SO, who plans on watching the UFC 134?
All of Cage Fitness will be, Matt Hughes will be fighting Josh Koscheck on Saturday September 24th.

Feeling blue? Many people who suffer symptoms of depression seek comfort from favorite foods like chocolate kisses, salty chips, and pillowy pastries. But if you really want to boost your mood, make different choices, nutritionists say.

“We reach for what we think will make us feel better, but we too often wind up making ourselves feel worse in the long run,” says Beth Reardon, director of nutrition at Duke University’s Duke Integrative Medicine. The wrong foods can cause physiological reactions that intensify symptoms such as lethargy, irritability, and cravings. Meanwhile the right foods — like the following five — can stabilize blood sugar, eliminate mood swings, and boost neurotransmitters in the brain, all factors that influence how depression makes you feel.

Try these smart choices when your mood is depressed:

1. An omelet – just don’t skip the yolk

Eat it for: The B vitamins and protein. Egg yolks are the vitamin-B-rich part of the egg.

Other examples: Lean beef, wheat germ, fish, poultry

Why they help: A diet rich in B vitamins can help lessen the severity of depression symptoms. B vitamins, especially B-6 and B-12, can help improve neural function — the way the neurotransmitters of the brain send signals, which helps govern mood. There’s also a growing link between vitamin B deficiency and depression. A 2010 study of 3,000 older adults followed over 12 years found that those with lower intake of these vitamins had a higher risk of depression, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The protein in eggs (as with lean meats) helps you feel satisfied longer, stabilizing blood sugar. And eggs can be consumed in a variety of ways, from scrambled to used as a French toast batter to boiled and chopped up as a salad topper — so long as you go easy on the accompanying animal products that are high in saturated fats, like bacon or butter.

2. Nuts and seeds

Eat it for: The magnesium

Examples: Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cashews, almonds, peanuts. (Green leafy vegetables and whole grains are also high in magnesium.)

Why they help: Magnesium, a mineral found naturally in nuts and seeds, influences production of serotonin, a “feel-good” brain chemical. Magnesium also affects overall energy production.

Bonus: Nuts are also a good source of protein and healthy fats. And as a whole food, they make a healthy alternative to processed snacks, provided you choose unsalted and unsweetened varieties. Salt and sugared coatings don’t add any health benefits and may make you overeat because they set up cravings in the brain for more and more salt or sugar.

3. Cold-water fish

Eat it for: The omega-3 fatty acids

Examples: Wild salmon, herring, sardines, anchovies, tuna (not more than once per week), rainbow trout, mackerel. Fish-oil supplements are a practical alternative for those who don’t eat these cold-water fish at least three times a week, Reardon says.

Why they help: There’s a reason fish is known as “brain food.” Fatty fish such as wild salmon contain the omega-3 fatty acid DHA, which has been shown to increase the membrane quality and nerve function of gray matter in the brain. Twenty percent of the gray matter in the brain is composed of DHA. Some studies have found that DHA consumption especially increases gray matter in the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the cingulate, three areas of the brain associated with mood. People with severe depression have less gray matter in these areas.

Fish is also a great source of lean protein, which stabilizes blood sugar. Eating small amounts of protein with meals can help keep your mood on a more even keel.

4. Ancient grains

Eat it for: The complex carbohydrates

Examples: Quinoa, millet, teff, amaranth, spelt, barley

Why they help: Complex carbohydrates take longer to digest, which means they don’t cause spikes in blood sugar that can create roller-coaster moods. Complex carbs also increase levels of serotonin in the brain.

While any whole grain is good, so-called “ancient grains” are even better, according to Reardon, because they’re less likely to be man-modified and processed. Packaged, processed, and refined foods made with wheat flour and sugar, in contrast, tend to be digested quickly, causing cause blood sugar to spike. When this happens, the body responds with an oversecretion of insulin, which winds up moving too much sugar into cells — and blood sugars plummet. The end result: poorer concentration, fatigue, mood swings, intense cravings, and overeating.

Ancient grains are increasingly available at mainstream grocery stores and big-box stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club. Look where rice products are shelved. Many ancient grains can be cooked like pasta or rice and served in their place as side dishes, in casseroles, or as a base for fish or chicken.

Bonus: Some ancient grains are a whole-grain alternative for those who are allergic to wheat or have gluten intolerance. (Barley, though, contains gluten.)

5. Green tea

Drink it for: The amino acid L-theanine

Examples: Hot green tea, brewed iced green tea — including flavored varieties like jasmine green tea or berry green tea

Why it helps: L-theanine is an amino acid found mainly in tea leaves; it’s been shown by EEG tests to stimulate alpha brain waves. This can improve focus while also having a calming effect on the body.

“Despite the caffeine, the L-theanine in green tea seems to be profoundly relaxing, with effects that last up to eight hours,” Reardon says. L-theanine is easily absorbed and can cross the blood-brain barrier, adding to its effectiveness.

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“Made it to Germany! I am ready to get this Super Show fired up! Who’s with me?” -Jessy Norton Cage Fitness Pro.

They’re headed over to show off the system at the Super Show in Germany!

Diets rarely work the first time around—there’s a reason weight loss plans and products are a kajillion-dollar industry! SELF zeroed in on four common reasons trim-down plans fail and, even better, the simple tricks to put you back on the fast track to losing those stubborn pounds for good. Steal our expert fixes for diet hitches today so you can get back to slimming, save a bunch of cash skipping gimmicky gadgets and diet foods, and see the results you crave.

THE HITCH “I’m starving all the time.”
Not to channel your mom, but are you eating enough? A daily diet of under 1,400 calories won’t supply enough nutrients to keep you full and fueled, and may lead you to quit.
THE FIX Who says dieting is all about having less? Here are three things to enjoy more of:
1. Calories. Up them to 1,600 a day if you’re trying to lose; 2,000 if you’re maintaining.
2. Nosh sessions. Have three daily meals, plus two snacks, says Susan Bowerman, R.D., of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition. Eating every four hours keeps blood sugar steady, preventing cravings and crankiness.
3. Lean protein. It sends stronger “I’m full” signals to your brain than carbs or fat do. Aim for 20 grams in meals (half a skinless chicken breast has 27 g), 10 g in snacks (a cup of edamame packs 17 g).

THE HITCH “The needle on the scale is stuck.”
Plateaus are common after you’ve been steadily losing weight for six months, the National Institutes of Health reports. When you’re lighter, your body needs fewer calories, so what used to make you shrink is now what you need to maintain your size.
THE FIX Trim about 200 calories more a day, Bowerman says. If you don’t start losing again within two weeks or so, your calorie counts or portions may be off. Keep a food diary for a week to catch errors. (Check your numbers at NutritionData.Self.com.) If you’re eyeballing portions, measure your food instead (2 tablespoons of peanut butter can easily grow to 3). You might also step up your exercise efforts to help hit the lower-calorie goal, and definitely switch up your workout: If you do the same one every time, your body won’t build as much fat-burning muscle, says Gina Harney, a personal trainer in Tucson, Arizona.

THE HITCH “I’m busy, so I tend to eat out a lot.”
Restaurant meals can be ultra-calorific, especially because no one monitors whether or not chefs are doling out heavy-handed portions. In fact, calorie counts can be up to 18 percent greater than what’s posted, a Tufts University study shows.
THE FIX Make a reservation to save yourself a wait at the bar and the added calories from cocktails, says Tina Marinaccio, R.D., of Morris Plains, New Jersey. Alcohol revs appetite, so stick to one drink and sip it with dinner. Order grilled over fried (entrees) and steamed over sauteed (veggies); if you truly crave something decadent for dessert, go halfsies.

THE HITCH “My willpower vanishes on weekends.”
You may be depriving yourself too much during the week, making you more likely to go a little crazy Saturday and Sunday, Marinaccio says.
THE FIX Factor approximately 1,400 fun calories a week into your diet, and spend 150 to 250 of them a day on treats you’d otherwise miss most (a 5-ounce glass of wine, 2 oz of Brie, ¾ cup of ice cream). That way, you won’t be as tempted to scarf them all down come Friday. You can bank two or three days’ worth of fun calories for a splurgeworthy event—but not more than that. And schedule a workout for the morning after: That third cocktail won’t look quite so tempting if you have a 9 a.m. Spin bike booked for the next day.

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BPA in water bottles, carcinogenic pesticides in produce – these days it seems like potentially dangerous (and even deadly) chemicals are everywhere! And, well, they sorta are: There are almost 80,000 chemicals in use today that didn’t even exist before 1950, and research suggests they’re making their way into our bodies. For instance, 93 percent of Americans showed traces of BPA, a chemical in some plastics linked with cancer, brain damage, fertility problems and more, in a 2004 study. But before you get too anxious (remember, stress is harmful to your body, too) or try to eliminate plastic from your life (practically impossible!), know that there is a middle path—one that can help you lighten your chemical load without losing your grip. Our expert-backed, hassle-free guide can help you clean unhealthy chemicals out of your world without giving up modern conveniences.

1. IN YOUR BEDROOM “If people would buy different sheets, they might not need sleeping pills,” says consumer advocate Debra Lynn Dadd, author of Toxic Free. Polyester-cotton blends and permanent press linens have a finish that releases formaldehyde, which can irritate the throat and eyes—not helpful for peaceful sleep. Use untreated cotton sheets; avoid wrinkles by taking them out of the dryer right away.

2. IN YOUR LIVING ROOM Pressed-wood products are another source of formaldehyde, which Laura Beane Freeman, Ph.D., investigator with the National Cancer Institute, has linked to myeloid leukemia in factory workers. Let new pieces air out in a room with doors shut and windows open, suggests Tom Lent, policy director at the Healthy Building Network in Washington, D.C. Or shop for used pieces—they’ve already aired out.

3. IN YOUR GARDEN Before dousing your lawn with chemicals, try TLC: Water with a soaking hose, add weed-inhibiting mulch to garden beds, and set the mower for 3 inches (longer grass shades and stifles weeds). Got a weed you can’t stand? Try herbicides made with corn gluten meal or vinegar.

4. AT THE MARKET You can consume nearly 80 percent fewer pesticides by eating organic versions of the 12 most contaminated items, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) concludes. The worst produce is apples, followed by celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, imported nectarines, imported grapes, bell peppers, potatoes, domestic blueberries, lettuce and kale.

5. IN YOUR CUPBOARDS BPA, the synthetic estrogen linked to cancer and abnormal brain development, is in the lining of most food and beverage cans, and it can leach out. Whether the food is organic doesn’t matter, USDA tests show. When possible, buy fresh or frozen items; there’s no BPA in plastic freezer bags, says Sarah Janssen, M.D., senior scientist at the NRDC.

6. ON YOUR TABLE Some fast food wrappers and bags, pizza boxes and microwave popcorn bags contain oil- and water-repelling chemicals that transfer to and metabolize in the body, forming likely carcinogens, says Jessica D’eon, Ph.D., a researcher in the department of chemistry at the University of Toronto. The EPA is working to eliminate the chemicals by 2015; until then, they’re yet another reason to cut back on grease bombs.

7. IN YOUR CLOSET The dry-cleaning fluid perchloroethylene (PERC) can cause headaches and liver and kidney damage. “And a newer method swaps out PERC for D-5, which caused uterine cancer in lab animals,” says Gina Solomon, M.D., senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco. “Wet cleaning” or carbon dioxide methods are ideal. If you dry-clean, keep clothes bagged while driving home so you don’t pollute your car, then toss bags and air clothes outside or in an apartment stairwell for an hour.

8. IN YOUR JEWELRY BOX In tests of costume jewelry with metal, most from China, 19 percent contained the carcinogen cadmium, reports Jeff Weidenhamer, Ph.D., professor of chemistry at Ashland University. “Small exposures to cadmium can add up and cause kidney and bone damage,” he says. Buy locally made bling, and ask artisans where they get materials.

9. AROUND YOUR HOME Your Swiffer isn’t organic, but it can reduce toxins. “Chemicals can piggyback on dust,” Dadd explains. Women whose breast milk contained the fire retardant Deca, which animal studies link to problems with memory and attention, also had Deca in their vacuum-bag dust, EWG found. Dust surfaces and floors weekly, take off your shoes and wipe pets’ paws at the door (so no one tracks in chemicals), and change filters in your central-air system at least once a year. Then breathe easy.

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Regardless of whether you’re training for your next mixed martial arts fight or if you’re just getting back the bod you remember yourself having. Here’s some notes from David Zinczenko, the author of “Eat This, Not That”:

Fact is, many supposed diet foods are more likely to add fat to your body than to strip it away. And they generally cost more! That’s why Eat This, Not That! has been on a crusade against diet-food ripoffs. Click to discover the worst offenders—and learn the simple swaps that will help you melt away belly fat fast.

#8: ‘HEALTHY’ DESSERT RIPOFF

Breyers Carb Smart Almond Bar (1 bar)

• 180 calories
• 15 g fat (10 g saturated)
• 5 g sugars

Kudos to Breyers for capping the carbohydrates at 9 grams, but that doesn’t excuse this bar from being loaded with fat and calories. The primary ingredient in the chocolate coating is vegetable oil, and the second ingredient in the ice cream filling is milk fat. As a result, each bar contains nearly as much saturated fat as three McDonald’s Cheeseburgers.

Switch to Klondike’s Slim-a-Bear Vanilla Bars—proof that low-sugar desserts don’t require fatty compensation.

• 100 calories
• 6 g fat (5 g saturated)
• 8 g sugars

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Despite all this good news about exercise, a 2008 CDC survey revealed that more than a quarter of American adults did not spend any free time doing physical activities such as running, gardening, golfing or walking.

In a more recent survey, just 5 percent of American adults reported engaging in vigorous physical activity, such as running or using cardiovascular exercise equipment, in the previous 24 hours, according to a study published last fall in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Bracko said he believes that not only do many people have busy schedules but that they still “don’t understand or appreciate how much physical activity can have a positive impact on their life.”

The CDC has set guidelines for the amount of exercise that people at various stages of their lives need to remain healthy:

Kids 6 to 17 years old should get about an hour of physical activity every day.
Adults 18 on up should partake in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, every week. In addition, at least two days a week they should do muscle-strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups.

Finding the willpower to set aside this time can be very personal, and people may need to do a little soul-searching to figure out what matters most to them, said Barbara Ainsworth, a professor of exercise and wellness at Arizona State University.

“Everybody has different points that get them to be motivated,” Ainsworth said. “It’s important to find the triggers that resonate for you.”

For some people, it’s a doctor’s report saying that they are headed for chronic disease if they don’t shape up, she said. Others want to look better or improve their athletic ability. Some work out for stress relief or enjoy the social setting that group exercise provides.

To fit exercise into daily life, Bracko and Ainsworth suggested:

Taking a step back and understanding that fitness is as important a priority as other leisure activities, such as television or reading. “We’re busy because we choose to do certain things,” Ainsworth said. “It’s about making different choices.”
Realizing that exercise can be broken into blocks of 10 to 15 minutes that can be fit in throughout the day. Bracko gives the example of soccer moms who take their kid to games. “They don’t realize that’s a great time to exercise,” he said. But for those who do, “instead of standing on the sidelines, they’re walking around the field or running intervals or something,” he said.
Recruiting an exercise buddy who will help maintain motivation. “If you make a date with someone to go on a walk, you don’t want to disappoint that person,” Ainsworth said.

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It would be hard, these days, not to have heard that regular exercise can provide innumerable health benefits and help people enjoy longer, happier and more active lives.

What’s more, fitness experts have determined that people don’t have to work themselves to exhaustion or set aside large chunks of time to reap the benefits.

Nonetheless, large numbers of people are either getting no exercise at all or are getting too little to do themselves any good, health experts say.

So why aren’t more people getting off the couch and moving?

A lot of it has to do with time, said Michael R. Bracko, a sports physiologist and director of the Institute for Hockey Research in Calgary, Canada. Not just the amount of time people have, but also the amount of time they think they have.

“In this day and age, with all the stuff we have going on, probably the number one reason is perceived lack of time,” Bracko said. “People don’t view exercise or physical activity as important enough to schedule it within their day. They can’t find the time to work out. They’ve got kids, they’re driving around, they’re working, they’re commuting.”

However, health experts stress that participation in regular physical activity can reap a ream of health benefits.

Physical activity helps the body regulate blood sugar levels and lower blood pressure, reducing the chances of developing diabetes or heart disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Studies have shown that physical activity also maintains healthy muscles, bones and joints, and can slow the deteriorating effects of aging.

Further, exercise improves a person’s overall mood by prompting the release of hormones that reduce feelings of anxiety and depression, the CDC says. Some research has even found that exercise helps keep the mind sharp, improving memory and potentially helping to ward off dementia in old age.