Our favorite links this week:

Half Spelt Chocolate Cake
"Today I tied on the apron and concocted the mother of all vegan chocolate cakes. I’ve dabbled in numerous different recipes now but I have to say, this one might be the best ever. Light and moist, this cake rings in at only about 100 calories per slice. Heaven, huh? No, this isn’t my official birthday cake—my mom is making me a carrot cake on Saturday! This is my “last day of being 23 cake” and I decided to make it to bring to my parent’s house for dinner this evening. This cake comes together in half an hour flat and is perfect for every day…no need to wait for a special occasion—it's so healthy you could practically eat it for breakfast (and I just might tomorrow)!"
From Eat, Live, Run


Snack Attack (and a Giveaway!)
"It’s 3 o’clock in cube-land. You’re in the post-lunch lull, bored. You’re no longer interested in that Excel spreadsheet you’ve been slaving over for an hour, and you just need a break. More specifically, you need a snack break.

The vending machine is calling your name. Loudly. What do you do so you don’t wreck your waistline? So you don’t get that sugar spike quickly followed by that horrendous crash? Hitting the machine once every now and then won’t wreck your life, but planning your snacks ahead will keep you from scarfing those plastic chocolate Donettes or satisfying your sweet tooth with a pack of M&Ms.

Here are a few snacks that have landed on our FBG desks recently, and we had to share."
From Fit Bottomed Girls

Katie’s Healthy Bites: Pantry Must-Haves
Katie Cavuto Boyle, a finalist on "The Next Food Network Star” and a registered dietitian, shares her pantry staples with Healthy Eats.

"A healthy pantry is the building block for any wholesome meal. For some inspiration, I wanted to share a peek inside my kitchen’s pantry. This is what I always have on hand so I’m prepared on busy days when there’s not a lot of meal-planning time."
From Healthy Eats

Skip It: Triceps Kickbacks
"Sometimes referred to as "bingo arms," the back of the upper arm can be toned and tightened by working the triceps. Unfortunately, most of us chose to do kickbacks to work the muscle group, and this might not be the most effective way to work your triceps."
From FitSugar


In the Long Run, Boomers May Discover That Racewalking Is the Way to Go
"There's a running gag in my family that goes like this: We'll be driving through some neighborhood and come upon one of those women (it's always a woman) power-walking down the sidewalk. You know the type: wildly exaggerated stride, arms pumping furiously, sometimes with a small weight in each hand.

"Dork walker!" one of my kids will cry out.
Sometimes it's me who does that.
Okay, it's usually me.
I think I might have to stop now."

I think I might have to stop now. For I have met some walkers, and they make a pretty good argument about why I might be joining them in the not-too-distant future."
From the Washington Post

Will dumping high-fructose corn syrup make Starbucks fare healthier?

"Starbucks, according to an article from Reuters, will revamp its food offerings at the end of the month. It'll have more salad. Phase out food dyes and artificial flavorings. And get rid of that whipping boy of the sweetener family, high-fructose corn syrup, in the majority of its baked good offerings.
According to the article, "Reworked baked goods that will debut at month-end include Banana Walnut Bread, which is made from 11 ingredients -- a number closer to home-made, a reduced fat Very Berry Coffee Cake that is 20 percent fruit, and an organic blueberry bar that was previously available only in the Pacific Northwest and a handful of other markets."
The Center for Consumer Freedom, a restaurant trade group, doesn't think much of this. In a statement, it says: "Beet sugar, cane sugar, and corn sugar are 100% equivalent in all nutritional aspects. An apple fritter is an apple fritter, not health food. And no matter what Starbucks' marketing whiz kids say, it will still have 420 calories and 20 grams of fat.""
From the Los Angeles Times

Customers Prove There’s a Market for Fresh Produce
"But will people buy them?

Vegetables, that is. Certainly on Wednesday afternoon, an urgent line formed at a cheery new produce cart that had materialized at the corner of East Fordham Road and Decatur Avenue near Fordham University in the Bronx.

“These strawberries look great, and they’re a bargain,” said Michelle Cruz, a 38-year-old graphic designer who lives nearby and found herself jostling other produce hounds under the cart’s jaunty green umbrellas.

The cart’s debut was the centerpiece of the first public celebration of a new citywide effort to encourage street vendors to bring fresh vegetables and fruit to low-income neighborhoods that have been called “food deserts” because of the predominance of fast-food outlets offering high-fat, high-sugar fare and the dearth of healthful culinary fare."
From the New York Times

Aside from the dailySpark, where do you get your healthy lifestyle news? What stories caught your attention this week?