The Diet Logs

I saw this today on Catherine Newman Weekly Blog - Wondertime which used to be Dalai Mama and is now a recipe column.

 

Leftover tomato paste? Scoop tablespoons of it onto a waxed-paper-lined baking
sheet, freeze until solid, then store the frozen lumps in a (labeled!)
Ziploc freezer bag. Or else let it get moldy in the fridge and throw it
out later. Either way.

Dear
Catherine, just because I’m blogging this does not mean I have forgiven
you for abruptly no longer writing about Ben and Birdy. No. I haven’t.
I’m still mad. I followed the adventures of your family since before
Birdy existed and then one day you drop “Hey, I’m writing a cookbook
now!” and stop. Still mad.

Via Pot Roast - Catherine Newman Weekly Blog for 10/20/08 - Wondertime

Via Rice-Cooker Gourmet

1. Choose Wisely

Low-calorie diets are a great way to lose weight. Keep in mind, however, that when restricting calories it is still necessary to get all nutrients. When choosing food, select items that provide some sort of nutrition. Junk food has to be completely eliminated or eaten in extreme moderation in order to get proper nutrition for the body. Don’t waste calories on soft drinks, candy or other empty calories that do nothing in terms of vitamins or the body’s daily requirements of nutrients. Instead, choose fruits, vegetables and grains that will keep your body going.

2. Be Honest

Everything you eat counts. Just because it was only a handful of chips still counts. All the tidbits here and there add up quickly when you’re counting calories. When on a restrictive calorie diet, it is necessary to keep a tally of everything eaten, even if it’s not a whole portion. If you don’t keep track of everything, you’re only cheating yourself and your health, and sabotaging your weight loss goals.

3. Think Long Term

A low-calorie diet is a lifelong commitment. It’s not just something temporary that you use to lose weight, and then abandon it and go back to unhealthy eating habits. Once your weight loss goal is acheived, an increase in calories occurs to keep your current weight, but not by much. While an occasional splurge is expected, the low-calorie diet is permanent.

4. Be Patient

Losing weight doesn’t happen all at once. Results won’t be obvious at first, but don’t be discouraged. Indeed, if adding exercise, it’s common for a weight gain to occur. However, if after 6 weeks of calorie restrictions there is no progress, schedule an appointment with the doctor. Healthy weight loss is between 1 to 3 pounds a week. Focus on the health benefits from the diet and the fit of your clothes, and soon enough the numbers will drop.

5. Find Your Motivation

For some people, motivation for a diet is a pair of jeans hanging on their closet door that they want to wear again. Others put a “fat picture” of themselves on the fridge to remind themselves to eat responsibly. Whatever motivation works for you, find it. A healthy diet isn’t always easy. Having a reason for sticking with it helps when the going gets tough, and at at times it will.

1. They’re Great for Reaching Your Daily Fiber Intake

Unlike juicing, a process by which the fiber or “pulp” is extracted from the fruit, chunks of whole fruits are added to a liquid in a blender in order to produce smoothies, allowing you to retain the fiber that’s found naturally in fruits. Why is this important? Fiber is indigestible within the human body, so it is virtually calorie-free. It’s also a bulky substance, so you’ll feel full with less calories. But wait; there’s more! Fiber can also help stabilize your blood sugar, lower your cholesterol and regulate your bowel habits. With all the benefits fiber has to offer, consider putting the juicer in the cabinet and placing the food processor on the counter.

2. You Can Drink a Smoothie on the Way to Work

Smoothies make for great meals on the run; perfect for a morning meal. Can’t manage to hold a smoothie and your coffee cup at the same time? Try mixing the two by making a mocha-fruit smoothie. Combine four ounces of iced coffee or espresso, eight ounces of nonfat milk; add 1/2 cup frozen raspberries or other fruits and blend. Add a dash of sweetener, such as cinnamon, if desired and you’re out the door with a caffeine-breakfast combo in no time flat.

3. They’re Full of Antioxidants

Not only will fixing yourself a smoothie allow you to reach your recommended fruit servings for the day in just one shot, those fruits you’re adding are jam-packed with disease-fighting antioxidants. Antioxidants in plant foods are typically tied to their pigments, and different colored fruits provide different healthful antioxidants. Many people fail to eat either enough fruits or enough of a variety of fruits each day. Blending a colorful spectrum of purple (1/2 cup blueberries), orange (1/4 cup mango) and red (1/2 cup strawberries) frozen fruits, along with 1/2 cup each of nonfat milk and low-fat yogurt and you’re on your way towards better health.

4. Skip the Juice and Grab the Milk

Smoothies need a liquid base, and while it makes sense to throw in some apple or orange juice into the mix, a healthier option would be to add nonfat or low-fat dairy. Milk and yogurt provide bone-building calcium as well as protein, and juices fall short of both of these nutrients. If you’re looking towards smoothies as a quick, easy meal make it a well-rounded one by adding dairy.

5. Fruit Smoothies Are Not Always Healthy

Fruit smoothies offer many health benefits, but considering the fact that they typically contain a large amount of fruits along with additions such as juice, whole milk and peanut butter, it’s easy to pack on some pounds if you’re not careful. Depending upon its size and ingredients, a smoothie can run up to well over a whopping thousand calories per serving! Be sure to select the smallest size possible if you’re purchasing one from a store and be mindful of any high-calorie add-ins that may seem tempting.

Snacking often gets a bad rap, but if you make intelligent choices about what you eat, you can actually benefit your health and longevity. Read on to find out how!

Why Snacks?
Most of us are used to eating three times a day, but it is much healthier to eat smaller meals more frequently -f ive small meals a day, for instance. Eating in this way delivers a steady stream of nutrients, blood sugar, and energy to your body throughout the day and is also much less taxing on the digestive and metabolic systems.

And when you eat more small meals throughout the day, you will most likely avoid the pitfalls of overindulging at your next meal and may actually consume fewer total calories for the day.

Keep healthy “grab-and-go” snacks on hand all the time to avoid the tempting lure of high-calorie snacks. Here are my top five snack choices:

1. Nuts and Seeds Keep You Young
Healthy and appetizing, nuts and seeds are absolutely the best snack of the bunch. Helping yourself to a handful of nuts and seeds every day can improve circulation and muscle tone.

And nuts and seeds are especially full of arginine, an amino acid that helps to combat heart disease, impotence, infertility, and high blood pressure, and it also facilitates the healing process. Additionally, arginine can stimulate the pituitary gland at the base of the brain.

The pituitary releases growth hormones, which begin to decline quickly in humans after age 35. This means that after 35, your hormones start to plunge and you experience some aging symptoms. The skin loses elasticity, the muscle loses mass and strength, the lean body tissue decreases, fertility and virility decrease, and other signs of aging start to set in.

Many nuts and seeds are rich sources of vitamin E, lignants and omega-3 fatty acids, which protect you from heart disease and also from the ravages of aging.

Almonds, pine nuts, sesame seeds, Brazil nuts, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, peanuts, and pistachios: mix them in any combination and enjoy! Keep in mind that there are more nutrients in the raw form than roasted. Make sure that the nuts and seeds are fresh and not old and rancid.

2. An Apple a Day for Heart Health
There are many reasons to eat an apple - or two or three - every day. One study discovered that subjects who ate five apples or more a week had a healthier lung function than those who ate no apples.

And scientists have confirmed that apples also contribute to a healthy heart. Thanks to the fruit’s rich pectin content, eating two to three apples per day leads to decreased cholesterol levels. Pectin also helps prevent colon cancer, one of the top causes of death in adults over age sixty.

3. Bring On the Berries
In season again, berries are bursting with antioxidants. The enticing red, purple, and blue skins of berries contain bioflavonoids, antioxidant compounds that reduce free radical damage.

These flavonoids are more potent antioxidants than vitamins C and E, and they also help to reduce inflammation - more effectively even than aspirin!

• Blueberries are your best pick because not only do they have the highest level of antioxidant activity, but they also possess powerful neuroprotective properties that shield brain cells from damage , helping to slow down the age-related onset of memory loss, Alzheimer’s, and senility.

• Cherries also contain these beneficial anthocyanin compounds, which stimulate your pancreas to produce insulin. In fact, Chinese researchers have observed that cherries help keep diabetics healthy. These compounds also protect you against cancer, arthritis, and heart disease because they lower cholesterol.

To learn more about the health benefits of berries, click here.

4. Avocado: Packed with Nutrients
Among the many antioxidant nutrients, glutathione is known as the “master antioxidant.” This naturally occurring compound, found in avocados (as well as asparagus, walnuts, and fish), is made up of the three amino acids glycine, glutamic acid, and cysteine. Glutathione regulates immune cells, protects against cancer, and assists in detoxifying.

A deficiency in glutathione can play a part in diabetes, liver disease, heart disease, low sperm count, and premature aging. Avocados are also a source of L-cysteine, which helps protect your body from the harmful effects of pollution, chemicals, radiation, alcohol, and smoke. L-cysteine may also help boost immunity, protect you from heart disease, and build muscle. It is also useful for combating inflammation and encouraging healthy hair and nail growth.

Pair your avocado with whole-grain crackers or whole-grain crisp breads for a fiber-rich tasty treat.

5. Apricots for Anti-Aging
One of the staple foods of the famously long-lived centenarians in the Hunza valley of the Himalayas is the apricot. Research has discovered that apricots have the highest levels and widest variety of carotenoids of any food.

Carotenoids are antioxidants that help prevent heart disease, reduce “bad cholesterol” levels, and protect against cancer.

I hope you find the ways to nourish your body with healthy snacks! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

May you live long, live strong, and live happy!

Working out is not necessarily limited to going to and paying for the gym and the training instructor. There are other ways to stay fit and slim.

When a cousin-in-law became a little overweight, he started to feel he was getting certain illnesses attributed to weight and fats. Whether it was physical illness really or just psychological, he decided to do something. He got himself a mountain bike, and together with a good friend, he would bike through kilometer after kilometers of distance everyday, through flat lands and mountains. At first, he was the butt of jokes as he easily panted and struggled to keep up. Days passed by and he’d be ahead faster and effortlessly. The big pay-off is, he lost the extra pounds and he felt healthier than ever. The extra? Free sight-seeing and communing with nature.

A good friend’s father would meet his friends daily, early in the morning before going to the office. They would place sets of table tennis. Table tennis is not to laugh at huh. Try it. One would think you’ll not easily get tired because you just pace around a small table. On the contrary, you move a lot - fast. You wouldn’t notice sweat fastly dripping off your head.

Before joining a team going up the second highest mountain in the Philippines, Mount Pulag, my sister would go out early in the morning and jog or brisk walk around our subdivision and up and down the hill beside our place. Paid off because compared to the other hikers, going up Mount Pulag was a breeze for her.

There are other free means of working out like playing basketball or tennis with your friends. For busy moms, how about going about our household chores and playing around with our kids?

All these things make many of us cringe. Why can’t we indulge? Why do we have to avoid these while skinny minis eat toast and bagels and pizza and waffles like nothing? I love carbs, I’m not going to lie. But I have to watch what I’m eating!

I once was a lowcarb person. I ate lowcarb tortillas and got super excited when Wild Oats sold them at $1.25 a package at 4 grams of carbs a tortilla. Boy I went crazy. I also bought similar tortillas in other grocery stores. I will never do that again.

Then I went LA weightloss and always bought lite bread. Sick of that.

Finally I got on Southbeach where I started buying whole wheat. I will never go back to those other options. I love whole grain and this is what I will buy for the rest of my life. I love whole grain breads, tortillas and bagels. YUM YUM is all I can say. Try it yourself and see how you like it.

According to Stick, it’s ok to eat all the Halloween candy if he says “Trick or treat” while doing so. I wonder if I should buy a second bag so our real trick-or-treaters can have some.

Via Simpson’s Paradox » Blog Archive » Swedish Fish

Have you ever had one of those weekends when you just get sick of eating healthy? Eating healthy requires always being prepared. You have to cook fresh food, can’t eat food on the run and have to be pretty pick about what you eat at restaurants. It gets too complicated and sometimes you just want to live like everyone else without comprimising your favorite foods.

That’s what happened to me this past weekend. I ate chicken strips, stew, mashed potatoes and corn, pie, and more. This wasn’t all in one sitting, lol. It was just choices I made for meals. Well, I didn’t gain any weight. That almost makes me mad. As if eating healthy makes no difference?! I can eat bad and still stay the same weight? Then what’s the point of trying?

Regular Table Salt: Can be bad for you, especially since people use in high amounts.

Mortin Lite Salt: Has way less sodium than table salt. It also has potassium. I think it tastes the same as table salt but others compare it to “licking a sidewalk”. I never thought that. I find myself using more than I would use table salt, though, which could be bad.

Sea Salt: You can get this in fine granules or coarse. I like the grinder that lets you grind the salt. It makes me feel closer to homecooked kitched meals. Sea Salt comes form the sea while table salt comes from rocks outside the sea.

Different colored sea salts: I’ve seen red hawaiian sea salt and even black salts. I saw both at Trader Joe’s. I’d like to try them sometime.

Vegesal: From the makers of Spike Seasoning. Its vegetables ground up with sea salt. Hmm, interesting. I want to try it but I am using my lite salt so I don’t know. I wonder if you can taste the vegetables?

Hot-hot or spicy hot?

I don’t have any complete phrases, or ancient Chinese sayings, but one Chinese word has made it into our everyday vocabulary. Stick and I both use la de to talk about food, instead of saying spicy-hot-not-hot-hot.

Via Simpson’s Paradox » Blog Archive » Everyday Expressions