Mrs. Jelly Belly

No willpower? No problem.

2009-11-24T20:24:00.003-05:00

Seriously. You should never believe me when I say I’ll be right back. I have quite a few posts half-written and a severe case of writer’s block. Oh, and need I even mention my lack of self-discipline?

But my lack of self-discipline is actually related to what I wanted to talk about. I came across an excerpt from a book that I haven’t read (nor do I have any intention of reading), entitled “100 Days of Weight Loss” by Linda Spangle. The book apparently has “thought-provoking” articles for each day.

The excerpt had to do with the difference between being interested in losing weight and being committed to losing weight. Think about that. Most of us are interested in losing weight. Sure. Why not? Throw us that magic pill and we’ll be all over it. Just don’t expect us to give up too much. Oh – and make it easy, will ya? Because if I diet for one full day and that scale doesn’t move, then it’s just too hard and, frankly, I’d rather have a doughnut.

But when we’re committed to losing weight, we stick to our diet plan – no matter what. We decide what we want and we do whatever we have to in order to get there. If that means staying away from fast food, even when we’re hungry and tired, skipping certain social events, and planning and prepping meals - when we’d much rather be lying around watching TV armed with a bag of Cheeto’s – then that’s what we do.

Personally, I call this the difference between willpower and WANTpower. I have no willpower. Oh, I might have it for several hours, but then it fades away the minute I smell pizza. But wantpower? I’ve got it!

Wantpower is when you want something so badly, you’re willing to sacrifice just about anything to get it. For example, if there was some $200 gadget (or pair of boots!) you really, really wanted but couldn’t easily afford, you would probably be willing to give up your $4-a-day Starbuck habit for a while and save up the cash. It would be hard at first to go without your daily Skinny Vanilla Latte, but you would keep your goal in sight and before long, as you watch those unspent dollars piling up in your piggy bank, you would forget how much you used to enjoy that Latte.

To pass up all the wonderfully-bad-for-me food that shows up at work this time of year, I literally have to stop myself, one hand already stretched out to grab a handful of chocolate-covered cashews, take a deep breath and picture myself wearing something tucked in. With a belt. Without back fat. Then I can walk away. Because I want to be that vision of myself WAY more than I want ANY food. And celery sticks are a pretty reasonable substitute for chocolate, right?

So the point of all this is – if you’re really interested in losing weight or in just eating healthier, screw thoughts of willpower and kick your wantpower into high gear.

It makes it so much easier to just say no.

Oh, and P.S. - A funny thing happens when you stay away from your blog too long. Anonymous commenters. Ugh. They’re all over the place. But I hope if you were reading old comments, you managed to find yourself some good sources for Viagra. Because that’s ~~impotent~~ important.

Filler post - high times in Chicago

2009-10-19T12:47:00.006-04:00

I'm working on a few posts, but they're not ready yet. I don't want you to think I've gone missing again, so I thought I would share with you a picture from my weekend, spent in Chicago with friends. That's me on the left - and the woman in the center is a frequent commenter, but I'm not going to out her.

This was taken at a lovely place called Dick's Last Resort. We weren't too very drunk. Yet.

And I counted myself fortunate that I didn't get the hat that said, "World's Oldest Whore" or "Goes down faster than power windows."

See you soon!

Oral stuff

2009-10-13T18:58:00.005-04:00

Now listen. Don’t go getting yourself all excited. This post is not about THAT oral stuff. Keep your minds out of the gutter. The oral stuff I want to talk about has to do with your teeth and gums. Not nearly as exciting, I know, but important nonetheless.

Did you know that that periodontal (gum) disease may be a risk factor in heart disease, stroke, bronchopneumonia and premature or low birth rate babies? And did you further know that periodontal diseases are caused by a buildup of plaque and tartar?

Plaque is a disgusting build up of germs that sticks to your teeth and gums and then makes acid from the sugar and starches you eat. And those acids keep pounding away at your teeth for 20 minutes after you eat. That’s how you get cavities. Repeated attacks of acid.

If you don’t get rid of the plaque with regular brushing AND flossing, it hardens and then turns into tartar and infects your gums, causing redness and easy bleeding.

As you know, a bad dental experience kept me away from ANY dentist for seven years. And even though I always brush twice daily, I was a sporadic flosser. If I did it twice a week, I thought I was doing pretty well.

So it was not a big surprise to me when I finally worked up the courage to go back to the dentist to find that I did in fact have gum disease. Ick.

When you have gum disease, the hygienist likes to do a deep cleaning of your teeth (a process with the awful-sounding name of root planing and scaling) in four separate appointments – one for each quadrant of your mouth. Cost? $1000. Crikey!

So when the brave hygienist took a look in my mouth, she cleaned off some of the tartar at the gum line and then told me she would put me “on probation” for four weeks to see if I could improve it a little on my own and save some money on the deep cleaning.

When I got home, I turned on QVC (as is my habit when I’m depressed) and what do you think they were presenting? A little product called Oraparx – an at-home system that they claimed would bust up the plaque not only on your teeth, but even below the gum line. I took this as a sign and immediately ordered it. For under $20, I didn’t think I had much to lose.

Basically, this system consists of a tube of a toothpaste-like substance (which I suspect is mostly baking soda and hydrogen peroxide) and a foam rubber mouth tray. You fill the tray on both sides with the paste, put it in your mouth and leave it in for at least 10 minutes, but not more than 20. I use it while I’m in the shower; the timing works out perfectly.

You would normally use it only once a week or so – less if your teeth look like this:

And perhaps significantly more often if they look like this:

Being somewhere between the two, I used it for seven days straight and then every other day until my return dental appointment. The end result was that I only had to have the deep cleaning on 3 teeth – I had managed to clean the rest of them enough that they didn’t need them. And I saved $750. Pretty impressive, I thought.

I immediately went to the Oraparx website and got into their auto-delivery plan and continued to use it two to three times per week. And when I went back for my 3-month cleaning (which is another thing they make you do if you have periodontal disease), the hygienist said the improvement in my gums was “practically unheard of”.

So if you haven’t been to the dentist in a while, or if you are one of those people who have a lot of plaque build up for no good reason, or if you just want to improve on your oral health, seriously…get this stuff. I highly recommend it. Your gums will thank you.

I had some more to tell you – about a cheap, cheap teeth-whitening product, but this is too long already so I’ll save it for another time.

A little less conversation, a little more action...

2009-10-11T18:44:00.004-04:00

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live. --Henry David Thoreau

La la la la la…pretending I’ve never been gone…la la lala la….

Is 50 too old to develop ADD? Seriously, it’s like I can only concentrate on one thing at a time. No multi-tasking for me. If I’m putting all of my energy into reading and writing about healthier eating, I am putting NO energy into actually doing it. If I’m focusing on losing weight and getting back on track, I simply cannot find the time to write about it.

If I’m obsessed with my HUGE FREAKING PORES, I cannot be bothered about my lumpy thighs.

Bizarre.

Anywho, the good news is I am, indeed, about 95% back on track. The weekends can still use some tweaking, though. The bad news is I am writing this instead of planning my meals for next week.

See what I mean?

After almost passing out while driving the other day (I have self-diagnosed that as a blood sugar issue) I decided to quit screwing around and get serious. And wow, do I ever feel better since I did. I’m trying to stay in a 1200 calorie per day range but the main thing I’ve done is cut out most processed foods. Once you do that, everything else pretty much takes care of itself. Funny how that works.

Also funny is that I just said I cut out MOST processed foods - but I wanted to tell you about two things that I have recently discovered. Both in the processed category. (Picture a smiley face here.)

As a basically lazy person, wasting time every morning until the last possible moment, I hate to have to spend too much time on my lunch. Yes, I know I can do it the night before, but let’s get real.

My niece turned me on to StarKist tuna salad in a pouch. Tuna Salad. In a pouch. As in mayo and onions already included.

I had no idea there was such a thing. My first thought on seeing something like this would have been “ewwww, gross” but she assured me it was good - and even bought one for me. Such a thoughtful girl. And it IS good. And only 90 calories. So now I have that for lunch every day (I like the albacore) together with my second find:

Arnold’s Sandwich Thins. Yes, I know everyone else has already tried these. But I have never been able to find them until recently. So cute – and the perfect size for the tuna salad. One hundred calories of deliciousness. (And gluten. I’ve decided to work on slowly eliminating the dairy first and THEN worry about the gluten…but this is actually the only gluten-containing food I’ve been eating and it doesn’t seem to be bothering me.)

This combo is perfect for the lazy. Although it just occurs to me that it would be even easier if I would just take all five pouches for the week and the package of bread to work with me on Monday morning. Then I wouldn’t have to be bothered with schlepping them every single day.

Since I’ve been snacking on raw vegetables in the afternoon, I am buying those pre-washed and pre-cut. Makes things a lot easier. (I totally would never have made it as a pioneer woman. Never.)

Thoughts of getting back to exercising are tumbling around in my head. But that’s an obsession for another day…and I still have my Huge Pores to think about.

Gluten-free dumbass in denial

2009-09-14T19:32:00.003-04:00

As you know, because I whine about it all the time, I feel perfectly shitty 99% of the time. The other 1%? Moderately poopy. The point is, I never feel GOOD. For a long time I attributed that to my thyroid issues. But lately, I’ve been trying to pay more attention to what I eat and how I feel when I eat it.

My conclusion? Gluten. That pesky little protein found in wheat, barley, rye and usually oats. I already knew any type of baked goods affected me badly, causing bloat, weight gain and general misery. And, while I hated to admit it, my beloved Quaker (crack in a box) oatmeal practically put me into a coma. I decided a two-week gluten-free trial was in order.

So I bought a book. Gluten-Free Living for ~~Dumbasses~~ Dummies. And I learned things. Things like autoimmune disorders, such as Hashimoto’s Disease (which I have), are often a symptom of a gluten intolerance. As is a Vitamin D and B12 deficiency (both of which I have). And other symptoms I had also pointed to a gluten intolerance:

Fatigue
Headaches (including migraines)
Inability to concentrate
Hair loss
Low blood sugar
Night blindness

And those are just the symptoms that apply to me. If you read the entire list, you would be convinced that YOU are gluten-intolerant, too.

I learned that most people with gluten allergies or intolerances will not ever be diagnosed. Because doctors don’t usually test for it. That there will be 1 diagnosis for every 140 cases. Don’t ask me how they know that if the other 140 aren’t ever diagnosed, but that’s what they say.

Focusing on all the foods that are naturally gluten-free, such as meats and seafood, fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, rice, and most dairy, I made a list and went grocery shopping. I decided not to go crazy with buying gluten-free baked goods, such as bread, because I wasn’t really even sure if this was my problem. And for two weeks, I could live with corn tortillas if I needed a sandwich.

It was not all that difficult. I didn’t notice anything dramatic in the way I felt. I ate yogurt mixed with rice and raisins for breakfast instead of oatmeal. I ate a bowl of rice chex with skim milk for a snack. I ate refried beans with cheese and corn chips. Steak and potatoes. Salads. It was not bad.

Still, I lasted only four days. Why? Beer. I caved when we went bowling and they did not sell anything gluten-free. I was weak. But an interesting thing happened when I had that beer. Absolutely nothing. No bloating, no abdominal pain, no gas, no headache. It was the first time in that whole day that I DIDN’T feel bad. I had eaten a gluten-free, sugar-free protein bar that afternoon (Think Thin brand…it was gross) that made me nauseous. And it wasn’t just because it was nasty.

Here is where the dumbass in denial part comes in. That bar contained dairy. As did the yogurt with my breakfast. As did the cheese (and lots of it) on my refried beans at lunch. I was living large in the gluten-free dairy department.

And I’m allergic to casein, a milk protein. Tested and diagnosed two years ago, it is an undeniable fact. One which I choose to ignore. I keep eating it because doing so doesn’t send me into anaphylactic shock or anything. So it must be okay, right? It must be something else making me feel bad. Anything else. Dear God, please. I CANNOT GIVE UP CHEESE.

Sigh. I must give up cheese.

Time to face the facts and deal with them, I guess. So now I will buy more books that will teach me how to live dairy-free (and I might still stay off the gluten…unless it comes in beer) and I will focus on foods that are naturally dairy-free. And I will try to remember that going dairy-free is probably good for me even if I wasn’t allergic to it. And maybe I’ll feel better.

But I don’t like it. No sir, not even one little bit.

Well look what the cat dragged in...

2009-09-02T19:57:00.003-04:00

So I was thinking that I should probably think about writing something – since it had been two weeks since my last post (forgive me, Father, for I have sinned) when I realized Holy Crap! It’s been almost a month.

Wow, time really flies when you’re miserable. And I am. Have I ever mentioned that I hate summer? Odd, I know. Everyone else looks forward to it and I seriously loathe it. Especially since Mr. Jelly Belly has gone on a Don’t-Use-The-Air-Conditioning-Unless-It’s-Over-85-Degrees rampage. If it’s 72 degrees or higher, I start to look like this:

And not just the melting part. Whoo boy…cranky!

Thanks to all of you who checked in on me. Yes, I am still alive – but I’m sure there are many around me who wish I wasn’t. (Did I mention cranky??)

The week I was Home Alone was wonderful. The eating was good, the exercising was good and, one day, I even took off work and did nothing but lay around all day in the banned air conditioning, reading and napping. And napping. And napping. It was heaven. Then Mr. Jelly Belly came home and I went right back to being a sweaty slug.

I’ve got so many things to talk about, but they are not all food and health-related. I hope that’s okay because I’ve grown weary of my food obsession. Sometimes doing research makes this blog feel like a job. And I don’t want that. Plus, how much is there really to say? Vegetables: good. Sugar: bad. And variations on that theme.

However, that being said, Mr. Jelly Belly did grow me some squash – butternut, spaghetti and acorn. And, as they are piling up on my countertop, I realized I have absolutely no idea what to do with them. So you might get a couple of squash posts. Exciting, no? Spaghetti squash sounds fun. I’m looking forward to trying it. Any suggestions?

So see you in a couple of days. And that’s Real Time…not Mrs. Jelly Belly’s Wish-I-Could-Be-In-An-Air-Conditioned-Coma-For-Three-Months time.

My excuses are walking out the door

2009-08-10T21:26:00.003-04:00

Beginning Tuesday and continuing on through Saturday evening, I will be home totally alone. All day. All night. (If there are any criminals reading, I have nothing worth stealing and I have two vicious guard dogs – so just move along.)

Mr. Jelly Belly is moving our youngest daughter down to Athens, Georgia, where she will be starting her post-graduate program (Public Health, in case you’re interested). Why am I not going, you ask? Because it’s freaking HOT in Georgia and also because there will be manual labor involved. I will say my goodbyes from my air conditioned foyer, thank you very much.

One of the benefits of being home alone is that you don’t have to take anyone else into consideration when you’re planning meals. Lately it’s just seemed too hard to do the whole cooking two separate meals thing, so I’ve been giving in and just eating whatever it is that Mr. Jelly Belly wants to eat.

God help me. Last week I ate Hamburger Helper (Cheeseburger Macaroni). And it was just as disgusting as I remembered it. But that didn’t stop me from finishing the whole plate.

I will not be able to say that I can’t use the treadmill in the morning because it might wake him up. Or that I can’t exercise to a video because he is parked in front of the television. Or because he might watch me do it and laugh. (I should mention that I have two other televisions with DVD players that I could use and also that he would never laugh, even if he did see me, so those are really just more lame excuses.)

For these five days, and these five days only, I will not have Mr. Jelly Belly around to blame my bad habits and lack of motivation on.

Can I turn the corner here and get back on track? I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…

What our skin needs

2009-08-07T05:26:00.007-04:00

Picture it: ~~Sicily, 1938~~ Michigan, 2009. An aging woman sits in a bar, delicately sipping a Blue Moon. A much less-exfoliated woman approaches and demands to know the skin care habits of the aging woman, proclaiming her to look “not a day over 30”.

That aging woman was me. And the less-exfoliated woman? I have no idea who she was…just another drunk in the (very dark) bar.

The point is, besides the fact that I look every minute of my age and I think that woman had vision (blind drunk) issues, my new skin care routine seems to be working. I am sometimes even getting compliments from sober people. But never in broad daylight. There’s still much work to be done.

If you are over 35 (some people even say 25), then you owe it to your skin to be using a retinol product. Retinol is the ONLY thing proven to prevent and eliminate wrinkles.

But first, you have to understand the difference between retinol and Retin-A (tretinoin). Without getting too technical, because I’m no skin care expert, the main difference is that retinol is an over-the-counter vitamin A derivative, while Retin-A and Renova are prescription-only tretinoin products. Tretinoin also treats acne; retinols do not (although they will unclog your pores). There is an excellent article on the differences between these products, as well as detailed instructions on how to use them HERE.

Retin-A was originally developed as a topical acne drug – and it works for that purpose. But something happened when people were using this drug to fight acne; they discovered it also decreased wrinkles, shrunk pores, evened out skin tone and faded out dark spots due to sun damage. A pretty exciting discovery for the anti-aging market.

Renova was created specifically for use as an anti-aging product. It is exactly the same as Retin-A, except it is contained in a more emollient base. Oh, and it costs about $400. Talk about capitalizing on our aging skin phobias. I’ll just stick with the Retin-A and a good moisturizer and save myself over $300.

The way I understand it, retinols work by slowly exfoliating the cells deep under the external skin layer and rebuilding collagen. This is different from a topical exfoliant, such as an AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) which exfoliates the outer skin layer only.

The trick to using a retinol, especially the stronger products like Retin-A or Renova, is to start slow. If you overdo it, you can really irritate your skin. To the point of blisters. Really, there is no need to slather it on 3 times a day, hoping for quicker results. It doesn’t work that way. Slow and steady wins this particular race. If you follow the directions, you probably won’t have any problems at all. You will start to see some results within about two weeks, with optimal results reportedly being apparent by six months. Do not give up; it will be worth the time you invest.

Retinols are a nighttime product because of the increased sun sensitivity that can develop with their use. The use of a sunscreen is really not optional when using these products. I find that the sunscreen in my foundation and daytime moisturizer are enough for most days, but if I am forced to be out in the sun for an extended period, I use something stronger.

If you don’t want to start out with a prescription-strength product, that are a couple of over the counter brands worth taking a look at. Sometimes I think it might be better to start with a lower-level retinol to “prep” your skin for the eventual use of Retin-A or Renova.

I started out with Philosophy’s Help Me (.15% retinol), a very mild retinol product and got really good results almost immediately.

Problem? It’s $45. Of course, after I bought it I learned that Alpha Hydrox’s ResQ is virtually the same product for about $15 and it can be purchased in drugstores.

Another product to look at is Green Cream (available in .3%, .6% and .9% retinol formulations).
This product gets great reviews, but something in it really irritated my skin. I wanted to like it but just couldn’t get it to work for me. Which is not to say it won’t work for you. Many, many people adore it, so it’s worth going to their site and checking it out. Their message boards are very helpful.

These are just a couple of the options for over the counter retinols. If you do a little research, you will find many more. My original plan was to keep increasing the strength of the OTC products and, after reaching the top level there, moving on to Retin-A. But after four weeks of using the Help Me, and looking at some of the prices for the higher-level retinols, I decided to scrap that plan and just go for it.

Retin-A and Renova are available in strengths ranging from .025% tretinoin to .1% and as either a cream or a gel. Your doctor (preferably a dermatologist) can decide which will work best for your skin. My doctor took one look at my skin and prescribed the strongest strength. She must have decided I didn’t have time to fool around. I wondered if she was trying to burn my face off, but she advised me to use a very small pea-sized amount for my entire face, use it every night and only back off if I had a problem. After two weeks of daily use, I can report that I have had no problems at all. Some minor flaking around Day 7 but, overall, smooth sailing.

Personally, I am not overly concerned with the wrinkles (except for those “marionette lines” that go from the corner of your mouth all the way down to your chin – ick) but I hate the huge pores. I can honestly say that after four weeks of Help Me and two weeks of Retin-A, my pores have definitely shrunk, my skin tone is much more even (no more intermittent redness) and I do not seem to have quite as much sagging in my cheeks. And I am nowhere near the point of optimum results yet.

It’s nice to have something to look forward to.

Plums vs. blueberries

2009-08-03T20:03:00.001-04:00

So we all know how blueberries have long been the reigning ~~king~~ queen of the superfoods, right? One of those rare foods that is not only incredibly good for you because of its high levels of antioxidants - but delicious, too!

Well it seems the blueberry’s throne might be wobbling a little bit. New studies have shown that plums match or even exceed the blueberry in terms of antioxidants and phytonutrients.

What makes the plum an even better option is that while people rarely eat more than a few blueberries at a time – in cereal or a fruit salad – they will always eat a full plum. Or two. Or three. (But maybe that’s just me…..)

I love me some plums. I think they are my second favorite fruit – after the banana – so this was really good news for me. Plus they’re usually cheaper than blueberries. Or they were. I’m sure when word gets out about how plums have knocked blueberries off their high horse, the prices will start to go up. Funny how that works.

Oh, and don’t peel your plum….the skin is where all the good stuff is.

What's going on with Vitamin D?

2009-08-01T04:36:00.004-04:00

I mentioned before that Mr. Jelly Belly nearly busted a gut laughing when I came home two years ago and told him I had just been diagnosed as being Vitamin D deficient. Because Vitamin D is known as the “sunshine vitamin” it was not surprising that I, a hater of the sun from way back, would be found lacking in this area. My days of baking in baby oil are long gone – these days I avoid the sun at all cost. Always. If I am forced to be outside, I coat myself in sunscreen and pride myself on my “bar room pallor”. Morticia Addams has got nothing on me.

Then there’s Mr. Jelly Belly – a lover of all things outdoors. On the weekends, if he’s not outside working in the yard from sunup to sundown, he’s on the golf course for hours, sans sunscreen, baking in the mid-day sun, desperately trying to break 100. During the week I have to hold dinner for him so he can work in the yard from the time he gets home from work until it gets dark. (What the heck does he DO out there??) He rarely sweats, he tans easily and he doesn’t have even one single wrinkle. Sometimes I hate that man.

So we were both quite surprised when his recent blood work came back indicating a Vitamin D deficiency. What the heck? Experts advise anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes of sun daily, with 40% of your body exposed (no sunscreen) in order to get adequate Vitamin D from the sun. Obviously, Mr. Jelly Belly gets WAY more than that. So if someone like him can’t maintain an adequate Vitamin D level, what hope is there for the rest of us mere mortals?

Because so many people either purposely avoid the sun due to the fear of skin cancer or, for the more shallow among us, premature aging, or because we spend most of our daylight hours at work, Vitamin D deficiency is reportedly reaching epidemic levels. Supplementation is almost becoming mandatory.

It used to be recommended that you supplement NO MORE than 1000 IU per day. It is now being reported that one can supplement up to 10,000 IU per day with no ill effects. But that’s the extreme. Most experts are recommending anywhere between 1000 and 5000 IU per day. BUT, your Vitamin D supplement should contain D3. Because it is really the D3 that’s important.

A D3 deficiency can lead to high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, obesity, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis (because we need D3 in order to absorb calcium) and Alzheimer’s disease. Studies are currently being done that link D3 deficiencies to increased risk of breast cancer.

When you eat a food that is “Vitamin D fortified” what you are probably getting is Vitamin D2, a synthetic form of Vitamin D that is less well utilized by the body than D3. Good food sources of D3 include salmon, mackerel, sardines, egg yolks and beef liver. (I’ll stick with the salmon, thanks.)

Seriously, don’t screw around…get your Vitamin D levels tested and (oh, how it pains me to say this) discuss your supplementation needs with your doctor. You just might discover the source of some of your aches and pains.

Okay, enjoy the sun this weekend, if you’re That Type of person…I’m off to slather on some sunscreen, pop some D3, and find out where I can buy that Casper t-shirt. Have a great weekend!

Tacky or Hilarious? Silver Honey Bee

2009-07-31T03:59:00.003-04:00

Sometimes there is a fine line between super-cool and super-tacky. What say you about this Silver Honey Bee?

Store your honey in its glass body and scoop it out with the silverplated spoon.

Even though it’s a little pricey ($42.50), it still gets my vote for being the Cutest Gadget Ever.

A crappy computer and a doctor's appointment

2009-07-25T22:02:00.002-04:00

Whew. Internet Explorer really sucks, eh? For the last two weeks, every time I go into Blogger – either on my blog or yours – about 100 windows start popping up. Then I play “Whack-A-Mole” trying to close them all out while others keep opening up. It’s annoying and time consuming. Does this happen to anyone else, or is it just me?

Being old and somewhat resistant to change, I have long refused to switch to Firefox, even though I’ve had it downloaded forever. Finally, even I could see the benefit of using it and I hope everything will be okay now. One window at a time and blogging life looks good again.

So anyone who knows me knows of my ~~hatred~~ distaste for the medical profession in general. I have been jerked around for 23 years with this thyroid issue and nobody seems to know how to fix it. Or wants to spend any time trying to figure out how to fix it. I finally got fed up two years ago after going to a highly-rated holistic MD who did nothing but sell me hundreds of dollars worth of overpriced supplements and hand me a large bill. No improvement in my overall health so I said, “screw them all” and haven’t been to a doctor since. I feel just as bad but at least it’s not costing me any money.

But all good things must come to an end and when my thyroid swelled up so large that I could no longer eat without fear of choking to death, I decided it was time to find someone to at least do the blood work and order a biopsy to make sure the little malfunctioning bugger hadn’t turned cancerous on me.

Of course I had to have a complete physical – it’s required of all new patients. What a racket. But, okay…I haven’t been in two years, and I AM 50 now, so I guess I’m alright with that.

And, by the way, I hate filling out health history forms for 15 minutes, only to have the doctor come in and start asking you the exact same questions you just answered on all those forms. Is it too hard for them to at least scan the form before talking to you? (And I also think some of those questions are none of their business – like my sexual history. I’ll discuss that with my gynecologist, thank you. I left lots of unanswered questions on the form; they didn’t seem to notice.)

So she did all the usual things and said, except for the thyroid thing, I was in great shape. She wants me to have a colonoscopy (yeah, we’ll see) and an ultrasound on my thyroid. They took lots of blood and I peed ~~all over a cup~~ in a cup and I’ll get those results on Monday.

But here’s the only thing that really pissed me off. I get done with all that and go to pay and the receptionist says, “oh, the doctor wanted you to have these referrals,” and she hands me a business card for a gastroenterologist (for the colonoscopy), which I quickly dropped to the bottom of my purse, and two business cards for general surgeons.

General surgeons? WTF? I asked what those were for and the receptionist was also puzzled. She tried to call the doctor who was with another patient so I didn’t get an answer on that. Don’t you think if she thought I needed a referral to a general surgeon she would at least discuss it with me? I’m guessing she’s jumping the gun and assuming the thyroid has to come out. Without even seeing the results of the blood test or the ultrasound.

So, yeah. Not overly impressed with this doctor, either. But she did give me the prescription I asked for - Retin-A for my huge pores and overall aging skin. Made the visit all worth it, in my opinion.

The search for a competent doctor continues. Next stop (after all test results are in): The University of Michigan Medical Center.

And how was YOUR week?

They had me at "donut"

2009-07-15T03:39:00.002-04:00

It’s rare that I come across a piece of fruit that I think is cute. So cute that I have to buy it. But that’s really the only reason I bought a couple of donut peaches the other day. Because they were cute. So cute that I bought them even though they weren’t organic – despite the fact that peaches are reportedly one of the worst fruits to buy conventional. Guess I felt the need for a little dangerous living.

Have you seen these? They’re nothing like your standard fuzzy, drippy peach. They’re kind of flat-ish and low-fuzz and the flesh is white. Because of the shape, they easily break in half and you can pop the pit right out. Kind of like an avocado.

To me, the consistency was like that of a soft pear and it kind of tasted more like a plum than a peach. Having never had them before, I couldn’t tell you where these were on the ripeness scale. Under ripe? Over ripe? Just right? Don’t know, but they were at least fun to eat.

I have this long-standing fantasy in which I buy a large box of donuts and, while sexily dressed in pink pajama pants and one of Mr. Jelly Belly’s oversized t-shirts, I lounge on the couch all day eating donuts and watching trash television - until I can no longer stand the ecstasy of it all and fall into a happy sugar coma. But, like all good fantasies, this one will never see the light of day. But maybe I can improvise with a dozen donut peaches and a Golden Girls marathon.

Somehow, I just don’t think it will be the same.

Dairy-free Grandma

2009-07-12T21:39:00.011-04:00

I am always jealous whenever people talk about the great food products they are able to buy at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. I don’t have either of those anywhere near me and my Kroger is The Worst Ever. I hate grocery shopping in general and the lack of variety there has always frustrated me.

Until now.

I dragged myself into Kroger this morning and was shocked to see they had finally finished their remodeling and added an organic section. It’s no Whole Foods, of course, but it’s better than nothing.

It was perfect timing for me, because my 16-month old grandson was coming over for the afternoon. I like to have snacks for the kids but he’s difficult because he’s severely lactose-intolerant. I gave him some vanilla almond milk last time he was over (he loved it), but that’s hardly a snack worthy of grandma’s house, right? His 7-year old sister loves strawberries and ice cream sandwiches, so I always have those around for her. Her brother gets in on the strawberry action, but no ice cream for the poor little guy.

But look at the dairy-free treasures I found! First off, Tofutti Cuties snack-sized ice cream sandwiches. Available in 12 different flavors, but I stuck with vanilla:

Then I spotted Rice Dream Ice Cream, so I grabbed a pint – again, in vanilla:

But life isn’t all about ice cream, so I also picked up some Stoneyfield Farms Soy Yogurt:

After lunch, I let him try the ice cream sandwich. Having never had ice cream, he didn’t quite know what to make of it at first. Then he scarfed the rest of it down. (I didn’t try it, but I took a big sniff and it smelled exactly the same as any other ice cream sandwich.) So I packed all that up and sent it home with him. Dairy-free or not, I don’t need the temptation.

I know all of this is not very exciting for those of you with access to Whole Foods, but this was a Big Deal to me. Especially when I found stuff like this:

And this:

And, out of the organic arena, have you seen this?

I have always been a fan of Buitoni products, but really limit them these days because of the white flour. I was so excited to see the whole wheat, that I bought both the ravioli and the tortellini.

So, yeah. Despite the final bill (yikes!), all in all it was a good shopping day – AND I think I got put in the running for Grandma of the Year. Any suggestions for what I should get next time? There was some rice bread that looked pretty interesting. Anyone tried that?

Is your food making you sick - and tired?

2009-07-08T20:50:00.003-04:00

So all I wanted to do was find out if it was true that food sensitivities can cause major problems with your health. As is the case with most of these seemingly simple things I like to look up, there was just TOO MUCH SCIENCE involved in the whole subject and it made my head hurt. Why do I keep doing this to myself?

The overall answer appears to be yes, hidden food sensitivities can contribute to a large number of health problems. Depending on who you ask.

Would you be surprised to learn that traditional medicine thinks testing for food sensitivities (which is different from a true allergy) is all bull hockey, while naturopaths and holistic practitioners believe in it whole-heartedly? Doesn’t surprise me any. If patients can eliminate symptoms by diet alone, what would that do to the drug industry? What? No prescriptions to write? We can’t have that, can we?

So back to this food sensitivity thing. I was originally reading an article with the catchy title, “Your Hidden Food Allergies Are Making You Fat” – because, you know, no one would read the article if it didn’t stress the weight aspect of the subject. Anyhoo, I read the article, which I found interesting and wanted to learn more about food sensitivity and how it relates to other health issues.

Statistics show that only about 5% of adults have true food allergies, while 80% have food sensitivities. Pretty high number. The claim is that these hidden food sensitivities, which cannot be detected in standard allergy testing, can cause some of these symptoms:

celiac disease/gluten intolerance
fibromyalgia
weight gain or inability to lose weight
extreme fatigue
autism
ADHD
hyperactivity
anxiety and panic attacks
insomnia
chronic pain
depression
irritable bowel
migraines
ear problems
sinus problems
arthritis
gallbladder attacks
headaches
bone and joint pain
gastrointestinal distress

And that’s just a partial list.

So what causes food sensitivities? I read an interesting article about how our immune systems have changed very, very little from our hunting and gathering days. The days when we would basically eat what was available and in season. We couldn’t store grains, so we didn’t eat them every day. Now all kinds of foods are readily available year round and we eat tons of the same things every single day. But our bodies weren’t designed to eat like that and, eventually, our immune system becomes sensitive to those foods. Or something like that. I’m no anthropologist – but you get the drift.

I have personally noticed how various foods affect me adversely. I cannot eat bread. I bloat severely and gain weight immediately if I do. Is it the wheat? Is it the gluten? I don’t know, but I do know there is something in there that my body just doesn’t like. If I stay away from it, not only do I feel better, but my weight drops. I have discovered that tree nuts will trigger a migraine. Not allergic, but definitely sensitive. I have been told that I am allergic to casein, a milk protein. No major allergic reaction, but I sure don’t feel good when I eat anything that contains it. Sugar makes me flat out sick. Always has. And there are other odd symptoms I have that I am convinced are food-related – but I just haven’t been able to track down which foods they are. Yet.

Which brings me to the testing. ALCAT testing (the testing mentioned in the big fat allergy article, above) is designed to pinpoint your specific food and chemical sensitivities with a simple blood test. Then, armed with this knowledge, the patient eliminates all of the foods to which they have been found to be sensitive. Health restored, weight lost.

Sounds easy enough. The problem is, number one, the test is uber ridiculously expensive – anywhere from $400 to $1100, depending on the number of items you are being tested for. Out of range for the average suffering Joe. Number two, even if you could get your doctor to do the test for you, your insurance probably won’t cover it. Number three, there are equally divided reviews on the test’s effectiveness. And, again, I believe that division is between the traditional and alternative camps.

I would LOVE to be tested for food and chemical sensitivities. I would love to know RIGHT NOW which foods are causing problems with my health. And, okay, I’ll admit it – my weight. Unfortunately, my recent QVC spree has left me a little light in the wallet. It’s my understanding there are other, less expensive, tests that can be done – but they’re still not $1.98. So, until I win the lottery, or my insurance company gets with the program, I’m going to have to stick with my hit or miss method of sensitivity detection. And be miserable.

Do you feel there are some foods that you might be sensitive to? Do you have symptoms that your doctor doesn’t seem to be able to fix? If money were no object, would you shell out the cash to be tested? Even if you might find out that you’re sensitive to, say, HOPS, and your beer drinking days would be over? Or am I the only one who truly believes what we’re eating could be making us sick?

If this doesn't rip your heart out...

2009-07-07T18:14:00.002-04:00

...then you probably don't have one.

Paris Jackson, age 11, reminds us that sometimes even a legend is just "Daddy".

Four free days and all you can eat

2009-07-02T03:54:00.004-04:00

Mr. Jelly Belly and I have been invited by our very dear Native American friends to spend four days and three nights being wined (beered) and dined - and probably bled dry. If we can drag ourselves away from all that for a few hours, we will also be exploring the benefits of fresh cherries. Well, I will be – Mr. Jelly Belly will probably load up on corn dogs.

The free accommodations are nice, but four days of free food can be a nightmare. As delicious as it always is, I prefer to avoid the buffet. Mr. Jelly Belly LIVES for it. Especially Friday and Saturday nights, which is the Prime Rib and Seafood buffet.

I’m sure you’ve guessed already that he goes for the prime rib and I go for the seafood, where I load my plate with an embarrassingly large number of King Crab Legs. I enjoy the whole process involved in eating crab legs almost as much as I enjoy the actual eating itself. Crack, pull, dip, yum…repeat, repeat, repeat.

In between all the eating and beer drinking, I will be sitting on my ever-expanding ass, chasing this:

I know I shouldn’t admit this, but this sounds like a perfect extended weekend to me. Hope yours is as much fun as I know mine will be. See you next week!

Corn: Vegetable or Grain?

2009-06-29T20:54:00.002-04:00

You know, almost any time you are on a restricted diet you are told to avoid starchy vegetables, with corn being on the top of the list. Now, this is no problem for me because I am, in general, sick to death of corn.

You may recall corn is one of the two vegetables Mr. Jelly Belly will eat – and only from a can. Every week I have to buy 3 cans of corn and 3 cans of peas (no vegetables on pizza night) and hope that I bought the right configuration to go with whatever meat he is eating. Because specific meats require a specific vegetable. I cannot serve him corn with pork. Pork is a pea entrée. So, yeah. Sick to death of corn and I’ll bet it’s been over a year since I ate a pea.

However, corn on the cob is an entirely different story. Oh, how I love corn on the cob. Boiled, steamed, roasted, or grilled…doesn’t matter. I’ll eat it however it’s prepared. Just pass the butter, salt and dental floss and leave me be. Well, okay, swap out that butter for I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray. That works, too.

But I always feel guilty when I eat corn on the cob because of that whole high starch thing. Then I started to think about it and wondered why the heck it’s considered to be such a bad thing to eat. It’s a natural food, right? It’s a good source of fiber, vitamin C, and vitamins B1 and B5. It’s also got about 177 calories, 5 grams of protein and about 32 net grams of carbs. (Those figures are for one cup of corn; I don’t think a standard ear has much more than that.)

It’s those 32 grams of carbs that scare everyone, I think. Yet whole grains, like brown rice, or whole wheat pasta, are always on the approved list (in moderation, of course) but are almost identical in carb content. And corn meal, or polenta, is considered a whole grain. As is popcorn. So why do we still consider corn itself a vegetable?

I have just moved corn over to the grains category on my eating list. If I’m going to eat corn on the cob, I just won’t have another grain with it. Or potatoes. Although I love a baked potato with corn on the cob. Or fried potatoes, even. Or scalloped. Oh, crap…I’d better get off this potato subject.

So just in time for corn on the cob season, I am tossing the guilt and planning to enjoy eating lots of corn this summer. In place of my brown rice. And I really don’t see a problem with that.

Keeping it clean

2009-06-26T00:30:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I go through stages with my internet buying - I'll get totally obsessed because I feel like I NEED everything and buy like crazy for a couple of ~~weeks~~ months - and then, being appalled at how much I've bought, back off and don't buy another thing from a shopping channel for a year. We all know what stage I'm in at the moment (tail end, I swear) but the last time I was actively stalking QVC's beauty programming was about 18 months ago.

At that time, the Clarisonic Facial Cleansing System was THE THING to have. "Are they crazy?" I thought. "There is no freaking way I am spending $200 for something to clean my face." Even though I wanted it, of course, I couldn't justify $200 for something that, frankly, I was afraid I would buy and then never use.

So here we are, 18 months later, and the Clarisonic is STILL the thing to have - but now I own one. I hemmed and hawed about it. I read reviews on QVC and other places on the internet. I watched YouTube video reviews. I tried to find cheaper alternatives. But none of that mattered when, right in the middle of my decision-making process, the Clarisonic popped up on FIVE EASY PAYS. Woot! What this meant to me was that now I only had to put out about $40 to test drive it for a month and, if I didn't like it, (say it with me, now) back it goes.

If you're not familiar, the Clarisonic face brush is based on the Sonic toothbrush technology. The brush spins back and forth in a way that isn’t even visible to the naked eye and deeply cleans your skin. They say it “dislodges facial debris.” I think this means it pulls all the gunk out of your pores. If you don’t get all that crap out of your pores, you get ugly stuff like acne, milia (little white bumps on your skin), and, the bane of my existence, visibly enlarged pores.

You can use any non-abrasive cleanser - you are not tied to a specific brand. The replaceable brushes come in normal, sensitive and delicate and last for 3 to 6 months, depending on whether you use it once or twice per day. I can actually use all three levels without a problem.

Oh and the best part? It's waterproof. You can totally use it in the shower.

It takes about 1 minute to use. They suggest twice a day, but lately I’ve only been using it at night (because I have enough things going on in the shower with all the hair products I’m using these days).

It's simple to use. Just load up your damp face with the cleanser, wet the brush and turn it on. Then, starting at your forehead, you use light circular movements until the thing beeps - that means it’s time to move down the center of your face (nose, mouth area) until it beeps again. Then your right cheek (beep) then your left cheek. When that's done, it automatically shuts off. Rinse your face and the brush. All done. The time can be adjusted for longer or shorter periods of time and for faster or slower spinning but, I'll be honest, I haven't bothered to play with that. If I feel I need more (like for my neck and chest) I just turn it on again until I feel done. A single charge holds for at least 3 weeks.

The results? Super-clean skin, for sure, but also better all over color and evenness of skin tone. And reduced pore size! Yay! I don't have problems with acne, so I can't personally speak to how it works for that, but the reviews are good. The deep cleaning leaves your skin in a better position to receive whatever treatment or moisturizing products you use, making them work better. It's not an exfoliator, but I think you do get just a tiny bit of that effect.

At first I thought I was going to have to send it back. I didn't think I liked it. But the more I used it, the more I loved it. I'm glad I gave it the full 30 days because it literally got better every day. Is it worth $200? Eh. I guess so. It IS really a nice, quality product. There's nothing cheap about the way it is made at all. And from what I hear, if you have any problem at all, their customer service is outstanding.

You can find the Clarisonic for less on eBay and Amazon, among other places, but you want to look at what’s included for the money. QVC’s package includes 3 brush heads (which is a big deal since they sell for $25 each, or 2 for $40) and several different cleansers, including one from the hoity-toity Kate Somerville line. Having extra brushes is handy if you want to share it with someone else in your family. Yes, even with a man. But if you buy the pink one (portion of profits to breast cancer research), he probably won’t use it. As I’m writing this (Thursday night), it’s available for 3 easy pays of $65 each.

Practically minutes after I bought mine, Clarisonic came out with the new and improved model, which includes a brush head for the body, for $225. That didn’t really hurt my feelings too badly. Like I said, I spend too much time in the shower already – I don’t need to be in there flipping brush heads around.

To sum it up, I highly recommend this product if you can swing the price. I don’t regret it at all and I actually look forward to using it every day.

After buying the Clarisonic and reading all the product reviews, I noticed that most people mentioned using Philosophy’s Purity Made Simple as their cleanser of choice. So I bought it. And since they had it available in a combo with their Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash, I decided I needed that, too. Sigh. And guess what? Practically overnight I became a freaking “Philosophy Girl”. I always thought of Philosophy as just some overpriced shower gels, so I pretty much ignored them. Oh boy, am I ever sorry I did that. The things I’ve missed out on!

The Purity Made Simple is, hands down, the best cleanser I’ve ever used. I can actually wash off my eye makeup and open my eyes. With the cleanser on them! No stinging, no burning and the makeup is OFF. Oh, and it leaves your skin nice and soft, without a hint of dryness. Great product.

But even better? The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash. It’s a cleanser that has super-tiny exfoliating beads in it and it’s gentle enough to use every day – even over the eye area. And you all know how important exfoliation is, right? I don’t even know how to describe how great this product is. As a person obsessed with exfoliation, it’s a dream come true for me.

As with all things Philosophy, it’s a little pricey. I got the 16-ounce set for $55 – not a bad deal, really, since the 8-ounce Purity is $20 and the 8-ounce Microdelivery Wash is $25. I’ve been using them both daily for about a month and, since you don’t have to use much, I’ve barely made a dent in them. At this rate, I expect they will last for 4-6 months. I use the Purity Made Simple in the evening with the Clarisonic and the Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash in the morning in the shower. I will definitely order them both again; I wouldn’t want to run out.

Over at the Philosophy website, they are having a Friends and Family Sale – everything is 20% off from now through Sunday, June 28th. The discount code is sharethelove. You can also buy Philosophy products at Sephora, if you are so inclined.

So those are my top three new skincare products, cleansing category. But it’s only the tip of the iceberg…

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Review: Slim Shots

2009-06-23T20:05:00.005-04:00

I don’t generally care for weight loss products. I feel like they prey on our desperation and never work as advertised. Perhaps you laid down a nice chunk of change on a super-duper mega fat blaster guaranteed to burn the fat while you sleep – only to find out you are expected to follow the “enclosed diet plan” – which was never mentioned in the advertising that sucked you in.

So I was borderline impressed with the presentation for the Slim Shots Appetite Controller (on QVC, natch). The very first thing they said was that it was only to be used in conjunction with a diet and exercise plan. They did not claim you could eat whatever you wanted and still lose weight. They made it very clear that this was a tool and not a miracle.

Well. I had to order it, didn’t I? Looking at those 15 flabby pounds I had to get rid of made this sound very appealing. And, like the Sensa debacle, I figured when it didn’t work, I would send it right back for a full refund.

The first claim they made was that it's an all-natural product. Well, I guess it is if you consider aspartame to be all-natural. Otherwise, it’s just a vanilla-flavored “proprietary blend” of oat and palm oils contained in pre-measured “shots” that look like coffee creamers. There are no stimulants, it's dairy-free and vegan-friendly, and each shot is about 20 calories.

The QVC package ($26.57 + shipping and handling) includes 37 shots, which I guess is 7 more than the usual. The idea is to do two shots a day for the first week (one with breakfast, one with lunch) and then one a day, as needed, thereafter.

Also included is a 14-Day Meal Planner which, I must admit, was based on a pretty reasonable and doable 1500-calorie a day diet (for women – it is suggested men add an additional 500 calories). Also included in the plan is a list of free foods and a (very short) 100-calorie snack list. Helpful.

Many of the reviewers on QVC had a problem with the taste of the shots – sending the product back because it was “so bad”. Poppycock! It wasn’t THAT awful. Is it delightful? No, but I didn’t expect it to be a taste treat. It does have a bit of a plastic flavor, but it wasn’t a deal breaker for me. Drink some water after you do the shot – you’ll get over it. Lord knows, I've put worse things in my mouth. :)

So I’ll bet you want to know if it really controlled my monster appetite, right? Well, surprisingly, yes it did! I took one with breakfast and one with lunch (noon) and would not be hungry again until 8:00 or 9:00 at night – so it did exactly what it said it would do and controlled my appetite for 8 hours.

Here’s the problem with that: I sometimes don’t like to be “bothered” with eating at night. I only have a few hours after work so I was thinking “cool…I don’t have to waste my time eating.” Bad plan. Because by the time 8:00 or 9:00 rolled around, I would be STARVING. Well, yeah, because I hadn’t eaten for 8 hours. Dumb.

When I got the idea that I should eat my dinner even if I wasn’t particularly hungry, things went much better. I was not famished when I got home from work, so I was able to eat a more reasonable dinner. And then I was fine for the rest of the night.

My overall feeling on these is that it’s a great way to get yourself started on a diet program. Many diets fail because it’s just too hard in the beginning dealing with the hunger as you drastically cut your food intake. Having this product to suppress your appetite while your body gets used to a new way of eating is a great idea. I don’t even think anyone who was actively and seriously dieting would need these beyond the first month. You should be “in the groove” by then, with your cravings under control. And I will admit that it worked a lot better in the first week than it did in the second – but it still worked. Maybe I just need two every day.

I’ve mentioned before that my biggest struggle is the afternoon. This really helped me get through that and be satisfied with one small snack. So I don’t think I’ll be getting anymore – but if that afternoon monster rears its ugly head again, I will.

So I think that’s everything. Oh, I believe you can also pick these up at Wal-Mart. Probably even on sale and with a coupon.

Well, my finger is bleeding all over my keyboard (food processor blade), so I guess I’d better go take care of that.

See you Friday with some skincare stuff (hold on to your wallet…this one is going to cost you)!

The line to kick my ass forms on the left...

2009-06-21T21:35:00.004-04:00

Eight hundred and seventy two unread items in my Google reader make it clear. I am a bad, bad blogger. Even worse, I am a bad, bad, bloggy friend. I was determined to catch up with all of your posts tonight. But, holy crap, people – 872 unread items is A LOT!

So, what to do? I guess I just have to start all over. Feeling overcome by guilt isn’t helping me to get anything written OR read. So feel free to swing by and give me the good, swift kick I deserve. Then we can just move along and pretend the last few weeks never happened.

As you may or may not know, ever since I had that freaking root canal, I’ve been a mess. Maybe when the dentist killed the nerve in my tooth, she disconnected something in my brain. I’ll have to talk to her about that - and ask her to please hook it back up. But she seems to charge $1000 for everything, so maybe I can’t afford it.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been obsessed with three things: My weight, my hair and my skin in general (and my monstrously huge pores in particular). It’s this self-absorbed shallowness that’s kept me to myself lately. I think I’m over it now. Mostly. There are only a few more products left on the market that I can still buy to address these issues. My Q-Card has been given quite a workout lately. Especially last Saturday when everything on QVC was on Five Easy Payments. Those Five Easy Payments will kill you. I only think of the first ones and tend to forget about the final four. Five Easy Pay Day just about topped out my card. Sigh. No more buying for me. I’m going to have to continue this self-improvement kick using only the products (a lot) currently in my stash.

On the plus side, I’ve got lots of really nice products to tell you about, so you may see more posts that have to do with skincare and makeup than dieting and exercise. I may have to temporarily change my tagline to “health, nutrition and personal grooming.”

Okay, so on to the dieting update…You may recall that I decided not to weigh myself for three weeks. I don’t know if that was a good or a bad idea, but I did my first weigh-in yesterday and I am down 5.2 pounds. So, not too bad. One-third of the way there. Of course I probably gained it all back when we went out to dinner tonight for Father’s Day. Chicken-fried steak, anyone? But I will not look at the scale for another three weeks, so I won’t know how much damage that actually did. Ignorance is bliss.

Over the next three weeks I intend to plan every single bite that I will be eating and to get moving with the exercise. All I’m looking for is at least 30 minutes a day on the treadmill. Hopefully, that will be enough to knock off the next 5 pounds.

Overall, I’m feeling pretty good about the weight issue…but eeeek! - my HAIR!!!!

Coming up: A surprising review of a diet product.

A complicated dairy issue

2009-06-15T21:02:00.003-04:00

All I wanted to know was if human beings really NEED dairy products. That’s all. Simple question. The U.S. government, via its food pyramid, says we do. Vegans, on the other hand, say we can live quite healthily without it.

The answer to the question itself is pretty simple (no, we don’t really need dairy), but all the components of the answer had me researching more than I really wanted to on calcium and vitamin D and protein and osteoporosis and cancer. I was shocked to find there may be far more reasons to AVOID dairy and excess calcium than there are to consume it.

If you ask the average person on the street if they think we need dairy, they are likely to say, “yes, of course we do – we need the calcium.” And that’s the answer you’ll get just about everywhere if you try to look up WHY we need dairy products. As if dairy products are the only source of calcium. Take calcium out of that equation and nobody can think of a single reason why we should have two to three servings of milk every single day. I mean, seriously, even the freaking COWS don’t drink the stuff beyond infancy.

Studies that have shown a link between weight loss and dairy products actually point to the calcium as the weight loss trigger, not the actual dairy products.

I was reading a “scientific” study on the effects of calcium on weight loss and the ONLY calcium source they used in their studies was dairy. They claimed that women who did not take in enough dairy were overweight A second study showed that the more people reduced their consumption of dairy products over the six-year period examined, the more weight and body fat they gained and the bigger their waistlines grew. Which is all good news for calcium consumption, but it really doesn’t have a thing to do with dairy. They did not study the effects of the calcium from sources other than dairy.

So, getting down to the basics - why do we need calcium? Obviously because it strengthens bones and helps nerves and muscles to function properly. It’s crucial for blood clotting and heartbeat maintenance. But if you don’t get an adequate amount of calcium in your diet, your body will start hitting up your bones for the calcium it needs to function. And that’s not good. If the bone sucking continues too long, the result is osteoporosis.

All of that is pretty straightforward, but when I tried to find out how much calcium and how much vitamin D the average person needed on a daily basis, and how much IS required versus how much SHOULD be required, it all got complicated. And it gave me a headache. Since I don’t want to give YOU a headache, I’m just going to touch on the basics of the calcium controversy.

The US RDA for calcium is1000 mg – or 1200 mg if you are over 50.

Dairy is usually the most attractive source of calcium because of its perceived high concentrations (300 mg per 8-ounce glass of whole milk) – but it certainly isn’t the only source. A one-cup serving of a green, leafy vegetable is low in calories and high in calcium - spinach (350 mg), kale (250 mg) and broccoli (80 mg) are all excellent sources. And none of them have one bit of the saturated fat of dairy products.

Complicated points I don’t intend to get into but you should probably know: 1) Calcium needs vitamin D for absorption. Thirty to sixty percent of people do not get enough vitamin D for any calcium they ingest to be beneficial. 2) A high animal-protein diet causes calcium loss. The RDA for calcium is intentionally set higher than we really need to compensate for our animal-protein intake. 3) Calcium is not the only mineral involved in the prevention of osteoporosis. Magnesium, vitamin D, boron, vitamin K, vitamin C, ipriflavone, silicon, and vitamins B6, B12, and folate are all required in the prevention of osteoporosis.

A link has been shown between high consumption of dairy products to ovarian and prostate cancer. But wait – it gets even more interesting: Studies indicate that osteoporosis (which affects 20 million American women), and ovarian cancer are most common in those countries with the highest consumption of dairy food and lowest in those countries with low dairy intake. Benign breast conditions, recurrent vaginitis, acne, menstrual cramps, fibroids, chronic intestinal upset and increased pain from endometriosis have also been associated with dairy consumption.

Although the US recommends 1000 -1200 mg of calcium per day, The World Health Organization only recommends 400 – 500 mg per day. Why? Because most countries do not ingest the amount of animal protein that we do. Vegetarians generally have a lower protein intake and are better able to absorb calcium, so their calcium needs are going to be much lower than someone who eats a diet heavy in protein.

The bottom line is that we can get an adequate amount of calcium and vitamin D from sources other than dairy. Besides green, leafy vegetables, calcium can also be found in nuts, beans and tofu. And getting your calcium from plant-based sources gives you more nutrients all the way around than you can get from dairy products. Fiber, anyone?

So, something to think about the next time you’re choking down a glass of milk just because it’s “good for you”. I will be happy to stop obsessing about getting in enough dairy but, until an adequate substitution is found, I cannot and will not give up cheese.

Cheese is just good food.

Eyebrow stuff

2009-06-12T04:00:00.004-04:00

This began as a post about body hair, in general. But once I got started on the eyebrows, it kind of took on a life of its own. I guess I will have to do a second post on the rest of my issues with disappearing body hair. I know you can't wait.

I have an unnatural obsession with eyebrows; it’s something I always notice about a person. I will not notice your shoes or your purse, but I will for sure notice your eyebrows. Especially if they look like this:

Seriously, let me give you $7 for a wax.

Overzealous plucking in my younger years left me looking like this:

Well, maybe not exactly like that. I call this type of eyebrow “slut eyebrows”. Sadly, that’s what mine look like now. And they’re ~~gray~~ blonde, so that kind of makes it worse.

Since my vision sucks lately, and it’s impossible to get those unsightly strays that I can only see in my rearview mirror, I must pay someone to do it for me. Talk about a crapshoot. (And, by the way, Waxing Lady, when I say, “just clean it up, DON’T MAKE THEM ANY THINNER”, that’s what I mean.) One lady took off the entire outer half of my right eyebrow the day before a job interview. Was I happy? No, not really. I think her vision was in worse shape than mine.

Since I darkened my hair, those almost non-existent eyebrows make me look like this chick:

Fully aware that slut eyebrows are inappropriate for a woman of my advanced years, I began the quest for an eyebrow filler-inner.

I’ve tried eyebrow pencils, of course, and have used them off and on over the years; but, while they could darken, they weren’t really doing anything for filling in and shaping. They made the brows darker, yes, but they did nothing for the more pressing slut issue. I think there’s a skill to the eyebrow pencil - and I don’t have it. I was always afraid I would look like this:

The very nice lady who hands me my coffee every morning at McDonald’s has drawn on eyebrows. And, because I’m shallow, it’s all I see when I look at her.

Next, I moved to a powder/gel combo made by smashbox (and, yes, the lowercase "s" is intentional).

Love it. Plus, it comes with a nifty brush that makes you feel all professional-like when you’re brushing the powder in and then setting them with the gel. Or, gel first, powder after. Doesn’t matter. Either way, I could get a little “volume” in my brows without them looking like a threw a hunk of powder and gel up there. There’s a definite learning curve on this one, and I can’t tell you how many times I used Way Too Much and had to get out my trusty Maybelline brow/lash brush (the one everyone and their aunt owns) to try to brush some of it out.

Then, because I’m fickle, I got all hot to try the Bare Escentuals eyebrow kit. Same general principle as the smashbox, but instead of the wax, you got a mascara-like tube with gel and the powder was loose (duh, minerals!) instead of pressed. Oh, and another nifty brush!

(Someday I should show you how many makeup brushes I’ve collected over the years; I’m always carefully selecting the right tool for the job…Mr. Jelly Belly thinks I look like I’m about to perform delicate surgery.)

The BE brow kit was even MORE awesome than the smashbox. Goes on nice and smooth, looks natural and doesn’t come off until you wash it off. That’s actually a minus if you’re sometimes heavy-handed…it can be a real fight to get the brows back to where I want them to be. But, other than replacing the gel occasionally, I would expect that tiny pot of eyebrow color to last the rest of my life. I normally just use the dust in the lid – that’s how little you need.

Still, I was not happy. Because I have no arch. Oh, how I admire a beautifully arched eyebrow! What I did next will make you snicker. I bought eyebrow stencils. Hilarious, right? I was in Ulta, armed with a couple of gift cards, when I saw them. I had heard of them before but thought they seemed dumb. But, being desperate, I decided to try them. TWENTY BUCKS, people, for plastic stencils – only one of which will work for you. I do not know why they don’t sell them separately. Oh, wait. Yes I do - because not-too-bright people like me will pay the $20 for the entire set.

Feeling foolish, I tried the “Petite Arch” as soon as I got home. I held the stencil in what I assumed was the correct position, based on the lines printed on it (no real directions included) and started brushing in the BE powder. Yikes! Very scary. Too much! Too much! I had to stop the whole process and go to the bathroom from laughing so hard. Plus, I couldn’t figure out how to get the inside of my eyebrow correct, without having the outside be way too high. So I set them aside, thinking of the other things I could have spent that $20 on.

They sat there on my bathroom counter for a while, stashed behind my bucket o’makeup brushes, taunting me every day. So I tried them again. Apparently, you need to MOVE the stencil after you do the inside of the brow. Huh. Who knew? So you do the upsweep, move the stencil, then do the little tail. But guess what? Perfect arch. Every time. Now I just have to find some people with bigger eyebrows to give the other three to.

(I spotted eyebrow stencils on Smoky Mountain Minerals recently; they come with their eyebrow kit for $9.95 - although I have yet to see them in stock. But it would be a cheaper option if they ever DO become available again.)

So I’ve been alternating between the smashbox and the BE, depending on my mood, and happily using my expensive stencil, until I realized one day that I was missing spots. Damn vision! I should really move my rearview mirror into my bathroom – it shows ALL. (Please do not ever check out your pores in the rearview; you will cry.)

I decided to go buy a pencil to keep with me for fill-ins. And what do you think happened? I found a fantastic CHEAP(er) pencil. The Revlon Brow Fantasy is All That. A pencil, yes, but it has a little tube of gel on the reverse end - making it a gadget, in my opinion.

This is a nice pencil. It does a more than adequate job on the fill-ins – and, in fact, does a really good job, overall. I’m not ready to give up my smashbox and BE, but when I’m in a hurry, I’m finding myself grabbing it more and more often.

So there you have it. No more excuses for bad brows.

If you have brows that look like that? I will obsessively stare at them with full-blown brow envy. And I will secretly hate you. On the other hand, I won’t even be able to make eye contact with you if your eyebrows look like this:

Now get that scary image out of your head and have a great weekend, everyone!

Sleep it off...

2009-06-07T05:37:00.003-04:00

When I was a young and arrogantly thin girl of about 15, I went on a family vacation with a friend. We ate and ate and ate some more, with nary a concern for calories or fat content.

My friend’s grandmother looked at us one day while we were scarfing down even more vacation food and said, “I don’t know how you girls stay so thin…must be those late nights and lack of sleep.”

Wow. You should be really careful about what you say to impressionable girls. I mean, seriously, Grandma’s mouth to God’s ear. I took this as the True Secret of Weight Loss. Don’t sleep. Because one doesn’t question the wisdom of the Ancient or ask for scientific proof of her claim, I didn’t know she was talking straight out of her ass.

Of course, looking back, my guess is that the reason we stayed so thin while consuming vast amounts of food was because we spent the hours between meals walking, walking, walking…scouting out secure locations in the woods to smoke our cigarettes and drink our pilfered liquor. And then we would walk some more, looking for boys. (That didn’t change much over the years: Add liquor, look for boys.) Our 15-year-old metabolisms probably helped, too.

I am almost ashamed to admit how long I kept that little weight-loss pearl in my head. Every time I thought I need to drop five pounds, I would sleep about 3 hours a night. It seemed to work. Probably because I was such a zombie I didn’t have the energy to lift a fork.

As it turns out, people who sleep the least are often the most overweight. Why is that? According to research, hormones play a big role in sleep and appetite. There are two hormones specifically linked to appetite - ghrelin, which is produced in the gastrointestinal tract and stimulates the appetite, and leptin, produced in fat cells, which sends a signal to the brain when you are full.

In these studies, when sleep was severely restricted, leptin levels went down and ghrelin levels went up. The study participants’ experienced increased appetites and their desire for high carbohydrate, calorie-dense foods increased by 45%. They also had a higher level of body fat than those who slept eight hours per night.

Pretty interesting – for a science thing. Of course, an argument could be made for my non-scientific feeling that, if you’re sleeping, you’re not eating. If I am staying up late, I am probably going to get hungry around 11:00 pm. Four or five hours after a “reasonable” dinner? Yeah. I’m going to need something. And I am probably going to need something quick, convenient, and loaded with carbs. If there is cake around the house, that’s what I’m hitting. But if I go to bed at 9:30 or 10:00? I’m avoiding several hundred calories. And lots of sugar.

When I was diligently counting points on Weight Watchers, I always went to bed when my points ran out. Less chance of getting hungry again and not being able to do anything about it. Sometimes that put me in bed at 7:30 but, whatever – it worked.

Eight hours of sleep during the week sometimes seems impossible – but if you shoot for at least six, you should get the same benefit. And make it up on the weekends. Not much in life better than an afternoon nap, is there?

The main ingredient in Baked Armpit

2009-06-03T19:48:00.002-04:00

When Mr. Jelly Belly made his hilarious (to him) comment about my dinner smelling like baked armpit, I wasn’t offended. That vegetable-hating carnivore has no idea what he’s missing. Not only in taste (of which he has none) but in some awesome cancer-fighting nutrients.

The mystery ingredient? Cabbage! It’s my obsession of the moment. I was reading about someone loving a dish of fried (in coconut oil) cabbage and onions, so I thought I’d try it. Eh. It wasn’t so thrilling. Not nearly as good as my fried red cabbage with apples, a little Splenda brown sugar and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Now THAT’S delicious. Especially with pork.

But, anyway, this prompted me to try baking the chopped cabbage and onions, topped with a can of diced chili-flavored tomatoes. I think the tomatoes were where the armpit smell came in. Cumin, probably. I piled it in an 8 x 8 baking dish, covered it, and baked it for about 45 minutes or so and it was So Good. Especially when I threw a blob of fat-free sour cream on top. That quarter of a head of cabbage, half of an onion and one can of tomatoes made two really cheap and filling meals for me. I will probably further experiment with adding some chicken or beans, but I’m in no rush.

I’ve always loved sauerkraut and coleslaw (Calorie-reducing tip: Drain your deli-bought coleslaw in a colander; it removes a lot of the calories, but the flavor is already marinated into the cabbage, so it still tastes delicious), but plain, old cabbage? Not usually. Unless it was rolled around some beef and rice and topped with tomato sauce.

So while I’m surprised to be so in love with cabbage, I was even more surprised to find out how good it is for you. It’s one of those cruciferous vegetables that we talked about in an earlier post (broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale, cauliflower, radishes, bok choy etc.) that contain phytonutrients shown to significantly reduce the risk of some cancers, including breast, prostate, ovarian and bladder. Cabbage, specifically, was linked to a lowered risk of cancers of the stomach, colon and lungs.

Cabbage is an excellent source of vitamin C. It is also a very good source of fiber, manganese, folate, vitamin B6, potassium, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Interestingly, red cabbage is actually better for you than white and may be helpful in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. And, not surprisingly, organically grown cabbage has a higher level of phytonutrients than those that are conventionally grown.

But here’s the bad news: To get the most benefit from all cruciferous vegetables, they should be steamed lightly and not overcooked. So much for my Baked Armpit. It can, however, be lightly sautéed for 10-15 minutes (and sauerkraut is considered to be “lightly cooked”).

The other bad news is that RAW cruciferous vegetables contain goitrogens, naturally occurring substances that may or may not mess with your thyroid function – if you already have a thyroid disorder. The research is not clear as to whether or not cooking the vegetables decreases the risk, or exactly how big the risk really is. If you have a known thyroid condition, you might want to research that a little further. Or cook the bejeezus out of your cabbage. I guess for us thyroid people, we need to decide whether to go for the proven cancer benefit or the possible thyroid benefit.

But the good news is you only need 3 to 5 servings per week (less than one serving per day) of cruciferous vegetables to lower your risk of cancer.

And I don’t think that sounds all too difficult.

Awww, what a sweet award...

2009-06-02T19:50:00.006-04:00

Well, I’ve been blessed in the last few weeks with several blog awards and, since I really didn’t quite know what to do with them, I’ve been sitting on them. For too long. But I discovered while I’ve got these undone things hanging over my head, I feel too guilty to move on. So I’m going to work backwards and try to make sure I get them all done.

Blog awards are Hard Work. They all seem to want me to do or list seven things. Is seven a magic number in blog award land? What if I can only think of five? Do I have to return the award? I don’t know. I’ve never done this before. If I pass the award on to you, and you can only think of 3 of the 7 things, it’s okay. You may keep my award anyway.

Okay. The Evil One over at Twenty One Days Later bestowed this shitty award upon me:

And do you want to know what makes this award extra shitty? I cannot accept it unless I can come up SEVEN things I like about Camevil. Seven! See what I mean about hard work? Well, let’s get down to it and see if I can come up with all seven. Hold on a sec, I have to pop some pills first….Okay, I’m ready….

1. She takes her weight loss seriously, but doesn’t OBSESS over it. She knows you can lose weight and get in shape while still having fun in life.

2. She’s smart and hip but never makes me feel bad about being strictly squaresville or not so bright. And when I mention oral sex in her comments, she doesn’t Freak Out.

3. She never says mean things about her husband. Even when he deserves it. And they come up with off-the-beaten-path things to do on Valentine’s Day.

4. She does interesting and unusual stuff, like Zombie Walks, on the weekend. In full makeup. And not the kind you get at the Clinique counter.

5. She always posts thoughtful comments, even though I’m sure sometimes she’s got something appropriately snarky rolling around in her brain.

Is that seven yet? No? Okay….

6. Her biceps are rockin’.

7. She’s a hooker with a heart of gold. Oh, wait. She’s not a hooker; she’s an attorney. Eh. Same thing.

And now I get to pass this shit on to two other deserving weight loss bloggers. Are you holding your breath, hoping it’s not you? Well, it IS you, Patty, because you’re so smart and cool and know what you’re talking about. And don’t run away so fast BetteJo; it’s you, too – because even though you might hate it, you’re DOING IT! I love that.

So go forth and sing my praises. Even if you have to make shit up. I won’t mind.

Well, I was going to do more than one today, but that took more out of me than I expected. I’ll pop the rest of them in randomly. When I’m in a nicer mood.

Thank you for this wonderful award, Cam. I shall treasure it always.

Supplement Review: Balancing Estrogen

2009-05-31T20:21:00.005-04:00

PMS, bloating, cramping, water retention, mood swings, painful breasts, endometriosis, PCOS, perimenopause, menopause, hot flashes, weight gain, breast cancer, uterine cancer, fibroids, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer – the joys of being the owner of a female reproductive system. Fortunately, there is a natural supplement available claiming to address a lot of these issues.

Today we are going to talk about a specific phytonutrient, diindolylmethane, or DIM for purposes of saving my typing fingers.

Phytonutrition is basically the dietary use of micronutrients which naturally occur in plants. DIM is a phytochemical found in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale and cabbage.

Now that we’ve got all the big words out of the way, let’s talk about what DIM does. It has been shown to increase the regulation of hormone metabolism (i.e., balancing good and bad estrogens) and could be instrumental in preventing breast and prostate cancer. So, clearly, beneficial to both women AND men.

There is a lot of science behind all of this and I don’t want this to be a long post. I also want to remind anyone that may have forgotten that I am not a doctor so I will just share my personal experience with this supplement and encourage you to research it further if it is something you feel might be of benefit to you.

I came across this supplement, Nature’s Way DIM-Plus Estrogen Metabolism Formula when I was looking for something, ANYTHING, to alleviate hot flashes. Hot flashes sound like something that can’t possibly be all that bad but, trust me, until you experience them for yourself, you will have no idea of how awful they truly are. Unless you enjoy the feeling of burning up from the inside.

Four or five times a day, minimum, I would get hit with these monsters – turning red and dripping sweat off my face, the back of my neck and my chest. Looked like I had just worked out Really Hard. Even worse, the neck sweating was always making the underside of my flat-ironed hair curl up. Ruined my look. And they always seemed to happen when I was talking to someone. Usually someone too young to understand the Law of Diminishing Hormones. Embarrassing. And exhausting, actually.

Anyway, back to my story. So I found this supplement on iHerb and, since it had really good reviews, I decided to try it. The suggested dose is 2 pills per day for women, or 4 for men, taken with food. Oh, and the good news? Small pills, easily swallowed. Doubling the dose is suggested if you are hard core.

The very first day I took them, I had only two hot flashes. And those two were more of just a general warming up and I didn’t break a sweat. By the fourth day, I didn’t have any. And I really think it did something to even out my mood and pull me out of that self-pitying funk I was in. I just don’t think it is just coincidence that my mood elevated within two days of taking this supplement. Of course, I may just feel better because I’m not constantly sweating…

This is the first supplement I’ve ever taken where I can say I actually felt a difference from taking them. These little happy pills will never be far from my room-temperature side.

Apparently there is a lot of undiagnosed estrogen dominance out there. We are subjected to a lot of estrogens from outside sources (xenoestrogens) that are absorbed into our bodies and we may not even be aware of. Yet, I have never had a doctor check my hormone levels. Ever. You would think it would be one of the standards in blood testing, but it’s not. Especially since elevated estrogen levels are what lead to breast cancer, fibroids, endometriosis and bunches of other things that I already forgot. Interestingly, I had a hysterectomy due to fibroids but, still, my hormone levels were never checked.

Okay, so what are the symptoms of estrogen dominance in women? It’s a long list – and you’ll see that a lot of them are the very same symptoms almost guaranteed to get you put on anti-depressants:

• Allergy symptoms

• Breast cancer

• Breast tenderness

• Cold hands and feet

• Decreased sex drive

• Mood swings

• Dry eyes

• Depression, anxiety, irritability

• Fatigue

• Fibrocystic breasts

• Increase risk of strokes

• Irregular menstrual periods

• Headaches

• Hypoglycemia

• Insomnia

• Slow metabolism

• Infertility

• PMS

• Zinc deficiency

• Osteoporosis

• Uterine fibroids

• Uterine cancer

• Water retention, bloating

• Weight gain

• Hair loss

• Acceleration of the aging process

• Fat gain around hips and thighs

• Polycystic ovaries

• Endometrial cancer

• Memory loss, foggy thinking

• Thyroid dysfunction

• Magnesium deficiency

• Gallbladder disease

• Unstable blood sugar

• Cervical dysplasia

• Prostate cancer

• Ovarian cancer

Gosh, what a fun list! If you are bothered by any of these symptoms, I encourage you to look into DIM. There is a lot of fascinating stuff out there about DIM and its effects on autoimmune disorders. Oh, and read the reviews for it over at iHerb – they always tell me a lot that the supplement manufacturer isn’t legally allowed to say.

Happy hormones, everyone!

Playing catch up

2009-05-28T19:30:00.003-04:00

First, I’d like to thank you all for your support and kind words during my recent pity party. Your comments and emails meant a lot to me. While I’m sorry so many of you find yourself in the same boat, it’s kind of comforting to realize I’m not all alone in this struggle. And, you know, it’s all about me. Ha!

Second, I’d like to apologize for being so very absent. I am reading your blogs, but felt I had nothing of interest to say, so I haven’t been commenting. And that’s bad. Reading and commenting is something I really enjoy and am looking forward to getting back to.

Third, I was going to extend an invitation for someone, anyone, to come over here and give me a swift kick in the ass. But it turns out I don’t need it. Right out of the blue, I feel better. I realized today that I felt pretty darned good. Boom! Gone as quickly as it came. Suddenly, I had about 14 things I wanted to write about, whereas yesterday, I had none. I hope this is a permanent change of mood.

The dieting (ugh, I hate that word) is going well. (For me, anyway. Mr. Jelly Belly told me the other day that something I was cooking for myself smelled like "baked armpit".) I’m not going to harp on it too much here, but I’ll update you occasionally. Going with the “21 days to create a habit” premise that Cam-who-is-not-so-evil can tell you about, I’ve decided to do everything in 21 day increments. And I’m not getting on the scale again until three weeks has passed. Unless my pants are falling off of me and I’m dying of curiosity. So, yeah…three weeks it is.

Still haven’t got my extra-large thighs moving on the treadmill yet. I told myself I could not buy even one more thing on the internet until I had exercised 21 days in a row. But, after reviewing the implications of that, I told myself that being hefty was no reason to subject myself to a such a terrible fate. I’ll have to find some less painful motivation.

Which reminds me…as I often do when this funky mood overtakes me, I consoled myself with a little internet retail therapy. Oh, the things I have bought. QVC loves me again. As a result, I’ve got some interesting and fun things to tell you about. Mostly in the area of beauty products (natch) and supplements. (And I really think it’s one of the supplements that got me back on track.) I love one of the things I bought So Much (it’s a hair thing), I might post it over the weekend. Have I piqued your curiosity? Stay tuned.

Thanks again, everyone (especially those of you who gave me blog awards – as soon as I figure out what I’m supposed to do with them, I’ll post about it!).

I'm having a pity party...care to join me?

2009-05-21T20:14:00.005-04:00

Here’s a shocking revelation for you: Losing weight is hard. Tough to believe, I know.

Being successful at weight loss takes a lot of work and a ton of motivation. Oh, and self-control. None of these things are areas in which I excel. But, three years ago, I did it.

I adjusted quite nicely to dieting after the first few weeks – as my body got used to a new way of eating and the cravings lessened, it got easier. Every time the numbers on the scale got lower, my motivation increased. I got good at learning what my body liked and what it hated. At knowing which food combinations would accelerate the weight loss and which ones would stall it. I was rocking that scale, hoping for a twenty-five pound loss, but praying for forty. I took up strength training and forced myself to do the damn cardio.

Finally, after six months, forty-five pounds were gone. I went from a size 12 to a thrilling size 4. And I felt good about that; I felt good about myself.

It got so easy to lose (yes, really) that I had to force myself to stop. I had to find out how to work just enough calories in to maintain the weight loss without gaining. And there, my friends, is where it got tricky.

Research indicates that 80% of people who lose weight will regain it within a year. Eighty percent. And that figure is regardless of how the weight was lost in the first place. How disheartening.

I was determined I would not be one of those people. I would not ever be seriously overweight again. It was too much work to get to a healthy weight and I am too lazy to have to do it all again.

But then there were vacations and dinners out and parties and nights I was too tired to cook. Exercising took too much effort and slowly faded away. It seemed okay to just “take a break”. Well, it wasn’t okay. I am clearly not the type of person who can take a break. When it comes to eating, I have learned that I’m an all or nothing kind of person. I threw away the “nothing” and embraced the “all” with abandon.

Did you know that embracing the “all” with abandon is not a good idea? No, really. It will make you fat. And it will make you fat a whole lot faster than embracing the “nothing” will make you thin.

This is where my pity party comes in. Over the last two years, the weight has been slowly creeping back on. I say to myself, “nip it in the bud”. Yes. That’s what I’ll do. Tomorrow.

But that “tomorrow” becomes “next Monday”, which becomes “right after the holiday”, which becomes “at the beginning of the month” or whatever other delay tactic I can use. Now there is no longer a bud to nip. It’s a full-blown weed. And a big one.

Honestly, I eat reasonably well during the week. But the weekends? Forget about it. I’m a mess. I haven’t gained all the weight back, thankfully, but I’ve regained 15 pounds of it. (And that's down from a sob-inducing 19, so I should be grateful.)

Fifteen pounds doesn’t sound huge, I know, but it’s Too Much. I am not a large person, so that 15 extra pounds is enough to make me seriously uncomfortable. My clothes are waaaay too tight and buying new ones that fit correctly is a challenge I am not happy about having to undertake. So I won’t. Besides, how soon will it be before that 15 pounds becomes 25? Too soon, I’m sure.

So now I have to figure out how to get my dieting mojo back and get this done. Dieting was something I never wanted to do again. I wanted to consistently eat well and exercise regularly to keep the pounds from coming back. Yeah. That plan’s not working for me.

I have learned some things about myself and my relationship with food that I need to take seriously. For the rest of my life. If I don’t, I will be fat. And uncomfortable. And I will not like myself.

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been sitting around on my dimpled ass feeling sorry for myself because, no matter how much I want it to be true, I’m not the type of person who can eat Whatever, Whenever. That’s just a fact.

I know my thyroid issues make it harder for me to lose weight. I also know it doesn’t make it impossible.

I know I can never eat sugar or white flour again. In fact, all processed foods are iffy. I know that bread and crackers, even when they are made with the wholest of whole grains, are like poison to my system. All of these things make me bloat and gain weight and feel miserable. Even when they are eaten in moderation. As if I know about moderation.

I know that no matter how hard I try, I cannot regain my youth and the strong metabolism that went along with it.

I know that crying about the unfairness of it all while eating a handful of barbecued chips isn’t going to make me thinner.

I know that I have to exercise. I know that to say, “I don’t have the time” is to really say, “I don’t want to.”

I know that I don’t want to be included in those failed weight loss statistics.

I know that I can do it.

I know that it’s worth it.

So please bear with me as I get this done. I’m whiny and depressed and bloated. But that may just be the sugar talking. I’ll feel better soon. When the back fat is gone.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza - a repost

2009-05-13T05:00:00.001-04:00

Because I have a lot of new readers who may not be aware of the wonder that is Cauliflower Crust Pizza, I thought I’d repost it today so nobody has to miss out on the deliciousness. I originally got this recipe from The Lighter Side of Low Carb (Cleochatra does amazing things with cauliflower) and continue to enjoy it on a fairly regular basis. What’s not to like about a flourless pizza that tastes just as good as any other pizza I’ve ever had? I hope you will give it a try!

I do believe I have died and gone to low-carb heaven.

As promised, I made the pizza with the cauliflower crust that I mentioned in an earlier post. It was truly delicious. And surprisingly filling! Of course, it could very well have been all that cheese that made it so heavenly, but, whatever – it was wonderful. Had I known how easy it was to make, I’d have tried it a long time ago.

For the adventurous among you, here’s the recipe:

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower

1 egg

1 cup mozzarella cheese

½ tsp fennel

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp parsley

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.

In a medium bowl, combine cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Press evenly on the pan. Sprinkle evenly with spices. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes (15-20 if you double the recipe).

Remove the pan from the oven. To the crust, add sauce, then toppings and cheese. (If you are adding meat, make sure it is cooked first.) Place under the broiler at high heat just until the cheese is melted.

And that’s it. I steamed a whole head of fresh cauliflower in a small amount of water in the microwave for 6 minutes. I should have just used frozen, but this worked out fine.

You can then use a hand grater or a food processor to rice it. I used a food processor and it was super fast. You can get one cup out of roughly half of a medium-sized head of cauliflower. I also used an Italian spice blend, rather than the three spices suggested.

I decided to go “bare bones” the first time and only topped with pizza sauce and more mozzarella. It was perfect. I cut it into four pieces and I’m not going to lie to you – I ate all four. Even though I was technically full after two. Here’s a low-carb “oink, oink” for ya.

The only advice I would give you is to check the bottom of the crust before you remove it from the oven the first time (prior to putting on the toppings). It was starting to really brown around the edges and I was afraid I was burning it, so I took it out at 12 minutes. As it turns out, I should have gone at least 15 because the bottom wasn’t browned and crispy like I think it’s supposed to be. (MJB note: I’ve learned in subsequent bakings, that it NEVER gets browned on the bottom; I don’t know where I got the idea that it was supposed to.)

I riced the remainder of the cauliflower and vacuum-sealed it so it will be ready next time. Which will probably be tomorrow.

P.S. The above picture is not mine, although mine actually came out looking almost exactly like that - I browned the cheese a lot more.

ETA: I should have mentioned that the ingredients list above is just for the crust. To finish the pizza, you will need pizza sauce and more mozzarella. Plus whatever other toppings you might want to add. If you eat meat, try diced pepperoni - delish!

Tuesday Tidbit: Penzey's Spices

2009-05-12T05:00:00.000-04:00

If you’re anything like me (God help you) you probably never got really involved in using spices in your cooking. Oh, sure, you probably have all the essentials, such as garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, several varieties of Mrs. Dash and five old cans of sage (yes, five – I have an irrational fear of being without it for Thanksgiving).

Enter Penzey’s Spices. There are so many things I love about this store, I don’t know where to begin – so maybe I should begin with their free catalog. You can order this fantastic catalog on their website and you will receive an updated version, full of mostly healthy recipes, every three months.

The catalog was a godsend for someone like me who knew pretty much zilch about spices. Each spice is listed alphabetically and comes complete with a description of how to best use it – usually with more than one suggestion. The spices come in small plastic containers or the economical refill bag.

They have all of the regular spices as well as a large number of spice blends – my usual choice because I don’t have to try to figure out what spices go together – including Chicago Steak Seasoning, Northwoods Seasoning, Chicken and Fish Jerk, and my favorite for vegetables and topping the fat-free sour cream on my baked potatoes, Fox Point Seasoning.

Using different spices has improved the flavor of my baked, broiled, and grilled diet in a way that was simple to do. And I love simple. When your foods are enhanced with the right spices, you don’t even miss the old breaded and fried junk you used to love. Well, not too much anyway.

If you are lucky enough to have a Penzey’s store nearby, go check it out. If you don’t, you can order from their website with confidence. They have fantastic customer service and quick shipping.

Although it’s probably best to make a list first. Your credit card will thank you.

Coconut oil - a wonder food?

2009-05-10T07:50:00.006-04:00

Okay, so you know what “everyone” says – saturated fats are BAD. Mono and polyunsaturated fats are good. Shoot, I say it myself. Turns out this may not be entirely true.

Saturated fats from animal sources, as in meats and cheese, are still considered to be bad. These are the ones that clog your arteries, leading to heart disease.

But now we have a new kid on the block. Well, not really new, but definitely the beaten down and bullied kid on the block. You know, the one the other kids don’t like because he’s different. They say mean, untrue things about him and spread the word. Then, pretty soon, everyone hates him and avoids him, based solely on heresay. You know, because all the cool kids are doing it. What a shame. If they took the time to know him, they might find he’s a wonderful person.

In this, my first feeble attempt at a metaphor (or is that an analogy? I can never keep them straight), the new kid is coconut oil – and the bullies are the soybean industry and Big Business in general.

Back in the late 70s, or early 80s, people began to get Freaked Out about saturated fats and the related rise in cholesterol levels. Then, from what I have read, the soybean industry decided to prey on this fear and spent oodles of money in a marketing campaign designed to share with the masses that saturated fats and tropical oils were Bad and only vegetable oils were Good.

And who do you think profits from an ad campaign like this one? That’s right. The vegetable oil industry. Who I would assume are more concerned with their bank accounts than your health.

Pretty soon, like a game of “telephone” the word spread that coconut oil was bad. Nobody bothered to do their own research…they just took the word of Big Business as fact and passed the flawed information along until it was widely believed as God’s Honest Truth.

Over the last few years, people like Dr. Joseph Mercola (see video below) and The Weston A. Price Foundation, among others, have started their own much smaller campaign touting the benefits of coconut oil

As you certainly know by now, I hate all things science related, so I’m going to just give you a brief description of why the saturated fat in coconut oil is okay, and the saturated fat from animal sources is not. If my description doesn’t do it for you and you are science minded, I encourage you to search out the details for yourself. And there are a lot of sources for it, via our friend, Google.

The saturated fat in coconut oil is a medium-chain triglyceride, while the saturated fat from animal sources is a long-chain triglyceride and they are processed by the body in totally different ways.

MCT’s are almost instantly broken down by the enzymes in saliva and gastric juices so that pancreatic fat-digesting enzymes are not needed. They are much more water soluble than LCT and can be readily absorbed across the wall of the small intestine and into the blood stream for transportation directly to the liver. (God, I’m already getting a headache.) The upshot of all of this is that, although coconut oil is high in saturated fat, it doesn’t convert over to fat in the body because of how quickly it is utilized.

Virgin coconut oil contains lauric acid (medium chain fatty acid). This is stressed in every single one of the million articles I read as being of High Importance. Lauric acid is found in mother’s milk and is what helps build the immune system of the newborn and fight against disease. Once the lauric acid is digested in the body, it is converted into monolaurin acid, known for its antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal and antimicrobial properties.

So, that’s enough of the science for me. Too much, really. The point I wanted to make is that many people are experiencing great health benefits by adding coconut oil into their diet. I have no doubt that its increased popularity has to do with its weight loss and thyroid-boosting properties.

Coconut oil can be used to cook with at high temperatures without losing its benefits, unlike olive or hemp oil, which are best used unheated. Many people use it as a replacement for butter in anything, including baking, and report no discernible difference to the end product.

Let’s look briefly at a couple of the many reported benefits beyond thyroid boosting and weight loss:

Coconut oil helps to improve nutrient absorption of minerals like calcium and magnesium, thus helping to prevent osteoporosis. It increases the absorption of some of the B vitamins, the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K and beta-carotene) as well as some amino acids. Coconut oil has been recommended in the treatment of malnutrition.

Coconut oil can help speed healing of cuts and burns, and because of its antifungal properties, it’s also great for infections such as ringworm and athlete’s foot.

Dang, I hate it when these posts get so long. I’m trying to just hit the highlights, but there’s so much out there!

Making a too-long story shorter – the recommended therapeutic dose of coconut oil is 2-3 tablespoons per day. You should buy an organic, extra-virgin coconut oil for best benefit. I bought the Nutiva brand, based on the excellent reviews (you should read them, they’re interesting). It’s delicious and smells yummy. It comes in solid form and melts at room temperature. I am plopping a hunk of it in my oatmeal in the morning as well as cooking with it. Mr. Jelly Belly has not made any whiny comments about the taste of the food, so he must not be noticing it.

I am going to admit three things: I have noticed increased energy. Not like I’ve turned into Wonder Woman and am go-go-going from dawn till dusk, but definitely an improvement from my normal zero-energy level.

While going through a short patch of less-than-stellar eating habits (that’s a whole ‘nother post), I have not gained one pound. In fact, I have lost two. THAT shocked me. I had been avoiding the scale since I had been eating so much (not necessarily Bad Things, but too much of them) so when I decided to bite the bullet and assess the damage, I was pleasantly surprised.

I hate to admit this one, but I have a toenail fungus. Ick. I have had it for what seems like forever on my big toe. Lamisal did not work. Home remedies did not work. I have resigned myself to having it for life and to never wearing sandals again. I am actually seeing new clear toenail growth at the bottom of that toe. Coconut oil? I don’t know. But it’s interesting.

So, as if this post isn’t already long enough, I will leave you with two videos that you can watch for further information. They cover all the other important facts that I left out. The first, by Dr. Mercola, while rather dry, presents the facts in an easily understood way and is actually very interesting (6:15). The second is perkier and gives the facts but it’s a bit longer (9:38).

And then I encourage you to draw your own conclusions as to whether or not coconut oil is a hero or a villain. I’m going with hero.

Homemade noodles - and a gadget

2009-05-08T04:51:00.009-04:00

If you’ve never attempted homemade noodles, you are really missing out. I don’t even know how to describe the taste difference, so I won’t even try. But, trust me – if you make these, you had better double the recipe because your whole family will scarf them down so fast your head will spin.

Making homemade noodles is one of those things that sound like too much work, but really isn’t. And, boy, do you ever feel all professional chef-ish when you’re rolling out that dough and cutting the noodles.

This is something I haven’t made in a long time (because of that dang white flour thing), but then I came across this Handcrafted Noodle Cutter:

Seeing this very cool gadget reminded of how much I loved the whole noodle-making process. And how much more I loved the whole noodle-eating process. Slicing the dough into something that looked even slightly uniform was always a challenge for me. This Noodle Cutter looks like it would reduce the cutting (and swearing) time significantly.

Doing a quick search of Allrecipes for homemade noodle recipes (since I cannot seem to locate mine), I found this one for Egg Noodles and this one for Basic Pasta. Be sure to read the reviews on these things because there were some great tips for making these recipes using your bread machine and your Kitchen Aid dough hook.

Homemade noodles are always great in Chicken Soup (the only soup I ever made that Mr. Jelly Belly actually ate – and, after he picked out the carrots and celery, he loved it):

You can also use them in other dishes, like this Chuck Roast with Homemade Noodles:

Homemade noodles are very versatile and CHEAP to make. I just put them on my menu for this weekend because regardless of how strange my noodles always look (because of my inadequate cutting skills), they are always delicious.

An antibiotic experiment

2009-05-07T05:00:00.003-04:00

As a result of my unfortunate dental experience last week, I was prescribed Clindamycin, an antibiotic, that I was told to take every 6 hours. With a concerned look on her face, the dentist also warned me that this drug might cause some unpleasant side effects – like nausea and “explosive” diarrhea. Explosive diarrhea? Hah! Very unlikely. At my age, I LIVE for anything to keep the old system moving.

And, of course, any time you’re prescribed antibiotics you always have to worry that you’re going to develop the dreaded yeast infection. Ugh. Nausea, diarrhea and a yeast infection. My immediate future was looking quite bleak, indeed.

A few hours after the very first double dose, I developed some severe gas pains. Like so bad I was bloated up to the size of a seven-month pregnancy with pains shooting all the way up to my shoulders and neck. Pretty uncomfortable. I even had to get off the internet and go lie down. Now THAT’S bad.

That’s when I decided that I was going to fight fire with fire and add some probiotics into the mix.

I had recently been reading about probiotics and learning about how our immune system “starts in the gut” and that the disruption of friendly flora can cause all kinds of problems that you might not relate to your intestinal tract.

In a perfect world, the “good” intestinal bacteria keeps your digestive system working the way it’s supposed to. These microbes help to complete the digestive process in the intestines and colon, and some produce vitamins. Other evidence suggests that, without these little friends slaving away in our digestive tract, our entire immune system will not function properly, lowering our resistance to harmful bugs.

An antibiotic, by design, will go into your system and annihilate ALL bacteria – the good along with the bad. And the destruction of the good bacteria is what causes the unpleasant side effects of the antibiotic.

Although it sounds counterintuitive to add the probiotics (won’t the antibiotic just destroy any probiotic that you add?), it has been found to be helpful to keep the good bacteria coming in while you are battling the bad bacteria. Although some of them will be destroyed (along with some of the bad), enough of it will remain to prevent your system from being totally wiped out by the antibiotics. Then when the next dose of antibiotics comes in to kill more of the bad, it also gets some of the good that remained – so you throw in some more. Just to stop them from being totally depleted.

But the timing is what’s important. Because I was taking the antibiotic every six hours, I added the probiotic every three hours (it should be taken no sooner than two hours after the antibiotic – and with food) during the day. You should also continue to take the probiotic at least twice a day for a week or so after you finish the antibiotic treatment.

And guess what? After the first miserable day, I never had another problem with side effects. I felt a little poopy over the weekend, after I had foolishly left my probiotics at work, but all was well when I started taking them again. And, even better news – no yeast infection. Yay!

You can buy an acidophilus supplement, like I did, or you can add back the friendly bacteria through foods like yogurt, sauerkraut and miso.

In yogurt, look for the words “live” or “active” cultures. This means it contains the good kind of live bacteria. Also, the seal “National Yogurt Association” means the yogurt contains at least 10 million bacteria cells per cup.

In a supplement, you want to find a probiotic that contains at least hundreds of millions of bacteria, but preferably more than one billion. And look for an enteric coating – this ensures the bacteria will get to your intestine without being destroyed by your stomach first. I hear the probiotics that require refrigeration are probably the best, but I didn’t want to have to deal with refrigeration. Lazy.

I am trying to be all adult-like and not be grossed out by the idea of eating bacteria. The lack of a yeast infection is making that a lot easier to handle. So the next time you have to take antibiotics, give it a try. It can't hurt you – and it will probably help. A lot.

Tuesday Tidbits: Do not fear the avocado

2009-05-05T05:00:00.002-04:00

Sure, the avocado is higher in calories than most fruits, but we should know by now that low calorie does not necessarily equal healthy. And, yeah, it has a high fat content, but it’s a monounsaturated fat, the fat we should all be trying to get more of in our diets. We need it – for our hearts, our brain, our joints, and even for healthier hair and skin.

The oleic acid in the monounsaturated fats helps to lower cholesterol and has recently been shown to provide significant protection against breast cancer, oral cancer and prostate cancer.

In addition to their healthy fat content, avocados are also an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin K, folate and copper. The potassium content of an avocado is higher than that of a medium banana – and potassium helps in regulating blood pressure.

And I found this interesting: Adding just a few slices of avocado to your salad will increase your body’s ability to absorb the healthy carotenoids of the other vegetables. Adding it to salsa increases the body’s lycopene and beta-carotene absorption.

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, here’s a salad that’s about as healthy as they get – loaded with vitamins A, C and K (more than 100% of the RDA for each), 22 grams of protein and 16 grams of fiber. (I’m having this for lunch today, but I’m mixing the salsa with a little sour cream because I’m bad and prefer a creamier dressing.)

Mexican Cheese Salad
Makes 2 servings

1 head romaine lettuce
1 15-oz can black or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium avocado, cubed
1 medium tomato, diced
2 oz low-fat cheddar cheese, grated
salsa
lime wedges

Chop lettuce and place on salad plate. Sprinkle beans, avocado and tomato over lettuce. Top with cheddar cheese, your favorite salsa and the juice of lime wedges.

Please share your favorite way to eat avocados. I need ideas!

ETA: I just this minute read that you can make a creamy avocado ranch dressing (I guess this is something you can get at Chili's) by mashing an avocado into ranch dressing. Sounds good to me!

Taking the poo out of shampoo

2009-05-02T20:22:00.006-04:00

(This was supposed to be my Friday off-topic post, but I was feeling generally blah. But at least I’m only a day late!)

I have bad hair. Really bad hair. This is due to a combination of the curse of naturally curly hair, a thyroid that refuses to work, self-coloring, daily flat-ironing and, sigh, age.

To prove it, I will share this incredibly embarrassing picture of myself, circa 1990-ish.

(Yes, it looks frightening in retrospect, but I looked exactly like everyone else on the street at the time. YES I DID!)

And, just because I want to find out what you think of my new glasses, here’s me now:

(Please ignore the “why-is-it-always-so-freaking-cold-in-this-office” sweater.)

See? Bad, bad hair. I wish you could see the back of it, where I sport a large chunk of frizz that refuses to lie down, no matter what I do with it. Looks like a duck’s butt. Attractive.

Anyway, all of this preamble was just to share with you what I’m recently discovering about what else might be contributing to my awful-hairedness. Sulfates. The “poo” in conventional shampoo. Not good for your hair.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) is pretty commonly found in all detergents – whether you use it to wash your hair, your dishes, or your car. It produces Big Foam. We like Big Foam. Makes us feel like it’s really getting something done up there on our heads.

But what it’s really doing is drying out your hair and scalp, making your hair brittle and causing breakage and all kinds of odd scalp conditions. There are those who feel the residual buildup of sulfates contribute to hair loss. They swear that when they eliminated the sulfates, they either saw a significant reduction in the amount of hair being lost or even got some new growth in previously bald areas.

So that’s the simplified version (there’s so much more, but I haven’t even gotten to the point of this post yet) and what made me decide to start searching out some sulfate-free options.

This is when I became obsessed with Shampoo Bars. Yes, like a bar of regular soap, but for your hair. Wait! Don’t freak out. I admit, it seems very strange to think of rubbing a bar of shampoo over your head. Eeeeew, right? But still, with all the positive reviews I’d been reading, I really wanted to give it a try.

So I headed over to Chagrin Valley Soaps, the maker of THE most touted shampoo bars on hair-related message boards. (Yes, I DID go around reading hair message boards. What of it?)

They have a pretty large selection of shampoo bars that you can buy in either the full size, for $6.75, or in a pretty generous sample size for either $2.50 or $2.60. And they are packaged in the cutest little Kraft bags, ever!

Overwhelmed by options and fearful that I would HATE IT after I bought it, I bought a full size of the Coconut Milk and one sample-sized bar of Carrot Milk and Honey and another of Rosemary Mint. The two products I was most interested in, the Olive Babassu and the Babassu and Marsh Mallow, were both temporarily out of stock. (I would link to the specific products here, but their website doesn’t have separate pages for each product. They also have a pain in the ass shopping cart, but I can deal with it.)

Another advantage of shampoo bars is that if you decide you don’t like it as a shampoo, it’s perfectly fine to use on your body. No waste.

I had already decided I WOULD NOT rub a bar of shampoo on my head. I would lather it up in my hands and then massage it in, like a civilized person. So, picking a day when I had no one to impress but my dentist (in case things went horribly awry), I grabbed the bar of Coconut Milk and marched bravely into the shower.

I got my hair really, really wet and picked up the bar. And I rubbed it directly on my head. I don’t know what happened! It just seemed like the natural thing to do. And I enjoyed it. It had a decent lather and it smelled really nice. And you know what? After I rinsed it out (very, very thoroughly, of course), my hair freaking SQUEAKED. Yes, it did. I don’t remember the last time my hair squeaked after shampooing.

Now, in theory, you do not have to use a conditioner with these bars. Or, if your hair is really dry, you might be able to just use a lot less conditioner. I debated doing a true experiment and not conditioning at all, but panicked at the last minute and used a small amount of conditioner on the ends. All the squeaking had frightened me.

Then, as is my custom, I let it air dry. Usually it air dries into a poofy disaster, so I was surprised that it dried like a normal person’s hair. No poof. My hair was very soft and I didn’t feel any residue. And that duck’s butt on the back of my head was gone! Seriously. A mini-version of it popped up a little later in the day after three hours in the dental chair, a nap and two hot flashes, but it stayed tame for a pretty good long time.

So, obviously, I like it! And I like that it will be so much easier to travel with than regular shampoo. And that cutting out all of those plastic shampoo bottles will be good for the environment. And that one shampoo bar lasts as long as about three bottles of conventional shampoo. And that I may someday be able to get rid of conditioner altogether. Naturally, I’ve already ordered more. It’s a sickness.

Of course, this isn’t the only company that makes shampoo bars. There are also other options for sulfate-free shampoos that don’t involve rubbing a bar on your head.

Lush Cosmetics: Their shampoo bar is smaller and pricier ($9.75), but it is VERY highly rated. Order online, or find a store near you. I’m going to check them out the next time I’m at the mall.

And here’s a way for you to try it for close to free. I found a lot of the products I was looking for at iherb.com – and if you’ve never ordered from them before, you can use my coupon code (DUP544) to get $5 off your first order. I think they will kick back 15 cents to me if you do, but that’s not why I’m giving you the code. I’m giving it to you because most of this stuff costs right around $5, so you can get it just for the cost of shipping. And they ship super-fast. I love them.

Here are some I found today. Okay, I’ll be honest and admit this is what I actually ORDERED today. Maybe you’ll find something that looks interesting to you. I think you can also find these at Whole Foods, if you’re near one:

J.R. Liggett’s Old Fashioned Bar Shampoo. I got the one for damaged hair, natch, and the Tea Tree and Hemp Oil. $4.79 each

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. On this one, I actually bought the 16-ounce Hemp Almond liquid to try out. You should read the reviews on this product line. Dang! $6.83

Giovanni’s Shampoo and Conditioners. Again, not a shampoo bar, but this also a very highly rated sulfate-free line. I got a leave-in conditioner, a restructuring conditioner and a couple of other things I don’t remember. $5.17 each

So that’s it. Have you ever tried a shampoo bar? Would you? Next up in my quest for more natural products: Toothpaste. (I heard my dentist telling someone to stay away from Colgate Total and Crest Pro-something because of all the additives. Interesting, no?)

The healing powers of pineapple

2009-04-29T05:00:00.000-04:00

Now I knew pineapple was good for you, being a fruit and all – but I had no idea HOW good. Most of its health benefits come from an enzyme called bromelain and its high vitamin C content.

Bromelain helps to break down the amino acids in proteins, making it a great aid to digestion – and it is said to be helpful in preventing nausea caused by morning sickness or motion sickness.

But what I find most interesting about bromelain are the claims that it is a natural anti-inflammatory, helpful in reducing swelling of the thyroid gland (goiter) and relieving symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

Additionally, bromelain is effective in treating bruises and sprains by reducing swelling, tenderness and pain – and preventing blood clot formation. The article I read wasn’t clear, but I still think you actually EAT IT and don’t apply it topically. But it would make a much more pleasant poultice than something made of garlic, no?

(Note: The bromelain content of pineapple is destroyed by the canning process – so eat your pineapple fresh for the most benefit. And taste, really.)

So all of those things by themselves make me want to run out and eat a pineapple, but we haven’t even touched on the vitamin C.

It’s pretty widely know that vitamin C is an antioxidant and, as such, it protects the body from free radical damage and boosts the immune system. Vitamin C helps build and repair bodily tissue and promotes wound healing. Nice double whammy for wound healing, along with the bromelain, right?

And here’s something I did not know about vitamin C: The body uses vitamin C to help metabolize fats and cholesterol, absorb iron, and synthesize amino acids and collagen. (Collagen is one of the primary building blocks of skin, cartilage and bones.)

And I think we all know that vitamin C is helpful in fighting off colds and infections – or at least in decreasing their severity. No word yet on its effect on the Swine Flu.

And why oh why did I not know sooner that, because of all that vitamin C, pineapples are good for your oral health as well. Vitamin C increases the ability of connective tissue to repair itself, and also increases the body's ability to fight invading bacteria and other toxins that contribute to gum disease. Periodontal disease, which destroys gum tissue and underlying jaw bones, has been linked to heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

Now I know all of this is making you want to run right out and buy a pineapple or two. It just so happens that pineapples are at their peak right now (March through July) so it’s not such a bad idea.

And you can go to all the trouble of learning how to cut a pineapple (cut off both ends, cut out the core, scrape off the thorny stuff) or, seriously, you can just go the Mrs. Jelly Belly QVC-addicted route and buy yourself a stainless steel pineapple slicer. Or the plastic one, even.

Now that you bought all that fresh pineapple - and it's all cut up and ready to eat - how about a smoothie? Or a lovely Pina Colada (which doesn’t contain fresh pineapple but, really, why not?).

Tropical Fruit Smoothie

1 frozen banana

1 cup fresh pineapple

3/4 cup soymilk

1 tablespoon honey or sugar (optional)

Blend all of the above ingredients in a food processor or blender for 1-2 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Makes 2 servings.

Pina Colada

4 oz. fresh pineapple juice
3 oz. rum
2 oz. coconut cream
2 cups crushed ice

Pour all of the ingredients into a blender. Blend briefly at high speed. Strain into a glass and serve. Garnish with a slice of fresh pineapple and a cherry.

Why I may be AWOL for a few days

2009-04-26T20:05:00.012-04:00

Thursday afternoon, I was minding my own business eating my lunch. I was eating this:

I was chomping merrily away when a Pain Like No Other seared through the left side of my lower jaw. A seemingly harmless bacon bit had jammed into this:

Yes, it did a hard slam into a broken tooth I was still two weeks away from getting fixed (why do dental appointments take so long?).

I was like this:

And then I felt a little better until Thursday night when I could not sleep for The Pain.

Friday morning a friendly co-worker gave me this:

I was like this:

When I realized The Pain was not going away on its own, I called the dentist on Saturday morning for an emergency appointment. They were sympathetic, but unable to oblige until Monday morning (dentists not working that particular Saturday because that’s the kind of luck I have).

I wonder why they do not have dental emergency rooms. I happily found an almost full bottle of these in the cupboard:

And a bottle of this in another cupboard:

To swish with, not to drink.

Mr. Jelly Belly and I spent all day Sunday like this:

I hope the large bottle of pills lasts until Monday morning, or I may have to hit the streets looking for this:

I don’t know what they will do on Monday morning or how I will feel after. At this point, tooth extraction seems desirable. I may do it myself.

See you soon. I hope.

Start saving your pennies

2009-04-24T05:05:00.005-04:00

Although it’s just a concept design for now, I know you’ll want to run out and buy this levitating Cloud Sofa (which won honorable mention in a design contest) the minute it becomes available.

No wires or pulleys, this comfy looking sofa is suspended in the air via magnets. Pretty strong ones, I would imagine. Awesome, right?

But I worry – will a small child or pet break the magnetic force if they wander underneath? What will it do to your pacemaker? Or the hard drive of your lap top? Yikes, what about my credit cards? Will I be able to pick it up at Wal-Mart? Pressing questions, indeed.

And, just for a giggle, I present to you the 50th Birthday Barbie. We look so much alike, it’s frightening. All she needs is a spiffy pair of reading glasses and we're twins!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Organic home delivery

2009-04-22T04:53:00.003-04:00

Because it’s Earth Day and all, I thought I’d share with you this great idea I unexpectedly stumbled upon while searching the internet for something else.

Organic home delivery. Wow. A lazy woman’s dream. Farm-fresh organic produce selected for me and delivered right to my door for a reasonable price? I did not know such a thing even existed. And to find it was available in my area, an area where there isn’t even a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s within 30 miles? I was so excited I couldn’t wait to sign up.

Door to Door Organics works with local organic farmers to provide delivery of seasonal fruits, vegetables and herbs. Their service is currently available in Colorado, Michigan, Kansas City and Eastern states (CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, DC).

You can choose the size of the box you want delivered every week (or every other week), and what you want to be in the box. All fruit, all vegetables, or a mixture of both. Don’t like cucumbers? Swap it out for something you DO like. There is no long-term commitment.

I am getting the “Bitty Box”, suitable for one to two people (because you know Mr. Jelly Belly isn’t touching the stuff) and I am opting for the mix of fruits and vegetables. Those with larger families can choose the Small, Medium or Large boxes.

On Friday mornings I receive an email letting me know that my next box is set up on their website and ready for editing. I go in, look at what’s being offered and either accept it as it, swap out items I might not like for something else, or skip that week’s delivery altogether.

For a total cost of $23, including delivery, here’s what will be in my box this week:

Romaine hearts
1 lb. of carrots
1.5 lbs. red garnet yams
1 lb. red onions
1 cucumber
3 bananas
3 apples
Pint cherry tomatoes
2 pears
3 minneolas (I had to look that up – they’re oranges)

Because I still have apples from last week, this week I chose to get rid of the apples and get some more yams. In my opinion, you can never have too many yams. And then I swapped out the tomatoes for avocados. It’s still early in the season, but I am really looking forward to my summer choices.

If you can get four people together who will have their boxes delivered to the same address (your office, for example) you become a “co-op” and are eligible for a discount. I don’t know how much – we only have three people so far.

Check around to see if you have a similar service in your area. Support your local farmers. Happy Earth Day!

Tuesday Tidbits: A little organic knowledge

2009-04-21T05:00:00.000-04:00

Here’s another indicator of how dumb I am. Up until about a year ago, I would never choose produce labeled “organic” over the normal, everyday produce. Well, one time I did buy some organic bananas because they were still green and all the other ones were too yellow. And I was pissed about having to do it. Because organic costs more – and I just couldn’t see why it was worth spending the extra money.

Forgive me. I did not know.

If I gave it any thought at all, which was rare, I thought it just meant the produce was grown without artificial pesticides or fertilizers. As someone who is old and set in her ways, that just didn’t strike me as such a big deal. But then I learned more.

I learned milk, meat, poultry and eggs are designated as organic if they are not treated with hormones, given to make the animals larger, or antibiotics, which are dispensed to keep them disease-free. This I found to be especially disgusting.

I learned food cannot be labeled organic if it has been genetically altered or irradiated. I further learned that irradiation means the food has been processed with radiation to kill germs.

I learned organic food regulations prohibit hydrogenated fat, phosphoric acid, preservatives, colorings, hormones, antibiotics, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and 7000 other artificial flavorings that are permitted in conventional food. Yikes. That’s kind of scary.

But now I take these things into consideration when I am in the grocery store and start to think I don’t want to spend the extra couple of dollars. Because now I know. And in the words of my old friend, GI Joe - knowing is half the battle.

Oh, one more thing: Did you know all grocers are legally required to stack organic fruits and vegetables where they won’t be exposed to water runoff from the misting of conventional produce? Sitting there could contaminate organic items with pesticide residue. If a store is not following that rule, you may be wasting your money by buying organic produce there.

Why 6 meals are better than 3

2009-04-19T05:19:00.005-04:00

Three squares a day. That’s what most of us grew up with and that’s what society tends to be geared toward. Most of us have eating patterns that involve skipping breakfast, eating a big lunch, and rushing home to huge dinner. In between? Snack, snack, snack.

Some people are very in tune with their bodies’ hunger and full signals. They know when they should eat, what their body needs and when they should stop shoveling it in.

I am not one of those people. I totally stink at stopping when I am full and have been a lifetime member of the Clean Plate Club. The Big Fat Overfull Plate. Switching to six mini meals per day really helped me to get my eating under control. Oh, and it stopped me from feeling like a total slug after every meal.

Learning about how to effectively feed your body every few hours can stabilize your blood sugar and keep your metabolism revved up. And that keeps your body at its maximum fat-burning capacity every day. It also eliminates that feeling we get five hours after lunch that we will just DIE if we don’t eat a whole pig RIGHT NOW.

When you will eat these six meals, and what they will consist of, will vary based on your own body AND your schedule. I’ve mentioned before that I have some trouble with getting a mini meal in during the afternoon because eating at your desk is a big “no no” where I work – so sometimes the general “rules” of 6 mini meals need to be tweaked to accommodate those kinds of things. Or sometimes you just have to learn how to hide your food.

For example, most experts on this subject say to eat as soon as you wake up. For me, that’s just not going to happen. My first meal happens about two hours AFTER my coffee, and then I go every couple of hours from there.

So because I am generally less hungry in the morning, constantly hungry in the afternoon, and rarely hungry in the evening, my six meals, during the week, typically look something like this:

9:00 am – Oatmeal, or yogurt mixed with ½ cup of Fiber One cereal
11:00 am – truthfully, this is usually just a banana to hold me over until lunch
12:00 pm – Huge salad with chicken, lettuce, spinach and at least two other vegetables
2:00 pm – Varies, but generally fruit and yogurt
3:30 pm – A sandwich! You can shove lots of good stuff into a low carb, whole grain tortilla.
6:00 pm – Meat, poultry or fish, a whole grain, lots of cooked vegetables

(I’m not going to lie to you – these days, my meals on the weekend are a lot less regimented. A lot. It’s something I’m working on.)

There are a lot of different factors that might make your six meals look different than mine. People who weigh more and people who work out more will probably eat a totally different configuration, but the goal is the same: To consume the same number of calories you would by eating three meals a day, but spreading them out over six.

If you were to Google “Six meals a day” you would find lots of advice on how to “correctly” distribute your meals. Mine may not be exactly correct, but it’s what works for me. The important thing is to ensure you get a good mix of protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats, while also working in at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables.

Yes, six meals a day requires a little planning. But only in the beginning. It starts to get easier as you go along and figure out what YOUR body needs. The increased energy and steady blood sugar will make it all worth it. Really.

Things I Need

2009-04-17T05:30:00.015-04:00

It’s no big secret that I’m addicted to kitchen gadgets. I love them. The minute I see them, I wonder how I will continue to function if I don’t buy it RIGHT NOW. This is why QVC loves me, I think. Anyway, here are a few things I found this week that I never even knew existed - but now I don’t know how I will live without them.

A cutting board is a cutting board, right? Oh, not so, my friend. Look at this Index Chopping Board, a super-cool set of four color-coded boards designed to avoid cross-contamination of food – red for raw meat, white for cooked foods, blue for fish and green for vegetables. That’s nice and all, but just look at the fun presentation:

I hate using a measuring spoon for oil, so I need this Press and Measure Bottle. Just give it a squeeze and get an exact measurement of oils, salad dressings, soy sauce, whatever:

And, speaking of perfect measuring, this looks a lot easier for perfect pasta portions than pulling out the food scale:
If you like ice cream (and, really, who doesn’t?), how about this Scoop and Stack Ice Cream Server? Jam it into some rock-hard ice cream and pull out a lovely cylinder of yumminess. I’ll bet you could find lots of other foods you could use this for, as well.
I love shish kebab. And I REALLY love grilled vegetables. But I’m too lazy for all that skewer threading crap, so these Kabob Baskets for the grill have my name all over them:

Collecting recipes is something of a hobby for me. I tear them out of magazines and print them off from the internet and write down ideas I don’t want to forget. As a result, I end up with a huge, disorganized pile of recipes that are never going to be made. I finally organized them in a large 3-ring binder, using full-sized page protectors, but this Clipped Recipes Book is much prettier than mine:

And speaking of recipe organization, I am So Excited about this product, I am about to wet my pants. Combining my love of recipes with my love for gadgets and my obsession with the Amazon Kindle, the Demy Electronic Recipe Reader is something I don’t really need, but oh boy, am I ever coveting. Available to preorder on Amazon right now, at $299 it is making me pray for a complete economic recovery by May.

And, just for fun, how about some pants for your eggs?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Can we even LIVE without the acai berry?

2009-04-15T05:00:00.006-04:00

You know, you just can’t swing a cat around the internet these days without hitting an ad guaranteeing the loss of 30 pounds in 30 days via the miracle of the acai berry.

Besides the fact that I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce that, I also realized I have just been blah-blah-blah-ing myself past any articles or advertisements that mention it. Because rolling my eyes so hard is sometimes painful. So I decided the time had come to look it up.

First, I looked up the pronunciation. Ah-sigh-EE – okay, that feels very awkward. I think I’ll stick with my original mispronunciation of eye-KAY-uh…like IKEA, in a dyslexic sort of way.

The first thing you should know is you cannot trust any information you pick up via a Google search for “acai berry”. Every single link has THE ONLY PRODUCT guaranteed to work. They almost all throw around the names of Oprah, Rachael Ray, Dr. Oz, Gwyneth Paltrow and/or Summer Redstone – whoever the heck that is – as if they have given their personal endorsement. Oprah’s lawyers are reportedly not amused.

Also, for the record, I would never buy anything from a website that consistently uses “it’s” when it means “its” – for example, “known for it’s healing properties, scientists recently discovered it’s many benefits…” [Jelly Belly grammar tip – if you can’t replace the “it’s” with “it is”, then drop the dang apostrophe]. But that may just be me.

Grammar rant aside, I only wanted basic information, so I sifted through the crap (and lots of it) and found the following:

What it is: The acai berry is a tiny black fruit. It comes from South America, via a special Amazon palm tree that is harvested in the rainforests of Brazil. The berry has a very short post-harvest life which is why, unless you live in the rainforests of Brazil, you can only get it in the form of juice or pulp. Which is probably also the justification for its ungodly price.

The claims: Touted as having the highest antioxidant content of any food, together with a high (non-specified) fiber content, the acai berry is being hailed as a cure all – this tiny little berry is purported to provide increased energy, improved sexual performance, sleep, digestion, and skin appearance. It will also strengthen your immune system, fight cancer, improve circulation, slow down the aging process, improve heart health, reduce cholesterol levels and detoxify your system.

As if all that weren’t enough, some sites claim you can expect to reverse diabetes and other chronic illnesses. Men can look forward to an increase in penis size and virility and (duh!) become more sexually attractive to women.

But let’s not forget its most important benefit: Weight loss. Oh, yes – it will make you lose weight. All you have to do is send for your “free” trial offer of the supplement, cut out all sugar and fried foods, avoid processed foods, drink lots of water, exercise 3-5 times per week and watch the pounds melt off. It’s a miracle! (Click here for some info on what the “free trial” might cost you.)

Some research: According to Wikipedia (don’t judge me – it’s HARD to find non-commercial information on this stuff!), research showed the antioxidant content of the acai berry juice to be lower than concord grape juice, pomegranate juice, blueberry juice and red wine. It was about the same as black cherry or cranberry juice but higher than orange juice, apple juice and tea.

So what does it all mean? Ever since Dr. Oz handed Oprah an acai berry smoothie, proclaiming it one of the healthiest foods on the planet, the internet has gone crazy with people trying to cash in.

Does the acai berry have antioxidant properties? Yes, apparently it does. Does it have significantly more health benefits than, say, blueberries (always a top-rated antioxidant)? Doesn’t appear to. Will I pay $40 for a bottle of acai berry juice? Not a chance in hell. I’d go with a nice bottle of red wine first.

When you cut through all the marketing hype, it seems to me the acai berry is no more or no less of a “superfood” than any other berry. Especially blueberries, which I can pick up at a reasonable price in any grocery store. If I didn’t have a black thumb, I could probably even grow them in my backyard.

So, for me, I’m not anxious to hop on this bandwagon. What about you? Have you tried it? If so, what did you think?

Tuesday Tidbits: Kellogg's FiberPlus Antioxidant Bars

2009-04-14T05:00:00.000-04:00

As a rule, I’m not a big fan of snack bars. They usually have way too much sugar and nothing else going for them to make them worth wasting the calories on.

But when I heard about Kellogg’s new FiberPlus Antioxidants Bars, something made me want to give them a try. Okay, honestly? It was the fiber. Nine grams per bar!

The bars are available in two flavors, Chocolate Chip (120 calories) and Dark Chocolate Almond (130 calories). Each flavor has 7 grams of sugar and 2 grams of protein. And did I mention the 9 grams of fiber?

I tried the Dark Chocolate Almond and it was delish! I was shocked, actually. Yeah, so they’re not all natural and they’re certainly not organic, but for a once in a while quick fix to a chocolate craving, you could do a lot worse. A LOT worse.

Oh and by the way – there’s a 75 cent coupon on the website. That’ll help since they’re around $3 for a package of 5.

Is it all just a genetic crapshoot?

2009-04-12T22:19:00.005-04:00

I love Mr. Jelly Belly more than life itself. Truly, I do. But that sonofabitch is really getting on my last nerve.

As I have mentioned before, Mr. Jelly Belly is my dietary cross to bear. He only eats two vegetables – peas and corn – and the peas must come from a can. He hates ALL fruit (except applesauce). He will only eat white bread and turns his nose up at any whole grain that isn’t brown rice.

Red meat is a daily staple and he refuses to try a ground turkey alternative. He thinks Hamburger Helper is one of the greatest food products on the market. He drinks approximately four liters of Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi every single day and finds water too dull to bother with.

Every morning he drinks a Slim Fast and eats a Nutri-Grain bar; he just can’t get enough refined sugar. If we go out for breakfast, he orders the “Hungry Man Special” – three eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage AND ham. And white toast, of course. Cholesterol? Pfffft.

He laughs in the face of sodium and snacks on Taco-flavored Doritos or barbecue potato chips. Every night. Fast food is his friend.

But none of that is why he’s torquing me off; I’ve come to terms with all that. What’s getting to me is what happened when he participated in a health fair at work last week.

His employer, together with their insurance company, offered free health screening for their employees. They checked BMI, percent of body fat, cholesterol, sugar, blood pressure – all of the usual things.

First of all, he was measured at 6’ tall and weighed in at 230 pounds. Okay, overweight, and his BMI was 31, or “borderline obese”. I hate those BMI classifications. He’s not borderline obese - he’s a very solid 230. No jelly in that beer belly. Which brings me to his percent of body fat: 14. Yes, that’s right - 14% body fat. WTF? According to the provided charts, that is considered “very good” for a young man of 19. Mr. Jelly Belly is 49. I asked him if he was sure their testing instruments were calibrated properly. Acting insulted, he assured me they were.

Overall cholesterol was 173 (where anything under 200 is considered optimum). Bad cholesterol versus good cholesterol? Perfect. Blood glucose levels? Right on the money. Blood pressure? Nothing boiling there.

At this point, I accused him of having someone else’s test results. This got me a rather loud snort and some rude, pompous comments about who might be the better eater in our family.

This really got me to wondering if it’s all just a big old genetic crapshoot. If what we eat or don’t eat really makes that much difference to our health. For our weight, yes, of course it does. And for people who already have a known issue like diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure – then, yes, absolutely, diet will make a big difference to your overall health.

But for the average person, will eating “right” actually prevent you from ending up with heart disease or diabetes if you are somehow genetically vulnerable to getting them? And what if your personal genetics are such that you will NEVER develop those things – then should you even bother with a healthy diet?

Unfortunately, we don’t really have any way of accurately knowing where our genes are going to take us. We can look at family history, sure, but even that doesn’t necessarily give you the whole story. Mr. Jelly Belly’s family is loaded with early-onset heart problems, so you would think that would be an issue for him, as well. But, no; he faithfully keeps his annual physical appointments to make sure there is nothing amiss and so far, so good.

Is he just dodging a future bullet – or is he genetically programmed to not ever develop diet-related health issues?

I guess I’m not personally willing to roll the dice on that one. I’ll keep on doing what I’m doing and hope for the best - and pray Mr. Jelly Belly is bullet-proof.

It amuses Mr. Jelly Belly to no end to see how this irritates me. He has graciously offered to give his dieting advice to those of you who might be in need of his expertise and has asked me to share his favorite tip: When making a bacon sandwich, fry one pound of bacon and split it between two sandwiches. On Wonder bread, not toasted. Add a generous amount of Miracle Whip. Not mayonnaise. Miracle Whip is the key to a good diet.

And there you have it. Diet tips from Superman.

If you won’t put it IN your body, should you put it ON your body?

2009-04-10T05:00:00.002-04:00

Crisco Shortening. We’re all familiar with the blue can – it was probably a staple in all our childhood kitchens. And maybe we’ve given up using it to cook with because of its high concentrations of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats).

Lately, there has been a lot of chatter about the benefits of Crisco for your skin and hair. Yes, you heard me correctly. For your skin and hair. Sounds rather bizarre, doesn’t it?

But let’s look at the ingredients of Crisco: Soybean oil, fully hydrogenated cottonseed oil, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils. So, basically, natural oils hydrogenated to turn them into solid form.

I use natural oils on my skin and hair all the time. Jojoba oil, vitamin E oil, almond oil, emu oil, squalene oil - and I’ve just ordered some avocado oil, which is supposed to work wonders for those of us who have been cursed with straw in place of hair. I love them all and they are super-moisturizing for my dry, wrinkly face. And my dimpled body. Yeah. Try not to get a visual with that one.

I have read that Crisco is used in hospital settings to treat burn victims and those with severe eczema. It has also been used on skin tears caused by edema (severe swelling due to fluid accumulation).

I read of another doctor who had this to say about Crisco: "If you want the cheapest home remedy going, use Crisco. It's a wonderful moisturizer that covers the skin and keeps water locked in. The key is to use very little and rub it in well so your hands don't feel greasy. Your skin needs only two molecules' worth [Jelly Belly interjection: WHAT?] of barrier thickness to protect it from water loss. They used to call Crisco Cream C at Duke University, where doctors dispensed it freely. It really works."

If all that’s true (and I don’t really have any reason to doubt it), then it sure sounds like Crisco could be a moisturizing mini-miracle, doesn’t it?

Outside of the medical community, countless women (and probably a few men) are using Crisco on their faces, bodies and hair – and reporting great results. And it’s cheap. Under $5 for the small can which should last a really long time (considering you only need two molecules worth and whatnot).

I ran out and bought some (hiding the can from Mr. Jelly Belly, lest he get overly excited thinking I was going to make a pie) and, feeling foolish, gave it a try. I slathered it all over my alligator legs and feet, my elbows and my hands. Then I avoided all open flames.

The result? Wow. Soft and smooth. In fact, my legs are SO DRY that it took three very generous slatherings before it stopped immediately absorbing. I didn’t have the nerve to try it on my face and hair, so you’ll have to do your own experiment if you want to know the answer to that. I have my limits.

But whenever an inexpensive miracle product is discovered, there are always going to be naysayers who will kill your buzz – and darnit, make me think about what I am doing. God, I hate that.

The argument most widely heard is that anything you put ON your body, you are putting IN your body. If you think about it, that makes sense. How else do you explain trans-dermal drugs like progesterone and estrogen creams? Not to mention nicotine patches. They work because you put them ON YOUR SKIN and they go through your skin and work internally.

Now I’m no scientist, so I don’t know if trans fats can penetrate your skin and work their way into your arteries or not. And I don’t even know how I would go about finding that out. But I’ll bet the answer lies somewhere in molecular size and structure. And that, my friends, bores me nearly to tears. But I do know that I don’t want my death certificate to list “cause of death” as Crisco.

On the other hand, people use salt on their bodies in the form of scrubs all the time - and I’ve never heard of hypertension due to excessive exfoliation, have you?

To sum it up, I’ll just say I don’t have any real answers as to the effect of using trans fats on your skin. So you just did a lot of reading for no pay off. To make it up to you, I offer you these alternative uses for Crisco:

Removal of tar and lipstick from clothing.
Removal of ink, grease and dirt from surfaces and hands.
Revitalizing the surfaces of wooden utensils such as bowls and cutting boards.
Shedding water and snow from weather gear such as galoshes and snow shovels.
Preventing diaper rash.
As a makeup base.
For seasoning cast iron cookware.

As a sexual lubricant [oh, I can picture the Google hits already], it has been popular for some 40 years, as it is long-lasting, cheap, and does not exude a strong odor. However, as with other oil-based lubricants such as Vaseline, it can degrade latex and is unsuitable for use with latex condoms.

For episiotomy prevention. [I am totally NOT going into details on that one; use your imagination – it involves “seasoning” like the cast iron skillet.]

Okay, now all I have left to do is cutely alter my Crisco can in such a way that it won’t lead to behind-my-back gossip if people spot it in my bathroom.

Guilt-Free Scalloped Potatoes and Onions

2009-04-08T06:32:00.001-04:00

I love scalloped potatoes. In fact, I love them so much I don’t eat them any more. Portion control? What’s that?

So I was thrilled when I found this great recipe at Allrecipes last year for scalloped potatoes that contain no dairy products or cream-of-anything soup.

If you think all that means “no taste” you would be mistaken. Delicious and surprisingly creamy, they are made with chicken broth instead of milk or heavy cream. I made them at Easter last year and everyone loved them. Even the ever-fussy Mr. Jelly Belly, who I did not inform of the missing dairy.

Some options: If you’re vegetarian, I’m sure you could substitute vegetable broth and get the same result. One of the reviewers on Allrecipes said she used cornstarch instead of the white flour and it came out just fine – so I’ll be doing that next time. Other people said they sautéed the onions first with the butter and another person said she pureed the onions so her fussy kids wouldn’t know they were in there. Many people added additional spices (I don’t find it necessary) and apparently the mayonnaise could be considered optional.

So, without further ado, here’s the recipe:

Scalloped Potatoes and Onions

5 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups chicken broth (I use fat-free)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Paprika

In a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish, layer potatoes and onion. In a saucepan, melt the butter; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add broth, mayonnaise, salt and pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thick and bubbly. Pour over potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika. Cover and bake at 325 degrees F for 2 hours or until tender.

I hear that these potatoes are also great leftover - but I have no way of knowing whether they are or not. :)

Review: Oh! Nuts

2009-04-08T04:07:00.007-04:00

After my post entitled, “Oh, Nuts” where I wrote about almonds, I was contacted by a marketing rep for the website Oh! Nuts (see the correlation?) who asked if I would be interested in trying a couple of their products for review.

Would I be interested? Of COURSE I would be interested. After deciding that jelly beans wouldn’t be such a great idea (again, see the correlation?), he generously offered to send me something healthier to try – raw almonds, shelled raw pistachios (no salmonella here!) and dried blueberries. Ah, much better!

They arrived very quickly and I immediately ripped into the pistachios – thinking too late that I should get a good picture of the product before I ate it all. Hence the crappy cell phone picture.

All three of the items were nicely packaged in heavy, resealable bags. And, after ~~making a pig of myself~~ sampling all of them, I found them to be fresh and delicious. Now, my niece thought the pistachios were stale but, if they were, I didn’t notice it. I thought they were very good. Of course, I scarfed them down so quickly it might have been hard to tell.

And the raw almonds? Everyone who tried them agreed they were THE BEST. I don’t think I’ve ever had raw almonds that were this good. And I’m not just saying that. They really were. They’re so delicious, I’m having a hard time keeping to my “no more than 10 at a time” rule. I tend to avoid buying raw almonds at the grocery store because of the outrageous price. But at $5.99 per pound for all of this deliciousness, I think the raw almonds from Oh! Nuts are quite a bargain.

I was really excited to try the dried blueberries, since I’ve never had them before. And they were so cute! I grabbed a handful right out of the bag and started noshing. Fresh, plump, delicious – and way too sweet for me. They are sweetened with apple juice and, at 17 grams of sugar per 1-ounce serving, they aren’t really THAT outrageous in the sugar category but, for me, too much.

I tried again the next morning by throwing a handful in my oatmeal. Extremely tasty but, unfortunately, brought on a nasty blood sugar drop. Sigh. I handed them over to the sugar-loving minions at work and they were disposed of rather quickly. So, if you’re not me, you would probably love these.

After nosing around on the website for a while, I found they had some really cool stuff. Besides a huge selection of bulk nuts, they have lots of other interesting products, like Wasabi Green Pea Chips, Roasted Watermelon Seeds, Roasted Soy Beans, Dried Kiwi, Granola, AND Sugar-Free Candy and Chocolate. Oh! And I just spotted my favorite – Chocolate Covered Cashews!

All of their products (which, by the way, are all certified Kosher) list complete nutrition information and are customer-reviewed - features I always appreciate on a website.

Oh – and one last thing. Gift Baskets. I always struggle to find gifts to send to my parents because, frankly, they have everything. But they enjoy a unique food gift, so I’ll be keeping Oh! Nuts in mind the next time I have a gift-giving occasion; I feel confident it will be a quality gift they will enjoy.

Tuesday Tidbits: A food-wasting statistic

2009-04-07T05:00:00.001-04:00

A study from the University of Arizona found that the average household discards $590 worth of uneaten groceries a year.

I was sickened when I read that because I know I am wasting at least that much. But what can you do if you don’t have the time (or the inclination) to shop for groceries on a daily basis?

I’ve written about my Food Saver before which, although it might seem to be a bit spendy initially, the cost savings on food that doesn’t go to waste makes it worth it in the long run.

But I’ve never really used the Food Saver for fresh fruits and vegetables. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the cost of the bags and I’m too cheap to buy them for short-term storage. Instead, I tend to buy frozen vegetables a lot so I can keep them longer.

What do you use to extend the life of your fruits and vegetables? A Rubbermaid Produce Saver? The FreshVac Food Storage Container? Green Bags? Or the related Green Box? Something else?

Please share your tips for keeping your food fresh longer. I’m tired of pulling slimy mushrooms and soggy lettuce from my refrigerator.

They're coming! They're coming!

2009-04-05T05:00:00.001-04:00

Ah, spring. When a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of love. Love? Bah! That may be fine for the young man, but spring makes this old lady get a little weak in the knees at the thought of ripe, juicy strawberries. And soon they’ll be everywhere.

Strawberry season, which begins in California in March and peaks during May in the south and June in the north, is upon us. Although you can sometimes pick up some fairly decent strawberries all year round, there is nothing quite like the flavor of the in-season strawberry.

Naturally free of fat, cholesterol and sodium, strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C (containing even more than an orange!) and remain high on the list of “superfoods” due to their antioxidant properties.

But, wait! There’s more! Strawberries are also a very good source of dietary fiber and iodine as well as potassium, folate, riboflavin, vitamin B5, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B6, vitamin K, magnesium, and copper.

And anytime you can get all of these health benefits for a mere 40 calories per cup, I call that a nutritional bargain.

So here’s some things to remember about buying and storing strawberries:

Unless you plan on freezing them, don’t buy more than you have an immediate need for as they will mold fairly quickly if left at room temperature, and will only last a couple of days in the refrigerator.

Don’t wash them until you are ready to eat them. Washing before storage promotes mildew and that’s not really too yummy.

Strawberries do not continue to ripen after they are picked, so avoid yellow or green berries. They’re not going to get any better.

Buy locally whenever possible. Locally grown strawberries will most likely be fresher and more flavorful.

To freeze strawberries, arrange the whole berries in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag and return to the freezer. Frozen strawberries should last for a year. It is recommended that you NOT wash or remove the hull prior to freezing.

Don’t know what to do with all those frozen strawberries? Well, besides the obvious choice of Margaritas and Daquiris? Click here for some ideas from Allrecipes.

I love fresh strawberries by themselves as an afternoon snack, but I also love them in cereal, or topped with yogurt, or in smoothies or paired with a sliced banana and whipped cream.

Good food that’s good FOR you. It’s a beautiful thing.

Bacon: It's not just for breakfast anymore

2009-04-03T04:44:00.013-04:00

Really, TGIF. What a rough week I’ve had – I couldn’t be happier to see it end. And since I’ve been too tired all week to post anything worthwhile, I’ll just continue that trend by sharing with you some bizarre products for the truly bacon-obsessed. You’ll think I’m making it up. Sadly, I am not.

Let’s start with a rather odd way to combine your love of bacon with good oral hygiene. May I present to you, bacon-flavored dental floss:

But, if you’re driving or something and don’t have both hands available to floss out that chunk of whatever stuck between your teeth, you might want to keep some of these in your purse:

And speaking of your car, who wouldn’t love the welcoming aroma of bacon every time you hop in:

All your friends will be jealous when you whip out this classy and elegant bacon wallet:

Got a boo boo? Never fear, bacon bandages to the rescue:

Is your breath a little funky? How about some bacon mints?

Need a little something for the kids’ Easter baskets? Shove those Peeps aside and throw in some Gummy Bacon:

Or even some bacon gum balls:

With all the bacon love sweeping the nation, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see something like this in the future:

Trust me, my friends – this is only the tip of the bacon iceberg. I’d give you more, but I’m starting to feel just a little bit queasy…

Cookbook Review: Whole Grains for Busy People

2009-04-01T04:20:00.008-04:00

After posting about the advantages of removing white flour from your diet, I realized that many people are a little confused (and scared) about how to incorporate whole grains into their daily lives.

Switching to whole grains doesn’t just mean switching to wheat flour when baking or from white to wheat bread. And it certainly doesn’t mean eliminating carbs from your diet. (Are you kidding? I would DIE.) There are so many delicious whole grains available – from those we’re all familiar with, like oatmeal, barley, brown rice and popcorn, to those we may have never heard of, like millet, farro and kamut - that it can sometimes seem intimidating to the beginner.

And that is where Whole Grains for Busy People, by Lorna Sass, can prove invaluable.

This is an awesome “light reading” resource for anyone who wants to learn more about whole grains – what they are, where to find them and how to cook them - without being overwhelmed.

The book provides information on quick cooking whole grains, whole grain flours, pastas and flat breads, including charts to show a description of each product, preferred name brands and where to buy them.

The 125 recipes themselves can all be made in 30 minutes or less, with a short list of readily-available ingredients. None of them are very complicated and I’m sure even a less-experienced cook can successfully make them. Each recipe also includes additional variations, as well as substitutions if you don’t have the original grain on hand.

One of the things I like is that many of the recipes are made in one dish – I especially like the “skillet suppers” – made in one pan on top of the stove - with recipes like Soft Chicken Tacos with Smoked Paprika Sour Cream, Any Grain with Sausage and Peppers, and Quinoa and Mushroom Skillet Pie. And Ham and Egg Couscous Cake? Funny sounding, but delicious!

With recipes for soups and stews, pasta dishes, whole grain salads and side dishes, breakfasts and desserts, there shouldn’t be any reason to think you can’t eliminate a lot of that white flour.

The only problem you might have with this book is the lack of nutrition information. BUT, if you’re just interested in eating healthier – and you’re not specifically dieting – that’s not really a big problem. There are no ingredients in any of the recipes that could be considered unhealthy.

If you want a book with even more information on whole grains (and want to make sure you get free shipping on Amazon!), check out her first whole grains book, winner of the 2007 James Beard Award, “Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way” which I really love. In fact, I would call it my Whole Grains Bible. TONS of information and even more great recipes.

Tuesday Tidbits: Grapefruit and dieting

2009-03-31T04:00:00.000-04:00

Remember the “grapefruit diet” – which promised fast weight loss over a period of ten days or so by including grapefruit with every low-calorie meal? Well, maybe there WAS something to that crazy old diet, after all.

Although there is no scientific evidence to support the notion that there is an enzyme in grapefruit that will magically burn fat, recent studies have shown that grapefruit (including unsweetened grapefruit juice) may encourage weight loss and reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Study participants who ate a grapefruit at each meal for 12 weeks lost an average of 3.6 pounds (some in the group lost as much as 10 pounds), while a comparison group that didn't eat grapefruit lost 1/2 pound. Researchers noticed that after the meals, the grapefruit eaters also had reduced levels of insulin and blood sugar.

According to the American Dietetic Association, "if you lose weight when you add grapefruit to your eating plan, it's probably because you're substituting it for another food that has more calories."

So? What’s wrong with that? If you’ve ever eaten a grapefruit, you know it takes a bit of time and effort to eat - plus it will give you 3.5 grams of fiber and only 74 calories.

No word yet on the health benefits of adding a shot of vodka to that grapefruit juice…but it sure is refreshing on a summer ~~morning~~ afternoon.

Note: Grapefruit may interfere with the effectiveness of some medications – and may even be dangerous. These drugs include cholesterol-lowering drugs, blood pressure medications, anti-HIV medications and drugs for erectile dysfunction - so check with your pharmacist if you're taking any medication.

I'm back...

2009-03-30T04:08:00.004-04:00

It’s amazing how four little days away from home (and a two-hour time change) can really mess you up. The good news is that my mother, who had emergency surgery for an abscess in her small intestine due to diverticulitis (eat your fiber, people!) is doing much better and we expect she will finally be released from the hospital sometime this week.

The bad news is that I’m totally pooped – and not looking forward to playing catch-up at work today. Assuming I haven’t died by the time 5:00 finally rolls around this afternoon, I hope to get some writing done and catch up on my posting as well reading all of your posts that I’ve missed. And I really did miss them.

Do you think four straight days of nothing but junky food could be contributing to my feelings of poopedness? Seriously, my kingdom for a vegetable…

Tacky or Hilarious? Voodoo

2009-03-27T05:00:00.002-04:00

We’ve all got exes we wouldn’t mind inflicting some pain upon, right? Even if it doesn’t work in the traditional voodoo sense, The Ex Voodoo Knife Holder might still be good for fantasy:

Voodoo a bit too passive-aggressive for your taste? Then how about this Throwzini’s Knife Block:

And if you don’t hate him enough to shell out $70 for the knife holder, how about taking a stab at it with this voodoo toothpick holder - which has surprisingly good reviews - for $8:

I’m out of town on family business until Sunday so I’m auto-publishing this edition of Tacky or Hilarious. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you soon…

Fage (pronounced "Fay-yeh") Greek Yogurt

2009-03-25T02:18:00.003-04:00

I am pretty much always the last person to try something that everybody else already knows about – and this is certainly the case with Greek yogurt in general, and Fage in particular.

People all around me have been singing the praises of Fage for a couple of years now but it just didn’t pique my interest. All I could think of was the cucumber sauce put on gyros and I didn’t think that taste would be very good mixed with fruit and Fiber One.

Then Kristi from Summer Fitness mentioned in the comments of my protein post last week that Fage is really high in protein. Really? This I did not know. Twenty grams of protein in a 6-ounce serving definitely justifies the label “high in protein”. So I looked for it in my always-limited Kroger and was able to find the 5.3 ounce container of Fage Total Cherry Yogurt. Although this particular product only had 8 grams of protein and (eek!) 210 calories, I was so happy to find it, I bought two.

At first bite, the skies opened up and I could hear angels singing. Why didn’t anyone tell me this stuff has a taste and consistency reminiscent of cheesecake? Why oh why have I been wasting my time with that runny, slightly artificial-tasting fat-free yogurt for SO LONG? And how can I go back to it if I can’t find Fage?

Available in Classic, 5%, 2%, and fat-free versions, Fage Greek yogurt is 100% natural, containing no artificial sweeteners, thickeners or preservatives. It is suitable for vegetarians, diabetics, pregnant women and those on gluten-free diets. Each serving also contains roughly 25% of your RDA for calcium.

I can see, though, where you might want to add a little something sweet, or it might be too tart. If that kind of thing bothers you. Here are some suggestions I found around the internet for ways to use Greek yogurt:

Stir in some fruit preserves, such as cherry or strawberry.

Stir in a tablespoon of peanut butter, almond butter, pumpkin butter or apple butter.

Marinating your chicken in Greek yogurt keeps the chicken moist and flavorful. You can also add Indian spices to the yogurt before marinating.

Use it in place of sour cream on baked potatoes, in stroganoff recipes, in mashed potatoes and to top spicy soups and chilis.

Mix it with olive oil and salt and spread it on pita bread.

Use as a replacement for cream cheese in frosting recipes.

Mix it with garlic and use as a sauce for black bean burgers.

Add fruit and granola for a healthy breakfast “sundae”.

Mix with dried fruit and nuts.

Add honey. Or honey and walnuts. Or honey and Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal.

Add pumpkin pie spice. Or cinnamon.

Put it on a Greek pita with chicken and vegetables.

Spread it on a blueberry muffin.

Plop it on top of a grilled peach or pear.

Add frozen fruit.

Mix with blueberry syrup. Or sugar-free white chocolate syrup from DaVinci Gourmet.

I’ve also heard that Trader Joe’s carries their own brand of Greek yogurt. People seem to like it just as well, or even better, than the Fage. (And it’s cheaper.)

Really, how could you pass on something that looks as yummy as this:

P.S. A question for those of you who have already tried Fage - how do you feel about the fat-free version? I finally found some yesterday and I was not crazy about it at all - but, then again, it tasted as if it might have gone bad. Does it always taste like that, or did I get a bad one? Please tell me I got a bad one...

Tuesday Tidbits: Go forth and caffeinate

2009-03-24T02:27:00.003-04:00

Good news for coffee lovers! Two cups of coffee per day can cut your risk of colon cancer by 25%, cut the risk of gallstones by 50% and cirrhosis of the liver and Parkinson’s disease by 80%.

Consuming 6 cups or more per day (is that ALL?) cut men’s risk of diabetes by 54% and women’s by 30%. It can also help to rid you of a headache.

Unfortunately, researchers aren’t sure yet which specific component of coffee gives you these benefits. And did you know the way you make your coffee can make it worse for you? For example, using the popular French Press method can actually increase your LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Be aware, though: Cardiac and hypertension patients should limit coffee consumption as should those at risk for osteoporosis.

And even visiting Starbuck’s doesn’t have to hurt your diet. One Grande (oh, who am I trying to kid?) one VENTI Skinny Vanilla Latte (made with sugar-free vanilla syrup and non-fat milk) is a great afternoon pick-me-up at 160 calories, 15 grams of protein and 50% of the RDA for calcium.

Italian Marinated Vegetable Salad

2009-03-22T03:05:00.003-04:00

A while back I found this great recipe in Kraft’s Food and Family magazine for an Italian Marinated Vegetable Salad. Full of raw vegetables, it was right up my alley.

I have my version of this salad for lunch, sometimes every day for two weeks straight. I say “my version” because when I went back to look at the original recipe, I realized what I was making wasn’t very close at all to the original. But I think that might just be the beauty of this recipe – it’s easy to change up, adding ingredients you like, removing those you don’t – and it’s still delicious. Here’s the original recipe:

Italian Marinated Vegetable Salad

½ lb. green beans, whole or cut in half
2 cups cauliflower florets
1 cups halved cherry tomatoes or 1 whole tomato, chopped
1 cup canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
1 cup sliced green olives
¼ cup thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes
½ cup Kraft Tuscan House Italian Dressing

Add green beans and cauliflower to boiling water and cook until crisp-tender. Drain, rinse under cold water and drain again. Place in bowl. Add remaining ingredients and refrigerate for 3 hours or until chilled.

Ah, look at all that beautiful fiber. The combination of beans and raw vegetables make this a far more filling salad than most. I know the original recipe says to cook the green beans and cauliflower. I don’t do that. Mostly because I’m lazy, but also because I like raw cauliflower and I didn’t use the green beans.

The Tuscan Sunset dressing, which sounds great and all, was also something I haven’t used. But I probably will at some point, because I guess that's what makes it an Italian salad. For now, though, I make it with a mix of fat-free sour cream and a package of Hidden Valley Ranch powder. As the flavors blend, this version literally tastes better every day. I’m sure there are a lot of other dressings that will work as well.

The green olives, while high in sodium, add a really nice kick to the whole thing so there is no way I am leaving them out.

I always use broccoli, chopped into bite-sized pieces in place of the green beans and I added diced ham. I don’t know where I got the idea there was ham in a recipe FOR A VEGETABLE SALAD when I first made it, but it’s a mistake that ended up tasting pretty good!

Side note: Did you know that Kraft Food and Family Magazine is no longer free? I’ve been getting (and enjoying) this magazine for years but I see now you must subscribe for $11.98 per year. Mine is still being delivered, but I’m starting to wonder how long that is going to last. And isn’t it funny that even though I love this magazine, I don’t think I would ever pay for it? Seriously, it’s one long Kraft advertisement. Why would I?

Cutlery fun

2009-03-20T04:37:00.014-04:00

I’ve come across quite a few interesting examples of cutlery lately. The run the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime. You can decide for yourself which is which.

Now, I’m kind of dumb, so when I first saw these Salad Hands, I thought they were used to EAT your salad, not serve it. Either way, I think they’re kind of cute:

Also from the salad serving front, I love this Salad Plant. Unique and fun, it should perk up any table:

This Calamente Fork intrigues me and scares me at the same time. I’m sure I would pierce a nostril the first time I tried to shovel in some pasta:

Are your airplane noises alone not enough to get your fussy toddler (or, in my case, husband) to eat their vegetables? How about the Air Fork One?

Now I don’t know if this Sunny Side Up Cutlery is actually available anywhere yet, but I want it:

Although not technically cutlery, I find this Batter Finger silicone spatula rather odd on a couple of different levels. But I don’t really want to get into it, because it may just be me:

At first, The Snap and Dine may seem like a goofy idea, but look again. The more I think about outdoor eating events, the more sense it starts to make:

And finally, in the last and certainly least category, I am going to include these Finger Food Party Plates - only because I think they’re quite possibly the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen (my apologies if you own these):

Oh, nuts!

2009-03-18T03:16:00.009-04:00

Because Nana is often scared by my posts, I decided this would be a good time to post something of a more positive nature …

By now I think everybody has pretty much “got it” that almonds are good for you. What? A food that’s good for you AND tastes good? I know; hard to believe, right? It’s true – they’re always popping up on those “superfoods” lists, and with good reason.

Almonds have been shown to do all kinds of wonderful things, including stabilizing blood sugar, building muscle, lowering cholesterol, fighting off food cravings and helping with weight loss and maintenance. And when you put all those things together, they put up a pretty good fight against diabetes, obesity, heart disease and cancer.

Of course, I have to burst your bubble right off the bat and point out that you want to avoid almonds that are heavily salted or smoked – all that sodium isn’t too great for your blood pressure.

Many people shy away from eating nuts because of the high fat content. Guess what? You’re worrying for nothing. Sure, they have about 14 grams of fat per 1-ounce serving – but it’s monounsaturated fat. The good stuff. The fat that helps you to feel full and keeps your arteries clear.

Of course, you don’t want to go all crazy with the almonds. If you’re watching your weight, that one ounce of almonds will cost you about 164 calories. But it will also give you 6 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber – and those are some good snacking numbers. And adding an apple or an orange to those almonds can get you through pretty much any afternoon.

Interesting scientific study: A 28-month study that involved 8,865 adult men and women, found that those who ate nuts at least two times per week were 31% less likely to gain weight than those who never ate nuts.

Ounce for ounce, almonds are the one of the most nutritionally dense nuts. Besides the protein, fiber and monounsaturated fats, they are also a great source of vitamin E, magnesium and phosphorus. And flavonoids. Okay, I had to look up flavonoids. Even though I didn’t want to. Turns out flavonoids are just a compound that gives fruits, vegetables and nuts their antioxidant properties.

Of course, walnuts, pecans and chestnuts have the highest antioxidant content of the tree nuts, and peanuts (a legume, technically speaking) are also holding their own with the antioxidants.

So how much should you eat? Just one handful of almonds (about 1-ounce) or one tablespoon of nut butter (and that includes natural peanut butter, my friends) four times per week will significantly lower your risk of cardiovascular disease – up to 37%.

Eating the almonds with the skins intact actually increases its vitamin E and antioxidant properties and has been shown to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Oh, and good news for those of us with portion-control issues! Emerald Natural Almonds has recently introduced a 100-calorie pack. Finally! A 100-calorie pack I don’t have to hate.

And are you ready for this? Cocoa Almonds. Not your traditional chocolate-covered nut, but an almond lightly dusted in dark chocolate.
That should help with some of those nasty chocolate cravings. I have heard you can find these in Target, but I have not yet personally seen them.

And don’t forget – almonds are delicious sprinkled on salads or vegetables. And nut butters are good on toast and on celery sticks. Of course, I’m still a fan of the peanut butter and banana sandwich – but now I feel a little better about that.

Tuesday Tidbits: Bloggy Business

2009-03-17T03:03:00.003-04:00

As you may have noticed, yesterday I had the honor of being the Featured Blogger over at SITS, which was so fun you cannot even imagine. The last time I checked my email, I had well over 300 new comments on my blog – and, holy cow! look at all those new followers! Fun, fun, fun! All the SITS Girls are amazing and I really appreciate all the comment love they bestowed upon me.

I am trying to respond to every comment (quite the daunting task) – and here’s where today’s tidbit comes in (thanks to Brandy, who clued me in on this one last month – I had no idea):

You know how you can get your blog comments emailed to you? Sure you do, everyone knows that. But did you further know that a blogger can only reply to your comment via email if you have set up your account to receive those replies? I did not know this, which means anytime someone was nice enough to attempt to reply to my comment they were slapped with a “No-reply comment” in the address field of the email.

So how do you fix this? In Blogger, go to your Dashboard. Next to your picture, click “Edit Profile” and then click the box that says “Show my Email Address”. If you don’t want people to be able to see your email address, but would like a response to your comments via email, you can always set up a free email account with Yahoo or Google just for this purpose.

Check it out – you might be surprised at how many responses you’ll get to your comments once you have this set up!

White flour - is it worth it?

2009-03-15T01:34:00.003-04:00

Nutritionally speaking, one of the best things you can do for your overall health is to eliminate white flour products. Wait! Don’t run away! I know it sounds like a scary idea, but what white flour products can do to your body is even scarier.

First, let’s look at what it is. White flour is basically what is left of a whole grain of wheat after food manufacturers have removed all of the nutrients and fiber. What you’re left with is a nutritionally bankrupt powder that wreaks havoc on your blood sugar and your whole digestive system.

Whole wheat is LOADED with nutrients – B vitamins, calcium, zinc, copper, manganese, vitamin E, potassium and that all-important fiber. All of these are removed in the process of making white flour. So then what do you think the manufacturers do? They add really small amounts of synthetic nutrients back in and call it “enriched” or “fortified”. I call it crap. If the ingredients list of your favorite grain product uses either of these words, then you can be sure they’ve messed with the nutrients.

Once ingested, white flour breaks down into sugar, or glucose, and causes the exact same problems in your body as refined sugars do. If you’re going to have a sandwich made with white bread, you might just as well put a couple of teaspoons of sugar on that sandwich, because the white flour will have the same effect on your blood sugar.

In addition to making you crave more and more refined carbohydrates, eating white flour products causes your pancreas to secrete insulin, a hormone that stores fat, stimulates the appetite and slows down your metabolism. And that further leads to fatigue, depression, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and heart disease.

Before this gets too much longer, let’s talk about what removing the fiber does for your digestive system. I know you’re thinking, “Oh no, I’ll bet she’s going to talk about constipation again” – and you would be exactly right. But I’ll just give you a short example. The best visual I’ve gotten on this subject suggests that you mix one quarter cup of white flour with about four tablespoons of water. And what do you get? Paste is what you get. And white flour does the same thing inside your body. Paste isn’t really all that efficient of a medium for keeping things moving the way they’re supposed to.

“Bottom” line is, if the waste products from all the meals you’ve eaten in a day don’t get eliminated from your system, they stay there and create a rather lovely environment for parasites. And if the thought of parasites isn’t gross enough, look at what all that excess waste does to the numbers on your bathroom scale. Now THAT’S gross.

So if you’re feeling bloated and sluggish and your weight isn’t quite where you think it should be, look to the white flour products. Cutting them out of your diet can make all the difference in your overall health – not to mention your energy levels.

I guarantee you that if you made a real effort for just one week to replace your white flour products with whole grain alternatives, you would really see and feel the difference.

Can you do it?

Mineral Makeup Mania

2009-03-13T04:32:00.005-04:00

I love alliteration, don’t you?

I’ve been a reasonably faithful fan of Bare Escentuals mineral makeup for at least five years. I was going to post a picture of how much I have, but then decided that would just be too embarrassing - I’m a mineral makeup junkie and my stash proves it.

Over the last two years or so, I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about Everyday Minerals. They offer a free (just pay shipping) sample kit that contains 3 foundations, a blush and a concealer – because they want you to be sure to have the right colors for YOU before you spend a lot of money on something you can’t use. They don’t even care if you have to order the free sample kit more than once. Or more than twice, even. Or two of them in the same order.

I ordered the sample kit a long time ago and, for whatever reason, didn’t pursue it further. It wasn’t that I didn’t like it; I guess I just didn’t want to believe that anything could be as good as my BE. I mean, it was half the price – how could it be as good?

Two weeks ago I revisited Everyday Minerals, skipping the samples, because I’m impatient like that, and plunging right into one of their custom kits (6 full-sized products of your choice for $34). I ordered two foundations, praying one of them would be the right shade (it was!), a blush, a flat top kabuki brush, an eye shadow and a lip balm. (Don’t ask me why I wasted 2 of my 6 products on an eye shadow and a lip balm; sometimes I’m not too bright.)

When my order arrived, I was tickled to find I had ordered during a special they were running and they had included two free products – a beautiful medium bronzer and a finishing powder, both full-sized. In case you weren’t keeping track, that’s 8 full-sized products for $34. Bare Escentuals? One full-sized foundation is $25.

But lower prices aren’t necessarily a bargain if the product sucks, right? Here’s the thing: It totally doesn’t suck. I love it. LOVE IT. In my opinion, it’s every bit as good as Bare Escentuals - and dare I say it might be better? I am actually LOOKING FORWARD to putting my makeup on every day. And that hasn’t happened since junior high, for pete’s sake.

Everyday Minerals does not contain bismuth oxychloride. That’s the stuff in Bare Escentuals that is supposed to give you that “dewy look” but some people claim it makes them itch, gives a shiny look and accentuates pores. I always use a primer and apply it wet and I’ve rarely had any of those problems, but it’s a major issue for a lot of people.

If you’re already a mineral makeup user, or you’ve been wanting to try it, head over to Everyday Minerals and order yourself a sample kit or two. (But if you’ve never used it before, you’ll need a brush – try a kabuki.) I’d really like to hear if you love it as much as I do.

P.S. Bare Escentuals is running a limited-time free sample offer. Check it out here. It would be worth getting even if you got it just for the brush.

18,250 days

2009-03-12T01:00:00.003-04:00

Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age. ~ Victor Hugo

Today I am 50. I suppose I could post 50 things I’ve learned in 50 years but I don’t think I’ve learned even one thing that everyone else doesn’t need to learn on their own.

Instead, I will just say, today I am 50 – and I’m okay with that.

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. ~ Mark Twain

Sure, the wrinkles kind of bug me. I spend too much money on the latest and greatest skin care products trying to get rid of them. But when I think of the tens of thousands of smiles and the countless hours of laughter they represent, I’m okay with that.

There is always a lot to be thankful for, if you take the time to look. For example, I'm sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt. ~ Author Unknown

And yes, it is sometimes depressing to think there is more of my life behind me than there is in front of me. But then I think about all the fun I’ve had in the past and all of the things I still have to look forward to – and I’m really okay with that.

Grow old with me! The best is yet to be. ~ Robert Browning

And, of course, nothing cheeses me more than some punk waiter saying to me, “and what can I get for you, young lady?” – making it clear he views me as older than dirt. But then I remember I can still throw a pretty decent right hook when necessary, and you have no idea how okay I am with that.

There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I am old, there is no respect for age - I missed it coming and going. ~ J.B. Priestly

So, yeah. Today I am 50 years old. And I’m okay with that.

Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative. ~ Maurice Chevalier

Sensa: An interesting final chapter

2009-03-11T03:26:00.003-04:00

As most of you know, I ordered Sensa from HSN last month as an experiment to see if there was any truth at all to their claims that you could suppress your appetite and lose weight just by sprinkling this magical powder on your food. Oh, and you didn’t have to bother with changing the way you eat. Sensa would do it all for you, for a mere $60 per month.

After my experiment, I came to the not surprising conclusion that this stuff was pure crap and returned it.

So last night I mosied over to HSN to see if my return had been processed and, as long as I was there, decided to head over to the Sensa page and read the reviews. And guess what I found?

No Sensa anywhere.

It has been totally removed from their site, no doubt with only thousands of boxes marked “return to sender” to prove it ever existed.

Now that should tell us all something, shouldn’t it?

Tuesday Tidbits: Count with me, now

2009-03-10T02:54:00.002-04:00

So my Tuesday Tidbits have kind of gotten away from me. They were supposed to be just short little blurbs – facts and tips that I came across that I found interesting but am too lazy to research. But I have a tendency to not know when to shut up (see? I’m doing it again). So anyway, here’s a 5-4-3-2-1 countdown to healthier eating:

5 half-cup servings of fruits and vegetables per day (green, leafy vegetables should be a full cup serving)

4 servings of nuts, legumes or seeds per week

3 daily servings of low-fat cheese, milk or yogurt**

2 (3 ounce) servings of fatty fish per week

1 multi-vitamin per day

**I was reading an interesting theory the other day on dairy requirements – the author felt dairy was totally not necessary, but the government likes to say it is because if they said you don’t really need it, people would stop buying so much of it and it would hurt the economy in a big way. I think I’ll have to give that particular conspiracy theory some thought.

How much protein do you really need?

2009-03-08T07:14:00.007-04:00

Protein can be a tricky subject when it comes to how much an average person needs on a daily basis. Because the amount you need can vary based on factors such as your age, gender and level of physical activity. But what doesn’t vary is that we all NEED protein. It is indispensable for the growth and maintenance of every single cell in our body.

Okay, I don't want to get too scientific – but this one scientific fact is the important one, germaine to this discussion. We need 20 different amino acids in order to produce all of the proteins in our bodies. We can manufacture 10 of the amino acids with, thankfully, very little effort on our part. The other 10, however, either cannot be made or cannot be made in quantities large enough to be of any use. And this, my friend, is where protein in your diet comes into play. Those missing 10 essential amino acids must be obtained from food.

Okay, so back to the original question. How much do you need? To find the definitive answer to this question, I turned to our government and climbed up to the meat and beans level of its food pyramid. Here is a small part of their helpful chart:

Women

19-30 years old - 5 ½ ounce equivalents
31-50 years old - 5 ounce equivalents
51+ years old - 5 ounce equivalents

Men

19-30 years old - 6 ½ ounce equivalents
31-50 years old - 6 ounce equivalents
51+ years old - 5 ½ ounce equivalents

These amounts are appropriate for individuals who get less than 30 minutes per day of moderate physical activity, beyond normal daily activities. Those who are more physically active may be able to consume more while staying within calorie needs. (Side note: Isn’t it interesting that they default to people who get LESS than 30 minutes of exercise per day?)

The glaringly obvious problem with this chart is that no one has ANY IDEA what an “ounce equivalent” is. Of course, leave it to the U.S. government not to give you any of these figures in grams. Let’s talk “ounce equivalents” instead. Wouldn’t want to go all metric on a government website.

In general, 1 ounce of meat, poultry or fish, ¼ cup cooked dry beans, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, or ½ ounce of nuts or seeds can be considered a 1-ounce equivalent from the meat and beans group.

So now they’ve forced me to do the math. If a sirloin steak has about 8 grams of protein per ounce, then that means a woman aged 31-50 who exercises less than 30 minutes per day, needs roughly 40 grams of protein on a daily basis. Although, theoretically, based on the whole “ounce equivalent” thing, I could just eat 5 tablespoons of peanut butter every day and be done with it.

Sometimes I think the old standard of .4 grams of protein per pound of body weight is still a good rule of thumb. For example, if you weigh 130 pounds, using this formula will tell you that you should get about 52 grams of protein per day – not all that far off from the government recommendation – and you don’t have to deal with ounce equivalents.

Of course, anyone working out regularly will need more. And that’s a whole different post. But one important point to remember is that the human body can only assimilate 50 grams of protein in one sitting. Anything in excess of that will just get flushed right out of your system.

Although animal products are the most common source of protein, it’s really not a good idea to put all of your eggs in that basket, so to speak, because they tend to be a lot higher in cholesterol and saturated fats than vegetable sources like beans, soy and nuts. And don’t forget the actual vegetables themselves - broccoli and spinach, for example, which are low-fat, cholesterol-free protein options.

Darn it. Too long again. Sorry. Condensed version: Eat protein.

Footnote for the scientifically inclined: These 10 “essential” amino acids which must be obtained from food are: threonine, lysine, methionine, arginine, valine, phenylalanine, leucine, tryptophan, isoleucine and histidine. The 10 we CAN make are glycine, alanine, serine, cysteine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, asparagine, glutamine, tyrosine and proline.

Brown bag? Bah!

2009-03-06T03:00:00.001-05:00

If you’re working outside of the home, it’s always a good idea to pack your own lunch. You can control what’s in the food you’re eating and it saves you a ton of money – and that’s all good. But, really, who knew lunch bags had become such an industry unto themselves?

Remember your old metal lunchboxes from grade school?

They were fun but would always end up with a faint odor of bologna, right?

As we moved on to junior high and high school, we tossed the metal lunch box for the much cooler brown bag:

I continued with the little brown bag thing until I started on Weight Watchers. Then I was eating so much food, I had to move up to plastic grocery bags. I walked into work looking like this:

Then I came across this great lunch bag at Target for about $15. It was so cute, I had to have it.

All the girls in the office oohed and aahed and I really felt like I was stylin’. But that was before I realized how many great lunch bags there are out there. I was watching QVC (I know, shocker, right?) and they were presenting this really cute “Let’s Do Lunch” bag for $18.84:

Their bag put mine to shame and made me realize maybe I wasn’t such a trendsetter, after all. So I wanted to know what else was out there.

I started at the Let’s Do Lunch site and found this cute bag (I think I have a thing for stripes):

Moving along, I then found this line of Mario Batali Insulated Totes:
Finding the Batali totes led me to the highly rated Gourmet Getaway lunch bags, made of neoprene - the same stuff wetsuits are made of. Not only does it keep your stuff cold, it actually stretches to accommodate whatever you might be jamming in there.
Or you can go all out and get some monogramming on your lunch bag. For $34.95, Stitch Atlantic will put your monogram on one of these cute bags:

And if your monogram alone doesn’t stop people from swiping your lunch, you can try these anti-theft lunch bags:

And all of this is just the tip of the lunch bag iceberg. You just can’t call it “brown bagging” anymore, can you?

Here's the poop on fiber

2009-03-04T03:51:00.005-05:00

Fiber is your friend. And not just because it helps to keep you “regular”, although that’s certainly a nice side effect. The real benefit is that fiber may be one of the keys to preventing diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Oh, and weight gain.

Fiber, found in fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains, is the part of plant foods that humans can’t digest. There are two types of fiber:

Insoluble fiber is the chewy part of a plant that does not dissolve in water. It pretty much passes through your system intact, soaking up water like a big old sponge. This is the type of fiber that prevents constipation and speeds up the rate at which food travels through your system.

Insoluble fiber is found in whole wheat breads, wheat bran, rye, most other whole grains (including brown rice, bulgur wheat, oatmeal, barley and quinoa), cabbage, beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, turnips, cauliflower and in the skins of fruits and vegetables. Also note that while the whole fruit is full of fiber, there is no fiber in fruit juice.

Soluble fiber is found inside plant walls and dissolves in water to form a sticky, gel-like substance that binds to dietary cholesterol as it passes through your system, helping your body to eliminate it. And eliminating all that cholesterol may help to prevent stroke, heart disease, and some gastrointestinal problems.

Soluble fiber is found in oats (which have the highest proportion of soluble fiber of any grain), oat bran, beans, peas, rice bran, citrus fruits and strawberries.

So how much fiber do you need? Current recommendations are 25 to 35 grams of dietary fiber per day. Most people will probably get about half of that.

Increasing your fiber intake doesn’t have to be hard. Switching to 100 percent whole grains will help, as will adding a few more servings of raw fruits and vegetables. And eat more beans! They are LOADED with soluble fiber and also include lots of plant protein. Throw them into your soups and stews or on top of your salads. Garbanzo beans are especially delicious on a salad.

Simple changes to add 15 grams of fiber to your day: Have a high fiber cereal, like Raisin Brain or Fiber One instead of corn flakes or Cheerios. Make your sandwich with a whole grain bread, pita or tortilla instead of white bread. Eat ½ cup of baked or refried beans instead of a pasta salad.

One final tip: If you’re not used to a high-fiber diet, make sure you drink a lot of water. Failing to do so can make all that lovely fiber sit in your stomach like a brick – quite the opposite effect of what we’re looking for. Trust me on this.

Get your $100 Target Gift Cards!

2009-03-03T19:24:00.002-05:00

No, not here, silly. Who do I look like? Mrs. Bill Gates? No, it’s Tiffany, from The R Family Diaries and a co-founder of SITS.

Tiffany recently became a “faculty mom” for Fishful Thinking, an exciting new site working to foster optimism in kids. (I know some adults who could use a good dose of that, as well.) Among other things, the site offers tools for parents, a super-cool, safe interactive website for kids and activities for parents and kids to do together.

So hop on over to Tiffany’s site to learn more about Fishful Thinking – and a chance at those $100 gift certificates!

Tuesday Tidbits: Craving 911

2009-03-03T03:45:00.009-05:00

One of the tricks to keeping our sanity while trying to lose a few pounds is finding healthier substitutes for the foods that made us chubby in the first place.

I ran across this Craving 911 tool over at the Good Housekeeping site that offers healthier alternatives for the “bad stuff” you might be craving. It doesn't have a TON of options, but it's kind of fun.

For example, I have really been craving an apple pie lately (yes, I said “an apple pie” not “a piece of apple pie”), so I selected “apple pie” from the drop-down menu and was given this alternative:

Cinnamon Apple Delight

Core a cooking apple (about 6 ounces), and peel one third of the way. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar. Cook in the microwave, covered, on medium-high (70% power) for 2 to 3 minutes, or until tender.

Apple Pie: 295 calories and 14 grams of fat

Cinnamon Apple Delight: 115 calories, less than 1 g fat

Savings: 180 calories and 13 grams of fat

Cool. That’ll work. But maybe I’ll crumble a Vanilla Wafer over the top.

Drink the dang water

2009-03-02T06:25:00.011-05:00

One of the most important things to do when you’re dieting is to DRINK THE DANG WATER. Heck, it’s a good idea even when you aren’t dieting. Not drinking enough water makes it difficult for your body to rid itself of the toxins that can make you feel kind of icky (scientific term). Water helps to metabolize fat and prevent constipation.

Did you know water also helps to regulate your body temperature? And while we, as adults, could survive for up to nine weeks without food, we wouldn’t last more than a couple of days without water. THAT’S how important it is.

So how much should you drink on a daily basis? There has been some debate on this. The standard has always been 64 ounces, Weight Watchers recommends 48 ounces, and other sources say you should drink the equivalent of half of your body weight in ounces (i.e., if you weigh 200 pounds, you should drink 100 ounces). So how do you know when you’re getting enough water? Check your urine, people. If it’s dark yellow in color, you need more water. If you’re peeing clear, you’re good to go.

If you start to look like this, maybe you’re drinking too much:

It’s not really as difficult as you might think to get a minimum of 48 ounces down. When I started drinking water regularly, I shot for 64 ounces per day and slowly progressed until I was eventually drinking an easy 100 ounces per day. And then a funny thing happened - I started to crave it and would panic if I was stuck at work with an empty water bottle.

I started buying my bottled water by the gallon, which I would use to refill my water bottles at work. And boy, did I have to hear about it from my coworkers when I would stroll in carrying that monster. Now four other people bring in the big gallons, too. And we no longer waste our time refilling small bottles – we drink it straight from the gallon container (Ice Mountain has a convenient hand grip on the bottle which makes this easy to do). Of course, I’m the only woman who drinks directly from the jug, but I do try to maintain at least an illusion of femininity by not letting too many people actually see me do it.

On a related note, I bought my 7-year old grandchildren reusable water bottles at Christmas as kind of a “throw in gift” because my grandson, especially, LOVES to drink water. They were similar to this:

No, of course I did not give my grandson a Hello Kitty water bottle. His had a manly Batman motif, while my granddaughter’s featured Hannah Montana. They can flip the top up with their thumb and there is a straw concealed underneath. I picked them up at Target and, while I don’t remember the exact cost, I’m sure they were under $15. I cannot tell you how it tickles me to see them toting those water bottles whenever they come over. It’s never too early to start good habits, right?

It's spinach season!

2009-03-01T04:23:00.004-05:00

I have been on quite the spinach kick lately. My favorite way is to sauté some mushrooms in olive oil and garlic until they’re lightly browned and then throwing handfuls of fresh spinach into the pan. It’s fun to watch it wilt down when you stir it all together. Sometimes I add some chicken into the mix and sometimes I top it with a little parmesan, but I always dump it over whole wheat pasta. Good stuff and a quick meal. I’m glad that I like spinach so much because holy cow! – do you have any idea at all how good this stuff is for you?

Spinach is always near the top of any “superfoods” list – and with good reason. Calorie for calorie, spinach (and other green leafy vegetables like it) provides more nutrients than any other food. I’m sure you already know about the iron content and all, so here are a couple of other interesting facts about spinach:

Spinach is an excellent source of both vitamin C and beta-carotene (through vitamin A). Did you know that these two nutrients are kind of an antioxidant tag team? Vitamin C, a water-soluble antioxidant and beta-carotene, a fat-soluble antioxidant, team up to prevent cholesterol from becoming oxidized. And if cholesterol can’t become oxidized, it can’t stick to and build up in the walls of your blood vessels. And if it can’t build up in there, it can’t block your arteries. And if your arteries are free and clear? Much less chance of heart attack or stroke. If you can get this one-two punch from a single vegetable source, why wouldn’t you?

One cup of boiled spinach can provide you with 294.8% of the daily value for vitamin A and 29.4% of the DV for vitamin C.

The vitamin K provided by spinach is almost 200% of the RDA in one cup of fresh spinach leaves and over 1000% of the RDA in one cup of boiled spinach. When I first read this I was like, “Waaaa? How can you get so much more Vitamin K from a cup of cooked spinach than from a cup of fresh spinach?” And then I remembered the incredible shrinking spinach trick and realized you could fit a whole lot more COOKED spinach in that cup than raw. I think a cup of fresh spinach leaves shrinks down to about a teaspoon of cooked, doesn’t it? Okay, probably not, but it seems like it when you’re throwing more and more leaves into the pan and getting very little cooked spinach in return.

And you’ve all heard of foods that help to fight internal inflammation, right? Guess what’s on that list of foods? That’s right! Spinach. Beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin K all have anti-inflammatory properties that have been helpful in reducing symptoms of people with inflammatory diseases, such as asthma, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

I am not going to list ALL the benefits of spinach – this is already too long. Just trust me and eat it. Oh, and by the way – spinach season runs from September through October and then again from March through May. So now’s the time to get it when it’s freshest and has the best flavor.

You have NO IDEA how proud I am that I got through this post without mentioning that spinach-loving pride of the Navy, Popeye. But I can resist no longer.

Udon Noodle Bowl

2009-02-27T02:48:00.003-05:00

While scouring all corners of the internet, searching for interesting kitchen gadgets to share with you all, I came across this Udon Noodle Bowl. Now, I have no idea what an Udon Noodle is, or why it requires a special bowl, but I just knew I had to have one. The bowl, not the noodle. I’m assuming Udon is some kind of Asian dish and noodles are involved. (But the answer to that question is actually kind of irrelevant to my noodle bowl story.)

I excitedly fired up my mouse and headed over to Uncommon Goods, a site with lots of interesting and unique products. Hence the “Uncommon” in their name, I suppose. I was a little shocked at the $26 price tag (yes, for one bowl) but I forged ahead.

You see, one of my very favorite things to eat is stir-fried vegetables (either fresh or frozen, whatever hasn’t spoiled yet) over pasta. And my second choice would be to have it over rice. And I always eat it in a rather large bowl. Because it’s fun to eat things out of a large bowl - especially while you’re sitting on your comfy couch watching American Idol or even QVC.

So when I saw the Udon Noodle Bowl, I could only imagine how fun it would be to not only eat things out of this huge bowl, but to eat said things with CHOPSTICKS! Isn’t this the coolest bowl ever?? It fits perfectly in your hand and has a place to set the chopsticks. And a handle!

I received my aubergine (a fancy name for mauve-ish) bowl in about two days and was kind of disappointed to see the chopsticks were not included. I don’t know why I thought they were. Guess I didn’t read the fine print. Here’s the funny thing: I am very bad at using chopsticks. But it annoys me to no end that Mr. Jelly Belly – a man who will eat nothing more exotic than Almond Boneless chicken – can use chopsticks with ease, a skill he was taught while working for a Japanese firm years ago.

I am determined to not only buy some chopsticks this weekend, but to MASTER them, so that I can fully enjoy my beautiful big bowl. And so that I can scratch “using chopsticks” off the list of things that Mr. Jelly Belly does better than I.

Go ahead, have a muffin!

2009-02-25T01:40:00.004-05:00

For a couple of reasons, I rarely make muffins. First there’s that white flour thing; and, second, if I make them, I will eat them all – and I will eat them all within 24 hours. Oh, and third? Lazy. But sometimes I really WANT a muffin I don’t have to feel too guilty about.

Whether you’re trying to lose weight or just trying to eat better, it can be initially expensive to stock your pantry with healthier options. And if you’re cheap, like me, you probably don’t want to buy a 5-pound bag of whole wheat flour just so you can scoop out a single cupful to make the occasional batch of homemade muffins.

It has always been more appealing to me to buy a pre-made mix, add one or two readily available ingredients and be done with it. Honestly? I’ve had the same canister of baking powder in my cupboard for about 10 years. That’s how much I bake these days. (Okay, okay…don’t even say it – I’ll throw it out.)

This is why I was happy to discover Southaven Farms Baking Mixes. Have you tried them? They are all natural, unsweetened, 100% whole grain mixes you can use for muffins, cakes, pancakes or waffles. You add milk and yogurt and, optionally, your choice of sweetener - and that’s it. If you use skim milk and fat-free plain yogurt, each muffin is about 110 calories (assuming you make 12 bigger ones). Complete nutrition information and ingredients are shown with each mix.

And the flavor choices? In addition to the standard wheat, wheat bran, oat bran (wheat-free), and multi-grain mixes, they also have yummy choices like mocha, cinnamon, ginger spice, chocolate and cornbread (wheat-free). Oh, and be sure to check out the recipes on their site, too. So many options for each mix!

So far, I’ve tried the multi-grain (great pancakes!) and the cinnamon (delicious muffins). I have ginger spice up next, which I will probably use to make pumpkin muffins (because I just realized I have EIGHT cans of pumpkin taking up space in my cupboard).

My 7-year old granddaughter “helped” me make the cinnamon muffins and she loved them. So it’s a really nice, healthier option for kids, too. (I also didn’t tell Mr. Jelly Belly they were “healthy” and he ate them, too.)

If you’ve tried these mixes already, what’s your favorite? I’m getting ready to order a few more and need to narrow down my choices!

Tuesday Tidbits: Red Robin

2009-02-24T02:31:00.002-05:00

This post was originally going to be about Red Robin’s Lettuce Wrap Your Burger option, which allows you the lower carb option of substituting your standard hamburger bun for a lettuce wrap. (And the whole thing comes wrapped in the usual paper holder, making it super easy to eat.) When I went to their website to check the nutrition information on this option, I discovered the most brilliant tool for customizing your meal

The “Customizer” allows you to start with any burger then add and subtract ingredients – giving you updated nutrition information along the way. You can then add side dishes to get the information for your complete meal. I must admit, I spent a good 45 minutes playing with it.

Starting with my previous Red Robin favorite, the Guacamole Bacon Burger, I was appalled to read this nutrition information: 1156 calories, 77 grams of fat, 1588 mg of sodium, 52 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fiber, and 62 grams of protein.

Removing the bun, mayo, cheese and bacon, substituting a Boca burger for the beef patty and adding the lettuce wrap option, my nutrition information became much more palatable:

Calories: 241; fat: 9 grams; sodium: 959 mg; carbs: 19 grams; fiber: 9 grams; protein: 30 grams

And, yes, I know I turned this burger into something totally different than what it started as, but that’s the beauty of this tool. I kept my beloved guacamole and I don’t have to hate myself in the morning. (Oh, and leaving the Swiss cheese intact only increases the calorie count to 461.)

I give giant kudos to any restaurant that provides its customers with an awesome tool to customize their order, in advance, based on their dietary needs. Next time I’m in the mood for a burger, I will definitely be hitting up Red Robin.

Cocktails, anyone?

2009-02-22T04:00:00.001-05:00

I’m still out of town, but I thought I’d set this up to auto-publish while I was gone so you could get an idea of how I’m spending my weekend.

Even when we’re dieting, we need to let loose and have a little fun. And if your idea of fun involves alcohol, I’ve looked into some of the lower calorie options. Let’s start with my drink of choice – beer. Bud Lite is my personal favorite, but it’s not the lowest calorie option. Here’s how a few lite beers compare:

Michelob Ultra (4.2% alcohol): 95 calories per 12-ounce serving; 2.6 grams of carbs and .6 grams of protein.

Bud Lite (4.2% alcohol): 110 calories per 12-ounce serving; 6.6 grams of carbs; .9 grams of protein. This is almost identical to Miller Genuine Draft Lite.

MGD 64 (2.8% alcohol; I just KNEW there was a catch): 64 calories per 12 ounce-serving; 2.2 grams of carbs; 0 protein. I’m not really a fan of Miller Genuine Draft, in any configuration, but if saving the 50 or so calories per beer (or maybe 500 calories over the course of the evening – I don’t know your drinking habits) is important to you, then this is not really all THAT bad. I know a couple of people who do like it, so don’t take my word for it; give it a try. (You could burn off the calories from this beer by grooming farm animals for 10 minutes. Seriously. True fact according to The Daily Plate.)

If beer’s not for you, how about wine? A 5-ounce glass, either red or white, contains 14% alcohol and about 120 calories. And that white wine in the box? Only 90 calories and 12.5% alcohol. So if you’re drinking at home (in the dark, huddled behind the couch) where none of your high-brow friends can see you, then have at it!

Vodka is a nice choice when it comes to liquor – 98 calories for a 1.5 ounce shot and it mixes well with so many things. I always kid myself that adding juice to my vodka makes it a health drink, so how about some diet cranberry juice (5 calories)? Of course, adding a diet tonic (0 calories) is also a good option, just not as healthy! Or you could get all crazy and mix that vodka with sugar-free Red Bull (10 calories) to put a little zip in your evening.

And straight vodka never hurt anyone, especially now that Absolut has so many great flavors available. Absolut Vanilla? Only 68 calories per ounce. Delicious after dinner. Or before.

Rum and Diet Coke. A 1.5 ounce shot of Captain Morgan’s is only 86 calories (compared to regular rum, which is about 98). And most bars will have Diet Coke, even if they don’t have other diet mixers.

What will I be having? Bud Lite for sure. I’m classy like that. And I’ll probably be throwing in the occasional Bacardi and Diet Coke. And if Mr. Jelly Belly is trying to get me ~~a little tipsy~~ totally wasted [I can’t imagine why he keeps doing this, especially since that time I threw up on his shoes…well, I DO know why, but this is a PG-13 blog so use your imagination], there will probably be a couple of shots involved. Hot Damn, anyone?

What are your choices for low-cal alcoholic drinks? I’m always on the lookout for something alcoholically interesting...

Tacky or Hilarious? Shark!!!

2009-02-20T03:41:00.001-05:00

If you have a love for tea and a thirst for gore, you are going to love this Sharky Tea Infuser.

But what to put in it to get that nice blood-red color? How about some Red Rooibos tea? Or how about some of these?

My opinion? I love it! Although it recently won third place in a design competition it is not yet in production. I can’t wait.

Mr. Jelly Belly and I are heading out of town today for an extended weekend, so I’ll see you in a few days!

Don't drive yourself bloody neurotic

2009-02-19T04:16:00.002-05:00

I came across a link to this video, "Five Steps to a Beach Body" by Mark Bailey that offers some simple advice to healthier eating. It seems a little long, but it goes fast (eye candy) plus some of the stuff he says made me laugh (he uses the word "crap" almost as much as I do). And it just makes sense.

Breakfast: Just do it

2009-02-18T03:24:00.001-05:00

There are many people who think skipping breakfast is a good way to lose weight. I used to be a breakfast skipper. Coffee, coffee and more coffee. Oh, and then I had some coffee. And did I mention I also used to be a lot fatter?

When you don’t eat breakfast, you could be putting 15 to 20 hours between meals. It’s like fasting. And not in a good way. Skipping breakfast will almost certainly send you into “starvation eating” later in the day. And did you know that eating breakfast kickstarts your metabolism? I don’t know about you, but I like to give this old metabolism a good kick every chance I get.

There have been a lot of studies done that have shown people who eat a healthy breakfast are less likely to be overweight than those who don’t. And eating breakfast is a common trait among people who have lost weight and successfully kept it off. Researchers also found that people who ate breakfast tended to eat less calories overall throughout the rest of the day.

So I don’t think I have to tell you that you should avoid sugary stuff like donuts and pastries for breakfast, right? RIGHT? Sure, they taste great, but they are not going to stick with you. They are digested really quickly and you end up hungry and tired. I can’t begin to tell you how many naps I’ve had to take due to donut overload.

Optimally, you want to get some protein and some fiber into your breakfast so that you can stay fuller longer and not be starving by lunch time. Eggs and a whole grain English muffin, of course. Oatmeal with fruit and walnuts. A high fiber cereal, like Fiber One, mixed with yogurt or sugar-free, non-fat pudding. Cottage cheese and fruit. A hard boiled egg, an orange and about 10 almonds will do it. If it seems like too much for your delicate morning tummy, don’t eat it all at once. I always have some fruit about two hours after my oatmeal. Split it up. It’s okay.

Don’t like breakfast foods? So who says you have to eat traditional breakfast foods? No one is going to force you to eat eggs or cereal for breakfast if you don’t like those things. Have a sandwich. Have some shrimp and pasta. Have some leftover Cauliflower Crust Pizza, for pete’s sake. What you eat isn’t as important as the just eating part. One of my favorite non-traditional, run-out-the-door things to eat is peanut butter and banana on a whole grain tortilla. Don’t laugh – it’s really good!

So what did you have for breakfast today?

Tuesday Tidbits: Adding moisture to lean meats

2009-02-17T04:00:00.000-05:00

Trying to reduce fat by eating ground turkey or lean beef can sometimes leave you with a drier burger than you might like. Try these add-ins for your burgers, meatballs, or meat loaf:

Throw in some chopped up mushrooms (99% moisture) to really add some moisture to the meat.

Grated onion.

Shredded zucchini.

Sautéed carrots and celery.

My favorites are the mushrooms and the onion. While shredded zucchini, celery and carrots may work just fine, I’m too lazy. (Dang, I really need to buy a food processor.)

I won a giveaway!

2009-02-16T03:24:00.005-05:00

Can you believe it? Last Friday I headed over to Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom to read a guest post by Mariana Howard who offered some great beauty tips. Beauty-related things are yet another subject I find to be endlessly fascinating, so I enjoyed the post very much.

One of the products she recommended was TimeBalm Concealer, made by TheBalm. I NEED this, so I went to Sephora yesterday to pick it up. Along with about $75 worth of Bare Escentuals stuff - but we won’t talk about that…

As usual, my timing was slightly off. I came home to find an email telling me I had won a Sephora gift card. How cool is that? Guess I'll have to force myself to go back to Sephora now.

So thanks so much DiPaola Momma, a fellow member of the SITS Welcome Wagon, for hosting this giveaway. Oh, and thanks also for picking me!

Sensa Day 1: An attitude and an experiment

2009-02-14T02:05:00.007-05:00

I admit I went into this Sensa trial with a preconceived attitude that it would not work; I was not going to cut it ANY slack at all.

And I was aggravated that it took ten days for this stuff to get here from HSN.

What was in the $60 Month 1 box: Two Sensa dual-sided shakers, one side containing the “tastant” to be sprinkled on sweet foods, the other to be sprinkled on salty foods; an instructional DVD which I did not watch; a photo-heavy instructional pamphlet written, insultingly, at an approximately 6th grade level.

First trial: Breakfast

Immediately confused as to whether plain oatmeal would be considered a “sweet” or “salty” food, I consulted the instructional pamphlet which told me oatmeal was a “marginal” food and I could use either tastant. I chose sweet and sprinkled it in an amount consistent with the photo instructions. I could smell it at first and tasted it (not unpleasant) for the first couple of bites, but then didn’t notice it at all.

Honestly? I got full about halfway through my too-large bowl of oatmeal but finished it anyway – because I have this irrational fear of getting hungry later while I’m at work and not being able to do anything about it – and then I was uncomfortably full. And bloated. And burping. And then I got a headache.

What I also realized: I was not that hungry to start with and the pants I was wearing may have been just a smidge tight around the waist. Still, I started to think maybe this stuff actually DOES work and felt cautiously hopeful. Especially since I did not feel my usual hunger around 11:00 am and skipped the banana I normally have at that time.

Second trial: Lunch

I sprinkled the “salty” tastant over the top of my tuna sandwich (you want to put it on top, rather than inside the sandwich, because you have to be able to smell it) and, about a half hour after that, sprinkled the “sweet” tastant over a bowl of strawberries. The degree of fullness I felt while eating, and after, was no different than how I felt on any other day eating this same lunch.

Additionally, my friend, who was excited to participate in my study, used the “salty” on her salad and seemed surprised to report she “didn’t notice any difference at all”.

My earlier optimism started to wane.

Third trial: The dinner experiment

I decided I would sprinkle the Sensa on Mr. Jelly Belly’s dinner and not tell him. Then I would watch him closely to see if it seemed he stopped eating sooner than normal. I thought this would be an accurate measure of whether Sensa somehow worked on its own or had a “placebo effect”. (Please do not ever tell him I did this. If you do, he will question every single food item I hand him for the rest of his life and I’m not in the mood.)

We had turkey and mashed potatoes. I had roasted asparagus with that and he had peas. I sprinkled the Sensa over both meals. It was a small miracle that he didn’t notice it. We ate our dinner. He went back for seconds and then picked at a little more. Then he had a snack. Then an odd thing happened. I developed a HUGE craving for something salty. This is odd because I almost never snack at night. And, if I do, it’s usually a bowl of sugar-free Jell-o or pudding and that’s it.

So I found this bag of Pringle’s Sweet Potato Chips that looked like they would do the trick. Only 150 calories for 28 chips. Turns out they weren’t salty, though. Coated with sugar and cinnamon (3 grams of sugar per serving) - and they were delicious, by the way.

And then I ate THE WHOLE BAG. I would like to repeat that I never do this kind of thing, so I found this very strange. And I sat around the rest of the night like a slug. Mr. Jelly Belly fell asleep watching TV. Must have been all that turkey.

First day overall opinion: They’re kidding, right? I put out $60 for a weight loss product designed to make me eat less and, instead, actually ate MORE than I normally do? Well now, this doesn’t seem quite right, does it?

Oh, one more thing - the following day I forgot to take it with me to work and had the EXACT SAME experience with my oatmeal as I had when I used it. Minus the burping and the headache.

I am going to continue to use it over the weekend to see if anything earth shattering happens but my feeling is that this stuff is going back on Monday. I can buy a lot of vegetables for that $60!

Let them eat cake

2009-02-13T03:36:00.004-05:00

Brandy, Not Your Average Soccer Mom and a very funny person to boot, posted a somewhat complicated but worth it recipe on her blog yesterday. Maybe she didn’t realize, but her recipe is the go-to cake recipe of Weight Watchers members everywhere. Or perhaps she did. How would I know?

Anyhoo, sometimes you just want cake, even if it’s going to be really complicated to prepare, and sometimes you want variety. And sometimes you want a variety of cakes. Where am I going with this? Oh, I can’t remember – I’m just a tad bit hungover this morning and not entirely coherent.

Yes, I know – cake is not the healthiest food choice. But it’s Valentine’s Day. And I was too busy last night working on today’s hangover to put too very much thought into today’s post. So here are some variations on Brandy’s recipe.

Cake every day. That’s what I say. (Um, ignore the rhyming. Completely unintentional.)

Diet Soda Cake

1 (12oz.) can diet soda
1 box Cake Mix, dry
2 egg whites (optional, but some people saying adding this makes the cake fluffier)

Prepare pan (spray with Pam cooking spray) and heat oven according to package directions. Mix together and bake according to package directions for size of cake pan or cupcakes.

Popular combos:
- spice cake mix w/ diet orange
- Banana cake mix w/ diet root beer
- lemon cake mix w/ diet 7-up
- Chocolate cake w/ Diet coke
- Lemon cake w/ Diet ginger ale
- orange cake w/diet Mountain Dew
- cherry chip cake w/ A& W diet Cream
- Lemon cake w/ Diet Lemon lime
- angel w/ Diet Orange
- White w/ Diet Orange
- yellow cake w/ Diet orange
- white cake w/ Diet Peach
- spice cake w/ diet lemon-lime
- White w/ diet ginger ale
- chocolate cake w/ Diet cherry coke
- devils food w/ diet vanilla coke
- chocolate cake w/ root beer
- marble cake w/ diet cream soda
- lemon with tangerine diet rite
- white cake mix w/ diet sprite
- Red Velvet w/ Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper
- Banana cake w/ diet root beer
- Pineapple cake w/ diet Squirt

(The hideous cake picture above is from Cake Wrecks. If you've never been to this blog, you should go now; it's hilarious.)

In honor of Valentine's Day

2009-02-12T04:00:00.002-05:00

Rarely does a commercial make me laugh out loud. Have you seen this new AT&T commercial, featuring Pepe La Pew? It cracks me up every time. I don’t know why.

Mr. Jelly Belly, however, is not so amused that I text him whenever he is out of the house to say, “Hello my luv. I mees u. Kees. Kees. Kees.” And sometimes I just walk by and say, “Kees. Kees. Kees.”

Here’s the commercial if you haven’t seen it. And I really hope I get over this soon.

Desperate times, desperate measures

2009-02-11T02:51:00.003-05:00

A couple of nights ago, I was thumbing through one of my Cooking Light cookbooks and came across some tips for getting more fruits and vegetables into your diet. Naturally, I read it – because, you know, I find these things to be endlessly fascinating. One of the tips was to cut up an apple into your tuna salad. Yeah. Like I’m EVER going to do that. Ick.

I didn’t give it any more thought until yesterday morning when I was making a tuna sandwich for my lunch and plopped in way too much Miracle Whip. Shoot. Now what? I was trying to decide whether I should dump it (no way, tuna costs too much) or add more tuna (no way, tuna costs too much) when I remembered the apple tip. Suddenly, it didn’t sound quite so disgusting. And I had an apple (Red Delicious). And I was desperate. So I peeled it and diced it and threw it in there. Then I prayed.

Guess what? It was the best freakin’ tuna salad I have ever had! I don’t think I’ll ever eat tuna salad again unless there’s an apple in there. So this taught me a valuable lesson: I should never prejudge a food-related idea without trying it first.

Nah, not really. I will still prejudge; I just felt I should say that.

But it DID make me wonder what everyone else does to dress up tuna. The only thing I’ve ever put in it, prior to this big apple discovery, was relish. What do you put in yours?

(Oh, and PS: The Sensa is here. Finally. I'll update this weekend.)

Tuesday Tidbits: Taco Bell

2009-02-10T02:55:00.002-05:00

I am in possession of a rather large collection of interesting and/or helpful tips and facts that don’t necessarily merit a full post, so I thought I’d throw one out there once a week. So that I can justify collecting them. And please, if you can come up with a more creative name for it than “Tuesday Tidbits”, I’m open to suggestions. And so, without further ado…

Did you know that you can order any menu item at Taco Bell “fresco style”? What this means is they will remove the cheese and sauce (you know, all of the good bad stuff!) and replace it with a chunky salsa. Ordering this way will not only reduce the calories and lower the sodium, it will also cut the fat content of your order by about 25%.

So not to say I would advocate eating at Taco Bell every day (although that sounds like a little bit of heaven to me), but sometimes you just get stuck. Here are some options:

Two Ranchero Chicken Soft Tacos, fresco style: 340 calories

Two Grilled Steak Soft Tacos, fresco style: 320 calories

One Spicy Chicken Soft Taco: 190 calories

Side of Pinto Beans: 120 calories

A (corn) mushy post

2009-02-09T04:26:00.010-05:00

"Polentone" ("pulentun" or "pulintù" in dialect) meaning "polenta eater" (literally "big polenta") is a derogatory term sometimes used by Southern Italians to refer to Northern Italians.

I am a huge fan of whole grains – and I’ve never met one I didn’t like. Prior to joining Weight Watchers in 2006, I don’t think I ever ate ANY, other than the occasional brown rice or maybe barley - if it was in soup. No wonder I got so fat. White flour. Ugh.

One of the most overlooked of the whole grains is polenta. It tastes so good it’s hard to believe it’s good for you. Well, unless you don’t like corn. Then it might not be so great.

Polenta is basically corn meal. Or corn mush, but that doesn’t really sound very appealing, so we’ll stick with corn meal. You can find it in the flour aisle of the grocery store where it’s available in either white or yellow. I don’t think there’s a difference; if I’m wrong, let me know. It looks like this:

Or, if you’re lucky enough to have a more progressive store near you, you can find it pre-made and ready to slice in a tube, like sausage:

And, out of the wrapper:

And holy cow – if you ever want to get a craving for all things polenta, do a Google image search. There’s some good-looking stuff out there! Like this one that made me wish I had a personal chef:

One of the nice things about polenta is that it can be used in both sweet or savory applications. I tend to eat it fried and topped with sugar-free maple syrup. Like a pancake. But you can also eat it with eggs, with spaghetti sauce, as a base for nachos and in lasagna, in place of the noodles!

Because I only have crappy stores in my immediate vicinity, I have never been able to use the pre-made polenta and have to resort to making it myself. Which is why I don’t eat it as often as I would like. (Lazy.)

Over on my Wiki, I have a ton of polenta recipes. I also have a lot of non-recipe uses for polenta that you can look at if you need to get an idea or two.

But try it. It’s delicious.

Is your brain telling you to overeat?

2009-02-07T07:57:00.003-05:00

Sometime around 1989, I worked for a company where the new owner, a very petite woman, began “cleaning house” when she took over by eliminating many of the employees who came with the purchase and bringing in new employees of her own choosing. Not all that unusual, except the employees she fired were all overweight - and the ones she brought in were not. As one of the new employees she brought in, I felt just awful about all these really nice people who were losing their jobs. I felt even worse when I was told, in confidence, by another employee that the new owner did not like overweight people. She felt being overweight showed a lack of self-control and discipline and those were not the kind of people she wanted working for her.

Sadly, I don’t think this attitude is all that uncommon.

There is some new research being done by an international team co-led by the University of Michigan that suggests some people may just be genetically predisposed to overeating. Being overweight, in many cases, may have absolutely nothing to do with self-discipline. As you know, I’m no scientist and find ~~some~~ ~~most~~ all science to be strictly dullsville, but I find this fascinating.

What it boils down to is this: The research team “found six new genes that help explain body mass index and obesity, and all but one of the genes are tied to the brain rather than to metabolic functions, such as fat storage and sugar metabolism.” So the scientists look at these things when they are trying to develop new drugs and determining where in the body they want them to act.

Now here’s the part of the research that might make you wet your pants. SH2B1 (quite the catchy name) was first discovered by U-M researchers studying mice. The researchers created an obese mouse then returned it to its normal weight by turning on the SH2B1 gene in the brain.

Let me repeat that in case you were skimming and missed it: The researchers created an obese mouse then returned it to its normal weight by turning on the SH2B1 gene in the brain. Holy crap. TURN ME ON ALREADY!

Oh, and I’m curious to know if they turned that SH2B1 gene back on by sprinkling Sensa on the tiny little bowls of mouse food. The article wasn’t clear.

I would like to say I’m genetically predisposed to overeating, but I think the truth is that I often lack self-control in that area. When I really work at it, I don’t overeat.

How about you? If you have (or had) a weight problem, do you feel overeating is something you might be “hardwired” to do, or do you honestly feel it’s something you could control if you worked harder?

You can read the whole (short) article here, written by someone who understood what the heck they were talking about.

Tacky or hilarious?

2009-02-06T04:34:00.004-05:00

Or hilariously tacky? In case you want to plop down $23 for a giggle, you can buy it here.