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I was surprised to come across a Marie Claire article online disparaging the work of six popular healthy eating bloggers, several of whom I have followed for almost a year.

The article, which also appears in the November issue of the magazine, paints these women — Kath Younger (who blogs at katheats.com), Tina Haupert (carrotsncake.com), Meghann Anderson (graduatemeghann.com), Caitlin Boyle (healthytippingpoint.com), Heather Pare (hangrypants.com) and Jenna Weber (eatliverun.com) — as food and fitness extremists who have unhealthy obsessions with their physical appearances and the food they’re putting into their bodies.

The bloggers are lambasted for advocating healthier eating, when “in fact,” as the writer Katie Drummond suggests, they are putting readers and themselves in danger with their unhealthy approach to food and fitness.

The article is unfortunate and unfairly slanted.

In reading these healthy eating/living/fitness blogs, I have garnered inspiration and motivation for my own daily walk (and, of course, for this blog), as I’m sure many other women have.

The women who write the blogs offer up healthy recipes (and some not-so-healthy), keep food journals of what they eat throughout the day, post pictures, share what exercise they’ve done and offer small glimpses into their personal lives. They write honestly about their successes and hopes, as well as their struggles and frustrations.

Most importantly, they make clear that they in no way are the last word on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. They are offering examples from their own lives of exercise and diet failures and victories.

No, these girls are not dietitians (except for Younger) or fitness experts — but they don’t tout themselves as such, either.

I’m sure it’s possible that some unhealthy or struggling readers could come across these blogs and think they need to follow the bloggers’ routines to a T without care or concern for their own needs and well-being.

And I’m also positive there are blogs being written by girls who are truly unhealthy and who promote distorted eating and exercise.

In reading these blogs, though, I am quite sure that is not the goal of any of these bloggers. Sure, there are times when they come across as compulsive about what they eat or don’t eat. There are times when they seem to exercise too much and eat too little.

But in reality, they are just like the majority of us. Struggling to find a balance each day, wanting to live healthily, striving for a fit body.

Have you read the Marie Claire article? Do you follow any health or fitness blogs? What’s your take on the issue?

Most people, myself included, spend about 3-4 weeks eating higher calories than normal during the holidays. I am not just talking about on the actual day of the holiday. I had at least 10-12 days in December where I really just sat back and enjoyed a large quantity of really good food. Don't feel bad if you did the same. This is what December is all about. Heck, if I could go back in time I would probably try and eat a little more of my Aunt's cookies on Christmas. You live once and in my opinion, this is the time to reflect and enjoy good friends, family, and great food. So let's talk about a strategy to lose body fat in a short time frame.

[No worries if you gained a bit of fat in November and December. It just meant you stopped and smelled the roses a bit. Now it is time to step away from the roses and obliterate that body fat.]

Your Body is Primed for an Aggressive Diet After the Holidays

When you diet for prolonged periods of time your Leptin levels drop as does your thyroid hormone concentrations. Leptin drops to preserve your body fat when calories dip too low for extended periods of time…it is part of the survival mechanism in the human body. When Leptin is low you can still lose body fat, but it can make things tough.

High Leptin Levels = Easy Fat Loss

After a period of higher calorie eating…Leptin levels are high. I am guessing a lot of people have high Leptin levels after the holiday. In addition to that, I am also guessing that very few people are over-trained in late December. To me, this creates the perfect condition for an aggressive diet to work wonders. The body can handle a week or two of low calorie dieting.

A Diet Burst of 7-10 Days Can Work Wonders

I want to give credit where credit is due. Lyle McDonald wrote a book about scientific crash dieting called "The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook"…and this is where I learned about the idea of short bursts of low calorie dieting. You can get your calories down to a low level with great results as long as you don't do this for long periods of time…7-10 days (14 days max). I only recommend doing this 1-2 times per year.

So What is Does an Aggressive Diet Look Like?

Remember this is only to be done for 7-10 days…so keep this in mind when reading this.

1) A Low Calorie Protein Source
2) Green Vegetables (Lettuce, Broccoli, etc.)
3) A Multi-Vitamin
4) Plenty of water

The key is to get just enough protein to insure no muscle loss and green veggies that don't really add calories. Aim for a daily intake of roughly 1.5 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass. Go a little higher if you are exceptionally active. The goal is to keep these calories as low as possible while meeting your protein requirements and adding in green vegetables to fill the stomach a bit. It is possible to lose 10-20 pounds in 10 days as well as 5-6 pound of body fat.

10 Days of Nothing but Chicken Salad & Chicken Soup

I have done this crash diet on a few occasions and I have lived on a 10 day diet of nothing but 3-4 chicken breasts per day either cut up into a salad or in chicken broth with veggies as a soup. I used rice vinegar as my salad dressing. This is really a bland approach and you can add more variety, but I like to keep it as simple as possible.

You Can't Train Hard During These 10 Days

A word of warning: This diet works best if you drop your cardio and just focus on a few resistance workouts during this 10 day period. Believe me, you will not have the energy to do cardio with this level of calorie deficit. Even if you are tough enough to hit cardio during this 10 day period, resist the urge…it is counterproductive to the way the diet works.

This Type of Diet is Tough and Makes You Crabby!

Makes no mistake about it…this is a brutally tough diet and will make you grumpy. I am a calm and nice person most of the time, but tend to lose patience towards the end of this diet.

You Can Be A Little Less Aggressive and Push This to 14 Days

An alternative to Lyle McDonald's approach is to add in a few more calories each day and extending the diet by a few days. This will work, but probably not at the same level as the more aggressive approach.

Note: Lyle McDonald is the master of this type of dieting. This is a VERY brief overview of how this diet works. I wanted to post this, because I believe that right after the holidays is when this diet will work best. For more info…just go over to his site: www.BodyRecomposition.com

One Last Thing: You can use the principles outlined here to come up with your own strategic approach. Maybe you are slightly aggressive with your diet, but nothing this extreme. There are many variations using this same idea that work very well.

Tags: Dieting for Fat Loss, calorie deficit, cardio, fat loss, lose body fat, lyle mcdonald, rapid fat loss, rice vinegar, the rapid fat loss handbook

What are we having for dinner? my husband will often ask while we are eating lunch. Our love of food is definitely something my husband and I share. And although we are both dieting (on different diets, which often makes things tricky) we usually can rely on each other to be supportive of our healthful demands usually.

For example, when I have an urge to eat mashed potatoes, my husbands suggest celery. And when my husband has a craving for cookies & crme ice cream or anything fried, I suggest apple slices. OK, you get the point. Its a love/hate relationship when it comes to being supportive.

Friday nights we usually go out for dinner. We have a diet-approved list of restaurants that helps us avoid temptation. However, its not always easy to stick to our list. Often one of us quietly suggests breaking the rules which automatically drags the other one down, too.

I can think of few things harder than sitting in your favorite restaurant, smelling the delicious food go by and ordering a salad. Really, its torture. So we avoid these restaurants, instead choosing restaurants with good food, but nothing we would be too tempted by on the menu. Ordering a salad at these establishments is much easier.

When we first started our diets, my husband was often the one that would suggest a restaurant that wasnt on our diet-approved list.

Not that Im placing blame but I am. Of course, I could nix his suggestion, but being a lover of food (especially mashed potatoes), I always comply.

Ive lost 30 pounds since we started dieting. I no longer limit my intake but Im still trying to eat healthy. And after a week ofstrenuous workouts, now Im the one suggesting we break our restaurant rules.

At least my husband has good intentions when he slips he often orders a healthful entree only to be saddened when the wait staff brings his favorite dish to another table. I, on the other hand, fully intend to order something unhealthy and then top it off with dessert. I know, Im terrible.

I guess the tables have turned.

You might want to think twice before ordering The Cheesecake Factory’s Carbonara or California Pizza Kitchen’s Tostada Pizza with Steak.

Those are two dishes named to a consumer group’s annual list of highest-calorie entrees at chain restaurants.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest’s Xtreme Eating Awards 2010 list highlights a few of the worst entrees at chain restaurants.

Not so fast, counters the National Restaurant Association, which says the CSPI list paints a distorted picture of restaurants based on a single menu item. Many restaurants offer healthier, lower-calorie choices on their menus as well, it says.

For what it’s worth, here’s a sample of entrees named to the Xtreme Eating Awards 2010 list (keep in mind that a man should take in roughly 2,000 calories in an entire day:

Restaurant	Calories
The Cheesecake Factory Pasta Carbonara	2,500
Chili’s Big Mouth Bites	2,350
Applebee’s Quesadilla Burger	1,820
Outback Steakhouse New Zealand Rack of Lamb w/ sides	1,820
P.F. Chang’s Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo	1,820
Chevy’s Crab & Shrimp Quesadilla	1,790
California Pizza Kitchen Tostada Pizza with Steak	1,680
Olive Garden Tour of Italy	1,450
Bob Evans Cinnamon Cream Stacked & Stuffed Hotcakes	1,000 (4 Tbsp syrup adds 200 calories)
Five Guys’ Bacon Cheeseburger	920

A common complaint about health food is that its expensive. Why eat healthy for $6 a meal when you can fill your tummy at a fast-food drive-through for $4?

Overall, I cant argue with you there.

But there are exceptions to every rule. Special deals, coupons and sales abound, making healthy eating not as expensive as you might think.

Health magazine has just released its list of the top 25 food buys it considers the healthiest, tastiest and most affordable edibles.

Although some on Health’s list are a bit on the pricier side, I found a few items surprisingly cheap:

• For frozen entres: Lean Cuisines Thai-Style Noodles with Chicken costs $3.49. Its a pad thai with only 310 calories and 7 grams of fat. Found at many grocery stores.
• For a grab-and-go meal: Amys Teriyaki Wrap is $2.79. At 310 calories, it contains brown rice, tofu and organic veggies. Found at grocery and natural-food stores.
• For a side dish: Uncle Bens Ready Whole Grain Medley Roasted Garlic is $2.29. Ready in a few minutes, one cup has 200 calories and 3 grams of fat. Found at many grocery stores.
• For bread: La Tortilla Factory Hand Made Style Chipotle Corn Tortillas are $2.49 for 8. Health says they have an authentic flavor, with 5 grams of protein and 90 calories each. Found at many grocery stores.
• For snacks: Special K 100-Calorie Pack Blueberry Fruit Crisps are $3.09 for a box of 10. They taste like a Pop-Tart at 100 calories and 2 grams of fat. Or try and I like this one Blue Bunny All Natural Frozen Yogurt Caramel Praline Crunch at $4.99. Both are found at many grocery stores.

Eating healthy doesnt necessarily have to be expensive. And if you still disagree, consider the possible downside to unhealthy eating: the medical expenses over a lifetime associated with obesity, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.