Looking at the workouts of Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway, Halle Berry and more

If looking at the stunning bodies at the Academy Awards has you  asking, "Just what does it take to look fabulous?"  (besides lots of money and incredible genes) here are some tidbits about life on the celebrity training...

Doctor Oz encourages people to discover water violations in your ZIP code

When the Doctor Oz show encouraged people to come to the site and  type in a ZIP code to discover water violations, the EPA site got busy fast.  Since the site wasn't always available, I've placed the same widget here so you can check it at your convenience.

Click here for a link to the Consumer Confidence Report. 


To find out if there have been any water violations in your area enter your zip code below.
Also see the article:  ZeroWater filter on San Jose Fitness Examiner

14 healthy foods backed by research

Can you name 14 healthy foods backed by research?  As everyone is abuzz about Oprah's Vegan Challenge, the topic of healthy foods has been in the limelight.  Most of the foods you know - broccoli, blueberries, brown rice...but there are some foods that we take for granted:  

Walnuts, Rye, and what about the lowly tomato -  A six-week study found that people with high-blood pressure who consumed two servings of canned tomato products daily experienced a significant decrease in blood pressure.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: 14 healthy foods; include them in a vegan diet or in Oprah's Meatless Mondays - San Jose fitness | Examiner.com

97% of young women say they have daily 'I hate my body' thoughts

"I HATE MY BODY" In a stunning new survey done by Glamour,  young women recorded an average of 13 brutal thoughts about their bodies each day (some had as many as 35, 50 or even 100).The comments recorded  include:"You...(read the rest on the San Jose Fitness Examiner site)

Flourless Chocolate Cake for Valentine's Day has healthy chocolate and almonds

How's this for a yummy sounding Valentine's Day pitch that came my way from the PR team for The New Sonoma Diet?  Since I'm always on the hunt for desserts that are low on the glycemic scale, this looked perfect:

 

Chocolate is the ultimate pleasure food, and good news – dark chocolate also has health benefits.  The antioxidants in dark chocolate and cacao protect arteries and help them relax, thereby easing blood flow and lowering blood pressure (without increasing weight!).

New York Times best selling author, Dr. Connie Guttersen suggests pairing dark chocolate with almonds. A dream team combo, Dr. Guttersen calls it, almonds and dark chocolate go perfectly together to provide an antioxidant boost as well as a hunger-suppressing sweet treat which means you get to indulge without overdoing it and packing on the pounds.

Dr. Guttersen’s newest book, The New Sonoma Diet, has the perfect recipe for incorporating this dream team combo into your diet. The Flourless Chocolate Cake calls for both dark chocolate and almonds as ingredients.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Start to Finish: 1 hour

Yield: 12 servings

 

4 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate (72% cacao), in small pieces

¼ cup butter

¼ cup nonfat yogurt

3 eggs

1/3 cup white sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 ¼ cup finely chopped almonds

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

3 cups fresh raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries

 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with a nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray again on top of the parchment paper. Place chocolate and butter in a bowl. Place over a pot of barley simmering water. Gently heat until the chocolate is melted. Whisk in yogurt and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until thick and fluffy, about 4 minutes on high speed. Stir in salt and vanilla. Add nuts; then gently fold in chocolate. Do not overmix. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with ¼ cup of fresh seasonal fruit.

 

Culinary Notes:

• Do not melt the chocolate over boiling water or the chocolate may scorch. Gentle heat is best, and stir periodically.
• Whip the eggs and sugar until light in color and full of air. This leavens the cake and gives it a light texture.

 

Nutrition Facts per Serving: 207 calories, 5 g protein, 14 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 17 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 63 mg cholesterol, 97 mg sodium, 5.8 glycemic load.