Blueberries are packed with phytonutrients, fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and Manganese giving them lots of healthy benefits. Studies show they can help improve memory, promote healthy aging, prevent urinary tract infections and improve vision health. And since it’s clear that all of you love blueberries based on your comments in the Skin Appetit giveaway, I wanted to share one of my favorite light blueberry desserts from Cooking Light: Upside-Down Berry Cakes.

This recipe creates single serving warm blueberry treats that offer all the nutrients this superfood has to offer along with the sweet deliciousness you crave for dessert. And it’s easy! Mix together 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and a dash of salt in a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup skim milk and 4 teaspoons reduced-calorie stick margarine, melted; stirring just until the flour mixture is moist. Coat two 10 ounce custard cups with cooking spray and divide the batter evenly between them. Then top each with 1/2 cup of blueberries. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes or until they’re bubbly and lightly browned. For extra credit, pick your blueberries yourself!

I just took a fun little quiz at About.com to see if my eating habits are more manly or more feminine. And the results say…I eat like a woman. Whew! I was worried because I had a little pizza and wings incident this weekend. The quiz, while not scientific, seems to confirm what research has discovered about men’s and women’s eating habits. Without giving too much away (because you want to take the quiz unbiased, right?), men prefer spicier foods and women like their sweets.

Would you eat undercooked eggs? How about alfalfa sprouts? Take the quiz to see which side your taste buds are on, then report back here to tell us how it goes. And don’t worry, there’s not a chance that this quiz will tell you that you eat as much or as often as a man, it’s all about the flavors.

I was just reading Whole Food and More and found the answer to one of life’s biggest mysteries–the secret of Kenyan runners’ many successes. So what makes them the fastest on the track? A diet that’s hard for us to mimic here in North America–raw milk products.

Apparently from 1988 to 1998 men from one Kenya tribe, the Kalenjins, have won roughly 40 percent of the top medals in distance running. And these men get half of their daily calories from a soft cheese-like fermented raw milk product (mursik) that’s produced on their own farms. Now, even if you could change your diet so 50 percent of the calories you consume come from milk products, you’ll be hard pressed to find the same ones here. You can check for a local farmer in your area that sells 100% grass-fed clean raw milk, but it’s still not a diet to try at home!

Lately I’ve had a lot of people asking me questions about how many calories you should be eating each day and how to determine ideal body weight. Well, I’ve searched the Web and came up with a few great tools you can use to get all the numbers right.

Ideal Body Weight

Daily Calorie Needs

Daily Protein Needs

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Target Heart Rate Calculator

If you don’t see a tool for everything you’re wondering about here, let me know and I’ll hunt down the best calculator for you.

This is the week that all the ice cream stores host a free scoop or cone day and when it’s free, ice cream is pretty hard to resist. But wouldn’t we all feel better if we indulged in a healthy ice cream treat today instead (even if it isn’t free)?

I just discovered Ruby Jewels handmade ice cream sandwiches. They’re made out of all-natural locally grown ingredients in the northwest including fresh mint, honey, pumpkin, espresso, lavender and you guessed it, hormone-free milk. The entire company is sustainable. They recycle and use everything so they’re nearly 100% waste free. And all technicalities aside, the flavors are the part I love most like Cinnamon Chocolate Cookie with Espresso, Dark Chocolate Cookie with Fresh Mint and Lemon Honey Cookie with Honey Lavender. Move over Skinny Cows!

Yesterday my workout was one of those crazy push yourself till you wanna hurl kind of workouts. And today I spent two hours at the gym. By the time I got home I was starving…who am I kidding, I was starving halfway through my workout!

I know that when I do an extra hard workout, I’m probably gonna be extra hungry the next day. And I know I’m not the only person that this happens to. It’s a common conundrum of trying to balance your diet and workouts. When this happens I usually try to add a few healthy snacks into my day. I ate cottage cheese and put a hard boiled egg white in my salad, but I hear my stash of almonds (or a cupcake) calling my name already, less than an hour after lunch! Do I give in? Help me—what do you do when your hunger won’t cooperate?

Over the weekend I was in the Dominican Republic where I rekindled my love affair with plantains. I love their sweet flavor, but since they’re often fried I haven’t considered them a healthy treat in the past. But I just did a little research and discovered that plantains are filled with vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6 and potassium.

So I also came up with a healthier way to cook this yummy fruit–Cooking Light’s Grilled Grouper with Plantains and Salsa Verde. It’s an easy recipe made for grill pans, but you could cook it on the grill this summer too. Simply cut underripe plantains in half crosswise. Then drizzle lime juice, cilantro and a pinch of salt on the grouper fillets. Grill everything for 4 minutes on each side. Top the fish with green salsa and reduced-fat sour cream with a side of plantains. Fast, easy, delicious and healthy. Perfect! Get the full recipe here.

Sure, you can find just about any fruit or vegetable at any time of year these days, but here are three reasons to choose ones that are in season.

1. You’ll be able to purchase locally grown produce which can help both the farmers in your area and the environment. Buying locally, cuts down on carbon emissions due to shipping fruits and veggies from far away places.

2. Since your produce won’t be traveling long distances, it’ll get to your table when the flavors and nutrient levels are at their peak.

3. You might be inspired to try something that you wouldn’t normally buy like mangoes or artichokes in the springtime.

So what else is in season right now? Apricots, asparagus, avocado, carrots, chives, collards, fava beans, fennel, morels, mustard greens, new potatoes, pineapple, rhubarb, spinach, spring baby lettuce mixes, strawberries, sugar snap and snow peas, vidalia onions and watercress. Bon appetit!

I don’t count every single calorie I eat or burn, but when I really need an extra push of motivation to get back on track, it helps. Recently I tried a bunch of sites that help you do just that and I really fell in love with The Daily Plate.

It’s super easy to use. You search for the foods you eat and you’ll find all of their nutritional information (calories, sugar, carbs, fiber, etc.) ready to load into your personal “plate” for the day. I had no trouble finding everything I needed from the Goya canned chickpeas I put in salads to the slice of Domino’s pizza that accidentally found it’s way into my belly. I also love that the site makes a pie chart of your calorie breakdown between protein, carbs and fat.

In the same way that you can input what you eat, you can input your fitness activities to see how many calories you’ve burned. The list is comprehensive with counts for everything from rearranging furniture to rock climbing. If you like, you can also log the glasses of water you drink, your weight and more. The site will even determine a daily caloric intake goal based on your activity level, current weight, how much you want to lose and how fast you want to lose it. If you’re looking for a way to track everything easily, give The Daily Plate a try.

I’m jetting off to the Dominican Republic later this week and since it’s a last minute trip, I haven’t had a whole lot of time to get ready for my bathing suit. But here are three ways that I’ve been trying to get ready fast. Try these tips for quick results before your next beach escape.

1. Give your workouts extra oomph: If you run 3 miles, run another mile of interval sprints. If you like to take a sculpt session, hit the stair climber for 15 minutes after class. If you have a strength training routine, add plyometric bursts in between sets instead of resting.

2. Eat whole foods: Choose veggies, legumes and proteins like chicken or fish, to avoid extra sugar, fat and sodium. Processed, frozen, canned and restaurant meals can harbor a lot of hidden diet downfalls. Cutting back on salt can help you look and feel thinner quickly because sodium makes your body retain fluids. Get super serious a couple of days before you bare your bikini. Pay close attention to sodium levels on nutrition labels–you may be surprised how much you’ll find even in condiments like ketchup. Try to keep your sodium level under 500 mg a day.

3. Get a bronzed bod: I don’t know about you, but I feel more toned with a bronze glow than when I’m pastey white. I’m not telling you to visit your tanning salon for a fake bake, but I do advocate swapping out your normal body lotion for a tan-building variety like Dove Energy Glow.