Since I had to fly home early to catch Florida/Florida State game in the Swamp on Saturday, I missed out on several days worth of Turkey Day leftovers. To cope, I spent yesterday (Sunday) eating Starburst and Peanut Butter M&Ms. The calories I consumed were likely on par with a thanksgiving meal, but it just wasn't the same. Today I'm doing much better with some oatmeal and a big glass of milk, already feeling like my pre-stuffed self.
To anyone still feeling bloated and self-hating going on four days since the great Thanksgiving feast of 2009, MSN health has a three-day, hour-by-hour plan to get you feeling good about yourself again.
Personally, I think their by-the-hour help is a bit much. Okay, you ate a lot this weekend. So did everyone else. If you don't eat that way every weekend chances are it's not going to have too detrimental an effect on your waistline. Still, I'm not against a little bit of dietary cleansing to get us feeling better after America's perennial turkey and mashed potato gorge-fest. MSN's plan includes mantras to keep you motivated and easy recipes for low-cal foods.
It's important to remember, though, that 3 days of detox followed by another week of crazy eating gets you nowhere. Theoretically, the tips offered in this "diet recovery plan" should be followed year-round. It's a lifestyle, people.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Calorie Counting made simple
My sister in-law Ashley had a baby about a month ago, so one big thing on her mind, besides my adorable one-month-old nephew, is getting back to her pre-baby weight. Over cupcakes and coffee for breakfast at her and my brother's house for Thanksgiving weekend (we both agreed diets take a break at the end of November), we discussed the hassle of counting calories.
Ashley told me about fitday.com, a free calorie-counter and fitness log, which makes it easier than ever to keep track of what you eat on a daily basis.
I can remember taking a Nutrition class during my freshman year of college where we had to keep track of our daily caloric intake using special software we could only get from one of the campus computer labs. It was an interesting, eye-opening project, but having to hang out in the computer lab to do it was not conducive to accurate bookkeeping. Fitday gives people an accurate measurement of calories being taken in, as well as a good estimate of calories being burned through various activities during one's day.
There's also a premium version that can be purchased for extra perks, but the free portion is helpful enough, and it's certainly better than looking up calories in serving sizes yourself and keeping them in an old notebook. We all know that lasts about 2 weeks tops.
Ashley told me about fitday.com, a free calorie-counter and fitness log, which makes it easier than ever to keep track of what you eat on a daily basis.
I can remember taking a Nutrition class during my freshman year of college where we had to keep track of our daily caloric intake using special software we could only get from one of the campus computer labs. It was an interesting, eye-opening project, but having to hang out in the computer lab to do it was not conducive to accurate bookkeeping. Fitday gives people an accurate measurement of calories being taken in, as well as a good estimate of calories being burned through various activities during one's day.
There's also a premium version that can be purchased for extra perks, but the free portion is helpful enough, and it's certainly better than looking up calories in serving sizes yourself and keeping them in an old notebook. We all know that lasts about 2 weeks tops.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Life lessons and pink food
Last year was my first attempt at a gluten-free Thanksgiving, and it wasn't pretty. No one in my family (first and foremost myself) had yet mastered the idea of life without wheat. After all, we're from the south, land of biscuits, fried okra and gravy on everything.
Green bean casserole was off the menu for me, as were crescent rolls and any-kind-of-pie. I'm not even going to get into the failed attempt by my mother and I to make 'stuffing' out of rice.
This year, though, things are looking up. GF cream of mushroom soup is making green bean casserole possible again (sadly without the fried onions on top). My mom has perfected corn-starch based gravy over the past year, and, as I may have mentioned, Betty Crocker is bringing dessert.
And thanks this wonderful article from NPR, we're even going to take a crack at GF stuffing, using Sami's gluten-free bread, a locally-based favorite of mine.
I'm thankful for a lot this year, especially my new nephew and my ever-more-supportive friends. I'm especially thankful for all the strides companies have made to make GF life a little easier for us all. I can't wait to see what the next year has in store.
One more thing: my all-time favorite Turkey Day dish just happens to be gluten-free without and substitutions: pink salad. Best of all, it follows the tradition of women in my family of making delicious food without actually having to cook...
Ingredients:
1 medium can crushed pineapple
1 large box of cherry Jello mix
1 pint of cottage cheese (add more for a creamier salad, less for a a fluffier one)
1 big tub of Cool Whip or other whipped topping
Directions: Get a bowl and mix pineapple, Jello mix and cottage cheese. Fold in the Cool whip and let it hang in the fridge for at least an hour. Garnish with mint leaves.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Green bean casserole was off the menu for me, as were crescent rolls and any-kind-of-pie. I'm not even going to get into the failed attempt by my mother and I to make 'stuffing' out of rice.
This year, though, things are looking up. GF cream of mushroom soup is making green bean casserole possible again (sadly without the fried onions on top). My mom has perfected corn-starch based gravy over the past year, and, as I may have mentioned, Betty Crocker is bringing dessert.
And thanks this wonderful article from NPR, we're even going to take a crack at GF stuffing, using Sami's gluten-free bread, a locally-based favorite of mine.
I'm thankful for a lot this year, especially my new nephew and my ever-more-supportive friends. I'm especially thankful for all the strides companies have made to make GF life a little easier for us all. I can't wait to see what the next year has in store.
One more thing: my all-time favorite Turkey Day dish just happens to be gluten-free without and substitutions: pink salad. Best of all, it follows the tradition of women in my family of making delicious food without actually having to cook...
Ingredients:
1 medium can crushed pineapple
1 large box of cherry Jello mix
1 pint of cottage cheese (add more for a creamier salad, less for a a fluffier one)
1 big tub of Cool Whip or other whipped topping
Directions: Get a bowl and mix pineapple, Jello mix and cottage cheese. Fold in the Cool whip and let it hang in the fridge for at least an hour. Garnish with mint leaves.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Don't Panic
It happened this morning. It's why I'm up at 9 a.m. on a Sunday posting on a blog until my heart stops racing and I can fall back to sleep. It's not a full-fledged panic attack--I know I'm not dying, but my body does react like the world is ending. Like it surely will end if I don't get out of bed and do something about it. Like every little worry--work-related, school-related, financial, personal--everything I was remotely stressed out about before sleeping attacks me in the wee hours of the day.
The ironic thing is I went to bed without a care, on cloud-9 actually, after a game night with friends. Apparently that's not as strange as I thought.
1 in 4 people experience panic attacks, usually caused by "a loss or too many changes too fast," according to a Women's Health article I just Googled. There's no concrete evidence as to what causes them, the article says, other than what the writer called faulty wiring:
"One theory is that in some people the brain circuitry responsible for processing emotion and fear is in a state of hyperexcitability...This may cause the brain to mislabel nonthreatening, everyday stress as highly dangerous and set off a false alarm that sends your body into Defcon 1 status."
Another Google search has just let me know that anxiety and other neurological quirks are common celiac disease symptoms, since that same malabsorption issue I wrote about in an earlier post "interferes with neurotransmitters that regulate mood," according to about.com
Celiac talk aside, it turns out spontaneous attacks often happen when one is just lying in bed. There's no concrete way to knock them out, but the article suggests opening up about them (look at that--I'm curing myself right now!), distracting yourself (boo-yah), and the ever-present solution in our society: get yourself some drugs.
I think the distraction worked. I'm going back for another hour of rainy-day, lazy Sunday sleep.
The ironic thing is I went to bed without a care, on cloud-9 actually, after a game night with friends. Apparently that's not as strange as I thought.
1 in 4 people experience panic attacks, usually caused by "a loss or too many changes too fast," according to a Women's Health article I just Googled. There's no concrete evidence as to what causes them, the article says, other than what the writer called faulty wiring:
"One theory is that in some people the brain circuitry responsible for processing emotion and fear is in a state of hyperexcitability...This may cause the brain to mislabel nonthreatening, everyday stress as highly dangerous and set off a false alarm that sends your body into Defcon 1 status."
Another Google search has just let me know that anxiety and other neurological quirks are common celiac disease symptoms, since that same malabsorption issue I wrote about in an earlier post "interferes with neurotransmitters that regulate mood," according to about.com
Celiac talk aside, it turns out spontaneous attacks often happen when one is just lying in bed. There's no concrete way to knock them out, but the article suggests opening up about them (look at that--I'm curing myself right now!), distracting yourself (boo-yah), and the ever-present solution in our society: get yourself some drugs.
I think the distraction worked. I'm going back for another hour of rainy-day, lazy Sunday sleep.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Weight of the World
In case you forgot, most of the U.S. is overweight. I mean, it's not entirely the fault of the consumer. Food that is bad for us is cheap, while healthy foods, even vegetables, are ridiculously overpriced. That reminds me, if you haven't seen Food Inc., drop it into your Netflix queue. It's a great hunger suppressant (kidding, sort of) and a real eye-opener into how crazy messed up the U.S. Food industry is (not kidding).
Anyway, this nifty little chart gives the percentage of overweight people in countries all over the world, from Brazil to Bangladesh, and breaks down their average caloric intake into food types like cereals, meats and fats. To be honest, I'm not really sure why the U.S. is the laughing stock of the entire world on this thing. More than half of Australians are overweight, and France is inching closer at almost 42 percent. So much for "French Women Don't Get Fat."
Thanks for the link, Dennis
Anyway, this nifty little chart gives the percentage of overweight people in countries all over the world, from Brazil to Bangladesh, and breaks down their average caloric intake into food types like cereals, meats and fats. To be honest, I'm not really sure why the U.S. is the laughing stock of the entire world on this thing. More than half of Australians are overweight, and France is inching closer at almost 42 percent. So much for "French Women Don't Get Fat."
Thanks for the link, Dennis
Anemania
One of the more annoying side effects of Celiac disease is anemia, caused by one's difficulty absorbing nutrients like iron and Folate.
Young women who menstruate have a tendency for low iron already, so the fact that mine is a little lower than most wasn't alarming to me. Plus, I always thought anemia was just one of those words people used to get out of gym class. Then I took a look at the symptoms: easy fatigue/loss of energy? Ugh, check. Difficulty concentrating? Check. Headache while exercising? Insomnia? Check and check. Wait, easy fatigue and insomnia? C'mon! Luckily these are only minor symptoms compared to some of the others (Loss of sense of touch? No thank you!).
Still, I didn't really start to do anything about it until I tried to donate blood, a regular activity for me, only to be turned away.
Admitting defeat, I researched foods one can eat to increase the absorption of iron and bought some iron tablets (laughing when I saw the Publix brand had "gluten-free" right on the front of the bottle). As I found out, iron is a tricky little nutrient to keep a-hold of. For one thing, coffee and tea, candy bars, dairy products, ice cream, and soft drinks all interfere with iron absorption, meaning my iron tablet means nothing if I take it while I'm eating any of those things. Alcohol, too, lowers the rate of absorption.
Of course I don't want to feel tired and foggy, but I can't say I've given up dairy products, soft drinks or alcohol as a result. I think forgoing coffee and taking a supplement is a healthy compromise. I feel more clear-headed already.
Young women who menstruate have a tendency for low iron already, so the fact that mine is a little lower than most wasn't alarming to me. Plus, I always thought anemia was just one of those words people used to get out of gym class. Then I took a look at the symptoms: easy fatigue/loss of energy? Ugh, check. Difficulty concentrating? Check. Headache while exercising? Insomnia? Check and check. Wait, easy fatigue and insomnia? C'mon! Luckily these are only minor symptoms compared to some of the others (Loss of sense of touch? No thank you!).
Still, I didn't really start to do anything about it until I tried to donate blood, a regular activity for me, only to be turned away.
Admitting defeat, I researched foods one can eat to increase the absorption of iron and bought some iron tablets (laughing when I saw the Publix brand had "gluten-free" right on the front of the bottle). As I found out, iron is a tricky little nutrient to keep a-hold of. For one thing, coffee and tea, candy bars, dairy products, ice cream, and soft drinks all interfere with iron absorption, meaning my iron tablet means nothing if I take it while I'm eating any of those things. Alcohol, too, lowers the rate of absorption.
Of course I don't want to feel tired and foggy, but I can't say I've given up dairy products, soft drinks or alcohol as a result. I think forgoing coffee and taking a supplement is a healthy compromise. I feel more clear-headed already.
Friday, November 13, 2009
A post not about baked goods
As an almost-second-year Graduate student, I thought my PE class days had passed me by long ago. Then, last Thursday my Health/Fitness Writing class, for which I started this blog, met outside UF's Orthopedic center for a lesson in getting your ass kicked by life.
I was never a fan of PE class. I'm an incredibly shy person in most aspects of my life, and that definitely includes working out. (You can ask my gym buddy--I won't use any weight machines or free weights if anyone else is around--including him!)
But I always enjoyed group fitness classes because it generally seems like everyone is trying so hard to not look like an idiot in front of everyone else that they're not even paying attention to anyone else. And that was kind of the case on Thursday. We laughed at ourselves as we struggled to remember which foot to put forward during those killer lunges, and cheered each other on as we took turns flipping over a truck tire big enough to house a small family.
I think the most important lesson I took from it, though, is that I'd really been cheating myself during my usual work-outs. Once my legs recovered from our mini-boot-camp session I hit the gym and put in twice the effort--and felt that much better for it.
I was never a fan of PE class. I'm an incredibly shy person in most aspects of my life, and that definitely includes working out. (You can ask my gym buddy--I won't use any weight machines or free weights if anyone else is around--including him!)
But I always enjoyed group fitness classes because it generally seems like everyone is trying so hard to not look like an idiot in front of everyone else that they're not even paying attention to anyone else. And that was kind of the case on Thursday. We laughed at ourselves as we struggled to remember which foot to put forward during those killer lunges, and cheered each other on as we took turns flipping over a truck tire big enough to house a small family.
I think the most important lesson I took from it, though, is that I'd really been cheating myself during my usual work-outs. Once my legs recovered from our mini-boot-camp session I hit the gym and put in twice the effort--and felt that much better for it.
Success!
Okay so I know I already sang the praises of Betty Crocker’s new GF line of baking mixes…but now I have pictures!
My third foray into gluten-free baking was a delicious success earlier this morning when I decided to brighten up a weekend destined to be filled with school work with sweet, caloric, chocolate-chip cookies.
I’ve tried to make GF cookies before. I preferred oatmeal butterscotch because I hoped the oatmeal would help hold the cookies together. See, the real challenged in GF baking is keeping it together, literally. It’s easy enough to find alternative flours (potato, rice and millet flours are among the most popular), but none of these can mimic wheat flour on their own. They need something to bind them together. In most GF baking the binder is xanthan gum or guar gum.
Really, who the hell wants to willingly eat anything called guar gum? All I can think about was Gwar, that awful metal band who dress up like aliens and spray fake blood on their concert-goers.
My from-scratch GF baking adventures consisted of me trying to measure out the correct amount of xanthan gum, which I had acquired from a health food store, delighted to find that it had a powdery, not gum-like consistency. But I must have done something wrong, because my oatmeal butterscotch cookies didn’t say together, didn’t rise, but flattened onto the pan like little lace doilies. Tasty, but not presentable.
These cookies, however, are beautiful as box-o-cookies go. If I planned on leaving the house this weekend I might even venture to share them with people. I might not even tell them it was gluten-free!
Star-struck
One of the privileges of going to a school like UF is that students have access to some pretty well-known, interesting people. Yesterday our H/F Writing class was lucky enough to speak, however briefly, to television's Dr. Oz, "America's Doctor." The chat was brief since, you know, he had to go perform heart surgery. No big deal. He does it for fun, mostly. For about 20 minutes we were captivated by the grainy floating head on the projector screen--not unlike the Wizard of Oz himself.
"Surgery is like a dance. I can push, shove, nudge and move the heart where I want it to go," Oz said, describing heart surgery as being "magical," no matter how many times he does it.
Doctors are notorious for being bad interview subjects, so it was incredibly refreshing to hear him take questions from aspiring reporters with patience and thoughtfulness.
Oh, and unsurprisingly, Oz didn't hesitate when asked his favorite subject to discuss. Nope, it's not the heart.
"I really like talking about poop and urine," Oz said.
Who doesn't?
Monday, November 2, 2009
How to be Fat
I'm eating a brownie for breakfast. I'll probably end up eating one for lunch too. I think it's okay to have a little bit of post-Halloween leeway when it comes to getting back into the habit of not eating like a 5-year-old; that is, candy candy candy.
But the reason I'm posting about eating brownies on a health blog is that when my parents came up to watch the Florida vs. Georgia game this weekend, my mom brought with her these delicious brownies, as well as three different kinds of cake/cookie mix. All Betty Crocker. All gluten-free--they're even made in a GF processing plant!
"Your mother found these at our middle-of-nowhere Publix," said my dad. "So she had to buy them all."
That even the most rural of Publixes (Publices?) would carry these products means the world is getting GF-friendly at a much faster rate than I thought it would, and I couldn't be happier. Now let's see if I'm still saying that after all the cake mix is gone--gluten free food is known to have twice the calories and half the nurition as "regular" food.
But the reason I'm posting about eating brownies on a health blog is that when my parents came up to watch the Florida vs. Georgia game this weekend, my mom brought with her these delicious brownies, as well as three different kinds of cake/cookie mix. All Betty Crocker. All gluten-free--they're even made in a GF processing plant!
"Your mother found these at our middle-of-nowhere Publix," said my dad. "So she had to buy them all."
That even the most rural of Publixes (Publices?) would carry these products means the world is getting GF-friendly at a much faster rate than I thought it would, and I couldn't be happier. Now let's see if I'm still saying that after all the cake mix is gone--gluten free food is known to have twice the calories and half the nurition as "regular" food.
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