Cheap Eats, Doggie Diets, and Wiggly Workouts

Low-cost overeating, counting kibble calories, and hula-hoop hullabaloo.

Penny Pinchers
It doesn’t take much dough to pack a caloric punch. In fact, according to a recent study, it only took about a dollar in change for kids to make an almost 400-calorie snack food splurge at a neighborhood convenience store. In the study, low-income kids in Philadelphia spent just over a buck on their favorite snacks: chips and candy. Researchers tracked purchases by fourth through sixth graders and found that about half of the kids went to the convenience stores daily, while some went twice a day. Kids will be kids, but parents can reinforce good habits by packing nutritious lunches—and taking away pocket change!

After-school splurge.


Pet Health
As the weather gets cooler and the sun goes down earlier, it can be difficult to keep up with Fido's daily walks. But watch out for creeping winter pounds if your walks get shorter! As a pet owner who recently helped her dog shed a few unwelcome pounds, trust me, doggie weight loss is no easy chore. Especially when the doggie looks at you like she's STARVING about two minutes after a meal. For tips on puppy fitness and to find out how to help Spot maintain his svelte figure, read on dear pet pals, read on.

Enough, Scruffy.

Hot Hula Hips
It seems that all that's retro is now hip again, and of course, hip with a fitness edge. Once just a goofy pastime, hula-hooping has gained serious fitness cred with weighted hula hoops, instructional DVDs and classes. The hoop has even meshed with Pilates at some gyms for a hooperific-ly unique class. What's really amazing is that an hour of intense hula-hooping is equal to an hour run on a treadmill. Wha!? Sign me up! Now I'm off to dig out my old Skip-It to start the next fitness craze.

Hip to be square.

Photo grabbed from JasonRogersFooDogGiraff eBee, klynslis, and SharonaGott at Flickr.