The No Sweat Healthy Diet Principles

Healthy diets seems like an illusive dream in today's fast food generations. The principle of eating write has evolved as the modern world race to find a healthy balance festive gastronomic experience to a simple healthy eat.

The basic rule for a healthy and effective diet is simply to eat a wide variety of foods to nourish the body.

Fruits and vegetables,vegetables, grains, and legumes—foods high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, low in fat, and free of cholesterol—should make up the bulk of the calories you consume. The rest should come from low-fat dairy products, lean meat and poultry, and fish.

A balance between calorie intake and calorie expenditure should also be well tajen care of. Otherwise, you will gain weight. The more active you are, therefore, the more you can eat and still maintain this balance.

These simple principle doesn't mean that you have to give up your favorite foods. As long as your overall diet is balanced and rich in nutrients and fiber, there is nothing wrong with an occasional cheeseburger. Just be sure to limit how frequently you eat such foods, and try to eat small portions of them.

Think of healthy eating as an opportunity to expand your range of choices by trying foods—especially vegetables, whole grains, or fruits—that you don't normally eat. A healthy diet doesn't have to mean eating foods that are bland or unappealing.

The following basic guidelines are what you need to know to construct a healthy diet.

Eat plenty of high-fiber foods—that is, fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. These are the "good" carbohydrates—nutritious, filling, and relatively low in calories.

Make sure to include green, orange, and yellow fruits and vegetables—such as broccoli, carrots, cantaloupe, and citrus fruits. The antioxidants and other nutrients in these foods may help protect against developing certain types of cancer and other diseases.

Keep portions moderate, especially of high-calorie foods.

Eat more fish and nuts, which contain healthy unsaturated fats.

Eat a variety of foods. Don't try to fill your nutrient requirements by eating the same foods day in, day out.

Maintain an adequate calcium intake. Calcium is essential for strong bones and teeth.

Try to get your vitamins and minerals from foods, not from supplements.
Maintain a desirable weight.

Limit your intake of sugary foods, refined-grain products such as white bread, and salty snack foods.
Cut down on animal fat and trans fats.

POETIC STROKES: Carlitos' Voyage to Light

[I wrote these poems for the centennial celebration of my friend's lolo.]

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. 
Make sure it is worth watching.”

Poem I

The Call of the Sea

In the darkness of the night

Amid the careless hush of the seawater

The busy slapping of the waves

And the endless chatter of men

I see life on the other side

The sea is calling me

Teasing, haunting my curious self

‘Come! Explore, your real life is here’

Poem II

Ode to My Family

Mama is in the kitchen

Making me rice cakes

Papa will be home in a minute

Yes! We will play hide and seek

Oh, where is Papa?

Mama is gone

No one to hug me tight

No more butterfly kisses

Can I sleep? Can I run?

Hide me, swallow me

I don’t want to be here anymore

Take me away for all is lost

Poem III

The Wanderer

Where do you go, young man?

See how the dolphins and the seagulls meet?

You can climb the mountain, cross that jungle

Fly high like a bird or walk the earth like the camel

The world is young and the earth is rich

The field is waiting. Come cultivate!

Poem IV

The Awakening

Thin, shy, soft-spoken

Who’s gonna take me

I roam the busy pier

Sell wares in flea market

I play and laugh with my friends

Oh, is this all my life will be?

I hear you calling me again

Your waves dancing through my veins

Bringing me back to my dreams

The dawn is breaking and I must rise

‘Move around, push your limits!’

Give your best to taste the world’s sweetest

Poem V

The Bodegero

He showed up one day from a faraway land

Came empty handed, braving the odds

For a homeless, faithful stranger that he is

And he said to himself, ‘For hope and fill my heart

I have found and I have lived’

Armed with discipline, honesty and dedication

He struggled to break the many barriers

The ‘bodegero’ worked day and night

Earning the trust of his employer

With his keen interest and business acumen

He was up before dawn, note in hand

Get bookings from small sidewalk vendors

Using his trademark ‘economies of scale’

Sold goods at reasonable prices

And established network of business

Soon he was the young businessman

Satisfying customer is his cause

Taking little profit and practicing frugality

His mild mannered and no frills attitude

Won him friends and business connections

Competition gets stiff and the market wide

And he became bold and aggressive

Determined to win and succeed

He would roam the town and ask

What do my people want, needs?

Everyday he would look upon the majestic Mayon Volcano

Tell himself,’ If people can scale Mount Everest

And get be famous, I can carve my niche here

I can make my name known like you.’

And he found treasure in his newfound home

Poem VI

My Summer with Cion

I was thirty eight and she was eighteen

She was the fragile, innocent lass

I was the strong willed and knowing gentleman

There is something in her inner, keen

Personality that draws me to her

Unguarded, I fell under her spell

My heart flutters and my emotion runs high

Thought of her keeps me sleepless

‘You must marry her’, said I to myself

When I lay my eyes on my first child, I said,

“You are the fruit of my youth, I will give you a bright future.”

Soon, more living testimonies were born

We were a traditional Pinoy family

We taught our children love for work, frugality

Love for god, filial piety and sense of gratitude

My life has never been happy and satisfied

She bore me twelve wonderful children

And I share with her my most fruitful years

Poem VII

The Unbeatable Duo

She take care of the pricing

He take care of the purchasing

He has an eye for good business

and upcoming opportunities

She has her hand in human resource

and interpersonal relations

She is exceptional in raising children

and business management

He is unmatched in business strategies

and guiding his kid growing kids

Together they make an unbeatable duo

Bound by love and devotion to life

Poem VIII

Carlito

Our father seldom talk, he is a man of action

But he is full of stories of his adventures

We would gather around him and wonder

‘What will Papa’s anecdote for today?’

He loves talking about Ilaya

And His early business deals

Eyes wide and ears almost standing

We listened to our passionate storyteller

And vowed to ‘stick together’ to scale heights

The way our father overcame

The many faces of life’s challenges

Never losing hope, always wanting to explore

And emerged a winner…

NEWSY: 'The Ring’ invades 2012 Olympics

2012 London Olympics organizers, unveiled last May 19 the new mascots for the Games. Introducing Wenlock and Mandeville. 

Officials boasted that focus groups of children helped form the designs of the mascots. The natural defense of the mascots is that they're not designed for adults, but for the children who will convince adults to buy them a bunch of merchandise with said mascots.

Wenlock is named after Much Wenlock, a village in Shropshire which held an event in the 19th century which inspired the modern Games. Mandeville is named after the hospital at which the Paralympic Games were founded. Though both sound like Tolkein characters, the names are quite good and are the only thing that makes the mascots distinctly British.

Olympic mascots have always been the object of scorn, but these two, uh, things take the absurdity to a whole new level. There's a complicated backstory to the characters which was written by a children's author. It explains why the mascots have one eye (it's a camera lens to see the world) and yellow lights on tops of their heads (an homage to London taxicabs), but fails to tell the tale of why they look like the much dreaded character  in the Japanese blockbuster horror movie, The Ring.

London 2012 released a video explaining the pair's origins as well.

 

MY MUSIC : Mystified by Charice's Pyramid

BIBLIOPHILE: Isabel Allende’s Island Beneath the Sea

Esteban Trueba continues to haunt me.

Since the day I devoured the richness of its mystery of Isabel Allende’s debut novel in high school, i would still find myself still sneak in to The House of the Spirits once in while pay a visit  to Senator Esteban or. imagine how it was like to live in the world of Clara. The Trueba family saga so enthralled me that I became a fan of clairvoyance, Nivea brand, and the name Alba is music to my ears. My hero Esteban, maybe a cold-blooded villain in his prime to some, but his inner strength and determination all throughout his life, inspires me to dream and believe it can come true.

May be my Spanish ancestry and growing up in Iloilo speaking borrowed Spanish added to my fascination  with Allende and other Spanish-speaking writers.

Isabel Allende’s Island Beneath the Sea, set in Haiti before the Caribbean country was ravage by a powerful tremor, is another exciting addition to The Stories of Eva Luna.


The book, which debuted in Spanish last year and just came out in English in the United States, follows Zarite Sedella, a slave in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) at the end of the 18th century who had the good fortune to avoid working on sugar plantations or in the mills, because she was always a domestic slave.

It has been a best seller in many Latin American countries and is already a best seller on Amazon.com. It took Isabel about four years of research and another year in writing.

The 67-year-old author originally considered setting the novel in New Orleans, but her research took her to Haiti.

"I noticed that the French flavor of New Orleans, the cooking, the voodoo, a lot of the customs come from 10,000 refugees who fled Haiti during the slave revolution at the end of the 1700s and the beginning of the 1800s ... and many of them came to Louisiana."

"So I began investigating the circumstances that forced them to leave and that's how I got into the Haitian Revolution, which is fascinating."


Although Island Beneath the Sea takes place 200 years ago, Allende says, "the theme of slavery is one that is horribly alive today."

"There are 27 million slaves in the world today ... and we're not just talking about girls who work in Cambodian bordellos, but people who are in indentured servitude, sometimes for generations; entire villages that work in agriculture, in the fishing industry, logging and all sorts of sweatshops."

Allende is one of the best-known contemporary women authors in Latin America, who sometimes writes based on her own experiences, weaving together myth and realism. Her books, which have been translated into more than 27 languages, shift between autobiographical and historical and are usually focused on women.

"I don't invent women. I've worked all my life with women and for women. I know them well and if you ask me where are there weak women, I wouldn't know, because the majority of them have had difficult lives and are for the most part very strong," said the author of "Eva Luna," "Of Love and Shadows" and "Ines of My Soul," who was born in Peru and raised in Chile and now lives in California (she became an American citizen a few years ago).

Allende, who has endured personal tragedy — she shared the loss of her daughter in her memoir "Paula" — says she is grateful for the life she's led.

"I think very few people pass through life without suffering. And my suffering is no different from that of others and it's not greater," she says. "I celebrate each day."

Back to Corregidor

“Sleep my son… your duty done,
for freedom’s light had come,
Sleep in the silent depths of the sea
or in your bed of hollowed sod
until your hear at dawn the low clear
reveille of God”.


Corregidor is one of the living witness of the struggles and bravery of early Filipinos who shed their blood for the freedom this generation is now enjoying. Today, it boast not just its historical legend but its natural beauty as well. It has become one of the main tourist-historical attraction in the archipelago. As you come to visit this beautiful island, let your soul to travel back in time and feel the struggles and triumphs of Corregidor.

In December 29, 1941, an air raid by 91 Japanese aircraft signaled the start of the war for Corregidor. The estimated 60 tons of bombs that were dropped damaged the Station Hospital, the Middleside and the Topside Barracks, Officer’s Quarters as well as the ships in the bay and the Navy gasoline dump at the tail of the island.

In February 6, 1942, the Japanese artillery emplaced around Naic and Ternate in Cavite opened fire on Corregidor. The siege of Corregidor has begun.

When Bataan fell into the hands of the Japanese on April 9, 1942; Corregidor stood to save the finest harbor of the Orient. May 5 saw the destruction of the shoreline with more ferocious attacks by the well-schemed artillery and dive bombers of the Japanese soldiers. The defenders of Corregidor fired all the guns they had but to no avail. At noon, on May 6, the flag of surrender slowly went the Topside flagpole.

With the return of the Americans in 1945 as promised an intensive bombardment started minesweeping the operations in the bay liberating Bataan. The stubborn battle continued until February 21 when the Japanese set the Malinta Tunnel to explode killing hundreds. The explosions of the former Radio Intercept Tunnel at the Monkey Point, ended the organized resistance making the surviving Japanese defenders an after and end of the war in January 1946.

On October 12, 1947, the American flag was lowered for the last time as Philippines whose flag was hoisted in its stead as witnessed by President Manuel Roxas. The Filipino gained the Island-Fortress.

The story of Corregidor has been a continuing saga of unequaled patriotism displayed by participants in the countless battles that were fought there.

“Corregidor needs no comment from me. It has sounded its own story at the mouth of its guns. It has scrolled its own epitaph on enemy tablets. But through the bloody haze of its last reverberating shot, I shall always see the visions of its grim, gaunt, and ghostly men, still unafraid.” – Gen. Douglas MacArthur

The Beauty and Antiquity of Ilonggo Churches

As the world evolves to modern civilization, so do man and his work. In the process of this evolution are the tenacious traces of man’s marvelous creations – the ancient and beautiful antiques.

Today’s generation cannot help but stand in awe to our ancestors a legacy of their life in the dawn of time. We visit museums and historical places to get a glimpse these seemingly remote, if not captivating existence.

My native Iloilo, being the leading province during the Spanish Colonial Era, is famous for its beautiful old world architecture similar to that of Latin American countries. Scattered in the province were enormous artifacts, traditions, and places that help us see the past through these still “living” things. They are profiles of yesterday’s art for today’s generation.

Among them, and certainly the most favorite tourist attractions, are the Spanish colonial churches that are a must in your next visita iglesia in Iloilo. Here are some of the ancient and beautiful symbols of Christianity in the island:

Cathedral of Molo (St. Anne Parish) - Constructed on 1886, this cathedral cost about a hundred thousand pesos at a time when laborers were contented to receive a daily wage of ten centavos. The left belfry is a new construction, the old one having been demolished American fell in 1945. The earthquake of 1948 left  untouched while it leveled several other churches of the island of Panay including that of Oton, Tubungan, and the bell tower of Jaro Church. Built in the Roman-Corinthian style, it is dedicated to the patron saint of Molo, Saint Anne. This house of worship prides itself with the most collection of female saints among all churches in the island. This is said to be the most beautiful church in the whole of Western Visayas. Sixteen almost life-size images of female saints adorn the sides of its walls. On the right side stood: Sta. Juliana, Sta. Lucia, Sta. Rosa de Lima, Sta. Teresa, Sta. Clara, Sta. Cecilia, Sta. Margarita, Sta. Marta and on its left side: Sta. Marcela, Sta. Apolonia, Sta. Genoveva, Sta. Isabel de Ungria, Sra. Monica, Sta. Felicia, Sta. Ines, and Sta. Maria Magdalena. In 1992, St. Anne Parish Church of Molo was formally declared as a national landmark by the National Historical Institute.

Church of Miagao (Santo Tomas de Villanueva Parish) – Located 40 kilometers away from the city Iloilo is the Church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva in the town of Miag-ao. The construction of this imposing solid structure had begun in 1786 and finished 11 years after. Build along characteristically in its façade – a pyramidal stone wall dominating the center, together with other native florae on the side. The church is characterized as eclectic in style - a selection and conglomeration of different selected architectural styles, motifs and ornaments.  This edifice had undergone several constructions. Proving itself as the most beautiful and mystifying work of ancient Ilonggo hands, it was declared as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Baroque Churches of the Philippines" in 1993.

Church of Tigbauan (Parish of St. John Sahugan) – The exceptionally ornate façade of this church which was carved in Hindu and Malayan style counts among its features the coat of arms of the Augustinian Order. The Sto. Nino is the Patron Saint of Tigbauan. A niche in the center is occupied by a large wooden image of San Nicolas Tolentino. The Tigabauan parish was established in the year 1575, but it was not until after 1617 that the construction of the present church was commenced.

Church of San Joaquin (Parish of San Juan)  – a large pyramid structure in the upper part of this church predicts a battle scene between Christians and Moors, perhaps, during the crusade or that phase in the history of Spain in which soil in Christian and Moors have cut each others throat. This tableau has been gratuitously attributed to the battle of Tetuan in Morroco in 1859 – an all too recent event to acquire the glow of legend deserving t be carved in the facades of churches built just ten years later.

Church of Oton (The Immaculate Conception Parish)  – Built in the year 1880 and shaped like a Red Cross, this beautiful and multi-spired cathedral with large basilica style dome in the center was totally demolished by the great earthquake of 1948 that also toppled the belfry of Jaro Cathedral. It was the only church planned as a Greek cross, that is, all four wings were of equal lengths and came together at the center. The center was marked by a cupola with arched windows as clerestory and a lantern as its finial. The four ends of the cross were decorated by flanking spires, lancet windows, and a pediment shaped as Gothic arch pierced by a rose window.

Church of Sta. Barbara (Parish of St. Barbara)  – Imposing in its austere simplicity, the façade of Santa Barbara Church is dominated by a well- unified design of broken churches, columns, and top finials. Santa Barbara is of Baroque Renaissance architecture. The whole structure imposes simplicity and beauty. Its facade is neoclassic, proven by twinned neoclassic pilasters and finials. But in 1855, it was largely damaged in the war. Adjoining the church is a large bulding built together with it to house the parish priest where General Martin Delgado of the Visayan Revolutionary Government convened the junta that raised the first Cry of Revolution against Spain outside Luzon.

Church of Pavia (Sta. Monica Parish) – The construction of this brick church commenced in the year 1886 and was never finished. The jade motif prevails throughout in the main doors and windows. Large stepped rosette windows with colored glass look at the front upper sides. A sunken balcony above the main is constituted with six equal arches. The top of which is occupied by the town patron-saint Santa Monica.

HEALTHY BITES: 19 Weight Loss Secrets From Around the World [extracted from The Readers Digest]

Around the world people are going crazy, confused even, what diet to follow to compliment an effective weight loss program in order to achieve not just a toned body to die for but a healthy body free of certain illnesses. I came over this helpful and fun article in The Readers Digest. Read on.

Spice it up [Thailand]
Thai food is among the spiciest in the world. Hot peppers raise your metabolism, but the real benefit of food with a little zing is that it slows your eating, says James Hill, PhD, past president of the American Society for Nutrition. "Americans eat too fast," he says. "By the time your body signals that it's full, you've overeaten. Eating slower is a good weight-loss strategy, and making food spicier is an easy way to do it."

Downsize the Supersizing [United Kingdom]
If you walk into a McDonald's in London, the clerk won't ask if you'd like to "supersize" that. This option was discontinued in the U.K. after it accounted for less than 0.1 percent of sales. The Brits prefer smaller portions—perhaps a lingering vestige of the frugality instilled by World War II rationing, says Simon Hartley, executive editor of Reader's Digest U.K.

In the United States, McDonald's has backed off supersizing too. But a large Coke here still contains 100 calories more than one in the U.K., and there's no such thing as a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Great Britain. Take the hint: Who really needs to eat a half-pound of meat at a sitting?

Serve a side of rice and beans [Brazil]
All that shaking at Carnaval isn't the only body-friendly habit in Rio; Brazilians stay slim by enjoying this traditional dish with just about every meal, says Sérgio Charlab, editor of Reader's Digest Brazil. A study in the journal Obesity Research found that a diet consisting primarily of rice and beans lowers the risk of becoming overweight by about 14 percent when compared with typical Western fare. That's because it's lower in fat and higher in fiber, which is thought to stabilize blood sugar levels. It may be counter-intuitive, but a diet full of beans equals a beach-ready body.

Try fasting once in a while [Indonesia]
Islam, this country's leading religion, encourages periodic fasting—no food or drink from dawn to dusk. Others in Indonesia practice mutih, which allows only water and white rice. Although experts don't recommend fasting for weight control, fasting in moderation can break patterns of mindless eating, says Hill, of the American Society for Nutrition. "Most Americans never get hungry," he points out. "We've eaten the next meal before we've entirely digested the last one." No need for strict abstinence to get these psychological benefits—try just cutting your calories in half for a day.

Eat at home more often than you eat out [Poland]
Poles typically spend only 5 percent of their family budget on eating out. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics, the average American family spends 37 percent of its food dollars at restaurants and fast-food joints. To save money and pounds, start tracking how often you eat out and how much you spend each month, and gradually cut back. "People who don't cook at home tend to eat less healthy food and be heavier than people who do," says journalist and activist Michael Pollan. "In fact, the collapse of cooking in a society tracks very closely its rise in obesity."

Eat your breakfast [Germany]
An impressive 75 percent of Germans eat breakfast daily (compared with just 44 percent of Americans). They're not grabbing Egg McMuffins either; they're sitting down to fruit and whole-grain cereals and breads. Nutritionists have been advising people not to skip breakfast for years, but recent studies give a better picture of its importance. In one, British researchers discovered that if you haven't eaten breakfast, your brain's reward center will light up more vividly when you see a high-calorie food—making you more likely to indulge. Finally: a scientific explanation for that irresistible urge to pull into Dunkin' Donuts.

Swap the gas pedal for the bike pedal [Netherlands]
Bikes (18 million) outnumber people (16.5 million) in the Netherlands. But unlike Americans—most of whose two-wheelers languish in basements and garages—54 percent of Dutch bike owners use them for daily activities, such as shopping and traveling to work. The average Dutchman pedals 541 miles per year. Traffic lights in parts of Amsterdam are even synchronized to bike speed. Bike-to-Work Day in the United States is Friday, May 21—try using your bike to commute that day or just for errands close to home. If you're of average size and pedaling at a moderate pace, you can burn around 550 calories per hour.

Try a bowl of muesli [Switzerland]
Muesli is a porridge or cereal made from oats, fruit, and nuts, each of which has been linked to better health and weight control. It was developed by a Swiss physician more than a hundred years ago to nourish hospital patients, but the Swiss eat it for breakfast or as a light evening dish. Muesli's fiber makes it slow to digest, keeping you feeling full longer. Read the label carefully, though: Sugar content can vary from 2 to 14 grams per serving.

Carve out a dacha plot [Russia]
Country houses, or dachas, where 51 percent of city folk spend vacations and summer weekends, almost always feature a garden. Russians grow their own vegetables and fruits and preserve and can what they grow. That makes their diet more nutritious. And "there's not much you can grow in a garden that will make you fat," notes Hill.

Turn up the turmeric [Malaysia]
This spice, a key ingredient in curries, grows wild in Malaysian jungles. One of its chief components is a substance called curcumin, which may turn out to be a potent fat fighter. A recent Tufts University study found that mice fed a high-fat diet with small amounts of curcumin gained less weight than did other mice given similar but curcumin-free meals. Researchers think the ingredient suppresses the growth of fat tissue and increases fat-burning. Try some in your next stir-fry.

Sip some rooibos tea [South Africa]
Enjoyed throughout the country, rooibos tea is more robust than green tea, and because it's naturally sweet, it needs no sugar. Ditching your daily Frappuccino for a cup of rooibos—Starbucks now sells it—could save you thousands of calories per month. "Tea-drinking cultures generally have lower rates of obesity," says Dr. Pescatore. "That may be from special compounds, such as catechins, that certain teas contain, or it may simply be that we often think we're hungry when we're really dehydrated."

Crunch more pickles [Hungary]
Hungarians like things pickled—not just cucumbers but bell peppers, cabbage, and tomatoes. These tart treats can help keep you thin, probably because of the vinegar that pickles them. Growing evidence suggests that acetic acid, the main component of vinegar, helps reduce blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and the formation of fat. Pickles aren't your thing? Swap your ranch salad dressing for oil and vinegar.

Take a Sunday family tour [Norway]
It's a deeply rooted Norwegian habit: On Sunday, everyone from toddlers to grandparents heads out to hike (in summer) or cross-country ski (in winter). Compare that with the typical American household, where the only Sunday expedition is from the fridge to the football game on TV. Start a Nordic tradition in your house. At halftime, shoo everyone outdoors for a walk around the neighborhood.

Get yourself all twisted up [India]
Most Americans respect yoga's stress-busting and flexibility-enhancing power, but not many realize it facilitates weight loss. In fact, a recent study found that yoga devotees have a lower body mass index (BMI) than other exercisers do. There are probably multiple reasons. Yoga is best done on an empty stomach and can build muscle (depending on your preferred poses), which boosts your metabolism. And it encourages mindfulness, which includes paying attention to whether you feel full.

Perfect the power nap [Japan]
In this on-the-go country, many people take time for a daily 20- to 30-minute nap, says James Maas, PhD, a sleep researcher at Cornell University and the author of Power Sleep. There's increasing evidence that chronic sleep deprivation raises the risk of weight gain. Maas blames two hormones: leptin, which helps the brain sense when you're full, and ghrelin, which triggers hunger. The less sleep you get, the lower your leptin levels—and the higher your ghrelin. "Many people think they're hungry when they're actually sleepy," Maas says. "Instead of a snack, they need some shut-eye."

Make the midday meal the biggest [Mexico]
Instead of ingesting the bulk of the day's calories in the evening, as most Americans do, Mexicans traditionally eat their biggest meal between 2 and 4 p.m. If you eat less at night, you'll wake up hungrier and eat a bigger breakfast, which facilitates weight control. As a general fat-fighting rule, try to get the bulk of your daily calories at breakfast and lunch

Sit long, talk lots [France]
The French excel at the leisurely family meal. On average, 92 percent of French families dine together nightly, compared with 28 percent of American families. "For the French, eating is the event of the day," says Fred Pescatore, MD, president of the International & American Associations of Clinical Nutritionists. "For us, it's something we do before heading out to do something else." Lengthy meals actually encourage less eating, Dr.Pescatore says: Conversation slows down the fork and gives you time to realize you're full.

Take up nordic walking [Finland]
This is one of the Finns' favorite outdoor activities. It's not as exotic as it sounds: All that's required is a pair of inexpensive, lightweight walking poles. Holding these in your hands aids balance, which is great if you're older or if you're on slippery terrain. Even better: Because they make you use muscles in your shoulders, arms, and torso, the poles transform walking into a total-body workout that burns 20 percent more calories, according to a study at the Cooper Institute in Dallas. Winter or summer, it's a simple way to derive more fat-reducing benefit from your regular walk.

Swallow more herring [Netherlands]
The Dutch down about 85 million of these slippery fish per year—raw. That's about five for every person in the country (and five more than eaten here). They're pickled, then served unadorned as snacks or in soft buns with onions and gherkins for lunch.Oily fish like herring is slimming for a few reasons, says Dr. Pescatore, author of The Hamptons Diet. It contains lots of omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol—and cortisol is known to increase the amount of fat deposited around your middle. What's more, lunching on herring or canned sardines guarantees you'll ingest far fewer calories than you would if you eat a burger or even fish sticks. Just don't forget the breath mints.

"Siskel and Ebert at the Movies"

NEW YORK – Roger Ebert's next book won't just be about movies.

The film critic and profilic Twitter user is writing a memoir. It will cover everything from his battle with thyroid cancer to his friendship with Gene Siskel, his fellow critic and "Siskel and Ebert at the Movies" co-host who died in 1999.

Grand Central Publishing executive editor Mitch Hoffman said Friday that the currently untitled book has a tentative release date of fall 2011. Ebert's previous works include "Roger Ebert's Book of Film" and "I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie.