Blog Posts by Health.com

CorbisIf you're fighting the urge to nap on your desk after lunch, then maybe that midday cup of coffee just isn't cutting it. Stave off the afternoon slump by swapping your caffeine for one of these five light, low-cal bites. They'll fight fatigue and keep you going between meals.

1/2 cup sliced banana (or a small apple) with 1 tablespoon peanut butter
Midday snacks should contain about 100 calories or 15 grams of carbohydrates. The natural sweetness in fruit takes longer to metabolize than the processed sugars you'll find in candy. And the protein in peanut butter provides a long-lasting form of energy.

Health.com: 5 secrets to boost your energy

4 whole-grain crackers spread with 1 tablespoon hummus
Complex carbohydrates such as whole grains and beans are some of the best energy boosters out there, and can fill you up without making you sluggish. Hummus, a spread made from garbanzo beans, contributes fiber and a little olive oil, both of which help satiate hunger pangs.

Health.com: Pros

IstockphotoBy Julie Upton, RD

Before you even think about starting a diet to drop pounds fast, I've compiled a list of the worst diets around so you won't waste your time on them. This list isn't just my opinion, either; I sought the help of registered dietitians who are members of the Weight Management Dietetic Practice group of the American Dietetic Association. Here are the nominees:

By Maureen Callahan, MS, RD for Health magazine

Start smart
Begin lunch and dinner with a veggie-rich salad or broth-based soup, says Pennsylvania State University satiety expert Barbara Rolls, author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan. "That lets you fill up first on a big volume of low-calorie food and ends up displacing some of the foods you'll eat next-the choices that are usually higher in calories."

Sneak a snack
"Ten minutes before each meal, eat some healthy fat (around 70 calories or fewer): a handful of nuts, a few slices of avocado, or a spoonful of peanut butter, for example. That helps activate ghrelin, a hormone that lets you know you're full," says Michael Roizin, MD, co-author with Mehmet Oz, MD, of You on a Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management.

Health.com: 5 snacks that won't ruin your supper

Try the 3-hour rule
"The secret to losing weight comes down to keeping your metabolism alive and active," according to fitness guru Jorge Cruise, author of The 3-Hour

Writer Kristen Elde lives in Brooklyn, where she does a lot of running with and without her dad.By Kristen Elde

Once a week, my morning run strengthens more than my hamstrings and lung capacity. It nurtures my relationship with the man from whom I inherited the running gene in the first place-my dad.

We've been running buddies for as long as I can remember, crossing the finish line together at kid-friendly fun runs, then grown-up marathons. Roughly a decade ago, when I was 20 and Dad was 48, we began a tradition: Rise early Sunday morning, drive to a trail situated halfway between my Seattle apartment and Dad's home in Stanwood (40 miles away), and ease ourselves into a steady 10-miler.

Health.com: Healthy Father's Day gifts for every budget

We were unstoppable, Dad and I, although not in the sense you might expect. We talked about everything-from family to politics-while we ran.

Then, two years ago, I moved, resettling nearly 2,500 miles away in New York.

Not surprisingly, some things have changed. I've learned to navigate the New York subways, decipher a Queens accent, and

Getty ImagesBy Ella Quittner

The snooze button on your alarm clock may not be the only casualty of a sleepless night.

A new study of married couples suggests that when wives have trouble falling asleep, the quality of their relationship with their husband suffers. The longer it took women to drift off, the study found, the more likely both partners were to report negative interactions with their spouse-such as feeling ignored or criticized-the following day.

The same wasn't true for the men, however. The researchers found no relationship between the amount of time it took a husband to fall asleep and the couple's interactions the following day. So why didn't the husbands' sleep affect next-day interactions, too?

Health.com: 8 factors that could be keeping you awake at night

"There is some evidence to show that women tend to be more communicative and expressive in relationships and men may be more repressive," says the lead researcher, Wendy Troxel, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry

CorbisBy Tina Haupert

Over the weekend, my husband and I participated in a 5K road race with our pug, Murphy. Yep, you read that right-our little pug finished 3.1 miles! He's one buff dog!

I enjoyed the event so much, I couldn't help but think about other ways to incorporate fun, easy fitness into my life. I know exercise is essential to maintaining my weight and improving my overall health, but with my busy schedule, it's tough to fit in fitness. Sometimes hitting the gym feels like an impossible task!

I don't want to skip out on my weight loss and fitness goals altogether, so I found a number of easy ways to fit fitness into my everyday life.

Speed walk your errands
Instead of eating lunch at my desk, I lace up my sneakers and do my daily errands on foot during my lunch break. I use my to-do list to map out a walking route, grab my wallet and iPod, and head outside for an hour of heart-pumping activity.

Health.com: 10 ways to walk off fat faster

Sometimes I need to drive to a shopping

By Carina Storrs

Last week the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) unveiled MyPlate, a new food icon designed to tell Americans how to divvy up their diet among the five major food groups. The icon is simpler and easier to understand than the food pyramid it replaced, but it's largely a cosmetic change-MyPlate is based on the same dietary guidelines as the pyramid.
USDA/Illustration by Priscilla DeCastro
"With the new icon, people really get the sense that they can take some immediate action by comparing their plate to MyPlate," says Jackie Haven, RD, director of the nutrition marketing and communication division at the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, in Alexandria, Va.

Health.com: Change plates to lose weight

For most people, the comparison won't be favorable. Comparing the ideal proportions of MyPlate to those of the typical American diet is like holding MyPlate up to a fun-house mirror: The grains and protein categories are stretched out; fruits, vegetables, and dairy are shrunk down; and the plate-unlike the food pyramid-doesn't even acknowledge the fats, oils, and sugar that are prevalent in the American diet.

Getty ImagesBy Amanda Gardner

Getting too much sun is bad for anyone, but it's especially dangerous for babies, whose sensitive skin hasn't developed enough layers of natural protection to withstand intense summer rays.

"People don't realize the concerns of exposing a child less than [age] 2 to the sun," says Joan Tamburro, D.O., director of pediatric dermatology at UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, in Cleveland.

In fact, sun-related skin changes that occur as early as the first year of life may trigger a cascade of reactions that could lead to melanoma and other forms of skin cancer later in life, according to a new review in the July issue of Pediatrics.

Health.com: Sunproof your skin from A to Z

The skin acts as a physical barrier to ultraviolet (UV) rays, but it also plays a role in keeping the immune system healthy. UV radiation can suppress the immune system and damage skin cells-a process that may happen more quickly in babies than in adults, the authors note. (Two of the