Ask a Question
Recent CommentsBook Review: The French Don’t Diet Plan
March 31, 2010
Love cheese? Wine? Chocolate? Think you can’t enjoy them because you’re on a diet? Think again.
Dr. William Clower moved to France to enjoy a residency there as a medical professional and in the process learned that the French actually don’t diet, and don’t place a premium on exercise…and yet are generally abundantly thinner and in better shape than Americans. Dr. Clower’s book includes considerable anecdotal evidence to support his claims, as well as a 10-step “non-diet” that’s more of an implementation of lifestyle changes to help people enjoy the foods they love, lose weight and add more enjoyment to their lives.
The 10-step anti-diet includes buying the freshest produce available, the fullest-flavor, most creamy, rich and satisfying cheeses, and using real butter instead of “spreads” which, he contends, are chemical nightmares that largely cannot be processed by the digestive system. He also recommends sitting down and enjoying meals slowly, taking time to savor bites. Too often, Clower contends, we eat while doing something else. Doing so means taking away from the enjoyment of eating. And anything, even real butter and full-fat cheeses, can be enjoyed…as long as they’re consumed in moderation.
As far as exercise goes, Clower doesn’t really place a lot of focus on it in his book, as French people don’t like to exercise, he states, just as much as Americans. The French get around by walking, cycling and generally lead more active lives, however, which is hjow they’re able to eat whatever they want and still burn it off.
The French Don’t Diet, it seems, but boy, do they enjoy living! If your diet plan seems too restrictive or you’re exhausted by all of the work it’s taking to keep up with it, give Clower’s book a shot. It certainly contains a wealth of excellent information on slimming sizes down and keeping portions small, and eating a large amount of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as using heart-healthy olive oil (in addition to butter) instead of trans-fat laden “spreads”. It might not be for everyone, but especially to those who feel restricted by their diets, Clower’s plan gives us all a little more breathing room.
Scam Alert! Herbal Weight-Loss Products
March 30, 2010
Everyone knows about herbal products…they’re good for you, right? Unless, of course, they’re just another weight-loss scam posing as an “herbal product”. “Herbal” weight loss remedies often promise to help you “lose weight while you sleep” and throw in a bunch of scientific-sounding garble to make it look like they know what they’re talking about.
They don’t. But you should. Any sensible dieter knows that there’s no “quick fix” or way to “lose weight in your sleep”, at least not one that comes in a pill, mask, or other device or gimmick promising quick weight loss without any real data to support their claims. Some, like the now-infamous scam involving ephedra (ma huang), have actually led to complications with heart function and even death.
But they’re supposed to be safe…because they’re natural, right? Well, no. Just because they don’t require a prescription from a doctor doesn’t mean they’re “safe”. Herbs in any form, at any dosage, can create complications for some people, especially when mixed with medicines or other therapies. High quantities of niacin, for example, a B-vitamin, are often recommended by doctors to help patients who have high cholesterol stay off of steroid. Niacin can cause flushing, however, and any considering taking it should be aware of this before taking it as a supplement. “All-natural” doesn’t necessarily mean “safe”.
So what can you do if you’re considering an herbal supplement? First of all, if it claims to help you shed pounds in your sleep, don’t waste any more time or energy even considering it. Secondly, if you are considering a supplement that might have legitimate claims, take it to your doctor and get their recommendation on it. Then you can move forward with a smart, informed decision…and a healthier you!
Top Diet Excuses
March 29, 2010
Our Top Ten Diet Excuses this week come courtesy of ButlerWebs.com!
1. But the doughnut was calling my name.
2. But it was my birthday, so I had to eat the whole cake.
3. I had to get the bitter taste out of my mouth from eating the so-called “dish”, so I had an ice cream.
4. If you eat something and no one sees you eat it, it has no calories.
5. If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, the calories in the candy bar are canceled out by the diet soda.
6. If you fatten up everyone else around you, then you look thinner.
7. Cookie pieces contain no fat — the process of breaking causes fat leakage.
8. Things licked off knives and spoons have no calories if you are in the process of preparing something. Examples are peanut butter on a knife making a sandwich and ice cream on a spoon making a sundae.
9. Only eat things that have been broken into pieces; that way, all the calories fall out.
10. Chocolate is a vegetable. How, you ask? Chocolate is derived from cacao beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived from either sugar CANE or sugar BEETS. Both are plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Thus, chocolate is a vegetable.
Psst…don’t make excuses, make dieting fun! Try a 100 Calorie Brownie or a Fruit & Nut Energy Bar…all natural, wholesome, diet-friendly goodness…only from Glenny’s.
*Special thanks to ButlerWebs.com for the hilarious diet excuses!.
Snack Well!
March 28, 2010
Meaning…enjoy your snacking! Snacks and treats give us a chance to get a little energy, a little indulgence, and when snacking well, a bonus boost of whole grains, antioxidants, protein and more! Try these snacking tips on for size:
-For an on-the-go snack, make sure you pick something that’s sized for one portion and won’t wreak havoc on anyone else you might be sharing the road with! Those snack cups and bags from gas stations would be great if they didn’t usually contain 4 or more servings per bag. Curb your enthusiasm for these treats by taking a quick look at the nutrition label for the number of servings in a bag, get a small coffee cup from the coffee bar while your there, and once you get into the car, portion out one serving, put it in your cupholder, and tuck the rest away…in the trunk, if necessary.
-Don’t have that kind of willpower (hey, some of us never will)? Plan in advance and have a bag of Glenny’s Soy Crisps, a Slim-1 Bar or a 100 Calorie Brownie tucked into your bag or, better yet, your glove box. Then when the urge to snack hits, or it’s time for you to have a snack according to your diet, there’s a low-calorie, low-fat, deliciously wholesome option at your fingertips.
-Make time for treats. If you’re indulging, make it special. Cut a sliver of cake, half a cupcake, a small scoop of ice cream, or whatever your chosen indulgence is onto a pretty plate or bowl, sit down at a table, take a few deep breaths to relax, and take some time to really enjoy your treat. Savor each taste slowly and deliberately. Take small bites. Spend that time reflecting on how much you’re enjoying your treat, and why you like it so much. Then when you’re done, you’ve taught your body what it’s like to really savor a treat, instead of mindlessly plowing through a huge amount of it while doing something else, which lessens its indulgence factor and leads to mindless eating.
Happy snacking!
Welcome to The Weekend!
March 27, 2010
The following is excerpted from TheDietChannel’s “The Weekend Diet Plan“:
I used to work with a woman who had a pretty drastic diet strategy: She ate nothing all week and pigged out all weekend. Her weekend was one long food binge. It’s not surprising that she never seemed to lose any weight. If your diet sounds like this, don’t despair. There are plenty of tricks to help you avoid turning your weekend into a diet disaster.
You might think of the weekend as the time to reward yourself for dieting all week. Balance treats with dieting common sense. Do not go into the weekend vowing to stick to a very restrictive diet. Plan to enjoy some special foods. Do not waste your calories on the same old burgers, fries, pizza, and chips. If you are meeting someone for coffee and dessert, order a low-fat latte and a great pastry. If you plan on dining out, eat smart early in the day, sticking to high-protein/high-fiber meals, like yogurt and fruit or salad with grilled chicken. When you learn to make these kinds of calorie trade-offs, you won’t “have a case of the Mondays,” feeling guilty and bloated.
Boredom and loneliness are two of the worst diet wreckers. If you have lots of time on your hands, you’ll be set up to graze your way to calorie overload unless you have a plan. You can (and should) get out and enjoy activities by yourself like walking, biking, swimming, rollerblading, or a workout at the gym. Catch that yoga or pilates class you always meant to attend. Reward yourself with a massage or a soak in the Jacuzzi instead of a plate of cookies. Stock your kitchen and frigerator with non-guilt splurges like imported mineral water, interesting herbal teas and plenty of ready-to-grab veggies and fruit. If you crave ice cream, go out for a small single serving of fabulous gelato or hand-made ice cream instead of digging into that half gallon of cheap ice cream in your freezer.
Weekends should be fun and relaxing. If you are watching your calories for weight control, ease up a little on weekends. Make it a habit to enjoy really special treats in small portions. Balance the treats with activities that burn calories. Trust me, you’ll feel a whole lot better come Monday morning!
Special thanks to www.thedietchannel.com.
“Lifestyle Changes And Eating Well”…from Toni
March 26, 2010
We all enjoy inspiring diet stories from real-life dieters who are dealing with the same frustrations and difficulties that we are…all in the name of trying to create a healthy lifestyle. Toni, from Australia, has a great dieting blog as well as a few fabulous personal gems, the following of which is excerpted from her blog:
“Lifestyle changes don’t mean you have to starve yourself and for some people they know what that is like. Since having a lapband, losing many kilos and discovering that I was malnourished, I’ve discovered how to eat well and how to eat good foods that are healthy.
One of my favourite meals is garlic chili prawns and salad. I start with green prawns and I marinate them in the garlic for a couple of hours. I use green prawn cutlets and I remove the tails before I marinate them in the garlic.
I leave the prawns in the fridge until the salad is prepared because they don’t take long to cook in a hot wok.
Salad consists of lettuce, tomato, beetroot, cucumber and some capsicum. It’s not a big serving. Just enough for me, and just enough for my partner…
I place about a teaspoon of olive oil in the wok and when it is hot empty the prawns into the wok and they immediately start cooking. During this process, I add a little chili oil. It isn’t a lot just a dash because I don’t want the prawns to be full of oil.
The prawns are cooked when they are nice and pink and for some reason I always give them just a minute or two more before serving them out next to the salad.
This is such a simple and easy meal to prepare and cook and it tastes delicious.
Even though I can not eat a lot I like to enjoy my meals when I can…
Toni”
Toni’s story is inspiring because it shows how eating well can truly be so enjoyable throughout the preparing, cooking and eating the foods you love.
Have a story of your own? We’d love to hear it! Send it to us here!
Recipe of the Week: Heidi Swanson’s Orzo Super Salad Recipe
March 25, 2010
The more I read Heidi’s Blog, 101cookbooks.com, the more I enjoy vegetarian eating. Her recipes are delightfully flavorful and layered with amazing textures as well as tastes. Try this in place of your usual pasta salad; check out the narrative and notes along with the recipe here. Heidi recommends, for those of us still getting used to whole-grain pastas, to combine half whole-grain with half regular (white).
Orzo Super Salad Recipe
If you are going to transport this to an outdoor picnic or potluck, place all of the ingredients, layered, in a big bowl or container. Toss the avocado gently with a bit of lemon juice ahead of time – so it doesn’t brown. Make sure there are a few inches of head room in the container, and you’ll need some sort of lid. Carry the dressing in a separate jar. When you are ready to serve the salad, gently toss the ingredients with the dressing using your hands, or leave the lid on the container and gently shake/tumble it – not ideal but it works. You can double or triple this recipe to serve more of a crowd. To make it vegan, you know the drill, skip the feta. And GF-ers, you can swap in a gluten-free grain/rice (for the orzo) and make a grain salad out of this instead.
1 cup dried (whole wheat) orzo pasta
8 – 10 medium asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch segments
1/2 a medium head of broccoli (or broccolini), cut into small trees
small handful of cilantro(or mint if you prefer), chopped1 small clove of garlic, mashed with a big pinch of salt and chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oila small handful of sprouts
1/3 cup almonds, toasted
1/2 small cucumber, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 medium avocado, sliced into small pieces
1/4 cup feta, crumbled
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously and boil the orzo per package instructions. Avoid over-boiling, you want your orzo to be cooked through, but maintain structure. About 30 seconds before the orzo is finished cooking stir the asparagus and broccoli into the orzo pot. Cook for the final 30 seconds, drain and run under a bit of cold water. Just long enough to stop the cooking.
In the meantime, whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and more salt (if needed) into the dressing. Set aside.
When you are ready to serve the salad toss the orzo, asparagus, broccoli, and cilantro with about half the dressing. Add more dressing if needed, and toss well. Now add the sprouts, almonds, cucumber, avocado, and feta. Very gently toss a couple of times to distribute those ingredients throughout the salad and serve.
Serves 4.
A Good Non-Fad Diet Plan? Review: “The Extreme Fat Smash Diet” by Dr. Ian Smith
March 24, 2010
Want to lose weight? How much? No, not in pounds…how much, or perhaps it’s better phrased, how badly do you want to lose weight?
If the answer is “pretty badly”, and you’ve tried some diet plans that haven’t worked well for you or perhaps been intense enough for you, The Extreme Fat Smash Diet by Dr. Ian Smith may be the right one for you. Dr. Smith doesn’t require you to cut out food groups or buy fancy equipment or supplements; his plan works by consuming more fiber and eating lower-GI (glycemic index) foods, to help your body regulate blood sugar better.
The book helps you categorize your body type and follow a diet plan specific to your type (this isn’t another “blood type diet” plan; it’s actually based on how you process nutrition, i.e., how you eat). If you follow the plan, you can lose up to 12 pounds in 3 weeks, but be ofrewarned: it’s not called “Extreme” without good reason. The diet plan involves planning and self-reliance; while it functions in 3-week “cycles”, the first week is always the hardest.
This diet plan is clearly not for everyone, but if you want to lose weight and do so quickly, without gimmicks or crashes or fad diets, The Extreme Fat Smash Diet might just be the one for you. In addition to helping you create a comprehensive diet for your specific body type, Dr. Smith also includes information about raising your metabolism and achieving weight control through what you eat and what you do to burn it off.
For another exhaustive review, check out Tracy Rose’s excellent post here.
Scam Alert! Diet pills…
March 23, 2010
…or, as we like to call them, laxatives with a twist!
Diet pills marketed as “blocking carbs” or “stopping fat consumption” should always be treated as suspect. As nutritionists, doctors, and healthy dieters everywhere know: there’s no miracle pill for losing weight effectively. These pills are basically speedier, flounced-up laxatives: they flush everything out of the system, all right; unfortunately, that includes all of the nutritional content of the food as well! Rather than acting as “blockers” of anything, they simply whisk “bad” foods through the digestive system really quickly, which makes them awesome laxatives. And terrible “diet pills”. (Lest we forget, tapeworms were once sold to desperate dieters too…as “diet pills”.)
The good news is: there is a solution to dieting woes. Are you ready? Eat well, snack modestly, and exercise more. Sorry, it isn’t anything new, but it sure beats the scams that are out there, in effectiveness and satisfaction. After all, a diet should simply be a healthy plan to lose weight by taking in fewer calories and burning more. The best diets benefit from a healthy snack plan as well, to help curb cravings and fight off the munchies between full meals. Glenny’s offers a wide variety of snacking options that have worked wonders for dieters over the years, like astounding 100 Calorie Brownies (or, “who knew you could pack so much flavor into one hundred calories?”) and “Better than potato chips!” Low Fat Soy Crisps. Happy Snacking!
LOL Monday: Diet Humor
March 22, 2010
A more lighthearted approach to dieting today comes from FadDiet.com: 15 Ways To “Cheat” On Your Diet!
1.If you eat something and no one sees you eat it, it has no calories.
2.If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, the calories in the candy bar are cancelled out by the diet soda.
3.When you eat with someone else, calories don’t count if you don’t eat more than they do.
4.Food used for medicinal purposes NEVER count, such as hot chocolate, brandy, toast and Sara Lee Cheesecake.
5.If you fatten up everyone else around you, then you look thinner.
6.Movie related foods (Milk Duds, Buttered Popcorn, Junior Mints, Red Hots, Tootsie Rolls, etc.) do not have additional calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one’s personal fuel.
7.Cookie pieces contain no fat– the process of breaking causes fat leakage.
8.Things licked off knives and spoons have no calories if you are in the process of preparing something. Examples are peanut butter on a knife making a sandwich and ice cream on a spoon making a sundae.
9.Foods that have the same color have the same number of calories. Examples are: spinach and pistachio ice cream; mushrooms and white chocolate. NOTE: Chocolate is a universal color and may be substituted for any other food color.
10.Foods that are frozen have no calories because calories are units of heat. Examples are ice cream, frozen pies, and Popsicles.
11. Foods eaten while watching a major event on television do not count. Major events include: Superbowl, Hockey Finals, Indy 500, Jerry Springer show.
12. Powerbars and other type energy bars make you thinner. In all my years of exercising (at least three times a year) I have only seen thin people eating energy bars. Ergo (therefore) they must make you thin.
13. Snickers is the same as an energy bar (see #12)
14. Tasting other people’s food does not add to your calorie count.
15. Containers of food that list the number of servings as greater one are lying. Every container includes one serving. Half gallon of ice cream, box of cereal, bottle of soda, bag of chips are all one serving.
-
Recent Posts
- Yummy
- January 2012 Sweepstakes: Enter for a chance to win $100 of Glenny’s snacks!
- Small Steps to a Healthier New You!
- WIN $100 of FREE Glenny’s Snacks (November Sweepstakes)
- “I just wanted to say THANK YOU”
- “I am nuts about it”
- “I just want to say how good your cranberry and almonds bar is”
- “Thank you so much for making such yummy, healthy treats”
- I can say is wow……
- Thank you! Thank you!
-
Glenny's Products
-
-
Meta