Answer Fitness®: Practical Fitness Advice for Everyone

Are Cheerios A Healthy Cereal? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

Are Cheerios a Healthy Cereal Choice? We Take A Look At The Nutritional Profile of One Of America’s Favorite Cereals and Let You Decide.

Dear Fitness Nerd,

Are Cheerios a healthy cereal? I’m trying to eat breakfast more often, but I don’t care for oatmeal. I do love Cheerios, however. But I’m not sure if they are a healthy choice. Fat is low and they don’t seem to have many calories. What’s your opinion? Is there a better cereal out there instead? – Carolyn (Portland, Maine)

The “healthiness” of cereals and foods is often relative. Same goes for Cheerios.

For example, if you are regularly skipping breakfast and then grabbing a bagel and cream cheese at the office, a bowl of Cheerios with skim milk would be a much better option from a nutrition standpoint than your usual choices in the morning.  So from that perspective, Cheerios are a healthy cereal — or at least healthier in comparison to the bagel and cream cheese.

On the other hand, given the choice between eating Cheerios or a whole food, unprocessed source of complex carbohydrates in the morning like oatmeal, oat bran or homemade muesli, the Cheerios doesn’t fare quite as well.

Let’s take a quick look at what Cheerios has going for it nutritionally, and what some of its weaknesses are compared to other whole food sources of breakfast grains.

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How To Sleep Better: Advice On How To Get Better Sleep | Health & Wellness

Peak Performance Requires Optimal Sleep & Alertness. Learn How To Get A Better Night’s Sleep.

Dragging at the gym? Finding yourself less alert in meetings at the office? Are you grumpy, cloudy-headed and distracted when 2 pm rolls around?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you might be sleep deprivated.

Peak performance, whether in your workout and fitness regimen or in your career, requires giving your body adequate “down time” to rest and recover. Just like your muscles, the brain isn’t immune to over-training. It needs a break.

And getting better sleep also lets your muscles recover, so it’s not just about being able to quote Shakespeare more quickly, or add up that P&L sheet in your head when the CEO asks for it.

Sleep is good. Period. Mind and body.

Check out these tips on how to get a better night’s sleep from Regis Hadiaris over at The Dot Connector Blog.

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Cooking Light Magazine Review | Magazine & Cookbook Reviews

Looking To Cook Lighter, But Don’t Know Where To Start or Even How To Do It? Cooking Light Magazine Could Be Just The Ticket.

Magazine: Cooking Light
Publisher: Southern Progress Corporation/Time
Price: $4.99 (Newstand)/$18 yearly subscription
Publication Schedule: Monthly (11 issues)

Ratings (1-4 Scale: 1= poor, 2= fair, 3= good, 4= excellent)

Recipe Originality: 4
Directions/Ease of Prep: 4
Overall Content: 3
Design & Visual Appeal: 4
Price/Value: 4
Overall Rating: 3.8

Cooking Light Pros:

• Nearly 100 healthy recipes each month
• Photos accompanying nearly every recipe
• Full-nutritional labeling for each recipe
• Easy recipe index lets you quickly find meals that interest you or fit your schedule
• Good selection of meatless and meat-based recipes
• Tested recipes with clear directions
• Regular tips, tricks and tutorials that can help you become a better cook
• Excellent website that supports the magazine
• Good value from a price perspective
• Good supporting editorial content on nutrition and health news

Cooking Light Cons:

• One-third of the article content is not directly related to cooking (travel, lifestyle, wellness, etc.)
• Exercise advice and routines are kind of fluffy

Cooking Light Magazine Review

Eating healthy and cooking light doesn’t have to mean bland.

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Taking Protein Before Bed? When & What Kind of Protein? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

When is the best time to take protein before bed? And what kind of protein should you take before you sleep?

Dear Fitness Nerd,

How soon before bed should I drink protein? Right before, or a specific number of minutes before before I actually go to sleep? Thanks! — Bob

The issue here is less about the timing of when to take protein before bed, as it is what kind of protein to take before you go to sleep.

You should try to consume your last serving of protein as close to your bedtime as is comfortable for you. Whether that’s a protein shake before bed, or a whole food souce of protein before sleep is up to you.

Some people experience no problems eating and then immediately going to sleep, while other people find sleeping on a “full stomach” uncomfortable. If you find that taking a protein-heavy snack right before bed interferes with falling asleep, then give yourself at least 30-40 minutes between the snack and bedtime.

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Black Beans and Egg Breakfast Bowl Recipe | Healthy Recipes & Snacks

Breakfast and Black Beans? Check Out This Protein-Packed, High-Fiber and Low-Fat Breakfast Recipe That Takes Less Than Five Minutes To Prepare. 

Unless you’re from Latin America, Mexico or Spain, beans and breakfast aren’t normally two things you associate together.

But maybe you should — especially if your usual breakfast routine is getting is getting stale and could use a kick. 

Beans are one of the most nutritious and inexpensive additions to any healthy pantry.  Filling, low-in-fat, and loaded with soluble fiber, protein, minerals and healthy antioxidants, beans are clean eating powerhouses. And that means not just made into soup or served with rice, but believe it or not, as a breakfast dish.

Black Beans and Eggs? For Breakfast?

This recipe uses canned black beans combined with eggs and traditional Mexican herbs and spices to make a tasty breakfast bowl that you can throw together in less than five minutes from finish to start.

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Should I Eat Before Or After Exercise? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

Is it Best to Eat Before or After Exercise? Making Sense of Pre-Workout and Post-Workout Nutrition.

Dear Fitness Nerd,

When should I eat? Before or after I exercise? In particular, if I’m going to wake up and workout in the morning, do I eat breakfast before or after I workout? Jen — Detroit, MI

Timing of meals, especially before or after exercise is one of those things that’s part science, and part personal preference. Let’s tackle the science first, and then deal with some of the personal things you need to consider.

Understanding Pre-Workout and Post-Workout Nutrition

Pre and post-workout nutrition is critical, because it allows the body to have the necessary energy to exercise effectively, as well as the right macro-nutrients and energy after exercise to help with recovery.

As a rule of thumb, you want to try to fill your tank up both before and after working out. How much you need to eat and what you should eat before exercise will have a lot to do with:

• The time of day
• When you last ate
• How your body responds to pre-workout food.

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Neti Pot Review: No More Sinus Pain and Congestion? | Product Reviews

Neti Pot Users Swear This Funny Contraption Cures Everything from Migraines to Sinus Pain.  But Does It Really Work? We Review It.

Products Reviewed:

• Neti Pot (from SinuCleanse®)
• SinuCleanse® Squeeze^TM

Manufacturer: SinuCleanse
MSRP: $14.99 (Neti Pot); $10.99 (SinuCleanse Squeeze)
Place of Purchase: CVS, Amazon.com

Neti Pot & SinuCleanse Squeeze Pros:

• Provides natural sinus relief from congestion, pressure and pain
• Reduced post-cold sinus pain, pressure, and headaches
• Reduced runny nose and itching from household allergies
• Improved taste and smell
• Good directions
• Developed by an M.D. and ear, nose and throat specialist
• Accomplished what over-the-counter decongestants provide, without resorting to any medication

Neti Pot & SinuCleanse Cons:

• Takes a little practice to get used to squirting water up your nose
• “Grossness” factor: This thing works, but again, you are squirting water up your nose and letting it drain out the other side. Probably not something you want to perform in front of that new girlfriend or boyfriend. Or your spouse. Or your family.
• Neti Pot seems less effective at clearing badly congested nose during a cold. However, the SinuCleanse Squeeze does the trick.

Ratings (1-4 Scale: 1= poor, 2= fair, 3= good, 4= excellent)

Construction: 4
Durability: 4
Price: 3
Availability: 4
Ease of Use: 3 (once you get the hang of it)
Does It Do What It Claims? Yes
Would You Buy It Again? Yes

Overall Rating: 3.6

Neti Pot and SinuCleanse Squeeze Review

The National Center of Health Statistics estimates that in the United States, more than 32 million adults suffer from chronic sinus infections — making it one of the most common chronic diseases in America. 

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