Blog Posts by SparkPeople.com

By Liza Barnes, for SparkPeople

If I close my eyes and concentrate, I can still remember how it tasted: The snack that my best friend introduced me to in the 10th grade. So delicious, it soon became part of an everyday after-school ritual. We'd each cut a plain white bagel down the middle, spread a thick layer of salty tub margarine on each half, pop it in the microwave until the margarine was liquefied and the bagel was piping hot and soft, and devour it while sitting cross-legged on her scratchy bedroom carpet, reading magazines and confiding secrets. Often we'd go back for seconds.

Those were the days. Thankfully, for my arteries' sake, I soon became far better informed about nutrition. During my first after-school job at a health-food store, I learned about the wonderful world of whole grains, healthy fats, and fresh produce. I also learned that these foods can taste just as good as the "junk foods" (and buttered white bagels) I once revered. And yes, there's more

By Christine Johnson, for BabyFit

Once you and your baby are home from the hospital, your new life as a mommy will feel like a whirlwind. People will come and go over the next few weeks, but the one who is sure to be of the most comfort is your own mother. As you enter into one of the most trying and rewarding phases of your life, lean on her for support, encouragement, and a few belly laughs--this time will surely remind her of silly stories from when you were a baby!

• What kinds of challenges can I expect when I bring my baby home from the hospital?
  
  
• Do you have any breastfeeding tips?
  
  
• When will I begin to see my baby's personality?
  
  
• What things did you do to try and relax as a first time mom?
  
  
• Did you suffer postpartum depression?
  
  
• Did you feel overwhelmed?
  
  
• Whom did you ask for help around the house when you needed it?
  
  
• Did you get any unsolicited advice from strangers? If so, how did you handle it?
  
  
• What is your favorite

By Nicole Nichols, Managing Editor and Fitness Expert at SparkPeople

Planning a family road trip? Keep your family fit and healthy along the way. When you're traveling by car, you spend a lot of time planning your course. We all want to make good time, but it's also important to schedule several breaks into your itinerary, especially when you have kids:

• Pack a cooler full of healthy snacks and even complete meals. Chopped veggies, fresh fruits, bottled water and juice, low-fat yogurt, peanut butter sandwiches, popcorn, and pretzels make easy travel fare.
  
  
• Don't skip meals, and try not to go more than 4 or 5 hours without eating. Being famished at mealtime may hinder your ability to make healthy choices and can trigger overeating. Plus, constant energy levels will keep you alert at the wheel.
  
  
• Avoid eating full meals in the car. Take time to stop, relax and enjoy your meals as a family. This way, you can pay closer attention to your hunger and satiety signals.
  
  
• Plan

By Megan Coatley, for SparkPeople

With the odds stacked against us, it's easy to understand why conquering unhealthy habits with willpower alone can be rough. Luckily, the science of habit change gives us more effective ways to go about banishing unhealthy routines for good. Let's take a closer look at some common unhealthy habits to see how we can put behavioral science to work for us.

Bad Habit: Eating on the Run
We've all fallen into the trap: You're late for work, so you stop for a latte/muffin combo. The kids have soccer practice after school, so you settle for take-out tacos. And if you've ever taken a road trip, you'll agree that convenience stores definitely live up to their name: there's a one-stop-shop for all kinds of unhealthy eats within every 5-mile stretch!

Bust It!
Eating out while you're in a rush is a habit that can definitely wreak havoc on your health and fitness goals. But there are ways that you can combat the convenience of fat-laden fast foods. Get savvy

By Stepfanie Romine, for SparkPeople

Like so many of you, I suffer from back pain, which I keep in check by taking care of my body with daily yoga, weekly Pilates classes, and being conscious about my posture. And though my job is pretty awesome, I do spend my days in front of a computer. I love writing and editing, but I don't love sitting. I am fortunate that the SparkPeople offices have not only a treadmill desk but some standing desk options as well.

When I'm working on large projects, I've been known to spend hours and hours sitting--without much movement. As soon as I do stand up, my body feels it. So I avoid staleness of mind and stiffness of body by finding creative ways to move throughout the day.

Here's what works for me:

1. Take walking meetings. A few weeks back, Coach Nicole and I had some brainstorming to do, so she suggested that we take our meeting on the road. The change of scenery and fresh air did us both some good, and we came up with some wonderful ideas. I

By Megan Coatley, for SparkPeople

When you first start making room for healthy habits in your busy life, being a stickler can be beneficial-setting a workout schedule, planning your meals in advance, saying no to things that get in the way of your goals. Without giving yourself some rules-and being a little inflexible-at the beginning, you'll be likely to fall off the wagon much more quickly.

But as you build your habits, you'll eventually discover that things don't always go according to your plan. There will undoubtedly be road bumps (an unexpectedly long work day), detours (your favorite body sculpting class gets cancelled) and setbacks (birthday cake!). If you rigidly follow your plan instead of being a little flexible once in a while, you could do more harm than good.

Experts in behavior science view mental flexibility not as a personality trait or a state of mind, but as a set of behaviors that can be changed. Everyone is flexible about some things and inflexible about others.

By Chef Meg Galvin, Healthy Cooking Expert at SparkPeople.com

"Always cook extra" is a standard practice in the Galvin kitchen. You never know when 3 extra teenage boys will arrive just as dinner is served or the coaches will schedule a make-up game at the last minute. Whether I have extra mouths to feed or suddenly no time to make dinner, I lean on leftovers--especially big batches of basic cooked chicken (and turkey).

It's helpful and easy to place a couple of extra chicken breasts on the grill, in the slow cooker, or in the oven. The same holds true for a turkey breast in the smoker or oven. Both lean proteins can be transformed into something new and special, days or even months down the road if you freeze the extras.

Your premade cooked chicken will be much cheaper than the rotisserie bird you'll pick up at the checkout line, and because you are cooking it alongside another meal no extra cooking time will be involved. If you're heating up the oven (especially

By Liza Barnes, for SparkPeople

Exams. Pop quizzes. Homework. School can be a pain in the neck, figuratively. But if school is literally causing problems for your child's neck or back, his or her backpack may be to blame. Believe it or not, overloaded and poorly-positioned backpacks can actually cause serious injury. In a 2004 study published in the Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics, 64% of 11- to 15-year-olds who used backpacks also complained of pain.

If you've ever had back or neck pain, you know how uncomfortable it can be. The pain is often caused by pressure on the disks of the vertebrae. These disks are responsible for spacing out the vertebrae, holding them in place, and acting as shock absorbers. As we get older, our disks wear down or degenerate, causing chronic pain, herniated disks, and nerve damage. Putting pressure (like the added weight of a heavy backpack) on these disks wears them down even faster.

So what's a student to do? The stuff inside that pack is