…And a Healthy New Year (NAN Giveaway!)

I get a few health-related publications, but none are as well researched and radical as the Nutrition Action Newsletter, a publication of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. CSPI is quite political, and while I don’t always like the biased and sometimes snarky tone of their articles, they are tops in the field and fight the good fight for the underdog: legislation for and access to good, solid nutrition.

CSPI attacks junk food ads (particularly those that target children), fights to improve school lunch programs, and exposes restaurants and food companies for their exaggerated health claims: “May lower cholesterol!” “May boost immunity!” “A good source of whole grains!” What? Count Chocula? I doubt it.

CSPI also lobbies for better food labeling and food safety. Nothing food related is off their radar. In the December issue, they had an extensive article on movie theater popcorn and compared the nutritional information for all sizes of popcorn at three national theater chains. It’s scary what passes for a “healthy” snack.

I’m pretty wimpy when it comes to controversy or creating controversy, so in the field of my nutritional interests, I let CSPI do it for me (and writers like Michael Pollan and films like “Food, Inc.” and “Supersize Me.” I prefer to work behind the scenes.

And part of working behind the scenes is giving one of you a one-year subscription to Nutrition Action Newsletter. (Disclaimer: This is paid for by me with no recognition or benefit from CSPI.) Because I’ve gained so much insight from this publication AND from you, my readers, I thought as a holiday gift, I’d unite one with the other. I wish I could give all of you a subscription, but alas, I work for peanuts and can only afford one.

For your name to be in the pool of potential winners (one name will be drawn randomly), all you have to do is answer one question: What positive nutritional changes or adjustments did you make this year and/or what are you resolving to change nutritionally in 2010 to be a more healthy consumer?

Leave a comment here or send me an email at lynnbering@verizon.net. I will announce a winner on Thursday!

Oh Where, Oh Where Did Those Four Pounds Go?

According to my jeans, I weigh less than I did when I bought them four pounds ago. Four pounds less ago, to be specific.

My favorite jeans are a pair of Guess skinny jeans I bought in March 2008. They are a European size 29, one inch smaller than the 7 (the brand name) jeans I wore on Oprah. I weighed 128 when I bought the Guess jeans and 132 when I wore the 7s. Today, I’m 132 and the Guess jeans fit great while the 7s are baggy.

What the…? Where the heck did those four pounds go?

My guess is there are three things happening:

1. I’m 46 and things (a polite way of saying body fat) have shifted.
2. I’ve lowered the cardio and upped the strength training time and intensity, therefore increasing muscle mass.
3. I’m retaining water.

I wrote a few months ago how I was backing off the carbs and taking that once-a-day chocolate fix out of my diet. This seems to have worked well for my overall health, but it’s done nothing in terms of the scale. I weigh the same now as I did when I cut 100-150 calories from my daily intake. But I feel different, in a good way, particularly around my midsection.

Mid summer, my Guess jeans were snug around the middle so I didn’t wear them. I dug them out last Sunday “just to see” and they fit like a glove with a little wiggle room!

Maybe my scale needs a new battery. My friend Barbara wrote to me a few weeks ago about how her scale was weighing her higher every week and she couldn’t figure out why. She bought a new battery and bingo! Four pounds were gone. I’m not, however, holding out hope that that is the solution.

I plan to talk to my doctor in January about this water retention issue, which makes me a little physically uncomfortable, and she might decide to put me on a water pill. But like the battery, I’m not counting on it to change the scale.

So again, I come to another fork in the “weight road.” I can either accept 132 and enjoy the fact that my favorite jeans fit again, despite having not lost weight or I can get pissed and fight to get back to 128. That would mean cutting even more calories from my daily intake and upping the exercise. To be honest, I just don’t have it in me. I like how much I eat. I am comfortable with how much I work out. Five hours a week (or less some weeks) is all I can give right now.

So I’ll give up bragging rights to the 120s for awhile or perhaps forever. No biggie. I can still rock a pair of size 29 jeans and a size 4 skirt. Where those four pounds went, I can only guess. All I know is they’re definitely not in my boobs!
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NOTE: I know blog reading goes down a little the closer we get to Christmas, but in my next blog which I’ll post by Monday, I’ll be giving away a holiday gift to one of you as my way of saying thanks for being the most awesome readers a girl could ever ask for. The gift? A one-year subscription to my favorite nutrition publication, Nutrition Action Newsletter. I’ll tell you how to put your name in the pool, so to speak, in my next blog.

Also, in my last blog I said I’d be posting a Q&A with “Today Show” nutrition expert Joy Bauer next week. I am soooo screwed up on my dates. I meant the week between Christmas and New Year’s. If you’d like to ask Joy a question about nutrition or dieting, send me an email at lynnbering@verizon.net or post a comment.

Joy’s book, “Joy’s LIFE Diet” (you’ll recognize the woman on page 240!) is coming out in paperback later this month under the title “Your Inner Skinny: Four Steps To Thin Forever.”

I’ll be giving away a signed copy of the hardcover edition, so look for the Q&A in two weeks for info on how to win!
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One more thing. To those of you who write a blog, have you noticed an upsurge in spam comments posted to your blog lately? It’s all I can do to keep up with erasing the damn things every day. Just wondering if it’s just me or if the spammers are out in force all over the Internet. Thanks for your input!

The (Food) Times, They Are A-Changin’

When I was a little girl, I never ate coleslaw, spinach, pecan pie or lima beans, and I never thought there’d be a day when I didn’t eat hamburgers, Cheez Whiz, Girl Scout Thin Mints or bologna (or braunschweiger…they were interchangeable) on white bread.

When I started losing weight five years ago, I said I’d never eat fat-free sour cream, fat-free cream cheese, tofu or celery, and I’d never give up (i.e. “deprive myself” of) bagels, tater tot hot dish, Trader Joe’s turkey bacon or half-and-half.

My how (food) times have changed.

I can’t imagine a day without spinach (cooked or raw); a picnic without coleslaw; making soup without celery or paprikash without fat-free sour cream; eating a whole grain cracker without a smear of fat-free cream cheese and blueberry jam; a salad without edamame, lima beans or garbanzos; or a smidgeon of my mom’s famous pecan pie on my dad’s birthday.

Reason #5479 why this weight-loss journey was successful and I’ve kept the weight off for almost three years is that I don’t subscribe to the mantra “All things in moderation.” I must use tough love with some foods: “No, Lynn, you may never, ever, ever have ________ again!” Granted, that list is VERY short, but it’s VERY necessary.

With all due respect to my bagel-loving blogger friend Lori, bagels are one of those foods (although I enjoy bagels vicariously through Lori when she posts her photos!). So too are Girl Scout Thin Mints. I can’t think of many others off the top of my head. My mother’s chocolate cake with chocolate frosting comes pretty darn close. So do Burger King french fries. What do they put in those things? Crack?

Anyway, the TJ’s turkey bacon was the very last meat-related food I “gave up” when I morphed into a vegetarian earlier this year. (Exception to the rule #1: I confess I eat Jell-O sometimes, which technically precludes me from joining the Vegetarian Society) That was tough. Bacon, as the t-shirt says, is meat candy, and god knows I love me some pork products.

However, bacon became tempeh; tater tot hot dish, well, just lost its appeal; and coffee with half-and-half became fat-free lattes. (Exception to the rule #2: I will enjoy a little Bailey’s in the Christmas coffee, as always.)

What other “never” foods will I change to “sometimes/all the times” food in 2010? I’ll let you know!
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NOTE: I’ll be posting a Q&A with “Today Show” nutrition expert Joy Bauer next week. If you’d like to ask Joy a question about nutrition, dieting, Matt Lauer (*giggle*), send me an email at lynnbering@verizon.net or post a comment.

Joy’s book, “Joy’s LIFE Diet” (you’ll recognize the woman on page 240!) is coming out in paperback later this month under the title “Your Inner Skinny: Four Steps To Thin Forever.”

I’ll be giving away a signed copy of the hardcover edition, so look for the Q&A next week for info on how to win!

My Enemy, My Friend

“One who does not know the enemy but knows himself will sometimes win, sometimes lose. One who does not know the enemy and does not know himself will be in danger in every battle.” Sun-tzu

My enemy: Ice cream/chocolate sauce/chocolate chip cookie mountain at Applebee’s.

Myself: A 130-pound person, give or take a few pounds, who wants to stay 130 pounds.

My youngest daughter….my baby….sniff, sniff….turns 25 on Saturday. She’s enjoying a “birthday week,” so to speak. We and the g-babies kicked it off with lunch at Applebee’s today (before the monster storm hit). I ordered a salad and broccoli, Claire had a grilled cheese and applesauce, and Cass ordered a pizza/pasta/soup bonanza. No problem. I nibbled at the pizza and took a sip of her soup, but it wasn’t enticing to the point of “I have to have more.” It was easy to say no more.

Then came dessert.

Cassie is the queen of ice cream. She’s always loved ice cream and has passed that gene on to her children. Today was g-baby Luca’s first taste.

In a word: LOVE!

I had a bite. Then another. Then another. Oh it was so tasty!

BUT….! I did NOT feel guilty for eating it and I didn’t go overboard. In fact, I hit on the perfect satisfaction-control ratio ever.

I know some of you think I’m a food fascist. But I take every extemporaneous and unexpected food adventure as a learning opportunity because my eating habits from the past sucked. My goal is to be on the Food Dean’s List of happy/healthy eating.

On my way home from P’burgh, as the front moved through and I drove through rain and hail and so much wind, there were also rainbows following me for most of the drive. They were calming, and within that calm, I was able to take in and think about the quote I heard (and posted above) on Talk of the Nation. I really thought about how I know me and how I know my food enemies.

The ice cream mountain at Applebee’s was a potential “enemy,” but because I know me and am comfortable with me, I can know and be comfortable with my enemy. Overeating and overindulging isn’t part of who I am anymore. Living in the moment and eating mindfully reminds me of my goals and my overall “food purpose”: to eat what sustains my body. Sometimes that includes ice cream with hot fudge and chocolate chip cookies.

My enemy. My friend.

As you all know, it’s been a rough few days. I thank you all so very, very much for your comments and email about the death of our dog Jake. Larry says thank you as well. More than thank you, actually. Your comments are helping him deal with this loss more than you can ever know.

Here are my babies. I really miss Jake. But I’m comforted in that for the first time in two years, the boy is at peace. We did the right thing.

Who's A Good Dog? (A Farewell to Jake)

Note to readers: You might want to grab a Kleenex.

You’re sleeping soundly in the dining room, right in front of the door as you always do this time of day. Must have been the Xanax I gave you.

We had a rough weekend, didn’t we? More so you than your dad and me. We can't fix what's wrong anymore and you deserve more than this life of chronic pain. It is why we've decided to make today your last day. And it is with immense sadness that we will say goodbye to you at 2:30.

Remember 10 years ago when we adopted you from the pound? You were a mangy, sick, unneutered 2-year-old Golden Retriever, only no one believed you were a Golden because you looked so bad. But you showed those naysayers, with your lovely coat and big Golden personality.

For all your shenanigans – all the times you knocked me over or stole my food, ran away and made me chase you all over town, barked at the mailman, peed on the neighbors flower bed (actually, she was mean, so I really wasn’t mad at you for that) – I will miss you deeply.

Thank you, Jake, for always coming to find me when you heard me crying. No one understands me the way you do. You will take with you all my stories and secrets. Thank you for being my confidant all these years.

Thank you always forgiving me when I yelled at you.

Thank you for sharing my apples and keeping me company in the kitchen while I chopped carrots. You knew I’d always give you the ends.

Thank you for being so kind to my grandchildren. Claire will wonder where you are next time she’s here. Not sure how I’m going to explain that one.

Soon we will feed you popcorn and an apple with peanut butter. Maybe even one last piece of cheese. The good stuff, not the kind in the wrapper.

Good bye, old man. I love you and will miss you so very, very much. Especially when I vacuum.

Say hi to Sasha and Bungee for me, OK? Tell them I still miss them, too.
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My daughter also wrote about Jake today on her blog, Sisters From Different Misters.

Jake and his Elvis impersonation.

In Search of the Perfect…

When I was single, I searched for the perfect man, only to find he doesn’t exist. I’ve searched for the perfect weight and it, too, doesn’t exist. But I have met (and married) some really good men, and I have weighed (and currently weigh) a healthy weight. Some things I had to stop searching for perfect because my expectations were unrealistic. Good, funny and dependable replaced perfect when I met my husband. Healthy replaced perfect when I got to goal.

However, some things I’ll never stop searching for perfect.

Workout shoes. I love Asics, but it doesn’t stop me from trying on the latest Nikes.

Tea. I’m really loving sampling the loose leaf green teas at Republic of Tea. Dragon Well is good. Green Chai is better. Big Green Hojicha is next. And I’m making the chocolate tea work by steeping it with a peppermint tea bag. Pretty close to perfect.

Christmas gifts. Last year I bought my daughter a spice rack. Boring, right? She said it was the best gift ever. Sometimes you find perfect in the most unlikely places.

Vacuum cleaner. With three large dogs, I vacuum every day. If my life was a book, it would be called “The Constant Vacuumer.” I currently use a Kenmore upright that I like very much (it got better reviews than Dyson), and it does a good job. I guess in this case, “perfect” would mean someone else vacuuming every day, which will never happen, so instead I’ll search for “better.”

Stuffed peppers. I’ve been experimenting with recipes for stuffed red peppers for about a year now. This is the one I’m currently using, tweaking ingredients here and there (tweaking begets perfection).

Stuffed Peppers
Serves 4

4 red sweet peppers, tops removed, seeded
1 cup onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced or chopped
2 cup mushrooms, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
1-2 T veggie broth
1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups fresh spinach
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained (NOTE: I’m going to use fire-roasted tomatoes tonight)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Italian seasoning to taste (This is where I always tweak. Sometimes I use straight-up basil and oregano, sometimes I throw in some marjoram and rosemary.)
Pepper flakes, few shakes
4 oz mozzarella cheese
4 T parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray, put the peppers in upright, spray again, and roast for 10-15 minutes or until just a little brown (you don’t want them mushy). Turn the oven down to 375 degrees.

Spray a skillet with cooking spray, add the veggies and broth, spray again and sauté on medium until crisp-tender. Mix in the tomatoes and tomato paste, and seasonings. Stuff the peppers with the skillet mixture. Top with cheese.

Return peppers to the oven, and cook 20-30 minutes or until cheese is browned.

Veggie burgers. Making a veggie burger that A) doesn’t fall apart; and B) isn’t bland as cardboard has been my mission for two years. For the most part, I’ve perfected A, and last night, I got pretty close to perfecting B.

Veggie Burger That Doesn’t Taste Like Cardboard
Makes 4-6 patties

1 can black beans
½ cup old-fashioned oats (not the quick cooking kind)
1 T ketchup
1 T barbecue sauce (I used Trader Joe’s brand)
½ cup finely chopped mushrooms
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
¼ cup dried minced onions
1 medium zucchini, shredded
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon each chili powder, cumin and black pepper

Place the beans, oats, ketchup and bbq sauce in food processor and pulse until well blended. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in rest of ingredients. Form into patties. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and bake patties at 350 degrees (or until well browned), turning halfway through.

Searching for perfect can be risky sometimes. God knows I’ve set myself up for disappointment on countless occasions. But it can also be exciting and fun. Keeps the cobwebs out and complacency at bay.

Now if I could just find the perfect zero-calorie chocolate brownie…

“I” is for “Indulgence”

I want to thank everyone for their comments and emails regarding my last blog, “I Want To Be Smoochy,” especially those with different views because it really underscores just how diverse we all are in how we relate to food.

For those of you who also read Refuse to Regain, you’ll recognize this post. I wanted to publish it in both my blogs because I believe how we choose to handle indulgences is just as important while losing weight as it is in maintenance.

Granted, what I ate versus what I’d planned to eat on Thanksgiving were not two totally different things, but they were far enough apart to make me take notice of what motivated my choices. It was the two comments in response to my blog offering different points of view about indulgences that I wanted to address here, namely, I’d like to know what “indulgence” means to you in terms of food, and how and if you engage in it.

One reader wrote: “Get a grip, one feast day is not going to undo all the good work you’ve done. You are allowed to celebrate occasionally. You could have eaten A LOT more than you did and it wouldn't have made a dent, because with your steely determination you would have drawn a line under it instantly and been back to your, dare I say it, rigid program the very next day. Let yourself have some moments of indulgence now and then. It’s okay!”

Another wrote: “I think you should let yourself have days where you don’t plan and measure (and let’s be honest, stress about) every single bite you put in your mouth. From the outside it seems just as disordered as binge/overeating. …(T)he fact that you make your family food with “unhealthy” ingredients etc., shows that you understand the social/cultural aspects [of food], and you know one traditional one-day-a-year meal of indulgences will not kill you. To not let yourself share in that indulgence (when you obviously would like to) sends a message to the little eyes around the table as well.

I appreciate this kind of feedback because it helps me better understand food culture and invites me to look closer at my food issues. We all need to engage in that kind of mental housecleaning once in awhile.

So here’s what I know – as of today – about me and food. (Of course this is subject to change the further I prod along this path.)

Planning my food intake is essential. It is my safety net. So, too, is mindful eating. Mindless eating got me obese. Mindless eating fed my emotional issues and kept them suppressed.

So it’s safe to say that I am not one who can indulge mindlessly, and on Thanksgiving, that’s exactly what I did. (Not because of any emotional issues. The stuff was just darn tasty.) And so the problem with T-day wasn’t that I felt I couldn’t indulge, but that I didn’t think about what I was indulging in.

I was drawn to food that, when mindful, I know makes me feel physically ill. Within an hour of those few bites of stuffing and few bites of potatoes and more than a few bites of apple cake, my stomach really hurt. Granted it was a milder stomach ache than I regularly subjected myself to when I weighed 300 pounds and ate every meal mindlessly, but it was reminiscent enough of those old days to remind me of the promise I made when I began this journey nearly 5 years ago: to never again feel like hell after eating.

I don’t feel guilty for what I ate on Thanksgiving and I’m certainly not beating myself up. T-day was a wonderful learning opportunity and a chance to fine tune the way I engage with and relate to food.

Some folks can indulge without thinking about it and bounce right back. I need to plan my indulgences, and when I do, I indulge on food I know won’t make me sick. I had a plan on T-day that I strayed from. Mindless eating took over and my poor stomach paid the price. So while an occasional indulgence won’t kill me, without planning, it will certainly make me miserable.

Yes I know to some my eating regimen seems rigid. But it keeps me sufficiently fed physically and emotionally. Our food choices and plans are as unique as our fingerprints. My hope is that you all find or have found what works for you.

So tell me, does your plan include indulgences?