Archive for the ‘diet’ Category
Friday, December 23rd, 2011 |
It’s that time of year again – when we look at trimming down in the new year.
While I still don’t personally do diets, because I would never be able to stick to an eating plan.
But some people like having the discipline of planned meals and exercise programmes.
The Paleo Diet is all about eating meat, nuts, fruit, vegetables and seafood. But no grains, dairy or gluten and minimal carbs.
Celebrities like Megan Fox and Uma Thurman have apparently followed this diet.
The diet supposedly takes one back to the Stone Age when hunters had to gather food in the natural environment. Surprisingly they gathered no legumes like beans, peas and lentils.
Primarily the diet consists of:
1. Lots of Animal fat (meat)
2. Fibre from fruit and vegetables
3. Moderate amounts of essential fatty acids.
4. Foods with high potassium and low sodium content.
5. Foods rich in antioxidants.
6. Probiotics from plain yoghurt.
Avoid:
1 Snacking between meals
2 Salt and sugar – eat honey instead
3 Refined and processed food
4 Ceral grains
5 Legumes and pulses
6 Dairy produce, except plain yoghurt.
Posted in diet, Healthy living | No Comments »
Saturday, September 17th, 2011 |
So last week at work I took some photos for a newsletter article we are preparing.
While we knew the photo had to be eventually taken, we did it on the spur of the moment. With a bit of begging and pleading. And a few “but you looking so pretty today, perfect for a photo” comments.
I took the photo while joking and laughing with the group of 6 and we got a few good ones, I thought.
I e-mailed it to them and immediately got a response: “Oh Abby, I look so fat!”
This from someone who is neither fat nor thin. Just perfect. And I have told her many times.
She is a young, beautiful, educated woman definitely going places if she chooses, with a matching partner and gorgeous little boy of less than two years old. And she is sweet and friendly.
But she keeps telling me she’s fat!
So I’ve been wondering why women do that. Why make that statement at all?
It’s not like I ever get e-mails saying “Oh, I’m so short/tall/white/black/brown/orange”. Please Photoshop me perfect. Well, not in quite the same numbers nor with the same level of shame and anguish!
Is being more than skinny really that bad? Is it worse than being a rude, angry person. Or a hypocrite? Or a criminal?
Why is there this focus on diets and food in the media? In magazines, on tv programmes. Just about everywhere you can find ways to slim down.
To stay healthy and live longer they tell us, almost with self-righteousness.
Lose some weight – fast or slow. Just do it!
For all the good she has done, Oprah hasn’t helped women’s self-esteem issues where weight is concerned.
When do we see her at her most vulnerable? When she’s confessing her addiction to food or something to do with losing or gaining weight.
She’s a billionaire. And she’s smart with a perfect partner, a best friend above all best friends and cute dogs. And has amazing houses all over the show.
But her weight issues make us not envy her too much. Makes her one of us.
Maybe if we took the focus off weight issues and put them it where it belongs, on being who we are meant to be, women would be less likely to be so critical of their physical selves.
Oprah and my colleague are both successful in many ways (and in their own ways), so they likely think it makes them easier to relate to when they talk about their weight.
But it continues the cycle. Because some other woman hears this, compares herself to the thinnest woman she can find and thinks: “I look fat!”
Posted in diet, fitness, Healthy living, Life | No Comments »
Thursday, June 16th, 2011 |
Another day, another diet, people. And this one is apparently recommended by all and sundry as “the best diet of all”.
It’s for weight loss of course, but also for those with heart disease and for diabetics.
Any diet that encourages eating plenty of natural food is alright with me.
However, as always, this blog discourages diets of any sort. Eating healthy natural food and enjoying exercise in whatever form that makes you happy is the way to go.
But if you choose a diet, here’s another one for Monday. It looks sensible enough to me.
Here’s a day of typical meals on a 2,000-calorie DASH diet at a 2,300 mg. sodium level. Substitutions for a 1,500 mg. sodium level are in parentheses.
Breakfast
¾ cup bran flakes cereal (¾ cup shredded wheat cereal) with 1 medium banana and 1 cup low-fat milk
1 slice whole-wheat bread with 1 tsp. (unsalted) margarine
1 cup orange juice
Lunch
Sandwich—
2 slices whole-wheat bread
¾ cup (unsalted) chicken salad
1 tbsp. Dijon (regular) mustard
Salad—
½ cup fresh cucumber slices
½ cup tomato wedges
1 tbsp. sunflower seeds
1 tsp. low-calorie Italian dressing
½ cup fruit cocktail
Dinner
3 ounces beef, eye of the round, with 2 tbsp. fat-free beef gravy
1 cup green beans, sautéed with ½ tsp. canola oil
1 small baked potato topped with 1 tbsp. fat-free sour cream, 1 tbsp. grated, reduced-fat natural (low-sodium) cheddar cheese and 1 tbsp. chopped scallions
1 small whole-wheat roll with 1 tsp. (unsalted) soft margarine
1 small apple
1 cup low-fat milk
Snacks
1/3 cup almonds, unsalted
¼ cup raisins
½ cup fat-free, no-sugar-added fruit yogurt on a 2,000-calorie DASH diet at a 2,300 mg. sodium level. Substitutions for a 1,500 mg. sodium level are in parentheses.
Breakfast
¾ cup bran flakes cereal (¾ cup shredded wheat cereal) with 1 medium banana and 1 cup low-fat milk
1 slice whole-wheat bread with 1 tsp. (unsalted) margarine
1 cup orange juice
Lunch
Sandwich—
2 slices whole-wheat bread
¾ cup (unsalted) chicken salad
1 tbsp. Dijon (regular) mustard
Salad—
½ cup fresh cucumber slices
½ cup tomato wedges
1 tbsp. sunflower seeds
1 tsp. low-calorie Italian dressing
½ cup fruit cocktail
Dinner
3 ounces beef, eye of the round, with 2 tbsp. fat-free beef gravy
1 cup green beans, sautéed with ½ tsp. canola oil
1 small baked potato topped with 1 tbsp. fat-free sour cream, 1 tbsp. grated, reduced-fat natural (low-sodium) cheddar cheese and 1 tbsp. chopped scallions
1 small whole-wheat roll with 1 tsp. (unsalted) soft margarine
1 small apple
1 cup low-fat milk
Snacks
1/3 cup almonds, unsalted
¼ cup raisins
½ cup fat-free, no-sugar-added fruit yogur
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Thursday, June 2nd, 2011 |
Apparently the latest diet craze amongst celebrities like Lady Gaga, Jennifer Aniston and the like is…wait for it…baby food!
You’ve read that right! BABY FOOD!
Has the world lost its collective mind???
Not even babies want to eat pureed food. Have you seen their faces when they have to eat a jar of food while the rest of the family eat whole foods?
Not exactly ecstatic, are they?
If you think about it, it makes a small bit of sense though. The potted food is obviously safe enough for the tiniest members of our society, so it must be healthy and safe enough for you and me.
In theory!
I would rather eat cabbage soup and Special K every day than eat mac&cheese flavoured with peaches out of a jar!
Actually no. I have never eaten cabbage soup in my life as depriving oneself of a variety of food is the fastest way to gain weight again.
But that’s just me. And I don’t do diets.
Gorgeous Jennifer Aniston who doesn’t look like she needs diets, is said to eat 14 jars of baby food a day to stave off hunger.
I guess it’s whatever floats your boat. It’s bikini season in the southern hemisphere and if I was being photographed in all my bikini wearing glory for all the world to see, I too might be eating pureed baby food.
Probably not though.
Posted in diet | 2 Comments »
Sunday, May 8th, 2011 |
Jennifer Lopez, Giselle Bunchen, and even the newest Duchess of Cambirdge, the former Kate Middleton, are said to have followed the Dukan Diet. It was invented to a French physician, Pierre Dukan.
With it being spring in the northern hemisphere, the thing to do is to get in shape for bikini season.
Not that our southern suburbs sisters (and brothers) are neglecting diets. I know of a few people getting in shape for winter!
Anyway, the basic Dukan diet goes something like this:
Phase 1 — eat as much lean protein as you want, take 1.5 TBS of oat bran daily, and drink 1.5 L of water (about 6 cups). That’s it. No veggies. No fruits.
Phase 2 — stick with the unlimited lean protein, but this time every other day you can add in unlimited non-starchy veggies (like green leafy veggies and celery are examples). And, up your oat bran to 2 TBS per day.
Phase 3 — unlimited lean protein, veggies are now allowed daily, 1 piece of fruit, 2 slices whole grain bread and 1 or 2 “cheat” days where you eat whatever you want.
Phase 4 — this is where you’re supposed to maintain. There are no “rules” per se, outside of 1 day per week going back to one of the all protein days in Phase I and continue with the oat bran, 3 TBS/day at this point.
This blog of course does not believe in diets. We eat what we want, when we want in moderation. Food, as with anything in life, requires balance.
Oh and of course exercise and do fun things outdoors with the people you love.
But we are not judging those who choose differently. So there you go…another diet for those who do them.
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