As we enter the new decade of the 2010’s, I’ve been pondering what health and fitness trends will change our way of life in the next ten years. Here are my predictions. Please send me yours.
Scientific research will lead the way to products, services, and foods that improve health and the quality of our lives. Opposing that trend will be our human nature to be sedentary and eat for pleasure. And our innate desire to get results without having to do the work.
Push/pull on health vs. comfort and pleasure. You’ll see more advertising for video games, television shows, and sedentary computer activities. Add to that advertisements promoting junk foods, fast food restaurants, and comfort foods. The push/pull for a lazy lifestyle will intensify even though all the scientific research shows that a person needs more movement, more exercise, and healthy foods – such as more vegetables and fruit, moderate amounts of meat and healthy fats and never needs processed foods. The bottom line - a carrot doesn’t provide the sensory delights of ice cream or pizza, so you’ll still need to make the choice to eat healthfully and mindfully.
“Clean” eating, “local” eating, “fresh” foods. These food trends will continue and intensify. The new eating status symbol is to eat clean (meaning eating non-processed foods that don’t contain preservatives.) There’s a new food magazine titled, Clean Eating, as well as new cookbooks. Local eating (purchasing food grown locally) is a wonderful way to support local farmers and enrich your community. Be careful, though, many foods sold at Farmers Markets are brought in from out of state. If you live in a cold weather climate, as I do, it’s impossible to find locally grown lettuce in the winter. And unlike those who advocate only eating foods in season, I do eat salads and fruit all year long. So buy local when you can, but first and foremost, be sure to eat fresh produce in the winter. It keeps you healthy. The rule of thumb of eating 2-3 servings of vegetables and fruit at every meal won’t change in the next ten years. Fresh food means unprocessed produce and meat.
As a side note, the local Albertson’s stores here in Utah have changed their name to “Fresh Market.” Which as far as I can tell says nothing about the quality of their produce – it’s not fresher - nor does it indicate that the store offers more fresh food. The name change is nothing but a marketing strategy designed to make a shopper feel that he or she is eating fresher foods even though they may be filling their cart with TV dinners and frozen pizzas. Watch out for other misleading advertising and labeling. Read the labels.
Epigenetics is a fascinating aspect of genetics. It explains how your genetic makeup is not your destiny. You and your lifestyle determine which genes are switched on and which ones are changed. Your thoughts, eating habits, smoking, exercise, prescription drug use, and more can make your DNA expression and your children’s healthier or not. Look for more research on this – you have the power to positively affect your genetic makeup and your children’s. Wow. (Yes, it works for wrinkles and fat storage, too.)
Reliable and safe weight-loss genetic therapy will be developed. Stomach stapling and bariatric surgery won’t be used. Gene therapy will also eliminate or manage type 2 diabetes and hopefully, autoimmune disorders.
Detox will become a way of life. No matter how much you’ve abused your body with food, drink, pollution, stress, or being sedentary, you’ll be able to repair some of the damage with a tailored detox program. There will be a big business in providing infrared saunas, detox teas, massage and exercise equipment, supplements, antioxidants, air purifiers, electro-magnetic field blockers, and possibly downloads or CDs to clear out negative thoughts and energy. Some folks will think that detox methods give them permission to indulge too much and ignore the basics of good health. But it probably won’t. Detoxing will become an accepted way to maintain good health, prevent the effects of aging, and reduce the symptoms of chronic disorders such as heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, colds, and fatigue.
Low-glycemic eating. All the major food trends – clean, local, fresh – are ways of eating lower glycemic. The gist of low-glycemic eating is to avoid white and fluffy foods along with those high in sugar. Instead, eat non-processed foods that are higher in fiber such as vegetables, fruit, and nuts, along with high-quality proteins and good fats. This way of eating reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, inflammation, heart disease and other chronic health conditions. And it lifts moods while giving you higher energy levels.
Low fat eating will be totally passé. After all, who really wants to deal with the unflattering side effects – weight gain, hair loss, weak nails, sallow skin, dark circles under the eyes, and muscle and joint pain? But the trend towards taking daily doses of Essential Fatty Acids, also known as Omega-3 fats will get bigger as people experience the wonderful results: clearer thinking, happier moods, better skin, nails, hair, joints and muscles. And a healthier heart. The AHA recommends eating about 30% fat.
Fake foods will fall out of favor as well as highly processed foods. Soy shakes made with soy protein isolate will fade in popularity, but tofu and tempeh – the fermented soy products – will remain. People will eat fewer wheat products both to avert celiac disorders and because foods made with it are mostly high-glycemic, fattening, and increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Honestly, if you aren’t convinced, eat a spoonful of plain old wheat flour au natural and let me know if you like the taste and texture. Ick.
Exercise is a totally elegant and reliable health tonic. There will be more convincing and important research on the benefits of exercise. This doesn’t mean it will easier for you to actually step away from screen time and a busy lifestyle and start exercising, but you’ll have more good reasons to do so. Right now we know that moderate exercise reduces the symptoms of virtually any health disorder and prevents lots of them. However, two factors about exercise will remain true: only you can do your exercise for you and it takes as long as it takes.
Exercise trends. As the research continues on the most efficient and effective ways to exercise, it will become easier and faster to see results. Today’s hottest trends are “targeted stretching” (such as pressing fingers into a muscle as you extend it), Bosu balls which create balance challenges (these are really challenging – we use them in Pilates class), and “vibration” machines. The vibration machines are about the size of an elliptical trainer. The foot bed vibrates up and down or side to side and you do exercises while standing or sitting on the bed. Improves balance and coordination, while aiding the body in detoxing. Using the large inflated exercise balls also enhances balance. I’m trying to imagine what the hottest exercise trends will be in 10 years, and honestly, I have no idea. Perhaps a system will be developed wherein a person could get a full workout without rising from the couch, but I doubt it.
People will use physical exercise to reverse mental decline that comes from aging and strokes and to improve mental performance in school and work. The new science of neurobics will aid people in increasing mental acuity and reversing mental decline. Neurobics offers mental and motion exercises to improve cognition and awaken brain function.
A new status symbol will be to limit screen time and have more time to pursue other interests and recreation.
The high-priced skin care treatments and machine technologies now used at skin care clinics and spas will be widely available and so economically priced so you can use them at home. This include lasers and light therapy treatments. Invasive treatments, such as botox, fillers, and even some plastic surgery will be replaced with creams and machine technology.
Skin care products will contain fewer preservatives, fragrances, and petroleum-based ingredients, such as mineral oil and petrolatum. Some of these ingredients are carcinogens and hormone disruptors. Instead, the most effective brands will feature ingredients that improve the condition of your skin and your overall health. People will want skin care products that are as fresh and clean as their food.
I’m excited to see what else develops. It would have been nearly impossible to predict the invention of the iPhone in 1990. So I’m fascinated to see what develops that no one can foresee. Hopefully, the next ten years brings ways to eliminate the very real health concerns of obesity, pollution, type 2 diabetes, and others.
Warmly,
Lucy Beale, author
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss Version 2
The Complete Idiot's Guide Glycemic Index Cookbook
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Well on a Budget
www.Lucybeale.com, http://lucybeale-weight-loss.blogspot.com/
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Top Ten Wellness Resolutions for 2010
What are your wellness goals for this New Year? Most of us know what we want in general terms, such as lose weight or exercise more. But translating those non-specific goals into actions is, well, it’s complicated.
Losing weight is always complicated. There are so many factors to consider: to diet or not to diet, real food or diet food, weighing or not weighing, sugar or fake sugar. Add to that how easy it is to get sidetracked by friends, parties, moods, attitudes, and the very real challenge of living with constant gustatory deprivation.
Exercise is complicated, too. The factors to consider are: what exercise, when, with whom, for how long, how often, how much, and where. Plus, few people consider exercise fulfilling and satisfying on its own. You can find plenty of exercise recommendations from experts, but the bottom line is that the only person who can do your exercise for you is you. Ditto lose weight.
To jump-start my personal wellness program this year, I’ve written my top ten wellness resolutions and I’m sharing them with you. That means I’m on-the-line to do them.
Lucy’s Ten New Year’s Heath and Wellness Resolutions
1. Go to sleep before 11 pm at least 5 nights a week, preferably 7. Sounds boring, but I have so much more energy if I get an abundance of zzzz’s. (Most people require 7-8 hours. How many do you need to feel great and fend off weight gain and lower immune functioning?)
2. Do the Tibetan exercises every day. I always have more energy if I start the day with these 5 simple exercises. But I get lazy and skip days. View instructions on my website at www.lucybeale.com. (The Tibetans are often called the fountain of youth.)
3. Use the Neti pot on all RED alert pollution days in the Salt Lake Valley. One simple and virtually free way to wash away some of the particulates I breathe is to use the Neti pot. It also helps get rid of those “poor air quality” headaches and fatigue. Google “neti pot” if you’re not familiar with how it functions. Great if you have a cold, flu, or headaches.
4. Hike or snowshoe in the mountains as recreational exercise 3-4 times a month.
5. Cook dinner more frequently at home; eat out or take out less frequently.
6. Eat more fresh vegetables and fewer starches. This is the easy way to eat low-glycemic.
7. Exercise daily to elevate my heart rate for 20 minutes, preferably more. Stretch and do 2-3 Pilates sessions weekly. (I’ve used this program for years and it works for me. Create one that works for you. My preferred workout locations are mountain trails, the local county rec center, and my home exercise equipment.)
8. Sit up straight when using my computer and when eating. I love to slouch. Enough said.
9. Limit screen time to 4 hours a day unless I’m writing a new book. (Trying to wiggle out of the technology trap is so hard. No wonder they call it a web.)
10. Never, never, never overeat. (Besides making my tummy feel too full, overeating directly causes weight gain. Eating just the right amount of food at every meal keeps me at my ideal size. Same for virtually everyone. For me this mostly means small nibbles of dessert rather than a BIG serving. Please don’t recommend I cut out desserts. That’s too much deprivation for me!)
What are your Ten Wellness Resolutions for 2010? I suggest you write them down and review your list every couple months throughout the year. That way you can check on your progress and make adjustments when needed. If you want support, send them on to me and/or your friends.
Make sure your Resolutions don’t create too much deprivation and also that they don’t rely on the good will and intentions of others. Since only you can do your exercise for you, or lose weight, make sure that only you are responsible for meeting your Resolutions. I say this from experience. It’s so easy for me to miss Monday evening Pilates class if my husband can’t join me.
I’ve been reading lots of cookbooks and recipes preparing to write my next book and I’m finding that I’m also cooking more. I love creating recipes, and you’ll find an entirely updated recipe section in my new book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss Version 2. It became available in bookstores on January 5 – just last week. I also added instructions for the Tibetan exercises because they rev up your metabolism and help rid the body of toxin overload, which can affect weight gain.
I wish you a prosperous and healthy New Year.
Lucy Beale
Losing weight is always complicated. There are so many factors to consider: to diet or not to diet, real food or diet food, weighing or not weighing, sugar or fake sugar. Add to that how easy it is to get sidetracked by friends, parties, moods, attitudes, and the very real challenge of living with constant gustatory deprivation.
Exercise is complicated, too. The factors to consider are: what exercise, when, with whom, for how long, how often, how much, and where. Plus, few people consider exercise fulfilling and satisfying on its own. You can find plenty of exercise recommendations from experts, but the bottom line is that the only person who can do your exercise for you is you. Ditto lose weight.
To jump-start my personal wellness program this year, I’ve written my top ten wellness resolutions and I’m sharing them with you. That means I’m on-the-line to do them.
Lucy’s Ten New Year’s Heath and Wellness Resolutions
1. Go to sleep before 11 pm at least 5 nights a week, preferably 7. Sounds boring, but I have so much more energy if I get an abundance of zzzz’s. (Most people require 7-8 hours. How many do you need to feel great and fend off weight gain and lower immune functioning?)
2. Do the Tibetan exercises every day. I always have more energy if I start the day with these 5 simple exercises. But I get lazy and skip days. View instructions on my website at www.lucybeale.com. (The Tibetans are often called the fountain of youth.)
3. Use the Neti pot on all RED alert pollution days in the Salt Lake Valley. One simple and virtually free way to wash away some of the particulates I breathe is to use the Neti pot. It also helps get rid of those “poor air quality” headaches and fatigue. Google “neti pot” if you’re not familiar with how it functions. Great if you have a cold, flu, or headaches.
4. Hike or snowshoe in the mountains as recreational exercise 3-4 times a month.
5. Cook dinner more frequently at home; eat out or take out less frequently.
6. Eat more fresh vegetables and fewer starches. This is the easy way to eat low-glycemic.
7. Exercise daily to elevate my heart rate for 20 minutes, preferably more. Stretch and do 2-3 Pilates sessions weekly. (I’ve used this program for years and it works for me. Create one that works for you. My preferred workout locations are mountain trails, the local county rec center, and my home exercise equipment.)
8. Sit up straight when using my computer and when eating. I love to slouch. Enough said.
9. Limit screen time to 4 hours a day unless I’m writing a new book. (Trying to wiggle out of the technology trap is so hard. No wonder they call it a web.)
10. Never, never, never overeat. (Besides making my tummy feel too full, overeating directly causes weight gain. Eating just the right amount of food at every meal keeps me at my ideal size. Same for virtually everyone. For me this mostly means small nibbles of dessert rather than a BIG serving. Please don’t recommend I cut out desserts. That’s too much deprivation for me!)
What are your Ten Wellness Resolutions for 2010? I suggest you write them down and review your list every couple months throughout the year. That way you can check on your progress and make adjustments when needed. If you want support, send them on to me and/or your friends.
Make sure your Resolutions don’t create too much deprivation and also that they don’t rely on the good will and intentions of others. Since only you can do your exercise for you, or lose weight, make sure that only you are responsible for meeting your Resolutions. I say this from experience. It’s so easy for me to miss Monday evening Pilates class if my husband can’t join me.
I’ve been reading lots of cookbooks and recipes preparing to write my next book and I’m finding that I’m also cooking more. I love creating recipes, and you’ll find an entirely updated recipe section in my new book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss Version 2. It became available in bookstores on January 5 – just last week. I also added instructions for the Tibetan exercises because they rev up your metabolism and help rid the body of toxin overload, which can affect weight gain.
I wish you a prosperous and healthy New Year.
Lucy Beale
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Healthy Skin Care
Before I tell you about the wonderful advancements in healthy skin care in the past year, I want to share with you some exciting news for me.
First of all, Utah is having its first significant snow storm this week which means that there will be enough snow base for great snowshoeing this season. We went snowshoeing twice in November up at Alta, but the snow was so thin that we were often trekking on rocks, rushes, and soil. So, as they say in that Christmas song, “let it snow.”
Next, I have two new books arriving on bookstore shelves this winter. One in January, one in February. You can preorder today at http://www.amazon.com/Lucy-Beale/e/B001K8AZP6/ref=sr_tc_2_0. The January book is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss, 2nd Edition. The first edition of this book has sold so well, that my publisher asked me to update it with all new recipes, exercise recommendations, and recent research on how the glycemic index works and how to easily incorporate it into your daily meals and snacks at home and at restaurants.
The February book is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget. You’ll learn how to eat healthfully while on a food budget –how to purchase food, deal with school lunches, set up a food coop, plan menus, and more. I wrote this book with my daughter-in-law, Jessica Partridge who compiled over 150 budget conscious yet delicious recipes for you and your family to enjoy. You can also preorder on the amazon.com link above, or find at your favorite bookstore.
If you’re stumped at not losing weight and wondering what in the world could be preventing you from shedding the pounds, I can help. In a one-hour coaching session, we can discuss your lifestyle and health needs and design a program that will work for you. The cost is $100.00. Send me an email to set up a session.
I am so excited about skin care offerings this year. In past issues, I’ve bemoaned the dearth of healthy, yet effective skin care treatments. Seemed all the products were filled with parabens, petrochemicals, fragrances, synthetic color, phthalates, and other toxic chemicals. Just the thought of putting those concoctions on my face, hair and body made me shudder. Seems beauty products should be beautifying, not scary and ominous. If you want to check on the safety of a skin care ingredient, go to http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php. They list ingredients as well as many skin care products by brand.
You won’t find truly healthy products at department stores, cosmetic stores, drugstores, hair salons, or discount stores with a few rare exceptions. But you will find them at, of all places, day spas. And on the Internet. That’s where I’ve found the following luscious brands:
Eminence Organics. Try their Stone Crop products. They heal the skin and actually reduce the appearance of dark pigmentation. Which is the one thing that makes your skin look older than you feel. I love all their products. It’s hard to choose which ones to purchase. There are two spas in Utah that sell Eminence, Mountain Body in Park City and Sego Lily Spa. You can go to the website at www.eminenceorganics.com to find a spa near you or to order directly. I especially love the Stone Crop Serum.
I need to tell you that none of my endorsements are paid advertising – I purchase all the products myself and use them to see results before I tell you about them.
Blinc mascara is the most clever product I’m in love with. My eyes burn when I apply regular mascara and as with almost all mascaras, it smears as the evening progresses. Not Blinc. It coats each lash in a tiny “tube” and doesn’t come off until you wash your face. Which means I now faithfully wash my face after an evening out, which I wasn’t so faithful about before. As you wash, the tiny tubes come off, which is kind of cool in an odd way. Sold in Utah at Clarity Spa. Also sold at Sephora. Check out their website http://www.blincinc.com/.
The one department store skin care product I can’t wash my face without is Erno Laszlo bar soap. In the warm months, I use Sea Mud Soap, in winter I use Active Phelityl Soap. This is the most unique way to wash one’s face. Apply a couple drops of Active Phelityl oil or pure olive oil to your skin. Fill basin with warm to warmer water. Lather. Then splash face 20 times with basin water, then 10 times with warm to warmer running water. The splashing exfoliates, pulls out toxins, adds moisture to skin, and rebuilds collagen. A bar of soap lasts about 9 to 12 months. The bars are mostly free of the scary ingredients.
Mineral makeup by Bare Escentuals is sold virtually everywhere. The original is free of all scary ingredients and provides an SPF 15. The minerals make your skin glow and lightly cover discolorations, redness, and minimize the appearance of lines. Plus it’s so easy – just brush it on, glow, and you’re off for your day. This stuff is so safe you can sleep in it.
Dr. Hauschka, a German skin care line, is super healthy. I especially love their toner, and lipsticks. I purchase the toner at Whole Foods, and purchase the lipsticks at their store in Park City. Lots of websites sell Dr. Hauschka products, often at really good discounts. Buy at Whole Foods on Tuesdays – that’s the day they discount health and beauty products 15%. The Dr. Hauschka system is elaborate and comprehensive, so take some time with it to purchase the products that will work best for your skin. Their Rose Day cream is great, too.
For the most modern skin treatments, try Skin 2 Skin Un-wrinkle Forehead and Crow’s Feet Cream. It contains Snap-8, an ingredient that acts like botox to eliminate forehead scowl lines and smile crinkles without the botox or the price of regular botox treatments. Online at www.skin2skincare.com. They also offer a healthy version of the popular Strivectin, Anti-Sagging Renewal Serum which rebuilds collagen.
Strivectin has a red-zone high hazard score of 7-8 on www.cosmeticsdatabase.com. Ick.
For facial moisturizer and hand cream, I’m hooked on organic shea butter. A huge tub – 8 ounces – costs $22.00 and lasts a year. At www.shea4me.com.
Hair care offerings aren’t great yet. Most shampoos, conditioners, sprays, and gels are full of scary ingredients. Dr. Hauschka has healthy shampoo and a couple new companies are beginning to care about protecting your health while making your hair look gorgeous. Perhaps next year I can share better news with you.
Ditto shower gel. Ditch it. You’re healthiest choice is bar soap. Be careful here. Some companies promote their products as natural, which has no legal definition. Don’t trust the sales clerk on this. Read the ingredients. Look them up on www.cosmeticsdatabase.com.
Fragrance. Oh, my gosh. How much I wish theatre and symphony goers would ditch the perfume. I haven’t found any fragrances except for pure essential oils that aren’t classified as hormone disrupters. Pure essential oils aren’t so beautifully marketed with such promise for a gorgeous and glamorous life. Nor are they so profitable. Most fragrances also contain phthalates, which are not healthy. I’ll let you know when healthy fragrances appear. Fingers crossed on this one. But horrors, hotels and cruise ships are now pumping fragrances into their lobbies and public areas. They’re calling it their “signature scent.” Guess we won’t be guests at those establishments.
Congrads to Salt Lake County’s Dimple Dell Recreation Center where I take Pilates classes and work out. They post requests that folks don’t wear perfume to the center.
Check out dryer balls. They take the place of fabric softeners while eliminating static and shortening drying time of your clothes. Your clothes will smell truly fresh and not like you bathed in Bounce. The balls last for years. Available almost everywhere.
For skin care, I’m also loving machines. One home machine, www.LightStim.com, is a hand-held LED light anti-aging device that rebuilds collagen and elastin. Firms and tones skin, too. Costs about $350.00. Is pricey but sure beats a weekly spa habit for LED therapy that runs about $100 per session. The LightStim works and is easy to use when reading or watching TV.
The next machine treatment I love and see terrific results with is the Laser Genesis. Relaxing and calming, it gently zaps your face to rebuild collagen and can also zap red and broken capillaries. Right now I go to Clarity Spa for quarterly treatments. The good news: coming this year is a hand-held home use device that will cost way less than those spa treatments. You don’t want to know what the spa treatment costs and neither does my husband who subscribes to this newsletter.
Please let me know if you’ve found healthy hair care products or skin care products that work for you. Wishing you a beautiful Holiday Season.
Love,
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
801-501-8240
First of all, Utah is having its first significant snow storm this week which means that there will be enough snow base for great snowshoeing this season. We went snowshoeing twice in November up at Alta, but the snow was so thin that we were often trekking on rocks, rushes, and soil. So, as they say in that Christmas song, “let it snow.”
Next, I have two new books arriving on bookstore shelves this winter. One in January, one in February. You can preorder today at http://www.amazon.com/Lucy-Beale/e/B001K8AZP6/ref=sr_tc_2_0. The January book is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Glycemic Index Weight Loss, 2nd Edition. The first edition of this book has sold so well, that my publisher asked me to update it with all new recipes, exercise recommendations, and recent research on how the glycemic index works and how to easily incorporate it into your daily meals and snacks at home and at restaurants.
The February book is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget. You’ll learn how to eat healthfully while on a food budget –how to purchase food, deal with school lunches, set up a food coop, plan menus, and more. I wrote this book with my daughter-in-law, Jessica Partridge who compiled over 150 budget conscious yet delicious recipes for you and your family to enjoy. You can also preorder on the amazon.com link above, or find at your favorite bookstore.
If you’re stumped at not losing weight and wondering what in the world could be preventing you from shedding the pounds, I can help. In a one-hour coaching session, we can discuss your lifestyle and health needs and design a program that will work for you. The cost is $100.00. Send me an email to set up a session.
I am so excited about skin care offerings this year. In past issues, I’ve bemoaned the dearth of healthy, yet effective skin care treatments. Seemed all the products were filled with parabens, petrochemicals, fragrances, synthetic color, phthalates, and other toxic chemicals. Just the thought of putting those concoctions on my face, hair and body made me shudder. Seems beauty products should be beautifying, not scary and ominous. If you want to check on the safety of a skin care ingredient, go to http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php. They list ingredients as well as many skin care products by brand.
You won’t find truly healthy products at department stores, cosmetic stores, drugstores, hair salons, or discount stores with a few rare exceptions. But you will find them at, of all places, day spas. And on the Internet. That’s where I’ve found the following luscious brands:
Eminence Organics. Try their Stone Crop products. They heal the skin and actually reduce the appearance of dark pigmentation. Which is the one thing that makes your skin look older than you feel. I love all their products. It’s hard to choose which ones to purchase. There are two spas in Utah that sell Eminence, Mountain Body in Park City and Sego Lily Spa. You can go to the website at www.eminenceorganics.com to find a spa near you or to order directly. I especially love the Stone Crop Serum.
I need to tell you that none of my endorsements are paid advertising – I purchase all the products myself and use them to see results before I tell you about them.
Blinc mascara is the most clever product I’m in love with. My eyes burn when I apply regular mascara and as with almost all mascaras, it smears as the evening progresses. Not Blinc. It coats each lash in a tiny “tube” and doesn’t come off until you wash your face. Which means I now faithfully wash my face after an evening out, which I wasn’t so faithful about before. As you wash, the tiny tubes come off, which is kind of cool in an odd way. Sold in Utah at Clarity Spa. Also sold at Sephora. Check out their website http://www.blincinc.com/.
The one department store skin care product I can’t wash my face without is Erno Laszlo bar soap. In the warm months, I use Sea Mud Soap, in winter I use Active Phelityl Soap. This is the most unique way to wash one’s face. Apply a couple drops of Active Phelityl oil or pure olive oil to your skin. Fill basin with warm to warmer water. Lather. Then splash face 20 times with basin water, then 10 times with warm to warmer running water. The splashing exfoliates, pulls out toxins, adds moisture to skin, and rebuilds collagen. A bar of soap lasts about 9 to 12 months. The bars are mostly free of the scary ingredients.
Mineral makeup by Bare Escentuals is sold virtually everywhere. The original is free of all scary ingredients and provides an SPF 15. The minerals make your skin glow and lightly cover discolorations, redness, and minimize the appearance of lines. Plus it’s so easy – just brush it on, glow, and you’re off for your day. This stuff is so safe you can sleep in it.
Dr. Hauschka, a German skin care line, is super healthy. I especially love their toner, and lipsticks. I purchase the toner at Whole Foods, and purchase the lipsticks at their store in Park City. Lots of websites sell Dr. Hauschka products, often at really good discounts. Buy at Whole Foods on Tuesdays – that’s the day they discount health and beauty products 15%. The Dr. Hauschka system is elaborate and comprehensive, so take some time with it to purchase the products that will work best for your skin. Their Rose Day cream is great, too.
For the most modern skin treatments, try Skin 2 Skin Un-wrinkle Forehead and Crow’s Feet Cream. It contains Snap-8, an ingredient that acts like botox to eliminate forehead scowl lines and smile crinkles without the botox or the price of regular botox treatments. Online at www.skin2skincare.com. They also offer a healthy version of the popular Strivectin, Anti-Sagging Renewal Serum which rebuilds collagen.
Strivectin has a red-zone high hazard score of 7-8 on www.cosmeticsdatabase.com. Ick.
For facial moisturizer and hand cream, I’m hooked on organic shea butter. A huge tub – 8 ounces – costs $22.00 and lasts a year. At www.shea4me.com.
Hair care offerings aren’t great yet. Most shampoos, conditioners, sprays, and gels are full of scary ingredients. Dr. Hauschka has healthy shampoo and a couple new companies are beginning to care about protecting your health while making your hair look gorgeous. Perhaps next year I can share better news with you.
Ditto shower gel. Ditch it. You’re healthiest choice is bar soap. Be careful here. Some companies promote their products as natural, which has no legal definition. Don’t trust the sales clerk on this. Read the ingredients. Look them up on www.cosmeticsdatabase.com.
Fragrance. Oh, my gosh. How much I wish theatre and symphony goers would ditch the perfume. I haven’t found any fragrances except for pure essential oils that aren’t classified as hormone disrupters. Pure essential oils aren’t so beautifully marketed with such promise for a gorgeous and glamorous life. Nor are they so profitable. Most fragrances also contain phthalates, which are not healthy. I’ll let you know when healthy fragrances appear. Fingers crossed on this one. But horrors, hotels and cruise ships are now pumping fragrances into their lobbies and public areas. They’re calling it their “signature scent.” Guess we won’t be guests at those establishments.
Congrads to Salt Lake County’s Dimple Dell Recreation Center where I take Pilates classes and work out. They post requests that folks don’t wear perfume to the center.
Check out dryer balls. They take the place of fabric softeners while eliminating static and shortening drying time of your clothes. Your clothes will smell truly fresh and not like you bathed in Bounce. The balls last for years. Available almost everywhere.
For skin care, I’m also loving machines. One home machine, www.LightStim.com, is a hand-held LED light anti-aging device that rebuilds collagen and elastin. Firms and tones skin, too. Costs about $350.00. Is pricey but sure beats a weekly spa habit for LED therapy that runs about $100 per session. The LightStim works and is easy to use when reading or watching TV.
The next machine treatment I love and see terrific results with is the Laser Genesis. Relaxing and calming, it gently zaps your face to rebuild collagen and can also zap red and broken capillaries. Right now I go to Clarity Spa for quarterly treatments. The good news: coming this year is a hand-held home use device that will cost way less than those spa treatments. You don’t want to know what the spa treatment costs and neither does my husband who subscribes to this newsletter.
Please let me know if you’ve found healthy hair care products or skin care products that work for you. Wishing you a beautiful Holiday Season.
Love,
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
801-501-8240
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Do the Research on Your Eating Habits
Recently I interviewed a potential co-author who was a self-proclaimed expert on beautifying foods. Turns out her eating preference was raw foods, meaning nothing cooked. I asked her what she ate for protein. Her answer was avocados although she said she didn’t believe folks needed protein in their diets at all. And also, algae. She was sure that algae gave her adequate protein. After our conversation, I did some checking. A person would need to eat 15 cups of cubed avocado per day to eat the recommended daily amount of 45 grams of vegetable protein but would end up eating a whopping 345 grams of fat per day. Vegetable protein doesn’t provide all the amino acids that a person needs to be healthy. Meat, dairy, eggs, or fish are best. Food combining of legumes and grains can also provide high quality protein. I couldn’t find nutritional counts for algae, nor could I find algae in the grocery store. She said her goal was to turn me into a vegetarian.
Too bad she didn’t know the back story. Years ago, I decided our family would eat macrobiotic (no meat or dairy or eggs, only grains and vegetables with an Asian flavor.) Besides the inconvenient fact that I was cooking or involved with food about 5 hours a day, I gained about 30 pounds in 4 months. My husband lost about 30 pounds that he didn’t need to lose, and my 4-year old son became anemic. You wouldn’t have believed the loud and aggressive lecture I received from Brian’s pediatrician. “On the way home, you buy some steaks and a cast iron skillet, and you start feeding your family. And I never want to see your son anemic because of some dumb diet.” Yikes. Within weeks, Brian’s red blood cell count was high again, his energy was back, and my husband had regained his weight. Later when Brian was a teenager he told me he wanted to be vegetarian. I told him no in no uncertain terms.
What my potential co-author and I had in common was getting excited about the allure and glamour of a fad diet, while being unaware that it could be a bad idea from the point of view of health and nutrition. Or practicality. Neither one of us was going to fare very well as dinner guests or in regular restaurants.
Lots of folks “fall in love” with diet fads without doing the research. Perhaps you know some of these types of eaters:
• Fat-phobic. They don’t stock butter or olive oil in the pantry. Nor salad dressings. They do eat no-fat cheese and milk products. This is not a healthy or beautifying way to eat. The skin, nails, hair, and metabolism need fat. Especially essential fatty acids, best found in cold-water fish and fish oil. Eating no fat will most likely make you gain weight.
• Sugar-phobic. They don’t stock sugar but can’t shake a sweet tooth. By the way, virtually all of us have a sweet tooth. It’s biology. Which means some sweet foods – fruit, honey, and some vegetables - are important for our health. Instead they eat artificial sweeteners and some of the more natural sweeteners such as stevia and xylitol. The American Heart Association suggests that men eat no more than 8 teaspoons of sugar daily and women no more than 6. It’s perfectly healthy not to eat sugar, just go very light on the artificial sweeteners. They’ve been shown to increase a person’s risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, weight gain, and kidney disease.
• Calorie-phobic. They don’t stock calories in their pantry. At least not many. This can be a healthy way to eat, provided the person isn’t a bit crazy or too neurotic. But they may not be much fun to eat with.
• Soy-promoting. Their pantry contains tofu, soy powers, and soy milk. Not such a wise choice. Some soy is fine, but research has shown that eating too much soy can depress thyroid function and that eating too much soy powder can put one at higher risk of breast cancer. So have 2-3 servings of soy per week. Then eat regular food.
• Starch-phobic. This is me. I eat some starches, but mostly in the form of really crusty sourdough bread or a cookie now and then. At weddings, I eat a piece of cake. My husband keeps bread in freezer so he can heat up a slice from time to time. I avoid wheat and grain starches because research shows that a person doesn’t need to eat starches for nutritional reasons. A person does need carbohydrates, which come in many forms: vegetables and fruit. And, I confess, I also avoid the cakes and cookies because I love them and sometimes they get control over me and I overeat them.
If you’re a normal eater, stay that way. Before you adopt a new eating plan, check out the research to find out if it makes nutritional sense. Any “fad” food phobia taken can too far over too long a period of time could threaten your health. And perhaps your sanity and definitely your social life.
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
Too bad she didn’t know the back story. Years ago, I decided our family would eat macrobiotic (no meat or dairy or eggs, only grains and vegetables with an Asian flavor.) Besides the inconvenient fact that I was cooking or involved with food about 5 hours a day, I gained about 30 pounds in 4 months. My husband lost about 30 pounds that he didn’t need to lose, and my 4-year old son became anemic. You wouldn’t have believed the loud and aggressive lecture I received from Brian’s pediatrician. “On the way home, you buy some steaks and a cast iron skillet, and you start feeding your family. And I never want to see your son anemic because of some dumb diet.” Yikes. Within weeks, Brian’s red blood cell count was high again, his energy was back, and my husband had regained his weight. Later when Brian was a teenager he told me he wanted to be vegetarian. I told him no in no uncertain terms.
What my potential co-author and I had in common was getting excited about the allure and glamour of a fad diet, while being unaware that it could be a bad idea from the point of view of health and nutrition. Or practicality. Neither one of us was going to fare very well as dinner guests or in regular restaurants.
Lots of folks “fall in love” with diet fads without doing the research. Perhaps you know some of these types of eaters:
• Fat-phobic. They don’t stock butter or olive oil in the pantry. Nor salad dressings. They do eat no-fat cheese and milk products. This is not a healthy or beautifying way to eat. The skin, nails, hair, and metabolism need fat. Especially essential fatty acids, best found in cold-water fish and fish oil. Eating no fat will most likely make you gain weight.
• Sugar-phobic. They don’t stock sugar but can’t shake a sweet tooth. By the way, virtually all of us have a sweet tooth. It’s biology. Which means some sweet foods – fruit, honey, and some vegetables - are important for our health. Instead they eat artificial sweeteners and some of the more natural sweeteners such as stevia and xylitol. The American Heart Association suggests that men eat no more than 8 teaspoons of sugar daily and women no more than 6. It’s perfectly healthy not to eat sugar, just go very light on the artificial sweeteners. They’ve been shown to increase a person’s risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, weight gain, and kidney disease.
• Calorie-phobic. They don’t stock calories in their pantry. At least not many. This can be a healthy way to eat, provided the person isn’t a bit crazy or too neurotic. But they may not be much fun to eat with.
• Soy-promoting. Their pantry contains tofu, soy powers, and soy milk. Not such a wise choice. Some soy is fine, but research has shown that eating too much soy can depress thyroid function and that eating too much soy powder can put one at higher risk of breast cancer. So have 2-3 servings of soy per week. Then eat regular food.
• Starch-phobic. This is me. I eat some starches, but mostly in the form of really crusty sourdough bread or a cookie now and then. At weddings, I eat a piece of cake. My husband keeps bread in freezer so he can heat up a slice from time to time. I avoid wheat and grain starches because research shows that a person doesn’t need to eat starches for nutritional reasons. A person does need carbohydrates, which come in many forms: vegetables and fruit. And, I confess, I also avoid the cakes and cookies because I love them and sometimes they get control over me and I overeat them.
If you’re a normal eater, stay that way. Before you adopt a new eating plan, check out the research to find out if it makes nutritional sense. Any “fad” food phobia taken can too far over too long a period of time could threaten your health. And perhaps your sanity and definitely your social life.
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
Monday, October 5, 2009
The Art of Eating
Recently, I’ve been observing how people eat. How a person eats can make a big difference in how much they weigh and in overall health and well being.
Recommendations on “what to eat” are easy to find. “Food awareness” is promoted by such movements as eat locally, all-natural ingredients, no preservatives, no additives, and no artificial flavorings. Even French cooking is making a comeback due to the movie, Julie & Julia.
But articles about “how to eat” are scarce. Yet, how you eat is a very significant factor in how much you weigh, and ultimately, in your overall health.
Before I learned how to eat, no wonder I kept gaining weight. Here’s a list of some of my eating habits: skip breakfast or eat a Danish with a cup of coffee. Mid morning when I was jittery, I would eat a pastry or candy bar. Lunch was an actual meal, but if I felt fat that day, I’d eat a cookie and have a Fresca or Tab. Late afternoon I was so hungry and undernourished that I’d eat and eat. By myself. Cookies, cakes, donuts. I stuffed them in. Perhaps an apple. I’d eat almost a whole meal while preparing dinner, because I was so weak and irritated or irritating. Then I ate dinner with my family.
My worse eating habits were these: I ate very fast, hardly pausing to catch my breath at times. I never paused before eating to say a blessing or give thanks. I ate leftovers from other family members’ plates so the food didn’t go to waste. I ate while standing up or while reading in bed. I discussed challenging or difficult topics while eating. I answered the phone during a meal. I ate food I didn’t enjoy and ate when I was upset. Skipped breakfast or ate a poor quality breakfast. Ate too much food too often. Skipped lunch.
More bad habits that I didn’t have. I’m trying to think of all the bad eating behaviors I’ve seen or heard about. Chances are good you know some I don’t. If I’ve missed any, please email more to me. Lucy@lucybeale.com.
• Watching TV or a movie, or listening to the radio while eating.
• Texting while eating.
• Talking on the phone while eating.
• Confusing quantity with quality of food. Eating more and more poor quality food – like white bread or fast food - will never satisfy your body’s hunger for high-quality nutrition.
• Eating all the food on your plate when you’ve eaten enough.
• Confusing anger, loneliness, fear, tiredness, and boredom with hunger.
• Raiding the refrigerator anytime or at night.
• Pushing food on others when they don’t want to eat.
At no time when I was gaining weight or when I was overweight did I even question my eating habits. They controlled my eating, I didn’t. It was only when I changed my eating habits, that I finally lost about 50 pounds and they’ve never come back.
Here are some ways to modify your eating habits. Notice how your eating habits change on vacation if you’re staying in a hotel. (Road trips,cruises, and visiting family doesn’t apply here.) You can’t get seconds unless you order a second entrée and pay for it. You can’t sample while you’re cooking. You can’t run to the kitchen or open the food drawer at your desk when you’re bored or need an emotional lift. Instead, when you’re hungry, you locate a restaurant, sit down, order, then wait for your meal to be served. If you’re in a foreign country, chances are good that the portions are smaller than in the States, so you eat less. They also don’t have a television in sight.
So, turn off the media, turn off the cell phone, turn off the computer, and sit down to eat. Say grace or blessing. Eat in the kitchen or dining room. Fill the plates at the stove with moderate-size portions. Eat slowly. Eat balanced meals of protein, carbs, and fat. Sit while eating everything, including snacks. Avoid difficult or challenging topics at meals. Store leftovers or throw them out. Eat food that satisfies your body and meets your nutritional needs. Eat as if you’re in a fine restaurant even if you aren’t. Enjoy your food – every single bite. Eat sensuously. Set good example for other family members.
By eating in a harmonious and joyful way, you’ll find that eating creates a sense of tranquility and gives you three enjoyable breaks a day.
Lucy Beale
Recommendations on “what to eat” are easy to find. “Food awareness” is promoted by such movements as eat locally, all-natural ingredients, no preservatives, no additives, and no artificial flavorings. Even French cooking is making a comeback due to the movie, Julie & Julia.
But articles about “how to eat” are scarce. Yet, how you eat is a very significant factor in how much you weigh, and ultimately, in your overall health.
Before I learned how to eat, no wonder I kept gaining weight. Here’s a list of some of my eating habits: skip breakfast or eat a Danish with a cup of coffee. Mid morning when I was jittery, I would eat a pastry or candy bar. Lunch was an actual meal, but if I felt fat that day, I’d eat a cookie and have a Fresca or Tab. Late afternoon I was so hungry and undernourished that I’d eat and eat. By myself. Cookies, cakes, donuts. I stuffed them in. Perhaps an apple. I’d eat almost a whole meal while preparing dinner, because I was so weak and irritated or irritating. Then I ate dinner with my family.
My worse eating habits were these: I ate very fast, hardly pausing to catch my breath at times. I never paused before eating to say a blessing or give thanks. I ate leftovers from other family members’ plates so the food didn’t go to waste. I ate while standing up or while reading in bed. I discussed challenging or difficult topics while eating. I answered the phone during a meal. I ate food I didn’t enjoy and ate when I was upset. Skipped breakfast or ate a poor quality breakfast. Ate too much food too often. Skipped lunch.
More bad habits that I didn’t have. I’m trying to think of all the bad eating behaviors I’ve seen or heard about. Chances are good you know some I don’t. If I’ve missed any, please email more to me. Lucy@lucybeale.com.
• Watching TV or a movie, or listening to the radio while eating.
• Texting while eating.
• Talking on the phone while eating.
• Confusing quantity with quality of food. Eating more and more poor quality food – like white bread or fast food - will never satisfy your body’s hunger for high-quality nutrition.
• Eating all the food on your plate when you’ve eaten enough.
• Confusing anger, loneliness, fear, tiredness, and boredom with hunger.
• Raiding the refrigerator anytime or at night.
• Pushing food on others when they don’t want to eat.
At no time when I was gaining weight or when I was overweight did I even question my eating habits. They controlled my eating, I didn’t. It was only when I changed my eating habits, that I finally lost about 50 pounds and they’ve never come back.
Here are some ways to modify your eating habits. Notice how your eating habits change on vacation if you’re staying in a hotel. (Road trips,cruises, and visiting family doesn’t apply here.) You can’t get seconds unless you order a second entrée and pay for it. You can’t sample while you’re cooking. You can’t run to the kitchen or open the food drawer at your desk when you’re bored or need an emotional lift. Instead, when you’re hungry, you locate a restaurant, sit down, order, then wait for your meal to be served. If you’re in a foreign country, chances are good that the portions are smaller than in the States, so you eat less. They also don’t have a television in sight.
So, turn off the media, turn off the cell phone, turn off the computer, and sit down to eat. Say grace or blessing. Eat in the kitchen or dining room. Fill the plates at the stove with moderate-size portions. Eat slowly. Eat balanced meals of protein, carbs, and fat. Sit while eating everything, including snacks. Avoid difficult or challenging topics at meals. Store leftovers or throw them out. Eat food that satisfies your body and meets your nutritional needs. Eat as if you’re in a fine restaurant even if you aren’t. Enjoy your food – every single bite. Eat sensuously. Set good example for other family members.
By eating in a harmonious and joyful way, you’ll find that eating creates a sense of tranquility and gives you three enjoyable breaks a day.
Lucy Beale
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Easier Weight Loss
What are you doing to lose weight or to stay at your ideal size? The newest research is, well, it’s amazing. And I want you to know about it so you can adjust your personal program to make it easier for yourself and go with the flow of your body’s biology.
A couple weeks ago Time magazine ran an article claiming that exercise won’t help a person lose weight. The premise was that exercisers overindulge in “treat” foods after a workout. After a hour at the gym, the person could feel they deserved a “fully-loaded” latte, a couple doughnuts, or a big piece of pie. Which results in eating more calories than they burned in exercise. If only the facts on exercise were that simple. The biological truth is more subtle.
Exercise helps increase the body cells’ ability to uptake glucose. Which has the effect of normalizing or reducing insulin levels, keeping blood sugar levels in the normal range, and avoiding a condition called insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome. And ultimately avoiding the risk of having type 2 diabetes or other chronic health conditions such as autoimmune disorders and even cancer. Plus, exercise lifts moods such as anxiety and depression.
About the cancer – elevated insulin levels that are still within the “normal” range appear to be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer and higher-than-normal levels of insulin place postmenopausal women at increased risk of breast cancer. To keep your insulin levels normal, exercise and eat mostly low-glycemic foods and avoid high-glycemic foods. High-glycemic foods are carbohydrates that are quickly digested by the stomach into simple sugars. They cause a quick lift in blood sugar levels and in insulin levels. Eating high-glycemic foods, such as simple starches (bread, cookies, bagels, popcorn, white potatoes, etc.), high-fructose corn syrup, and sugars cause weight gain and leads to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and may lead to type 2 diabetes.
The American Heart Association (AHA) now recommends eating less sugar. Eating too much sugar can lead to heart disease or a heart attack. They recommend that a woman have no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar a day and that men have no more than 8. Sugar includes table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup but does not include eating apples and fruit. A can of soda contains 8 teaspoons of sugar, so if you’re a woman and enjoy sodas, have only three-quarters of a can once a day. Then don’t eat any food that contains sugar the rest of the day.
A clever way to eat that helps control insulin and blood sugar levels, as well as helps weight loss is to use more vinegar. Years ago a very popular diet included vinegar. You were to take a tablespoon of vinegar in a glass of water after every meal. It worked then and it works now.
New research shows that acetic acid, the main component of vinegar, may help control blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and fat accumulation. They surmise that acetic acid fights fat by turning on genes for fatty acid oxidation enzymes. The genes churn out proteins involved in breaking down fats, thus suppressing body fat accumulation in the body. Glycemic Index research shows that having 4 teaspoons of vinegar with a meal reduces the glycemic effect of a meal by 30 percent. Which helps keep blood sugar and insulin levels normal.
If you don’t have a preference for sour foods, you may want to develop your palate to appreciate vinegar and oil salad dressings, dill pickles, capers, sauerkraut, tangy salsas, green olives, mustard, and horseradish.
Add to that sour fruit and vegetables: lemons, limes, grapefruit, tomatoes, and some berries and greens.
In other words, a couple of spoonfuls of sour a day can keep the doctor away. Along with that apple. The healing power of apples amaze me. When I’m going through a high-stress time, like book deadlines, or return home from a hectic trip, eating an apple or two a day rebalances whatever was out of balance.
The New York Times Magazine recently ran an article on the sorry state of home cooking. Basically, we’re watching more televised cooking shows and doing less cooking in our homes. The end of the article offered this innovative way to lose weight. And I suspect one could lose substantial amounts of weight. Only eat food that you prepare by hand. That means you would bake your own bread, make your own candy, cookies, and pastry. You would cook each meal that you eat. You couldn’t use muffin mix or any convenience packaged food. You’d make spaghetti sauce from scratch. Ditto ice cream. Sort of just like they did on the farm a hundred years ago. Anyone want to try this and let me know your results after 6 months?
Two of my favorites: I shy away from eating much dairy, but I love ice cream and that wonderful cold feeling in my mouth. I’m in love with coconut milk iced dessert. It’s natural, and the main ingredients are coconut milk and agave nectar (which is low-glycemic). I found it at the health food grocers. It’s creamy, rich tasting, and satisfying.
My other favorite is MBT shoes. I wrote about these several months ago after a shoe salesman at the Jax store in Fort Collins, CO told me that they would heal my foot pain problem – plantar fasciitis. I also found that hiking up steep terrain also really helps. It loosens up my tight leg and feet muscles. But back to the shoes. They are amazing. I stand taller, my posture is better. I walked in my MBTs all over Paris for ten long hot days without any foot concerns. Happy feet make for a great vacation. The shoes aren’t high-fashion, but they are sort of “hip” looking in an odd way. I hesitate to recommend them to you because they are really pricey, but they are terrifically effective and very sturdy. Also, if you shop for them on-line by going to google shopping or on amazon.com, you may find some for half price. For my readers in Utah, you can find them at The Walking Store at Gateway.
As we ease into autumn, I’ve looking forward to the fall colors on the mountain sides and up the canyons. It’s time for photographing the colors, state fairs, and those late blooming asters and chrysanthemums in the garden. The Farmer’s Markets offer bountiful and enticing harvests. Have a great September.
A couple weeks ago Time magazine ran an article claiming that exercise won’t help a person lose weight. The premise was that exercisers overindulge in “treat” foods after a workout. After a hour at the gym, the person could feel they deserved a “fully-loaded” latte, a couple doughnuts, or a big piece of pie. Which results in eating more calories than they burned in exercise. If only the facts on exercise were that simple. The biological truth is more subtle.
Exercise helps increase the body cells’ ability to uptake glucose. Which has the effect of normalizing or reducing insulin levels, keeping blood sugar levels in the normal range, and avoiding a condition called insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome. And ultimately avoiding the risk of having type 2 diabetes or other chronic health conditions such as autoimmune disorders and even cancer. Plus, exercise lifts moods such as anxiety and depression.
About the cancer – elevated insulin levels that are still within the “normal” range appear to be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer and higher-than-normal levels of insulin place postmenopausal women at increased risk of breast cancer. To keep your insulin levels normal, exercise and eat mostly low-glycemic foods and avoid high-glycemic foods. High-glycemic foods are carbohydrates that are quickly digested by the stomach into simple sugars. They cause a quick lift in blood sugar levels and in insulin levels. Eating high-glycemic foods, such as simple starches (bread, cookies, bagels, popcorn, white potatoes, etc.), high-fructose corn syrup, and sugars cause weight gain and leads to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and may lead to type 2 diabetes.
The American Heart Association (AHA) now recommends eating less sugar. Eating too much sugar can lead to heart disease or a heart attack. They recommend that a woman have no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar a day and that men have no more than 8. Sugar includes table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup but does not include eating apples and fruit. A can of soda contains 8 teaspoons of sugar, so if you’re a woman and enjoy sodas, have only three-quarters of a can once a day. Then don’t eat any food that contains sugar the rest of the day.
A clever way to eat that helps control insulin and blood sugar levels, as well as helps weight loss is to use more vinegar. Years ago a very popular diet included vinegar. You were to take a tablespoon of vinegar in a glass of water after every meal. It worked then and it works now.
New research shows that acetic acid, the main component of vinegar, may help control blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and fat accumulation. They surmise that acetic acid fights fat by turning on genes for fatty acid oxidation enzymes. The genes churn out proteins involved in breaking down fats, thus suppressing body fat accumulation in the body. Glycemic Index research shows that having 4 teaspoons of vinegar with a meal reduces the glycemic effect of a meal by 30 percent. Which helps keep blood sugar and insulin levels normal.
If you don’t have a preference for sour foods, you may want to develop your palate to appreciate vinegar and oil salad dressings, dill pickles, capers, sauerkraut, tangy salsas, green olives, mustard, and horseradish.
Add to that sour fruit and vegetables: lemons, limes, grapefruit, tomatoes, and some berries and greens.
In other words, a couple of spoonfuls of sour a day can keep the doctor away. Along with that apple. The healing power of apples amaze me. When I’m going through a high-stress time, like book deadlines, or return home from a hectic trip, eating an apple or two a day rebalances whatever was out of balance.
The New York Times Magazine recently ran an article on the sorry state of home cooking. Basically, we’re watching more televised cooking shows and doing less cooking in our homes. The end of the article offered this innovative way to lose weight. And I suspect one could lose substantial amounts of weight. Only eat food that you prepare by hand. That means you would bake your own bread, make your own candy, cookies, and pastry. You would cook each meal that you eat. You couldn’t use muffin mix or any convenience packaged food. You’d make spaghetti sauce from scratch. Ditto ice cream. Sort of just like they did on the farm a hundred years ago. Anyone want to try this and let me know your results after 6 months?
Two of my favorites: I shy away from eating much dairy, but I love ice cream and that wonderful cold feeling in my mouth. I’m in love with coconut milk iced dessert. It’s natural, and the main ingredients are coconut milk and agave nectar (which is low-glycemic). I found it at the health food grocers. It’s creamy, rich tasting, and satisfying.
My other favorite is MBT shoes. I wrote about these several months ago after a shoe salesman at the Jax store in Fort Collins, CO told me that they would heal my foot pain problem – plantar fasciitis. I also found that hiking up steep terrain also really helps. It loosens up my tight leg and feet muscles. But back to the shoes. They are amazing. I stand taller, my posture is better. I walked in my MBTs all over Paris for ten long hot days without any foot concerns. Happy feet make for a great vacation. The shoes aren’t high-fashion, but they are sort of “hip” looking in an odd way. I hesitate to recommend them to you because they are really pricey, but they are terrifically effective and very sturdy. Also, if you shop for them on-line by going to google shopping or on amazon.com, you may find some for half price. For my readers in Utah, you can find them at The Walking Store at Gateway.
As we ease into autumn, I’ve looking forward to the fall colors on the mountain sides and up the canyons. It’s time for photographing the colors, state fairs, and those late blooming asters and chrysanthemums in the garden. The Farmer’s Markets offer bountiful and enticing harvests. Have a great September.
Friday, July 10, 2009
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
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
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