Love your health this Valentine's Day 2014

Love your health this Valentine's Day 2014

Valentine's Day is filled with love, but part of what makes it so sweet is the excessive amount of chocolate consumed.

Unfortunately, the "it's a holiday" excuse is far too prevalent on Valentine's Days Gift 2014. This also often leads to the "it's a weekend" excuse and other reasons to skimp on the healthy foods and gravitate to unhealthy ones. Keep on track this Feb. 14 with a few simple hints.

Be aware of high-fructose, artificially manufactured sweets. Valentine's Day is prolific for its high sweet-consumption and while eating some sugar is completely acceptable, try and make sure it's the right kind.

Some store bought candies are better than others. Conversation hearts and Fun Dip are almost entirely made up of colored sugar and you would have to run over a mile to burn off the number of calories in one fun size box of sweet hearts. Hershey's Cookies and Crème bars (white chocolate) don't even have chocolate-just oils and sugars. In addition, stay away from calorie rich Twix, Reese's cups, tootsie rolls, and butterfingers.

Many schools have a "Valentine's box" system where, at a designated time, kids walk around giving candy and Valentine's to everyone in the room. Usually, these boxes are filled with fun-size Twix, Valentine themed M&M, or FunDip. However, not all candy is created equal, and there's no disadvantage to handing out healthier options such as lollipops or three musketeer's bars.

Give your kid chocolate with nuts to pass around, as they have many healthy fats and are more filling than sugary artificial chocolates. Another great option is hard candy. Even though they are mostly sugar, they take a long time to eat and are low in calories. Even better, you could provide non-food options like pencils or themed erasers.

With those who are close to you, do away with the candy in Valentines gifts this year. We all appreciate the little gifts from friends exchanged on Valentine's Day and appreciate it even more if it doesn't pack on the pounds. Try spreading the love with little gifts instead of sweets chocolates. For example, holiday socks, heart-confetti nail polish, rose lotion, or festive hair ties are all great goody bag gifts.

Finally, when it comes time to bring in food for your child's Valentine's Day school party, don't be afraid to sneak in a healthy option. Store bought cupcakes are packed with calories and artificial ingredients. Instead of that last minute run to a grocery store's bakery, try some simple, delicious, and healthy options. Try a strawberry smoothie, raspberries with Nutella filling, heart shaped hard boiled eggs, or simple heart shaped strawberry cutouts.

Try these suggestions for a happy, healthy, and love-filled Valentine's Day!

A Beyonce-themed dinner? 5 unique Valentine's Day meals 2014

A Beyonce-themed dinner? 5 unique Valentine's Day meals 2014

For some, Celebrate Valentine’s Day 2014 is all about love notes and stuffed teddy bears. For others, it’s the perfect excuse to indulge in a pricey three-course meal, followed by an impossibly large box of chocolates. And why not? It was known as the “feast” of St. Valentine, after all.

V-Day is the second most popular holiday for dining out (Mother’s Day wins that prize), and last year, one-quarter of Americans were expected to eat in a restaurant with their loved ones, according to the National Restaurant Association. Even President Obama managed to take the first lady out on the town.

As the holiday falls on a Friday this year, there should be no shortage of diners willing to brave crowded rooms and unusually expensive menus for a candlelit culinary experience. But while there are so many restaurants offering special V-Day menus this year, there are a few that stand out for creativity.

Here are five unusual options for Valentine’s Day feasting:

Diners whose love for Queen Bey rivals their love for their significant other may want to check out Brucie’s Beyonce-themed dinner in Brooklyn, which includes cleverly named dishes like “I Am Pasta Fierce” and “Jay-Ziti.” Of course, patrons will get to nosh to the sounds of Beyonce and Jay-Z all night long.

“My general manager, Megan, and I were thinking of what we could do for this year’s Valentine’s Day to make it special,” Brucie owner Zahra Tangorra told . “We looked at each other and naturally thought Beyonce. She’s having her moment now, and we’ve been listening to her record nonstop.”