After a tough workout, your body enters a state of stress: muscle fibers are damaged, energy stores are depleted, and hydration levels drop. This is a critical moment. If your body gets the right nutrients, it starts rebuilding immediately. If not, recovery slows down, and so does progress.
The American Heart Association recommendations emphasize eating more plant-based protein instead of meat and drinking less alcohol, contradicting the recent food pyramid updates that suggest increased red meat and whole milk consumption.
These tiny packages pack a nutritional punch-so much so that the advisory committee for the 2025 U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommended upping the daily serving size of legumes and promoting them as a protein source over meat and seafood. Navy beans, for example, are especially fiber-dense, and lentils are protein powerhouses.
When I lived in a big city, I used to love treating myself to lunches at trendy salad spots. Tasty as these take-out meals were, they were terrible for my wallet, and I didn't have full visibility into or control over the ingredients that went into them. I've since turned into an avid meal-prepper and make my own lunch - almost always a fiber- and protein-packed grain bowl - for a fraction of the price.
Start with the obvious question: how much protein are you actually getting per scoop? Most decent powders fall somewhere around the 20-25 gram range. That's enough to make a real dent in your daily intake, especially if you're trying to push past the 100-gram mark without eating chicken six times a day.
I work with busy professionals, so I've been integrating micro workouts of two to 10 minutes into my clients' lifestyles for almost 20 years. The most important thing for your health isn't getting all your daily movement done in one big, perfectly curated workout - it's about being consistent.
January might be coming to a close, but the focus on wellness doesn't have to die with it. If anything, it's a good time to check in with those 2026 goals and see what you want to prioritise for the rest of the year. To that end, we've gathered some of the best deals we've seen in the past few weeks that will help you tick off every good intention you set this month.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to exercise - doing a variety of different physical activities every week is the key to boosting your health and living longer, a study suggests. After tracking the weekly exercise habits of 110,000 men and women in the US for 30 years, researchers found active people who did the greatest variety of exercise were 19% less likely to die during that time than those who focused on one activity. That effect was greater than for individual sports like walking, tennis, rowing and jogging. The total amount of exercise you do is still key, experts say, but doing a range of activities you enjoy can bring lots of benefits.
vyv (pronounced v-eye-v), a new personalized vitamin and supplement brand designed for women ages 20 to 30 who want wellness to feel intuitive, flexible, and easy to keep up with. Think less pressure, fewer bottles, and way more "this actually works for my life." vyv is the younger sister brand to Persona™ Nutrition, designed with a fresh lens for Gen Z/Millennial females juggling packed schedules, shifting hormones, and big goals-without asking them to become supplement experts along the way.
Great job choosing to eat healthier in 2026! To help you get started, shop our top picks of essentials that make healthy eating easy and fun. Here's to your healthiest year yet! Escali Primo Digital Scale A kitchen scale can really help you eat healthier. This Escali digital scale is great for weighing ingredients, portioning meals, or even measuring coffee beans.
Rachel Swanson, a registered dietitian at LifeSpan Medicine and author of "Trying!: A Science-Backed Plan to Optimize Your Fertility," splits her time between New York City and Miami, spending about half the year in each. She also takes small-group workout classes three times a week, focusing on strength training. She says eating enough nutrients, especially protein for muscle-building, is crucial for her. She generally aims for around 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight, the protein intake usually recommended for physically active people.
Need an easy lunch or dinner idea? Try brown lentils! Alex and I love eating lentils for lunches or dinners, since they're full of plant-based protein and keep us full for hours afterwards. This brown lentils recipe results in perfectly seasoned, tender lentils. You can eat them as-is, or add them as a component to tacos, salads, and more. They're a simple protein that makes an easy vegan recipe or healthy dinner!
Eating vegetables is always an excellent way to help you get your daily intake of fiber, but people who need an extra dose in their diet need to choose the most fiber-rich veggies possible. Broccoli is often named as a great source of this essential nutrient, yet you can find some superior options in the produce kingdom. Green peas are a nutritious legume that outclasses broccoli in terms of fiber content.
Why to Make This Quinoa Chili This quinoa chili is seriously good, full of savory flavors that wrap you like a cozy sweater. It's modeled after that quinoa chili from our lunch date, this time using our favorite fire roasted tomatoes. It's simple and flavorful, with tons of savory veggies and of course, quinoa! Quinoa acts as the texture of where meat would be in this vegan chili, and brings in loads of plant based protein.
Bala Bangles Wrist & Ankle Weights Fit in a workout whenever you have time. Keep Bala Bangles in your bag so they're easy to grab. Wear them on your wrists or ankles to add comfortable resistance to yoga, walking, or any home workout. Gymreapers Barbell Squat Pad This squat pad helps prevent sore shoulders during back squats or after leg day. It spreads out the bar's weight so you can focus on your lift.
There's a lot to be said for enjoying desserts for what they are: a sweet treat that can fit into a balanced diet. However, if you're in a position where you want to make every meal count in terms of nutrition, you don't have to miss out - with a can of chickpeas, your tray of brownies can be packed full of protein. Before you start to protest, rest assured that you won't be able to taste the chickpeas once they're mixed with the chocolate.
We compared how participants fared while eating their habitual diets with how they responded to the two diets that were low in ultraprocessed foods. During the periods when participants ate fewer ultraprocessed foods, they naturally consumed fewer calories and lost weight, including total and abdominal body fat. Beyond weight loss, they also showed meaningful improvements in insulin sensitivity, healthier cholesterol levels, fewer signs of inflammation, and favorable changes in hormones that help regulate appetite and metabolism.
Drinking green juice gives you all the benefits of the vegetables (except fiber). It's actually even better to eat the whole vegetables. Consider munching on celery and cucumber with a healthy yogurt dip or blend up some green smoothies. It's important to drink green juice in moderation. Per Healthline, it may contribute to poor blood sugar control or kidney issues if you drink a lot of it. Research also associates juice cleanses with disordered eating and a negative relationship with food (read more here).
While it's long been recognized as a vital nutrient, many people are working even harder lately to get more protein into their diets. Protein gives us energy, helps produce new cells and keep them healthy, aids in transporting oxygen throughout our bodies, and assists in creating antibodies that fight illness. It's no wonder we're often looking into ingredients that pack a protein punch.
