10 healthy sources of protein that aren’t meat

By Deborah Dunham for Blisstree.com

Since going vegetarian, I’ve had to get resourceful about making sure I got healthy and adequate sources of protein. And you know what? It’s not as hard as you might think to get this macronutrient from different plant-based sources. As a general rule of thumb, you need 0.4 grams of protein per body weight each day (so a 150-pound person would need roughly 60 grams). This helps to ensure a healthy muscle mass, immune system, and heart and respiratory functions.

Even if you’re a meat-eater, take a look at these 10 meat-free ways to get your protein each day and be inspired to try something new:

1. Avocado: One avocado has 10 grams of protein. Use it on your salad, your burrito, a sandwich or even pizza!

2. Soybeans: One cup of soybeans has a whopping 28 grams of protein! Use them in a salad, a side-dish or in stir-fry.

3. Lentils: One cup of lentils has 18 grams of protein…another excellent source. You can make a simple summer salad with these by adding diced tomatoes, olive oil and goat cheese.

Keep reading for 7 more great protein sources…

My Five Beauty Obsessions: Nora Zelevansky

By Well+GoodNYC

As a self-identified “beauty geek,” Nora Zelevansky knows a thing or two about facial oils and shea butters. This lifestyle journalist has gone four weeks without a television, but never a day without lip balm.

Her beauty creds include articles in Elle, Vanity Fair, and Style.com—and a new novel called Semi-Charmed Life that debuts today.

It weaves beauty tips and lip gloss mania into the trials and tribulations of an Upper West Side naif-turned-socialite ghostwriter. (Beach reading, anyone?)

So we knew we needed to find out what beauty products the Brooklyn writer is personally loving and toting around with her this summer. Here’s what she said:

1. NailEZEE Key Lime Pie ($10)
I’m not someone with a signature nail color; I like to play around. But I’m also freaked out by the toxins in so many polishes. I recently discovered NailEZEE lacquers, a company run by three sisters (girl power!) whose father is an industry veteran. The polishes are big 3-free and are infused with keratin and biotin to moisturize, AND they last. My favorite combination is the pistachio ice cream-colored Key Lime Pie on all but my ring-fingers, which get painted with glittery bronze Lucky Penny.

2. Tata Harper’s Restorative Eye Cream ($90)
The fact that Tata Harper makes all her products on her farm makes me not only want to use her stuff, but want to live her life for a few days: It must be amazing! I tend to have issues with eye creams because the truly active variety can be irritating and the other is ineffective. Hers is designed to fight wrinkles and puffiness with eyebright flower and arnica, but it also includes hydrators and soothers like calendula and carrot seed oil. I use it twice a day.

Keep reading for 3 more here…

7 surprising celebs who juice

By Well+GoodNYC

Green juices and turmeric tonics have become de rigeur in some celeb circles, but we tend to spot them in the hands of the same healthy-leaning stars over and over again.

Think Gwyneth Paltrow, Alicia Silverstone, and Russell Simmons.

It turns out, however, that lots of celebrities who have gotten less press for their healthy habits are sipping on liquid kale and beet concoctions.

We rounded up this list of seven surprising stars who love their veggies cold-pressed. Find out who they are…

Owen Wilson

This Wes Anderson regular doesn’t seem like he’d be a trend follower, but last fall, we spotted a shot of him in the NY Daily News clutching one of Organic Avenue’s bright orange bags.

He’s also been a client of Vitamix-loving nutritionist Kimberly Snyder, so we’re sure he’s blended her Glowing Green Smoothie more than once.

Nicole Richie
Richie was once famous for being dangerously thin, having a drug problem, and partying hard with her BFF Paris Hilton. But since she became a mom and started her new gig as a mentor on Fashion Star, she’s put an emphasis on getting healthy. In addition to working out with Tracy Anderson, Richie is a fan of Los Angeles’ Pressed Juicery.

“I am what you can call a juice fanatic,” she told thefood-life.com. “I always carry around a green juice. They provide lots of energy when I’m running around.”

Mark Teixeira

You’d expect a professional athlete’s diet—especially a baseball player’s—to be all carbs and protein shakes.

But Yankee fave Mark Teixeira shed pounds before Spring Training this year by plugging in an at-home juicer. He got so turned on to the benefits of green juice that he became a partner in Juice Press, helping the company open new locations around New York and one near his home in Greenwich.

Keep reading for 4 more here…

5 clean lipsticks for super-sensitive lips

By Rebecca Bailey for NoMoreDirtyLooks.com

Since childhood, I’ve had sensitive skin. My lips in particular are a mess if I try to use conventional products. Do you want to hear about the pain and the oozing? No, you don’t. I spent decades thinking I simply could not wear lip color. Enter the NMDL girls and my introduction to truly clean cosmetics. Now, anyone can be sensitive to any ingredient, even clean stuff.

But if the brands I’m about to review are OK for me, they will probably be OK for 99% of people.

In addition to being sensitive, I’m super picky about smell/taste/texture, and I like my products to add something nourishing to my skin. These don’t taste all “lipsticky,” they feel nice on, wear well, and have healthy plant oils, antioxidants, and many organic ingredients. I also like packaging to be both pretty and functional. Check.

I love my RMS, and I own just about every lip product they make. But the brand has been discussed often here so I wanted to review a few brands that I don’t see much about. Everything I’m covering is super clean, gluten-free, and mostly vegan (a couple products have beeswax). For reference, I have a very pale olive complexion, but I think most of these colors would work for many skin tones.

1. Real Purity Lipstick:

Great price ($13), gorgeous and functional packaging, and the color selection is spectacular. My favorites this time of year are Dusty Mauve and Tangerine. Dusty Mauve is a really unique color with a bit of purple and some luminosity, and it wears longer than any lip color I’ve ever tried. The shimmer makes it look fairly pale in bright light, but in dim light it looks darker. If, like me, you are both intrigued by and fear orange, then try Tangerine. It is shimmery sheer, subtle and lovely. Into reds? Try Regal Red (looks bright pink on me) and Clover Red (bam! red with a touch of orange). The sample program makes it fun and easy to try them out.

Keep reading for four more luscious lipsticks…

The 3 surprising beauty benefits of omega-3s

By Well+GoodNYC

You’re no naïf when it comes to nutrition. You know that omega-3 fatty acids improve your metabolism, immune system, and brain performance.

What’s less well known is that omega-3s “moisturize from the inside” and bestow a slew of beauty benefits. Here are three reasons to make getting your omega-3s a health and beauty priority—and SmartyPants gummies for grown-ups makes it easy.

1. Healthy, lustrous hair
Omega-3s nourish hair follicles, ensuring a lustrous sheen that no conditioner can provide. They also combat brittleness and dry scalp.

2. Clear, hydrated skin
Suffer from sensitive, dry, or acneic skin? You’re probably omega-3 deficient. Studies show that essential fatty acids reduce acne and inflammation, and getting enough is the number one criteria for healthy, glowing skin.

Keep reading…

Smarter snacking: 8 nutritionist-approved foods to reach for between meals

By Maridel Reyes for Q.Equinox.com

What really has you reaching for that 11am yogurt? That pre-meeting energy bar? If you’re munching for the wrong reasons, you may be sabotaging yourself, a recent study finds. People who snacked between breakfast and lunch lost four percent less weight compared to those who didn’t indulge before their afternoon meal, according to research published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Since there’s a short amount of time between breakfast and lunch, researchers speculate that mid-morning snackers might be eating out of boredom—not hunger. Mid-morning snackers were also more likely to nosh again in the afternoon, bumping up their total calorie intake for the day.

(Photo: Q.Equinox.com)

When it comes to grazing, the key is being conscious, says study author Angela Kong, PhD, MPH, RD of the University of Illinois at Chicago: “If you snack when you’re not actually hungry, it might lead to consuming excess calories and eventual weight gain. However, when snacks are consumed in response to hunger, it could help control your appetite and prevent you from overeating at your next meal.” She suggests aiming for an under 200-calorie snack.

Celebrity nutritionist Ashley Koff, RD, advises clients like Emily Deschanel and Amy Brenneman to make sure snacks include a mix of carbs, protein, healthy fat and a non-starchy vegetable for optimal energy. Carbohydrates provide quick energy, protein sustains that energy and fat helps you feel full.

Here’s our list of Koff’s eight favorite power snacks:

1. Green smoothie with coconut water, frozen spinach, rice protein, cacao powder, coconut palm nectar and almond butter

Why she likes it: This hydrating drink packs potassium from coconut for energy and a mood boost from cacao.

Keep reading for 7 more delicious snacks…

My Five Beauty Obsessions: Latham Thomas

By Well+GoodNYC

Latham Thomas, AKA “Mama Glow”is a wellness maven of many hats—she’s a birth coach, a yoga teacher, and the founder of an online hub for holistic-leaning moms (not to mention a film festival and lecture series). Did we mention her skin also glows??

Her first book, Mama Glow: A Hip Guide to Your Fabulous Abundant Pregnancy, will be published in November. And in addition to seeing just how radiant her skin is, we knew we could trust her beauty picks when we learned of her deep love for Tata Harper’s line of products.

Here’s what else keeps in her beauty bag:

1. Arganica Argan Oil ($65) I love everything about this oil, how it’s harvested and packaged, and how it works! Argan oil is rich in proteins that protect skin’s elasticity. It’s organic, cold pressed, and super hydrating. I use it at night after applying my serum to seal in moisture. This is a big part of my travel routine as well. Also Arganica gets props for empowering a women’s cooperative in Morocco who cultivates the oil.

2. Lux Organic Lip Conditioner by Vapour Organic Beauty ($16) I’m all about herbal lip moisture. Somehow, Lux keeps my lips moist with minimal application. The organic jojoba oil nourishes and restores a supple, youthful appearance. It contains antioxidant helichrysum flower, anti-inflammatory lemon balm, and restorative organic calendula flowers. This lip balm is the bomb! My son loves it too so we both use it.

3. Royal Rinse by Herb N Life ($14) I don’t trust any other shampoo when it comes to my hair. I’ve been using it for years, ever since the creator used to make it in her Brooklyn kitchen. It leaves my hair so silky smooth and is great for all hair textures. It contains neem oil, peppermint and rosemary essential oils, and aloe, and is so fragrant. It’s especially refreshing in the summer.

Keep reading for 2 more here…

6 ways to hydrate better

By Well+GoodNYC

Every fitness professional out there tells you to drink water, water, and more water. Including the ones in this article.

But after a summer boot-camp session on a scorching sunny pier, your hydration stores may be drained into a pool of sweat around your Nikes.

We asked two of New York’s top personal trainers—Will Torres, owner of Willspace, and Joel Harper, celebrity trainer to clients like Dr.Oz—for their tips on how to give your hydration levels a boost for those 95-degree-days.

Get out your water bottle. Here’s what they had to say… —Lisa Elaine Held

 

JOEL HARPER, Celebrity trainer

1. Drink chia seeds. Literally. Harper recommends trying Drink Chia! at breakfast or for an afternoon snack.

The chia seeds that float around inside absorb 9 to 12 times their weight in water, which helps with prolonged hydration.

Plus, they’re “packed with omega-3s for endurance, your heart, and brain,” says Harper.

2. Soup up your water with supplements. You can supplement your water with electrolytes, antioxidants, and vitamins easily—and naturally.

Harper loves Vega Sport plant-based powders. (They’re created by vegan Ironman triathlete Brendan Brazier.) The Electrolyte Hydrator is packed with all essential electrolytes and bonus vitamins and antioxidants.

He also likes Pure Inventions antioxidant drops, which you can squeeze directly into your water glass.

3. Consider enhanced water.

Harper recommends Propel Zero. It’s a powder or enhanced bottled water, which he says is “very refreshing.” (Plus, Cindy Crawford drinks it, so there’s that.)

And while Gatorade is generally sugary and artificial (yuck), Harper recommends its newer G2 formulations, created for endurance athletes, which have more natural-leaning ingredients, few calories, tons of electrolytes, and vitamins.

Just don’t make it your daily drink of choice. Harper says to drink it “only during and after an intense workout.”

Keep reading for 3 more here…

8 ways to have your best day ever

By Sheryl Kraft for Prevention.com

In a perfect world, every day would be sunny, we’d never gain weight and our checkbooks would always balance. But instead, stuff happens—and things don’t always go according to plan.

Does that doom you to a day of misery? It doesn’t have to, says Jeffrey Rossman, Ph.D., director of Life Management at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Mass., and author of The Mind-Body Mood Solution (Rodale, 2010).

While we might not be able to change the situation, what we can do is change the way we react to it, he says. And that’s good, because a bad mood not only makes you feel tired and drained; it’s bad for your health and could even affect how long you live.

We’ll show you how to turn everyday gripes and annoyances into positives so you can maintain your sunny outlook all day long.

1. Gripe: You hit your alarm’s snooze button and overslept.

What to do right now: Don’t rush around at warp speed. Take your time, especially when you’re in a hurry, says Gretchen Rubin, author of the New York Times bestselling book The Happiness Project (Harper Collins, 2009). This may sound counterintuitive, but it works: “When you’re frantic, that’s the time you’ll forget your wallet, or get into a fight,” Rubin says. Instead, try to behave the way you wish you felt—calm, collected, and in control. Focusing on those feelings will soon make them a reality.

Keep reading for 7 more healthy tips…

Food 52′s Healthiest: Sweet Pea Hummus

By Well+GoodNYC

This week, we’re featuring an easy summer twist on protein-packed hummus, with green peas thrown in for a plethora of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Sweet Pea Hummus
Serves 6

Ingredients:
2 cups garbanzo beans, cooked
1 1/2 cup green peas, lightly steamed (frozen is fine, but do steam before using)
3 tablespoons sesame tahini
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh herbs (like dill, parsley, or basil)–this is optional!

Directions:
1. If you’re cooking beans from scratch: submerge 1 cup dry garbanzos in about 3-4 cups water and let soak overnight. The next day, rinse beans and submerge in a few inches cold water. Bring water to a boil, and simmer beans for 45-75 minutes, or until beans are tender. Salt the water at this point if you wish to, and let beans sit and absorb salt. When ready to use, drain beans, which will be ready to use. Ask a question about this step

2. Place beans, peas, tahini, lemon juice, sea salt, and garlic into a food processor or high speed blender. Pulse to combine a few times, and blend at a regular speed. With the motor running, drizzle in 1 tbsp olive oil and keep blending until ingredients are creamy and smooth. You can add a little extra olive oil or water if the mixture is too thick.

3. Taste the hummus and adjust seasonings to taste. Pulse in lemon zest and herbs, if using. Serve, enjoy, and look forward to more seasonal hummus recipes to come!