the Click Factor

Have you been reading the recent and provocative scientific research on weight loss and obesity? Researchers have found that certain intestinal bacteria may contribute to being overweight, and that oral bacteria may either contribute to or be the result of weight gain. Expect to read lots more research in the upcoming months. Some of it will explain why some people can seemingly eat very little food and gain weight, while others can eat with abandon and never gain a pound.
It could be that different people metabolize calories differently, that lifestyle and biological factors are highly important in weight gain. Soon experts will find unique weight loss solutions that have little to do with calories. Until then, eat 0-5, exercise lavishly, and eat wholesome foods, avoiding processed foods as much as you can. I'm excited to learn more.
Below is an article I wrote for a local Salt Lake magazine, The Catalyst. I think you'll enjoy it.
Have you ever counted how many clicks you make in a day? For most of us, it could be thousands. Clicking. You need just one, claims Amazon.com to purchase your books, but you'll need many more clicks to do some research on Google, to check your email, or to send a text message. And beyond that, millions to develop a website, and millions more to maintain one.
Clicking is everywhere. It's moved beyond the privacy of your home or seclusion of your office to the TRAX, ballgames, the lunch counter, the car, and, oh, yes, public restrooms. It's amazing that in our super high-speed information age, the click drives commerce, communications, relationships, parenting, and booking a ticket on the airlines.
Clicking is far more than keying, although keying is included. It's using the "mouse" to navigate – around the world. It's become the sound of life, just like your heartbeat or breath.
After emailing in my manuscript in June to my editor in Indianapolis, I had click fatigue. I was weary of hearing clicks, of doing clicks, of all the sitting in front of a screen so I could click and click, and … click. No, I didn't have the desire to revert to snail mailing in "typed manuscripts"; I just wanted a week of no clicks, which I found is virtually impossible.
A week later on vacation in Paris, I found myself addicted to checking email and my iGoogle page. I didn't want to leave my iPhone in the apartment because its Maps feature is superb for walking directions. But, the urge to "check-in" a couple times a day was powerful. It was as if I had let clicking become part of my fun. It may have interfered a bit with my ability to experience the ambience of the food, the people, the cafes, and the stunning views.
Back home, I decided to find ways to decompress and detox from all the clicks. Don't laugh – the following activities work to balance your body, mind, and hunched shoulders from all those clicks. They soothe the click muscles, posture, eyestrain, and even mental or brain fatigue.
When working at the computer, look away every 15 minutes. Focus your eyes out the window or at something further away than the screen, preferably soothing or interesting. This reduces eyestrain.
Every half hour, take a stretch break. Stand up, wiggle, touch your toes, do side bends, twist to look over one shoulder then the other. Shrug your shoulders to loosen tight shoulders.
Do eye exercises. Circle your eyes several times in one direction, then in the other. Move your eyes far to the left, then the right. Focus on a close object, then one far away.
Do aerobic exercise or walking – sans texting – to balance all the sitting in front of the screen.
Get outside. Go for a walk, eat lunch in the park, or hike. You can also do some gardening, or housework like laundry and dusting.
Play games that are not computer games, such as bridge, or poker. The WiiFit is on a computer, but you get to move and laugh as you and your friends compete on the giant slalom or bowling.
Do other games, such as crosswords and Sudoku on real paper with a pencil, or a pen if you are daring.
Read a book the old-fashioned way – one that's printed on paper, where you physically turn the pages.
Pick up the phone and call someone in lieu of responding by email.
Take a drive on a country road or into a nature area.
Vacation where there's no cell phone coverage. You can find many such places in Southern Utah at the fabulous National Parks. Many of the hotels offer free wireless, but you'll seldom see someone texting as they take in the beauty of Zions National Park.
Notice I wrote this column by clicking. Clicking is here to stay. Too much clicking can interfere with your fun and wellness. To stay in balance, manage your clicking so you get the most benefit with the least stress and optimal wellness.
Have a great summer, Lucy at www.lucybeale.com.





Lucy Beale
Author, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss and
The Complete Idiot's Guide Glycemic Index Cookbook
www.Lucybeale.com, http://lucybeale-weight-loss.blogspot.com/
801-501-8240

Glycemic Index weight loss-plantar fasciitis-fragrances

Update: in my last newsletter I told you I was feeling fat. Clothes were tight. And I told you I’d update you in the next newsletter as to my techniques and progress. I’m about ¾ of the way to my skinniest waist ever. Without dieting, because as we know dieting doesn’t work. Calories in, calories burned never worked for me. In fact, I think it only works for personal trainers and researchers. Since I don’t weigh myself, I can’t give you pound-by-pound information, only that my waist is down about 2-3 inches. Here’s what I did:

Stopped eating starches with the rare exception of French fries and chocolate cake – but only if it was offered to me - as in a restaurant dessert tray.

Paid attention to what I was putting into my mouth. Since I’m in the process of writing a new book, I am careful not to eat mindlessly when words fail me or when they challenge me.

Use the Inversion Table (in my exercise space) almost every day. This stretches the spine and feels great.

Started using my weight loss affirmation, “I, Lucy, am now a naturally thin person. I wear a size 6 and I do what thin people do” often

And started keeping a food diary.

I still have about 1 inch yet to lose and I’ll send you my results in my next newsletter.

OK, I have solved my plantar fasciitis (tight foot ligaments and muscles) situation. About 95%. The 5% is that I still need to tape my foot if I go hiking. But that is minor. I am using the Body Rolling foot balls every day (Hi-Bounce Pinky balls) or so under my feet to roll the muscles loose. (Use the process described on page 131 of The Ultimate Body Rolling Workout book by Yamuna Zake.) Before you try this, know it hurts. But a bit of discomfort for a day of foot heaven is so worth it. When we were in Fort Collins, CO we visited our favorite outdoors store, Jax, which is probably the best in the country. They have a VAST shoe selection. The shoe specialist said the best shoes for plantar fasciitis are MBT shoes. They are outrageously expensive. But, aahhh. They work, though unusual. You can find some on sale on the Internet.

To keep your memory sharp, take a walk in a wooded or nature area, not just on a city sidewalk. Research shows that nature walks improve memory by 20% over folks who walk in other settings.

Most surprising news: fragrances contain hormone disruptors. The researchers tested the perfume, Eternity, and found that 10% is phthalates. That means that all that perfume I’ve sprayed on all these years – lured by those gorgeous advertisements - were disrupting my hormones. The fragrance problem isn’t just in perfume, it’s in laundry detergent, laundry fabric softeners, most nail polishes, shower gel, some shampoo and conditioner. The manufacturers don’t need to add phthalates to the ingredient list – instead it’s included as a fragrance. Also, candles, incense, room fresheners, and fragrance diffusers are unhealthy for all of us, but especially for children, who live closer to the carpets and floors. The fragrances dispel downwards and are most concentrated near the floor.

Good news: a terrific facial moisturizer for dry skin is organic shea butter. It’s totally natural – no petrochemicals. I love it. Also soothing for mosquito bites (I’m a mosquito magnet) and doesn’t have any fragrance added. I buy online at www.shea4me.com. A big tub lasts forever. Your health food store may sell it.

I have updated my website to include my new Glycemic Index Cookbook. I create 315 recipes for you that are delicious and interesting. Most of them are low glycemic and great for health and wellness. Superb if you want to lose weight or need to eat for such health conditions as diabetes or autoimmune disorders. At www.lucybeale.com.

Wishing you a fabulous June,

Lucy Beale
Author, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss and
The Complete Idiot's Guide Glycemic Index Cookbook
www.Lucybeale.com, http://lucybeale-weight-loss.blogspot.com/
801-501-8240

Glycemic Index is healing and soothing- reduces inflammation

Weight Loss, Stress Reduction, Better Skin, Higher Muscle Mass, Lower Body Fat, Lower Inflammation, Manage Blood Sugar Levels, Increase Stamina, Manage Diabetes, reduce the risk of chronic health concerns such as autoimmune disorders, high blood pressure, heart disease, and even cancer. Eating based on the glycemic index offers all these benefits and more. The bottom line on the glycemic index way of eating is that it’s healing and soothing.

What’s not to like about eating based on the glycemic index? Rumor has it that it’s complicated. But that’s only a rumor. In our book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss, my coauthor, Joan, and I present two options: Keep It Simple and the Traditional Method. Both work. And they can be combined so that you can tailor a program to meet your lifestyle.

My personal program is to eat vegetables, fruit, meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, nuts, seeds, olive oil, and butter. Then I can afford eat a high-glycemic food, such as a dessert, bread, or a white potato 3 or 4 times a week, usually at dinner. Sometimes I overdo the high-glycemic foods at parties or on vacations. At those times I feel the difference and correct my food selections when necessary.

If you prefer to eat whole grains, pastas, and more starches than I do, then figuring your glycemic load per day is important along with keeping track of your food intake.

Either way, you’re going to enjoy the healing and soothing benefits.

Ouch, my foot - plantar fasciitis

While writing my books this summer (in bookstores in Feb and Mar 09), I pulled a ligament under my right foot by wrapping my legs and foot oddly and intensely around my desk chair daily for months. When the ligament finally pulled, I couldn’t walk for the pain. And I certainly couldn’t hike. In July, my chiropractor said he couldn’t help and sent me to a podiatrist, who gave me a cortisone shot, told me there was no way to improve the condition naturally, and that I’d be back for more of those shots. I didn’t like that shot, but my foot did feel better about 3 days later.

On a trip to Sedona AZ in August, I had a foot reflexology massage. Aahhh! I left with the recommendation to massage my foot with arnica oil daily and in a 6 months my foot could be better. Back home in Utah I started seeing a foot reflexologist/sacral cranial massage therapist. She is wonderful and had me walking mostly pain free until I visited San Francisco in October and walked and walked until my foot pain returned. I purchased shoes at the Merrell store (wonderful shoes) on Union Square and wrapped my foot with athletic tape. Which got me through 2 more days of walking all over the city without tears.

Notice no professional had yet mentioned exercise. Finally, I walked into a shoe store – The Gallery – in Mobile, Alabama in late October. At this chatty, small, friendly shoppe, one customer mentioned how exercises were improving her heel spurs. Within minutes, she and the shoppe owner were standing at the desk demonstrating foot stretches to me.

I felt sort of stupid for not researching exercises earlier, but later that day, on my iPhone, I found exercises that really work. Here are the sites: http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/plantar-fasciitis-exercise.html and http://www.revolutionhealth.com/healthy-living/fitness/injuries/other-injuries/reduce-plantar-fascitis. The exercise that I resist the most, or in other words, the exercise my foot needs the most is stretching my upper back thighs in numerous challenging positions. Ouch, then aahhh.

Here’s what I learned: that lots of folks have foot pain – it’s more common than I ever thought. That foot reflexology/sacral cranial massage has numerous benefits and feels so good that this luxury quickly becomes a necessity. That exercise can heal what I messed up – hurrah. All this makes me forever grateful to exercise.

Wishing you happy, healthy, and pleasurable walking.

Lucy




Lucy Beale
Author, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss
www.Lucybeale.com, http://lucybeale-weight-loss.blogspot.com/
801-501-8240

Low-Glycemic Eating at the Farmer's Market

Often readers tell me that eating low-glycemic is too technical and complicated. It really isn't, as our trip to the Farmer's Market in San Francisco last weekend illustrates. The market offers unique foods and many low-glycemic treats. We nibbled our way across aisles filled with a large array of ripe succulent fruit, vegetables, and other locally-produced foods. Low-glycemic samples included fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, and dried fruit. The Honey-Orange Almonds were medium glycemic as were the small bites of dark-chocolate covered toffee. Although both were made with honey or sugar, none of the ingredients were high-glycemic, so the food itself was in the medium category. (Sugar is medium glycemic.) The bread samples were high-glycemic. Once you add white or finely-ground whole wheat flour to a recipe, it most likely is high-glycemic, or close to it.

I purchased dried orange slices and plan to order dried lemon slices online. They were tangy, refreshing, and low-glycemic. We couldn't sample the unusual varieties of legumes as they were uncooked. But I plan to purchase them later for winter soups. If I can't find them in Salt Lake, I'll order them online. Legumes are low-glycemic.

For lunch, we ordered Dungeness Crab deviled eggs at the Market Bar. The low-glycemic deviled eggs came heaped with crab and topped with a tangy Louis dressing. They gave us enough high-quality protein endurance to enjoy a couple more hours at the market. After this light lunch, we sampled salami slices flavored with orange zest and fennel seeds – another low-glycemic high protein snack. Meats, nuts, seafood, and eggs have a zero glycemic value because they don't contain carbohydrates.

Towards late afternoon, I purchased two thin crisp chocolate chip cookies – they were made with flour, so most likely they were high-glycemic. If they contained enough butter or fat, they could have been medium-glycemic, but when it comes to dessert-type foods with viturally no nutritional value, I figure they're high-glycemic.

Our local Farmer's Market doesn't come close to the grandeur of San Francisco's. But I'm resolved to shop ours more frequently to eat more local produce and support our local farmers. A local grocery store here in Salt Lake sells locally grown produce. It just tastes better.

Eating low-glycemic is easy if you know the basics - fruit, vegetables, eggs, nuts, seeds, legumes, meat, seafood, poultry, butter, and olive oil are low-glycemic. That list gives you plenty of options for preparing wonderful meals and feasts.

fat gene - petrochemical detox - renew from stress

Were you born with the “fat” gene? If so, read on. The good news is that you can override it – by doing 3-4 hours of body movement every day. In addition to your ideal one hour of exercise daily, add body movement: walk, take the stairs, park at the outer regions of the grocery store parking lot. (Like you I wish that keying and screen time is considered active, but it’s not.) Doing 3-4 hours of body movement daily requires a big lifestyle change. But it’s probably worth it for all of us – regardless of our genes.

During a week of breathing in smoke from a very nearby forest/mountain fire, I re-ignited by petrochemical allergies. I was super uncomfortable sitting near someone wearing strong perfume, breathing in the fumes of tiki lamps at an outdoor party, and so on. The next week I searched for hours to find a viable way to detox from petrochemicals and get desensitized so I could more easily live in the world. Here’s what I found and what is working (fingers crossed): take hot baths with Epsom salts frequently or daily and take 200 mcg of selenium daily. Infrared saunas and vigorous exercise help sweat out toxins. If you want to learn more about selenium, google “selenium protocol.” I’m 10 days into my program and I see and feel a difference, but the selenium protocol works slowly – over about 2 months. Supposedly I’ll get to the point where cigarette smoke doesn’t bother me. That’ll be the day!!! I’ll keep you posted. If you have any suggestions, please send them to me.

Stress is so fattening. I’m teaching at a couple conferences this fall on stress and have found a new way to decompress and renew: do what you loved doing as a child. Did you love riding bikes? You can do that now. I loved playing in the woods near our house in Ohio. Today, hiking is similar and as much fun. One friend liked playing with her dolls - today she’s a national director with Mary Kay “playing” with makeup and skin care and working in collaboration with many women.

Think back. Did you like games, the guitar, reading novels, playing house? Find ways to translate that into your life today, and do it often. You’ll feel renewed and your stress will dissolve.

Late-breaking health news- BPA in plastics such as water bottles, baby teething toys, and more is now linked to diabetes and heart disease. You can read the details at http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=5809117&page=1

Wishing you all the best,


Lucy Beale
Author, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss
www.Lucybeale.com
801-501-8240

Low GI recipe: Kiwi and Tomato Salad

The fresh basil and flavored vinegar impart a colorful summery-Mediterranean flavor to this simple salad. It's very low glycemic.

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes

2 large ripe tomatoes, sliced
2 kiwi , peeled and sliced
2 TB. coarsely chopped fresh basil
2 TB. olive oil
1 TB. flavored vinegar, your choice. I used a sweet wine vinegar infused with lavendar.
2 TB. shredded Parmesan

1. On a serving platter, arrange tomato and kiwi slices, alternating them.
2. Sprinkle basil on slices. Sprinkle on olive oil, vinegar and Parmesan.