Eight tips for healthy eating

Eating a healthy, balanced diet is an important part of maintaining good health, and can help you feel your best. It doesn't have to be difficult either. Just follow these eight tips to get started.

The key to a healthy diet is to do the following:

• Eat the right amount of calories for how active you are, so that you balance the energy you consume with the energy you use. If you eat or drink too much, you’ll put on weight. If you eat and drink too little, you’ll lose weight. It is recommended that men have around 2,500 calories a day (10,500 kilojoules). Women should have around 2,000 calories a day (8,400 kilojoules). Most adults are eating more calories than they need, and should eat fewer calories.
• Eat a wide range of foods to ensure that you’re getting a balanced diet and that your body is receiving all the nutrients it needs.

Get started
These practical tips cover the basics of healthy eating, and can help you make healthier choices:

Base your meals on starchy foods
Starchy foods should make up around one third of the foods you eat. Starchy foods include potatoes, cereals, pasta, rice and bread. Choose wholegrain varieties (or eat potatoes with their skins on) when you can: they contain more fibre, and can help you feel full.
Most of us should eat more starchy foods: try to include at least one starchy food with each main meal. Some people think starchy foods are fattening, but gram for gram the carbohydrate they contain provides fewer than half the calories of fat.

Eat lots of fruit and veg
It’s recommended that we eat at least five portions of different types of fruit and veg a day. It’s easier than it sounds. A glass of unsweetened 100% fruit juice (150ml) can count as one portion, and vegetables cooked into dishes also count. Why not chop a banana over your breakfast cereal, or swap your usual mid-morning snack for a piece of fresh fruit?

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How to Actually Get a Good Workout on the Elliptical Machine

By Alison Feller, Greatist
To reap maximum benefits, put away distractions and pick up interval training.

Doing the same workout day after day may be effective at first, but it will eventually lead to a fitness plateau.
Out of all the cardio machines, the elliptical probably gets the most side-eye. People tend to think it's boring and ineffective (research even says so!), and the go-to source for an easy, mindless workout, if even that. But it turns out there are plenty of science-backed benefits to the elliptical, like raising your heart rate even more than the treadmill and improving fitness just as efficiently as the treadmill or Stairmaster.

What's more, there's actually a right and wrong way to use it. With the correct form and plan of attack, you can get a truly killer workout on the machine. To find out how to make the most of every stride, we asked top fitness experts for their best advice, plus an effective 20-minute workout.

Do: Make a plan before hitting “start.”

Before even stepping foot on the machine, set an intention for the workout. “Ask yourself what you want to achieve that day,” says Leanne Weiner, a personal trainer and corrective exercise specialist. “Then monitor your perceived level of exertion — where zero is like going for a leisurely stroll and at 10 you’re completely out of breath — throughout the workout to make sure you’re not just dialing

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4 Healthy Ways to Make Sex Feel Better Tonight

By Amy Levine, MA, CSE, Special to Health


Three simple letters that elicit myriad thoughts and feelings. Sex has the potential to involve all of the senses, turn us on, happen solo or with a partner, allow us the opportunity to give and to receive, and be incredibly pleasurable. But for many people, sex isn’t the connected and fulfilling experience we know is possible. Sometimes pain or discomfort is to blame. Other times it’s sabotaged by common issues like body-bashing thoughts, anxiety, or stress. Often with subtle adjustments, sex can feel and be a lot better.

As a sex coach, I often play detective with my clients to figure out what they need to elevate their sexual experiences. Here are some of the solutions I share with them that I think will help you have a more pleasurable sex life too.

1. Sex Shouldn’t Require Mind-Reading
Here’s a four-letter word that will make sex better: T-A-L-K.

We can’t expect our partners to read our minds. It’s essential we know what we need, want, and desire. Communication is directly related to our pleasure potential.

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5 Reasons Why Skin Cancer Surgery Isn’t So Scary

Get the inside scoop on Mohs surgery, the most popular treatment option for basal and squamous cell carcinomas.

Wear a wide-brimmed hat to minimize your sun exposure.

Veva Vesper has dealt with more than her fair share of skin cancer in the last 25 years. The 69-year-old Ohio resident has had more than 500 squamous cell carcinomas removed since the late 1980s, when the immunosuppressant medication she was taking for a kidney transplant caused her to develop them all over her body — everywhere from the corner of her eye to her legs.

While Vesper’s story is unusual, skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. In fact, it’s currently estimated that one in five Americans will get skin cancer in his or her lifetime.

Mike Davis, a 65-year-old retired cop, and like Vesper, a patient at The Skin Cancer Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, has a more familiar story. Earlier this year, he had a basal cell carcinoma removed from his left ear — the side of his face most exposed to UV damage when driving on patrol.


The buildup of sun exposure over your lifetime puts you at greater risk for developing basal and squamous cell skin carcinomas as you age. Both Vesper and Davis had Mohs surgery, the most effective and precise way to remove the two most common types of skin cancer.

“The benefits of Mohs surgery are twofold: One, you’re going to remove just the cells you need to without having to take a lot of unnecessary tissue, and two, Mohs surgery can tout cure rates of 99 percent,” says Dendy Engelman, MD, a dermatologist and Mohs surgeon in New York City and the

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Sex Secrets You Should Know

By Dennis Thompson Jr. | Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH

Men who want to enjoy a good sex life should know their partner can be the best source of sex secrets. From erection to orgasm, communication is key.

Good sex with your partner can get even better. There are many ways men can both enjoy sex more and better please their partners. Just keep in mind that while there are some solid guidelines for improving your sex life, the best kept sex secrets are the ones waiting to be unearthed in your relationship.

"I think each guy is different and each relationship is different," says Paul Joannides, PsyD, a research psychoanalyst in Waldport, Ore., and author of The Guide To Getting It On. "You need to appreciate that what might work for your best friend and his wife might not work for you and your partner."

Start Talking About Sex

Ironically, some of the best sex secrets are those men and women keep from each other, Dr. Joannides says. To have good sex, you need to talk about your likes and dislikes.

"One of the most important things to do is to ask and to listen," says Joannides. "A lot of guys are terrified that some people may think they don't know all the answers. Also, some guys think they do know all the answers."

It can be difficult to broach the subject of sex. But here are tips from Joannides that can clue you in to 

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80% of heart attacks in men can be prevented through healthy lifestyle behaviors

Due to the results of a recent study, researchers stress that people can save a lot of money and preserve their well-being by living a healthy lifestyle. The study examined various aspects of healthy living as well as the rates by which men experienced myocardial infarction (MI) or a heart attack.

An estimated 1.5 million cases of MI occur in the U.S. each year. This condition leaves the muscle tissue in the heart irreversibly damaged, according to Medscape.

The study's aim was to examine the benefit of a combined low-risk diet with healthy lifestyle practices on MI occurrences in men. To explore this goal, the researchers reviewed detailed questionnaires filled out by men regarding their diets and lifestyles.

Medical records were also examined, which included checking the men's history for cancer, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and high cholesterol levels. The participants included more than

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How Much Sleep Do You Need?

The number of hours of sleep you need to stay healthy and alert differs according to your age.

Teenagers need between 8 to 10 hours of sleep, while adults should get 7 to 9 hours.

Sure, you’re eating your vegetables and fruits and squeezing in exercise at least 20 minutes a day, but are you getting enough sleep, too? The latest sleep recommendations from the National Sleep Foundation may make you want to think twice about skimping on essential shut-eye. Sleep is key to your physical health and emotional vitality, but just how many hours of sleep you need depends on your age and stage of development.

“Sleep is important for mental function: alertness, memory consolidation, mood regulation, and physical health,” says Phyllis C. Zee, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Too few hours of sleep or poor sleep could pave the way to a myriad of emotional and physical problems, from diabetes to obesity, explains Dr. Zee. “In fact, data shows that with sleep loss, there are changes in the way the body handles glucose, which could lead to a state of insulin resistance (pre-diabetes),” says Dr. Zee. “There is also evidence that lack of sleep alters appetite regulation, which may lead to overeating or food choices that can also contribute to overweight and obesity.”

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