Enemy of the Plate: HOLIDAYS - VALENTINE'S DAY EDITION

I am thoroughly entertained by last minute Valentine's Day shoppers. If you walk into a grocery store around 8 or 9PM on the 14th of February, you may find one guy in the floral section trying to decide between a dozen half dead, over-priced roses and an underdeveloped houseplant (because that is all that is left). On the other side of the store, a woman stops at an endcap and picks up a clear plastic box, filled with the most quintessentially generic hard candy and most likely affixed to some stuffed, hideous looking and unidentifiable animal-monster with devil horns (this is actually her best option). There remains not a single box of Sponge Bob valentines, balloons are being tied to whatever household item seems like a gift and don't be surprised to see tumbleweed roll through the empty, dilapidated candy aisle where the only bag of commercial candy left has been opened by someone's unattended, kleptomaniac child.

An EMPTY candy aisle...

Does America really suck that bad when it comes to gift giving ideas? Every YEAR, millions of men, women and children are showered with gifts of refined sugar and hydrogenated oil in metallic red wrapping paper! Sure, maybe some of your Valentines love chocolate and must have a box of those updated Sweethearts with trendy 21st century messages on them like "e-mail me," but those of you with significant others trying to lose weight by dieting? That box of candy with a bow on it is the equivalent to saying, "Happy Valentine's Day honey, I got you a double chin." If you have no idea what to get other than a beautifully wrapped "bye bye" arm for the holiday, fear not! I have listed 14 healthier ways of celebrating this Valentine's Day. Just think, you could be an awesome, goal-supportive date instead of a weight gain-inducing enabler of bad eating habits.

You could try the above, but I'm pretty sure this adorable gesture is copyrighted by Paramount.

14 Thoughtful Gifts or Date Ideas That DO NOT Enable Your Loved One's Poor Eating Habits

1. Plan a picnic. Fill the basket with whole grain crackers and hummus, organic veggies (also tastes great with hummus) or fruit,  and a bottle of organic Cabernet Sauvignon (that contains no added sulfites). If you want to go all out, make a whole meal! Salad, sandwiches, soup (be careful there, transport can be tricky), etc. Find a sweet location like your city's botanical garden, a lake, a pond or a park (bring a citronella candle or two to ward off mosquitoes).

2. Go hear live music. It's fat free and you can support local artists (and if it's dance music, burn calories by dancing your ass off). If you can't dance or if you dance poorly, dance anyway. I fully support dancing poorly on purpose. Too insecure? Dance lessons are on YouTube.

3. Valentine's Day is now officially on-par with Christmas. It just isn't what the Catholics intended anymore. You might as well buy a practical gift for each other. Think of what your Valentine needs, what has he or she mentioned in conversation? Look in his or her house or apartment (if you are allowed!) and see what is missing. Get a thoughtful and nice gift instead of chocolate. By the way, don't be a selfish jerk and buy a gift YOU love, knowing full well that your Valentine will not like it, so that it can be handed back to you. Don't.

4. Go to a karaoke bar, piano bar or somewhere where you both can sing your brains out. It's fun and you will both laugh (or you will find out one of you is tone deaf, this better not be criteria for you dumping your date. Just go into the restroom and have a cry, it will be alright).

5. Go to a theme park, but ONLY if you can avoid the fried foods! Bring your own food or snacks.

6. See who can make the ugliest, tackiest Valentine's Day card. Whoever makes the less ugly card buys dinner (be super awesome and find a restaurant with healthy options and small portions). Why do I love this idea so much? Maybe it is my way of flippin' the bird to this corporate version of a holiday we celebrate. Back in the day, like pre-1950, all anyone used to do is send beautiful cards to the people they love. Whatever happened to that? FINE, if you don't like the ugly card idea, make a beautiful card for each other, shit, whatever...

7. Get a couple's massage together. This is partially a selfish gift, but is also an amazing idea, I'm relaxing just thinking about it.

8. Take a painting class or paint your own pottery. This is a fun activity and you get to take home a souvenir!

9. Visit a museum. Figure out what the current exhibits are by looking up the museum's website (check hours too).

10. Gift cards are always great. Find out (if you can) what his or her favorite store is and get a gift card. Then be SUPER awesome and go shopping with that person to see what you got them!

11. Go see a musical or local theater production. If there is nothing going on in your town, check the arts programs of local universities.

12. What is your Valentine's favorite thing? Let's pretend he or she LOVES tea. If I were you, I would get some really beautiful large mugs and fill them with Yogi teas, a loose tea strainer, decorative small teaspoons and/or some varieties of loose tea. Then include a CD of Ella Fitzgerald singing "Tea for Two" with the Count Basie Orchestra...for bonus points, of course.

13. An amazing gift I have received from loved ones is a collage of photos of memories together with people I love. This could be done in so many ways. It could be photos of you and your Valentine or photos of your Valentine with friends and family or a chronological sort of deal. This is cool because NOBODY prints pictures anymore. Photos are mainly used for social networking sites so it would mean the WORLD to this person that you took the effort to make this kind of gift. Make an album or piece photos together on pre-made multi-photo frames. Services like shutterfly.com can also make these photo collages for you if you do it WAY ahead of time (It may take weeks to deliver). Hell, as your date you could make the photo collage together.

14. Go to a sporting event. This could mean anything from the professional leagues to your local city leagues full of kids. It's fun to root for a team. Pit yourselves against each other by rooting for opposing teams. Pack your own food. Make up a prize for whoever picks the winning team...wink, wink.

There you have it. Fourteen healthy, non-fried and non-sugary date and gift ideas for the 14th of February. I think I lost two inches off my waist just making that list! It's THAT effective.**

**I'm actually just hungry. 

Before I go, a few more things. No matter how delicious the grocery store's Valentine's Day cakes, cupcakes and cookies look, YOU MUST RESIST. Buy a yoga mat instead and hold several different cleansing and purifying poses. You will be rewarded with a killer bod. Cakes, cupcakes and cookies will not get you that amazing looking body, they will only delay the your goals.

PARENTS!! Are your children bringing home a boat load of candy from their V-Day parties? Between Halloween, December holidays, Valentine's Day and Easter, kids bring home tons of candy, year round. Store them in a jar and give them one small candy every other day. Distract them from the candy by doing fun active things outside of the house and throw away excess candy, little by little. It doesn't matter how hard they attest that the candy is their personal property or how much they say they hate you. Be strong or their teeth will rot, they will be climbing the walls all night when you are trying to go to sleep and most importantly, THAT MUCH SUGAR IS BAD FOR A CHILD'S HEALTH. If only there was a Plato's Closet for candy. You could trade in the candy for fresh produce and the sugar could go toward useful things instead, like an exfoliating facial or body scrub (also a GREAT gift).

Happy Valentine's Day!

Enemy of the Plate: RESTAURANTS

Not ALL restaurants. Just, you know...a lot of them.

People go to restaurants for an endless variety of reasons: Dates, birthdays, receptions, holidays, anniversaries, for hanging out with friends, to watch sports, for eating while out of town, business, celebrating achievements, for convenience and (let us not forget) lethargy. Going out to eat several times a week can take take a toll on your health depending on where you go. If you are having a hard time maintaining a healthy weight, BMI, acceptable cholesterol or blood sugar levels, you may need to check what you are eating.

Whether it is fast food, a sit-down dinner with a serving staff or the prepared foods/“grab n’ go” section of your nearest grocery or convenience store, there is no place where you have less control over what you are eating than in a RESTAURANT. Now wait! Before you cancel your reservations (or hell, before you even make a reservation) consider what you are about to read. Aside from (what should be) obvious advice to avoid restaurants with mostly fried foods or foods high in fat and calories there are also other points to consider.

Portions


From what I have seen, I am convinced the commercial restaurant’s target demographic is the grizzly bear. Why the hell are America’s portions so freaking big? Well, part of it is the wide spread “get more bang for your buck” attitude. This is why the restaurant industry makes BILLIONS in sales every year. Since the cost of food is not that high (compared to other costs a restaurant takes care of), a menu item can expand in diameter an inch or two and only cost an extra 50 cents in ingredients (that would be an extra several dollars for you, sucker). If there is a lot of food on the plate and the price is not too high, a customer will be more likely to purchase the meal. While there are some people who do not eat the entire contents of the larger portion (they take home leftovers, split the meal or waste what is left), there are many that do, grazing FAR past the point of a 300-400 calorie meal. This, as a repeated action, is a recipe for obesity and poor health, unless of course you have a triathlon the next morning...after every single one of those meals.

Thankfully, in addition to the ever-growing gigantic meal portions, the trend of smaller portions is catching on in many chain restaurants. The rising nutritional trend of choosing to eat several smaller meals a day as opposed to fewer large meals is a contributing factor. Also, First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign, “Let’s Move,” asked restaurant owners to offer smaller sized meals. So, smaller portion availability? Check.

On to the next problem...

Ingredients


You don't get a gold star if you are eating a smaller portion of fried food or foods rich in saturated fat. If you eat a smaller portion of food, it should also be good for you! This is where your awareness of ingredients should come in. Not only should the food be low in sugar and without hydrogenated oils or trans-fats, one should also consider pesticides and industrial chemical residues that come with many conventional foods.

There is a reason why food cost is not so expensive for chain restaurants. Most ingredients are purchased in bulk and chances are that all of the ingredients are conventional (non-organic). That’s right. You might as well order a side of DDT pesticide with your main course. Considering that pesticides are poison, we would all do well to avoid high traces of its residues. How do I know that chain restaurants are most likely not cooking with organic ingredients? With organic food being the fastest growing sector of the food industry, a restaurant would have to be foolish not to boast of organic, all-natural ingredients! Since I have not seen a single pop-up ad, billboard, mail-in advertisement, TV commercial, or application ad during Fruit Ninja boasting of organic ingredients in one of the many chain restaurants in my town, I think it is safe to conclude we are all dealing with conventional foods.

FEAR NOT! There are many conventional produce items that are less dangerous than others when it comes to pesticides, chemicals, carcinogens, etc. according to chemical research conducted by David Steinman in his book, Diet For a Poisoned Planet. Be sure to AVOID the following conventional, non-organic varieties of what Steinman calls ”red light” foods, containing the highest amounts of chemical residues.

Fruits
You may give yourself a pat on the back for ordering a fruit plate over the brownie sundae your restaurant is offering, but NOT if it contains apples, apricots, cherries, grapes, peaches, pears, plums or raisins.

Vegetables
Say no to sides or mixes that contain celery, collard greens, cucumbers, green peppers, white potatoes, summer squash and tomatoes.

Nuts
Absolutely NO peanuts or mixed dry roasted nuts.

Grains
Pass the plate (away from you and NOT toward anyone you love) when you see buttery-type crackers, fruit flavored sweetened cereal, commercial muffins, popcorn (popped in oil), raisin bran cereal, rye bread, white bread and whole wheat bread.

Meat
These are ripe with pesticides and industrial chemicals: Bacon (pan cooked), beef pork roast (baked), bologna (sliced), chicken nuggets (fast food), frankfurters (beef, boiled), ground beef, ham (baked with nitrite preservatives), ham (luncheon meat, sliced with nitrite preservatives), hamburgers (fast food), liver (beef, fried), meatloaf, pork sausage (pan cooked), veal cutlet and venison (Europe-imported).

Seafood
Sorry, but you need to avoid bass (freshwater), black cod, bluefish, buffalo fish, carp, catfish, caviar (Michigan, China), chub (freshwater), cod, croaker, dace, Great Lakes salmon, lake trout, lobster (Maine, Massachusetts), mackerel (New York), mullet (California, North Carolina), northern pike, sable fish, sea herring, shark, sheepshead, striped bass, sturgeon, swordfish, trout, tuna, walleye, weakfish, white bass, white croaker (California), white perch (Pennsylvania), white fish (New York, Pennsylvania), yellow eel (China), or yellow perch (Pennsylvania).

Dairy
Butter (regular, salted), also high in saturated fat, contains the highest amount of chemical residues out of all dairy products! Also high in residues were cheddar cheese, cream cheese, American cheese, Swiss cheese and margarine.

You're still here? Awesome. I thought I lost you at "no bacon."

Acceptable Ingredients
The good news is that many “green light” and “yellow light” foods are listed in Steinman’s book. Green light vegetables include: Asparagus, Black-eyed peas, cabbage, cauliflower, corn, eggplant, green peas, lima beans, okra, onions, pinto beans, radishes, red beans, sauerkraut, sweet potatoes, chives, cilantro, daikon, fennel root, garlic, jicama, kidney beans, leeks, lentils, mushrooms, navy beans, radicchio, red chard, shallots, snow peas, watercress and yams.  Green light fruits include: Grapefruit, watermelon, coconut, dates, figs, lemons, limes, papayas, passion fruit, pineapples, plantains and tangerines. Other foods low in residues are pecans, corn bread, corn flakes, crisped rice cereal, grits, pancakes, meat sauce or tomato sauce (with pasta), cooked rice, saltine crackers, chicken, pork roast (baked), buffalo steak, duck, turkey, venison (U.S.), crawfish, dover sole, flounder, halibut, imitation crab, mahimahi, octopus, orange roughy, Pacific salmon, red snapper, scallops, sea bass, shrimp, sole and talapia.

Almost all of the food items David Steinman tested came with a brief explanation of specific chemical residues found and why these “red light” foods pose a greater threat to our health than others. Also, in the seafood category, the tests showed some regional types of seafood to be safer than others (California lobster and other imported lobsters are safer than Maine and Massachusetts lobster). I suggest a trip to the book store or library to check out this important work. He is also so environmentally conscious that he printed the books on recyclable paper. Kudos, David.

One last thing…

Preparation

The ultimate perk of going to a restaurant is that you do NOT have to cook the food. This seems so great but it can also be SO bad if you are not specific about how you would like your food to be cooked. You do not have to succumb to the foods in the menu ONLY as they are cooked by the chefs. For example, I went to a seafood restaurant with my parents over the holiday. I ate plenty, mostly vegetables. I kindly asked my waiter to order my veggies steamed or lightly sautéed, and I asked that the chefs NOT use butter. The handsome waiter was awesome and he got me exactly what I ordered (he got a killer tip from me in return). You CAN have your sweet potatoes lightly roasted with extra virgin olive oil instead of white potatoes fried in hydrogenated oil. You can ask for several different sides of veggies like asparagus, green peas or corn, instead of a plate full of cellulite and regret.

If you don’t think a certain restaurant will accommodate for you then don’t give them your business. There are a number of local restaurants in many cities that make all natural meals with local, in-season and/or organic ingredients. There are stores, like Whole Foods, that list all of the ingredients on the prepared food item, PLUS you can ask the manager exactly how it was made. There are websites devoted to finding healthy restaurants near you (like www.happycow.net ).

All of this said…it is best if you prepare most of the food you eat at home. Pack your lunch and/or dinner. Lower the amount of times you go out to eat per week. By cooking at home you don’t have to fish the few healthy foods out of a sea of heart-failure-inducing or potentially carcinogenic-laced menu items. NO FAST FOOD, PERIOD. If you get "grab n' go" items from a store, flip it over and check the ingredients! Pick foods without refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oil, trans fat or ingredients that may contain high amounts of pesticides or chemical residues. If you have to go to a restaurant and the choice of restaurant is beyond your control, be sure to pack a few "emergency" food items in your car, office, briefcase or purse to curb your hunger. Drink at least 64 oz. of water a day and throw in some detoxifying herbal teas to wash your system clean of anything that doesn't belong in there.

Finally, you don’t have to go to a restaurant to have a good time. After all, some of the best celebrations, birthdays, dates, receptions, holidays, anniversaries, times hanging out with friends and parties I have ever experienced have been within the walls of someone’s home and always had the BEST food. 

Sources:
Food for Thought: Why Are Restaurant Portions So Big?
National Restaurant Association: Facts at a Glance
Food, Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. Magnolia Pictures, 2008.
Steinman, David. Diet for a Poisoned Planet. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1990.

Links:
Diet For a Poisoned Planet - Amazon
Whole Foods Market
A Co-op Grocer Near YOU!

Happy Cow 

Enemy of the Plate: HYDROGENATED OILS & TRANS FATS

I don't even know where to begin. The existence of hydrogenated oil makes me so mad I that I want to curse for a whole paragraph without making a point.


Hydrogenated Oil 

Once upon a time there were two unsaturated fats, Poly and Mono. Poly and Mono, derived from plants, roamed the earth in liquid form, slaying cardiovascular risk and lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol, giving rise to better vitamin absorption, higher energy levels and increased HDL (good) cholesterol levels. Then along came some evil bastard from the food industry, who discovered if you strap down unsaturated fats and put them through a process called "hydrogenation," what results is a cheaper way of producing saturated solid or semi-solid fats (cheaper than using animal fats or other naturally occurring saturated fats). This practice of hydrogenation became normal and its dark, money-driven cloud covered the land, resulting in higher body fat percentages, raised LDL (BAD) cholesterol and an increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease in humans.

You do not have to be part of this sad story. Go to your kitchen and rid your pantry, refrigerator and freezer of any food that contains an ingredient that says hydrogenated-, partially hydrogenated-, margarine or shortening, pronto!

Trans Fat

This is just another way of saying "partially hydrogenated," since the unsaturated fat has not become fully hydrogenated or saturated. WARNING! You may pick up a prepared food item from the shelves in the grocery store that boasts of having "no trans fats." Flip the box over and read the ingredients. If there is an ingredient that says partially hydrogenated-, margarine or shortening, IT CONTAINS TRANS FAT! Why? The FDA ruled that if a food item contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving then the phrase "no trans fat" may be plastered over the box with confetti around it. The manufacturer can do that! Then this begs the question, how many of us eat the actual serving size written on the box? Don't lie to yourself (especially you, America).

Still not sold on how bad this stuff is for you? Here's the final blow. Consider your weekly exercise regimen about "half as useful" to "not useful at all" if you have hydrogenated oils and trans fat in your diet. Your arteries will build plaque, your immune system will suffer and your body will lower its ability to detoxify itself of carcinogens and drugs. These non essential fatty acids can prevent your body from using and benefiting from any essential fatty acids.

Ok, so unless you want to keep your fat and risk for disease, no more hydrogenated oil or trans fat. Capiche?

What else needs to be said? Ah, yes. Though there are many forms of naturally occurring saturated fats, that doesn't mean you can go to town and start eating them out of a bowl. Prefer to eat as little to none of these saturated fats as possible. Say NO to animal fats, cream, cheese, butter, ghee, suet, tallow, lard, fatty meats, coconut oil, cottonseed oil, palm kernel oil, and chocolate.

I know, I know, I know. Some of you I lost at "cheese," some of you I lost at "meat," and I lost 99% of women at the mention of lowering chocolate intake. I'm not backing down. Lower your ingestion of these ingredients, watch the pounds fall off. Stick to polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats, AKA good fats! These are found in olive oil, vegetable oil, sunflower seeds and peanut oil. Go for organic, cold pressed or expeller pressed oils. This way you are guaranteed that the oils are not hydrogenated and BONUS-organic oils are pesticide free!

By the way, if you are flirting with the idea of ridding you diet of meat, cheese and dairy, be sure to take a supplement for B12 and eat plenty of iron rich foods.

Do you cook with oil?

If cooking at high temperatures, be sure to use organic or expeller pressed olive oil, avocado oil (medium temperatures) or canola oil (medium high temperatures). Other oils that cannot withstand high temperatures will change in composition once it is cooked past its smoking point, creating cancer-causing free radicals and destroying any essential fatty acids the oil naturally contains. NEVER reuse old oil.

Would this be a good place to say no more fried foods? You knew I was going to say it anyway.

Ah, entry over. Blood pressure lowering...

Sources:
Good Question: Labeling for Trans Fats and Partially Hydrogenated Oils?
Saturated Fat, Wikipedia article
Hydrogenation, Wikipedia article
Trans Fat, Wikipedia article
Benefits of Unsaturated Fat and Protein in a Diet
Steinman, David. Diet for a Poisoned Planet. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1990. pp. 254-266

Enemy of the Plate: SUGAR

I don't know when it happened, but somehow, sugar has become a staple in our fatty American lives: Birthday cakes, holiday cookies, pumpkin pies, Halloween candy, Ice cream and snow cones in the summer, strawberry shortcake on the 4th of July, candy-filled Easter eggs, Girl Scout cookies, Valentine's day candy, a box of chocolates guys give their girlfriends when they screw up, you name it. America is all about sugar and at the same time we are trying to fight obesity? I shake my head.

Let's get specific.

REFINED SUGAR: This insidious little body destroyer is the result of a filtration process that removes sugar's natural raw brown color. This evil kind of sugar has no nutritional value and it is addictive. I know this, I have been addicted before. I would run out of sweet things in my kitchen and even though it was fully stocked with healthy food, I HAD to hit the store for ice cream or cookies lest I shed my human form and beat the crap out of the people around me. How insane. Also, dessert or sweet treats labeled as a "non-fat" or "low calorie" food? Horse shit. Check the sugar amount per serving, check the ingredients. Is sugar one of the first ingredients? It is? Are you eating more that 20g of sugar a day and trying to lose weight at the same time? Fat chance.

Are you still holding that donut? Drop it and read this.

When you eat too much sugar, "excess amounts are stored in the liver as glycogen." Unless you are burning off all of that glycogen in the marathon you are running the next morning, you better believe the liver will get too full. When that happens, "the excess amounts are returned to the blood stream as fatty acids." So, you eat low-fat and low calorie meals and exercise, yet you can't shake your inexplicable thunder thighs, double chin, bye-bye arm or love handles? Check your refined sugar intake. (1)

Now here's the nail in the coffin. Besides the rotting of teeth, refined sugar has been linked to a number of diseases, health conditions and ailments. Just Google "disease linked to sugar" and knock yourself out. Cardiovascular disease, hypoglycemia, diabetes, obesity, high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides and cancer are not worth the high of this grocery store-sold crack. Diabetes, heart disease and cancer run in my family. The HELL if I am going to increase my chances of getting those diseases by eating refined sugar.

Just like in a nasty breakup, when you dump sugar you must dump its family too... 

...like refined sugar's ugly cousin, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. This crack is also known as glucose-fructose (syrup), an alias you must know. One brand of popular sports drink changed the "high fructose corn syrup" in the ingredients to "glucose-fructose syrup", probably because of the growing disapproval of HFCS. Sneaky bastards. This cheap shit causes blood-sugar levels to skyrocket, more than refined sugar since it is even more processed and screwed up. Trust me, large amounts of refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup = a shorter life of having to wear loose fitting clothes. Quit eating this crap and you'll trade in your muumuu in no time.

Fear not! There are healthy alternatives. There are cookies and fig cakes, etc., that you may  find in the natural/organic sections of your grocery stores. When you check ingredients or shop for sweeteners, look for organic versions of these nutritious gems:

Agave nectar or syrup
Stevia
Evaporated cane juice
Sucanat
Brown rice syrup
Barley malt syrup
Rapadura sugar
Turbinado sugar
Raw sugar
Beet sugar
Date sugar
Maple syrup
Molasses
Blackstrap molasses (2)

As Bon Qui Qui would say, "Don't get crazy." For example, I LOVE Country Choice Organics' Lemon Ginger Sandwich Cookies. I could knock out an entire package in one day. It is for that reason that  don't buy it anymore unless I have many friends to share the cookies with. I just don't trust myself with those.You can still gain weight eating organic sweets all day long. Those foods are just less harmful than the refined sugar versions. All in moderation. "Moderation" meaning not often. Even better if you avoid sweets altogether. Why? One word, FRUIT.

Fruit has tons of natural vitamins and minerals. Kick sugared foods out of your diet, make eating fruit your dessert and watch as the pounds fall off (just from kicking sugar to the curb!). Make sure you buy only organic fruits. You can bitch all day about the price of organic fruits, veggies and other foods (do your very best) but in the end, it's cheaper than the chemotherapy treatments you'll have to endure after decades of ingesting foods laden with cancer-causing pesticides and other deadly toxins and chemicals. I believe that is all I should have to say about that. Speaking of things that cause cancer, don't pat yourself on the back if you ingest no-calorie sweeteners all day. I'm talking no calorie sweeteners that contain aspartame, sucralose, xylitol, maltitol and saccharine. These are part of a topic that will be addressed in another article. Just know that it is NOT good for you, poisonous and causes you to be hungry for more crap that isn't good for you. Grab a box of Stevia instead for the time being.

Now hit the cupboard and start reading ingredients. Toss out any foods high in sugar. Just do it. Then hit the grocery store, buy healthier alternatives and stock up on organic fruit. Yes, this means you will have to hit the market at least once a week. That may be inconvenient to you but you owe it to your ass. Your body will thank you (so will the onlookers).


Sources
Freedman, Rory and Kim Barnouin. Skinny Bitch. Philadelphia: Running Press, 2005, pp. 29-31.

Quit Being Full of Crap

I play dietician and nutritionist for a couple of my friends. I visit their homes and I throw out all of the food and drinks that are causing them weight gain, an increase in fat and a decrease in energy. Sometimes I have to be really convincing. I'll hold up what is practically a can of diabetes and say, "This has too much sugar in it, can I throw this away?" The usual response is, "But that's fat free!" or "No way, I paid good money for that," or "It's all natural, I can't eat that?" and then I say:

"No, you really can't eat that."

I can't believe how many times I have said that very sentence. Eventually the stars align and I get permission to throw away all of the crappy, fatty and unhealthy foods. We then go over daily life, work and eating habits and we come up with a grocery list including healthy, organic or natural fresh produce, food items that require preparation or cooking as well as quick, "grab n' go" items. After grocery shopping we make a day-by-day meal plan (Sunday through Saturday). I even include back up meal plans for when things go awry in the morning and food can't be packed. We also discuss options for going out to eat.

After seeing improvement in a few of my friends who have stuck with the healthier diet, as well as after getting a nod from a personal trainer at LA Fitness, I felt I needed to share what I know with the world.

What makes what I have to say SO special?

I am an experienced fat person. I have been both fat/overweight/unhealthy, thin/fit/healthy and everything in between many times in my life. I have tried several different diets AND eaten poorly on purpose because I don't care. I have worked out hard core AND I have also been lazy and apathetic about physical activity.

What do I, an experienced fat person, have to offer?

TONS.

Even if you exercise regularly, you can still gain weight. Trust me. I gained weight training for a half marathon. A HALF MARATHON. How does one gain weight running 20+ miles a week? Easy, just eat a poor diet. With each new weight gain and weight loss I have learned the many reasons why one may have trouble losing weight/body fat or maintaining a healthy weight/BMI (body mass index).


Here is the gist. Every new entry will feature a new "Enemy of the Plate." These are America's least wanted, the reason why you have a gut, the extra flab in your double chin and the clog in your arterial walls. These enemies are why you lack energy. Each entry will also have solutions and/or substitutes for these foods that cause you harm.


This blog may not be for everyone. Some of you may already be healthy and fit. Congratulations! Some of you remain thin no matter what shit you pack down your throat (I am a little jealous), but that does not mean that kind of eating habit will not come back to haunt you. Some of you have a "screw you, I love my body (even though I am overweight)" attitude. Well, increasing your chances for disease is not "loving your body," nor is having an unacceptable BMI. Love your body more by feeding it well which will increase your energy and improve your health (the rocking bod that follows is a nice perk too).

I think that is enough for an introduction. Now on to the main event, improving YOUR health. Knock each of these awful foods out of the ring and watch as you rise to the top. You have the power to do it and the choice is simple. Eat well, exercise, look great, feel great. There are no short cuts and no pills to expedite the process in a healthy way. Should you choose to make these changes, let me know, I would love to cheer you on!