1.) Seasons 52 –Every item on the menu is less than 475 calories and the food is fantastic.  I don’t know how they make the food so good but it is superb and extremely healthy to eat.

2.) Avanti Café – exceptional organic menu with lots of variety and a great atmosphere.  They have a great Arugula & Spinach Pesto Pizza that is one of my favorite dishes.

3.) Native Foods Café – If you are a vegetarian or vegan, this is a great place for you! They have a great menu filled with healthy, flavorful food along with exceptional service.  Try the Chicken Run Ranch Burger – really tasty and very healthy!

4.) Chixy Natural – This is a quiet little place that would be hard to find unless you were a Costa Mesa local.  But the food is excellent.  I stumbled on this place when I was running errands one day and decided to go in there for lunch – I had the best chicken sandwich I have ever had and the way they prepared it was very healthy.  I now have another place to go to for lunch in Costa Mesa and would recommend it to anyone looking for a healthy but tasty menu.

5.) Flame Broiler – This has become a daily habit for me.  The menu is just grilled chicken or beef with brown or white rice and steamed vegetables.  You can’t get any healthier than that and I have lunch there about 3 times a week, knowing that I am not expanding my waistline, despite the fact that the food is so good.

1.Javier’s – Awesome food and great atmosphere. The cocktails are also excellent – great Cadillac margaritas. One of the top Mexican Restaurants in all of Orange County. The crowd is always full of energy and it’s a great place to meet people or get together with friends on a Friday or Saturday night. Also a great place for Sunday brunch.

2.El Ranchito Mexican Restaurant – Great authentic Mexican food with a quiet atmosphere and great crowd. Prices are good and it’s a great place to go for a casual lunch or dinner. This is the place to be for Taco Tuesday, as the line is usually out the door and $5 will get you all you can eat taco buffet. Easily the number one Taco Tuesday joint on the Peninsula.

3. SOL Mexican Cocina – Simple, Fresh Food, thats Full of Flavor mixed with a modern, upbeat atmosphere. Another great place to grab some lunch at. The seafood tacos and burritos are outstanding, not to mention they have best collection of exquisite tequilas.

4. Baja Sharkeez – a great sports bar with awesome Mexican food. This is a great place to go to hang out on a Sunday afternoon and watch the game while munching on chips and salsa and drinking Corona’s. A great place to go with friends with a lively environment.

5. El Torito Grill – I like to go here for the Sunday brunch. There is so much food there and they make excellent omelets. It’s reasonably priced and the atmosphere is always hoppin. They also make great margaritas!

1. Bluewater Grill – Located right on the water off of  Lido Park Drive, Bluewater Grill gives you that one of a kind feel. It has the best Ahi Tuna I have ever had, and I’ve had m fair share of Ahi!  The Atmosphere is exceptional with a tasteful décor, right on the harbor.  It’s not a big place, so it’s a great place to take a date for a quiet dinner for two.
2. The Cannery – Some of the best oysters and muscles in all of Orange County.  This is a rustic environment, that always has lots of energy there with a great crowd.  This is a great place to go on a Friday night for drinks and hanging out with friends or a date. Their Balboa Sundae is to die for! =)
3. Tommy Bahamas Restaurant – This place has a huge menu with lots of different fish to choose from as well as many other dishes besides seafood.  The restaurant is quite large and has a great bar area for meeting friends and having a drink.  I highly recommend the sea bass, It’s excellent here.
4. Rusty Pelican – Located right in Mariner Mile. The Rusty Pelican is a great place to go for a casual dinner. The fish is delicious and they have a great selection. The fish is always fresh and the service is spectacular.
5. Chart House – Located right next door to the Rusty Pelican, The Chart House Chain knows good seafood! They have the best seafood chowder and halibut in town.  The service is great and it is reasonably priced.  This is a great place to go for a good seafood dinner any day of the week.

1. Chipotle – Great Mexican food that is pretty healthy and not expensive at all.  This place is habit forming and I get in a rut going here a lot because the food is so good – excellent burritos and tacos!
2. Chronic Tacos – A great little Mexican joint with rustic atmosphere and awesome tacos.  If tacos are your weakness, this is the place to go!
3. Gabbi’s Mexican Kitchen – another great place with down to earth atmosphere, great authentic Mexican food at a great price.  This is a great place to go for lunch or a casual dinner with friends.
4. Taco Mesa – another great Mexican place with lots of choices on the menu and really tasty food.  This is another place that can be habit forming if you are not careful.
5. Mi Casa Mexican Restaurant – Good old fashion authentic Mexican food in a homey, down to earth setting.  This is an old standby place to go for great Mexican food with a huge menu.   They make fantastic fajitas!

1.) Reduce red meat consumption

2.) Cut back on foods high in fat, such as whole milk, cheese, ice cream, butter, lard, most meats, creams and palm kernel or coconut oil.

3.) Limit food high in cholesterol.  This is mostly meats.  Now this does not mean that you need to become a vegetarian, but eat meats in moderation.  Remember that foods high in cholesterol are not the leading cause for high blood cholesterol.  Rather it’s foods that are high in Trans fats and saturated fats that are the main problem.  The best way to avoid these types of food is to check your food labels when shopping.

4.) The most effective types of food for lowering cholesterol are foods high in soluble fiber: oats, oatmeal, barley, beans, peas, strawberries, apples, rice, bran and citrus fruits.  Nuts such as almonds and walnuts are also an excellent source of cholesterol-reducing fiber.  But make sure you limit your intake of nuts to about a handful because they have a lot of calories.

5.) Plant sterols and stanols can also potentially reduce blood cholesterol.  Plant sterols and stanols can be found most grains, vegetables, beans, nuts and fruits. Food manufactures also often add sterols and stanols to their foods, such as cereals, orange juice and margarines.

Remember that eating a healthy cholesterol-reducing diet can go a long way in keeping your body running smoothly, sometimes that is not enough.  Genetics also play a big role in determining your blood cholesterol and you may need to see your doctor and be prescribed medications to keep it under control.

Motivate Yourself
The first step to accomplishing any goal is self-motivation. Chances are that you will make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight. While that’s a good goal, those resolutions have become more of a tradition than actual motivation. So write down your goal and post it somewhere that you will see it every day. Having a goal staring back at you every day is one of the best methods of motivation.

Exercise

The best way to lose weight after overindulging after the holidays is to increase your cardiovascular exercise – treadmill, running, cycling, stair climber, etc. and reducing your caloric intake in the weeks after the holidays.  Going crazy for a few days will not make a huge difference in your permanent weight, but it certainly can add a few unwanted pounds.  However, you must remember that it only took a few days (or a couple weeks perhaps) to gain that weight.  This means that it won’t take you 6 months to work it off.  As long as you are consistent with your workouts, particularly cardio, and you are back on track with eating sensibly, you should lose that holiday cheer within a few weeks.

Yes, it is certainly possible to lose 25 pounds in 3 months.  A safe guideline for losing weight at a safe pace is approximately two pounds per week.  This will ensure more permanent results as opposed to losing a drastic amount of weight quickly, only to put it all back on once you go off your regimen.   There are 13 weeks in a 3-month period.  And two pounds a week would approximate 25 to 26 pounds of sustainable, permanent weight loss.  A large factor in determining how fast you can lose weight is how overweight you are to begin with.

So for example, if you are 100 pounds overweight, your body is definitely not at its natural weight and does not like being that heavy.  So those first 25 pounds will come off rather quickly – much less than 3 months, as long as you are following a reasonably structured nutrition and exercise regimen. It’s when you are at those last few pounds where it gets tricky.  The closer you get to your ideal weight, the more your body will resist losing those last few pounds.  The key here is patience and consistency in your exercise and nutrition.  But again, losing 25 pounds in 3 months is totally doable and, more importantly, it is a very safe way to lose the weight and keep it off permanently.

1.) Cold Water – Splashing cold water on your face is an excellent way to wake you up and get alert.  You can do this every 10 minutes if you need to and it will also give you a break from whatever you are doing, such as studying or working.

2.) Exercise – just doing one set of 50 Jumping Jacks right there in your room or office will do wonders in waking you up.  It will get your blood going, loosen up your joints and you will actually break a bit of a sweat.

3.) Music – putting on some of your favorite music, particularly music that is upbeat and happy will definitely help keep you awake and your mind off the fact that you are tired.

4.) Turn up the A/C – being in a colder environment causes the body to speed up the metabolism in an effort to keep the body warm.  This in turn will help keep you awake and alert.

5.) Chew gum – this sounds a bit ridiculous, but the act of chewing something will actually help in keeping you awake.  You can’t chew gum while you are asleep.

6.) Take short walks outside – this is effective even if it’s just for 5 minutes.  It not only gets your body moving and awake, but it takes you away from whatever you are doing, such as working or studying, to give you a mental break.

7.) Eat low-carb healthy snacks – again, eating and chewing will help you stay awake and if you eat foods that are low in carbohydrates, such as beef jerky or vegetables, you won’t run the risk of getting a sugar crash and finding it harder to stay awake.

8.) Watch something funny on TV or play a video game – this seems obvious but keeping the mind engaged with something is very effective in helping to stay awake.  Again, if you are trying to use Television to stay awake, chose something funny – no dramas or documentaries.

9.) Get proper sleep – catch a nap whenever you can and do your best to get a good night sleep as often as possible.  This will help your body stay alert when you need it the most.

1.) A source of Protein – This can include eggs, lean meat such as ham, turkey or salmon, milk or other dairy such as cottage cheese.

2.) One serving of fruits and/or vegetables – Some good examples are cantaloupe, grapefruit, oranges, strawberries or any kind of vegetable you like.

3.) A form of unsaturated fat – this includes nuts, olives, olive oil used in cooking, avocados, peanut or almond butter, soy, salmon or even sardines

4.) A Starch of some kind – Good choices include Oatmeal, cream of wheat, whole-grain toast or bagels, or whole-grain cereal

Make sure to include all of these components as part of your breakfast every day and you will be much less likely to have hunger pangs later in the day from not having enough nutrients before you get started in the morning.  Typically we get hunger pangs and go for the convenient, unhealthy foods when our bodies are malnourished and the blood sugar is low.  Eating a well-balanced, complete breakfast will help you make better choices with the rest of your meals throughout the day and keep you at optimal health.

For more information on why breakfast is so important, check out my blog post on “The Importance of Breakfast“

Proponents of organic foods say that it is healthier, safer, better tasting and better for the environment.  Most often, organic food is significantly more expensive than non-organic foods.  Although the demand for organic foods has dramatically risen in recent years, there is very little evidence that shows positive proof that eating organic foods has a material difference in your overall health.  There is very limited information on the actual health outcomes of consuming organic foods over regular food.

What constitutes organic food?  In order to be considered organic, crops must be grown without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or bioengineering.  Organically raised animals used for meat must be given organic feed and be free of steroids, growth hormone and antibiotics.

When eating organic fruits and vegetables, the amount of pesticide residue is dramatically reduced and when eating organic meat, you are not running the risk of ingesting growth hormone or antibiotics.

Because there is not enough evidence to show non-organic foods as being unhealthy and dangerous, the actual health benefits of eating organic foods are not conclusive.  And at this point, there is not enough evidence to show a significant health benefit of eating organic foods over conventionally produced foods.  So eating organic or non-organic foods comes down to personal preference.