Artisan Multigrain Breads-It used to be that you had to seek out a local baker to get high-quality artisan breads. Now, chances are your local market is baking up specialty breads right in the store. Look for breads made with heart-healthy oats, whole-wheat flour, barley, millet and whole-grain rye.

Brussels Sprouts-Once considered cabbage’s “smelly” cousin, the Brussels sprout is gaining in popularity. The veggie is packed with 130% of your daily value of free-radical-fighting vitamin C per 1-cup serving (proof there was a reason your mother tortured you so many years ago). When cooked properly, this veggie tastes great!

Raw local honey-New evidence supporting a tablespoon a day to reduce seasonal allergy symptoms. But don’t simply add honey to your diet, use it in place of refined sweeteners on toast, in oatmeal or coffee.

Flaxmeal-The health community is buzzing about omega-3 fatty acids. Flaxseed and flaxmeal (ground from flaxseed) are rich in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a plant-based omega-3. ALA may help to lower inflammation and increase blood flow in the body, reducing the risk of high blood pressure and blood clots. Try sprinkling flaxmeal on your morning cereal or adding it to a smoothie.

Gluten-Free Baking Mixes-Gluten-free products are everywhere now with the growing awareness of celiac disease, gluten intolerance and gluten sensitivity. Eating gluten-free used to mean kissing your love of delicious bread and baked goods goodbye, but no longer: now you can have your (gluten-free) cake and eat it, too, when you use one of the great gluten-free mixes available today.

Greek Yogurt-Thicker and more tangy than traditional yogurt, Greek-style yogurt has become an everyday staple for many cooks. A 6-ounce serving of nonfat Greek yogurt has 15 g of protein, 5 g more than traditional nonfat plain yogurt. (However, if it is calcium you are after, stick with traditional yogurt that hasn’t had the whey drained from it-it has 34 percent of your daily value per 6-ounce serving, three times more than Greek yogurt.) Creamy and delicious, Greek yogurt makes a homemade tzatziki sauce or healthy dessert quick and easy.

Heirloom Tomatoes-Old varieties of tomatoes are making a comeback. Varieties like Gold Nugget, Aunt Ginny’s Purple, Big Ben and Red Zebra are now showing up in your neighborhood market. Like all tomatoes, they are an excellent source of vision and bone-healthy vitamin A.

Chia seeds-Besides being the butt of chia-pet jokes, chia seeds are seriously high in fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. Unlike flaxseed, you needn’t crush them to absorb the nutrients. Use like flaxseed, over hot cereal, in salads and in baking. Throw a handful in muffin or pancake batter for extra nutty crunch.

Kefir-Think yogurt in a glass. This fermented dairy beverage is packed with beneficial probiotics that may help give your immune system a little extra edge. Look for it in your local market; choose plain for less sugar and fewer calories or fresh fruit flavors, such as peach and raspberry, for extra taste. With 29 percent of your daily value of calcium per 8-ounce serving, kefir is the perfect choice for an on-the-go morning.

Multigrain Tortillas-When it comes to tortillas, there are more options for shoppers than ever before. Forget basic flour-now you can find whole-grain tortillas with added heart-healthy flaxseed or B vitamins. You’ll get more fiber when you choose whole-wheat or whole-grain over white-flour tortillas.

What do you think the healthy food trends will be for 2012?

The healthiest way to lose weight and maintain the weight loss is to eat whole foods in their most natural form and keep your blood sugar levels balanced. Consistent exercise is also really important, especially if you would like to see the shape of your body shift. Throw in a detox every now and then, avoid some of the eating pitfalls, and you’ll be on your way.

Easier said than done. Every person is different and genetics plays a key role. Some bodies do better with more protein, some less. Some do better with a particular kind of food or supplement. Also, some people need emotional, mental and lifestyle support before their body can find the space to heal and lose weight. And others need help determining how to manage their lives such that they can fit everything in.

Learning these basic weight loss strategies will help you get started.

Strategy One: Eat whole foods in their most natural form as much as possible.

Pasta and bread are all made from wheat, a whole grain. When wheat is turned into white flour it is stripped of most of its vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein. It then becomes super easy to eat lots of bread and pasta, since you are just consuming starch.

To avoid this problem of the never-ending bread basket, stick to eating the actual whole grains themselves – bulgur wheat, quinoa, amaranth, millet, and whole grain brown rice. One serving of millet can fill you up immediately. You can begin to lose weight without having to actually watch portion sizes!

If it is too difficult for you to make the whole grains, then you can stick to whole grain breads and pastas. But keep in mind that these foods don’t fill you up as quickly – so they are little less weight loss friendly. But they are still light years better than the white stuff.

This rule also applies to all processed foods – if it comes in a package, it is neither whole nor natural. The additives and salt that is added to processed food (and restaurant food) can make natural portion control impossible and can really slow fat loss. If you are serious about losing weight, try to incorporate more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and unpackaged meats and fish.

Strategy Two: Keep Your Blood Sugar Levels Balanced

Most of us live on the blood sugar level roller coaster. Does this describe your day? You eat a piece of bagel and a banana at 9:00 AM, get into the office and are buried in work until 2 pm. By this point you are so hungry you’ll eat anything that is in front of you, which can be anything from a piece of pizza to a burger to leftover sandwiches from the lunch meetings. This whole process repeats itself at 4:00, when you usually choose a cookie, chocolate, a latte, or a bag of potato chips for your snack. Again, by 8:00 PM you are ravenously hungry and manage to polish off a dinner fit for a king before you even realize what you are doing.

This type of day sabotages weight loss. At 2, 4 and 8 PM your blood sugar level has dropped lower than normal because you are hungry and/or have eaten lots of processed flour or sugar at your last meal. In this state, it is nearly impossible to pick a healthy choice when you are really hungry and your blood sugar is low. Also, the body has a hard time releasing fat when blood sugar levels are constantly rising and falling.

Balance your blood sugar levels by eating about every three hours. If you eat every three hours, you’ll avoid letting yourself get super hungry and eat non-ideal foods by accident. If you are going to have a treat, eat it with awareness, not when you are starving, and you shove cookies into your mouth without realizing what you are doing.

Combining carbohydrates with proteins also reduces the blood sugar highs and lows since proteins do not get broken down into sugars. Try combining healthy complex carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes, squash, whole grains, beans and legumes with healthy proteins such as chicken and fish for most of your meals and snacks.

By incorporating these two strategies on a daily basis, you’ll start to see the pounds come off easily and consistently. You’ll be able to maintain your weight over time.

This is another great guest post from Lisa Consiglio Ryan of WholeHealthDesigns.com. She is a Certified Health and Nutrition Coach for busy, active women and their families. Areas of expertise include weight loss, stress management, detox programs, and special diets such as vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, and gluten-free. Services include private consulting and group seminars.

Connect with Lisa on Twitter and Facebook. http://www.twitter.com/LisaConsiglioR ; http://www.facebook.com/WholeHealthDesignsLLC

This DVD is fun and super effective. It contains instructions, a warm-up, a short 12-minute workout, and a longer 40-minute workout. As a Kettlebell novice, I loved the introduction and demonstration segments. Lauren reviews the moves methodically so you can follow along and learn proper form. She also reviews recommended starting weights depending on your level of strength.

After practicing my form and reviewing all of the instructions, I decided to give the 40-minute workout a try. I rotated between a 10 pound or 15 pound bell depending on how challenging the exercise was for my personal strength. It was an excellent workout. In between high-intensity segments there are 60 second rest periods. You can use this time to either relax and get some water or do some light cardio like jumping jacks or running in place. By the middle of the workout, you’ll appreciate the rests!

In reviews I have read, some have complained about Lauren’s personality. She’s very matter-of-fact, but I prefer this approach versus some of those instructors who sound like “woo-hoo” cheerleaders.

I am thrilled to now have some Kettlebell experience and plan on making these workouts a part of my weekly routine. Thanks to Lauren for a great introduction to this fun and interesting strength/cardio combination.

GIVEAWAY

Now for the extra fun part is that you can win a copy of this DVD. Here’s what you need to do to enter. Do one or more of the following and leave a comment that you have done so. Leave one comment per action so you have an extra chance to win.

- Sign up for my free fitness coaching

- Blog about this giveaway and link back here

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- Become a blog follower

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This contest will end on 7/31.

Have a fit, happy and healthy day ahead!

For more info on the Mamavation Campaing, and the two year Twitter Party. Go to Mamavation.com

Personal Fit Coach is proud to present a wonderful giveaway to TWO of our lucky readers. Become a fan on Facebook and leave a comment here for your chance to win. You can also tweet or blog about this giveaway for an extra entry. Good luck. Contest ends 11/15/09.

Thanks for your continued support and readership.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health studied more than 800 overweight adults over 2 years, and researchers found that as long as people made healthy choices, the percentage of protein, carbs, and fat consumed didn’t really matter. All the study participants (divided into groups eating low fat, high fat, high carb, or high protein) lost about the same amount of weight when they ate fewer calories than they burned.

The bottom line: The diet you choose should make you feel good, keep you satisfied, and limit your cravings for unhealthy foods. So how do you decide what plan will work for you?

Try balancing various amounts of lean protein (poultry, fish, and lean beef), complex carbs (fruits, vegetables, and whole grains), and healthy fat (nuts, olive oil, and seeds). Find the combination that makes you full and energetic.

Keep a food journal of what you eat and how you feel. Over time, you’ll start to see patterns emerge.

When you decide what kind of diet to follow, here’s how to get the most out of it:

Low-fat diet. The amount of fat you eat varies according to the diet’s creator. The Ornish Diet, designed by cardiologist Dean Ornish to help people reverse heart disease, recommends that you eat 10 percent of your calories from fat. The American Heart Association, on the other hand, considers low fat to be up to 35 percent from fat. A low-fat diet should consist of lots of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans and legumes, and little meat. It is not an excuse to eat mountains of pasta or processed carbs (like fat-free cookies or crackers), as these will spike your blood sugar, make you hungrier, and add a lot of unnecessary calories.

Low-carb diet. Plans like Atkins, South Beach, and the “Paleo” diet claim that by cutting carbohydrates your body will have to dig into its fat stores for energy. That is often true, at least at first, until your body adapts to the decreased energy from carbs and rapid weight loss slows. Plus, if you chow down on artery-clogging bacon, butter, and steak every day and don’t choose heart-healthy protein and fat sources (like lean meats, nuts, and olive oil), you can develop other health problems and nutrient deficiencies. Watch out for saturated fat in foods like whole milk, butter, and meat, and be mindful of portion sizes when you’re following a low-carb diet. You might find it hard to sustain a low-carb diet over the long term because you have less energy and feel tired a lot. If that happens, just switch to another diet plan.

Mediterranean-style diet. This has gained popularity over the last few years as a healthy, balanced approach to eating. It emphasizes whole grains, fruits, vegetables, unsaturated fats from nuts and olive oil, and lean protein like fish and chicken. You don’t want to overdo the pasta, cheese, and alcohol on this diet because these calories add up quickly. This is a moderate-fat diet that offers a variety of choices and will suit many different tastes. It’s easy to get all the nutrients you need to sustain a healthy, energetic lifestyle with this method of eating.

When you’ve found the diet that suits you, you may notice that your weight starts to drop without a lot of effort. You’ll be more satisfied and less prone to cravings, which will help you be consistent with your plan. As long as you stick to your diet and combine it with a workout program that also fits your preferences—Rev Abs, ChaLEAN Extreme, or whatever you choose—you will be able to lose weight and keep it off.