You Grow Girl!

For those who are interesved in having healthy food you grow yourself to help in your weight release plan, check out this site www.yougrowgirl.com

Coming to a Fork in the Road~Can I Get a Witness?

A conversation on the difficulty in being our own cheerleader led me write this.

I was amazed how with such candor how many people struggle with giving praise to oneself & easy to another by citing different words (kinder words) to others and harsher ones to themselves... Somehow we've becomed so conditioned to believe if we give ourselves a compliment or praise that we are swelled head, boastful, prideful et al.

Where did we learn that? Should we take pride which in itself not a bad thing when we've done well? Or if we "failed" is it really failure? A favorite adage is "If I did all I could & did not succeed, at least I did not fail". Some do what they've seen or taught. And we are always being taught.

Make no mistake family, friends,associates,community, media you name it have a vested interest in making sure that conditioning continues. So do we... And it does not mean that intent is malovent perhaps when it is family or friends, buv how often have we heard the stories of ones who released weight made their goals and then people's attitude toward us change. And make no mistake, if you think well of yourself it can so rattle some, that they will be bound & invent at times to reduce you to how they see themselves instead of pulling out their own pom-poms.

Don't you let them do it.

And discounting our OWN emotional response to that attitude when all the things we thought should have happened once the weight was released is still there? Weight can be a reaction to a host of other things good bad or indifferent.

A a wise person said to me once when the weight peels off like thin membranes of an onion, what ever it insulated us from will still be there. Peeling away will like the onion bring tears, but it could be cleansing tears of release if we want.

I am a flawed person not always up but then I would need to be on medication :=) if I was way up there all the time. But I store away enough good cheer for myself to lift me up when I don't want to get up. Some already know this about me, I like to use is instead of the word weight "loss" is weight "release". It may seem awkward at 1st, but if you think about it when you lose something that means something to you, how much effort you put into "finding" it? And the weight DID indeed mean something,even if it does not now or matter as much!

So this is for posting your "atta girl" or "atta boy" for shifting the paradigm. If it is uncomfortable or you find yourself feeling you've "failed" how can you change that wording?

Example: I only lost 1 of the 2 pound goal I set, I've failed.

Rephrased: I lost a pound! Whoo Hoo!

Example: Although I said I would walk everyday, I only got in 2 days. I failed"

Rephrased: Maybe my original goal was not attained, but I DID get 2 days in" Whoo Hoo!

Or even looking at your body differently... How about thanking your body for carrying you all these years with whatever weighed you down? How about saying you're welcome when when your body respond with more pep when you nourished it? How about thank your body for breathing for functioning?

See how kind you are in your words to others, substitute YOUR NAME in its place, even if you do not believe it yet! It may sound silly in the beginning & some days may be more of a stretch then others, but you will indeed create new neurons & synapses in your brain, rewiring your thinking.

I did not want believe it at 1st but somewhere unbeknown to me my attitude shifted, 1st in somewhat small, subtle ways then in bigger ones. It takes on an average 30 days to undo and redo.

What will you have to lose?

Oh yeah weight!

A Chinese proverb states "Barn burn down. Now I can see the sky".

Summer Cucumber Salsa

Summer Cucumber Salsa



Ingredients

3 medium-large cucumbers
3 small-medium tomatoes
1 green bell pepper
1/2 cup red onion
2 jalapeno peppers
2 Tbsp minced cilantro
2 Tbsp minced fresh dill
3 squeezes of lime juice (either from wedges or a lime-bottle)


Directions

(20 minute prep-time is for chopping up all the ingredients.)

Peel cucumber (if desired- you can leave the peel on if you prefer- I usually do, or at least leave some of it).

Remove seeds from cucumber and discard, and chop remaining cucumber flesh into small pieces.Remove seeds from tomatoes and discard.

Chop remaining flesh into small pieces.Remove seeds from bell pepper and discard.

Chop bell pepper into small pieces.Remove seeds from jalapeno peppers and chop into very small pieces (or mince).

Chop red onion into small pieces.

Mince cilantro and dill.Combine all chopped veggies in a large bowl.

Add cilantro and dill and mix together well. A

dd a few squeezes of lime juice and mix together again. Serve with your choice of tortilla chips (not included in nutritional information). I use baked chips to make the recipe a little more healthy.

I've found this salsa tastes great on baked "Scoops" chips, or corn tortilla chips with the "hint of lime" flavor.

It especially worked well when I served it with Mango-Peach baked fruit chips!

Servings: 6

Nutritional Info

Fat: 0.5g

Carbohydrates: 9.8g

Calories: 44.4

Protein: 2.0g

Rock(ing) Lobster-Gerry Gavin

This one's from my latest cookbook Dining In.

If you don't have your copy, you can get an autographed book from www.ChefGarvin.com.

Angel Hair Pasta with Sauteed Lobster

1 lb dried angel hair pasta

1 3 lb. lobster; cooked

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. shaved garlic

1 Cup white wine

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter (optional)

1 tsp Sugar

Kosher salt ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Whitle the pasta is cooking remove lobster meat from the shell and coarsely chop.

3. In a saute pan heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic; saute for 1 minute. Add the lobster and wine. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 3 minutes more. Add the butter, if desired, and the sugar.

4. Add the drained cooked pasta; mix well. Season to taste with the salt and pepper.

For cardiovascular relief...

Do what you Wanna! A la New Orleans second line!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E1VBCcA76E

Blacks Have Highest Obesity Rates in U.S.

I will comment on this later after I finish sputtering...


Blacks Have Highest Obesity Rates in U.S.
Hispanics also show higher prevalence than whites, CDC researchers find
By Steven ReinbergHealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, July 16 (HealthDay News) -- The obesity epidemic in the United States is hitting minorities the hardest, U.S. health officials report.

Here are the hard numbers: Blacks have a 51 percent greater prevalence of obesity than whites, and Hispanics have 21 percent greater obesity prevalence than whites, according to researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Obesity rates also vary geographically. Among blacks and whites, the highest rates of obesity are in the South and Midwest. Among Hispanics, obesity rates were highest in the South, Midwest and West, according to the July 17 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a CDC publication.

"There are at least three reasons for these findings," said study author Dr. Liping Pan, a CDC epidemiologist. "The first is individual behavior."

For example, blacks and Hispanics are less likely to engage in physical activity compared with whites, she said.

There are also differences in attitudes and cultural norms, Pan said. "For example, black and Hispanic women are more accepting of their own body size than white women," she said. "They are happy with their weight and less likely to try to lose weight."

The third factor is the limited access to healthy affordable food and safe places to engage in physical activity, Pan said.

Pan noted that all ethnic and racial groups in the United States have a high prevalence of obesity. Programs to fight obesity need to be directed at everyone, not just specific groups, she said.
For the report, Pan's team uses data from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for 2006 through 2008.

The researchers found that, in 40 states, the prevalence of obesity was 30 percent or more among blacks. In Alabama, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio and Oregon, the obesity rate among blacks was 40 percent or more.

Among blacks, obesity rates ranged from 23 percent to 45.1 percent throughout the United States. For Hispanics the obesity rate ranged from 21 percent to 36.7 percent. In 11 states, the prevalence of obesity was 30 percent or higher among Hispanics, Pan's group found.
Among whites, the prevalence of obesity ranged from 9 percent to 30.2 percent around the country. West Virginia was the only state where the prevalence of obesity among whites was 30 percent or more.


The CDC is currently focusing its efforts on getting people to eat more fruits and vegetables and stay away from high-calorie, high-sugar foods. In addition, the agency is encouraging new mothers to breast-feed their infants, Pan said.

Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, said that while there are reasons for the toll obesity is taking on blacks, whites are also dealing with the same obesity problem.

"We should not be surprised to see major disparities in obesity, since the factors that cause it -- eating the wrong kinds of food and too much, and doing too little activity -- are themselves highly disparate in our society," Katz said.

Relative poverty, lower levels of education, neighborhoods that provide limited opportunity for outdoor recreation or to find and choose healthful foods are the underlying problems, Katz said. "There are ethnic disparities in obesity because there are ethnic disparities in the basic standard of living," he said.


"We should, of course, direct resources at this problem where it is most acute, developing community-based interventions to control and prevent obesity where it is most rampant. But we should also recognize that we are all in the same boat," Katz said.

Recently published projections indicate that all adults in the United States will be overweight or obese by 2048, should current trends persist, he noted. "Dedicated efforts to combat obesity-related disparities should take place within a society-wide effort to curtail this threat that is stalking us all," he said.


More information
For more information on obesity, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine .

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/health_news_detail.asp?health_day=629119

Don't Worry; Be Natural-How to tell Organic from "Natural" foods...

I found this article extremely helpful when buying and never ceased being surprised the level of marketing is used to get you to buy products that may or may not be good for you. I especially like the comment "an organic cream puff is still a cream puff" and needs to be mindful of:

Natural vs Organic;What's true-What's Hype?

By Stepfanie Romine

Read full article at:

http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=natural_vs_organic_whats_truth_and_whatsype

Pop quiz: Which is the best product description to read on a food label?

A. “100% natural”

B. “All natural ingredients”

C. “100% organic”

D. “Certified organic ingredients”

(Keep reading for the answer!)

This spring, Eco Pulse, a recent survey conducted by the Shelton Group, asked that same question, and though natural and organic foods are now available in seven in 10 supermarkets nationwide, according to the Food Marketing Institute, most of the 1,006 respondents didn't do so well. We're paying more attention to the food that goes into our mouths. Sales of natural and organic food topped $28 billion in 2006, according to the Nutrition Business Journal, with demand for organic foods alone increasing 22 percent, to almost $17 billion.

However, as consumers try to become more discerning at the supermarket, the buzzwords used on food labels are growing more complicated and convoluted. Whether you want the greenest option or products that are minimally processed and free of laboratory-created ingredients, all those grandiose marketing claims can confound even the savviest shopper. “Many consumers do not understand green terminology,” said Suzanne Shelton of the Shelton Group. In a world where burgers are "now made with real beef," carrots are labeled cholesterol-free and sugary drinks are sold as vitamin supplements, what's hype and what's healthy? It's no wonder that consumers are confused!

“They prefer the word ‘natural’ over the term ‘organic,’ thinking organic is more of an unregulated marketing buzzword that means the product is more expensive. In reality, the opposite is true: ‘Natural’ is the unregulated word. Organic foods must meet government standards to be certified as such," said Shelton.

The choice isn't immediately clear: Potato chips can be organic. High fructose corn syrup, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is natural. So which term is "best"?While the structure of the original question implies that the choice is a subjective one, the correct answer is C, 100% organic. Labeling does get a bit complicated, and as with any rules, some companies bend them more than others. Here, we'll examine each of the answers and their basic meaning.