July 2007 Archive

10Jul
2

Joi Finds Joy As A Vegan

Well-known and widely respected blogger Joi Ito made a decision six months ago to give up his bad habits and replace them with a Vegan lifestyle. No more meat, no more smoking, no more excessive drinking. How’d it work out?

Other than some allergies, I’ve gotten rid every one of half-a-dozen or so chronic conditions, including obesity, fatty liver, high uric acid (gout), heartburn/ulcers/stomach acid, nervous tension, sleeping problems and rising cholesterol. I also have more energy than I’ve ever had.

Oh, yes, and he lost 40 pounds.

Technorati Tags: Joi Ito, weight loss, Vegan
Posted by Chubby Mommy in Living With Fat
10Jul
Off

Love Lost Lots

Courtney Love Courtney Love — widow of deceased rocker Kurt Cobain — is making headlines for her weight loss: a total of 42 pounds in three months. Three months.

After gaining 40 pounds on a macrobiotic diet, Love says she had a lock installed on her refrigerator.

“My daughter Frances has her carbs in one drawer. I don’t know where it is. I drink shakes and exercise my butt off. No carbs – two shakes and a fish meal. Fish and broccoli really does work!”

No word whether Love, a former stripper, worked the pole as part of her workouts… or how that nasty little heroin habit‘s been treating her, either.

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Diets
10Jul
Off

Overeating: An Addiction?

From the moment I begin a diet, I can think of nothing but food. Food, food, food. Food, glorious food.

On low-carb diets, I begin craving bagels — something I rarely eat but once they’re a no-no, they become just about the only food I crave. On low-fat diets, I dream of melted cheese: nachos dripping with cheddar, chunks of bread dipped in a glorious cheese and crab fondue, stuffed jalapeño poppers exploding in my mouth.

Oh, baby, I’m making myself hungry again!

That’s precisely why scientists are now contemplating whether being overweight indicates food addiction. Brain imaging and animal studies both indicate that, in some people, eating triggers dopamine release — the exact reason, for instance, drug users continue to abuse their substance of choice. It produces pleasure, a feeling familiar to anyone who’s had a Krispy Kreme.

I’m not sure that I’m comfortable with lumping eating problems in with more serious forms of addiction. Yet, having tried and failed on so many diets despite having the best of intentions, I’ve got to admit I feel a bit better thinking that the problem may not be that I’m a weak-willed, lazy creature. Looking at it as an addiction — something to struggle with while acknowledging the temptation — seems more empowering than merely hanging my head in shame.

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Diets
10Jul
6

It Happens To All Of Us

Rachel Ray One of the perks of cooking your family’s meals is taste-testing as you go. A nibble here, a bite there. Unconscious eating, and it all adds up. Apparently, kitchen diva Rachel Ray is finding that out, too.

According to a report from Star Magazine Rachael blames too much nibbling in the kitchen, plus the stress of running her growing empire and fighting off divorce rumors has caused the Food Network star and talk-show host to pack on the pounds.

But now she’s determined to send her extra weight packing. “She told me, ‘I can’t believe how heavy I look,” a source tells Star. “She’s always been proud of her big backside, but she said her arms look flabby and her legs looked like tree stumps!”

While Ray’s show is on hiatus, the kitchen diva is trying to work off 15 pounds. But she doesn’t intend to stop there: she wants to lose an additional 15 — while cooking on air! Next season, Ray will be trying out calorie-restricted recipes and passing along her own diet tips to viewers.

As someone who’s caught Ray’s show only a handful of times, I’m pleased to learn she’s becoming more calorie-conscious with her recipes. It’s nothing short of frustrating to watch a cooking show — or to read a recipe in a magazine — and have no clue as to the actual calorie and fat content.

Oh, sure, I know when Paula Dean advises me to add “just a bit of butter” she really means doubling — if not tripling — the calories. That’s why I reserve Paula’s recipes for special occasions.

But Rachel Ray has always projected a wholesome, healthy image that promises good food which fits busy lifestyles. Take a glance at her “Chicken Courdon Bleu Burger” recipe, though.

One could easily assume they’re lower-calorie and fat due because they use ground chicken in place of beef. Think again, though: just one burger patty is 791 calories and 25.3 grams of fat… and that’s without the bun or condiments!

Nice to know that Rachel is now going to deal with a reality the rest of us live with: trying to find food that tastes good without being so bad for us. Kudos to the kitchen queen!

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Living With Fat
08Jul
5

All Honesty On Alli

It can strike any time — even in the early hours of the morning. One user writes: “(Y)a know how when you start moving around in the morning ya pass a little gas. Well, I did and then went into the bathroom and to my horror I had an orange river of grease running down my leg.”

Fellow cheaters advise each other on the best clean-up methods, and some even suggest using panty liners or Depends. One frugal user noted, “I’m thinking that infant diapers might be a cheaper way to go, just use them as a large pad.”

The gross side effects might scare away the less-committed, but some experts appreciate Alli’s very real, very immediate consequences of cheating on your diet.

“It forces you to eat a lower-fat diet — if you don’t, you’re violently penalized for not doing so,” says David Sarwer, the director of clinical services at the Center for Weight Loss and Eating Disorders at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. “When they eat a little too much fat, they’ll learn not to do it again.”

“It,” of course, refers to the dreaded “unwanted treatment effects” of Alli — those nasty incidents that keep users honest. Or, at least, should do so in theory.

Having had one night enduring Alli’s “unwanted treatment effects,” I am definitely not putting my food preparation in someone else’s hands. Not at home, and not at a restaurant. Commercial food, after all, is loaded with fat, even when the menu makes it sound otherwise. So much so that even trained dietitians underestimate calorie content by 37 percent and fat content by 49 percent. And they’re the folks who analyze food for a living!

If they can’t get it right, what hope does a mere Chubby Mommy have?

Fortunately, this will work quite well for me over the next month while my husband is out of town on business. I can go back to “eating like a girl” — oatmeal or bran cereal for breakfast, salad for lunch, Lean Cuisine for dinner — without the yummy smell of “Man Food” tempting me.

And, sure, such a low-fat, low-calorie diet means I could stop taking Alli and still lose weight this next month. But why when taking a pill blocks half of that fat and doubles weight loss? Besides, knowing that any dietary cheating on my part might bring on that orange river of grease running down my leg is enough incentive to make me consider a Lean Cuisine a “real meal.”

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Alli
08Jul
Off

5 Good Tips

Selena has 5 Tips for Managing Your Weight.

With my husband going out of town on business, I’ve been planning to get quite serious about eating low calorie and low fat while working out diligently. Her reminder to have reasonable expectations was probably the right advice to prevent me from leaping into “the scale’s not moving fast enough so I might as well eat” mentality.

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Weight Loss Matters
08Jul
2

File This Under TMI

Let us just say, to put things delicately, that whilst taking Alli it is not a good idea to let one’s husband do the cooking. Oh, I told him not to use butter. I told him not to use olive oil. I pointed to the veggie drawer and the ground turkey I’d defrosted, along with my shelf full of cookbooks.

I figured, hey, if he’s offering to cook dinner on a night when I had nothing planned, I’d be foolish not to take him up on it. Besides, his pending business trip means I better take advantage of opportunities to be pampered now, right?

He brought down a lovely looking plate filled with steamed green beans, mashed cauliflower and a casserole-type thing. Beans, cauliflower, turkey — all low fat, right?

Not when the turkey is browned in Wesson oil — the one thing I’d neglected to specifically rule out. Or when he’s added cream to the mashed cauliflower and Italian dressing to the green beans.

I woke him in the middle of the night complaining about Alli’s “unwanted treatment effects.” I knew I’d been good all day long, so only his dinner could be to blame.

“But there’s nothing in there that’s over 15 grams of fat,” he protested.

“That’s 15 grams total, with all the foods combined,” I explained.

“Oh. Say, how come you’re wearing different pajamas than when we went to bed?” he replied. I did not tell him.

But, let me just tell you this much: I will never, ever again look at greasy tacos without getting sick to my stomach.

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Alli
07Jul
2

The War Diet?

I give it one, two months tops before someone decides to turn this notion into a full-fledged diet book sales gimmick:

“During war time if you noticed the apples in the bowl were getting a bit wrinkly, you stewed them,” Dr Stanton said. “Today you just chuck them out.” [...]

Meat was rationed to the equivalent of 900g a week, butter to 450g a fortnight; sugar to 900g a fortnight and tea to 450g every five weeks.

Converting to U.S. measurements, that amounts to:

Meat: 1.98 pounds
Butter: 0.49 pounds
Tea: Well, that’s calorie free. No worries on that one.

While that may seem like an awful lot of butter, consider that the “war time” they’re talking about was in 1940, long before hydrogenated oils, transfats or even olive oil was used in regular cooking. That 450 grams of butter? It’s the same 30 grams or less per day that Alli users are sticking with.

Technorati Tags: war diet
Posted by Chubby Mommy in Diets
07Jul
8

Liquid Calories

Friday nights kill my diet. Friday nights like last night — spent with friends having dinner and drinks — really ruin my diet. Unfortunately, I seldom realize it until Saturday morning when I stand on that scale and see that I managed to pack on a pound or two overnight. Sure, it’s water weight but, as I keep telling myself, every ounce counts when you’re trying to lose.

It’s easy to dismiss liquid calories, particularly since they often accompany much more diet-damaging fare. That 100-calorie glass of wine seems innocent compared to, say, an 800-calorie bowl of bouillabaisse and 200-calorie slice of bread from that huge basket restaurants insist on putting right in front of you. Change that wine to a martini — and change the one to two doubles — and it’s not so innocent after all. Not that I think of such things at the time.

I do, however, tend to think shortly thereafter that Cheetohs sound good. Hey, there’s cheese-like substances in there, right? Isn’t cheese a dairy product? Aren’t dairy products supposed to help women lose weight? That’s the downside of enjoying a drink — or two — with one’s meal: stupidity often ensues.

Alcohol, and its effects usually set the stage for binge eating. At only two drinks, your body seeks a heavier and more satisfying type of fare, and you guessed it, yet even more calories. The caloric cycle of almost anyone under the influence of a few drinks can prove to be a hidden diet disaster. The binge eating will almost undoubtedly ensue.

“Binge eating.” What a nice way to describe that refrigerator-emptying mania that takes over later in the evening, right about the time one’s stomach begins to demand something — anything — help absorb the alcohol sloshing about within it.

They say that the way to success is to build a better mousetrap. Obviously, this adage wasn’t first uttered by someone faced with the choice of giving up their martinis or giving up on their diet. Want the world to beat a path to your door? Invent calorie-free alcohol.

Until then, it looks as if I’ve found yet another thing I’ll have to pare from my life if I want any hope of paring my waistline.

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Weight Loss Matters
06Jul
2

Remember Recess?

Every day seems to bring new doom and gloom about childhood obesity, and yet it seems the most obvious solutions are so seldom explored.

Consider this: children spend around 7 hours — roughly 60% of their day — at school during the school year. Add in travel time, extra-curricular activities, homework, household chores and time devoted to dinner as well as personal hygiene and what do you get? You get a kid with around 90% of his or her day spoken for.

With so little time to themselves, what’s the easiest way to help kids stay in shape? Give them back recess, and provide more P.E. time in school. But that’s precisely what schools aren’t doing.

Elementary schools have a district fitness program for students every third school day. Four areas are emphasized: upper body strength, flexibility, abdominal strength and cardiovascular endurance, which is promoted through a mile run.

“We stress various fitness activities,” Westridge Elementary School physical education teacher Michael Mitchell said. “We try to be creative. We have them playing team sports and low organizational games at the same time.”

Every third school day amounts to an average seven times per month. Unless they’re enrolled in intramural sports, live in an area where it’s safe for them to run outside unsupervised or have parents willing to take them to the gym, P.E. courses may be the only real exercise a kid gets in a month. But how much exercise are they really getting? Try seven hours of of P.E. in a month. Just seven hours.

No wonder our kids are battling the bulge!

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Weight Loss Matters
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