Rene Lynch, Times Staff Writer

As the holiday eating season begins, here are a few tips on how to slash your carb intake and bump up the fruits and vegetables on your dish.

Making a resolution to be healthier in 2013? Here’s a year’s worth of tips for taking small steps to a svelte goal.

The ‘Hungry Girl’ entrepreneur is a genius at finding and sharing low-cal ways to scratch a craving itch. She dishes on her new book, ‘Hungry Girl to the Max,’ exercise and more.

Ben Affleck’s “Argo” seems to be unstoppable.

You’ve heard about the “Wheat Belly” diet, right? Well, technically, it doesn’t exist. Dr.

JoAnn ‘Jo’ Stougaard of ‘My Last Bite’ offers a suggestion for maintaining fitness goals in 2013.

There’s a lot of advice available. A new crop of diet books includes ‘Eat to Live,’ ‘It Starts With Food,’ ‘The Manhattan Diet’ and ‘Paleoista.’

You might not be able to pull together a Thanksgiving table decor à la Martha Stewart, but rest assured you can fold a napkin.

He misses fellow trainer Jillian Michaels but emphasizes the goal is helping contestants lose weight.

Bloggers gather to eat, share recipes and exchange ideas for the holidays.

‘These chefs have more to lose than they actually have to gain,’ says show host Alton Brown.

Emily Zaler’s business card should probably read “mad scientist.”

She got as much attention in tennis for her willowy blond looks as for her playing ability. The new trainer for ‘The Biggest Loser’ says that intense scrutiny will help her when working with the show’s obese contestants.

Lisa Schultz was moved by photos of victims of the African country’s civil war — and determined to do something to help.

It was repeat victories for ABC’s “Modern Family” and AMC’s “Mad Men” on Sunday night as they captured the marquee prizes at the 63rd annual Emmy Awards.

Premium pay channel HBO dominated the nominations Thursday for the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards, earning a stunning 104 nods, including honors for its two freshman series, “Game of Thrones” and “Boardwalk Empire,” as well as the acclaimed miniseries “Mildred Pierce” and the TV movies “Cinema Verite” and “Too Big to Fail,” about the nation’s banking crisis.

“The King’s Speech” was crowned best film at the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday night.

Matt Armendariz has put together the perfect summer guide for fun and easy entertaining: ‘On a Stick!’

The go-to chef who’s guided even Oprah Winfrey on matters vegan is helping to steer the movement in a new, more inclusive direction.

A two-part episode will feature the top 18 hopefuls.

An L.A. contestant on ‘Food Network Star’ spices up the competitive atmosphere on the latest season of the show, formerly ‘The Next Food Network Star.’ Set in and around Hollywood, the season starting Sunday has its biggest field yet: 15 competitors.

Gim’s TasteSpotting website, with 5 million visitors each month, is considered the gold standard of websites that show images of food.

Olive oil bottler Theo Stephan experiments with the oil in dishes as varied as grilled cheese and chocolate sauce.

Former Olympic medalist Rulon Gardner stopped exercising and ate and ate after his wrestling career. Some 200 pounds later, he is changing his ways on ‘The Biggest Loser.’

“The Social Network” and “Inception” also receive multiple nominations.

The Starz show was written as a prequel to bide time while ‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand’ lead actor Andy Whitfield dealt with a medical issue. He has since bowed out of the show, and a new performer will eventually step into his sandals.

“The Social Network” is named top drama, and the film’s writer Aaron Sorkin also wins. Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”) and Natalie Portman (“Black Swan”) win acting honors.

Each week on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” host Alison Sweeney puts contestants through grueling physical challenges, issues beguiling calorie-rich temptations and then weighs them on a scale to determine whether their punishing gym sessions are paying off.

In what will be Jillian Michaels’ final season, two new trainers will be introduced and the show’s most morbidly obese contestant will compete against Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner.

Times critic S. Irene Virbila was waiting for a table at Red Medicine when the manager snapped her photo and told her to leave. It sparked a debate over whether modern critics can — or should — remain anonymous.

The digestif — served with a flourish — is a relaxing tradition that is due for a comeback.

A cupcake camp and cookie bake-off deliver a double dose of delight.

Shauna James Ahern turned a diagnosis of celiac disease into an opportunity to get creative in the kitchen. She writes about her experiences on her popular blog and in a new cookbook, ‘Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef.’

The new Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge in Malibu is already booked through mid-November, despite a troubled debut that would have challenged the most dogged contestant on the NBC-TV show that inspired it.

Food Network show pits seven teams of mobile chefs against one another.

Bloggers spread the gospel about the delights of home canning. And they’re not about to put a lid on it.

The chef keeps his ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ temper in check on his latest TV competition, which celebrates home cooks.

That symbol of retro suburbia is making the rounds again in Southern California.

Three L.A.-area foodies are among the cooks competing to be ‘The Next Food Network Star.’

The tough-talking trainer from ‘The Biggest Loser’ debuts in her own NBC show, ‘Losing It with Jillian.’

The garment no longer symbolizes women’s relegation to the kitchen but their delight in being there.

Some say the prestigious culinary awards seem to have an East Coast bias. L.A.-area chefs have noticed the geographical disparity and are disappointed.

She thought she didn’t even like sweets. But one spoonful of this rich, silky delight, and she was smitten.

Subway, one of the NBC show’s sponsors, will pay Season 8 contestant Shay Sorrells $1,000 a pound to keep dropping weight.

Forget the inspirational. New cooking show tries a much different approach.

The White House chef teams with celeb chef Bobby Flay versus colleagues Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali in a special episode of ‘Iron Chef America’ using ingredients from the White House garden.

Homemade goodies are light on the pocketbook and make wonderful presents.

What to do with all that turkey, stuffing and cranberry after the holiday? Here are some easy options.

The Food Network personality’s Guy Fieri Road Show is part cooking demonstration, part concert. It comes to the Gibson Amphitheatre Dec. 17.

L.A.’s Eric Greenspan, Northern California’s Nate Appleman and East Coast chef Amanda Freitag are finalists.

Ree Drummond’s website has built a following by offering more than just recipes with helpful step-by-step instructions and photos. She also tells a good old-fashioned love story.

Lisa Lillien’s quirky, savvy daily e-mail blast of low-calorie recipes and product reviews has attracted legions of followers.

Teri Gault’s Santa Clarita-based website scopes out supermarket deals for shoppers.

With each season of “The Next Food Network Star” the competitors have grown in sophistication.

With the spinoffs and sponsorships that can come a winner’s way, the Season 5 competition will surely heat up.

Informal L.A. eatery to feature traditional foods inspired by street vendors around the world.

Jim Gaffigan gets offered Hot Pockets wherever he goes.

For this group of L.A.-area gourmands, it’s been 45 years of fun, finesse in the kitchen and, most of all, unwavering friendship.

The star of both ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ and ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ on Fox says worries related to the latter show, featuring real restaurant owners in dire fiscal straits, have given him an ulcer.

Its focus on competition shows over traditional cooking shows meets with success, and other channels are sharpening their knives.

TNT’s new drama series “Trust Me” revolves around the chemistry between Mason and Conner, best friends who find their lives upended at a treacherous Chicago-based ad agency.

Contestants in ‘The Last Cake Standing’ face the kind of rigorous ordeal that feeds a genre’s success.

A sampling of views about parenthood and modern life from a writer who’s turned her blog into a lucrative site on the web.

The actress confirms to Access Hollywood that she’s three months along with Gabriel Aubry’s baby.

Chris Noth’s character will join his onscreen paramour, Manhattan sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker.

The actor is leading a project to build 150 affordable and ecologically sustainable homes in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward.

The strikers say their walkout could be a long one. Some stars drop by to offer support.

The three-day evangelistic gathering, which features Christian rock and last year attracted more than 100,000 people, gets a more somber source of momentum.