Guess what? That is just an urban legend. Simply eating after dark will not make the food you eat magically convert to fat to be stored around your belly and thighs, or any area that you don’t desire the extra cushioning. The superfluous padding gets packed on when we eat more than our bodies actually need. (The simplest way to estimate your basic caloric need for organ function can be calculated by adding a 0 to your body weight in pounds.)

 So, how did this rumor get started? The “recommendation” to not eat after six, seven, eight, or other evening hour was probably initiated by some health professional to prevent clients from overeating. In some ways, that can be true. You know the saying that nothing good happens after midnight? Well, no good comes from eating poor quality food such asTwinkies, pint of ice cream, French fries (you get the picture) late at night, either (or any hour, for that matter).

However, most of us have bustling work schedules that don’t allow us to eat our last meal of the day until late in the evening. So, here’s a guide to evening eating, and staying the same size:

• Have a small, light meal, consisting of a lean protein—no larger than the size of the palm of your hand, and mostly vegetables.
• A late dinner is ok if your caloric need has not been met for the day. Ideally, this would not be a dinner consisting of a double cheeseburger and chili cheese fries. See above recommended small, light meal.
• Eat only if you’re hungry, not because you’re answering a craving.
• If you feel a craving coming on, drink water instead of giving in. Sometimes dehydration disguises itself with hunger.
• If you still feel hungry 30 minutes after your glass of water, try having any of the following sweet or savory snacks, instead of ice cream, cake, or bag of chips.
     o      ½ cup of light Greek yogurt or plain yogurt topped with fresh fruit, a tablespoon of slivered almonds, or tablespoon of honey
     o      fresh or frozen berries, mixed in a tablespoon of melted dark, 70% cacao, chocolate
     o      ¼ cup (about a palm full) of almonds
     o      1 cereal bowl serving of plain or lightly salted popcorn
     o      fresh veggie sticks dipped in salad dressing (up to 1 tablespoon)

Late night meals aren’t ideal…but neither is your busy schedule if that is the only time you can have a decent meal. The ideal habit to keep is to be mindful of the way you fuel your body and mind throughout the day. Until you catch the break that allows you to have earlier dinners, you’re now equipped with knowledge of how to eat after 7 pm without having to let your clothes out.

• Drink lots of water—one-half an ounce for every pound of body weight and more for people who are more physically active, recommends Denise Barry, registered dietician for Core Performance, in Santa Monica. By staying well-hydrated, the body can maintain normal blood volume, so the heart does not have to work as hard to circulate blood to your working organs.
• Include foods high in fiber in your daily diet. This includes oatmeal, fresh fruit (skin on) and vegetables, and whole grain cereals. Consuming a high fiber diet inhibits absorption of fat in the intestines, and research has shown that eating whole grains regularly results in lower blood cholesterol levels.
• Eat colorfully. Vibrantly colorful fruits and vegetables are rich in anti-oxidants and flavonoids.

  These micronutrients interfere with the destructive properties of free radicals, which when present in the bloodstream, bond with blood cholesterol causing oxidation (hardening the arteries) and cause cellular damage by indirectly altering DNA (which in large quantities, can cause cancer). Our bodies produce free radicals when we exercise, and we are exposed to job stress, daily stress, and environmental pollutants.

  Anti-oxidants bond with the harmful free radicals, preventing cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Flavonoids work similarly by interfering with the production of free radicals.

• Exercise daily! Do not let the production of free radicals excuse you from heart healthy benefits of daily physical activity. The benefits outweigh the drawback.

  The American Heart Association and American College of Sports Medicine’s minimal recommendations are 30 minutes of moderately intense cardiovascular exercise, five days per week; or 20 minutes of vigorous cardiovascular exercise three days per week combined with a comprehensive strength and endurance resistance training program (includes 10 exercises performed in eight to twelve repetitions), two days per week.

  Busy people may split those bouts of exercise into chunks of five to fifteen minutes, if a continuous bout of 20-30 minutes in the day is unrealistic.

Although these four wellness habits are important for one’s heart health, choose one to commit to before shocking your schedule with a commitment to adopting four new habits at one time. When these tips become habit, challenge yourself to doing more than the recommended minimums (without overdoing, of course) for greater health benefits.

Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes may be one of nature’s unsurpassed sources of beta-carotene. Several recent studies have shown the superior ability of sweet potatoes to raise our blood levels of vitamin A. And athlete’s rejoice: Anthocyanin and other color-related pigments in sweet potato are equally valuable for their anti-inflammatory health benefits.

Try this easy hash for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner from Carly’s Kitchen:

Ingrediants

Sweet potatoes (2-4)

Large handful of cherry tomatoes

2 eggs

Avocado, halved and sliced

Salsa

Olive oil, salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 450. Start with 2-4 medium sweet potatoes. (4 will give you extra roasted sweet potato for leftovers with no extra effort). Wash them, trim the ends, then cut into rounds down the length of the potato. 

Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet, and toss with olive oil, Kosher sale and pepper. Place into the oven for 15 minutes. While the potatoes are roasting, heat a large saucepan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss in a good handful of cherry tomatoes and let them get nice and warm. 

When the sweet potatoes are done, halve them if using 4. Save half for a snack or side dish, and add the rest to the tomatoes. Cook together until everything is soft and coated. Then, push them to the side, and crack two eggs in the center. Let the eggs cook to desired doneness. Then, turn off the burner and toss in sliced avocado and salsa (I like a nice mango salsa with a good combo of sweet and spice.)

vitamin A 438.1%

vitamin C 37.2%

manganese 28.4%

vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) 16.5%

tryptophan 15.6%

potassium 15.4%

dietary fiber 15%

vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) 10.1%

copper 9%

vitamin B3 (niacin) 8.5%

Calories (102) 5%

We found this recipe at RealSimple.com.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice, or one 16-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 15-ounce cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
5 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate

 Directions

1. In a stockpot, over medium heat, cook the oil, garlic, onion, and green pepper until slightly softened, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, kidney beans, vegetable broth, cumin, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat.

3. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

4. Before serving, stir in the chocolate until melted.

This V-Day you and your workout buddy may have dates with others or each other. Either way, how about incorporating some paired exercises at the local park to prep yourself for the hot outfit you’ll be wearing for your hot night out…or in…

1-    Fartlek relay~Yes, that hardly sounds date worthy, but fartlek is a Swedish term meaning speedplay and is used in interval training. After a 5-10 minute warm-up of walking and dynamic stretching, you and your partner will alternate speed intervals. Jog together for a few minutes before beginning “speedplay work”. Toss a coin or ro-sham-bo who sprints first. The first person takes off, sprinting to the end of the block, and continues with a slow jog to recover. Your partner keeps a steady jogging pace until she/he catches up. When partner catches up, tag and sprint to the end of the block. You continue in relay form until you can’t handle it anymore.

2-    Boxers’ push-ups~I call it the boxers’ push-up because my boxing coach used to pair my teammates and me across from one another so we’d keep eye contact during our push-ups. The first person to break would do extra push-ups. These days, my husband and I do these face-to-face push-ups to keep each other motivated and make faces at each other. It’s fun to try to keep in sync with one another while one of us sets the pace.

3-    Patty-cake crunches~Sit facing one another, toes-to-toes or link feet, knees bent while lying on your backs. Curl up and touch hand to hand your right to his/her right. Lower and repeat on the other side.

4-    Assisted pull-ups/weighted squat~Pull-ups are challenging, but made easier with a partner. First person gets in ready position, holding pull-up bar, abs in tight, and lift feet off the ground by bending at the knees. Your partner, the spotter, holds abs in and in squat position holds onto your ankles. You press into your partner’s hands as you pull your chin close to the bar, as your partner lifts up into a standing position assisting you in the pull-up. Switch and once you’ve finished both of you have completed a full-body strength workout. (Note: Avoid this one if either of you have an injured back.)

5-    Assisted stretching~Any stretch can be done with a little gentle assistance. You can make this romantic if you want it to be, with the right gentle touch.

You don’t need a special occasion to include these exercises in your workout program. Make your workout date and plan to get sweaty. The workout, at least, will be invigorating.

Having the ability to run downhill fast does not happen by chance. The same rules of efficient running apply whether you’re on the open road or a rocky trail, uphill or downhill.

In simple terms, when the foot hits the ground with a certain amount of force, the better the body is at scooping that energy back up as the foot leaves the ground and not letting it “leak out”, the more efficient, fast and powerful your running can be.

When running efficiently downhill, gravity is your friend. If the body is unable to handle the momentum, it will be forced to put on the brakes to maintain control down the hill. This means a runner will miss out on the advantage of gravity, and will actually have to use some of their energy to fight the force that could be helping them downhill!

There are a few factors that come into play during efficient downhill running, both on and off-road. It’s not about different mechanics or a different style of running than when on flat ground. Think about it as maintaining proper running mechanics and keeping your legs under you as long as you can at the highest speed you can handle.

In the case of extreme trail running, it is also important not only to have the leg speed, but also the coordination and quick reaction time needed to either utilize and/or avoid obstacles along the way.

To do all of this requires proper running mechanics, key muscles activated, stability through the joints and strong, elastic muscles.

1. Proper Running Mechanics
As in all running, the foundation of running efficiently downhill relies upon maintaining tall posture and a strong circular motion of the legs underneath the body. In its simplest terms, this means lifting the knees out in front, foot striking directly beneath the body and then pulling the heel back around to start again.

In general, I see many people running lower-leg dominant instead of from their hips, with minimal knee raise. This alone would greatly reduce the ability to keep up with momentum while running downhill and certainly make it necessary to put on the brakes very early on.

2. Activating the Abs and Glutes
In any type of movement, the abdominals and the glutes are important to both force production and overall control of the body. Activating and utilizing them properly within your running mechanics gives the body much greater control over the legs. It also minimizes the impact on the quadriceps and knees that so often take most of the beating during downhill running.

Having that control is pivotal to taking advantage of gravity and keeping control over the momentum, especially while avoiding obstacles when on the trail. Be sure to integrate core strength and stability work along with glute activation exercises in your training.

3. Joint Stability
Your ability to maintain stability through your spine, hips, knees and ankles during each step is crucial to controlling you body’s direction and forward speed as you hit the ground. Having strong muscles surrounding the joints is key to creating this stability.

Your joint muscles can be strengthened with single- and double-leg strength and balance exercises that challenge both linear and lateral movements. Especially for extreme trail running, being able to remain stable during quick changes in direction is not only great for preventing injury, but helps with quickness and agility.

4. Elasticity
Elasticity is one of the most overlooked elements of endurance performance, and I would consider it like icing on the cake for downhill running.

“Think of your body as a pogo stick. The metal framework is analogous to your pillar and the springs are like your muscles. We want our bodies to be able to store and release energy powerfully, just like that pogo stick. It is like your body’s shocks and springs.” writes Mark Verstegen in the book Core Performance.

You can also think of elasticity as how fast your body is capable of changing the direction of force. In tennis it might be a lateral move to get back across the court. In running it would be how quickly you can get your foot off the ground once it hits, ideally while scooping up all the force you hit with and bringing it all with you into your next stride.

It is pivotal to being able to keep your legs under you, as mentioned earlier. You can train the body to be elastic with explosive exercises, like jumps and bounds, and specific running drills. Opt for fewer reps and make perfect form a priority.

Jessi Stensland is a professional triathlete who races all types of endurance events. She’s also a video producer and an expert on the subjects of movement efficiency and true athleticism as it relates to endurance performance. Learn more about her adventures on her website, GoJessi.com.

For example, order an appetizer or dinner salad and one entree for two people. Often, one entree portion at restaurants are actually at least two portions. If dining alone, ask to have half your meal packed to go and given to you after you settle your bill. By dining this way, you will save yourself anywhere between 300 to 1000+ calories.

To maintain basic hydration, you’ll want to drink about 1/2 ounce of water per pound of your body weight. You’ll need to drink more based on your physical activity. Is that too much math for you? A good and simple gauge for healthy hydration is to make sure your urine is running clear when you “go”.