Making Favorite Comfort Foods Fit a Healthy Lifestyle

Try these strategies for lightening up your favorite recipes:

For General Recipes
Invest in a food scale so that you can weigh foods until you get a feel for what typical serving sizes are.
Use the leanest cuts of meat; skinless poultry, white meat poultry, beef with "loin" or "round" in the name and pork with "loin" in the name.
Consider 4 ounces of uncooked meat to be a serving.
Cut back on adding high-calorie and fatty ingredients like cheese, olives, avocado and nuts.
Watch how many high-sodium foods you're including such as anything canned or packaged, box mixes, olives, cheese, and savory seasoning mixes. Can you find a low-sodium /no sodium alternative? Perhaps one of the canned products in the recipe can be changed to fresh or frozen (corn, green beans, sliced mushrooms, etc.).
Watch portion sizes when serving rice and pasta. Pastas are usually 1-1/2 ounces uncooked per serving. Cooked rice is typically 1/2 or 2/3 cup per serving.
Use 8 or 6-inch tortillas instead of 10-inch. The 10-inch tortillas have 213 calories before any fillings are even added.

For Baked Items:
Replace 1/4 or 1/2 of the butter or oil with unsweetened applesauce. Keep in mind that applesauce is a better replacement for oil than it is for butter.
If you're substituting a substantial amount (1/2 to 1 cup) of applesauce for fat, you can cut down on sugar a bit because of the natural sweetness of the applesauce.
Remember that sugar packs on calories. One tablespoon equals 48 calories.
Sugar can often be decreased slightly without any substitute, especially with recipes that are 40 or more years old since they tend to be disproportionately high in sugar.
Confectioners' sugar can almost always be decreased in a frosting without missing the sweetness. One tablespoon of confectioners' sugar equals 29 calories.
If you have trouble with a tough, dense texture in a tightened up baked good, by substituting cake flour for all-purpose flour, the next time you prepare it.
Decrease the amount of chopped mix-ins, such as nuts, chips (use mini-chips), raisins, coconut, etc.
Toast nuts and coconut so smaller amounts have stronger flavor.
Reduce the amount of frosting. You can usually cut that amount by 1/4 or 1/3 without missing it.
Reduced fat cream cheese and reduced fat butter work well in p;lace of their full fat varieties in frosting, but since the lighter products tend to be more soft set, the recipe may need less liquid.
Keep in mind that it's very difficult to successfully lighten cookie recipes and still keep the original texture and shape. The better option is to prepare cookies as usual and savor a single serving. ~ Aunt Millie

How To Exercise The Right Way

A twenty minute workout: No Weights, No Equipment

1. Look out at eye level or above to spare your neck and keep you from rolling your shoulders forward.

2. Assume the Botox pose: Keep your face relaxed and tension-free.

3. Relax your shoulders and lift up your chest.

4. Pretend the top of your head is being pulled up by a string to elongate your spine and keep you from rolling forward.

5. Count your reps of each exercise out loud; this counting will help you remember to breathe continuously and keep you from holding your breath.

6. Keep your abs tight and pulled in to support your lower back. (Practice sucking in every time you enter a car, bus, train, plane, elevator, escalator - that way it becomes automatic).

7. Keep your knees slightly bent, so you don't lock them.

8. When doing shoulder exercises, make sure you could always see your hands (if you wanted to).

9. Breathe. Many people hold their breath while doing strength training.

10. Keep moving between exercises to keep your heart rate fast, or move directly to the next exercise. If you're unable to hold a conversation, you're exercising too hard. If you can keep a conversation going and are able to fill the listener in on all the details, you may not be going hard enough.

11. As you get stronger, go longer rather than harder with cardio exercises, and stronger with weight exercises. That is, do more repetitions of any non-weight bearing exercise. That will help prevent injuries from overexertion. If you really feel weak, just hold the exercise position without moving and slowly work up. It's more important to follow perfect form and do fewer repetitions than to do a lot of repetitions with form sloppier than spaghetti in a high chair.

You can have 100 percent strength gains within a few months, but it also works in reverse. By not doing strength training every week, you'll start to lose some muscle mass and your strength by up to 50 percent in three months and by up to 80 percent in three years. Look at exercise the way you'd study Spanish - the more consistent your are, the more consistent your results will be. Your muscles forget, just as your mind does.

Remember when starting any exercise program, consult your doctor first. And take it slow until you build up your strength. If you haven't exercised in years, your body will take some time to get up to speed. Your body is like any finely tuned instrument: pay attention to it. ~ Aunt Millie

Nutrient Density

How do you decide which foods you want to eat? Flavor? Texture? Convenience? Comfort? Many people choose the foods they eat based on immediate gratification, without much though about the long-term effects of their selections. That often results in choosing foods that taste good, but are not good for you.
What about the nutritional value of the foods you eat? When you choose your foods be sure to consider the nutrient density of the foods. Nutrient density refers to the amount of nutrients for the given volume of food. Nutrient-dense foods have lots of nutrients generally with fewer calories. All those super foods you've heard about are nutrient dense foods. Energy-dense foods have more calories for the volume of food and generally fewer nutrients.

How Nutrient Density Works
You are hungry and it is a few hours until dinner so you decide you want a snack. You can choose either an apple or a donut. Both are about the same size and either food works as a quick snack so you can get back to work. Which one do you choose?
Hopefully you chose the apple. Why? The apple has around 80 calories and lots of vitamins, fiber and phytochemicals. The fiber and water in the apple will fill your stomach and keep you satisfied until dinner.
The donut has calories. Lots of calories. In fact, the donut has more than 200 calories but it doesn't have many nutrients nor as much of fiber so it won't keep you feeling full either, so eating that glazed donut will frequently lead to eating a second one. It also has unhealthy saturated fat and plenty of sugar. Sure it tastes good but your body might pay quite a price for the immediate rush.
You can also compare nutrient density using the amount of calories in the food rather than volume or portion size. Let's compare four carrots and four saltines. Both snacks have about 50 calories, but the carrots have many more nutrients for the same number of calories and are nutrient-dense; the crackers are energy-dense. This is important for people on weight-loss diets. Foods that are low in fat and contain nutrient-density and other vitamins, will keep you satisfied and healthy while you lose weight.
You can probably already see from the examples that brightly colored fruits and vegetables are big winners in nutrients. So many fruits and vegetables qualify as super foods, or foods that are rich in nutrients and other compounds that have healthy phytochemicals and essential fatty acids. The super food fruits and vegetables include carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, kale, pomegranate and oranges.
Other nutrient-dense super foods include salmon, tuna, trout, low-fat dairy products, oatmeal and whole grains, soy, dried fruits, nuts and other fresh foods. On the other hand, energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods include things that are high in sugar and fat such as refined sugar, processed lunch meats and cheeses, Ice cream, candy, soda, potato chips and corn chips. In other words, junk food.
Choosing nutrient-dense super foods at the grocery store is pretty easy if you stay along the edges of the store, where fresh foods, low fat dairy and fresh bakery goods are found. These fresh foods may be more expensive than the energy-dense
packaged foods, but you get a lot of nutrition for that price. Of course, most shoppers choose some packaged foods for convenience, but you can still make good choices from these products - just read the labels.
You can easily find the Nutrition Facts labels on the backs or sides of the packages. Look at the serving sizes, note the calories, and look at the amount of fiber, vitamins, calcium and iron. The packaged food that has the better combination of lower fat and less sodium is the winner.

Nutrient-Dense Meals
You can prepare nutrient-dense meals by choosing nutrient-dense super foods and ingredients for your dishes. A nutrient-dense choice would be a serving of a healthy protein source such as legumes, fish, poultry or low-fat meat. One serving is typically about the size of your palm and the rest of the meal should be made up of healthy side dishes. Vegetables are always good, even with a little big of cheese, some brown rice and wild rice are good choices as well. A green salad can make a nice nutrient-dense choice for a great meal on its own. Clear soups with lots of vegetables are nutrient-dense compared to cream based soups which have more fat and are energy-dense.

When to Choose Chinese
People who are underweight need some energy-dense foods to make sure they are getting enough calories to gain weight. These foods include peanut butter, dried fruits, starchy vegetables and cheese.

Why Think About Nutrient-Density
Eating nutrient-dense food will ensure you are getting all the nutrition you need. A nutrient-dense diet won't leave you hungry and losing your weight is much easier. Choosing nutrient-dense foods can become second nature. Once you understand which food is nutrient-dense, the rest is easy. Just remember that the foods you eat can affect your health in a big way. To be healthy or unhealthy? That is the question. ~
Aunt Millie

Feed Your Mind The Right Thoughts

Often, in talking about weight control, we talk only about the food we feed our bodies. We give little attention to the thoughts we feed our minds. We have become a diet-conscious, calorie-counting society. Why? Because we realize that the body does reflect the food it is fed. Our strength, stamina, resistance to disease, body size, and mental health are all related to what we feed our bodies. By the same token, the mind reflects the thoughts it is fed. Clearly, then, equal attention must be given to developing a healthy mind and body.
Your thoughts are very powerful. They play a large role in the outcome of whatever it is you want to achieve. You develop a subjective probability or personal estimate of the likelihood that your effort, such as eating well or exercising, will lead to your desired outcome. Have you ever said, "I can't even walk by a bakery without gaining ten pounds," or "I just can't lose weight and keep it off"? All the thoughts you think produce changes in your feelings, leading to actions and finally to reactions in yourself and others. You need to become more aware that the negative thoughts you feed your mind are just as self-destructive as eating the wrong kinds of food.
If you eat foods high in fat, sugars, and salt, you usually show visible signs: indigestion, gas, diarrhea, high blood pressure, diabetes, weight gain, etc. These signals help you, telling you that eating like this is not good for you. The negative thoughts you continue to feed your mind have much more subtle signals and are not always as observable. Of course, there is still a consequence to your negative thinking. You may begin to have feelings of hopelessness or a sort of down-in-the-dumps feeling, not quite knowing why you feel unhappy. Negative thinking doesn't make you feel good about life, and life is what you make it. Life is seen by the positive thinker as challenging and full of hope. In contrast, the negative thinker looks at life as boring, nothing but a struggle.

Positive Thinking
Learning to think positively requires organization, time, and discipline, as well as cognitive restructuring. In other words, you need to clean up your thoughts-just as you clean your house once a week. A house seems to collect a lot of items, some of which will be useful, others that only cause more confusion.
So you clean it up, getting rid of the useless items, while saving the more important ones. Similar clutter occurs in your mind. You collect years of good and bad experiences, which can cause either negative or positive feelings about yourself. Get rid of the negative thoughts that cause more confusion, only fostering self-defeating pessimistic attitudes and low self-esteem. Decide, "This is my life and I'm going to clean it up!"
One possible way to achieve a positive attitude is to think of your mind as if it were a computer. A computer must be programmed with the correct information in order for it to work; so, too, must your mind be programmed with the correct thoughts. You need to develop attitude goals as well as weight control goals, bringing the mind and body together. Perhaps the reason why ninety-five percent of the people who lose physical weight gain it back within one year is that they haven't made mind and body changes. Physical weight was lost, but emotional weight remained. If emotional weight is left untreated, sooner or later turning to or away from food for comfort and control recurs. This can be seen in a person who loses physical weight yet still feels heavy. This person may be a size ten in clothes but still shops for a size fourteen. Why? The heaviness may lie more in the mind of the individual, in the for of "emotional weight" than in the body. In such instances a person may be thin but still not happy, healthy, and in control of eating. You must feel good about yourself inside to feel good about what you see on the outside. The mirror image will never seem thin enough, good enough, or beautiful enough until you feel good about yourself inside. The next time you look in the mirror, really look-deep into your eyes. There is a lot of beauty inside all of us.
You can't continue to view the body and mind separately when trying to achieve weight control, because emotional weight is in your mind and physical weight is in your body. Look at yourself as a whole person-not just as hips and thighs. Start by cleaning up your thinking process. You're eating healthier, better quality foods and thinking healthier, better quality thoughts. Take a piece of paper once a week and write down some of your negative, self-defeating thoughts about yourself: fears, anger, disappointments and hostile thoughts-"I don't care" attitudes. Then on another piece of paper, write down some positive thoughts and actions that will help you rid yourself of overwhelming negativity. Start saying "I do care." When you write your positive thoughts down and start thinking about them, they are no longer just thoughts, but are now more alive, and represent goals. We all know how important water is, and without it we would die. Keeping a positive attitude is just as important to the mind as water is to the body. If we don't keep a positive attitude, our goals simply die.
Take the piece of paper with the negative thoughts and crumple it up and throw it away. Now, write down five or ten positive things you like about yourself. Don't hold back if you think of more! Focus each day on your positive qualities, and stop punishing yourself with the negative thoughts and actions over something you did last week, yesterday or even two hours ago. It is over, so go on and focus on the present. Take your time and really think about and identify with what you are writing down. Don't just write words-really feel them! It is only natural that you could write about fifteen pages on what you believe are your negative qualities and barely get out a word about your good qualities. This indicates that you still need to get to know yourself. It is time you meet yourself, and this exercise helps you do just that! The first step would be to start now-not tomorrow or Monday or even "someday,"-but NOW! Immediately write down on a piece of paper, "I can and will achieve a healthy permanent body weight; I am healthy happy and in control of eating." each time you want to quit, pull out your goals and review them. Do this a couple of times a day especially when you have thoughts of giving up! Positive thinking is a much healthier idea than binging and purging or using diet pills or laxatives which have many dangerous side effects psychologically and physically. Each time you feed your mind good thoughts and your body good food it is a wonderful spiritual message. It says "I care about myself and good things are going to happen! I deserve good things!" There are also side effects that result from positive thinking: a positive self-image and peace of mind!
Positive thinking is easy when everything is going well for you, but very difficult when things are somewhat chaotic. This is when you need to apply it most of all! Positive thinking doesn't always provide you with instant results just like taking a vitamin and mineral supplement doesn't always provide instant health. Yet it is still working for you. Your mind is powerful-use it! Every thought you think will eventually produce either positive or negative changes in your life. For most of us learning to ride a bike meant we had to get back on many times trying new ways to sit on or balance your bike. Overcoming an eating problem also requires you keep trying to discover how to find that healthy balance in life and positive thinking allows you to find out what works best for you. It's when you are the most tired and want to say, "I just don't care" that you are almost up the hill.
Nonverbal thoughts also contribute significantly to your behaviors and emotions, and can be used to change undesirable behavior. You can't just sit around and think positively in hopes that fat will melt from your thighs or that you can overcome anorexia or bulimia by just "thinking yourself better." You can't just think yourself into a size eight bikini; you don't build muscles just by thinking about them. Most change requires action. Start by saying "I'm important" and then make some important changes in your behavior taking it a step at a time. If you try too much too soon, you're going to trip and feel discouraged. The positive thoughts initiate the positive actions which cause the positive reactions. Therefore, overcoming an eating problem requires cognitive (mind) and behavioral (action) components. What we have just discussed might seem rather basic but it is the basics in life that work! The more technical or complicated ideas are sometimes too difficult to understand and apply. Getting back to the basics means using your own potential. To discover your potential you must think positively.
Negative thinking just fills you with fear and doubt moving you farther from discovering your potential for recovery.
The mind is a useful tool; use it don't abuse it. ~Aunt Millie

The Most Important Nutrient: Water

Most people don't even think of water as being a nutrient. It is the water in your soft drink that quenches your thirst, and the sugar and salt that make you thirsty enough to keep on drinking more! Scientific testing has been done which proves that sugar does increase thirst. Consuming these drinks when exercising or before exercising can cause you to burn out sooner.
The sugar and salt act to draw vital water into the stomach and away from the part of the body that needs it the most - the muscles. You can only survive about 10 days without water. Water comprises about 75% of body weight for men and 65% for women. Men hold more water because they have more muscle, and muscle holds more water than fat.
Water doesn't serve just to quench thirst. It is also needed for the transport of oxygen, nutrients, and hormones, and functions as well to rid the body of waste products. Even the sounds you hear are transmitted by fluids in the inner ear.
Water is vital to the body, especially during times of exercise. You should drink water before, during, and after exercise. Don't forget to fuel up before you exercise with complex carbohydrates, like a piece of fruit or two slices of whole grain bread, which digest faster than fatty foods. Try eating about one hour before you exercise. Eating high-fat foods before exercising can slow you down, and sugar will lower blood glucose and cause fatigue later when you're ready to exercise.
Water doesn't interfere with the digestion of food, unless you've had part of your stomach removed. Drink plenty of water, whenever you want. Water helps your liver and kidneys function better. All foods contain their own water; even carbohydrates, protein, and fats consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and when broken down all produce water called metabolic water. Even bread contains 36% water, and fruits and vegetables about 95%. Always drink water when you're thirsty and don't restrict drinking water simply because you want to weigh yourself after you exercise.
If you are concerned about the chemicals in water you can do several things. You can get a purifying system, let your water stand for three days to get rid of the chlorine, boil it for 1-2 hours, or use an activated charcoal filter. There is an inexpensive water filter system called Pure Crystal by BRITA that removes 90% of the chlorine, lead, copper, etc. It also prevents bacterial growth. You need to periodically buy a replacement filter, and it can be purchased at health food stores. Another option is buying bottled water, like purified water or spring water, which contains nutrients but no harmful chemicals. Distilled water has no nutrients and no harmful chemicals.
Suggested water intake daily: Between eight 8 ounce glasses and 100 ounces.
There are also new drinks that are flavored waters. But you need to watch the calorie counts of these if you're following a reduced calorie diet. I drink SOBE flavored water periodically or whatever one is on sale. Most of the SOBE's are around 5 calories. Enjoy! ~ Aunt Millie

Turnips and Rutabagas: Vegetable Roots

Probably the oldest vegetable known, the turnip was there when early man stopped thrashing about in eluvial ooze long enough to think of his stomach - which was always empty. Turnips filled the void, and when dipped in salt water were not entirely unpleasant to his tongue.
Then and now, the white and yellow turnip (Brassica rapa) is a fleshy root that grows fast, requires little care, and is high in nutrients. By the time the first caveman tok a wife and made a communal fire, he discovered that his family could not only subsist on this high-fiber food but they grew stronger with every bite. According to evidence uncovered in the caves at Choukoutien, near Peking, turnip was not merely eaten raw by its first consumers; it was roasted with meat (on flat stones in the fire) or wrapped up with fern ends or wild onions and steamed in flat wet leaves. One thing about the turnip is fairly self evident: it was eaten because it was available. If a hunter did not always return home with a slab of sabre-toothed tiger under his arm for dinner, his mate knew where to "root around" in the bog for supplementary rations - and they survived!
Several millennia later (as the cave paintings near the village of Aurignac, France, show), these very same roots were still on the fire! But by then they were boiled in watertight pots of clay, which was quite a way up the prandial ladder. When the ancient Greeks and Romans finally inherited the turnip, units kitchen status was so elevated that devotees literally held forums to theorize on the ideal culinary fabrication. In Rome (according to the Pantrepheon) the optimum cookery took several hours and the roots were steamed successively with cumin, rue, and benzoin; then pounded in a mortar with honey, vinegar, gravy, boiled grapes, and a little oil; and then simmered well before they were served. Frankly, I would rather eat a turnip neat!
Rutabaga is a turnip's younger sibling. Or to be more accurate, it is a turnip mutation. This curious yellow globe whose stem swells underground rather than above (as conventional turnips do) is technically Brassica napobrassica, even though it came to our tables through the crossbreeding of a cabbage with a turnip by Swiss botanist Gaspard Bauhin in the seventeenth century. The birth was neither heralded nor honored, but it should have been. For half the northern countries of the world live on rutabagas half of every year, and this vegetable, thriving in cool air, keeps the denizens of Scandinavian countries a heck of a lot healthier than they would be without its mineral-high presence in saucepans every winter. In fact, for centuries the rutabaga has been variously known in vegetable circles as Russian turnip, Canadian turnip, Bulgarian turnip, and Swedish turnip or swede. Only the last name stuck, however, because this root, with its penchant for cool, glacial soil, flourishes best and is eaten most in Sweden.
According to food pundits, who disagree violently about almost everything that appears in a saucepan, the rutabaga did not arrive in the United States until 1806. How it came here no one seems to know for sure, but despite its northerly association in the Old World, its first official appearance in the new one was in a seed catalogue that advertised it as "South of the Border Turnip"!

What to Look For
Whether shopping for turnips or for rutabagas, the market imperatives are the same. Fresh vegetable will be firm and quite smooth to the hand. A wrinkled turnip is a sure sign that the root has lost its moisture and that the texture beneath the skin will be spongy. I pass on large turnips as a matter of course, as the small ones (dappled with an edge of purple at the soil level) are by far the sweeter. If you have the option, select turnips with fresh green leaves, for that is a clear indication the vegetable is not long out of the garden. Rutabagas should always feel weighty. Search for a globe that is streaked with purple and fairly free of large bruises or hoe marks. The heavy waxy coating (on all but farm stand produce) is sprayed on the rutabaga to prevent dehydration. Peel it off with a vegetable parer prior to a kitchen wash-up.
Turnips and rutabagas, though genetically connected, have one major culinary difference. Turnips are fragile; they will last only a week in a refrigerator. Rutabagas keep for a month or even longer. As a matter of fact, when I was a kid, farmers used to "hold" rutabagas in root cellars for almost a year, packed in sawdust or sand.
Turnips and rutabagas both are high in nutrients, low in calories, and yet tonic enough to please even the most jaded appetite.
An average 1/4 cup portion of turnips, for instance, holds a scant 30 calories yet is exceedingly high in minerals (39 milligrams of calcium, 30 milligrams phosphorus, and a bounteous 268 milligrams of potassium). Turnips are not high in vitamins, but rutabagas are. The same quantity of rutabagas contains 46 calories but is super-streaked with minerals (239 milligrams potassium, 66 milligrams calcium, and 39 milligrams phosphorus), with traces of all essential vitamins plus 43 units of vitamin C and a towering 580 units of vitamin A.

Preparation
Since both the turnip and rutabaga are tough roots, always use a sharp knife to slice them. Work on a wooden surface and insert the blade carefully at a point midway between the root and the stem, going directly into the heart of the root before you slice it in two. Peel the halves at that point. Then, with the cut sides down, slice first vertically, then horizontally, until the entire vegetable is cubed.
Both turnips and rutabagas profit by the standard cooking instructions for all root vegetables: braising, boiling, and steaming; and in that order of preference at my stove top.
To braise: Cut either vegetable into uniform shapes and place them in a covered skillet along with a modicum of butter and enough liquid (broth or vegetable juices) to generously cover the bottom. My average braising time for these root vegetables is 10 to 12 minutes for turnips, 15 to 20 minutes for rutabagas.
To boil: Fill a saucepan halfway with cold salted water. When the water is at a rolling boil, add the cut vegetables and cook them till fork tender, about 15 minutes for a whole turnip and 20 to 25 minutes for a 2 and a half inch cube of rutabaga. Young vegetables may require less cooking time.
To steam: Bring approximately 1 inch of water to a boil in a steamer or saucepan. Place the turnips or rutabagas in a steamer basket or colander, bearing in mind that cooking times may only be approximated since the sizes of the vegetables vary. However, an average size turnip will steam crips-tender in about 10 to 12 minutes. A rutabaga (2 and a half inch size cubes) will require twice that long, about 25 to 30 minutes.
In passing let me state that there are two schools of thought on all turnip and rutabaga cookery: those who cook them first and peel them later, and those like me who want the job over and done with and say: to heck with the vitamin dividend I just tossed down the drain.

Mixed Turnip Chowder
2 T unsalted butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large rib of celery, finely chopped
1 pound turnips, peeled, diced
1 and a half pounds of rutabagas, peeled, diced
2 medium potatoes, peeled, diced
1 quart of chicken or vegetable broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp of ground mace

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Add the onion; cook 2 minutes. Add the celery; cook 2 minutes longer. Stir in the turnips, rutabagas, potatoes, and broth. Heat to boiling; reduce the heat. Simmer, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
2. Remove one half of the vegetables and place them in the container of a blender or food processor. Add 1 cup of the broth. Blend until smooth, being careful as hot liquid will expand. Return the pureed mixture to the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir in the mace. Simmer 5 minutes before serving. Serves 8.
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Sidebar
To the ancients, the turnip was adjudged to possess medicinal balms for the body's outer ills. Case in point: Discorides reported that a fresh white turnip (cooked) applied on a sore foot would "renounce" the pain of that ailment immediately. Likewise, Apicius counseled women of approaching middle age to make a thick paste of cooked turnip, cream, and smashed rosebuds. This unguent, he advised, when rubbed thoroughly into all crevices and hollows of the face, neck, and shoulders will make those surfaces smooth as a baby's thigh after two applications.

Enjoy a hearty serving of turnips and rutabagas. Rich in nutrients. If not into cooked turnips, eat them raw with a little salt on them. A tasty treat, one I grew up eating as a healthy snack. ~Aunt Millie

Diabetes Guide

What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disorder whereby the body cannot use carbohydrates (sugar and starches) properly.

- After digestion, sugar and starches are changed into glucose - the simplest form of sugar vital for body energy and growth.
- Insulin is the hormone which acts as a key that o9pens the doors to body cells and allows glucose to enter.
- Without enough insulin, glucose builds up in the blood and passes into the urine. High blood glucose levels lead to frequent urination, extreme thirst and tiredness.
- Untreated diabetes increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney damage, foot ulcers and gangrene (with amputation) impotence, and other complications.

Symptoms of Diabetes
- Frequent urination
- Extreme thirst
- Unusual hunger
- Rapid weight loss
- Extreme fatigue
- Blurred vision
- Skin infections that are slow to heal
- Tingling/numbness in feet
Note: Diabetes can be present even with no symptoms.
DO NOT DISREGARD DIABETIC SYMPTOMS!

Type 1 Diabetes
- Occurs in 10% of diabetes cases
- Usually in children and young adults
- Pancreas produces little or no insulin. Daily insulin injections (or an insulin pump or inhaled insulin) are necessary as well as:
- Matching pre-meal insulin to the amount of carbohydrate eaten
- Weight control and regular physical activity
Others (primarily type 2 diabetes) make enough insulin but the body doesn't use it as well as it should - particularly if obese and inactive.

Type 2 Diabetes
- Occurs in 90% of diabetes cases
- Occurs mainly in adults - particularly in overweight and inactive persons
- Insulin is produced but body cells resist its action and glucose cannot enter cells
- Usually treated with meal planning and physical activity. Sometimes requires medication (pills or insulin)

Gestational Diabetes
- Occurs in some women during pregnancy
- Usually disappears after the baby's birth
- Women who have had gestational diabetes still have a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes within 5 to 10 years
- Requires weight control, a healthy lifestyle and regular medical checks

Are You at Risk for Diabetes?
Pre-Diabetes - An Early Warning!
Pre-Diabetes means that your blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be called diabetes.
If you have pre-diabetes, you have a higher risk for getting diabetes later on.
The good news is that you can start taking steps to prevent diabetes by making healthy lifestyle changes - such as losing weight if overweight and being more physically active.

What's Your Risk?
Find out if you're at risk by answering the following questions:

Have you been told you have pre-diabetes?
Do you have a family history of diabetes?
Are you African American, Latino American, Asian American, Native American or Pacific Islander?
Have you had gestational diabetes (during pregnancy)?
Are you over age 65?
Are you overweight?
Do you get little or no physical activity?
Is you waist measurement more than 35 (for a woman) or 40 inches (for a man)?
Is your blood pressure more than 130 over 85?
Have you been told your HDL (good cholesterol) is too low?
Are your triglycerides (blood fats) too high?

If you answered yes to 2 or more questions, you may be more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Ask your doctor if you should have a blood test for diabetes.

Blood Glucose Classification of Diabetes
Normal range is below 100 mg/dl*
Pre-diabetes range is between 100-125 mg/dl*
Diabetes range is over 125 mg/dl*

* Fasting blood glucose
Know your blood glucose level (BGL)
Everyone over the age of 45 should have a blood glucose test every 3 years.

Importance of Weight Control
- Type 2 diabetes is more common to people who are overweight
- Being overweight means that your insulin doesn't work as well to control blood glucose levels
- Losing just 10 to 20 pounds can help you better manage your diabetes and lower your risk for heart disease
- Keys to weight control include:
Following a healthy eating plan
Controlling food portions
Being physically active most days of the week
Keeping food records
Setting realistic goals
- Work with a registered dietitian who can help you reach a weight that's good for you.

Keep Moving
Every day, do at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise (even in 5 minute sets). It's the key to improving insulin action. Add muscle strength training 3-4 times a week to double the benefits.

Managing Diabetes
Don't battle diabetes alone. Establish a partnership with your doctor, dietician, certified diabetes educator, and pharmacist.

Extra support - Joslin Diabetic Center
- American Diabetes Association
- American Association for Diabetes Education
- Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
- National Diabetic Education Program

Hints to keep blood glucose within safe limits:
- Control your food intake. Know what and when you will eat. Seek referral to a dietitian for expert advice.
- Exercise regularly. It assists weight control and can improve sensitivity of body cells to insulin. Plan physical activity into your daily routine.
- Monitor your blood glucose levels at home and work with a blood glucose meter. It will help you become familiar with your blood glucose patterns, and the effects of food, activity, and medication.
- Take insulin or oral medication as prescribed. If on insulin, know what action to take if hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) occurs. Also educate your family and friends.
More information: www.joslin.org

Know Your ABC's

If you have diabetes, you are at a high risk for heart attack and stroke than someone without diabetes. But you can fight back!

A is for A1C
The A1C test measures your average blood glucose (sugar) over the last 3 months. Suggested Target is below 7%.

B is for Blood Pressure
High Blood Pressure makes your heart work too hard. Suggested target below 130/80.

C is for Cholesterol
Bad cholesterol, or LDL, can build up and clog your arteries. Suggested target below 100.

As you can see, Diabetes is a serious matter. And education is key. Go to the suggested references listed within this article for more information. ~
Aunt Millie

Tracking Your Success: The Importance of Goal Setting

Tracking your progress is an important part of achieving success in any weight loss diet. Take a minute to think about what you want to accomplish. You can use a notebook or you can opt for one of those fancy tracking books that you can purchase in a bookstore. Fill in your starting measurements, write down your short term goals.

The Importance of Setting Goals
People who have had the greatest success are invariably those people who have very strong and focused goals. Women about to get married, actors, actresses and models who need to look fabulous by a certain date, people going on a vacation, all have a firm vision and are excited about looking their best.
That is one of the reasons why so many Hollywood celebrities have such dramatic success with any diet program. They have a clear goal - often it's to reshape their bodes so they don't miss out on a job. And they know that if they do their program it will work for them...every time.
Making your body over is a journey. Your short term goals are the steps you take along the way that make sure you reach your destination...and on the timetable you desire.
"A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step." - Chinese proverb
This ancient Chinese proverb is the idea behind setting and keeping short term goals. You set them week by week. Sticking to anything for a week isn't very hard, if a week is too long for you, make your goal a single day. Then you don't have to think about doing your program for six weeks or six months, you concentrate on this week or this day. Take it a day or a week at a time, and it becomes easy. And, before you know it, you will have made over your entire body.
Seeing yourself achieve short term goals will keep you excited and feeling positive about yourself. Your short term goals will make sure you see the progress you are making and keep you from backsliding. A short term goal is anything that helps you stay focused on what you want to achieve.
- This week I will stick to my eating program 100%.
- This week I will lose 4 pounds.
- This week I will do all of my cardio and weight training exercises.

Your short term goal can be anything that you think is important to keep you going until next week.

Rewards
The other important part of making short term goals is creating rewards to go with them. If you achieve your goal for the week, give yourself a reward. It could be anything that you will look forward to: a facial, a massage, a night out, some extra sleep or relaxation on the weekend, shopping, a movie, play or concert. Reward yourself with something that will keep your enthusiasm high. Just don't make it food! Don't use your success as an excuse to binge. Don't let up because you have a perfect week. Use a perfect week as motivation for another perfect week.
These rewards are important and will keep you motivated but you'll soon find that the pounds and inches you are losing are an even better reward. Keep track of both your goals and what the rewards will be in your journal.
To keep track of the pounds and inches as they melt away, fill in your measurements. The measurements will be recorded for the first, second, fourth, and sixth weeks. Make sure you measure exactly in the same place every time.

Looking Ahead
Many of us have a long road ahead of us to reach our goals. Just take one week at a time or one day at a time to start and keep moving forward. If you think it's too much work (it does take a lot of effort) remember the rewards that will be forthcoming. Or you can go online to the various resources there and type in your progress. For example, see http://www.sparkpeople.com.

They have easy to fill out progress charts for nutrition (diet) and exercise journaling that you enter every day. Whether you use the computer or the diary method, keep track of your progress and success will be waiting right around the corner. ~Aunt Millie

When Food Gives You Hives: Food Allergies

True food allergy (also known as food hypersensitivity) affects fewer than two out of every 100 people. Children are 2 to 3 times more likely that adults to be allergic to food, but many childhood allergies seem to disappear as the children grow older.
So, you may ask, why do I need to learn about food allergies? Good question. Here's the answer: Food allergies that do not disappear can trigger reactions ranging from trivial (a stuffy nose the next day) to the truly dangerous (respiratory failure). So it pays to know which foods do what.

What is a Food Allergy?
Your immune system is designed to protect your body from harmful invaders, such as bacteria. Sometimes, however, your immune system responds to substances that are normally harmless. A food allergy is just such a response - your body fighting back against specific proteins in foods.
Symptoms of an Allergic Reaction To Food
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Reactions:
Hives
Itching
Swelling of the face, tongue, lips, eyelids, hands, and feet
Rashes
Headache, migraine
Nausea and/or vomiting
Diarrhea, sometimes bloody
Sneezing, coughing
Asthma
Breathing difficulties caused by tightening (swelling) of tissues in the throat
Loss of consciousness (anaphylactic shock)
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Two kinds of allergic reactions
Your body may respond to an allergen immediately or later on.
Immediate reactions are more dangerous than delayed reactions because they involve a fast swelling of tissues. Immediate reactions may occur within seconds after eating, touching, or - in some cases- even smelling the offending food.

Delayed reactions may occur as long as 24 to 48 hours after you've been exposed to the offending food, and the reaction is likely to be much more mild, perhaps a slight nasal congestion caused by swollen tissues.

How an allergic reaction occurs
When you eat a food containing a protein to which you are allergic, (the allergen), your immune system releases antibodies that recognize just that specific allergen. The antibodies circulate through your body on white blood cells (basophils) that pass into all your body tissues where they bind to immune system cells, called mast cells.
Both basophils and mast cells produce, store, and release histamine, which causes the symptoms - itching, swelling, hives - associated with reactions. (That's why some allergy pills are called antihistamines.) When the antibodies carried by the basophils and mast cells come in contact with food allergens, boom! You have an allergic reaction.
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Allergy linggo

allergen. Any substance that sets off an allergic reaction.

anaphylaxsis: A potentially life threatening allergic reaction that involves many body systems.

antibody: A substance in your blood that reacts to an antigen.

antigen: A substance that stimulates an immune response; an allergen is an antigen.

basophil: A white blood cell that carries lgE and releases histamine.

ELISA: Short for enzyme linked immunosorbent assey; a trait used to determine the presence in your blood of antibodies, including antibodies to specific allergens.

histamine: The substance released by the immune system that provides symptoms or an allergic reaction such as itching and swelling.

intolerance: A nonallergic adverse reaction to food.

lgE: An abbreviation for immunoglobulin E, the antibody that reacts to allergens.

mast cell: A cell in body tissue that releases histamine.

RAST: An abbreviation for radioallergosorbent test, a blood test used to determine whether you are allergic to certain foods.

urticaria: The medical name for hives.
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Who gets food allergies?
A tendency to allergies (though no the particular allergy itself) is inherited. If one of your parents has a food allergy, your risk of having the same problem is two times higher than it would be if neither of your parents were allergic to foods. If both your mother and your father have food allergies, your risk is four times higher. People with food allergies are often allergic to other things, such as dust or pollen, as well.

Are food allergies dangerous?
They can be. While most allergic reactions are unpleasant but essentially mild, about 100 people die every year in the United States from an allergic reaction to food. These people have suffered anaphylaxsis, a rare but potentially fatal condition in which many different parts of the body react to an allergen in food (or some other allergen), creating a cascade of effects beginning with sudden, severe itching and moving on to swelling of the tissue in the air passages that can lead to breathing difficulties, falling blood pressure, unconsciousness, and death.

Identifying a Food Allergy
If you sprout hives or your skin itches or your eyelids, lips, and tongue begin to swell right after you've eaten a particular food, that's a clear sign of a food allergy. But some allergic reactions occur in milder form, many hours after you've eaten. To identify the culprit, your doctor may suggest an elimination diet.
This regimen removes from your diet foods known to cause allergic reactions in many people. Then, one at a time, the foods are added back. If you react to one, bingo! That's a clue to what triggers your immune response.
To be absolutely certain, your doctor may "challenge" your immune system by introducing foods in a form (maybe a capsule) that neither you nor he can identify as a specific food. This rules out any possibility that your reaction has been triggered by emotional stimuli - that is, seeing, tasting, or smelling the food.
Two more sophisticated tests - ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assayJ) and RAST (radioallergosorbent test) - can identify antibodies to specific allergens in your blood. But these two tests are rarely required.
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Elimination Diet
Because different people are sensitive to different foods, more than one elimination diet exists. The three listed here eliminate broad groups of foods known to cause allergic reactions in many people. Your doctor will pick the one that seems most useful for you.
Diet #1: No beef, pork, poultry, milk, rye, corn
Diet #2: No beef, lamb, rice, milk
Diet #3: No lamb, poultry, rye, rice, corn, milk
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Coping with food allergies
Once you know that you're allergic to a food, the best way to avoid an allergic reaction is to avoid the food. Unfortunately, the task may be harder than it sounds.
Some allergens are hidden ingredients in dishes made with other foods. For example, people allergic to peanuts have suffered serious allergic reactions after eating chili made with peanut butter. Rye bread may contain some wheat flour, which contains gluten, a protein that is a common food allergen.
Another problem is that you may not even have to eat the food to suffer an allergic reaction. People who react to seafood - fin fish and shellfish - are known to have developed respiratory problems after simply inhaling the vapors or steam produced by cooking the fish.
If you are a person with a potentially life-threatening allergy to food (or another allergen, such as wasp venom), your doctor may suggest that you carry a syringe pre-filled with epinephrine, a drug that counteracts the reactions. You may also wish to wear a tag that identifies you as a person with aserious allergic problem. One company providing these tags is Medic-Alert, a 40 year old firm located in Turlow, Ca. The telephone number is 1-900-633-4260.
The food industry takes food allergies so seriously that the National Restaurant Association has joined forces with the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology; the Food Allergy Network, and the International Food Information Council Foundation to keep people informed about food allergies.
You may want to visit the Web sites of the Food Allergy Network(http://www.Foodallergy.org) and the International Food Information Council Foundation (http://ificinfo.health.org) for more details on food allergies.

Foods most likely to cause allergic reactions
Here's something to chew on: Almost three quarters of all allergic reactions to food are caused by just three foods - eggs, milk, or peanuts. Of the three peanut allergies seem to be the most common - or at least peanut allergy cases make the newspapers most often.
People allergic to peanuts may break out in hives just from touching a peanut or peanut butter and suffer more serious reactions after imply tasting chocolate made in a factory where it had touched machinery that had previously touched peanuts.
Here is a list of 12 foods most likely to set off an allergic reaction.
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Berries, chocolate, corn, eggs, fish, legumes, milk, nuts, peaches and their relatives, pork, shellfish, and wheat.
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Other Body Reactions to Food
Allergic reactions aren't the only way your body registers a protest against certain foods.
Food intolerance is a term used to describe reactions that are common, natural, and fenitely not allergic, which means that these reactions do not involve production of antibodies by the immune system. Some common food intolerance reactions are:
A metabolic food reaction, which is an inability to digest certain foods, such as fat or lactose (the naturally occurring sugar in milk). Metabolic food reactions can produce gas, diarrhea, or other signs of gastric revolt and are an inherited trait.
A physical reaction to a specific chemical such as the laxative substance in prunes or mono sodium glutamate (MSG), the flavor enhancer commonly found in Asian food. While some people are more sensitive that others to these chemicals, their reaction is a physical one, not an allergy.
A body response to psychological triggers. When you are very fearful or very anxious or very excited, your body moves into hyperdrive, secreting hormones that pump up your heartbeat and respiration, speed the passage of food through your gut, and cause you to empty your bowels and bladder. The entire process called the "fight or flight" reaction, prepares your body to defend itself by either fighting or running. On a more prosaic level, a strong reaction to your food may cause diarrhea. It's not an allergy; it's your hormones.
A change in mood and/or behavior. Some foods, such as coffee, contain chemicals, such as caffeine, that have a real effect on mood and behavior, but that's for another blog. ~ Aunt Millie

Asparagus: The Harbinger of Spring

Egyptians were eating wild asparagus no bigger than a child's forefinger before the second pyramid was constructed at Gizeh, but the delicate stalks firmly resisted all efforts at cultivation along the Nile. It took Roman ingenuity to perform that agrarian miracle several centuries later.
The ancients doted on the flavor of this vernal vegetable. The Greek word "aspharagos" means as long as one's throat, a label, the pundits tell us, that was conferred on the slender spears because overeager diners often consumed them whole - in one fell swoop-at meal times. Soused with dressing, one hopes!
Asparagus is a harbinger of spring.
Or at least it was, before advanced agricultural technology and supersonic transport systems stuck their collective thumbs in the garden. Today fresh green asparagus may be found in metropolitan green groceries across the country from January to July - with varying levels of flavor and price.
France is home of the famous white asparagus. However, despite the delicacy of this remarkable spear, I tend to prefer the American varieties I was raised on, namely the smooth crowned Mary Washington, and the early blooming Paradise which, in the words of Alice B. Toklas, "should be no thicker than a darning needle when it is picked."
To a prejudiced palate like mine, the only true asparagus is marketed from early April, when the southwestern yield is harvested, until late June, when the bumper crops from the Northeast hit the vegetable stands.
When I purchase asparagus for a springtime orgy, I look for spears with straight stalks, uniform green color, and compact, pointed tips. The freshest asparagus will be crisp to the fingernail and usually no thicker than a fat crayon. But only the stalks with a scant inch of woody white fiber at the base, since that portion is trimmed off in the kitchen.
This nutritious vegetable is not only super-rich in vitamin A but equally endowed with vitamin B1, B2, and C. Asparagus is also a dieter's dream food: less than 35 calories per cup, cooked.

Preparation
Cooked asparagus may be served, hot or cold, as a vegetable first course or as an adjunct to the meal itself. French chefs have been known to substitute it for a salad course in a pinch, but you eschew that practice please! Asparagus is too distinctively flavored to cleanse the palate.
I never wash asparagus until after it is peeled, contrary to the advice you may have read elsewhere. Peeling is a necessity (unless the asparagus is pencil-slim and super fresh) because the tough outer flesh is hard to digest. Before peeling, break off and discard the bottom of each stalk at the point where it snaps off most easily. I never slice off the bottoms because, as with cut flowers, water enters more freely if the stalk is roughly torn.
Peel the asparagus stalks with a vegetable peeler, removing the scales and stringy skin, but stop at least an inch from the tips. Wash the peeled stalks in a large basin of cold water before they are to be cooked.
I always blanch asparagus, uncovered, in a large flat saucepan or deep skillet half filled with boiling salted water. My technique is to place the stalks loosely in the pan, allow the water to return to the boil, reduce the heat, and simmer 3 to 5 minutes or until just barely tender. Do not overcook! When the asparagus is cooked, place the pan under cold running water until the stalks are cool to the touch. Drain on paper towels before using.
To steam asparagus, place the spears upright, loose or tied in bunches of six to ten, in a deep pot or in the bottom of a double boiler. Add boiling water to a depth of 1 inch, plus salt if desired. Cover with a lid or with the inverted top of the double boiler. Cook over medium heat approximately 10 minutes. By this method, the tougher ends cook in water while the tender tips cook in steam.
A serving note: Most of these asparagus recipes are based on a serving of 1/2 pound per person. However, if you are serving more than one vegetable with dinner, 1/3 pound probably will suffice.
Asparagus was a springtime staple of the Roman diet almost two thousand years ago. Even then, chefs knew better than to overcook it. Food snoops tell us that whenever Emperor Augustus wished to terminate some unpleasant business at hand, he would proclaim: "Let it be done quicker than you would cook an asparagus!"

Asparagus a la Parmigiana
This classic from Emilia Romagna (in northern Italy) is served as an antipasto; before the true business of the mean begins. At my table, it makes a dandy accompaniment to roast meat or fowl.
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed, peeled
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Blanch the asparagus and drain it on paper towels. Arrange the asparagus in a shallow ovenproof serving dish.
2. Pour the melted butter over the asparagus. Sorubjke wutg sakt abd oeooer ti taste, Spoon the cheese evenly over the top. Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Serves 4

Note: Asparagus is one of a select bunch of garden greens that man has always seemed to invest with aphrodisiac powers. In nineteenth century France, for instance, convention decreed that a bridegroom's prenuptial dinner contain at least three courses of warm asparagus...Make of that what you will! ~Aunt Millie

Food and Feelings: Taming Emotional Eating

Our ancestors ate to survive; they ate because they were hungry or maybe to celebrate a victory over a warring tribe. Us? We eat because we're angry, bored, stressed, depressed, frustrated, watching a movie, busy, not busy enough, getting together with friends, or PO'd that the Lions lost. What we think of as an emotional reaction - where we substitute chocolate for a conversation, or ice cream for a bath, or chips for a punching bag - isn't always as much about character as it is about chemistry.
Chemical reactions take place in your body and stimulate hunger. Leptin and ghrelin are the joysticks that control our eating actions. But oftentimes, the physical action of eating can be triggered by emotions that coax us to wolf down the mustard-smothered dog. While emotions are the least understood part of the obesity issue, they're also a very real part of overeating for many people. Your hypothalamus is also part of your brain where your mind and body literally connect. As the bosom buddy of the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland sends chemicals to talk to the rest of the body. It's really where the whole weight-loss game is won and lost - this connection between physiological and psychological needs for eating.
As you well know, emotional eating isn't about reaching for celery. Rather, it's out of control, hedonistic eating (that often comes from your food memory), where we eat every cookie in the bag because they look good and taste even better. It's a craving, and usually for something that's starchy, sugary, salty, or loaded with fat. The following five brain chemicals are the ones that primarily influence our emotions, and not only do they provide the foundation for why we eat at certain times, but they're also the key chemicals to many of our current and future weight-loss drugs.
Intentionally, the intricate web of interactions that take place among these chemicals, and the non emotional effects are being left out. The intricacies of these interactions - fully understood by only a few people in the world - are real but not integral to your understanding of the science of emotions for eating. To deal with some of the emotions and stresses that lead to eating, you have to remember that the brain chemicals that influence our hunger and our moods are out "why" regulators of eating:
Norepinephrine: the caveman fight-or-flight chemical. It's what tells you to tangle with a saber-tooth or hightail it to the safety of your hut.
Serotonin: the James Brown of neurotransmitters. It makes you feel good and is a major target of anti depression drugs.
Dopamine: the brain's fun house. It's a pleasure-and-reward-system and is particularly sensitive to addictions. It's also the one that helps you feel no pain.
GABA(gamma-aminobutyric acid): the English Patient of amino acids. It makes you feel like a zombie and is one of the ways that anesthesia may work to reduce your responsiveness to the outside world.
Nitric Oxide: the meditation like chemical. It helps calm you. This powerful neuropeptide is usually a very short-lived gas that also relaxes the blood vessels of the body.
Note: When the level of serotonin in your brain fails, your body senses starvation, and to protect itself, starts craving carbs the way twelve-year olds crave Hillary Duff sightings. Serotonin levels plummet after you go too long without eating, and that prompts your bodily machine to fill itself with foods. Some have tried to keep their serotonin level up by supplementation with 5-HTP, the breakdown product of tryptophan that converts to and stimulates serotonin. In a six week study,a group of dieters using 5-HTP lost an average of twelve pounds, while a control group lost an average of four. Although one side effect of the supplement is nausea, about 90 percent of women taking 300 milligrams of 5-HTP reported satiety while on the diet.
Now, the real question is: What do all these chemicals have to do with whether or not you snack on a Hershey bar or a plum? Probably the best way to think about it is to use serotonin as an example. Picture your brain as a small pinball machine. You have millions of neurotransmitters that are sending messages to and from one another. When your serotonin transmitters fire the signals, they send the message throughout your brain that you feel good; this message is strongest when that feel-good pinball is frenetically bouncing around in your brain, racking up tons of yeah-baby points along the way. But when you lose the ball down the chute (that is, when cells in the brain take the serotonin and break it down), that love-the-world feeling you've just been experiencing is lost. So what does your brain do? Put another quarter in the machine and get another ball. For many of us, the next ball comes in the form of foods that naturally and quickly make us feel good, to counteract the drop in serotonin that we're feeling.
Unfortunately, the way we typically satisfy our urge to play another ball is to use the foods that provide an immediate rush of serotonin. That rush can come with a jolt of sugar: sugar stimulates the release of serotonin. Insulin facilitates serotonin production in the brain, which in turn boosts our mood, makes us feel better, or masks the stress, pain, boredom, anger, or frustration that we may be feeling. But serotonin is only one ball in play. You have all of these other chemicals fighting to send your appetite and cravings from bumper to bumper.
To see how the total picture works, think of these chemicals as parts of a scale. When the chemicals associated with positive feeling (like serotonin or dopamine) are in the up (or activated) position, you're chemically high. But when they've down, you experience a big chemical downfall. And this puts you in a state of anxiety that sends you searching for the chemical high. That's how illegal drugs work too; users keep seeking the high not always for its own sake but to avoid the lows. You're constantly fighting to get back to that place of neurochemical comfort. When these chemicals are high, your weight gets lower, and when they're lower, you reach for the foods that eventually make your weight higher.
That's the reason why what happens under your skull plays such a vital role in what happens under your belt. Knowing how your emotions can steer your desire to eat will help you to resist your cravings and, ideally, avoid them altogether. Your goal: Keep your feel good hormones level so that you're in a steady state of satisfaction and never experience huge hormonal highs and lows that make you search for good-for-your-brain-but-bad-for-your-waist foods.

Mood Foods
Recent research shows what many of us knew all along: Our moods dictate what we eat. Researchers studied the diets of people to show how personality and foods collide - how our moods may steer us to certain foods, on the basis of their physical characteristics. The study theorized that many moods send specific signals; for example, stressed adrenal glands could be sending salt-craving signals. So what does you favorite turn to food say about you?

If you reach for tough foods, like meat or hard, crunchy food - you might be feeling angry.
Sugars: Depression
Soft and sweet foods, like ice cream: Anxiety
Salty foods: Stress
Bulky fill you up foods like crackers and pasta: Lonesome, sexually frustrated
Anything and Everything: Jealous

Dieting Tips:
Work Food in Your Favor.
Foods all have different effects on your stomach, your blood, and your brain. These are some of the nutrients that may influence your hunger and the brain chemicals that affect it:
Turkey contains tryptophan, which increases serotonin to improve your mood and combat depression, and help you resist cravings for simple carbs.
Omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish, have long been known as brain boosters and cholesterol clearers, but they've also been shown convincingly to help with depression in pregnant women. Depression contributes to hedonistic and emotional eating. Since many of us have low omega-3 intake, it might explain some other instances of depression as well.

Savor the Flavor.
If you're going to eat something that's bad for you, enjoy it, savor it, roll it around your mouth. We suggest taking a piece of dark 70 percent cocoa chocolate and meditating-as a healthy stress reliever and as a way to reward yourself with something sweet. We're trying to find small ways to make you feel good and increase serotonin so you don't plummet and scavenge for anything you can find. It's Ok to eat bad foods - every once in a while. It's not the first piece that's going to make you fat; it's scarfing down the whole bag that will.

Go To Sleep.
Getting enough sleep keeps you thin. That's because when your body doesn't get the seven to eight hours of sleep it needs every night to get rejuvenated, it needs to find ways to compensate for neurons not secreting the normal amounts of serotonin or dopamine. The way it typically does that is by craving sugary foods that will give you an immediate release of serotonin and dopamine. The lack of sleep throws off your entire system - even increasing your levels of NPY, which increase your appetite. Lack of sleep can become an even bigger factor as you age. When you get older, the pineal gland in your brain produces less of the sleep hormone melatonin, resulting in a craving for carbohydrates. ~Aunt Millie

The Creative Cook - You

Picture yourself as a happy cook doing what you love best: preparing a great dinner. You are not anxiously scrutinizing your cookbook every few seconds to make sure you're following the instructions to the letter. Nor are you robotically generating dishes you've made so many times you could churn them out in your sleep. Instead, you're engaged in a kind of improvisational dance - smelling, stirring, tasting, adjusting. All your senses are fully engaged.
If you aspire to be a more skillful cook, there are thousands of sources you can turn to for recipes and technical advice. But if you want to be a more "intuitive" cook - the kind who can whip up a delicious dinner from the seemingly incongruous ingredients on hand or know instantly that the soup needs a jolt of lemon - there are ways you can learn to trust your own imagination and taste. Instead of following recipes, you can shrug off your inhibitions.
Start by experimenting. If you're a creature of habit who turns to the same seasonings every time you prepare a particular food - roast chicken, say, or grilled asparagus - try changing one ingredient. Replace rosemary with thyme, or olive oil with hazelnut oil. Your goal is just to begin tasting, smelling, paying attention - and to observe what happens when certain flavors collide.
Okay, but let's say you don't even know where to begin guessing what flavors might work well together. Don't despair. For help and inspiration, go to Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, authors of "The Flavor Bible," an innovative guide to the many different ways you can combine ingredients without resorting to recipes. They've compiled a list of 600 plus food entries, arranged alphabetically (from achiote seeds to zucchini blossoms). Underneath each food, they've included a list of complementary ingredients, or "flavor affinities," that pair well with it - from herbs and spices to nuts and meats. Page and Dornenburg begin by explaining the basic principles of balancing tastes like salty, sweet, bitter, and sour. But mainly, they encourage you to experiment.
The key is to build on what you already know - and like. If you've roasted pork chops with apples before - a classic combination that marries the richness and slight astringency of the pork with the sweetness of the fruit - you may decide to grill or roast the chops with a different fruit (like peaches), and drizzle some balsamic vinegar on top. You might discover this combination in the book, which lists peaches and balsamic vinegar as flavor affinities for pork chops - or you might eventually come up with it by intuition, or by finding it on a restaurant menu.
Another strategy is to repurpose ingredient combinations that are already familiar to you - asparagus with Fontina cheese and ham, for example. Instead of serving them the same way you always do (in a salad, perhaps), use those ingredients to make a sandwich or a pasta sauce (saute the asparagus with diced ham, then grate the Fontina over the hot pasta at the last second).
Researching the book, says Page - a lifelong food scholar, and Harvard MBA - meant excavating information that existed only "in the heads of chefs."
"Our goal was to collect it, synthesize it, and put it out there in a form that people can access," she says. Adds Dornenburg, coauthor (with Page) of six previous food books, including "Culinary Artistry" and "What to Drink with What You Eat" - and a former chef at Biba in Boston: "Almost every dish I've been cooking my whole life, I now have new ideas for."
To illustrate how flavor affinities can evolve into actual dishes, we started with several familiar, versatile ingredients (shrimp, potatoes, asparagus, lamb, pork) and created recipes around them, using suggested pairings from "The Flavor Bible." Whether you prefer to follow these recipes or just use them to jump start your own culinary forays, remember the first principle of creative cooking. Pay more attention to the flavors than to the instructions. And be ready to make adjustments - for instance, adding extra sugar if a fruit called for is not in season.
With practice, you'll learn to trust your senses as much as, if not more than, a recipe in a book. Before long, you'll find that the culinary authority you turn to most often for ideas and inspiration is - yourself.~reprinted from Oprah Magazine, April, 2009

Shrimp: Slightly sweet with a mild brininess, shrimp makes a lovely match for a whole range of ingredients. Salty bacon is a classic counterpart, as is spicy cocktail sauce. Combine in an arugula sald with honey-glazed bacon wrapped shrimp.

Asparagus: Asparagus has a pleasantly sharp flavor that balances nicely with the richer taste and texture of ingredients like cheese, ham and egg-yolk based sauces such as hollandaise. Try a roasted asparagus salad with goat cheese and toasted bread crumbs to highlight that contrast and use lemon zest and sea salt for added zing.

Pork: This meat is a staple of diets worldwide, so it's no wonder there are thousands of recipes for it - from Sichuan dumplings flavored with ginger, sesame, and soy sauce to Mexican posole stews made with cumin, oregano, and chipotle peppers. Pork has a slightly astringent taste that pairs well with the sweet tart flavors of barbecue sauce. Try barebecued pork chops with red caggage slaw.

You are the star chef in your own kitchen - get started and create your own five star recipes. ~ Aunt Millie

Vegetarianism or The Vegan Life

Once upon a time vegetarians were regarded as really strange people. Today, vegetarianism is common place and, it turns out, pretty good medicine, too. Vegetarianism isn't a single diet. At least three basic variations exist.

1) A diet for people who don't eat meat, but do eat fish and poultry or just fish.
2) A diet for people who don't eat meat, fish, or poultry, but do eat other animal products such as eggs and dairy products. Vegetarians who follow this regimen are called ovo-lacto vegetarians (ovo = egg, lacto = milk).
3) A diet for people who eat absolutely no foods of animal origin. These vegetarians, who eat only plant foods, are called vegans.

The first two kinds of vegetarianism - no meat, but some poultry or fish, no meat, but lots of dairy products - are completely safe from a nutritional standpoint because they contain enough different kinds of food to supply every nutrient your body needs.
A totally vegetarian diet - no meat, no poultry, no dairy foods - can be a bit dicey. It has no vitamin B12, a nutrient found only in foods from animals. Without some animal foods, it may be difficult to get enough calcium and iron. True, many plants have both minerals, but in forms your body may find hard to absorb. And unless you combine foods correctly, your proteins won't be "complete". Of course, these "problems" are not insurmountable obstacles to good nutrition. With a little care and juggling, it is possible to get all the nutrients you need from a vegetarian diet. Juggle your foods intelligently, and you can definitely end up with a well balanced diet that:

1) Makes losing weight easy without feeling deprived (plants are low-fat, which means low-calorie)
2) Reduces your risk of some kinds of cancer (those wonderful antioxidant chemicals in plants)
3) Lowers your risk of heart disease (plants have absolutely no cholesterol)

So bring on the carrots! Stir up the rice and beans! ~Aunt Millie

Creating an Activity Plan for Fitness

Regular exercise helps decrease fat mass while building and maintaining muscle mass - key elements in a weight management plan. Research shows that incorporating exercise into your lifestyle can increase your metabolism. Exercise can make you look better and feel better, as well as prevent a range of health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, colon cancer, osteoporosis and arthritis.
I takes time and patience to change from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one. "The Fidget Factor," a term coined by nationally known sports nutritionist Nancy Clark, M.S., R.D., refers to the fact that any activity is better than none. Here are some simple ways you can help with the transition: stand, don't sit, avoid elevators and take the stairs, move in your chair, ride a stationary bike while watching TV, or use weights on your wrists and move your arms.

What is fitness?
Total fitness has three components:

Aerobic Endurance: The ability to take in, deliver, and efficiently utilize oxygen in the body over a sustained period of time.

Muscle Strength, Endurance and Tone: Muscle strength is the ability of a muscle to exert force for a brief period of time. Muscle endurance is the muscle's ability to exert force repeatedly or sustain a muscular contraction for a period of time. Muscle tone refers to the readiness of a muscle to respond to action. This readiness is directly related to the firmness of the muscle.

Flexibility: The ability of muscles, joints, and tendons to move through their full range of motion to allow free movement.

When designing your personal fitness plan, you must take into consideration 3 key elements for each type of exercise:

Duration: How long you exercise
Frequency: How often you exercise
Intensity: How hard you are working

Your Personal Fitness Prescription

Set realistic goals: Just as it is important to take weight off slowly, getting into shape should be a gradual process. The longer you've been inactive, the longer you will need to reach your desired fitness level. By setting realistic, achievable goals, you will find success and positive reinforcement with each passing week.

Record your progress: Tracking your training program helps you to evaluate the positive effects of exercise. Record the length of time of your exercise sessions as well as your heart rate to see improvements in endurance and intensity. Measuring your body not only on the scale, but in inches around the waist, thighs, buttocks and arms will indicate gains in muscle mass and loss of body fat.

Start slow and easy: Working out 10 minutes three times a week is an easier way to start than jumping into a 40 minute workout 4 times a week. Start at a moderate intensity level that leaves you feeling good afterward (and avoids injury) and gradually work up to a higher intensity or duration.

Do activities you enjoy: If you have to force yourself on the rowing machine each day, you aren't likely to continue your plan in the long run. Convenience and fun are the keys to incorporating activity into your life forever. Find activities that don't require extra special effort to get involved in (the guy is an hour trip, the local pool is only open three days of the week) and most of all, have fun!

Find a support group or exercise partner: Finding someone to exercise with even once in a while will help get you out the door on days you might not be as motivated. It's always harder to say no when someone else is expecting you to be there.

Add variety: Incorporating more than one type of activity into your fitness plan makes it more interesting and you also reduce your risk of injury by exercising more muscle groups. The TYPE of exercise you do determines what components of fitness you will influence.

Remember to choose activities you like, take it slow, and enjoy the benefits increased fitness can offer.

Aerobic Exercise - The Ultimate Fat Burning Activity

Exercise is considered aerobic if it uses the large muscle groups of the body, is rhythmic in nature, raises the heart rate into the Target Heart Rate range (60-85% Maximum Heart Rate, see chart) and involves between 20 and 60 minutes of continuous activity. When working within your Target Heart Rate range, your breathing will be fairly labored, however, you should still be able to carry on a conversation. Of particular interest to dieters is the fact that aerobic exercise burns fat and elevates metabolic rates both during exercise and for hours afterwards.

Target Heart Rate Range
Your Age Number of beats in 10 seconds
20-29 21-28
30-39 20-27
40-49 19-26
50-59 17-24
60-69 16-23

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends the following aerobic activities to improve aerobic endurance:
Brisk walking, jogging or running (outdoor or treadmill), cycling, swimming, aerobic dancing, rowing, and cross country skiing.

Duration: Beginners should start with 10-20 minutes of aerobic exercise eventually building up to 30-60 minutes of activity to maintain cardiovascular health, increase metabolism and burn calories.

Frequency: A minimum of three days per week is necessary to improve aerobic endurance. Increase to 4-5 days per week during active weight loss to boost calorie expenditure and help get over plateaus. Maintain fitness with 3-5 days of aerobic exercise.

Intensity: Beginners should start at the low end of the Target Heart Rate range, slowly working up as you become more fit.

Weight Training

Weight lifting and calisthenics are easy, effective ways to increase muscle strength, endurance and tone. Muscle tissue burns more energy than fat tissue. Increasing muscle mass leads to a higher metabolism and greater calorie expenditure even while resting.

A weight training program provides variety, helps maintain muscle mass while decreasing fat, improves strength and helps you to perform daily activities more efficiently.

Weight training does not necessarily mean "bulking up" - you can individualize your plan with the amount of weight, the number of repetitions ("reps") and the number of sets of each exercise. Eat lift, or muscle contraction, is referred to as a repetition; a series of repetitions is called a "set."

Duration: Beginners should start with 2-3 sets of exercises involving the thighs, shoulders and arms.

Frequency: Allow 1-2 days rest in between weight training sessions to let muscles recover.

Intensity: Start with lighter weights and increase weight as it becomes easier to do repetitions. (Increase strength by using heavier weights for fewer reps; muscle endurance and tone is enhanced by using lighter weights for more reps).

Weight Training Pointers

DO:

Concentrate, at least initially, on only a few key muscle groups. Use exercises that target those muscles in the shoulders, arms, and thighs that are most important for improving your normal, everyday activities. Wait until after you've gained strength and endurance if you want to move beyond these muscle groups.

Begin each session with several repetitions without a weight. This helps stretch that muscle group.

Perform all strength-building movements slowly, making sure the targeted joint has been put through its entire range of motion.

Breathe properly. With each repetition, inhale before you lift, exhale as you lift, and inhale again as you slowly lower the weight to its beginning position.

Take your time. Each repetition should take 6 to 9 seconds to complete. Rest for a few seconds between each lift.

Stay with the appropriate weight. The appropriate amount of weight for you is the amount you can lift between 8 and 12 times, after which your muscles are too tired to continue.

Don't:

Swing a weight fast or bounce at the end of the movement.

Attempt to speed up a workout. It's dangerous. Even if you don't injure yourself, you'll find that you're unduly fatigued at the end.

Hold your breath during a repetition. It increases pressure in your chest, which can impair the normal flow of blood through the heart. End result: you feel dizzy or faint.

Exercise the same muscle groups more than once a day. You must allow your muscles sufficient time to recover.

Substitute heavier weights than you can comfortably lift, thinking you can just do fewer repetitions and speed up your workout.

Flexibility Exercise

A total fitness program needs to incorporate stretching. This helps prevent muscle and joint injuries, relieves muscle soreness caused by over activity, improves posture and maintains strength for better overall athletic performance.

Flexibility naturally decreases with age, but a regular stretching program can significantly slow down this process.

The most highly recommended stretching technique for individuals is the static stretch, which gradually lengthens muscles through the joint's range of motion for maximum flexibility. Each stretch should be done slowly, without the aid of momentum, and held for 15 to 30 seconds before being gradually released back to the starting position. Special attention should be paid to hip, lower back and thigh muscles, as well as stretches for the entire body.

Stretching Pointers

Stretching is not quite as easy and straightforward as it may seem. Here are some tips to insure that your stretching session doesn't go awry and actually cause an injury.

Do Stretch:

Ever so slowly. Quick, abrupt, jerky movements can cause injury and won't accomplish the task of lengthening your muscles and strengthening joint connective tissue.

By holding each position between 5 and 30 seconds.

As far as your agility allows. Try to perform as complete a movement as possible, even if it's difficult for you. You'll be surprised at the progress you make toward being able to perform all of the stretches in our illustrations.

Don't Stretch:

By curving your spine. Always keep your back as straight as possible. Back flexing (bending) can trigger an injury in people prone to back trouble. This can be especially problematic in women with a tendency to osteoporosis.

If you feel a sharp pain. Stop and give the aching muscle a couple days of rest. If the pain was so sharp that you think you pulled a muscle - or a joint continues to hurt long after your stretching session - consult your doctor or other trained professional.

These are all good tips and guidelines to follow. If possible, consult a professional trainer to help you through your paces and put you on the right track. It might be a bit pricey to start with, but they are trained and can help you if you are approaching exercise incorrectly. And always use common sense. Your body will let you know if something is wrong - pay strict attention to it. ~ Aunt Millie

Fueling Up With Dairy

Many Americans - including First Lady Michelle Obama- are increasingly concerned about the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. That's why the National Dairy Council and the National Football League (NFL) are joining the First Lady's cause by teaming up to tackle the issue head on with the Fuel Up to Play 60 Program.
"We've been involved in nutrition and school education for generations, and when we saw the obesity epidemic hit children, we wanted to do something about it," explains Jean Ragalie, a registered dietitian and the Executive Vice President of Dairy Health and Wellness for the National Dairy Council.
"We thought it was critically important to partner with the NFL to address both aspects of keeping kids healthy: what they eat and how active they are," she says. "Together, the National Dairy Council and the NFL created Fuel Up to Play 60, an in-school, interactive program that encourages children to choose nutrient-rich foods and participate in 60 minutes of physical activity each day.
As part of the program, students can visit the interactive Fuel Up to Play 60 website, which features fun, down loadable tools and resources to help them eat healthier and be more active. They can also play online games and track their behaviors and progress, as well as engage through social media - including blogs and virtual worlds. The program also includes grants for eligible schools, as well as free wellness activation kits.
"We want to show kids they can perform better when they can perform better when they're healthier, both in class and on the playground or sports field," says Jean. "Too many kids are overfed but under-nourished and under exercised. We want to change that."
A large part of the program focuses on working with parents and schools to make sure kids have access to nutrient-rich foods, including low-fat and fat-free dairy, fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
"Dairy products really deliver a powerful nutritional punch," says Jean. "Whether it's chocolate or white milk, cottage cheese, yogurt or cheese, dairy is a good source of protein, carbohydrates and 7 or 8 distinct nutrients."

Dairy Fun Facts
You probably already know that milk, cheese, yogurt and eggs pack a powerful nutritional punch, including healthy doses of calcium, vitamin D and protein. But there are a few other fun facts that may surprise you.
-The average American eats more than 31 pounds of cheese each year, and will consume about 1 ton of cheese during a lifetime.
- Foods rich in choline and betaine (including eggs) may help reduce the risk of inflammation associated with diseases including cardiovascular disease, bone loss and dementia.
- Eggs provide 13 essential vitamins and minerals, healthy unsaturated fats, antioxidants and all 9 essential amino acids.
- About 240 million laying hens produce approximately 5.5 billion dozen eggs per year in the United States.
- Eggs are good for your eyes because they contain lutein, which helps prevent age-related cataracts and muscular degeneration.
- It takes 7 quarts (12 pounds) of milk to make 1 pound of ice cream.
- Milk contains 9 essential nutrients: calcium, protein, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin B12, potassium, riboflavin, niacin, and phosphorous.
- The best sources of calcium are milk, yogurt, and cheese. About 72% of the calcium inthe U.S. food supply comes from dairy foods.
- 1 cup of milk has the same amount of calcium as 3 and a half cups of broccoli.

Emjoy these fun facts and add more dairy into your diet, but do so wisely. Dairy can be high in calories and fat. Intake must be monitored to avoid packing on extra pounds if you ingest too much dairy. Opt for lower fat varieties like skim or low fat milks, low fat cottage cheeses, and low fat cheeses. And exercise is always key to burning off unnecessary calories. ~ Aunt Millie