 Things You Should Never Do When You’re Angry

When you’re mad, everyday tasks like driving and using Facebook may later prove regrettable.

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6 Healthy and Portable Meals

Fresh and healthy one-bowl meals that you can eat on the go.

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Get Rock-Star Arms Right Now

Tracy Anderson reveals her secret recipe for strength and definition.

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9 Best Fitness Trackers

Keep tabs on your movement—and push through plateaus—with one of these smart wearables.

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How to Do a Perfect Plank

You’ll find the plank in just about any type of workout, whether it’s yoga, Pilates, or even CrossFit. But it’s all too easy to cheat at this move, and you may not even realize you’re doing it. Here’s how to do a plank perfectly.

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Weight Loss Success Story: The Baby-Weight Whisperer

Natalie Jill
43, 5’2″
San Diego
Before: 175 lb.
Dress size: 10/12
After: 113 lb.

Dress size: 2
Total pounds lost: 62 lb.
Sizes lost: 4

In my 20s and early 30s, I was obsessed with what I should and shouldn’t eat. But when I got pregnant in 2007, I finally had an excuse to eat whatever I wanted, and I quickly piled on 50 pounds. Deep down I knew that I was overweight, but it wasn’t until I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirrored window on a walk with my baby that I saw all the extra weight. Before I got pregnant, I was a motivator at my corporate job, pushing people to do their best; I needed to apply that same attitude to getting back in shape.

RELATED: Pregnant? How to Eat Right

Becoming a fitness force
My first goal was to simply get moving every day, even just by taking a walk outside. And I decided to re-up my nutrition and fitness-trainer certifications, which I had first gotten years ago. As I studied, I would test out each body-weight move and even make up some of my own. With each passing week, I could see myself growing stronger; I had muscle popping out everywhere.

New career kick-start
Next, I cut out processed foods. Posting photos of my meals on Facebook helped me drop the 50 pounds I’d gained, plus an additional 12, in less than two years. My friends and their friends were sharing my meals and workouts; I suddenly had a big social media following! So I created an e-book called 7 Day Jump Start, which got so popular that I founded Natalie Jill Fitness in 2012. I don’t hide my backstory—gaining weight is just a reality for pregnant women—but I do let women know: You’re not stuck with those pounds for life.

RELATED: How to Stick to a Workout Plan

Natalie’s Knock-It-Off Tips
How did Natalie drop 62 pounds? With these smart strategies. Find even more tactics at http://ift.tt/1EzX92l.

Inject some fun
When I’m looking for workout motivation, I pull out my favorite neon exercise clothes for a burst of energy. Plus, yellow and pink make me feel upbeat!

Hit the floor
My go-to: plank-based moves. They’re great for shaping your abs and upper body. Just make sure you’re engaging your core, keeping your glutes tight and tucking your pelvis under to protect your lower back.

Think: Healthy fats
I eat a lot of protein-packed meals filled with good fats. My favorite is shrimp with a ton of veggies, all cooked up in coconut oil.

RELATED: 17 High-Protein Snacks You Can Eat On the Go

Find your inspiration
My 420,000 followers on Instagram keep me going! Follow me at @nataliejillfit.

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The Real Reason You’re Not Losing Weight

You probably know that weight gain ups your risk of diseases like diabetes. But you might not realize how complicated that link really is, says Osama Hamdy, MD, medical director of the obesity clinical program at Joslin diabetes center in Boston and author of The Diabetes Breakthrough.

“The cycle starts when you gain weight,” Dr. Hamdy says. The kicker is that once you have blood sugar problems, it’s much harder to do the one thing that can really help: slim down. That may be why the majority of people with type 2 diabetes—about 80 percent—are overweight or obese. The good news: dropping pounds is not impossible if you understand the complex dance between blood sugar, belly fat and insulin—and how to interrupt it.

RELATED: Lose Weight with Diabetes

The Vicious Cycle, Explained
Every time you eat, your pancreas produces insulin. This hormone helps your body harness the energy provided by food by “unlocking” your cells, helping to move sugar (aka glucose) inside each one, where it’s used for fuel.

The problem starts with insulin resistance, in which your cells no longer respond to the hormone. Weight gain can bring it on, especially if you add visceral fat (the kind around your abdominal organs) because it churns out inflammatory chemicals that harm cells’ response to insulin.

Think of your body as a car, says David G. Marrero, PhD, president of health care and education at the American diabetes association. “Fill the trunk with 500 pounds of gravel and it’s harder to run. It needs more gas and it wears out the engine to get the same level of performance.” That’s obesity. “Now think of insulin as the gas line between the fuel tank and the engine. Insulin resistance squeezes it, so when you need more fuel, it’s harder to get.”

Since it’s tough for insulin-resistant cells to take glucose from your blood, sugar levels build up. Over time, this may lead to diabetes, which can damage your blood vessels and yield more weight gain. That’s because extra blood glucose signals to your pancreas: “Make more insulin!” But the more you churn out, the easier weight piles on because insulin also encourages your body to store the extra sugar as fat.

RELATED: 9 Ways to Quit Sugar for Good

Shedding pounds can slow down the disease. “You gain more efficiency with every pound of gravel you take out of the trunk,” Marrero says.

Next Page: 4 Smart Strategies for Fighting Back

4 Smart Strategies for Fighting Back

1. Eat less, but eat often
If you have diabetes—especially if you take insulin—it’s important to avoid blood sugar dips. So cutting out snacks as a way to shrink your calories isn’t an option. But just because you have to eat more often doesn’t mean you have to eat more. “You don’t need an extraordinarily large number of calories to function, even with diabetes,” Marrero says. “Eating small portions throughout the day is a good way to cut calories while keeping your blood sugar steady.” If you’re on the go, plan snacks in advance, says Jessica Crandall, RDN, a certified diabetes educator and spokesperson for the academy of nutrition and dietetics. Try packing 1 ounce of turkey jerky with whole-wheat crackers or a piece of fruit.

2. Think balance, not calories
When dieting, “you need to be like the three bears and get the right mix of carbs, protein and fiber to keep blood sugar balanced,” Crandall says. Focusing solely on calories can actually hinder weight loss. “You need protein to support muscle and metabolism, fat for the absorption of vitamins and carbs to sustain energy.”

Per meal, aim for 30 to 45 grams of carbs, 20 grams of protein and 7 to 10 grams of fiber. For example, Crandall recommends a breakfast of scrambled eggs (you can use an egg substitute to cut calories without slashing protein), diced sweet potato, black beans and salsa. Or, on rushed mornings, try Greek yogurt topped with sliced fruit and a handful of almonds.

RELATED: Best and Worst Foods for Diabetes

3. Get moving
Exercise helps muscles take in glucose without the need for insulin and improves insulin sensitivity over time, Dr. Hamdy says. People with diabetes should start slow: “Aim to get at least 175 minutes of exercise a week, but in short bouts—10 minutes here and there—all day long.” (If you’re not already active, talk to your doctor first.)

And don’t skip strength training! Muscle mass declines with age, but diabetes can accelerate the rate of that loss, says Rita R. Kalyani, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the division of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at Johns Hopkins university school of medicine. Lifting weights can help curb muscle loss. Plus, more muscle means more calories burned—even at rest.

RELATED: 15 Exercise Tips for People With Type 2 Diabetes

4. Chill out
Stress kicks off your fight-or-flight response, which prompts the body to produce less insulin and release more glucose, ensuring that you have plenty of fuel in case you need to fight off—or flee from—a threat, Marrero says. This is great if you have to, for example, outrun a hungry tiger, but you don’t need the extra fuel when you’re dealing with modern stressors, like your commute or an upcoming bill. “That’s why it’s important to reduce your stress load and learn to cope—without using food or alcohol,” Marrero says. Make sure you get plenty of sleep each night, walk as much as possible during the day and try supplementing your regular workouts with stress-relieving activities, such as yoga, meditation or tai chi.

Next Page: Eat These to Battle Belly Fat

Eat These to Battle Belly Fat

1. Fiber
The benefits of fiber-rich foods—like oatmeal, lentils and beans—are twofold. First, because your body digests fiber slowly, it helps slow down the digestion of sugars, too, which can even out blood glucose spikes. Second, fiber is a known belly fighter: A study from wake forest Baptist medical center in Winston-Salem, N.C., found that for every extra 10 grams of soluble fiber eaten per day, participants lost 3.7 percent of their visceral fat over five years.

2. Healthy fats
Avocados, nuts, olive oil—all are great sources of monounsaturated fatty acids, or MUFAs. And a 2007 study published in the journal Diabetes Care noted that a diet high in MUFAs can prevent fat from being distributed around the belly.

RELATED: Best and Worst Nuts for Your Health

3. Whole grains
To keep your blood sugar under control, it’s best to choose complex carbohydrates over simple, refined grains. And there’s another bonus: Whole grains blast your belly. In 2008, a 12-week study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that participants who ate a diet rich in whole grains lost significantly more belly fat than those who consumed refined carbs instead.

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4 Ways to Get Awesome Arms

Wave bye-by to flimsy arms (and batwings!) Define and tone your arms with fitness editor Tracy Anderson’s strengthening workout. These moves use punching to sculpt your arms while also engaging your core, back and shoulders.

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14 Most Dangerous Summer Foods

Don’t let food poisoning ruin your summer fun. Here are the 14 foods most likely to make you sick.

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10 Delicious and Healthy Ways to Use Chia Seeds

Those tiny little seeds pack in tons of good nutrition—find out how to add them to all kinds of dishes.

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10 Home Remedies You Can Find in Your Kitchen

Searching for natural remedies? These foods can help a variety of ailments.

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26 Quick and Tasty Zucchini Recipes

Zucchini may be at the back of the alphabet, but it’s at the front of our minds when it comes to summer vegetables. Here are 26 ways to cook zucchini (including two zucchini bread recipes!) in dishes that range from sweet to savory to spicy.

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13 Zinc-Rich Foods

A little bit of zinc does your body plenty of good. These sources of the crucial mineral will help keep your immune system (and much more) in tip-top shape.

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Swap Your Way Slim at Every Meal

Scale not budging? Your diet could
be out of whack. Shed some pounds (without much effort!) by switching up your go-to foods.

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10 Fast Weight Loss Tips (We Tried Them!)

How can I lose weight? Here’s expert advice for losing weight and burning fat fast!

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