Live Right Live Well: Diet

Drop Weight Faster With Mushrooms

By Nancy Gottesman for Live Right Live Well

Okay, so a basket of mixed earthy mushrooms isn’t exactly as eye-grabbing as a bowl of juicy cherries. And yet nutrient-wise, this homely little superfood can compete with the best and the brightest of fruits and vegetables. What's more, a new study suggests these plain-but-powerful fungi can help you drop weight faster.

A Dieter’s Secret Weapon
In a study conducted at Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center, researchers divided participants into two groups: one that ate a beef-based lunch and another that consumed a mushroom-based entree (e.g., mushroom lasagna, sloppy Joes or chili). Since mushrooms are so low in calories and fat, it's not surprising that the meals composed of beef served up a whopping 420 more calories and 30 more grams of fat than those made with mushrooms. But here’s what’s really surprising: Mushroom-eaters reported feeling just as satisfied with their meals as beef-eaters -- and they didn’t end up compensating for their lower-cal lunches by eating more later on in the day.

Red Banana and Blood Orange Smoothie

From the Editors of Live Right Live Well

Packed with protein, potassium, fiber and vitamin C, this super-fast pink smoothie makes a great breakfast or snack. It contains two unique fruits: red bananas and blood oranges. Red bananas taste like yellow ones but with a slight raspberry flavor. Choose those with a deep purple color; that means they’re ripe. Blood oranges are a dark orange or deep red on the outside and a bright, vivid red on the inside due to the antioxidant anthocyanin. Kefir and Greek yogurt provide satiating protein.

Makes about 3 1/3 cups (2 servings of heaping 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients

1 cup vanilla nonfat Greek yogurt

1 cup low-fat strawberry kefir

3 red bananas, peeled

2 blood oranges, peeled and quartered

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until completely smooth.

2. Enjoy immediately. Refrigerate leftovers in a tightly covered container.

Nutrition information per serving:

335 calories

20 g protein

63 g carbohydrate

1.5 g fat (1 g saturated)

5 mg cholesterol

114 mg sodium

1080 mg potassium

342 mg calcium

0.4 mg iron

620 IU vitamin A

81 mg vitamin C

7.5 g fiber

Girl World Daily: just for kicks

Awesome Slumber Party Ideas

From the Editors of Girl World Daily

Looking to wow your friends at your next big sleepover? We have some slumber party tricks that definitely will have your pals going, “ooh” and “aah.” You are getting sleepy now -- yeah, right!

Mind Over Matter
Do you know your thoughts can create pure energy? Demonstrate this wondrous fact to your party guests by swinging a charm necklace around ... with your mind!

Hold the necklace at the clasp with your thumb and index finger so it’s hanging straight down. Steadying your elbow on a table, hold perfectly still and tell the chain to swing clockwise. Or back and forth. Now tell it to reverse directions, then to stop. Let your friends try it. (If you establish that clockwise stands for “yes” and counterclockwise mean “no,” you can use this as a sort of lie detector during your game of Truth or Dare!)

Bending Toothbrushes
Hand out brand-new toothbrushes (go for sparkly ones or those with cartoon characters) as party favors ... but these aren’t for brushing. Instead, turn ’em into bracelets!

Here’s how: Use tweezers or pliers to pluck the bristles out of each brush. Boil a large pot of water, and drop the toothbrushes in for about five minutes. Have a parent use tongs to remove each one. Careful, they’re hot! Use oven mitts to bend them so they fit inside a large coffee mug. Pour cold water in the mug to cool them. When they’re done, you’ll have a cool cuff bracelet.

Girl World Daily: just for kicks

Clean-sweep Your Bedroom!

From the Editors of Girl World Daily

Want to eliminate the clutter-y chaos in your crib -- and keep it that way? Give your room a good spring-cleaning! Try these tips to get motivated:

Set a Date
Set aside a full day, or even a weekend, to get the job done. Pick a date when you’ll have few distractions and no other commitments. Starting the process and then stopping to go to piano lessons or a movie with friends will leave you too distracted to focus and follow through.

Make It Fun
Get stoked in advance by making a playlist of your favorite high-energy tunes for cleaning day. Wear comfy clothes and pin your hair back, then dance around your room while you get your organizing groove on. For extra motivation, decorate your tools of the trade (bins, boxes, photo albums, and the like). Touches of personal flair will make you want to fill ’em and keep ’em organized!

Start With the Big Stuff
Make the hardest and most time-consuming tasks -- cleaning out the mound of junk under your bed, for example -- your first priority. Getting stuck organizing tiny areas won’t show much progress and will have you feeling too overwhelmed to tackle larger tasks. Once you see how much you’ve already done, it will give you the mojo to power through the smaller stuff.

Get to Organizing
De-cluttering your space is really all about sorting things out. Make piles for all your goods, laundry, put-aways and trash. For stuff you’re keeping around, make sure that even the tiniest items have a designated home to call their own. Pencils need a holder, nail polish needs a bin, magazines need a rack, CDs need a case, and so on.

Dust, Wipe and Sweep
Once all your gear is stowed away in its proper place, break out the cleaning supplies to really make your room shine. Grab a dustrag and swipe your electronics, desk, shelves and dressers. Then, wipe down other surfaces that need some extra elbow grease -- like mirrors, windows and your vanity -- with a furniture polish or glass cleaner. Lastly, vacuum or sweep your floor to pick up leftover dirt and dust.

Make It a Habit
Now that your room is tidy, it’s not too difficult to keep it that way if you hit it a little bit at a time. Write up a schedule to get you into a clean routine. Give each day of the week a to-do: Laundry should be one day, vacuuming another, and organizing another. Spreading out your tasks over time makes them manageable so you’ll actually stick to your plan. Keep it up, and you may never be stuck in a messy room again. Phew ... high-five, girl, on a job well done!

Photo Credit: @iStockphoto.com/Figure8Photos