Suzanne Somers: Who Knew?

Actually, Somers has been touting and advertizing fitness and health products for years. You mght have been tempted to make light (or even fun) of her thigh master commercials, but you can't argue with results. The woman looks fantastic. And, she is a best-selling author. This series of short blurbs by Somers on how to lose weight later in life and how to maintain health and vitatlity is well, inspiring. As I read these, my thoughts were yep, that's it, that's what I've been trying to do. I encourage you to look at this article and pick things you can actually do and stick with. The easiest advice is probably what we've been saying all along. Eat fresh fruits, veggies, and fish or meat (red meat in moderation), drink lots of water, and cut way back on processed sugary foods and white flour. Here's the link. http://tinyurl.com/7ghlhvl

By the way, my husband, Tim, has become quite the baker over that past few years. As he finds new recipes and becomes more confident in his own judgement, he increasingly alters them to greatly reduce or eliminate white flour and sugar. By substituting whole wheat flour, bran, and wheat germ, and using only enough sugar for a pleasant ( not super sweet) taste, he is turning dessert type foods into something much healthier and delicious.

Another random travel picture: Back yard of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia

Facing a Huge Problem

Me climbing the

"stairs of death" in Valparaiso, Chile. No problemo, well almost none.

This blog will be a rant about the obesity epidemic in the US. Even in 2004, obesity (being at least 30 percent overweight based on Body Mass Index (BMI)) caused 400,000 deaths and cost $122.9 billion. Things might have improved slightly at present. Nontheless, this country is worried about debt and expenditures, when we are causing a lot of needless expense due to our unhealthy sedentary life styles. The human body was meant to be active, based on the size and strength of healthy muscle tissue. After all, we are near the top of the food chain. But many people get almost no exercise.

 At present 45 to 50 percent of African American and Hispanic women are obese. Perhaps worse, over 15 percent of our children are obese as well. There are many theories about why this is happening to us. Among the possible causes and effects of this epidemic are

--Taking in too many calories and expending too few
--Dehydration, caused by drinking too many unhealthy sugary fluids and not enough water.
-- Too much TV and computer/games, etc. and too little exercise.
-- A food industry that still insists on serving mega-size portions and too often too much fat and sugar.
--Excess salt, sodium, and partially hydrogenated oils.
--Too much white flour, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweetners, preservatives, and additives, like hormones and MSG, which are believed to increase insulin, the fat storing hormone, leading to typical fat deposits on arms, bellies, and chins.
-- MSG is also labeled as hydrolysed vegetable protein, glutamic acid, calcium caseinate, among others, believed to alter brain neurotransmitters, interfering with leptin, which tells our brain when we are full and leading to out of control eating.
-- genetics and hormone imbalances play a role, but this alone does not account for the dramatic increase in the overweight population.

What can we do? Well, for starters when we eat at home we can completely control our food intake. Read labels, buy mostly natural foods, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and cut down significantly on portion size, especially of meat. In restaurants, share entrees and desserts with a friend. In most places you'll still have plenty to eat. Obviously, more exercise is needed, as I say in almost every blog.

Finally, it is a sad commentary on many levels to see that Paula Deen, the 64 year old TV cooking celebrity, has just announced that she has type 2 diabetes and was diagnosed three years ago. If you have ever seen her show, you know that she is overweight and cooks almost exclusively "southern comfort" type foods high in fat and sugar.

Carb Lovers Diet. . .really?

I just watched an interview with authors of a new diet book, The Carb Lovers Diet.  It all made so much sense but my advice is don't waste your money.  As I have offered before, these books are just for someone to make money in our nutrition-knowledge-deficient society.  The book does apparently give a lot of "recipes" for satisfying carbohydrate foods with nice pictures and that might be a reason to buy it.  But, here is the point.  They tell us to eat barely ripe bananas, oatmeal, whole grain breads, potatos including potato chips, and other fiber foods.  Really? 

Folks, this is a no brainer and NOTHING new.  The government's food pyramid starts with whole grains at the base and works up with vegetables and fruit next.  In fact, the examples the authors gave are essentially the foods that Tim and I have eaten for many years and the foods my thin and fit 40 something sons grew up eating.  Common sense and a little education makes it clear that these healthy carbs, also rich in fiber, are good for us.  Yes, the fiber scrubs out our intestines to reduce belly fat and these are the natural foods that our ancestors thrived on.  Fruit, whole grains, vegetables, lots of water, and some good protein.  That's just a normal HEALTHY diet.  You can eat a lot of these foods and simply reduce the processed sugar desserts to a minimum and make the most of them, such as eating dark chocolate (more antioxidants, less sugar).  Portion control is important but primarily when you stray into the unhealthy carbs and sugary or white flour and fat snacks.

Finally, I firmly believe that because most of us just can't or won't eat seven portions of vegetables and fruit every day, a good absorbing multi-vitamin and plenty of calcium every day is essential in our culture. . .but that's just me.