New Magazines

I recently was a yard sale and I happened to find a box of older magazines.  Inside the box I found about 8 Health magazine issues that I grabbed up real quick before anyone else could and proceeded to find out how much they were going to cost me.  Well darn-a whole .10 each was the going price and darn if I didn't buy every issue she had.  Now I just need to find time to read through them.  I have noticed that over the years, the articles have changed slightly, but the headlines sure haven't!   July 2007-"Fast Food that won't make you fat"-page 224 or September 2008-"Fast Food that won't make you fat"-page 151.  Want to know if they are the same article?  Nope-must be a printing problem on the cover of the Sept. issue since the article on page 151 is actually Healthy Eating and no where inside this magazine does it have an article about Fast Foods. Hummmm???   But the other magazine has a great article about Fast Foods!  The selections are listed alphabetically & this is an old list, but here goes:  Applebee's- (one of my favorites) Steak & Portobello Mushrooms,  Arby's- (another favorite) Grilled Chicken Breast,  Burger King- Tender-grill Chicken Garden Salad,  McDonald's- Southwest Salad with grilled chicken and Subway- Fresh Fit Meal Turkey sub is #1.  I think most of the foods on this list are still on their respective menus.   Wish I could share the photos, it all looks great!  OK, gotta go get me some lunch!

I'm so Excited!

One of our readers, just sent me the link that I just added in the side bar-"Crazy for Paninis".  Check it out!  Thank you so much Kathy!  :-D  The photos of all these hundreds of panini's look delicious to say the least, but please remember, not all of them are good for you!  Make good choices and make changes to the ingredients if you need to!  That French dip looks like dinner tonight and I have a terrific Au Jus that has only -5- calories because it's made from bullion and water, but has a wonderful flavor.  It's called:  Au Jus Mix by Chefs Classics.  I was getting it at Albertson's but now that they have sold out to A Fresh Market, not sure where I'll be able to find it again.  Anybody know where I can buy this mix?    :-D

New Discovery!

Well not really-DH and I love panini's and I found a wonderful, anodized panini pan at TJMaxx a while ago.  The best investment in a pan that I ever made.  (Well, except when I found a giant stir-fry wok made in Italy that I just could not pass up at a yard sale!!)  Anyway, I found both the bottom and the press for the top.  What a great find for the day!  If you don't know how these pans work, it's simple, low fat and no mess!  You put the press inside the panini pan, place it on a burner and turn the heat on.  (In my case, I turn on the gas.)  I walk away for a few minutes to let the pan get good and hot-you are heating both sides at the same time!  Cool!  So, here's the tricky part-nay, not really-you can either spray the top and bottom with Pam or not.  I chose not!  It still works, but you haven't added any fat or calories by spraying the pan.  Slice up some French bread, lay your panini fixings on the bread, no mayo, no dressings, just meat, cheese, etc.  Add the top slice of bread and add your panini to the hot pan.  Lay the press on top of your panini and it will cook from both sides!  Cool!  I do like to turn my panini over to make sure it is good and cooked.  I leave it for a few minutes only, because these will burn pretty fast.  Once you have the bread toasted to perfection on both sides-remove the paninis, turn off the heat and enjoy a healthy, delicious sandwich.  These are terribly addicting and can be created using a variety of ingredients.  What's your favorite sandwich to make?  Mine is ham & cheese but I have found something I love even more.  What my DH calls a "Mini-Ninny" I love saying that-it sounds so fun and it is!  A mini-ninny is an open faced, French baguette sliced thin and only the bread is toasted on the panini pan.  Then the bread is topped with 1/4 slice of cheese and mushrooms!  4 of these little open faced mini-ninny's will fill you up!  Serve them with a side of fruit or a salad and you are good for the rest of the day or night.  I love these and have fun coming up with a variety of options for topping them.  I've gotten to the point, because these are so good and so easy to make, (clean up is fast too!) that we have these at least a couple of times a week.  I'm good with that!  Try: cream cheese with ham, american cheese with liverwurst, roast beef with brie, garlic hummus with olives (Yummy!).  I really like the turkey with bacon-but only occasionally will I add the bacon.  It would be good with some cranberry sauce on top too!  Let me know what you come up with-so I can give it a try too!  Enjoy!
Tip-If you don't have a panini pan or press-you can buy a hamburger press at a restaurant supply and use any fry pan.  You don't have to have the grill marks to make a good sandwich!
Also, The George Foreman grill is the first panini pan ever made!  (Well maybe? LOL!)  So if you have one of these collecting dust, drag it out and put it to good use!  Or visit your local discount store for a great price on one! :-D

One more important thing today!

Most of us know and understand that our cholesterol should be at a certain level, but we don't all know what that level should be, so I thought I would share some information about levels with you.
Cholesterol should be under 160 with the LDL under 100 and the HDL above 60 (To get a good reading you must fast before having the blood test.  Your doctor can give you specifics.)
Normal Blood Pressure should be approximately 120 over 80
and CT Scans zap you with radiation equivalent to having 200 x-rays.  I'm only telling you this, because we should be aware of these statistics, however, when you need a CT Scan -they are useful and they do serve a purpose, so we each have to weigh our personal  risks.  

Tips & Tidbits:

Magazines are great sources for little tips and tidbits and these are brought to you by Shape magazine, from my local library:
1. Woman who regularly eat frozen entrees, lose an average of 30-35% more weight.  Why?  The portions or calories are controlled.  I can believe this statement, but I can't stomach frozen foods.  No matter how easy they are and convenient they might be, if they don't taste good-I don't want to waste my money buying them.  I've tried a few, frozen pizza is good-I don't think you can go wrong with a frozen pizza!
2. If you start your meal with a bowl of soup, you will eat 20% fewer calories.  Why?  Your tummy is already full, so you will eat less.  Why not start your one major meal of the day with either a salad or bowl of soup!  I think it's a great plan of attack. 
3. Don't eat in front of the TV.  I may have shared this one already, but it's worth repeating. 
4. Substitute mushrooms for meat and you will eliminate hundreds of calories.   I love mushrooms, never used to, but I do now.  I add them in my salads, with my stir fries and I'll eat them cold out of the frig, as a snack.  No dressing, just plain white mushrooms.  Portabella's are a different story and I'm still trying to find that perfect recipe for cooking that perfect portabella. 
5. Eat nuts-a handful a day and you will likely eat 200 calories less because nuts fill you up with fiber and the protein keeps you satisfied.  Eating 50 pistaschios is a great mid-day snack.
6. Start your day, everyday, with whole grains to help you burn more fat throughout the day.  (Oatmeal is a good source for whole grains.)
7. Just 40 minutes of vigorous aerobics can make your body burn a higher rate of calories, while it's not working out.  Your body continues to burn calories throughout the day, but eventually it will slow down and not burn as many.  I don't know about you, but I refuse to count calories burned by doing X exercise for X length of time.  Why bother-just do the exercise-unless you are banking calories for a binge later, why frustrate yourself!
8. Drink green tea to boost your metabolism by about 4% compared to caffeine drinks.  I'm not a tea drinker, never have been, never will be, but thought I would include this tidbit for those of you who are.
9. Yogurt will help you lose 22% more weight and 61% more body fat.  OK-with statistics like that, I better get use to eating these.  I'm so glad they have improved the variety of choices because this is one food product I really do not like!  I think I'd be willing to try that new Greek Yogurt that everybody is talking about, it's suppose to have honey in it!  I like honey!
10. Olive Oil helps burn more fat.  Probably why the Mediterranean Diet was so popular.

Here's a little math for you: You can burn 25-30 calories just by digesting 100 calories of protein, versus only burning 7 calories while digesting 100 calories of simple carbs.  Who thinks of these things and why do we want to know this?  So, OK, I'm eating more protein!

What were the Top 10 Diets of 2009?

Well according the Shape magazine they were:
#1. The Structure House Weight Loss Plan: which is a holistic approach to weight loss. Holistic meaning nutrition, exercise, stress management and personal relationships are all part of the whole and should all be in balance.

#2. The Step Diet: This one is really easy, even my 78 year old Mom went and bought her a pedi-meter so she could do her 10,000 steps each day.  (She bought me one too!)  You go Mom!

#3. Weight Watchers: Who doesn't know about this organization?  They have their own cook books, magazines, food and a great way to balance your meals by counting points. 

#4. The Eating Well Diet: is all about your behavior and how it relates to the food you eat.  I just checked this book out from my local library and I will let you know what I think about it when I've had time to read it.  I also checked out a ton of older magazines and a couple of art books-so I've got plenty to read over the next three weeks!

#5. Volumetrics Eating Plan: I've never heard of this one before but according to the magazine, it's based on a variety of foods that fill you up, helping you to eat less.  Sort of the same principles that the magazines are all sharing-eat what fills you up, keeps you full longer, you eat less.  I'm willing to give it a try!  Here's a few things to help: Oatmeal- has tons of good things going for it, Eggs-great for energy & protein that helps keep you feeling full, Chili Pepper: helps you burn more calories, Beans: triggers a key appetite hormone that makes you feel fuller longer, Vegi's: bulk up your plate with vegi's and you could lose 25% more weight.  Tuna and other fish: keeps you feeling fuller longer.  I've tried some of these and you know what-it works!  I don't need that mid-day snack if I have one of these for lunch!  Try it and see for yourself.

#6. The Best Life Diet: Bob Greene's plan is about lifestyle changes.  I do have one of his exercise videos, sorry but I'm not impressed.  Haven't found his diet cookbook yet, but haven't been trying very hard. 

#7. The Solution: This questions the reasons why you over eat.  I've never heard of this diet either, but I do know I have my comfort foods that I just will not give up.  Bag of chips anybody!  I will limit myself, but I won't give them up.  I gave up chocolate-mostly-does that count? 

#8. You: On a Diet: OK, this one I've never heard of either, but it's about losing weight with a bit of humor.  We can all use a bit of humor in our lives.  Will have to check this one out.

#9. The Sonoma Diet:  I think we've all heard about this one, was really popular with all the fitness magazines last year.  You couldn't turn on the TV or read a magazine without hearing about the "Mediterranean Diet".  I'll pass thanks!

#10. The Spectrum Diet: which is again a holistic approach to losing weight by balancing all aspects of your life. 

So, here they are: how many have you tried?  I'm still checking out a few others, but I kind of like "The Biggest Loser" for motivation.  Even if the show is sort of, kind of phony to me, I enjoy the motivation it gives me and if I run across any of their books at a yard sale, I won't pass them up. 

Exercise

I think we all hate that word, especially when it's used in conjunction with DIET!  Actually though, in reality, exercise is wonderful.  Your body starts to crave it and wants it everyday, once you get into the habit of doing some sort of exercise each and every day.  Whether you take a walk around a park, jump rope, roller skate, swim, fish or lift weights at the gym, we need to move.  We need to work those muscles that make up our bodies structure. 
I've always "not-liked" yoga. It's simple really, I can't get into half of the positions, so I gave up and went to Tai-Chi instead.  Well this is a great workout-low impact, but really did nothing for me.  No endorphines flying around inside my brain.  Recently, I found the best of both worlds!  Core workout training with the Swiss Ball.   These come in various sizes and well, naturally I wanted them all-but a couple will do the trick.  These large balls are great for improving your balance,  (just sitting on one will work wonders to improve your balance and posture!), they are great for stretching out those tired, sometimes over-worked muscles (which is what I love about these exercises), great for burning calories and flattening the abs (this part hasn't worked for me yet-but I haven't given up!) and if you have a book that illustrates all the various exercises you can do using these balls, then you are ahead of the game.  I found a wonderful book: "Swiss Ball"-core workout by: Declan Condron that shows beautiful color photos of each exercise, structured for various levels, timed workouts and intensity training.  It starts you out with a 25 minute workout-mostly stretching and by the end of 6-8 weeks you will be working out for almost an hour.  Each section is divided into several workouts, so it's a varied routine daily.  You don't have to keep doing the same things over and over again, which is why we fail to enjoy our exercise.  Personally, I have to force myself to get on the tread mill to do my mile+ everyday.  I reward myself, by turning the TV on and watching Quilting Arts for 30 minutes!  I wonder how far I could walk-jog-run  if I was watching a favorite black and white movie!  :-D
So, what is your favorite exercise, well that is, if you have one?  I haven't found one I really, really like yet, but I do enjoy going to the gym and working out with all the weight equipment.  I'm working on getting into a varied routine that I am designing for myself, based on the equipment that I enjoy working out with.  This allows me to check out every piece of equipment at the gym, over a 6 week period.  I only go twice a week, but I could go up to 5 times if I want to include some swimming.  I keep telling myself I should do this and the pool looks real inviting.  They did get the heater fixed too, so what's stopping me?  I want to loose more weight and look good in my bathing suit.  I'm normal, huh?  :-D  It's a goal I'm working on....daily.