Salute the Sun

As I wrote over the Winter, I'm one of those people who is really affected by the lack of sunlight.   As the Winter solstice approaches, all I want to do is go into "bear mode," and sleep all day.   Getting out of bed in the dead of the night is a huge challenge for me, and by early afternoon, I usually find myself wanting to take a nap. 

The exact opposite is true as to the Summer Solstice.   As the days get longer, I find myself waking up earlier and staying up later.   The sun is up around 5 am these days, and I'm up and out of bed with it.

The Summer Solstice for me is kind of like another New Years.   It's a time to make new resolutions for eating healthier and finding ways to be more active during the day.

And, because I'm not in "bear mode," I generally find these resolutions easier to keep.  

This year my Summer Solstice resolutions include recommitting to raw food.   I was really, really good for quite a while in keeping at least 50-60% of my weekly diet raw, but that seems to have slipped some over the past 6 months.  I'm resolving to not only eat at least 60% raw over the week,  but even go higher than that to 75% now that summer is here and all kinds of fresh, locally grown, fruits and vegetables are available.  

I'm also recommitting to reducing my refined sugars and grains.   My sweet tooth, unfortunately, tends to get the best of me, and I've been eating far too much white bread.  

Getting back into a daily yoga practice, again, is also on the list.   I was really good at this for a while as well, but lately there have been days when I didn't even fit in a 10 minute practice.   So it's back on the mat again for me.

BTW, in the Ashtanga yoga tradition, its traditional to do 108 sun salutations on the Summer Solstice. 

The Dollar Menu

What a buck gets you calorie-wise.

Check it out here if you're having a hard time reading it.

Selfish Giving

From the annals of completely ridiculous comes this:

Get that???? Buy a super huge cup of a sugar-laden cola and KFC will donate $1 to fight juvenile diabetes.  

Now, according to the blogger who posted this, that cup of cola you're buying to donate to this cause contains a whopping 800 calories and 56 spoonfuls of sugar.

Am I living in some kind of alternative universe?   Is it, or is it not, unbelievable that some company would encourage it's patrons to buy a product that will likely lead to their someday being diagnosed with diabetes to support a group that funds research on diabetes?

Now I realize that Juvenile diabetes is different from Type 2 diabetes in that juvenile diabetes isn't caused by excess sugar intake or obesity, but, the two conditions are related.  It just looks bad to slap a "diabetes" fund-raiser promotion of a mega huge cup of sugary chemicals.

And, what, may I ask, would ever induce people at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to sign off on this????  Are they really that desperate for funds?  

The blogger states it well:

I’ve said this before: I don’t have a problem with nonprofits and fast-serve chains doing cause marketing. What I do have a problem with is when fast serve chains like KFC encourage consumers to buy products that directly contribute to the health conditions – in this case diabetes – they are supposedly trying to prevent by partnering with the cause in the first place.

I'll have to clarify again that juvenile diabetes is not caused by excess sugar intake, but what the blogger missed is that someone with juvenile diabetes cannot drink this caloric disaster because of the sugar.

Wouldn't it have been nice if the promotion was actually on a product that those affected with Juvenile diabetes could have partaken in?    Or, even better, on a product that was actually healthy for the entire customer base of KFC?  

Mental Health Break

Hat Tip to thewwchick over at Leading the Weigh.   

I always appreciate how comedy often gets the point across better then actual reasoning does, and this cartoon clearly hits the nail on the head.

You can't take things too seriously, although I do believe that obesity in America is a serious problem.   And, as this cartoon highlights, the problem is caused by overeating of over-processed foods.

Well done.

No Envy Here

Just a reminder that, despite what Sarah Palin says, our health-care system is not the envy of the world.    

The conservative prime minister of Great Britain is promising citizens that the British socialized medical system will not be converted to an "American style" insurance based system.  

Seems that talking changes to the British Medical system to make it more like ours is akin to talking about converting our Social Security system to 401(k)-like savings accounts--sure to get you voted out of office.

I'm bringing this up as just a reminder about how our perceptions of ourselves don't always accord with reality.  

In my "real life" I actually spend a lot of time writing and researching about health care systems both here and abroad, and I'm always shocked out the blatant misperceptions that Americans have about our health care system.   I'm also always shocked at how they perceive health care systems in other countries.

The reality is that we have the most expensive health care system in the world that delivers some of the worst outcomes for a broad range of ailments.   Our waiting times for most procedures are no better then in other countries.  You'll wait just as long to get an MRI here as you would n Canada.

Furthermore, it's a myth that Canadians travel to the US for medical care, and the fact is that one of the biggest sources of fraud in Canada is Americans pretending to be Canadians to Canada to get health care services there.   

If you don't believe me, check out stats from the OECD and Canada. 

We tend to think that our system is "the best" because there are a lot of financial interest who want to keep our system as it is, and they spend a great deal of money on propaganda.

Propaganda tends to rule the day over reality, and realizing that propaganda is propaganda is the first step in losing weight.

Health care claims on food is nothing but propaganda.    If something claims its good for you or will make you thin, it's more likely than not that it won't.    There's money to be made by selling you junk food, and businesses will do whatever it takes to sell you that junk food.

Bottled Earth is Good For You

Ever wonder what happened to the Biosphere 2 Experiment?

For those who don't know, or are too young to remember, Biosphere 2 was an experiment to see how self-supporting stations in space might work.   Starting in September 1991 a group of self-proclaimed "bio-nauts" lived in a sealed, self-sufficient, three acre complex for two years.

As part of the experiment, the Bio-nauts had to grow and raise their own food.   The complex was equipped with an area to grow crops, and their were food animals such as chicken and fish as well.  But, because the bio-nauts were scientists with little back-ground on growing crops or animal husbandry, there was less food available then originally expected.
Between the diminished calories and the hard labor needed to raise that food, all the bio-nauts lost significant amounts of weight.  They were described as "starving" and "guant."

But although the Bio-Nauts starved their health actually improved.   Their health was closely monitored, and, in the end:

When the crew emerged from the experiment after two years, the project was judged by the media to be a failure. Early in the second year, carbon dioxide levels had risen so high (twelve times that of the outside) that the crew were growing faint and Walford asked for more oxygen to be pumped into the structure on two occasions. The Biosphere had proved not to be a self-sufficient, autonomous world as it would need to be if it were to become a base station on another planet. In 1999, by which time the Biosphere had been taken over by Columbia University as a research center into the effects of climate change,Time magazine judged it one of the hundred worst ideas of the twentieth century. But Walford’s experiments with diet, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in December 1992, were judged a success. The bionauts not only showed dramatic weight loss (stabilizing at an average of fourteen percent overall), but also lower blood pressure and cholesterol, more efficient metabolisms, and enhanced immune systems.

Now, as the article showed, these people were pretty much always hungry, and actually resorted to things such as stealing food.   It's interesting to note, however, that despite the fact that they all came out "gaunt" they were actually in better health then when they weren't "starving."

Now, I wouldn't recommend sealing one's self up in an hermetically sealed, self-contained, eco-system as a way to lose weight, but it does demonstrate that part of the problem today is not lack of food, but the over-abundance of it.

We can survive on less food (although constant starvation is not a state anyone wants to be in), than we think we need.   But food is being overproduced in this country and because we over-produce food in this country, those excess calories have got to go somewhere.   The somewhere has turned out to be our hips, thighs, and stomachs, to the detriment of our overall health.

Cleaning House--Going Digital

It's that time of year again.  I find myself inexplicably drawn to emptying closets, throwing out piles of paper and hauling car-loads of stuff to Good Will.

Maybe is the warm,weather.  Maybe it's because there's more hours of day-light so I'm more aware of the clutter.   But, for whatever reason, I feel compelled to de-clutter my life.

This year the big clean up was going digital.   Believe it or not, until last week, I still was using a FiloFax to schedule all my appointments and keep names and addresses.   For those of you who don't know a FiloFax is an organizer and way back in the 1980's it was considered, the chicest, most up to date, way to keep all your contacts, appointments and other information.   Instead of buying Apps on-line at the Apple Store, you would go to stationary store and buy inserts for your FiloFax.  I once had a NYC Subway map and a ruler inserts in my FiloFax.

I also had a couple of Rolodexes strewn around the house.  One Rolodex originally dated back to my first legal job out of law school.   Often, e-mail addresses where on the computer, phone numbers in one Rolodex, and addresses in the FiloFax.  I even had some phone numbers on my cell phone that weren't written down anywhere.

But, two weeks ago, I got an iPhone, and I resolved to finally move all my appointments and contacts to iPhone and Computer. 

I went through my address book and sadly noted the friends that had moved and I no longer had contact with, yet there they were in my book listed with a phone number and address that no longer applied to them. 

Then, there were the relatives that died but their information lived on in my address book.   I went through my address book page by page, and only entered the contacts that still existed in my life into my computer.   In a way it was sad to leave those old names behind.

Then I went through the Rolodexes.   The Rolodex in my office had contacts that I hadn't contacted in over 20 years, and trade and business organizations that either were no longer in existence or which had long merged out of existence.   The New York City shop where I bought my son's layette 17 years ago was in another Rolodex, even though I remember noting it going out of business over 10 years ago.   Business cards stuck into the Rolodexes were gone through and discarded if not current or listed businesses never used and unlikely to be used.

It was a pretty laborious process and took hours upon hours to complete.

But now its done, and, in its own way, cleansing.

It feels good to see clean spaces were unseemly looking Rolodexes once sat.   I also no longer have sticky notes everywhere noting down those phone numbers that for some reason never made it into the address book or Rolodex.

It's also more efficient.  I know longer have to remember to bring my "book" with me to make appointments or else have to make follow up phone calls since I always have my calendar with me on my iPhone.   I also don't have to always hope I remember to call "so and so" once I get home because all my numbers are now on my iPhone.   I can call someone and schedule and appointment as I sit in the car dealership waiting for them to change the oil in the car.

Doing a cleanse is kind of the same thing.  I just wrapped up another short cleanse this week, and, in a way, it's similar to cleaning the house.   It's work, and maybe takes some extra time, but, in the end, I always feel that it was worth the effort. 

You is who You is--Accept it and Be the Best You Can Be

Before we were married, my husband and I went out to a bar with a friend of his.   At some point in the evening, this tall, willowy, model-type creature strolled into the establishment with her long, straight, platinum blond hair flowing half-way down her back.

I felt a sudden stab of jealously as all the male eyes (and most of the female as well) in the bar went to this being as if drawn by a magnet, since I was (and am) pretty much the complete antithesis of this goddess--short, curvy with curly brown hair.

My husband's friend made a comment about how "gorgeous" this ethereal image was, to which my husband replied "she's not really my type."  His friend then retorted "Of course not, you only like short girls with boobs and big butts."

I then looked over at my then boyfriend, future husband and thought, "OK, now I see the attraction."

I thought of this as I was reading a recent special issue of Yoga Journal called Yoga for Weight Loss.

There were a couple of articles I found of interest (sorry but the magazine is not on-line so I can't link to it.)   The first was called Start Where You Are and details how heavier people can start and continue practicing yoga.   In it, the author wrote, "For large folks interested in exploring yoga, it can be helpful to explode the myth that good health comes only in thin packages."

I know this to be true.  Through the years I have had many larger friends who were active and healthy.   Their body type, however, pretty much dictated that, like me, they were never going to be built like Gwyneth Paltrow.  

The other article I read with interest in this publication was Love Your Body--It's the only one you've got, and, no matter how different it may look from your ideal, it's doing its best to serve you well.

I think the tag line pretty much says it all.

I've realized a long, long time ago that no matter how much I diet and exercise, I'll never be a tall, willowy blond.   I'm a short, curvy, brunette and will always be a short, curvy brunette (despite a brief period when I was indeed blond).

But, just because I'm a short, curvy brunette, doesn't mean I can't be the best short, curvy brunette I can be.    I can still watch what I eat, exercise and be fit and healthy.     

And, while there are plenty of guys who would love to be with that tall, willowy blond, one of the most special guys in my life (the others being my Dad and my son) actually prefers being with a short, curvy brunette with wild, curly hair.

And, that's all that matters. 

Blogger Problems

Blogger seems to be having one problem or another these days.   The latest snafu is that I can't comment on my own blog (although I can comment on other blogs).  I've tried responding to several of your comments for a few days now with no luck.

Hopefully, the problem will clear up soon.   Until then, please understand my silence.

Splaining Sugar

I found a really great article explaining how different sugars effect the body, how you become sugar dependent, and the difference between processed and unprocessed sugars.  Read it here.    (BTW, isn't this illustration fantastic?)

I found this article particularly interesting because I just had a discussion about sugar with a fellow sweet-tooth the other day.   I was explaining how I managed my longing for sweets by eating both fresh fruit and dried fruits (dried apricots and dates are always in my house for when I just got to have sweet).  

My friend looked at me and said "but you're still eating sugar, isn't sugar just sugar?"

But, as I explained to her, and this article explains as well, not all sugars are created equal.   Natural sugars found in there natural states don't have the negative effects on your health and weight that processed sugars do.  

BTW, here's a great "raw" berry tart for dessert for this time of year.   I make this all the time and everyone loves it.   Plus, it's so easy to make, and takes less then 15 minutes to put together.

First take an equal amount of pitted raw dates and raw pecans and process in a food processor with a couple of tablespoons of water until it's sticky and you can pat it into a pie plate.   Pat this "dough" into a pie plate then fill with whatever fresh berries are in season.  I've used various combinations of raspberries, blueberries, sliced strawberries and black-berries.

If you want to be decadent (and no longer "raw") serve with either fresh whipped cream or ice cream (just a small dollop or scoop!!).   

I swear that people love this dessert and haven't a clue they're eating healthy (or, at least mostly healthy if you use the whipped cream or ice cream).   I once brought this dessert to a party, and one guy ate practically the whole tart before anyone else was able to get any.  

 

Eat Your Plate.

In case you didn't hear, the US government has a new food icon for eating well.   Marion Nestle has a great blog about it here.

I happen to think that this new icon is a huge improvement over the food pyramid. 

Let's face it, when you looked at that pyramid did you have any idea how much of each food group you were supposed to eat?? 

With the plate, it's all so much clearer.  The majority of your diet should be plant based, with a little meat and dairy on the side, not vice versa.

Still, as Nestle points out, there is room for improvement.

But at least it's a step in the right direction.

 

Husband's Away so It's Detox Time

Since I'm trying to a few pounds and because I believe that cleansing is an overall good thing, I'm starting a detox today.
My husband left on  a business trip yesterday morning (Sunday) and won't be back until late Tuesday.   I generally find that cleansing while he's away is easier then when he's home.

When my husband first told me about this business trip two weeks ago, I thought it would be great to do a serious deep cleanse, like a juice detox.   I thought I could start it Sunday when he left and carry it through to Wednesday.

But then I realized I had a dinner out scheduled for Saturday and a fund-raiser last night, so I couldn't do the necessary "prep" work for a serious cleanse (which involves going off sugar, caffeine and meat, dairy, eggs and fish prior to starting).

So, I'm repeating the light cleanse that I did this Winter and blogged about here.   I brewed up the special tea yesterday, and am committing to eating nothing but fresh fruit and vegetables all day.   I may try to juice cleanse tomorrow into Wednesday after I've had a day to "clean out" my system, but this is probably a good strategy given my constraints.

 

The LIME Diet

I'm on the LIME Diet to lose weight.  LIME stands for "Less Intake More Exercise." 
Fad diets come and go, but I've found that the one and only way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat less and exercise more.   Period. End of story. 

I've tried fad diets.  I've tried taking "magic" supplements and pills.  But neither fad diet nor magical concoctions ever led to permanent weight loss for me.

I've been trying to keep that in mind as I reorganize my life to lose the pounds that I've put back on, and to keep them off once I lose them again. 

Now the "More Exercise" part of the equation isn't a problem for me, motivation wise.  I happen to love to exercise and could really do it for hours a day.  Unfortunately, I can't.  I have kids, a husband, a job and a house.   So as much as I love to spend whole days hiking, biking, practicing yoga, etc., I just can't.  

But I do manage to get a fair amount of exercise in every week because I love to do it.   I walk at least five days a week, practice yoga at least 3 and Tai Chi at least once.  I also started working out with a personal trainer once a week.   Plus I ski, hike and cross country ski whenever I can.

No, for me the issue is one of less eating.  I love to eat. 

I am lucky in that I'm a somewhat picky eater,and that saves me on many an occasion.

Passing a McDonald's is easy for me because I just don't like the food.  Never did.  When I was a teen-ager when my friends were ordering Big Macs and Shakes, I'd just order a diet soda.

I'm also good with passing up junkier processed foods for that reason.

I also don't like foods such as Ham, hot dogs, bacon and many kinds of beans.  If I'm at some one's house and they serve ham, I'll pick at it to be polite, but it's pretty easy for me to leave it on the plate.

But, I do love sweets.  You can put a bag of Oreos in front of me and I wouldn't feel the least temptation to reach in and grab one.   If, however, you put a plate of fresh, home-made or bakery-fresh, chocolate chip cookies in front of me, I'm going in. 

I also just love good food in general, and tend to overindulge when I'm in a good restaurant or at some one's house who really knows how to cook (and, being that I'm Italian, we have a lot of good cooks in my family).

But, I realize that I have to step back, breath, and just eat less.   I have to remember portion control, and that while I can taste, I shouldn't gorge.

I have to keep the first part of the LIME diet in mind whenever I eat--Less Intake, and hopefully that will lead to less me.

New Beginnings--Non-Dairy Smoothies

As I blogged the other day, I've put on a few pounds.   One of the things I've discovered since I've hit 40 (and I'll be 50 in a few months) is that not only is losing weight a bitch, but just maintaining it is even a bigger bitch.  

It can take me an entire month to lose 2 pounds, and then I'll put those two pounds back on in 2 weeks.  

It takes constant vigilance to make sure that I don't gain any weight and if I do put on a couple of pounds those 2 extra pounds doesn't turn into 5 and then 10 pounds.  

So, when the scale hit 5 extra pounds I realized I needed to rethink and revitalize my overall eating and exercising plans.  

I fell off the weight-maintenance wagon food-wise because I got bored.    You go into new eating habits with such gusto, but then before you know it you're in a rut and looking for a little excitement.  

I've always allowed myself to go "off diet" occasionally to enjoy a minor indulgence.   Those "occasional" indulgences have become a bit too frequent of late.

My busy social calendar and unwillingness to draw attention to myself also did me in.  I believe in not being a "Food Pain in the Ass" at social events.  Nothing bugs me more then people expecting special treatment because they don't "eat meat" or are on the latest restrictive fad diet.    I believe that if someone invites you to their house or you go to a social event you either eat or don't eat what's presented and shut up.  The only time I think you're justified in getting special treatment is if you have real food allergies, etc.

I used to be very good at the just "not eating" thing.   I would go to some one's house and usually be able to fill up on vegetables and avoid the high calorie stuff.   If I knew the food options most likely would be nothing but processed junkier food, I'd eat a big salad before going so that I would be less tempted by the wide array of crap.  These days, however, I'm not so good.   Not terrible, mind you, but not as fastidious as I used to be.

So, it's time to regroup, reevaluate and revitalize.

I need to get out of my food rut.  I've been eating pretty much the same standard fare for breakfast and lunch for several years now.  For breakfast I have my "standards" of oatmeal, fresh fruit, juice or eggs.   Lunch at home is always a salad, and pretty much the same exact salad every day.

So, do get myself out of the rut, I thought I'd start with creating a new breakfast option for myself.

Now, I've never been much of a smoothie person, primarily because most smoothie recipes I'd seen rely very heavily on milk and yogurt.   Since dairy doesn't really "agree" with me these days (I'd be bloated and gassy for the rest of the day if I started my day with a standard smoothie), I decided to experiment with a non-dairy version.

Basically, I've been combining bananas, berries and almond milk in my blender with some ice cubes.   This morning I blended:

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, strawberries and raspberries
1 very ripe banana
1 cup almond milk
1 1/2 cups ice cubes.

The flavor of my new breakfast concoction is actually quite good, and the smoothie fills me up enough to get me through my entire morning (which always includes yoga, a walk or a personal training  session).

So, now I have a new menu option.  The only problem is that making smoothies has me seriously wanting a new blender.   I've been lusting after a Vitamix blender for years, but have never felt comfortable enough to make the financial splurge (Vitamix blenders start at $499 in the Williams-Sonoma catalog).

However, if the smoothies help me to stick to my weight loss/maintenance goals and lose the weight a bit faster, maybe I'll reward myself with a new blender????

Probably not, but maybe the next time a financial windfall comes in.

Shout-Out to a Great New Blog

A local yoga studio owner has started her own blog, and her opening salvo chronicles her struggles with food addiction.   It's worth a read. 

Here's a short sample of what she has to say:

"I actually know exactly why and if you have like twelve more hours I could tell you the whole sad fucking story that led me up to this very moment while I STILL stuff my face in a futile attempt to feel better, still chasing the high that I felt when I was 5 hiding in my closet eating a can of cake frosting...still trying to fill the this hole to no avail, none whatsoever. After a few years I figured out that figuring out why was just as empty as the food itself, which is just as empty as the lack of something inside me.

Oh don't get me wrong, there is the momentary glee as the chocolate hits my tongue and the temporary thrill of a Quarter Pounder with cheese, super sized fries with two apple pies (and, of course, a diet coke ‘cause I don't want to drink all that sugar!? fucking insane person), but the thrill gets shorter and shorter and harder to find. Which makes me have to eat more and more to try to find something to fill me up. The more food I consume, the more I am consumed by food. Nothing is ever enough or hits the spot. It is endless and pointless and utterly devastating--to me, to my son, my husband, and my world around me. This is where I learned I am powerless and when I dive down the rabbit hole, my life becomes completely unmanageable...they call this hitting bottom:"

Visual Reminder

I know I've posted this before, but I keep needing to remind myself to get out of the car more and move. 

Be Prepared for alot More Gastrointestinal Problems

House Republicans do not want to fund a new law meant to cut back on food born illnesses.   Furthermore, if that wasn't bad enough they also want to cut an additional $87 million from the FDA's budget, expect to hear about a lot more people getting sick from the food they eat.

While the whole Washington Post article is worth a quick read, here are some of the repercussions of not funding the law and cutting the budget:

"The proposed budget cuts would also hinder the FDA’s ability to increase scrutiny of imported foods, according to food safety advocates. The new law requires the FDA to create a system of third-party certifiers to ensure that food coming into the United States meets the same safety standards as food produced domestically. Without additional funding, the FDA cannot create that system, said Erik Olson, director of food and consumer product safety programs at the Pew Health Group, part of a coalition of public health advocates and food makers.

“These cuts could seriously harm our ability to protect the food supply,” said Olson, who is hoping the money will be restored by the Senate, which has not proposed its spending plan.

The House subcommittee also proposed a $35 million cut to the Food Safety Inspection Service at the Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for the safety of meat, poultry and some egg products."

Hey, I get it--we're in the middle of a deficit crisis and money has to be saved.  By why subject millions of American citizens to disease and possibly death, yet refuse to touch the military budget?   Or how about that aid to Americans farming abroad (talk about sending jobs overseas!!), that was mentioned in the Post? 

Losing Weight is a Bitch, and Gaining it takes No Effort at All

I've put on 5 pounds.   At the beginning of April I weighed 129 pounds.  Yesterday I stepped on the Scale and I weighed 134 pounds.

Since I'm so small, five pounds is quite a lot of weight for me, and I'm already having problems with the fit of some of my clothes.

How did it happen?

Well, probably the biggest culprit is less exercise.   I've had a history of issues with my hips and knees, and for the last few months they've really been acting up.  I've been curtailing my walks somewhat because of the pain by walking fewer miles over the course of the week.  I've been trying to make up the calorie burn in other activities.  I've been gardening quite a bit-often one to two hours a day, and I've been working out with a personal trainer once a week.   But I guess nothing else burns calories like a good walk or a run.

Second, I haven't been as fastidious with my diet as I should be.  In particular, I've been eating more meat and dairy and fewer vegetables than I really should.   I also haven't been eating as many raw fruits and vegetables as I should.  

The problem is that my social calendar tends to explode in late April, and with all the fund-raisers, parties, barbecues, etc., I've let my eating habits slide back into bad patterns.  They're probably still good in comparison to others, but not as good as they need to be to prevent weight gain.

So, rather than beating myself up, I think I'm going to try to plan a good cleanse to get my eating habits back on track, and rethink my exercise patterns to take into account my joint weaknesses.

Losing Weight is a Bitch, and Gaining it takes no effort at All.

Don't Drink Calories--It's the Alcohol Sweetheart.

Boy, Blogger has been really having problems and is still has problems.  I have not been able to log and blog for two days, and was only able to do so today through extreme measures.  Plus, I still can't upload images.  But you don't want to hear about that.

Years ago when I was just out of law school and working at my first legal job, I befriended another young lawyer. We went out to lunch frequently.  She always watched what she ate, and pretty much impressed me as someone who exercised regularly.

Despite this, over the course of our first year working together, I watched her steadily gain weight.  One day she complained to me that none of her clothes were fitting, and said she didn't understand why she was gaining weight.

We put our heads together to try to see what could be causing the weight gain. She was still exercising, she said, more so to counter-act all the sitting she now had to do for work.   She ate well, and watched her calories, more so, she said, because she was gaining weight.

Finally she revealed that it had become a habit to meet friends after work and have a couple of cocktails.

That got bells ringing and we immediately set off to figure out how many calories were in the cocktails she was consuming.  This was in the days before the Internet, so looking this kind of stuff up meant actually finding books and researching.

It was indeed the cocktails.   Turns out that a martini has 235 calories in in.  A frozen margarita can have anywhere from 250 to over 750 calories.   Long Island Iced Teas, which were really popular in the 1980's, have 292 calories.  

So if my friend was otherwise eating and exercising to the point that her calories in equaled what she needed to maintain her weight, if she was having 2 Martini's a night that put her 470 calories over her "limit."  Since it only takes 3,600 excess calories to gain a pound, that meant she was putting on an additional pound just about every week.

My friend learned her lesson, she went on a diet, cut out the alcohol, did some additional exercising and eventually dropped the weight (we were in our 20's back then so it was much easier).    I wouldn't call her a tea-totaler afterwards, but she learned her lesson about drinking calories. 

I bring this up, because the the FDA is considering having alchoholic beverage labels disclosing calorie content.

I'm all for this (as I am for calorie labeling in general), because, it's information I want to know.

I enjoy a glass of wine now and again, and a few times a year I enjoy a cocktail (I detest beer which I always thought was a good thing).    When I do, however, I realize that I am imbibing excess calories and plan accordingly, i.e, I eat fewer calories elsewhere or do some additional exercise. 

Knowing exactly, how many calories I'm drinking, will make it a lot easier. 

Blogger Trouble

Sorry for the silence, but I've been having trouble with Blogger.   It hasn't been letting me sign in.  If this works, I'll try posting something of substance.

The Future of Cafeteria Food

If you've read my blog for a while, you know I have issues with the food served to kids in school cafeterias.   I firmly believe in laying the groundwork for good eating habits when kids are young helps to prevent weight problems in the future.  

School is, after all, where we send our children to learn so that they can be productive members of society, and it behooves me that they often fail on the nutritional end to teach them healthy eating habits by serving them crap food in the cafeteria.  

So I found this blog from Mark Bitman of the New York Times interesting.   In it he discusses the future of cafeteria food by actually eating the food.  It appears that the cafeteria food he reviews is not just for kids, but I found myself agreeing with many of his insights, like this one:

"I have some issues with Meatless Mondays, a campaign developed at Johns Hopkins, because too many dishes that might have once featured meat contain prodigious amounts of cheese. (Portobello mushrooms are also in abundance, and that’s a great thing.) This substitution of cheese for meat isn’t universal, but it occurs frequently enough so that the main message is lost. The way to follow a diet that’s more sustainable for both body and planet is through eating plants and unprocessed food rather than animal products and ultra-processed food; substituting a cheese-heavy sandwich on white bread may send a somewhat beneficial “eat-less-meat” message, but it doesn’t send the same one as a salad or a vegetable stir-fry. Nor does it do you or anyone else any good."

I'm also praying that this company that Bitman wrote about succeeds:

Bon Appétit Management Company, the brainchild of Fedele Bauccio, who founded the company in 1987 after a long career in food service, has gotten a fair share of well-deserved positive publicity. The chefs (and even the cooks, many of whom prepare the food they serve) have broad, independent powers, the food is locally sourced whenever possible and the company has committed — not just given lip service to — sustainable seafood, cage-free eggs, fair labor practices, antibiotic-free meat (when possible), a reduced carbon footprint in general, and a huge proportion of not only vegetarian but vegan options (their use of cheese has actually declined in recent years, a company-wide goal).

Furthermore, they do real, from-scratch cooking — no “bases” are used for stocks or sauces, soups, salad dressings and salsas are made from scratch, and even much of the lemon juice is fresh-squeezed. At one operation, the yogurt is made on premises. At Roger Williams, Rhode Island-grown potatoes are peeled and cut for frying, which puts the café ahead of many of the country’s top restaurants. (If you’re going to eat fries, this is the way to go.)

This is cafeteria food that you actually want to eat, food that deserves to be served with wine. At each of these operations, I ate from the same line as the students, and sampled a fantastic vegetarian muffaletta sandwich, vegetable-stuffed crepes, Indian “burritos” with spinach and tofu, tacos more reminiscent of Los Angeles than New York, stir-fries made to order and in-season, from-the-farm asparagus, turnips, lettuce, herbs and more. I can only imagine how good these cafeterias are come July.

Bitman also addresses the cost factor by writing this:

This is in general true of real cooking: you spend less on ingredients, because you’re not buying “value-added” junk — but you have to work a bit harder. To have this happen in the cafeteria, one of the most despised of all American institutions, is downright inspiring.

What he is saying is prophetic.  The argument that school districts cry that they can't "afford" to feed our kids better food is just nonsense because unprocessed foods cost less then processed foods do.    The only additional cost is labor.    So, the costs would no doubt equalize out.  

Never Believe Health Claims

Just another reminder that you should never believe the health and/or weight loss claims of processed foods and beverages.  In this case, Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Juice. 

What's the Cheapest Way to Eat?

One of the more disturbing arguments I hear regarding America's exploding obesity problem is that eating a mostly plant-based diet is simply too expensive for lower-income people.   Veganism and vegetarianism is limited to the bourgeoisie, we're told, because they can afford it.

So I found this chart intriguing:

According to the website were I found this chart the bottom line numbers are based on grocery store prices, and hypothetically, the vegan saved $1,280 on food over the course of a year.

Here's what the authors had to say:

We recognize that it’s possible to lead a non-vegetarian life on a budget–and to eat expensively as a vegan–but we noticed one general, interesting trend. The most inexpensive foods are often plant-derived products, like carrots, oatmeal, and vegetable products. Plant proteins such as tofu or garbanzo beans, meanwhile, tend to be much cheaper than their equivalents in animal protein. The cheapest cuts of beef average about $3 to $4 per pound, while lentils and dried beans are generally less than $1 per pound and tofu is less than $2 per pound.

They also noted that:

Processed foods are the foes of a well-balanced budget not only because they tend to be the most expensive, but also because they’re also often the least healthy. This rings true for vegetarian processed foods as well, like soy hot dogs or pre-packaged veggie burgers, which can be even more expensive than regular turkey dogs or burgers.

Here are my thoughts.   I pretty much knew this all along.   Filling up a family on meat is expensive.  It's just an age-old truth.  My Italian grandmother always told us how meat was reserved for special occasions because they simply couldn't afford to eat it every day. 

I've also noted that, relatively, I spend less on the weekly food budget by sticking to a mostly vegetarian menu.   Once I start making meat for dinner, the price per person per meal goes up rather steeply. 

Try it yourself.   Track the cost of ingredients for meals and you will see that making a pasta Primavera or Rice and beans for dinner costs a whole lot less then pork chops.

Second, of all, the savings come from buying and preparing your own foods.  Once you start letting others prepare you food for you, the reverse is true--meat eating becomes cheaper.  Vegetarian and vegan options tend to be more expensive when you're buying prepared food at restaurants and take-out places.  

In fact, it always pisses me off that if they put a bunch of vegetables in a bowl and label it a salad, it's usually more expensive then a bunch of meat slapped inside of a roll.   I know that the ingredient costs of the vegetables in the bowl is less at the grocery store then the ingredient cost of the meat on the roll, but the restaurant still charges me more.  

There seems to be some unwritten restaurant rule that those seeking vegetarian options should be "taxed" for the privilege of eating a bunch of raw vegetables, and I don't understand why.   Does it piss off the chef that I choose to eat a bunch of raw vegetables that day and the pricing is a way to make me pay for the insult?

Now, I don't advocate becoming a complete vegan or even vegetarian.   I'm an omnivore myself, but I've recognized the hard truth that if I want to maintain my weight (and I'd even like to shed a few pounds at this point), then I have to eat a mostly raw, vegan diet. 

I guess the one piece of good new is that, as long as I prepare my food myself, I can actually save money doing so. 

Are You Pouring On the Pounds?

This ad is from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.    It's part of Mayor Bloomberg's campaign to fight obesity.

I love it.  It's simple, and tells the truth in such a great visual way.   The brown liquid is pouring out of a bottle that is obviously meant to represent Coke, and transforms into globules of fat.

Yesterday, my son's special ed classroom hosted a luncheon for parents.  It was sweet.  The kids prepared and baked lasagna, salad, cookies and fruit salad for us (I was happy to see the salad and fruit salad), and then read little poems to us.

To go along with the food, there was an assortment of beverages including soda, and some questionable, sugar laden fruit punch.  While the other kids (and many of the adults) went for the soda and fruit punch, my son went straight to the bottle of Poland Springs Water (didn't even have bubbles in it).     Even when one of the aides offered him soda, he turned it down.  

Considering that understanding the concept that soda is unhealthy for him is beyond my son's cognitive capabilities (he's autistic), I'm so proud of the fact that I've raised my children to prefer straight old water above any kind of sugar laden drink.   

It took me years to wean myself off of junk beverages.    My parents allowed us to drink soda, and by the time I was in College I had a serious Tab addiction (remember Tab?).   I've been "clean" for over ten years now, and couldn't fathom the idea of drinking a soda or diet soda anymore.  Like my children, it just seems natural to head for the water, whether it comes from the tap or a bottle.  

Loving Our Bodies at Every Age

Patti Davis, the daughter of former President Ronald Reagan, wrote a very insprirational piece for More magazine.  In it she discusses her journey from drug addiction to loving her daily work-outs.   If you're the kind of person who needs some motivation to exercise, I recommend reading what she has to say.

Her journey from drug addiction, to posing nude for Playboy Magazine when she was 42, to posing nude again for More at age 58 got me thinking about how exercise can fill the voids that many of us tend to fill with drugs, alcohol or food.

Here's what Davis says about her drug addiction:

Not yet because when I looked in the mirror, I still saw the girl I’d been for so much of my life. The girl who had fallen willingly into the deep and dangerous waters of drug addiction. I was 15 when I discovered both pharmaceutical amphetamines and tiny white tablets of speed, concocted in home labs or garages and sold on the street. The sound of pills rattling in a bottle was a lullaby to the pain in my soul. Over the years, I went on from speed to coke, and by the time I was in my twenties, I was in trouble. My body was wasted, my muscles thin and barely visible.


I did finally quit, late in my twenties, grabbing onto some rope in my heart that I hadn’t even known was there. A stubborn determination took over, a buried part of me that wanted to survive. I resolved to work my way back to health.

And here's what she says about working out:

WORKING out has remained a priority for me. It’s as natural as washing my face or brushing my teeth. My body is the house I live in, and I’ve never stopped trying to make it better. I don’t understand the common attitude that after 40, you might as well just accept that your body is going to sag and fold and expand in unflattering ways. Really? Our muscles are actually pretty democratic; if we work them, they’ll respond. I also don’t understand the attitude that who you are on the inside is all that matters. Obviously our interior landscape is profoundly important, but we are integrated beings; we don’t have to make a choice between interior and exterior. One has a lot to do with the other.


I recently turned 58. My kickboxing teacher, who has known me for almost 20 years, recently commented, sort of in passing, that my body is in better shape now than when I posed for Playboy. I heard him, but I was concentrating on my spin kicks, so I put it on the back burner of my mind. That night, I stood in front of the mirror and thought, He’s right. My muscles are leaner, longer, more defined now, and I felt again a sense of victory over the years of abuse I’d subjected myself to, and also over the huge amount of time I’d wasted on addiction. With every workout, I feel as if I’m winning back lost time.

BTW, here's what she looks like at 58:

Cheesy Goodness for Dinner

It's been a pretty dismal week in New England.   It's been constantly raining, and we haven't seen the sun since Saturday.

Yesterday, when deciding what to make for dinner, it suddenly occurred to me that I wanted something with cheese.   I don't know why, but I just needed something kind of comforting and warming, and then it hit me that a Croque Monsieur would fill the void perfectly.

Now, I know what you must be thinking, how does Croque Monsieur fit into a lower calorie, healthy diet?   Well, it's always been my motto not to deny myself something as long as it's made with fresh, real ingredients, and I don't OVERINDULGE.   

It's OK to have a Croque Monsieur, as long as I regulate the portion size and balance it out with a nice big salad.  

I made my Croque Monsieur open-faced, so I only used half the bread.  I also used a nice, crusty, whole-grain boule, and went easy on the cheese and Bechemal sauce. 

Finally, at least for me, I used no ham.  I used ham on the sandwiches for the rest of my family, but I happen to not like ham, so I've pretty much always substituted tomatoes instead when I make Croque Monsieur for myself (so essentially I'm making myself a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich).

So, here's what I did.

First, I pre-heated the broiler.  Then, I thinly sliced the boule and toasted the slices on a baking sheet under the broiler (you have to turn the slices mid-way to get them toasted on both sides).   I grated approximately 6 oz of good Gruyere cheese, and sliced a tomato.   I also chopped some fresh parsley for sprinkling on the sandwiches.

I whipped up a Bechamal sauce by melting 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and whisking in 3 tablespoons of flour.   After the flour and butter were thoroughly combined I added one cup of hot milk (I poured the milk into a  measuring cup then nuked it in the microwave to warm), salt, pepper and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and whisked until the mixture became thick and smooth.

Then, I assembled the sandwiches.  First, I spread a little dijon mustard on the toasted bread, and topped with either sliced ham or sliced tomato.   I topped that with a little of the Bechamal sauce and the grated Gruyere. 

The sandwiches went back under the broiler until the cheese was melted and bubbly, then I pulled the sandwiches out and sprinkled with parsley.    A big helping of salad with a light vinaigrette finished off the meal. 

By the way, Croque Monseiur takes less then 20 minutes to make, and it's something even the fussiest kid will eat (I know, my daughter hates EVERYTHING), although you may have to leave the parsley off (which I do for my daughter). 

Sore All Over

It's a rainy, damp, dismal day here in Connecticut.  In fact, it was a rainy, damp, dismal day yesterday, and according to the forecast is likely to stay that way all week.

The only good news about the rain (besides the plants getting a needed soaking), is that its forcing me to take a break from gardening.   As is usual for this time of year, I've been gardening rather heavily.  

Last week, it was perfect gardening weather--not too hot, not too cold and dry (I will admit to being a fair weather gardener.)  I took advantage of the good weather to plant dozens of new annuals, perennials, vegetables  and shrubs, haul around large, heavy bags of manure to mix into the soil, and spread quite of bit of mulch to stop the weeds.   I also fertilized, tied sprawling vines to supports, pinched back peonies, mixed and sprayed deer repellent and performed a multitude of  other minute garden tasks.

The end result of all that gardening activity is that I ache all over.  On Friday, I went to my usual Ashtanga Primary Series led class, and had to make all kinds of modifications to take into account sore, unyielding muscles.


Exercising to the point that you're sore, is not really a good thing.   In yoga we say that you should only practice to the point that its comfortable for you to practice again the next day.   But the reality is that if you engage in an activity that utilizes muscles you don't ordinarily utilize, you're going to be sore. 

One thing I learned a long time ago, is to not stop exercising just because muscles are sore.    If I've overstressed myself one day to the point that I'm sore the next, I just take a little ibuprofen, apply a little heat or ice, stretch out a bit and take it a bit easier.   A nice hot bath with Epsom salts, if I can find the time, also helps.   Continuing to exercise doesn't make me any more sore, so it's no reason to stop completely. 

But, I'm still welcoming the lousy weather this week as an excuse to take a little break from gardening.  

   

Strawberries for Weight Loss

There's a farm up the road from me that grows and sells the most incredible, intense tasting strawberries every June.   The strawberries in the supermarket are good, and have a vaguely strawberry taste to them, but the strawberries I get from this farm are on the small side and the concentrated strawberry flavor explodes into your mouth when you bite into them. 

Every year I wait impatiently for this farm to start selling their strawberries and mourn when the season is over.  

During the brief interlude of their growing season, I make it a point to get up to the farm once, if not twice a week (the strawberries don't keep well, only lasting a couple of days in the refrigerator).   I eat the strawberries raw (in large quantities), make strawberry short-cake and tarts.  I also bottle a home made strawberry vinegar, toss them into salads, and even eat them with sliced with a sprinkling of really fine balsamic vinegar (a really amazing delicious combination it turns out).  

Thanks to the wonders of modern transportation and refrigeration, I eat strawberries year round, and that, it seems, is a good thing.   Strawberries, it turns out, can also help you to lose weight.   Here's how:

"The ellagic acid and anthocyanins found in strawberries aid weight loss in at least three ways:


1.Chronic inflammation blocks the hormones involved in keeping you lean. Anti-inflammatory foods like strawberries help restore normal function to weight-reducing hormones.

2.Anthocyanins actually increase the body's production of a hormone called adiponectin, which stimulates your metabolism and suppresses your appetite.

3.Both ellagic acid and anthocyanins slow the rate of digestion of starchy foods, controlling the rise in blood sugar that follows a starchy meal. This effect is used to control blood sugar in people with adult-onset (Type 2) diabetes."

Gee, and I thought that they just tasted good and were low in calories for their bulk--raw strawberries only have 49 calories per cup.

All She Does is Yoga

Proving that if you want to be in fantastic shape, yoga is the way to go.  



I love that she chose to teach Conan side crow with a jump back to chatturanga, and he actually attempts it. LOL!!

It's Back!!!!

Blogger was off line for most of the day, and now I don't have time to blog.   

What I made For Dinner Last Night--The Eggs Have It

It's egg time.  Being that I live in a somewhat ex-urban part of Connecticut, I have a lot of friends who raise chickens, and they always seem to have far more eggs then they can ever use.  I'm also fortunate enough to have several farms nearby that raise their own chickens and sell the eggs.

For those of you who don't know a lot about chickens and egg laying (now I'm not professing to be an expert, but this is what I'm told), chickens pretty much stop laying eggs when it gets cold, and then begin again once the weather warms up.  

So after a long Winter's drought, I have friends calling and asking if I'd like a dozen or so fresh eggs.

Needless to say, every Spring I usually start moving eggs up in the meal rotation.  

A couple of years ago (has it really been that long?) I blogged about Mark Bittman's More Vegetable Less Egg Frittata Recipe.   The concept is simple, you load up a pan with vegetables, and then just let the egg act as a binder.   Instead of eggs with a little vegetable, you get vegetables with a little egg.

Bittman inspired me to come up with my own versions of his More Vegetable Less Egg Frittata.  What goes into the pan is usually inspired by what vegetables are in season, and whatever I have in my fridge.   Also, to further refine Bittman's healthy vision, I substitute half egg whites for whole eggs. 

So here is what I did last night (sorry but I didn't write down exact amounts).  Earlier in the day I had stopped by a local farm stand that sells fresh eggs from their own chickens, asparagus they cut right out of their field, along with other fruits and vegetables.    I bought some eggs and an assortment of other fresh vegetables, along with a locally made goat's milk cheese the farm also sells.

First I sauteed some chopped red onion in olive oil in my big cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. I steamed two big bunches of chopped, fresh picked Asparagus and added them to the pan.   Then I chopped up a couple of tomatoes I had on hand (not from the farm), and added them with some balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to the pan.  I cooked everything down for a while then added chopped fresh arugula to the pan and cooked until it was wilted.  

I then whisked together 5 whole eggs and five egg whites with the goat's milk cheese which I crumbled into the mixture.  I added the egg/cheese mixture to the pan and cooked for a few minutes, then I placed the pan in a pre-heated 350 degree oven, and cooked for another 20 minutes.

I served the fritatta with a crusty, multi-grain bread and a big salad on the side (salad greens from the farm as well).   It was pretty yummy, if I do say so myself. 
  

Whose Heart Attack is it?

Forget the deficit, culture wars or immigration.  You have to wonder about the state of our nation when one restaurant files a lawsuit against another over who's sandwiches are more likely to induce heart attacks. 

Call me silly, but shouldn't no one want to make such a thing?   Particularly when the 29 year old, 575 pound spokesman of one of those restaurants died from eating too much of that establishment's fare?  

But then, frankly, I don't know which is worse, that the restaurants advertise this stuff, or that, apparently, the marketing works and people want to eat this crap?

I just don't get the logic.  Some restaurant advertises that a meal is completely unhealthy, and likely to kill you, and that makes it desirable????   I don't like anorexic looking models, but why would you want to eat at a restaurant who's spokesperson is pushing 600 pounds?

Sitting is Deadly (and making you fat)

Amazing infographic:


Via: Medical Billing And Coding

The Shady World of Marketing Junk Food To Kids

I think this is a must read article for anyone who's a parent, grandparent or plans to be one. 

For anyone out there claiming that we don't need any legislation regarding advertising to children, consider this:

Marketers use sophisticated child psychology to help children leverage "pester power," effectively nagging their parents to buy them the desired item (and often playing on parents' guilt for not having enough time to spend with their children).

 The article also discusses that while watching TV and childhood obesity is linked, it's ONLY linked when there are commercials for junk food.  If there are no junk food commercials, then there is no effect on children's waistlines.  It also points out that self-regulation is a failure, with most of the cereals being banned from advertising in the UK, where they do have laws regulating what can and can not be advertised to kids.

As a parent, I have taken a stand against junk food in my house.  I don't claim to be a purest, but my kids don't drink soda, and sugary cereals are a rare treat.   However, there are many parents who, frankly, don't have the stamina or desire to stand up to their kids, and we do have a national crisis going on here.   It's time to put junk food in the same category as cigarettes and alcohol and limit when and where they can be advertised.

Easy to Grow, Delicious and Good for You

I was happy to read this morning that two of my favorite herbs to grow in the garden are not only delicous to eat, but good for you. 

Sprinkle parsely over your pasta, and you boost your anti-oxidents.   Make a batch of salsa with plenty of cilantro and you can cut your cholesteral and get a little detox going (just don't eat the salsa with chips!!). 

Right outside my kitchen door I have a little garden where I grow both herbs every year.  It's one of my greatest pleasures in the summer to be able to just hop outside my kitchen door and snip as much Parsley and cilantro as I need for whatever I'm cooking.

Parsley is as easy as sin to grow.  You can either sprinkle some seeds in the ground or just buy plants, and you'll have parsley for the whole season. 

Cilantro is a little trickier.  It also grows readily from seed, and you can easily find plants.  Cilantro, however, only really lasts a few weeks before it goes to seed, so you have to keep sowing seed or buying plants all summer to keep it around.

One of my favorite ways to eat birth parsley and cilantro is in the morning on top of my eggs.    Both cilantro and parsley, however, are good sprinkled on just about anything, so I'm constantly use them throughout the year (although I have to buy them in the Winter and early Spring).   And,  tabbouleh is the perfect summer side salad.  I gave a recipe for it here. 

What Happened to the Top Exercise Trends of the 80's?

I got a good giggle over this.   My knees are still punishing me for taking all  those step and high impact aerobics classes.   And, the clothes we wore to work out back then!!!!   LOL!!!  

Take a look at the link, and tell me which trend you followed in the 80's (I'd also like to hear about your favorite 80's work out garb).    

Off With Their Heads!!!

I wouldn't say I'm an organic gardener, but I do garden "organicish."   On my vegetables and herbs I totally avoid any non-organic pesticides and herbicides (although I am a huge fan of Miracle Grow fertilizer which is non-organic).  

With the lawn, flower gardens etc. my goal is to be as organic as possible, although if I get some really nasty rust or fungus, etc. running rampant through the garden that doesn't respond to organic remedies, I have been known to resort to an Ortho fix.   I also sheepishly admit to using Round-Up to kill the weeds in the cracks in my walkways and driveway.

As anyone with a lawn knows, Dandelions are one of those quandary weeds.   You have to admit that the flowers are kind of pretty and cheerful, and if they would only contain themselves, I'd happily host a few plants in my lawn.

But it's that containment issue that presents a problem when it comes to Dandelions.   Left undisturbed, dandelions are kind of like the Napoleons or Hitlers of the weed world.   They'll attempt to take over your entire yard if you let them.

Now, because I garden "organicish" I don't like to use weed-killers.   However, I do try to control the dandelions I have from reproducing. 

There's an old garden saying that "one year of seed means seven years of weed."  In other words, if you let a weed go to seed, you increase your weeding exponentially.   So while those yellow disks are kind of pretty and sunny, once they turn into those big, white billowy balls of seed, you have a problem.

So, my methodology of dealing with dandelions is rather simple--I contain them.   First, I encourage my daughter to "pick the pretty flowers" for Mommy, but making a big deal of any bouquets she brings to me and putting them in a vase.  A bunch of dandelions in a small vase is actually rather pretty.

I also work to eliminate the plants themselves whenever I can.   Years ago, I found this great weeding tool called  "Weed Hound."  It has a long handle and works by you stepping on it to pull the weed out.  You don't have to bend over so it's somewhat relaxing to walk around the yard yanking the dandelions out of the lawn.  In the Spring and Summer I'm often out once or twice a week walking around the yard "Weed Hounding" the dandelions out of the lawn.

Additionally, I often find that the weekly lawn-mowing helps contain the Dandelions.   Just as their big sunny heads emerge, along comes the lawn-mower to lop them off.

Right now, here in South-Eastern Connecticut, we're in prime Dandelion season.   They seem to come out in full force all at once.   In particular, my property fronts a state highway, and since we're on nearly two acres, I have a very long, narrow strip of property between the highway and my property fence in which pretty much nothing but dandelions can survive and on Monday that strip was a sea of yellow.

So, you can imagine how happy I was when my lawn mowing service came on Monday to mow the lawn, and the dandelion flowers out of existence.  But there was a problem.  The lawn-mowing service forgot to mow the dandelion sea by the highway.

Faced with the prospect of potentially billions of white, fluffy dandelion seeds wafting over the fence into my lawn, vegetable and flower gardens, I knew I had to take immediate action.

So Tuesday afternoon I headed off to the tool shed where I keep my cordless weed-whacker.  That afternoon I spent 45 minutes going from one end of the dandelion sea to the other, diligently lopping off the head of each and every dandelion until all that was left was a field of green studded with decapitated yellow disks.

Throughout the task, I kept telling myself that not only was I doing my garden good, but I was doing myself good as well.     According to this calorie calculator I burned approximately 257 calories saving my yard from dandelion decimation.  

And, that's the same with any garden chore.  When you garden you move and when you move you burn calories and when you burn calories you lose weight. 

So I guess calling them gardening "chores" is kind of a misnomer.  Maybe I should call them "health club alternative exercises" instead.

It's Not All Just About Calories

Not all calories are created equal.   New research shows that certain foods can actually suppress appetite, leading to you eating fewer calories. 

For the research, published in the journal Physiology & Behavior, scientists at Purdue studied the effect of just half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper on a group of 25 diners.


While hot red pepper has been studied before as an appetite suppressant, this study was notable in that it compared people who liked spicy food with those who did not. At various times, diners were given a bowl of tomato soup laced with a half teaspoon of pepper, plain tomato soup, or plain tomato soup with a supplement of red pepper in pill form.

The effect was greater among diners who didn’t regularly consume spicy meals. Among that group, adding red pepper to the soup was associated with eating an average of 60 fewer calories at the next meal compared with when they ate plain soup. For both groups who ate red pepper in food, the spice also appeared to increase the metabolism and cause the body to burn an extra 10 calories on its own.

“We found that when individuals consumed the red pepper in the soup rather than the supplement, they burned more calories,” said Mary-Jon Ludy, who conducted the research as a student at Purdue and will join the faculty of Bowling Green State University. “There is something special about experiencing the burn from the red pepper.”

I always find this kind of research interesting because, I believe, that if this is true then the reverse is true as well--i.e., eating some foods make you want to eat more.  

It's all about satisfaction.

Even Liposuction Doesn't Zap Fat

It turns out that even with liposuction, the fat comes back, within a year, although in a new location.

Here's what happened:

In the study, the researchers randomly assigned nonobese women to have liposuction on their protuberant thighs and lower abdomen or to refrain from having the procedure, serving as controls. As compensation, the women who were control subjects were told that when the study was over, after they learned the results, they could get liposuction if they still wanted it. For them, the price would also be reduced from the going rate.


The result, published in the latest issue of Obesity, was that fat came back after it was suctioned out. It took a year, but it all returned. But it did not reappear in the women’s thighs. Instead, Dr. Eckel said, “it was redistributed upstairs,” mostly in the upper abdomen, but also around the shoulders and triceps of the arms.

My take, the fat may have been removed, but no one actually changed their eating habits, so, the fat came back.
So, once again, the lesson learned is that there is no easy, permanent way to lose weight.  The only thing that actually works is changing your eating habits for the rest of your life, and committing to an exercise and increased movement regime for the rest of your life. 

Jack Sh*t's Wacky Aunt Paula Deen

LOL.   If you're not reading Jack Sh*t's weight loss blog, you should be.  

Jack, thanks for the head's up on Paula Deen's diabetes.  It was bound to happen.   My favorite Deen "creation" was a hamburger, cheese and fried egg on a buttered (yes, buttered!!) Krispy Kreme donut.   

Change Your Work-Place and Keep the Weight Off

I found this kind of interesting.   Apparently, a study was done showing that some simple changes at the work-place can keep employees from gaining weight (although nobody lost weight.)  Here's what the article had to say:

The researchers report on the impact of environmental interventions at several Dow Chemical Company worksites. They found that simple, low-cost interventions — for example, encouraging workers to take the stairs and making healthy options available in vending machines — helped to avoid employee weight gain.

Getting rid of junk food and encouraging people to just move a little more?  Makes sense to me. 

And, as I always say, just not gaining weight is half the battle of losing weight. 

Can we get Healthier Movie Theater Pop-Corn Please?

Something I didn't know but just learned.   The new law mandating that chain restaurants post calorie counts will apply to movie theaters concession stands.  As you can imagine, movie theaters are not happy about this, and are fighting the new law.

Could it be that when people start seeing that an average sized bag of movie theater popcorn with butter contains 1,480 calories that they'll think twice about ordering it?   I know I did when I first learned the facts. 

I've blogged about the horrors of movie theater popcorn before, and I'm excited by this rule for one reason.  I stopped buying popcorn in movies because its such a caloric disaster.  I hope and pray that the new rule will lead to movie theaters offering a healthier, lower calorie, popcorn alternative for those of us who want to watch our weight.  

I miss munching on a bag of popcorn at the movies, and if they would just offer an alternative, I can go back to happily tossing back the  kernels in the dark. 

You Know You Have a Problem when . . . .

You know you have a problem when you have to tell your kids they have to hide their Easter baskets to keep Mommy from pilfering all the chocolate out of them.

I can leave the Peeps, the Jelly beans and other candy alone, but when you put chocolate in front of me, I eat it.   Yesterday, I told my kids to hide their Easter baskets from me. 

Just for Laughs

 Hat Tip to Britbabe.  Click on the comic to get a better view and the full effect. 

When Is a Salad Not a Salad?

Not a lot of time to comment today, but I read this and posted it primarily because of this line: 

Seems as though dieters are so busy avoiding a long list of "forbidden" foods that they're failing to take note of what really matters: the product's ingredients, not the marketing hype.

Bon Appetit?

One of my "must sees" while I was in Washington was Julia Child's Cambridge kitchen recreated at the Smithsonian. 

Some background.  When Julia Child moved back to her home state of California in 2001, she donated the kitchen from her Cambridge, Massachusetts, home (from where she broadcast three cooking shows) to the Museum. The exhibition features the actual kitchen, including the cabinets, appliances, her Garland range, cookbooks, kitchen table, and hundreds of utensils and gadgets.

It was fascinating to peek into the actual working kitchen of one of the world’s best-known cooks, and explore how her influence as an author and host of several television series changed the way America cooks.

The first thing that struck me was how small her kitchen was.  It only measured some 14 by 20 feet.   I'm so used to seeing gigantic McMansion kitchens, that it brought me back to the reality that it really doesn't take much space to create a superb meal.

Viewing Julia's kitchen also got me to reflect on her influence, and I sometimes wonder if that influence was all good.

Now, I adore Julia Child.  I'm one of those people who has cooked her way through a good part of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I also have several other of her cookbooks, and they are fabulous resources.

But, the problem with Julia is that she was trained as a professional chef and the cooking techniques she taught were the kind that professional chefs used.

Julia set the standard of cooking shows, and that standard, I'm afraid, oftentimes scares more people away from cooking then brings them to it.

Now I grew up in a big Italian household and was taught by my grandmother how to cook.  Nana never used a recipe.   She mixed an egg and flour together and if the concoction looked like it needed more flour she'd add it.   Her cooking was organic in the sense that there was never the need for a measuring cup or spoon.   Dinner was often based on whatever was in the refrigerator or growing in the garden.    There was never a "set" way to make anything from tomato sauce to cookies, but somehow or another everything came out of her kitchen tasting delicious.

Julia Child, on the other hand, was a proponent of scientific precision in her cooking and recipe development.   I have to say that her methodology was pretty much faultless.  Every recipe works perfectly if you follow her recipes to the letter.  

But, that legacy has led to a generation of cooks believing they can't cook unless they follow a recipe exactly, and that if some ingredient or another isn't available, then the recipe can't be made.   It's led to people believing that to make dinner, they have to first go to a store, recipe in hand, and doggedly go up and down the aisles until that list is filled.   Then they have to go home and meticulously chop, prep and measure.  

That can be exhausting.

We've lost something in the last 30 or 40 years, and that's a certain knowledge base of just knowing how to cook stuff without someone telling us how to do it.   That's led to people cooking less, and that in turn has led to people ordering in, taking out and eating out more.   This, in turn, has led to the obesity epidemic in this country.

Julia, I loved you, but see what you wrought?

Fat is Contagious?

I'm posting this more because I thought it was interesting.  I certainly don't think it's dogma. 

While the article notes that being around obese people is more likely to make one obese, I think the article leaves out one major factor.   Food is social.   When we socialize, food is just about always involved, and if the people we're socializing with are overweight or obese, chances are they're not serving carrots and healthy dips.   They're also less likely to take you to an organic, vegetarian restaurant (or appreciate you taking them there).

I've preached before that if you're losing weight you can't go it alone.   Like it or not you have to bring your entire family with you onto the lower calorie/healthier eating track, and even I will admit that its not easy.  I'm still constantly battling my husband over food issues.  But I have gained some ground over the last few years, and my entire family is better off for it. 

That's not to say that the work is not over.   My kids are as vegetable adverse as anyone else's, and getting my husband to make healthier choices in restaurants is proving nearly impossible.   But, I have gotten my kids used to the idea that candy and ice cream are occasional rewards that are almost never kept in the house, and my husband no longer throws a fit when presented with a meatless meal. 

And, I've lost weight and kept it off in the transformation.  

Hotels are Nice, But . . . .

I just returned from a short family trip to Washington, DC.  

It was great.  We got to see the oDeclaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of rights, as well as the White House, Capital, Washington & Lincoln monuments, and spent time at the Smithsonian as well.

It was the first time we stayed in a hotel as a family in years.   Generally we rent condos or houses when we vacation, but the nature of this trip pretty much demanded we stay in a hotel.

I have to admit, you can really get spoiled when you stay in a hotel.  No matter how big a mess you leave the room in, when you come back it's all picked up and straightened out with the beds made up and new fresh, clean, towels in the bathroom.

And, I have to admit, not having to cook for a few days was a nice change of pace. 

But, by not cooking, particularly for breakfast, I really got to see how many people eat, and, I have to say, it was difficult for me to imagine why people would want to eat that way.

The first morning, we wanted to get to the National Archives early, so we bypassed the hotel's breakfast buffet.  Not only would it have been expensive (at $15 a person), but it would have taken too much time, and buffets just lead to overeating, so I wanted to avoid that.

So we headed off to an Au Bon Pan.   All I can say is Thank the Lord for calorie labeling!!!    I looked up at the menu of breakfast options in dismay which for the most part would have blown too many of my allowable calories for the day.   I was at a loss as to what to do when I noticed a "new offering" of egg whites, cheddar cheese on a "skinny" whole wheat bagel.   It topped out at 290 calories, still more then I would like to consume at breakfast, but tolerable.  

My husband, kids and I all ordered our various selections and then waited, and waited, and waited some more.   The Au Bon Pan was packed with what looked like young professionals all waiting for their breakfasts as well.  

We got our breakfast sandwiches and then dashed off to the National Archives to eat them on line.

The experience once again had me scratching my head as to why people insist they don't have time to cook.  I could have cooked up a batch of eggs, toasted rolls,cleaned up and gotten all of us out the door in less time then it took to order and wait for this "fast food" breakfast option.

Not only that, but the "eggs" in these sandwiches were questionable.   They were rubbery, somewhat slimy, and far inferior to what I generally make. 

So, if I had access to a kitchen I could have made breakfast quicker and the product would have tasted infinitely better.  

Of course, I was staying in a hotel and had no option.  But I have to presume that all those young professionals ordering and running out with their egg, ham and cheese on a croissant had access to kitchens.  Did they really need to consume the excess calories and God  knows what extra chemicals every day?

I think not. 

And, you can't argue that the people I saw weren't regulars.  Some greeted the staff by name, and judging by the speed in which they came in and filled in their orders, others definitely knew the routine.

The next morning we headed out to Starbucks and I was thrilled to find that they sold fresh bananas, so I got  2 fresh bananas with my Grande Cappuccino with skim.  After my slimy, caloric-fest the day before, it was nice to get back to something akin to my normal breakfast routine.

Away we Go!

The family is taking a short jaunt down to Washington, DC, so I won't be blogging for the next few days.

Stand Up!!

Turns out that sitting could be bad for you.   A Swedish study found that too much sitting, and not just lack of exercise, contributes to heart disease and other bad stuff.