Blog Posts by Redbook

By Lisa Lillien, REDBOOK

Q. I'm bored with my carrot sticks! Can you suggest any good snacks under 200 calories?

Related: 20 Ways to Speed Up Your Metabolism

A. I'm all about switching up my snacks and choosing foods that have lots of fiber and protein, which help keep me feeling full. These are some of my faves, but get inspired and invent some combos of your own.

1. CINNAMON-APPLE COTTAGE CHEESE

Zazzle up a ½-cup serving of plain fat-free cottage cheese with a sprinkle of cinnamon, a drop of vanilla extract, and a chopped apple. This also works great as a quickie breakfast.

Related: 4 Foods to Eat for a Healthy Smile

2. LIGHT STRING CHEESE + ALMONDS

Weight Watchers has an amazing smoked string cheese with only 50 calories per stick. It's great paired with a handful of unsalted almonds (15 is the perfect amount).

3. LEAN TURKEY SLICES + PICKLES

Wrap 4 ounces of deli-sliced turkey breast around four pickle spears. Filling and low in

By Jessica Baumgardner, REDBOOK

They're watching. Doctors are everywhere. In the car next to you while you scarf down a Sausage McMuffin and Diet Coke in morning traffic. At a nearby table while you sneeze your way through dinner. In the house across the street when you finally turn out the lights at 2 a.m. Most of them have too much tact to intervene when they spy us doing something bad for our health, but now they're breaking their silence on the health mistakes we're making every day.

Related: 20 Ways to Speed Up Your Metabolism

1. "For Pete's sake, cover your mouth"

I was on an eight-hour flight to France and was sitting behind a woman who started sneezing and coughing as soon as we took off. It was nonstop throughout the trip-and she wasn't covering her mouth when she did it! At the very least, sick people should direct their sneeze or cough into a folded handkerchief or a heavy-duty napkin or tissue. I wished I had brought my face mask with me; I usually

By Hilda Hutcherson, M.D., REDBOOK

Q. I think of IUDs as scary contraception from the '70s, but my pals rave about theirs. Are they safe birth control?

A. I understand your worry. Decades ago, one intrauterine device (IUD) called the Dalkon Shield was suspected of causing sepsis, pelvic inflammatory disease, and infertility; it went off the market in 1974. But the ones available today, Mirena and ParaGard, are not only safe, they're the most effective reversible contraceptive, with a success rate of nearly 100 percent.

Related: 4 Foods to Eat for a Healthy Smile

Here's how they work: Your doctor slides the IUD into your uterus through the cervix; once it's in place, it inhibits sperm and eggs' ability to fertilize or implant. You can leave an IUD in for five to 10 years, so if you've got a bad habit of missing the Pill, talk to your ob/gyn about making the switch.

Hilda Hutcherson, M.D., is an ob/gyn and a professor at Columbia University in New York City.

By REDBOOK

Real couples confess what changed in their lives when they got married.

Related: 25 Snacks Under 150 Calories

"I'm a little bit messier now. I used to be the neat one, but she's rubbed off on me. It also shows how relaxed we are together." -JAVVAD AHMAD, 28, married to NADIFA for 1 year

"I don't wear expensive lingerie anymore. One day he told me he couldn't care less about it, because it just ends up on the floor!" -RITA MCKEOWN, 50, married to SEAN for 20 years

"We've cut back on dinners out. In the beginning, it was all about going on nice dates, but now we cook at home and use the money we save to take more vacations. It pays off!" -SHAUN TALLON, 27, in a relationship with FAITH for 5 years

Related: 4 Foods to Eat for a Healthy Smile

"We've stopped pretending. I don't act like I have an interest in jogging, and he doesn't act like he cares which color I paint the bathroom. It's such a happy, comfortable place to be together." -TONYA

By Blake Miller, REDBOOK

Denise* was keeping a lot of secrets from her husband: deleting voicemails, sneaking things into the house, intercepting mail. After 13 months, the stress from all of her cloak-and-dagger dealings became so intense that the 38-year-old mom came down with shingles (a disease that usually strikes the old and frail). Denise wasn't having a torrid affair - she was hiding tens of thousands of dollars in debt from her congenitally frugal husband. When balances on her four credit cards became alarming, she had her bills sent to her parents' house. "I live in fear every day that he'll find out. I truly worry that he'd leave me if he knew," she says. So Denise recently cashed out $20,000 from her 401(k), also without his knowledge, to pay everything off.

Related: 20 Ways to Speed Up Your Metabolism

Experts have a name for Denise's maneuvering: financial infidelity. And they say it can prove as damaging to a relationship as adultery. In 2010, a survey

By Karen Asp, REDBOOK

Every wonder why you sweat? If your inner sprinkler seems to be set to "random," these tips will help you sweat less.

1. HAPPY-HOUR SWEATS

Alcohol dilates your blood vessels, causing your skin to heat up, and for some of us, that means we sweat. If you can relate, drink ice water before you imbibe, says Ava Shamban, M.D., a Beverly Hills, CA-based dermatologist and the author of Heal Your Skin. The H2O helps cool your internal furnace - an effect that can last 30 minutes.

Related: 4 Foods to Eat for a Healthy Smile

2. NIGHT SWEATS

Hormonal fluctuations due to perimenopause or just your regular cycle could be to blame for your soaked sheets. Some women get relief from dietary strategies, such as getting more soy in the form of edamame, tofu, or soy milk. You could also talk with your doctor about medications, like hormonal birth control, if the problem is severe. Oh, and wear layers, so you can strip them off as you sweat.

By Tracey Black, REDBOOK

My youngest son is six months old now. It's hard to believe that just seven years ago I was completely clueless about parenting and thought managing one kid was the hardest thing in the world.

Related: 50 Under $50 Frugal Finds for Spring

When we had our first son, my husband and I had to tag team to get things done. I vividly recall the time we tried to figure out how to put a diaper on our newborn son who still had his umbilical cord stump. It probably took us 10 minutes to get that thing on, and we had four hands between us. We stumbled our way through breastfeeding, pumping milk, figuring out bottle and nipple sizes, sleep schedules, and everything else in between. I was lucky that my husband worked at home at the time, which meant I had constant help.

Then we had our second son. Suddenly, taking care of one child seemed like a piece of cake. My husband often took my oldest son while I stayed with the baby, but taking both kids out

By Nicci Micco, REDBOOK

Move over toothbrush! These foods are healthy for your teeth and gums, and help prevent cavities, bad breath and plaque.

Related: 25 Snacks Under 150 Calories

1. Yogurt

A major cause of bad breath, plaque, and gum disease is a buildup of bacteria. But research has found that 6 ounces of plain, sugar-free yogurt a day might help knock out germs between teeth. "The good bacteria in yogurt may help fight bad ones in your mouth," says Christine D. Wu, Ph.D., a professor of pediatric dentistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry. It even works for toothbrush-averse kids: Those who eat yogurt four or more times a week tend to get fewer cavities, according to one study. To sweeten the plain kind, stir in some honey, which also contains compounds that inhibit bacteria.

Related: 17 5-Minute Marriage Makeovers

2. Fish

Add a healthy mouth to the long list of reasons to get more seafood into your diet. Harvard