It is good practice to periodically take a look at our diets and examine what we are eating. Many people eat different amounts throughout the day depending on their schedules, choice of foods, cravings, and other factors.

Take a look at how much food you are eating and how often you are eating it. Are these mainly processed or refined foods? How many times are you eating fresh or whole grain foods? Do you know what the portion size is for the foods you regularly eat?

These are some questions you can ask yourself when reviewing your eating trends and habits. One area of your diet that you should try to examine is snacking. Most people consider this their pitfall to maintaining a healthy diet. Traditionally snack foods have taken on a “bad guy” role because of the sugary and processed food products that have been marketed and made easy to access.

The good news is recently there have been more healthy, portion-sized snack products made available. You have to look for them closely in the grocery, but some key words to look for:

- “100% Whole Grain”—the 100% is very important to make sure you are getting plenty
- “Baked”
- “100% Real Fruit”
- “Light” or “Low Fat”—make sure the fat isn’t being replaced with sugar.
- “100 Calorie Packs”
- “Reduced Sugar” or “No Sugar Added”
- “Low Sodium”
- And don’t forget you can always snack on the purest snacks like fresh fruit, vegetables, and nuts!

Snacking doesn’t have to ruin your efforts to eat healthy. In fact, if you snack on healthy items, it can actually help your diet! It can keep you from overeating at meal times, keep you metabolism going throughout the day, and can help keep your energy levels from dropping during the day!

The trick is to choose your snacks wisely and avoid eating too much of them. Take a look at some of these ideas to help you get an idea of a healthy snack:
- 2 cups of light popcorn
- low fat yogurt
- 2 cups vegetable soup
- 1 cup trail mix
- Whole wheat English muffin with apple butter
- Smoothie (with real fruit!)
- 5 whole grain crackers with cheese or peanut butter

You can find more ideas for healthy snacks of websites like EatingWell.com or FoodNetwork.com.

If you pay attention to your diet, it can help you live a more healthy life because you will be giving your body the vital nutrients it needs to function efficiently. It is ok to eat a few snacks during the day, as long as you are controlling what you eat and how much you eat.

Remember that snacks shouldn’t make you feel full…they should just keep your stomach from growling!

Microsoft is dropping 240 million dollars to advertise with Facebook. This move will install Microsoft as the exclusive 3rd party partner on the site.

Microsoft beat out Google in a bidding war for the deal and the amount that Microsoft paid for the 1.6% stake in Facebook puts the value of the social-networking site at $15 billion. That’s a lot of cash!

Facebook will be making a major advertising announcement on November 6th.

The creators of FunnyOrDie.com are moving beyond comedy and into extreme sports.

ShredOrDie.com is the new venture of Will Ferrell and his partners.

The site drew considerable attention for bringing A-list talent into the world of user-generated video. They hope to succeed similarly with contributions from skateboarder Tony Hawk and others.

MySpace is collaborating with a children’s imprint of HarperCollins on an environmental handbook coming out April 22. That’s Earth Day!

It is titled “MySpace/Our Planet: Change is Possible,” and will cost about thirteen bucks. MySpace users can submit tips at MySpace.com/OurPlanet.

The online social network has entire online communities dedicated solely to environmental and social causes. The website says this book is just another way to encourage people to take action.

More than 20 years of televised reviews by newspaper film critics Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel and Richard Roeper are available at the Website AtTheMoviesTV.com.

The site calls itself the largest collection of video-based movie reviews online. It features about 5,000 lively discussions of movies that always end with the reviewers’ “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” evaluation.

Visitors can see just how often the Chicago Tribune’s film critic, and his counterpart at the Chicago Sun-Times disagreed on “Siskel and Ebert at the Movies.” They also can watch “Ebert & Roeper,” the newer version since Siskel’s death in 2000.