Many people delight in choosing and eating healthy foods. They pore over organic quinoa choices at the local co-op, eye up colorful bunches of fresh kale at the farmers’ market, and whip up light meals that are perfect balances of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and lean proteins. More power to those people, really.

But for the rest of us—those of us who don’t mind sneaking a biscotti every now and then and salivating over Danish pastries instead of Swiss chard—it’s nice to know that there are other people out there who strive to eat healthy food as more of a challenge than a way of life. We know it’s good for us, but it’s not always easy to reach for the veggies when there are doughnut holes on the table and Twix in the vending machines.

Blogs that inspire and celebrate healthy eating offer something for everyone, whether you’re in the gung-ho-health-food camp or the semi-reluctant camp. They have great information on cooking techniques and recipe suggestions, which even experienced chefs can enjoy, and the dishes they create are almost always beautiful and delicious, which inspires all of our tables. Check out these healthy-eating blogs for a few new ideas, recipes, tips, and tricks.

1. Bitten: Mark Bittman on Food
This New York Times food blog is a classic and has helped food writer Mark Bittman become a household name all across America. Bitten reports food news, recipes, and general food-related thoughts, all of which are interesting and insightful. His recipes have a classic flair that makes them timeless—almost all are made with whole, fresh ingredients, and they have simple yet elegant tastes. Some of Mark’s thoughts may be a bit skewed (in this week’s Minimalist column, for example, he includes canned sardines in a collection of staple pantry ingredients that he expects most home cooks would have on hand), but they’re all worth reading.

2. 101 Cookbooks
Heidi Swanson is the culinary genius behind 101 Cookbooks, a blog in which she celebrates the intersections of cookbooks, cooking, traveling, and life. The beautiful photographs on her blog are what keeps me coming back to visit each week, but the recipes themselves are standouts as well. Heidi focuses on natural ingredients and vegetarian dishes that are “good for you and good for the planet,” as she puts it.

3. Orangette
Orangette has gorgeous photography, an easy-to-read layout, and a very smart lady running the show behind it: Molly Wizenberg, who has an appealing appreciation for good food and a true knack for writing. Her blog has even spawned a book, A Homemade Life. Molly’s recipes are creative (roasted rhubarb, anyone?) and make use of fresh, pure ingredients and flavors. They’re not all the healthiest of the healthy, but even the most sinful are probably better for you than those doughnut holes.

4. Simply Recipes
Simply Recipes is a family blog that’s primarily operated by Elise Bauer. She or people she knows and trusts have personally tested each recipe that’s published there, and because she has a big family, the recipes are perfectly suited for kids and for people on the go. Her food philosophy is to “believe in a varied, healthy diet, using real butter, real cream, eggs, lots of green vegetables, and protein from meat, fish, beans, and cheese.”

5. AllRecipes
Though not exclusively a healthy-eating site, AllRecipes has a slew of cooking tips and resources that make it simple for even the über-busy and weak in willpower to improve their diets. With a public, searchable database that includes thousands of recipes, you can find out how to make nearly anything you want here, and the search-by-rating feature is helpful if you want to quickly filter in the best of the best. The “Healthy Cooking” tab at the top of the site offers specific recipes and suggestions for light cooking.

6. Cooking Light
Cooking Light is a magazine that does what some believe is unthinkable—it serves the dual purpose of focusing on healthy, natural ingredients while celebrating and admiring food of all kinds for its splendid taste and ability to please. Unlike many healthy-cooking resources, the magazine doesn’t shy away from using butter, cream, cheese, or bacon; it just strives to include small amounts so that the flavors truly pop in a recipe. The Web site, which is completely open to non-subscribers, features recipes, cooking and entertainment tips, nutrition information, and ideas on how to live a healthier life.

7. Eating Well
Eating Well is a publication much like Cooking Light, with a mission to share great food and encourage good health. Their Web site is also open to non-subscribers and offers free e-mail newsletters, healthy recipes, information about seasonal ingredients, and health- and nutrition-related news. Additionally, the Eating Well blog posts bonus recipes and short articles while inviting reader feedback.

8. Wild Yeast
Want to bake more bread and put a cap on your addiction to preservative-filled grocery-store loaves? Wild Yeast can help. Its recipe index will give you dozens of step-by-steps for making sweet breads, rolls, whole-grain loaves, sourdoughs, and dishes that will use up leftover bread (watermelon gazpacho . . . mmmm). The site’s sweeter recipes, such as cinnamon sticky buns and apricot fritters, won’t do your waistline any favors, but even a healthy diet can fit in room for occasional splurges.

9. Not Eating Out in New York
Not Eating Out in New York is the product of a two-year experiment by blogger Cathy Erway to shun NYC’s restaurants and takeout establishments in favor of exploring alternative food scenes and making her meals at home. Cathy focuses on simple, whole foods in her cooking and awards each of her recipes a Health Factor rating and a Green Factor rating to indicate how good they are for you and for the environment.

10. Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef
The Gluten-Free Girl is Shauna James Ahern, and she was terribly ill with celiac disease for most of her life until she began following a completely gluten-free diet. Now that she can enjoy food again, she and her husband (”The Chef”) provide scrumptious, gluten-free recipes to the masses through this blog. Shauna and her husband are truly passionate about food and love regional delicacies, local items, and really high-quality ingredients.

11. Chews Wise
If food news and sustainability information is your cup of tea more so than recipes, you’ll get a lot out of Chews Wise, Samuel Fromartz’s blog. He’s a journalist, artisan bread-baker, and advocate for sustainable and organic foods. His writing style is simple, straightforward, and easy to read, and it’s refreshing to dig into a blog that addresses the academic and political side of food rather than just the taste.

12. The Ethicurean
Like Sam Fromartz, the Ethicurean focuses on news and information related to sustainable and organic foods. Bonnie Powell and her fellow blog founders have defined “ethicurean” as “someone who seeks out tasty things that are also sustainable, organic, local, and/or ethical—SOLE food, for short.” All of the Ethicureans care deeply about food, and their blog chronicles the reasons why they’re just as interested in where their food comes from as they are in how it tastes and whether it’s the right thing to eat.

13. Mighty Foods
One of the Mighty Foods tag lines is “real foods aren’t just for hippies anymore.” The blog’s contributors (who include Heidi Swanson, the woman behind 101 Cookbooks) tout the benefits of following a natural diet, gravitating toward organics and fair-trade products, and shying away from overly processed foods. The blog includes lots of lovely photographs and recipes as well as reviews of products and dishes and ideas for getting the most out of seasonal ingredients.

14. The Slow Cook
Ed Bruske is a former Washington Post reporter and an advocate of the slow-food movement, a believer in the idea that food should be enjoyed and grown naturally and sustainably. He has a garden near the White House and works as a personal chef for a wide variety of clients. His blog is about many things, including recipes and sustainability, but a primary point is in favor of a shift taking place in consumers that would value quality and fulfillment over convenience in food.

15. The Happy Cow
Interested in eating better when you travel—or when you dine out in your hometown? The Happy Cow is a “compassionate eating guide” that lists vegetarian and vegan restaurants and natural-foods stores in ranges from 1 to 25 miles from any zip code or location in the world. The site also publishes a bunch of vegetarian and vegan recipes and hosts forums where healthy-eating discussions take place.

16. Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen
Here’s a double whammy—a blog full of vegan recipes that are short on fat and sugar. If that isn’t enough for you, the recipes also minimize processed ingredients and look incredibly tasty. Susan V. started her blog after going vegan and losing more than 100 pounds in the process. Her site was voted a Readers’ Favorite blog in 2007 and 2009 by readers of Veg News magazine.

17. Local Harvest
It’s not a blog or a recipe directory, but Local Harvest is a truly valuable food resource that can help you find farmers’ markets, healthy restaurants, co-ops or grocery stores, and CSAs in your area. The site encourages using local, seasonal ingredients whenever possible and even posts a calendar of local-food-related events all over the nation.

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The number-one killer in America (for both men and women), heart disease is the result of the narrowing of the arteries that supply the heart with blood, oxygen, and nutrients. This process, called coronary artery disease, can generally be traced to a condition called atherosclerosis, the build-up of cholesterol-rich fatty deposits, or plaques, on the inside of arterial walls. As these deposits accumulate over time, the coronary arteries narrow to the point that the flow of oxygenated blood to the heart is impeded. (Arterial spasms — triggered by smoking, extreme emotional stress, or exposure to very cold temperature —may also cause coronary arteries to narrow suddenly and dangerously.)

The Risk Factors — and How You Can Reduce Yours
Major risk factors for cardiovascular disease include cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and/or triglycerides, diabetes mellitus, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and poor nutrition. Prevention and treatment centers around these risk factors — and these approaches will help you lower risk for many other types of illness, as well as helping you feel great and have more energy overall.

1. Don’t smoke.
Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of cardiovascular disease in women, with more than 50 percent of heart attacks among middle-aged women attributable to tobacco. Risk of cardiovascular disease begins to decline within months of smoking cessation and reaches the level of persons who have never smoked within 3 to 5 years.

2. Lower your cholesterol.
High blood cholesterol is a condition that greatly increases your chances of developing coronary heart disease. Extra cholesterol in the blood settles on the inner walls of the arteries, narrowing them and allowing less blood to pass through them to the heart. Aim for total cholesterol below 200 mg/dL; LDL cholesterol below 130 mg/dL and HDL above 35 mg/dL.

3. Maintain a healthy weight.
Obesity and sedentary lifestyles are epidemics in the United States that contribute to increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The prevalence of obesity has increased among both men and women in the United States in the past decade; currently about one third of adult women (or 34 million) are classified as obese. Also, 60% of both men and women get no regular physical activity. Obesity, especially abdominal adiposity, is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease in women.

4. Exercise regularly.
Recent evidence suggests that even moderate-intensity activity, including brisk walking, is associated with substantial reduction of cardiovascular disease risk. These findings support the 1995 federal exercise guidelines endorsing 30 minutes of moderately intense physical activity most days of the week, a program that should be feasible and safe for most of the population. Regular exercise and maintenance of healthy weight should also help reduce insulin resistance and the risk of non–insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, which appears to be an even stronger risk factor for cardiovascular disease in women than in men. Diabetes is associated with a threefold to sevenfold elevation in cardiovascular disease risk among women, compared with a twofold to threefold elevation among men. Approximately half of all deaths in patients with non–insulin dependent diabetes mellitus are due to heart disease.

5. Eat less saturated fat, more produce & more fiber.
Diets low in saturated fat and high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fiber are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Also, a recent study reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal confirmed that the consumption of fruits and vegetables, particularly green leafy vegetables and vitamin C-rich fruits and vegetables, seems to have a protective effect against coronary heart disease. You may even think about moving toward more flexitarian or vegetarian eating habits: A vegetarian diet reduces the risk of coronary artery disease, and may even reverse existing coronary artery disease when combined with other lifestyle changes. A Mediterranean diet that uses olive oil can reduce the risk of coronary artery disease.

6. Avoid trans fats.
Trans fatty acids have been linked to adverse lipid profiles and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. This includes most margarines. The role of other fatty acids, including monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and marine omega-3 fatty acids, remains controversial.

7. Consume alcohol only in moderation.
Moderate intake of alcohol is related to reduction of cardiovascular disease — but may raise blood pressure and increase risk of breast cancer. Early surgical menopause is linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, which appears to be negated by the use of estrogen therapy.

8. Arm yourself with risk-reducing supplements.
Antioxidant vitamin supplements, particularly vitamin E and homocysteine-lowering agents such as folate and B6, have promising roles in prevention of cardiovascular disease, but conclusive evidence may hinge on the results of several ongoing randomized clinical trials. When it is found in unusually high levels, homocysteine brings the same degree of risk as having high cholesterol does. The B vitamins, especially folic acid and B12, will drive elevated homocysteine levels down to normal, often without the need of any prescription medication.

9. Give yourself some new stress-management tools.
Poorly controlled stress may have an adverse effect on blood lipids. An attitude of hostility has been powerfully linked with a higher incidence of cardiac events, and cynical distrust has been associated with accelerated progression of carotid artery disease. Relaxation methods (meditation, breathing exercises), yoga, and stress management techniques are essential for preventing cardiovascular disease and coronary artery disease and for reducing the risk of recurrent cardiac problems. Meditation improves exercise tolerance and decreases electrical changes associated with poor circulation to the heart. Meditation has also been shown to lower cholesterol and reverse carotid artery thickening. Also consider acupuncture, which has been shown to help relax the myocardium and improve circulation.

10. Ask your health professional about herbs and nutritional supplements that may be useful in preventing and treating cardiovascular disease, including:

- Bilberry
- Turmeric (curcumin)
- Fenugreek
- Ginger
- Guggul
- Ginkgo
- Garlic (one garlic clove is roughly equal to 4 mg to 1 gram of garlic; a daily dose of 600 to 800mg may be recommended)
- Onion
- Vitamin B12
- Folic acid (500 to 5000 micrograms daily may be recommended)
- B6
- L-Carnitine
- Coenzyme Q10 (100 to 300 mg daily may be recommended)
- Vitamin E (400 to 800 International Units daily may be recommended)
- Magnesium (200 to 400 mg daily may be recommended)
- Niacin (A typical oral dose of 100 mg, three times daily; may gradually increase to avg. dose of 1 gram three times daily, with a maximum dose of 6 grams. Extended release tablets: Dosing may begin with one 375-milligram tablet at bedtime and be increased by no more than 500 mg per four-week period, to a maximum of 2,000 mg, given as two 1,000-milligram tablets before bed)
- Fish oils (6 grams daily may be recommended))
- Soy (Isoflavones may be recommended))

They say having children changes everything. While it’s unquestionably a remarkable time in one’s life, I can also see how the transition introduces obvious limitations. Suddenly you have dependent beings of life to care for. Responsibility kicks in, compelling you to dedicate a significant portion of your time and attention to the best interests of the little ones. Combine this with the obvious physical and lifestyle limitations that come with age and it seems to me that there are several activities to check off the bucket list before settling down to start a family.

Here’s our list of 70 things to do before having children. For us, it’s simply about conquering as many life experiences as possible. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re getting closer.

1. Live in a high rise condo with an amazing view.
2. Take a month long vacation on the opposite side of the world in a city with a completely different culture.
3. Attend the Super Bowl live.
4. Jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
5. Make love in places you aren’t supposed to.
6. Swim with the sharks.
7. Scuba-dive to a large ship wreck.
8. Audition to be on TV or in a movie… even if you’re just an extra.
9. Throw the house party of all house parties. Supply all the booze and invite everyone you know.
10. Take sexy photos of yourself (keep them somewhere safe).
11. Learn to fly a plane.
12. Become skilled with a musical instrument.
13. Live in southern California for at least a year.
14. Live in the heart of New York City, Chicago, Boston or another major city for at least a year.

15. Spend a few weeks vacationing on the beaches of Kauai with your partner.
16. Surf a Hawaiian wave.
17. Learn to speak a foreign language.
18. Visit the North Pole.
19. Attend The Tonight Show or The Late Show as an audience member.
20. Read at least 30 books.
21. Jump off a cliff into a natural body of water in an exotic location.
22. Go mountain climbing.
23. Go deep sea fishing and learn to filet and cook your own fish.
24. Go horseback riding on the beach with your partner.
25. Drink warm beer out of a barrel in a real Irish pub.
26. Spend a night pub-hopping in London.
27. Stage dive and crowd surf at a rock concert.
28. Take a set amount of money and hit the Blackjack and Craps tables in Las Vegas.
29. Visit a high-end Las Vegas strip club.
30. Embark on a month-long road trip across the country with 3 of your best friends.
31. Ride a camel across a sandy desert.
32. Go white water rafting.
33. Go snowboarding in the Rockies.
34. Get in great shape and enter some kind of fitness competition.
35. Attain a solid understanding of how the government works in your country.
36. Master one particular style of dance.
37. Fall in love.
38. Write a book… even if it’s short and never gets published.
39. Drive through a (somewhat safe) portion of a third world country like Mexico or Costa Rica to gain perspective on what true poverty looks like.
40. Go skinny dipping in a large body of water at midnight.
41. Take a shower under a waterfall.
42. Decide on your current life goals and write them down.
43. Spend New Years Eve in Times Square.
44. Go on a blind date (or a couple’s dinner date with new friends you hardly know).
45. Sleep on the beach under the stars in Key West.
46. Hit up Oktoberfest in Munich.
47. Hit up Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
48. Hit up Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.
49. Experience Spring Break in all its glory in Cancun, Mexico or Panama City Beach, Florida.
50. Catch a ride in a hot air balloon.
51. Rent a fast sports car and speed down the Autobahn.
52. Switch jobs until you find one you truly enjoy.
53. Buy your first house.
54. Own a convertible sports car.
55. Hike the Grand Canyon.
56. Attend a Red Sox vs. Yankees game in Fenway Park.
57. Spend a whole day making love without every leaving the house.
58. Learn to make one mixed cocktail like a pro bartender.
59. Run a marathon.
60. Stand up in front of a large audience and tell a great joke.
61. Shoot a gun.
62. Swim across the English Channel.
63. Bicycle ride down a mountain road.
64. Learn to sail a sailboat.
65. Learn the basics of a martial art.
66. Visit the Amazon Rain forest.
67. Bare all on a nude beach.
68. Master one really cool magic trick.
69. Master a few fancy dinner recipes.
70. Finish up your formal education (but continue learning).