If it Claims to be Healthy, then it's not really Food

"A health claim on a food product is a good indication that it's not really food." That's a quote from Michael Pollan that I just came upon.

As usual, Pollan gives sound advice.

If you come across something in the grocery store which claims it's good for you, then it's probably the worst thing you can eat.

So, the lesson is, avoid buying or eating anything with a health claim attached to it. Stick to simple foods with one ingredient, and if you buy things in packages (like pasta, cans of beans etc), then make sure you can easily recognize every ingredient listed on the package.

The Worst Foods In America 2009

You have got to love America. Where else could you walk into a Blimpies, order a veggie (yes veggie) sandwich and have it come it at a whopping 1,100 calories? And that's not the worst of it as chronicled in That'sFit's Worst Foods in America 2009. Check it out here: http://www.thatsfit.com/2009/12/03/worst-foods

How about a kids' meal that comes in at 1,110 calories? That's what they get if you head into Chili's for their Pepper Pals Country Fried Chicken Crispers.

Think you're doing OK if you order salad? Well TGF Fridays' Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad comes in at 1,360 (and the company won't divulge the fat or salt content in their food).

The fish tacos at On The Border come in at 2,440 calories (that's my entire days calorie allowance plus an additional 770 calories).

Want to get an appetizer? Well, it's probably best to avoid Uno Chicago Grill's pizza skins which come in at 2,400 calories. Even if you split them, that's 1,200 calories.

Thank you Wosnes!!

More on Mario Batali's weight loss from people magazine: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20336520,00.html

The pasta dish sounds yummy. I'll have to try that one night this week.

Set Your DVRs

Michael Pollan will be on the Oprah show on Wednesday, January 27. I'm setting mine.

Way to Go Mario!!!

One of my favorite celebrity chefs Mario Batali has lost 45 pounds by going vegetarian until dinner and getting half portions in restaurants. The vegetarian until dinner route is the same one used by food writer Mark Bittman (who co-hosted with Batali this great road food trip show through Spain).

The message is clear. If you really, really want to lose weight and maintain it then EAT MORE VEGETABLES and EAT LESS JUNK.

It's that simple.

Read about Mario here: http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/01/how-mario-batali-is-losing-weight/

It's That Simple

A great old chestnut from Jack LaLanne:




I just love the illustration of "Miss Doer." The gal has got some curves!!!!

Way to Go Michelle!!!

I don't mean to get all political here, but frankly I've been less than pleased with the Obama presidency. The prolific spending (not that Bush and the republicans were any better), the inability to get any meaningful legislation passed, the failure to get us out of two crazy wars, and his not doing anything meaningful to repeal DODT or DOMA, have all left me less than enamored.

Not that McCain would have made me any happier, particularly since having Palin that close to the presidency would scare the bejeezus out of me (I'm sorry, but a minimum requirement for me for my leaders is that they believe in science and not mythology.)

But when I read something like this: http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/01/michelle-obama-fights-childhood-obesity-with-new-initiative/ I am happy that Obama is president. It's fantastic that Michelle Obama is taking steps to address the problems with Childhood Obesity in this country. Her message is a good one, we need to keep kids away from sugary, nutrient-less process foods, and show them that good, healthy habits start at home.

Something tells me that Cindy McCain never would have promoted healthy eating for children (although Kudos to Cindy for her anti-prop 8 pic).

I can only imagine what the conservative media's reactions to Michelle's efforts will be. My God, Glenn Beck had a fit when Baltimore schools introduced vegetarian day once a week. There's no way that Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity et al would ever tolerate anything so "tree huggy." As it is, I'm sure that Limbaugh will be blasting Michelle for her efforts as he eats and smokes his way to another cardiac incident.

Easy, Peasy Dinner

On Tuesday and Thursday nights my daughter has dance class from 5 to 6:00. I don't get back in the house until 6:15. Needless to say, I don't have a lot of time to prepare dinner.

Now, I always say that fast food is fat food, and I don't go the take-out route. So, I have to plan dinners that are easy, quick, and can be prepared somewhat in advance.

Pasta with Tuna, Beans and Arugula is just such a meal. I can prepare most of it prior to leaving for dance class and when I get back all I have to do is cook the pasta. Best of all, there's only one pot to clean!

Tuna with Beans and Arugula

1 can cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained
1 can or jar Italian tuna (Bumble Bee just doesn't do the trick), rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 tablespoons extra virgin Olive Oil
Juice from 3 lemons
salt and pepper
1 12 ounce box whole wheat penne
4 ounces arugula, rinsed
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian Parsley

Combine the beans, tuna, onion olive oil, lemon juice salt and pepper in a large bowl and stir to combine. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 hours. Cook and drain pasta. While pasta is cooking, place arugula in the bowl with beans and tuna and mix well. Put the drained pasta in the bowl and stir to wilt the arugula. Add the parsley and serve.

Get Up Off Your A$$

It could be deadly: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100120/ap_on_he_me/eu_med_dangers_of_sitting

According to health experts, sitting too long, even if you exercise regularly, can be bad for your health (and your waist-line).

Now, if we could only get them to install treadmills on airplanes!!!

And You Wonder Why Our Kids are Fat?

Last week I posted about our nation's disgraceful rates of obesity. Check it out here: http://losingweightafter45isabitch.blogspot.com/2010/01/obese-nation.html.

What I find particularly disturbing are the rates of obesity among children. Well, the only people to blame are adults. We live in a culture that insists that kids have to be fed around the clock, and most of what we feed them is overly processed, nutritionally devoid food which does nothing but pack on the pounds and teach them bad eating habits.

So, when I saw this article in the New York Times I naturally dropped everything and read: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/dining/20gusti.html?8dpc

I have to admit that I am one of those parents who has complained about "Snack Time Never Ends." What amazes me is the resistance I get from other parents and educators, and the insistence that kids have to eat constantly, even if the only way to keep them stuffing their faces is to throw junk in front of them.

When I hear people complain that their kids won't eat anything other than macaroni and cheese or hamburgers, the first thing I always say is "just don't give them macaroni and cheese and hamburgers." The response is usually "well then they won't eat anything." When I reply that they'll eventually eat if you just don't feed them, I get looks of horror.

Let's get this straight, IF YOU GIVE CONSTANTLY FEED YOUR CHILDREN JUNK, THAT'S ALL THEY'LL EAT. If you constantly give them healthy, nutritious food and make it clear that if they don't eat what's in front of them, then they just don't eat, THEY WILL EAT HEALTHY NUTRITIOUS FOOD.

Yes, they'll miss a meal or two, but they're probably better off burning off the excess fat you've managed to pack onto them feeding them crap.

Children are not stupid. They are fully aware that if they don't eat the plate of pasta primavera in front of them, you'll head to the freezer to nuke them some chicken nuggets. If they eventually get the idea that if they don't eat the pasta primavera then they're going to be hungry to the next meal, then they will eat the pasta primavera.

Back from the Mountains Again

My husband announced last week that he had four football games he had to watch over the weekend. My husband is not a sports announcer, writer or anything else connected with the sports industry.

Faced with the prospect of staring at my husband prostrate on the sofa in front of the TV all weekend, and the kids having a three day weekend, I took the only recourse I can think of.

I packed the car and headed up to New Hampshire with the kids for a long weekend of skiing. I left the husband home to enjoy his games and order in take-out to his heart's delight.

The kids and I, on the other hand, spent two days alpine skiing and one day cross country skiing in fabulous conditions. It was warm, the snow was fresh and soft, and it would have been perfect except for the long lift lines.

Exposed

Michelle from Eating Journey is guest blogging over at Jack Sh*t's blog, and she has a wonderful message. Michelle started the "Exposed Movement" which has been picking up some steam as late. The object of the exposed movement is to negate all the unreal and unrealistic media images of bodily perfection and learn to love ourselves and bodies.

The idea of the Exposed Movement is to take a picture of yourself, stripped down to your underwear, and then Photoshop everything that you love about yourself onto the photo. That's Michelle's "exposure" of herself above.

You can read about the Exposed movement and other bloggers that have exposed themselves at Michelle's blog here: http://www.blogger.com/You%20can%20read%20about%20the%20Exposed%20movement%20and%20other%20bloggers%20that%20have%20exposed%20themselves%20here:%20http://eatingjourney.com/exposed/

In the spirit of the movement, I decided to "expose" myself in my own way. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture for three reasons:

1. Even if I had a picture of me in my underwear, I'm not that
technically proficient and so I'm clueless as to how to PhotoShop it.

2. Since I'm a writer I'm more literal than visual.

3. When you live in a 19th Century Farmhouse in New England, you don't spend anytime standing around in your skivvies from November through April. I'm wearing wool long johns under my sweats as it is.

So here it goes. Things I love about my body:

1. My arms: Because I can wrap them around my kids to give them big hugs.

2. That my bra size is a 32D: Gotta love the girls! (My husband sure does).

3. My lips: They let me kiss everyone I love.

4. My Feet: They take me hiking, skiing, dancing and anywhere else I want to go.

5. My Cesarean Scar: It was worth it for what I got in return.

6. My Eyes: Because I've gotten to read a lot of great books.

7. My Back: Because I love a great massage.

8. My Hands: Because they can cook up a great meal.

9. My Big old Bubble Butt: I had an old boyfriend tell me it was like a basketball.

BTW, I promise to post a photo of me "stripped down" once it warms up (which in New England doesn't usually happen until July).

If you want to see a picture of me with "clothes on" check out: http://losingweightafter45isabitch.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-body-myself.html

Getting Old Sucks

Back in November I somehow injured my left shoulder. I don't know how I did it, there was no definitive "ouch!" moment, but it caused me a lot of pain.

Because of the pain, I had to really scale back my yoga practice and cut out many of my favorite inverted balances and anything that put pressure on my shoulder, such as full back-bends.

In the last few weeks, as the pain subsided, I've gradually added back in the postures and vinyasas I had to forgo in my practice and I thought I'd finally be able to do my full practice again sometime next week.

Then, yesterday, as I was reaching for my teakettle my RIGHT shoulder inexplicably began hurting. Again, there was no "ouch" moment, it just began to hurt and this morning I once again had to really scale back my yoga practice to accommodate the pain.

It's all very frustrating.

Beware of Frankencorn

I'll have to post more on this some other time: http://food.theatlantic.com/nutrition/how-safe-is-gm-corn.php

Just remember that I hate eight but if it's nine its mine http://losingweightafter45isabitch.blogspot.com/2009/09/avoiding-frankenfoods.html)

The Hidden Benefits of Exercise

A really great article, from of all places, the Wall Street Journal : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704350304574638331243027174.html

In a nutshell, regular modest exercise can fight off cold, influenza, reduce the risk of cancer and chronic diseases and slow the process of aging. Inactivity poses as great a risk to health as smoking does.

Obese Nation

Almost as if to underscore the point I made in my earlier post today, I came on this: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100113/ap_on_he_me/us_med_obesity_plateau;_ylt=AjGEch9ebtuxnwEDouiQG7_VJRIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJuczV1Z3ZhBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMTEzL3VzX21lZF9vYmVzaXR5X3BsYXRlYXUEY3BvcwMyBHBvcwM1BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA2RhdGF1c29iZXNpdA----

America has extremely high levels of obesity. According to US government data more than two-thirds of US adults are overweight and more than one-third of children are. Thirty-four percent of US adults are officially obese and 17% of children are.

The good news is that while we're fat, we're not getting fatter. Obesity rates have actually held steady for the last five years.

The other good news as reported is that people are getting serious about the root causes of weight problems in this country--bad food and lack of exercise. Even the White House is getting in on the act with Michelle Obama promising to make child-hood obesity prevention a focus (I'm hoping this means we'll be hearing less about which designer's dress she wore last).

I Sense a Theme

A number of my posts this week equated weight with health. As some of you may already know, one reason why I maintain my anonymity is that, believe it or not, I am a professional journalist (you wouldn't know it from my writing here). And, one of the beats I cover is the health care industry.

Needless to say, now that it appears that health care reform legislation is an inevitability, there are a lot of unhappy campers out there in the health care industry. I've been talking with quite a few people in the biz this week---insurance executives, brokers, consultants etc., and while they accept the inevitable they all say the same thing.

The legislation, they say, does not address the real reason for skyrocketing health care costs in this country. The cost of health insurance and providing health care will not be contained, and health care will continue on its unaffordable trajectory.

The reason why health insurance has gotten so expensive, they all say, and costs will continue to skyrocket is that Americans have simply gotten too fat and lazy.

Excess weight and lack of exercise leads to health issues, and these issues are starting to crop up in Americans at younger and younger ages. The number of people tackling diabetes has grown substantially over the last two decades and is impacting people at younger and younger ages as is cardiovascular disease.

To make the connection the more insurance companies have to pay out to treat people with weight-related health care issues, the more we all pay for insurance. That's how insurance works. It spreads the risk. If overall costs go up for the insurer, then the cost for insurance for all individuals or groups goes up.

Even if you work for an employer that self-insures (meaning your employer pays for health care not an insurance company), if your co-workers are overweight and have higher health care costs, that translates to you having higher insurance costs (and your employer makes no profit on health insurance when it chooses to self-insure).

Diabetes and cardiovascular disease can often be avoided if people just consumed fewer calories and moved more. Somehow or another Americans have come to believe that they can consume 3,000 calories a day in soda, fast food and processed low-fat snacks, and that taking a 20 minute walk around the block is all the exercise they need to combat that excess calorie intake.

Well a 20 minute walk only burns 150 to 200 calories and is barely a dent in the excess junk food calories people consume daily.

Weight and health are directly correlated. We need to all eat better and work movement (not necessarily just exercise) into our daily routine not just to look good, but to feel good, and to control health care costs for all of us.

Want a Long Healthy Life?

I know I already wrote this today, but losing weight and staying thin is about more than looking chic in some expensive outfit from Saks. It's about leading a long, healthy and happy life.

It's plainly obvious that the only way to lose weight, and then maintain that weight is to eat better (i.e., no processed crap), and move around a hell of a lot more. Well, this article in the New York Times confirms that idea: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/health/12brod.html?scp=1&sq=Healthy%20aging%20&st=cse

If you want to live longer and better, the author says, then eat more plant-based food and engage in regular physical activities. And, it goes on to say, you can not get the benefits of better nutrition from a pill, juice or supplement. You have to actually eat better. Eat fish instead of taking fish oil supplements.

The article quotes Hippocrates as saying way back in 400 B.C. "All parts of the body which have a function if used in moderation and exercised in labors in which each is accustomed, become thereby healthy, well developed and age more slowly; but if unused and left idle they become liable to disease, defective in growth and age quickly."

Which translates to "get the hell up off the couch and take a walk you lazy piece of sh!t."

Mandatory Calorie Labeling Works!!!

Some egghead types at Stanford studied the effects of mandatory calorie labeling at Starbucks and found that when calories were posted, Starbucks customers reduced calories by 6%. And, for all the corporate finance worry warts, there was no negative impact on Starbucks profits.

You can read it here: http://www.stanford.edu/~pleslie/calories.pdf

It only makes sense. Most people do want to watch their weight, and if we only knew how many calories were in the Petite Vanilla Scone versus the Cranberry Whole Wheat muffin, we'd make the smarter choice. Furthermore, if we saw the Cranberry Whole Wheat muffin had, say 600 calories, we'd also may be inclined to eat just half of it instead of the entire muffin.

I want this information, and it can't come to soon for me. In fact, if big chain food retailers, actually gave better information on what you they dishing out, I'd be more inclined to buy food in these places.

My other hope is that once calories are posted, retailers will reverse the trend of supersizing food. When I'm in the mood for a muffin, I really don't need or want some grotesque oversized version of a muffin that costs $4. Make it smaller, take out the high fructose corn syrup and charge me less.

It's About More than Weight Loss

I've said it over and over again that weight loss is about more than looking good. It's about our overall health and well being. Being overweight brings a host of health problems, as does eating unhealthy food and not exercising.

So when I read an article like this one, http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20100112/hl_hsn/exercisemaystaveoffmentaldecline, it further inspires me to keep on moving. It says that two new studies show that helps to improve or prevent mild cognitive impairment.

One study demonstrated that those who did moderate exercise in mid-life, such as swimming, brisk walking, yoga, etc where 39% less likely to have mild cognitive impairment. That's a pretty significant percentage.

I often hear people say that exercise "clears their head." I know that when I start to drift into a "brain funk" half way through my work-day, a brisk walk gets my mind working again way better than a cup of coffee or some sugary snack does.

Food Network Withdrawal

My cable provider is in a snit with Scripps which provides the Food Network. So now when I turn to Channel 29 instead of watching Nigella Lawson, Ellie Krieger or the Barefoot Contessa, I get a message declaring how evil Scripps is to Cablevision's customers.

Frankly, the corporate tit for tat is meaningless for me. All I know is that when I want a cooking show fix, one of my usual sources for the stuff isn't there.

Scripps and Cablevision, could you just kiss and make up? Mama needs some sugar.

Is Sugar Addictive?

There are two new studies which come to divergent answers. One says sugar is addictive, the other says that beyond a doubt it isn't. You can read about it here: http://food.theatlantic.com/nutrition/is-sugar-addictive.php

I know that once I start eating sugar, I start to crave it all the more. Getting "off the sugar" is always part of my post-holiday goals.

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

Sunday was the big de-christmasification day. The process started during the week with me moving all the non-tree decor into the dining room, and bringing the storage boxes up from the basement. Then Sunday, following a morning snowshoe hike in the nearby nature preserve with my son, the process began in earnest.

One by one, the ornaments and lights were stripped from the big tree, packed away and the boxes removed to the basement. The tree was taken outside to the garbage heap, and mounds of pine needles swept from the floors and vacuumed out of the carpets.

The nutcrackers were similarly coddled, boxed and re-stored as were the ornaments on the two, smaller feather trees I put up in the dining and living rooms. The artificial garlands came down from the windows and stair-ways, and the Christmas "village" from my mother's childhood put once again in safe storage with all the pleasant memories from my child-hood as well.

By the end of the afternoon the house was more or less in its pre-Christmas state. It was all very cleansing.

In the same way that I purge my house every year of its Holiday bloat, post-Christmas is a time to also cleanse my body of its seasonal indulges.

I dared to step on the scale this weekend, and I weighed in at 131 pounds. I had been at 128 pounds just prior to Thanksgiving. I had actually gotten down to 124 over the summer, but my body quickly bounced back to the 128 pounds it seems to like to be at these days. So my overall weight gain for the Thanksgiving through New Year's festivities was 3 pounds. Not bad, but not great either.

So the short term goal is to reform the diet to lose those 3 pounds. After that we'll see if I can get back down to 124 and make it stick.

How Many Cookies Make you Fat

A really interesting and thought provoking piece, particularly as it pertains to what we give our children to eat and drink: http://food.theatlantic.com/nutrition/how-many-cookies-make-you-fat.php.

Going High Tech

I understand that some people need help them lose weight. However, when I read an article like this one, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100106/ap_on_he_me/us_med_obesity_monitors, all I can think is "why don't you just eat less and exercise more?"

Do we really need gadgets, and apps to do that?

Don't Trust Those Calorie Counts

That's the disturbing message you can read about here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100106/hl_time/08599195179800

It's really disheartening to think you're being good and doing your homework in noting and counting calories, just to find out that the numbers you're given are false. What I found particularly upsetting is that restaurant calorie counts can be off by as much as 18%. That can really add up over the course of a year.

I guess it's just another case of "let the buyer beware."

Snowshoeing it Alone

It's bitterly cold and snowy here in New England, making it hard for me to do my outside walks. The roads are just too icy and dangerous. This morning, however, I just couldn't stand the thought of doing my morning cardio on the treadmill again.

Don't get me wrong, I love my treadmill, but after a few weeks of daily runs in front of the TV, ennui sets in (not to mention that there's just nothing left to watch).

I've been trying to get a girlfriend of mine to snowshoe with me in the local nature preserve. But our schedules just haven't worked out. So this morning I finally said "what the hell," threw my snowshoes and poles in my car, and headed off the the nature preserve alone.

It was lovely and peaceful. Sunshine reflected off the snow, and although I started out cold (my car thermometer said it was 19 degrees outside), I quickly warmed up.

It was such a nice experience that I decided to do it again tomorrow.

Good Advice

Fellow blogger, Jack Sh*t Gettin' Fit has posted some great advice from other bloggers on how to lose weight and maintain the loss. You can check it out here: http://jackfit.blogspot.com/2010/01/advice-from-people-smarter-than-me.html

Jack, You didn't ask me for my tips, but here they are anyway. First, make sure that the majority of what you eat over the course of a week is raw fruits and vegetables. Second, exercise every day.

Diets that Do More Harm than Good

As you all may know, I don't believe in fad diets and here's a list of some pretty bad ones.

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/newyear/5-bogus-diets-that-will-do-more-harm-than-good-553992/

The only one that I see that could have any merit is the "Hallelujah" diet. Although, the problem is that this version of a raw/vegan diet probably takes it to extremes.

While I'm all for upping the amount of raw fruits and vegetables, and think it should be the bulk of your diet, going completely raw/vegan is not only not healthy, but unsustainable in the long run.

I will admit that a completely raw/vegan diet for a week or two is an excellent detox. I've done it several times, and I have to say that it does lead to significant weight loss. But, I can understand that completely giving up vital nutrients for longer than that is apt to cause health problems in the long run.

Not only that, if you try to stick to this diet too long, it will up your "pain in the ass" factor. You'll be one of those obnoxious "diet people" that no one is going to want to go out to dinner with or invite over their home.

Michael Pollan's Food Rules

I love Michael Pollan's writing about food, which is both thoughtful and thought provoking. Pollan has a way of crystallizing what I'm thinking in the back of my mind into simple coherent statements.

Pollan has a new book out called "Food Rules." I haven't read the actual book yet, but he writes about it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-pollan/food-rules-a-completely-d_b_410173.html. The few sample rules he gives show that the book should be a worthwhile read. Among my favorites:

• Avoid foods you see advertised on television.


• Don't eat breakfast cereals which change the color of milk.


• Eat all the junk food you want as long as you make it yourself.


• If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't.

Slogging Back Into It

After my month and a half of indulgence, I've started on the path of getting my dietary house in order. This morning I had fruit for breakfast and cut down my coffee consumption to just one cup. I had raw veggies and hummus for lunch, and for dinner I made a big pot of minestrone.

Of course, going to the mother's Girl Scout meeting to talk about this year's cookie sales (and having plates of Girl Scout cookies out), didn't help, but I didn't eat a single cookie. All I can say is thank god there were no Samoas.

I still need to get on the scale and see what damage I've done, and I really should take my measurements as well. I even promised myself I'd get on the scale this morning, but somehow "forgot." I guess I want to give myself at least a couple of weeks of non-indulgence prior to facing the music.

Tomorrow the plan is for fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch and a light fish meal for dinner.

Wish me luck.

Time to Get Back in the Saddle

The holidays are over, and my birthday (which was yesterday) has passed. I let myself have a few indulgences over the last month and a half (and I've been afraid to get on the scale to see what I've gained.)

I did do a number of things to balance out the fun. I fit in extra exercise when ever I could, and tried to balance out allowing myself an occasional treat by going more austere other days.

Still, a couple of bad habits have crept in. I'm now back up to two cups of coffee a day, and I've been allowing myself a bit too much sugar. My raw percentage has also gone below were I normally like to see it.

On the plus side, even through my raw percentage has gone down, I balanced it by having more vegetarian meals and went completely meatless at least 3 days a week.

So now that we rang in a new year, it's time to focus on my diet again and work to cut out sugar and caffeine. My husband is supposed to go away on a business trip soon, and when he goes I'll plan on doing a mini-detox--going completely vegetarian, with no caffeine, alcohol, meat and dairy. It will be good for me and I know I'll feel great afterwards.

I'm BAACK!!!

Back from NH and absolutely swamped with work. I'll try to think or find something interesting to post about sometime today, but don't count on it.

Cold, Tired and Sore

I'm cold, tired and sore, but having a great time. I skied for two days in frigid weather and snow, and then spent today snowshoeing. I think just about every muscle in my legs aches!

But, it's all good here in Sunapee, NH. The kids are enjoying themselves, and are out in the fresh air for a few hours a day. If we'd stayed home, they'd probably never venture outside.

It's good for me as well. I'm hopefully burning off some of my holiday weight gain through exercise, and, because my husband hasn't come up to NH yet, I've been focusing on eating light. I've had a salad for dinner every night this week in addition to salad and maybe some soup for lunch (you need that warmth when you've been out in the cold).

I'm also feeling so much better than I was last week. I was starting to feel lethargic, and now I'm re-energized.

Eat Organic, Lose Weight

Read about it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-john-salerno/why-i-recommend-organic-f_b_403348.html

Slow is Fast and Fast is Slow

This is a pretty good article explaining why only losing 1-2 pounds a week is actually faster if you permanently want to lose weight then any starvation/fad diet: http://correct-weight-loss.net/2009/12/24/when-losing-weight-slow-is-fast-and-fast-is-slow/

Better to only lose 30 pounds in a year and keep it off then lose 30 pounds in 2 months and gain it all back plus some.

Post-Holiday Ski Trip-Working off the Holiday Pounds

The east coast got socked with snow yesterday. We had eight inches, but it snowed upwards of a foot of snow further south.

I'm not one of those snow adverse people. As long as I don't lose power, I love to get snowed in. It's great to have an excuse not go anywhere. Everything just kind of stops, and it gives me time to breathe, read and catch up on all those nasty little chores around the house I haven't been able to get to.

But I have to admit, I'm somewhat bummed that it snowed down here in Connecticut and they didn't even get an inch up in Vermont and New Hampshire.

Right after Christmas I'm leaving on my annual "the kids have a week off after Christmas and I don't know what the hell else to do with them, so we might as well go skiing" trip.

This trip is to be distinguished from my annual "the kids have a week off for President's week and I don't know what the hell to do with them so we might as well go skiing trip."

Since I'm leaving to ski in New Hampshire for a week right on December 27th, it would have been nice if they had gotten some snow. But c'est la vie.

Still, it should be a nice trip. I genuinely love to ski with my kids. And, its great for working off some of the caloric indulgences of the holiday season.

There is great site were you can estimate the number of calories you burn during any activity. Check it out here: http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc.

So, I thought I'd calculate how many calories I'll burn skiing. Now I usually down-hill ski a total of 4 hours, but the reality is between lift lines, waiting on the slope for the slow pokes, etc., running into the bathroom etc., I'll probably actually only ski 120 minutes out of the four hours.

Calories burned down hill skiing for 120 minutes is 1,029. I'll be down-hill skiing 4 days so that's 4,116 calories.

I'll also go cross-country skiing with the kids two days (your legs need the break from the down hill skiing). Again, between having to run in because the kids are tired, cold, need the bathroom, hungry, etc., I'll probably actually only ski for 120 minutes. Cross-country skiing for 120 minutes burns 1,341. Multiply that by 2 and you get 2,682 calories burned.

Potential calories I can burn on my post-Xmas Ski trip is 6,798. That can be almost 2 pounds of fat loss if I eat smart and stay away from the apre-ski hot chocolate and nachos.

Disgust-orama

The Burger King Triple Whopper Sandwich with cheese and Mayo packs a whopping 1,250 calories. I can only consume about 1,650 calories a day, so you add a side a fries to this, and I just packed on some additional fat.

And, that's not the only caloric disaster-burger. Yahoo health has a list of the six worst fast food burgers.

Regifting the Gift of Food

Food is high on the gift giving list, and also on the gift getting. Every year I get tins of cookies, boxes of chocolates, and baskets of fruit, cheese, bottles of barbecue sauce and other goodies.

In previous years, I used to either eat the food or had it rot in the house. Two years ago, I started re-gifting most of it.

Now, before you jump down my throat for engaging in tacky behavior, I should explain that don't re-gift to unsuspecting friends, co-workers or household help.

Instead, I re-gift to the local food pantry. Every year after Christmas I take a trip to the local food pantry and drop off any of the food gifts I received that are acceptable to donate. This usually means pantry stable items that are canned, in boxes or jarred.

I'm doing good, while doing myself good.

Sorry for the Short Sporadic Posts

But it is the holidays, and like everyone else I'm running wild trying to get everything done that needs to get done. Christmas cards have been sent out, presents bought and wrapped, cookies and Stollen baked, the Christmas tree bought and decorated--you get the idea.

Plus, I've actually had quite a bit of work to do. You can tell the economy is coming back when freelancers like myself start getting busy.

The other thing keeping me busy is holiday season entertaining. Friends have invited me over, I've invited friends over, and I've gone to several holiday parties.

Getting together is part of the holiday festivities. The only issue is that when people get together, food is always involved, and alot of that food contains copious amounts of sugar and fat. There's always a fine line to walk between watching my weight and being the holiday Grinch.

As always, I try to stick to some simple rules this time of year. First, I enjoy myself within limits. It is the holidays, and eating is part of the fun. It's OK to indulge, although it's not OK to over-indulge. Second, I try to work in extra exercise whenever I can to offset the extra calories (made all the more difficult by overloaded holiday schedules).

In the end, I realize that trade-offs are necessary. The artisanal hand-made chocolates were worth indulging in, and I limited myself to just two. Yes, I'll have to spend some extra time on the treadmill for the indulgence, but they were worth it.

I can easily pass up store bought candy canes and mass manufactured candy, but the roast goose with orange Madeira sauce my friend served up at a holiday dinner party was not. Going extra light calorie wise for a day or two after the roast goose was not too taxing. Besides, I didn't want to insult my hostess by not eating the wonderful meal she prepared.

In the end, I'll probably put on a few pounds this month (I haven't dared step on the scale since Thanksgiving.) It's inevitable, like death and taxes.

The point is to put on as few pounds as possible. And, get right back on the diet band wagon as soon as I can. Perhaps even a post-New Year's cleanse.

I think I know what my New Years' resolution will be this year.

Special Holiday Edition Work-Out

Splicing together your Christmas lights and Guitar Hero.




Setting up this deal has got to burn a few thousand calories!!!

And, it keeps you away from the holiday cookies.

For the Love of Cinnamon

I love cinnamon. Love it, love it, love it.

I sprinkle cinnamon over my coffee every morning, use it in my oatmeal, add it to baked goods even when the recipe doesn't call for it, and, if the recipe calls for cinnamon, I know I'm going to love it.

What's really great about using cinnamon is that it adds great flavor with almost no calories. One tablespoon of cinnamon has just 17 calories, so a sprinkling of cinnamon adds just a few calories to anything you're eating.

And, according to this article, http://www.sylviesweightloss.com/25-health-benefits-of-cinnamon-a-miraculous-spice, cinnamon has lots of health benefits to offset those calories.

Yummy, and good for me too.

Gotta love cinnamon!!

Save the Planet, and Lose Some Weight

As all of you know, I'm a big advocate of reducing processed foods, meat and dairy from our diets to lose weight. Now it turns out it can help save the planet: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/11/eat-less-meat-dairy-diet

Its a UK report, but notes that eating less processed, meat and dairy products will help reduce greenhouse gases.

So, you'll be doing both yourself, and the planet good.

If 1 is Good, 4 is Better

I found some interesting marketing research from the Wharton School. You can find it here: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2403


Essentially, the researchers found that if you increase the number of healthier options for people, they're more likely to choose them over the less healthier options. Here's one of the experiments done:

In another study, a tray with fruit and baked goods was placed at two entrances of a building, with a sign reading: "Please help yourself to one item." At one entrance, the researchers placed a tray containing a small selection: two types of fruit and two types of cookies. They put a tray with a larger selection at the other entrance so that passers-by were presented with
six types of fruit (bananas, red and green apples, pears, tangerines and peaches) and six types of baked goods (assorted cookies as well as croissants and banana nut muffins). While 55% of the participants chose fruit over baked goods from the smaller assortment, 76% did so when choosing from the larger
assortment.

I had blogged a while back that one shopping rule to follow is to have the majority of your food purchases be fruits and vegetables. You can find the blog here: http://losingweightafter45isabitch.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-food-shopping-rule.html.

It only makes sense, if you surround yourself with a great selection of fruits and vegetables, you'll eat mostly fruits and vegetables. If your kitchen is laden with crap, you'll eat mostly crap.

The same thing goes with restaurants. If you go to a restaurant with only one salad on the menu (and its a salad in name only), you're not likely to order a salad. Go to one with a wide selection of salads, and chances are you'll order a salad.

Craving Substitutions

In my post about Trail Mixes, a commenter stated she was impressed that I analyzed that the"hit" I was looking for from cookies was the crunch and the sweetness.

When trying to reach a goal, I always think its a good idea to really analyze why you are doing what you are doing.

I smoked for years. I started in High School when it was cool, and started my efforts to quit right after law school by which time smoking was decidedly uncool.

Now, I was never one of those people who was truly "addicted" to cigarettes. If the situation called for it I could go for hours without ever having a smoke, and didn't have to run out to the parking lot immediately afterwards to light up.

But, none-the-less, I found quitting difficult. When I analyzed why, I realized that it wasn't the nicotine in cigarettes I craved, but the actual act of smoking.

There where a number of situations where I would always automatically light up. For example, if I got on the phone to speak with someone I always had a cigarette in hand. I also always smoked when I was studying. Anytime I went to a bar or a party, I basically hung in the back with a cigarette (I'm not much of a drinker or a party animal).

I came to the realization, that I needed something different to do with my hands and my mouth when I was doing these activities. Kind of like Pavlov's dogs, when you rang the bell, my hands and mouth expected that cigarette.

My solution was to drink water. Holding a bottle of water gave my hands something to hold and my mouth something to do during those times when I normally smoked. Once I started doing this quitting smoking was a breeze, and I never looked back.

I think it's a lot like that with eating. If you're craving a certain food item intensely, it might not really be the food that you want. For example, if you always ate potato chips while watching a football game, it may not be so much the chips you're missing, but the activity of eating during the ball game.

Or, like me, if you crave cookies, it may be the sweetness and crunch you're looking for.

Once you analyze why you're craving, it becomes easier to find the healthier, low-cal substitute that will satisfy that craving.

So, don't try to just ignore your cravings. Really think hard about them.

Happy Trail Mixes

I love cookies. I absolutely adore really good store bought cookies, or home-made cookies from some old, secret family recipe. I can easily pass up cake, chocolate, ice cream, etc., but put a plate of fresh, home-made chocolate chip cookies in front of me, and I'm a goner.

So, now that I pretty much swear off cookies except for special occasions, I had to find a substitute for those times when I just really crave one.

The substitute I found is trail mix. It provides the "crunch" of a good cookie, and dried fruit provides the sweetness. If I'm tempting to hit the cookies, I just grab a handful of trail mix and I'm satisfied.

Now, most store bought trail mixes are loaded with all sorts of junk you don't need--such as salt and sugar. Plus, I like to keep my mixes "raw." So instead of store bought trail mix I just mix my own. It's easy. I just buy dried fruit, raw nuts and seeds, mix and viola--trail mix.

My favorite combination is raw pumpkin seeds, raw almonds, raisins and dried cranberries. I just mix it all in a resealable container (I don't use any measurements), and keep it in the pantry for those times I need something sweet and crunchy. I have to go easy, however, since nuts and dried fruits have a lot of calories.

Our National Eating Disorder

Any of you who have been reading Losing Weight after 45 is a Bitch for a while knows that I'm a huge fan of Michael Pollan. One of my commentators directed me to this excellent 2004 article by Pollan: http://michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=71

I actually read this article when it was originally published in the New York Times but it was great to read it again.

No country obsesses over food the way we do here in the US. And, what has it gotten us? We are the fattest country on the planet.

That's because our obsessing leads us to crazy fad diets and eating synthetic over processed foods that promise to make us skinny, but only lead to making us fatter.

The message is clear, if you want to lose weight, eat sensibly. That means focus on eating fresh fruits and vegetables, and leave the overly processed foods behind.

It's simple. There's no need to obsess over carbs or fat, just eat real food. As Pollan says, food your great-grandparents would have recognized.

Eating a bunch of grapes will do a whole lot more for your weight-loss/weight-maintenance efforts then a bag of low-fat, low-calorie, low carb cookies.

Now this Is Just Not Right

Last year my in-laws got my kids a Wii Fit Board to go with their Wii gaming console. I thought it was great because I'm all for anything that gets the kids moving.

Throughout the year my daughter sporadically has been doing yoga, running and other exercises on the Wii. The reason why she didn't use it more, I reasoned, was that the the work-out activities were really geared to adults.

Since Christmas and Hanukkah are around the corner, I thought it would be great to get her some new Wii work-out regimes geared to children. Specifically I wanted a kid's yoga routine.

So, off I went to the local GameStop in Westport this morning. Guess what? There is no Wii Kids Yoga program. In fact, there are no Wii Fit exercise routines specifically geared to children. There are games for kids for Wii Fit, but nothing emphasizing exercise and the importance of working out.

Now, that is just not right. My daughter will do the adult work-out routines from time to time, but you know she would exercise even more with the Wii if they actually produced yoga, running, etc. specifically geared to kids.

I did purchase her the new Wii Fit Plus disc, but its still geared to adults.

To Jack Sh*t, Why I Bake

In my post Upping the Ante, my fellow blogger Jack Sh*t asked why I continue to bake for holiday gifts.

Well Jack, it's all about remembrance. Proust may have needed to take a bite out of that Madeline to send him on his journey of remembrance of things past, but for me its the actual baking that does it.

You see, my Grandmother was a holiday baker extraordinaire. Nana would bake at least a dozen different types of cookies every December. There were sugary cookies with an orange glaze she called "Aunt Louise's Cookies" after my Grandfather's aunt, rum balls, Jewel Cookies that were crusted in nuts with a dab of jam, these amazing almond meringue cookies that were covered in pinoli nuts, and so on.

Nana never used a written recipe. Although she only baked each cookie once a year, she kept every recipe in her head. Me, my mother and my sisters often baked alongside her, and had the foresight of actually writing most of the recipes down. We'd ask questions like "how much flour do you use?" and Nana would answer "about three handfuls." From there we had to concoct that "a handful" generally meant about 1/2 a cup.

Nana also made Fruitcakes which were actually baked as early as October and were an alcoholics delight. The process began by soaking dried fruit in rum for a week. After the fruitcakes were cooked, they were wrapped in cheesecloth and carefully tended to with generous douses of rum to preserve them every week for two months.

And she also made Stollen, which is a bit unusual because Stollen is actually a German Christmas bread. My Italian Grandmother usually never diverged from the Italian repertoire, but for some reason, which nobody understands why, she made Stollen at Christmas and not the more traditional Italian Panetone.

I often made the Stollen with her. We'd start the night before by making a starter of yeast, flour, eggs and butter. The next day we'd form the dough by adding more flour, then adding raisins and currents soaked in rum or brandy, dried fruits and nuts. Then we'd need the dough until it was soft and silky and left it to rise. It was then formed into loaves and allowed to rise again. Then we'd bake it, and when cooled dust the bread with powdered sugar.

None of us bakes the repertoire that my Grandmother did. My mother, me and my sisters all seem to have inherited a few of the recipes.

I bake two or three different cookies a year and have become the official Stollen baker (the Stollen is then passed out among family members). Whenever I do this baking, my Grandmother comes alive again. As I knead my dough, I can still hear her voice over me, guiding me, to make sure I get it right.

So now when I bake I bake with my children. It's through them that my Grandmother, and our traditions will survive.

I've often heard weight loss referred to as being a journey. But I think we need to remember that although moving forward is progress, we can't forget where we came from.

I doubt that for any of us Twinkies, Big Macs or crappy over processed foods really connect us to who we are, and our families.

But, if there is food that connects us to our past and our loved ones who have passed on, then we shouldn't give it up simply because we are trying to lose and maintain weight.

Eat less of it for sure, but if it's part of who we are, then we shouldn't just leave it behind.

Savoring the End of the Season

The local Farmers' Markets closed up shop two weeks ago, but my refrigerator is still filled with produce that I stocked up on. I've got butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, carrots, parsnips, onions, leeks, cabbage and other veggies just waiting to be enjoyed over the next few weeks.

I'm also still getting fresh herbs from the garden--parsley, cilantro, sage and thyme.

Since I know that its only a matter of weeks until this end of the season produce is gone, I'm savoring it whenever I can.

It's also comforting to know that I can throw together a meal in less than an hour based on locally grown, organic produce.

Last night was one of those nights. My daughter had ballet from 5 to 6 which meant I had to begin preparing dinner prior to leaving (I'm not a big fan of eating past 7). In the afternoon I opened the refrigerator and realized that I had better use up a head of cauliflower I had bought at the last Farmers' Market.

I cut up the cauliflower into 1 inch florets and spread them on a large cookie sheet. I tossed in some coarsely chopped red onions and some organic grape tomatoes from the market. I drizzled olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the vegetables, sprinkled on a little salt and pepper and tossed the entire concoction with my hands. I then roasted the vegetables at 425 degrees for 35 minutes.

When I got back from ballet, I cooked up some whole wheat pasta and tossed it with the roasted vegetables. I sprinkled on some fresh parsley and sage from the garden, and dinner was served.

Upping the Ante

Two weeks ago I added another mile to my outside walk. That gets me up to 4.5 miles and takes me about an hour and 20 minutes to complete. I can't do it every time I go out for a walk (we all have time constraints), but my work load has been light and I thought it would help with holiday season weight gain.

Despite my best efforts I always put on a few pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years. I've already been cheating like mad. I limited myself to just one piece of pumpkin pie (and two chocolate covered pretzels) on Thanksgiving, but even that tends to be too much these days, particularly when you consider the heavy meal I ate before the pumpkin pie.

Christmas time has its own vices. Every year I make a gingerbread house with my kids over Thanksgiving weekend, and every year a few too many pieces of candy wind up in my mouth and not glued with icing on the house.

I also bake to give as gifts, etc, and you just have to taste what you bake to make sure that those cookies, Stollen, etc., are worthy of giving.

Then, there are the parties and the entertaining.

I try to balance off the extra eating with being really good on other days, but I always put on weight.

But then, I'm a post-menopausal woman who's giving birth to two children. If I even look at a piece of pumpkin pie, I'll put on weight.

So, when I can, I'm committing myself to doing more cardio this holiday season.

I'll probably still gain weight. I'm just hoping that the effort will allow me to gain less weight than usual. That way I'll have less to lose once January comes around.

I Really Hate Getting F@#%ing Old!!!

I'm frustrated with my yoga practice. A few weeks ago, I noticed a slight twinge in my left shoulder which eventually became an all out pain. I don't know what exactly happened, but I've had to back off the chatturangas in my practice or else I wind up really hurting by the end.

A chatturanga is essentially a reverse push up, and during the course of an entire Ashtanga practice you might do 50 or 60 of them. However, in the last couple of weeks I've had to cut them out, along with anything else that puts stress on my shoulder. It's really frustrating to know you can do a full back-bend, but can't because your shoulder will ache because of it.

It truly sucks getting old. I can't point to a single "ouch" moment where I actually hurt myself. Instead, this started as a little twinge, that turned to a minor ache, which then became a major ache. It's what I call a "wear and tear" injury. I'm getting old, so along with my aching knees, I now have an aching shoulder.

The good news is that it does seem to be getting better. Last week I started adding back in some of the postures I had stayed away from. I still can't do the majority of my chatturangas but at least I can do a few as well as bakasana and bhujapidasana.

A Moveable Fast

I meant to comment on this NYTs op-ed yesterday, but just ran out of time. Check it out here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/opinion/24east.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Essentially, the piece discusses how the pilgrims fasted in addition to feasting. Specifically:

To the Pilgrims and Puritans, the community-wide fast, or “day of public humiliation and prayer,” and the thanksgiving feast, or day of “public thanksgiving and praise,” were equal halves of the same ritual. But the fast was not merely a justification for a community-wide gorging. Both customs were important components of a religious rite that served to pacify an angry God who was believed to punish entire communities for the sins of the few with starvation, “excessive rains from the bottles of heaven,” epidemics, crop infestations, the Indian wars and other hardships.

According to the 19th-century historian William DeLoss Love, the New England colonies celebrated as many as nine such “special public days” a year from 1620 to 1700. And as the
Puritans were masters of self-denial, days of abstention outnumbered thanksgivings two to one. Fasting, Cotton Mather wrote, “kept the wheel of prayer in continual motion.”

I thought this was interesting because it once again illustrates how food obsessed our culture has become. Now-a-days if you mention to someone you're going on a fast, they look at you askance and write you off as some kind of new-age, freak.

But, fasting is part of the natural cycle, and our bodies were actually designed to go through periods of fast. It's the whole reason why we store the fat to begin with. Don't forget that the pilgrims underwent a forced fast the Winter prior to the first Thanksgiving.

The whole reason for the feasting around harvest and Christmas time (a ritual which pre-dates Christianity by thousands of years), was that once Winter hit, food was scarce. You ate in abundance around harvest time and the Winter Solstice because that's when the food was available, then lived off the fat you put on then until Spring when food started to become abundant again.

So, it is OK to indulge a little around the holidays. Just remember that it's also OK to fast a little afterwards. You can skip a meal or two, or even a whole day's worth of meals, and it's completely, totally natural.

See the Movie, But Skip the Popcorn

Did you know that a medium-sized popcorn from the Regal Movie Theatre chain contains 1,200 calories, 60 grams of fat and 980 milligrams of sodium? And, that's before you add the butter topping. Check it out here:
http://weight-loss.families.com/blog/movie-popcorn-you-might-as-well-eat-lard

When I go to the movies with my kids, I can't get the movie popcorn because even without the butter topping, there's usually milk ingredients in the popping solution. Since my son is allergic to milk, that means popcorn is a no go at the movies.

On the now rare occasions when I actually get to go to a movie with my husband, it's usually combined with going out to dinner, so I usually avoid the popcorn as well.

Good thing. Who would have thought that I could blow through the bulk of my daily caloric load on popcorn?

It just goes to show. Knowing what you're eating is key to weight loss and retention.

Wonder Woman

I'm looking over my schedule for the next few months, and I'm dumbfounded over just how busy I'll be.

Sticking to a weight-loss/weight-maintenance regime is hard enough as it is. Sticking to one during the holiday season, is doubly difficult, and sticking to one during an incredibly busy holiday season is quadruply difficult.

And, things don't get any less busy after January 1. I don't think I'm going to have a completely free weekend until March at this point. With skiing, Special Olympics and family obligations, I'm going to be driving from New Hampshire to New Jersey all Winter.

All I can do is plug on and remember my long term goals.

Feeling Good

One of reason why I love to cleanse is how good I feel during and afterwards. I was driving to the Farmers' market with my kids yesterday, and it suddenly hit me that I felt better than I had in several weeks.

This time of year, I normally get into this lethargic, its-getting-colder-and-darker-so-I-don't-want-to-get-out-of-bed, funk. I had been in that mood prior to starting the cleanse on Sunday. But, after just four days of just a "mini-cleanse" I now have more energy. Getting out of bed isn't a struggle, and I am more clear headed.

Now, if I could only muster up the ambition for a deeper cleanse right after the holiday.

A Few Thanksgiving "Facts"

Believe it or not, according to the American Council on Exercise, the typical Thanksgiving meal is approximately 3,000 calories. And, that's just one main course plate, any seconds, extra snacks, desserts, etc. add even more calories to your caloric "load." If you also eat big breakfast that morning, you can easily eat enough calories on that one day to gain at least a pound.

With that thought in mind, here are a few facts to keep in mind:

• Turkey skin is the most caloric dense part of the turkey, has the most fat and the least protein. The skin contains 482 calories and 44 grams of fat. A whole turkey with the skin has 231% more fat, 59% more calories, and 23% more cholesterol than a turkey with no skin.
• Breast meat without the skin is the healthiest part of the turkey. Breast meat without skin has only 161 calories and 4 grams of fat per serving.
• Two tablespoons of cranberry sauce will give over 1/3 of the sugar you need for the day. And most processed (not homemade) cranberry sauces contain high fructose corn syrup.
• Two tablespoons of processed gravy products give you over 1/3 of the sodium you need for the day, and some contain trans fats.

So, a good rule of thumb to stick by is to eat the turkey without the skin, and stick to home-made dishes made with fresh, unprocessed ingredients.

And, remember, there's always leftovers. You don't have to have the stuffing, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes all on one plate. Eat one, and save the others for left-over meals.

It's Been a Good Run, But the Husband is Back Today

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday, but the kids only had a half-day of school, and I had to go to a teacher's conference in the afternoon, then on to my son's piano lesson, etc.

Plus, I'm head coach for the local Special Olympics Alpine skiing team this year, and had to get reams of paperwork done last night. All I can say is that I just ran out of time yesterday.

I had a nice little mini-cleanse this week. Last night for dinner I made myself a simple dish with beans, brown rice and brussels sprouts with lemon and olive oil. That, along with lots of fruit, salad, and oatmeal, was pretty much along the lines of what I've been eating all week. I don't know if I lost any weight, but it definitely feels good on the digestive system to just keep away from meat, fish, dairy, wheat and alcohol for a few days.

But my husband is back today. He took the red eye from the West Coast and should be walking in the door any moment. He already called from Greenwich and asked if I could make him eggs for breakfast.

I just had a banana this morning, and will probably have a salad for lunch, so I'll keep the vegan streak running a bit longer. Dinner is up in the air for now. When the kids get home today I'm taking them to the last Farmer's Market of the season in Westport. Dinner will depend on whatever I find there.

I'm sure my husband has been on a meat-fest all week, so it's probably a good night for a nice vegetarian pasta dish. Maybe some sauteed kale with onions, olives over whole wheat linguine?

Finding Friends and Inspiration in My Workouts

Today I did my absolute favorite work-out--a long hike with a good friend. My girlfriend Deby and I love to take long hikes in the Devils' Den Nature Preserve which is right around the corner from both of us. We hiked today for over 1 1/2 hours. It was a beautiful, crisp, fall day, and the sun was shining through the bare branches of the trees.

It was so wonderful to be outdoors with a good friend. We could have easily gone an another hour if we both didn't have work and appointments.

I think its so important to have social workouts. Individual workouts are important as well because we all know just how hard it is to arrange schedules. But, when you're working out with a friend and having a great conversation, it just doesn't seem so much like a workout.

At the end of the hike, we took some time to practice Tai-chi. It was really a perfect day.

While the Husband's Away . . . .

My husband left on a business trip yesterday. I have four glorious days without him. I'm free!!!!!

Too bad I still have the kids.

Still, with the holidays coming up, I'm taking this little break from the ball and chain to do a little mini-cleanse and diet. With the holidays coming up, God knows I'll need it.

This morning for breakfast I squeezed myself a tall glass of fresh grapefruit juice (yummy), and ate grapes. Lunch was a raw, vegan salad and I'm going to saute up some kale with currents and olives for dinner. I'll eat completely vegan for the next few days (I actually started yesterday), and drink no alcohol.

I'm not going completely raw because I just find that I crave hot food too much in the Fall and Winter. I can easily go completely raw in the summer, but I just need the warmth in my belly when the thermometer drops.

Eating By the Numbers

There's an interesting Op-Ed in the New York Times today which you can view here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/opinion/13lowenstein.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Apparently, buried in the health care bill working its way through congress is a provision requiring chain chain restaurants to post their calorie counts on their menus.

The authors of the op-ed take a rather dim view of this proposal (gee, I wonder who they actually work for? Could it be McDonalds?)

Here's their big argument. In NYC, where they already have to post calories, only 56% are aware that the calories are posted, and of those only 25% choose fewer calories because of it.

My counter-arguments. First, the longer the law is in existence, the more people will be aware of it. Second, even if only 25% use the information, that's 25% more that hopefully won't have weight problems (and I have problems with their data since they apparently only studied behaviors in McDonalds. Something tells me that if you're eating in McDonalds, you're unlikely to be concerned about calories to begin with).

Here's the deal. I want to easily figure out what's the best option for me, calorie-wise, when I go out to eat. Yes, I can look up the information on-line, but it would be so much easier and nicer to just have the damn data stamped on my menu. It would save me 15 minutes looking it up, and as any working Mom will attest, 15 minutes is a big deal in any day.

So, I would use the data, and even if only 25% of 56% now use the information, as time passes, and knowledge of the existence of the information exists, both the 56% number and the 25% number will both increase.

More Thoughts on Thanksgiving-Surviving the Holiday Without Gaining Five Pounds

As you can tell, Thanksgiving is on my mind. I love holidays. I love being with family and friends and celebrating. The problem is, of course, being a little too celebratory. One day can throw off weeks of weight watching if you're not careful. So, here are my own personal rules for the holiday:

1. Eat lightly the week before. I try to build up a "calorie reserve" by being really careful about what I eat for the entire week beforehand.

2. Get a good work-out in that morning. Usually I try to find the time to get in an extra long walk and a short yoga practice.

3. Eat extremely lightly for breakfast and lunch that day. After all, you're going to have a huge meal later on. Sometimes I'll just juice up some fresh grapefruit juice and have an apple for breakfast, and maybe munch on a few carrots around 12. The holiday starts around 2, so I know I'll be eating soon.

3. During the "appetizer phase" start with some water and stand away from the food. In our family, we put out platters of "appetizers" and mingle and socialize for a few hours before the meal. Wine, beer and liquor flow freely. I start with just a glass of water and initially just enjoy being there and talking with people (away from the food). I will nibble eventually, but I give myself a good 30 minutes or more before I do.

4. Go for whatever raw you can. Usually we do have a crudities platter, and maybe some fresh grapes. I'll start with those so that I'll eat less of the cheese puffs, etc.

5. Eat what you love, but don't eat everything. My family tends to go for the smorgasbord approach. Besides the turkey, there are usually a good 15 to 20 side dishes. I go for the food I really love (like mashed turnips, stuffed mushrooms and homemade pumpkin pie) and pass on the stuff I don't love (unless it's meets the "healthy" requirement below).

6. Avoid the processed crap and go healthy. If the dish mostly comes from a can, I skip it and go for the sides that are mostly fresh vegetables. I'm making a roasted vegetable dish and kale, so I'll be sure to eat those.

7. Remember there are always leftovers. If I really love a particular side (and it's reasonably healthy), I'll just take more of it home with me (along with leftover turkey etc.). Thanksgiving leftovers are just another reason to give thanks (one less meal to cook).

Thoughts on Thanksgiving

My Mom and my sister called me about Thanksgiving today. We alternate spending Thanksgiving between at my sister's house and my husband's sister's house (being that I married a Jewish guy, Thanksgiving is the only holiday were there's a conflict).

This year we're spending Thanksgiving with my family, which is always a good thing because the women in my family tend to be more conscious of health and calories then my husband's family.

But, every thing is not perfect. Being that we're Italian, my family has this insane notion that every big holiday meal has to start with pasta. My husband likes to call it the meal before the meal.

And, it's not just any ordinary pasta, but something like manicotti with homemade pasta shells. After my mother went through all the trouble of mixing the pasta dough, putting it through the hand cranked pasta machine, then mixing the ricotta filling herself, there's really no way to say "I pass," (oh, and did I mention the tomato sauce is also made from scratch?) The only thing I really can do is keep it down to one or two manicottis.

The other problem is that both of my sisters' partners are WASPS whose families believe that food isn't good unless it's drenched with fat and sugar and a can or two of something processed. We never saw sweet potatoes with marshmallows until the WASP contingent joined the family (and, unbelievably even the potatoes come out of a can. I didn't know that you could get sweet potatoes out of can until the year one of my sisters' new relatives brought them).

There's also this green bean casserole concoction they insist on bringing which is loaded with butter and has some canned crispy stuff in it.

Thank God that I pretty much found this stuff gross from the start. My first bite of sweet potatoes with marshmallows was also my last. It was so sickeningly sweet, it took a tremendous amount of self-control to swallow it and not just spit it out.

So we tend to effectively now have two Thanksgiving meals. One for the Italians (and my Jewish husband who doesn't like the WASP food either), and one for the WASPS. The only thing that binds us is the actual turkey (many of my sisters' partners' relatives won't touch the pasta either. There was a bit of an uproar one year when one mother-in-law asked if she could bring a jar of sauce for her family because they didn't like my mother's homemade, unsweetened sauce).

We have one of those families were everyone brings something (it's kind of like an entry ticket, if you don't bring at least two dishes, you're not given entry). The hostess is more of a coordinator who makes the main course. My sister is of course making the Turkey (something free-range and organic from a local farm in Jersey), so she and my mother were calling around today to arrange for the other sides, appetizers and desserts.

And, this is kind of a good thing, because I then get to bring a couple of dishes which I know are healthy. I found two recipes a few weeks ago in Food & Wine that I knew I wanted to make. One is for maple-ginger, roasted Autumn vegetables, the other is for sauteed kale with currents. The main fat in both is olive oil, and both are almost entirely vegetable based with nothing processed.

Paired with a little turkey and some of the "real" sweet potatoes (not canned and sans marshmallow) and mashed turnips, that will satisfy me more than adequately (particularly after the manicotti).

The only thing I then have to look out for is the apple pie and Bourbon pumpkin pie!!

Understanding What You're Eating

There's a really good article on factory raised meat that's really worth a read. You can find it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicolette-hahn-niman/avoiding-factory-farm-foo_b_353525.html

Over the last few years, I've not only been trying to reduce my consumption of meat, but increase the quality of the meat I actually do eat. The reason is simple. Factory raised meat is so loaded with unnecessary hormones, chemicals, antibiotics, etc., that I'm really jeopardizing mine and my family's health by consuming it.

I'm not saying that I never buy meat in the supermarket, but that my first option is to try to find locally sourced meat, or, in a pinch, look for meat in the supermarket that is at least, organic, grass fed, free range, etc., (although as the article explains the claims of these labels is dubious).

The bottom line is to know your food. As the article says, you can pay your grocer now, or your doctor later. What you eat translates directly into how healthy you will be. Factory raised meat may be cheaper, but only in the short term. You'll pay more for it later on.

New Motivation to Stick with the Program

Losing weight is a bitch. Keeping it off is even a bigger bitch. I'm the first to admit that dragging my tired ass out of bed at 5:15 to get my one hour of cardio in most morning is not fun, and that I long for things like a tuna melt for lunch instead of salad.

But, I know that if I didn't drag myself out of bed and I did eat that tuna melt I'd pack back on all the pounds I lost faster than I took them off.

So, I look for motivations to keep me on track.

This blog is just one motivation. Writing about losing weight and keeping it off everyday inspires me to stay the course (as well as reading about the weight loss journeys of my fellow bloggers).

I also always look for special "events," a big night out, a wedding, Bat Mitzvah or some other gathering where I want to look svelte and sexy. I think to myself "Amy's wedding is in May, I have to look fabulous in my black, sleeveless sheath."

Today I think I may have found the ultimate weight loss motivation--my 30th high school reunion. The class of 1980 of Wayne Valley High School is having their 30th union on July 24, 2010.

I have to look good particularly for that one, since I have never attended a high school reunion. I've gone to a number of reunions for my law school but never one to my high school. So this will be the first time my former classmates have seen me in 30 years.

A few months ago I signed up for a Facebook account and started getting "friended" by a number of former high school classmates. To be perfectly honest, I had no recollection of most of these high school "friends" but it was nice to touch base again with the one's I did remember.

It was through Facebook that I learned of the reunion, so now I'm pretty determined to go. If I go, of course, I have to look drop dead gorgeous and sexy so what better motivation to keep the weight off I lost and hopefully lose a bit more?

Gee, I guess I also now need to save up for a new dress, shoes and bag. It's a summer affair so I can probably get away with something slinky that shows a bit of skin.

After all, I'll probably run into quite a few of the guys I had crushes on way back then who are now balding and overweight. I have to look real good for them.

You Have to Reduce Calories Plus Exercise to Lose Weight

A really good article in the New York Times explaining why exercise alone will not help you lose weight: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/phys-ed-why-doesnt-exercise-lead-to-weight-loss/

I, however, believe that not only can you not lose weight by just exercising, but that you can not lose weight by just dieting only as well. You need to do both.

Another interesting factoid. According to the article exercise alone won't help you lose weight, but it will help you maintain weight once you've lost it.

Losing Weight is All Just a State of Mind

Lately I haven't been as good as I should be. I've found myself sneaking some of the kids Halloween candy this year. Something I hadn't done for the past two years.

I couldn't understand my behavior. I know that not only is the candy full of calories, sugar and processed chemicals that I shouldn't be eating (nor should my children but you can't deny them everything). Still something changed.

Then it occurred to me, that losing weight is really all just a state of mind. I didn't start losing weight until I became absolutely resolved to do so. I was so focused and so determined to get back into a dress size that I could be happy with, that food like Halloween candy just held out no temptation for me.

Now I've been a size 4 for two years and I guess some of that resolve is evaporating. Yes, I'd still like to lose some more weight, and see my post-kids and menopausal "muffin top" dissipate, but basically, I'm happy with myself.

But I have to remember that I won't stay a size 4 if I fall back into old eating habits and exercise patterns.

If I start eating again like I did when I was a size 10, then I'll eventually be a size 10 again.

So, I have to fix in my mind that Halloween candy is still off limits. Not just for my weight, but for my health.

It Ain't Summertime, and the Dieting Ain't Easy

What is it about when the weather turns that I just want to eat, and eat and eat?? Is there some kind of biological clock at work here that programs us to want to eat more than usual in preparation of Winter?

It's also so much harder to stay on the raw food routine during the day. I just crave warm food (which I try to offset by drinking lots of herbal teas).

My other issue is sleep. I swear that I just want to go into hibernation and stay in bed all day. In the Spring and Summer I can just pop out of bed to go for my morning walk. This time of year, I literally have to drag myself out of bed.

Getting Off the Dairy

Yesterday, I posted a story about food allergies and how they may impact weight loss.

I found the article intriguing because of my own personal experience. A few years ago, I was a mess. I had put on quite a bit of weight. I had never had a weight problem before because I was always fairly active. I have exercised in one form or another every day for my entire life.

I was also very ill. I had bronchial problems and allergies for a number of years, and had a persistent post nasal drip and sinus congestion. Air born allergies to pollen, mold, animal fur, etc. also plagued me, and I was constantly taking anti-histamines and other products to deal with the allergies.

Worse, three years ago, within the period of six months I had pneumonia twice (I had also had pneumonia twice before). The steroids they put me on to treat the pneumonia caused me gain even more weight (I put on 25 pounds in six months), and the heavy duty anti-biotics caused me to have a systemic yeast infection.

Worse, even after the second bout and cure for the pneumonia, my lungs just never seemed to recover. A friend of mine recommended a naturalpathic physician, and since I was desperate to finally get better, I went.

The first thing the physician zeroed in on was my eating habits. I, at the time, consumed large quantities of dairy products. My standard breakfast was yogurt with fresh fruit in the morning, and I usually ate cheese at some point in the day.

The naturalpathic physician suggested that my nasal, lung and weight problems were all due to a dairy allergy, and suggested that I eliminate all dairy from my diet for a few weeks.

I was skeptical, but decided to give it a try. Well, within a week my nasal congestion and post nasal drip began to clear up, and were completely gone within three weeks. My bronchial issues also began to finally go away. Furthermore, I had begun to eliminate the dairy in May, a month in which I was usually miserable due to tree pollen, and that was the first May I didn't have to live on anti-histamines to get me through the month.

Best of all, the weight that I had been struggling to lose, finally began to show some inclination that it was willing to come off, and as the months went by with me not eating dairy, I finally shed pounds as opposed to just packing them on.

I still try to minimize my consumption of dairy products. I will have some cheese now and again, mostly because I just love it, but when I do I feel the effects. My sinuses become clogged for several days and I even now get head-aches from it.

So, in my experience, I found that there is some truth to the notion that some of our chronic conditions and weight gain may be from what are otherwise healthy foods. By eliminating dairy from my diet I cleared up a persistent problem that had plagued me for years. I spent God knows how much money on drugs to treat the symptoms of nasal congestion and allergies, when all I really needed to do was eliminate the cause of the symptoms--dairy products.

And, eliminating dairy also finally got me on the track to losing weight as opposed to just gaining it.

Are Food Allergies Making you Fat?

In interesting theory: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/are-your-food-allergies-m_b_339323.html

I don't have time to comment/write about this now, so I'll come back to it later.

Portion Control

I generally like to eat fresh fruit for breakfast. Bananas, apples, grapes, grapefruit and fresh berries are all regulars on my breakfast menu. Fruit is filling, has lots of fiber, and is just a great way to start the day.

In the late Spring, Summer and early Fall I can eat just fruit for breakfast. But it's getting cold again, and I just need something warm in my belly first thing in the morning to start the day.

Having a little oatmeal in the morning is the perfect solution. According to the directions for the organic oatmeal I use, I need to combine 1/2 cup of oats with 1 cup of water to produce a portion.

Now, if I made the full portion size as directed it would contain 190 plus calories, and is just too much food for me, particularly since I still like to pair the oatmeal with a piece of fruit.

So, looking at the directions given, I see that the proportion of oats to liquid is 1 to 2. I just reduce my portion of oatmeal to 1/4 cup and add 1/2 cup liquid.

So when I make my oatmeal I use 1/4 cup oats plus 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup almond milk (to give it some creaminess and extra flavor). I also add a sprinkling of cinnamon and either raisins, chopped apple or fresh berries (blueberries are my favorite). I then nuke it in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes to get a hot, steamy bowl of delicious oatmeal.

I reduced the portion size appropriately, and reduced overall calories as well. I find that my bowl of oatmeal plus either a banana or apple is enough breakfast to take me through the entire morning (which usually includes hiking, walking or yoga) until I'm ready for lunch.

Got that Sinking Feeling???

It could be the foods you're eating: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8334353.stm

A new study suggests that people who eat lots of processed foods have a higher risk of depression. Conversely, those who ate a diet high in fruits, vegetables and fish had a lower risk of depression.

So, in addition to making you thinner, eating less processed junk foods will make you happier.