Lucy's Letter-April 08

What's your wiggle factor? The very activities that may have gotten you
in trouble in grade school are much applauded today. Why?
Because the more you wiggle, fidget, and have trouble sitting still,
the thinner you are. Yes, researchers have found that people who
can't stand to sit still for long actually burn more calories just
sitting.

If your wiggle factor is low, you can change it. Start with daily exercise. As you body becomes accustomed to more movement, you'll find that sitting for too long makes you restless - whether you're watching TV, having screen time, sitting in meetings. You'll want to stand up and stretch. shift in your chair, and find things to do with your hands. Finally you'll be rewarded for not being able to sit still for long.

Last month I received a two-book deal from my publisher, Penguin, (wonderful and fun) and I've been sitting at the computer and writing for long hours at a time for weeks. Even though I'm writing about weight loss and wellness, book writing is sedentary and intense. It's easy to think that just a little more chocolate will help. The combination of deadlines, creative stress, coordinating with my co-author, long hours in front of the screen make it hard to keep extra pounds at bay. What helps most is getting up and moving, doing cross crawls, going for a walk or doing the Tibetan exercises. Encourages more blood flow to the brain.

What do you do to avoid the sedentary non-wiggling life? Respond to this question at my blog where I'll also post this newsletter. That way, others on my list can read your suggestions and perhaps you can pick up a couple new ideas.

Both of my new books will be on the shelves before next January. I'll tell you more in the upcoming months.

Eating as recreation: We were out shopping a couple Saturdays ago and stopped in at Jason's Deli for lunch about 1 pm. The luncheon crowd had the place packed: grandparents, parents, children, and babies. Pat and I shared a small muffaletto and salad. I saw so many people eating for recreation.

People have always eaten for recreation. That's human nature. What's different today is that we have so much more food, so much more prosperity, and so much more time to EAT. And eat we do. Much to the detriment of our health and certainly to our waistlines.

Perhaps it's time to mix it up. For some social events, have food be the sideline and have an activity the main event - hiking, biking, playing bridge, going to plays, movies, shows, to Art Walks, museums and more. Broaden your recreational bases.

Hi-maize. I've been baking with hi-maize to test recipes for my new cookbook and I'm impressed. It's a corn flour that's a resistant starch with a low-glycemic index value. Resistant starch is super health promoting. You can substitute up to 1/3 of the flour in a baked good recipe with hi-maize. Since I seldom bake with flour, I use 2/3 nut flour (almond,s pecans, or hazelnuts) to 1/3 hi-maize. You can purchase
online at http://astore.amazon.com/wwwweightl056-20/detail/B000FJVMMQ/104-6476902-2527904. If you use hi-maize, let me know how it works for you. None of my guests (testers) have noticed any difference in taste or texture.

All the best. Have fun wiggling.

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