Meet Beth Aldrich, a healthy lifestyle/green living expert, spokesperson and author. Beth says being the mother of three boys has inspired her to eat, cook and encourage healthy lifestyles and nutrition... to anyone who will listen! I first met Beth a few years back. When I saw her nifty new website, RealMomsLovetoEat.com, I knew I had to put her on the hot seat for a round of "7 Questions with..."So, grab yourself a healthy snack and get ready to dig into this insightful installment of... 7 Questions with Beth Aldrich Diet-to-Go: So real moms love to eat, huh? But isn't...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Guest blogger Cynthia Parrott is a busy working woman who manages to find the time for fitness, diet and the writing of great advice for health-conscious women.Weight loss and diet! Diet and weight loss! When you are in the company of other women, regardless of where you are or what you're doing, these subjects always come up in conversation and you can discuss them for hours.You are either on a diet, cheating on a diet, discussing how you need to lose weight, or talking about the latest weight-loss craze.Almost every woman you know agonizes over her weight or...

When it comes to slimming down, there are countless diet plans out there, so how does a consumer decide what's a great diet for weight loss?Well, you don't jump into the latest, greatest trendy fad diet. Baby food anyone? Or how about a system-scrubbing master cleanse?You also don't opt for a weight loss plan that isn't sustainable. Yo-yo dieting (the loss, then regain of weight) is extremely prevalent for a good reason. We try to totally change our eating habits, but end up right back where we started -- overweight and unhappy.Sure there are millions of diet plans available but...

Meet Raegan, a 30-year-old payroll clerk for a California electrical contractor. Raegan is the random winner of the free week of Diet-to-Go food we gave away after reaching the 1,500 "fans" milestone on our Facebook page.Before we attained our 1,500th fan, I chose the number 373 as the lucky slot for our winner. When we passed 1,500, I opened our "See All fans" page and started counting from one to 373... when I stopped counting, there was Raegan looking back at me!I contacted Raegan through her Facebook account and her initial trepidation and doubt soon gave way to excitement and...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Guest blogger Cynthia Parrott is a busy working woman who manages to find the time for fitness, diet and the writing of great advice for health-conscious women."Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: On purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally." ~Jon Kabat-ZinnLast week I shared with you some thoughts on mindful and mindless eating. We learned how to understand our relationships with food by being mindful of why we eat, when we eat, and what we eat.We eat when we are not hungry, and when we are nervous, bored or frustrated. We use food as...

What's the best way to lose weight? After 11 years in the field of diet, fitness and nutrition, I've heard many definitions and plans of action.So, what is the best way to lose weight?It's the healthy eating plan that not only creates a caloric deficit but also feeds you the variety of healthy, delicious foods that keep you engaged and feeling satisfied!Sounds simple, right? It can be.But there's more to this "weight loss miracle" -- you also need regular activity to keep your calorie-burning metabolism in high gear and to keep your muscles working and toning.Toned muscles burn calories even...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Guest blogger Cynthia Parrott is a busy working woman who manages to find the time for fitness, diet and the writing of great advice for health-conscious women like you."Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: On purpose, in the present moment and nonjudgmentally." ~Jon Kabat-ZinnMindfulness is being aware, living in the present moment, observing where you are and what you are doing, and not allowing anything else to fill your mind from the past or in the future.So mindfulness is simply the moment-by-moment awareness of life.This is sometimes difficult to do because we get caught up...

You eat right. You exercise. But still your scale won't budge.Despite your good intentions and all the stomach crunches you can stand, you could be unknowingly be sabotaging your efforts every day by eating one ingredient that is guaranteed to plug you up, bloat you out, and pack on the pounds.That dreaded diet saboteur is salt.Salt is everywhere-especially in the very diet foods we eat to lose weight-and it's devastating to our health and our waistlines.In fact, as the Nutrition Twins explain in The Secret to Skinny (HCI), if you drop the salt you will drop at least one size...

Summer. For the dieter, it is the best of times... and it is the worst of times.So, what do you want first - the good news or the bad news?The bad news is you need to be fearful of these five summer treats (and a bonus) that are just waiting to melt your weight loss resolve.Don't despair: We follow up with a six-pack of the best summer treats for the health-minded dieter.Bad to the BoneSummer is grillin' season and backyard barbecues. Barbecue means meat... and lots of it. A 20-ounce T-bone can wreck your day with 1,540 calories and 124...

Face it friends… we’re suckers for flashy food labels and cleverly worded marketing claims that lead us into temptation by making us think a food or drink is good for us. Acai berries anyone? You’ve probably seen the deluge of ads for this “amazing… as seen on Oprah… fat fighter… grown in the Amazon rainforest”… blah, blah, blah… Trouble is, according to the food watchdogs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, "there's no evidence whatsoever to suggest that acai pills will help shed pounds, flatten tummies, cleanse colon, enhance sexual desire, or perform any of the other commonly advertised...

We all want to be healthy and slim, right? So why aren't we? Oh, there could be a genetic or medication issue that's holding you back. But more often than not the only thing holding us back is us.As a Total Wellness expert, I have worked with a large number of clients over the years. And believe me when I tell you -- excuses for not getting healthy are not only a dime a dozen, but they also don't make a lot of sense! I'm Too Old to Start Now!It's never too late to get healthy. Cliché as it...

Oh, summer madness... what have you wrought in the way of slimming?Each year -- specifically, every swimsuit season -- something magical and diabolical happens. Mirrors become enemies, swimsuits are torture devices, and we lose all ability to reason good and bad things for us because every quick-fix diet program or device has guaranteed us it can slim our bodies just in time to hit the beach without a wrap or body-covering burka.This year is no different. Here are some of my favorite new "miracle slimming solutions" to make the scene. In-home genetic DNA testingOk, I never claimed to be a...

Meet guest blogger Cynthia Parrott, a busy working woman who manages to find the time for fitness, diet and the writing of great advice for health-conscious women like you. We all suffer from minor aches, pains and upsets now and then.An afternoon of weeding and gardening, tag football in the park, snow shoveling, and other activities can cause even the most active person a bit of discomfort.When you exercise muscles you don't use every day you should expect to be stiff and sore.But overindulging in food and drink can also cause pain by sending your digestive system into a tailspin....

Did you know that a "low-calorie diet" usually includes 1,500 to 1,800 calories a day? Many people mistakenly think they need to follow a diet of 1,000 calories or less to enjoy fast weight loss.The truth of the matter is this: When you cut your calories dramatically, you have far better chance of getting sick than you do of enjoying lasting weight loss. Eating 1,000 calories a day or less is basically a starvation diet... a diet that will spur your body to go into its defensive mode and stop burning fat altogether!I've been monitoring the weight loss world for...

Meet guest blogger Cynthia Parrott, a busy working woman who manages to find the time for fitness, diet and the writing of great advice for health-conscious women like you. Happy Hour... it's the ritualistic reward for a hard day of work or the regular Friday gathering of friends anxious to kick off the weekend.Happy Hour is the time we can finally relax with a drink, enjoy casual conversation and put our troubles behind us for a little while.Regardless of where and when we celebrate Happy Hour, this seemingly innocent ritual might not be as harmless as it appears -- at...

I just finished my Monte Cristo breakfast and, like almost 100% of the Diet-to-Go meals I receive on my low-fat plan, it was not only delicious but also very filling.Maybe it's because I have followed the program about 6 times in the past 10 years -- or that I've lost 20-30 pounds each time I've followed it -- but I know this food is perfectly portioned and will lead to weight loss when your meal plan is followed properly.Diet-to-Go hasn't suddenly changed all its recipes or scrapped its philosophy of serving good food that's also good for you. Nope... it's...

It's mid-July which means the Diet-to-Go free monthly newsletter has been sent. If you aren't getting this info-packed newsletter, go here now and sign up. Did I mention it's FREE? :o)Meanwhile, here is a taste of the monthly fitness features provided by best-selling author and renowned fitness expert Brad Schoenfeld.5 Exercises You SHOULDN'T Do (& 5 you should!)Poor exercise choices will not only fall short of getting you desired results, but they can ultimately lead to a debilitating injury. It's a double whammy you want to avoid.Here are five of the all-time worst exercises - and five super substitutes. Out...

Well, after four great weeks of weight loss, I not only hit the wall but I plowed right through it and gained back a heartbreaking 1.8 pounds.A week after I proudly proclaimed I'd lost 4 pounds for a four-week total of 17.0 lbs., I stepped back on the scale this morning to see the digital number 217.8 staring back at me!I can sit here and tick off a list of excuses for my weight gain, but the bottom line is I badly swerved from my diet and overdid it from last Friday through last Sunday.Friday night I hosted a backyard...

Rewards. We all love them... we want them... we need them. A pat on the back for a job well done, a holiday bonus for a productive year, a cold drink after an afternoon working in the garden, a new pair of shoes after finally paying off debt. As we work to achieve good health and a comfortable weight, we definitely should reward ourself.I recently read about a woman who was working very hard for to lose weight for a reunion. She reached her desired halfway point and planned to celebrate at her favorite restaurant by choosing the...

The Diet-to-Go Low-Fat and Vegetarian meal plans provide a variety of nutritionally rich foods and therefore a variety of the vitamins and minerals your body needs to operate at maximum efficiency.However, a new study shows that women following trendy, fad-like diets that limit certain foods face the risk of not getting enough vitamins and minerals. Researchers from Stanford University in California found major differences in the amounts of vitamins and minerals consumed by dieters."Shifting around the food sources that are good sources of fats versus carbohydrates means more than just changing fat and carbohydrate levels," says chief researcher Christopher Gardner.Here's...