I always forget to buy something for low carb life.
It does take planning. Since I eat lots of eggs, they are constantly in demand, but I also use the egg substitute, and am finding more low fat cheeses these days. But it has to be in the fridge to be useful.
I'm also roasting larger numbers of chicken breasts for lunches and snacks. With gardening season almost upon us here in Western Canada (we plant end of May with luck) I'm going to grow lettuce this year, so lots of salads.
Always planning. Planting some herbs as well, as mint and dill are always welcome in salads. My kids are even following low carb and sometimes my daughter phones and asks me what she should eat in restaurants, and I tell her "meat, salad and vegetables!".
It can be done. Thinking and planning.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
My Review of Paul Revere - 2 Piece Entertainment Set
Set includes: Casserole Spoon and Servall
Very nice, and useful!
Shawn Regina, Sask, Canada 4/18/2009
Pros: Nice Weight, Comfortable Handles, Dishwasher Safe, Attractive Design, Durable
Best Uses: Daily Use
Describe Yourself: Cutlery snob
I have had Oneida Stainless (many of the same set) for 33 years and they are still in excellent shape.
Friday, April 17, 2009
They are coming around
Check out Dr. Mehmet Oz on Oprah.com. He is coming around to the low carb way. He and Dr. Michael Roizen recently gave advice on that website on how to lose weight, and included such advice as not eating anything white, including baked potatoes, rice, white flour, sugar.....sound familiar? He talked about eating the right kinds of oils. They caution about the sugar in salad dressings. They talk about the right kinds of snack to carry with you at all times in case you have a craving, and alternatives to snacking (water, sex.....) Also suggested is to eat breakfast, and to limit your choices so that having breakfast becomes easy and automatic. They are still afraid of egg yolks though. Blueberry smoothies were also a suggestion I like.
Exercise suggestions are walking, light dumbells, yoga and breaking into a sweat at least once a week.
Dr. Oz also suggest fidgeting to keep your metabolism working.
All in all, considering the reach of Oprah, this is good news. There was no low fat ranting. He seems to be a convert of sorts. Not sure he would agree with my evaluation, but I can see less daylight between him and the low carb approach than before.
http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/health/weightloss/slideshow1_ss_health_diet/1
Exercise suggestions are walking, light dumbells, yoga and breaking into a sweat at least once a week.
Dr. Oz also suggest fidgeting to keep your metabolism working.
All in all, considering the reach of Oprah, this is good news. There was no low fat ranting. He seems to be a convert of sorts. Not sure he would agree with my evaluation, but I can see less daylight between him and the low carb approach than before.
http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/health/weightloss/slideshow1_ss_health_diet/1
Thursday, April 16, 2009
How to low carb
Some people have a real hard time figuring out how to lose weight, and when I talk to them about low carb living, they really get confused.
Most of us are nutrition illiterates. I was until I started reading articles like What if its all a big fat lie and the Soft Science of Dietary Fat by Gary Taubes. I also read his book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. What a revelation.
Then I bought a few books on metabolism that would be termed texts. And I got some from the library. I think I understand more about how my body works.
It is the why that most of my friends and colleagues don't get. "Aren't carbs good for you?" and "They are low fat." Well, no and yes. They are low fat. But they make you fat. They make your body store fat.
My kids (all adults) now understand about the few good carbs, all whole grain or super complex carbs which are relatively low GI. I tell them the trick is to eat as few of them as you can manage. Two of them go on South Beach from time to time, with some success.
In Canada, the expected intake of carbs is about 300g per day. Way too much. I try and stay around 50 g, from my breakfast cereal and bits of other things during the day. I know a lot of people who would probably eat 500g of carbs a day because they love a big serving of low fat potatoes or rice with supper.
And we eat way too much. Those of us who don't dig ditches for a living really need to eat more like birds.
It's an ongoing struggle, for sure, but low carb does work.
Most of us are nutrition illiterates. I was until I started reading articles like What if its all a big fat lie and the Soft Science of Dietary Fat by Gary Taubes. I also read his book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. What a revelation.
Then I bought a few books on metabolism that would be termed texts. And I got some from the library. I think I understand more about how my body works.
It is the why that most of my friends and colleagues don't get. "Aren't carbs good for you?" and "They are low fat." Well, no and yes. They are low fat. But they make you fat. They make your body store fat.
My kids (all adults) now understand about the few good carbs, all whole grain or super complex carbs which are relatively low GI. I tell them the trick is to eat as few of them as you can manage. Two of them go on South Beach from time to time, with some success.
In Canada, the expected intake of carbs is about 300g per day. Way too much. I try and stay around 50 g, from my breakfast cereal and bits of other things during the day. I know a lot of people who would probably eat 500g of carbs a day because they love a big serving of low fat potatoes or rice with supper.
And we eat way too much. Those of us who don't dig ditches for a living really need to eat more like birds.
It's an ongoing struggle, for sure, but low carb does work.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Fat and your body
Most people wonder what triglycerides are. Triglycerides are the fats as they are stored in your body. That stuff you want less of. It is a flag for you when your triglycerides are high, as that means there are lots circulating in your blood stream, and most likely you are in the process of storing them. They have to be broken down to get out of your cells, and that happens when you have used up (or don't have) glucose in the blood stream to burn as fuel for your body. So that is how a low carb diet burns fat: it absolutely will get fuel from wherever it can get it. And that will be the protein in your diet, and the fat stored in your body.
My husband has lost 30 pounds in the last four months on a low carb diet. He wants to lose another 10-15 lbs. He eats less than 50 g of carbs a day. I have lost 15 lbs and stay under 100g of carbs, which is one third of the recommended daily allowance in Canada. I'm sure I used to eat a lot more carbs before I knew to count carbs.
His triglycerides are now low compared to last year. His is more of a Meditteranean diet, I guess, but it is pretty low carb. We used olive oil. His HDL is good, and so is his LDL. Mission accomplished, and he walks on a treadmill. His family has high blood pressure and stroke as risk factors.
I was happy someone pointed me at "Good Calories, Bad Calories" or GCBC as its known. I recommend it.
My husband has lost 30 pounds in the last four months on a low carb diet. He wants to lose another 10-15 lbs. He eats less than 50 g of carbs a day. I have lost 15 lbs and stay under 100g of carbs, which is one third of the recommended daily allowance in Canada. I'm sure I used to eat a lot more carbs before I knew to count carbs.
His triglycerides are now low compared to last year. His is more of a Meditteranean diet, I guess, but it is pretty low carb. We used olive oil. His HDL is good, and so is his LDL. Mission accomplished, and he walks on a treadmill. His family has high blood pressure and stroke as risk factors.
I was happy someone pointed me at "Good Calories, Bad Calories" or GCBC as its known. I recommend it.
Monday, January 26, 2009
It's official. Capitalism sucks.
Yeah, I know, except for all the other systems that suck worse.
I used to laugh in senior political science classes when someone said that capitalism held the seeds of its own destruction within itself. Who said that? Marx? Well, The chickens have come home to roost on that one.
So, right now, an enemy of the people would be the non=consumer. Even while people are losing their jobs, their houses and their lines of credit, they are being told that not spending money is not helping the situation.
The problem is that people have been spending like drunken sailors. More credit cards. Paying the minimum balance on one with a cash advance from the other. Making the minimum payment on the final card with your overdraft. Buying a house you can't afford, driving a car that's way beyond your means, shopping, eating out, drinking, travelling. It made the economy crazy.
At the same time, Boards of Directors were demanding increasing profits and higher rates of return on investments, so chances were taken, debts bundled into something notional called asset backed commercial paper or ABCP. Employees were given large bonuses for keeping the whole thing together with Elmer's Glue and #6 Binder twine.
Then it started to go wobbly. Like Roseann Roseannadanna once said, "It's always something." What was the first thing to go wrong? Not sure. But I remember reading a few years ago that there was a correction coming. At the time it didn't seem possible. I didn't think the end of history was going to be the complete collapse of the American economy. Things were steaming along so nicely. But remember, one of my profs said, the Mexican currency crisis didn't only affect Mexico.
So what does the little guy do now? In the USA, Mr. Obama might send out cheques. Does the little guy pay down his Visa? Does he put it into savings and chip away at it in the months to come? Or does he buy a flat screen and a case of beer and sit on his couch and weep silently as he watches Homer Simpson in high definition? I hear the big corporations, who are getting big cheques, are still handing their employees bonuses and remodelling bathrooms.
Tomorrow we'll see what Mr. Harper does with our money in Canada, which shells he moves around in front of us. Should we be building new roads or propping up the railways, which have a smaller carbon footprint? Does Mr. Harper care? How do we best want to be bribed with our own money into thinking we can spend money we don't have again?
So figure out which side of the fence you are on, folks. Are you an enemy of the people and cautious? Putting off that consumption? Wearing clothes from the consignment shop? Brewing your own lattes? Or a devil may care type who will have as many Visas or Capital Ones as you can qualify for?
Do the right thing for your country.
I used to laugh in senior political science classes when someone said that capitalism held the seeds of its own destruction within itself. Who said that? Marx? Well, The chickens have come home to roost on that one.
So, right now, an enemy of the people would be the non=consumer. Even while people are losing their jobs, their houses and their lines of credit, they are being told that not spending money is not helping the situation.
The problem is that people have been spending like drunken sailors. More credit cards. Paying the minimum balance on one with a cash advance from the other. Making the minimum payment on the final card with your overdraft. Buying a house you can't afford, driving a car that's way beyond your means, shopping, eating out, drinking, travelling. It made the economy crazy.
At the same time, Boards of Directors were demanding increasing profits and higher rates of return on investments, so chances were taken, debts bundled into something notional called asset backed commercial paper or ABCP. Employees were given large bonuses for keeping the whole thing together with Elmer's Glue and #6 Binder twine.
Then it started to go wobbly. Like Roseann Roseannadanna once said, "It's always something." What was the first thing to go wrong? Not sure. But I remember reading a few years ago that there was a correction coming. At the time it didn't seem possible. I didn't think the end of history was going to be the complete collapse of the American economy. Things were steaming along so nicely. But remember, one of my profs said, the Mexican currency crisis didn't only affect Mexico.
So what does the little guy do now? In the USA, Mr. Obama might send out cheques. Does the little guy pay down his Visa? Does he put it into savings and chip away at it in the months to come? Or does he buy a flat screen and a case of beer and sit on his couch and weep silently as he watches Homer Simpson in high definition? I hear the big corporations, who are getting big cheques, are still handing their employees bonuses and remodelling bathrooms.
Tomorrow we'll see what Mr. Harper does with our money in Canada, which shells he moves around in front of us. Should we be building new roads or propping up the railways, which have a smaller carbon footprint? Does Mr. Harper care? How do we best want to be bribed with our own money into thinking we can spend money we don't have again?
So figure out which side of the fence you are on, folks. Are you an enemy of the people and cautious? Putting off that consumption? Wearing clothes from the consignment shop? Brewing your own lattes? Or a devil may care type who will have as many Visas or Capital Ones as you can qualify for?
Do the right thing for your country.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Obama's victory: The triumph of science over opinion
We all value our own opinions, however haphazardly they are formed. Most of us defer to someone we know who has training in a field, and has a right to have an opinion in that field based on years of education and experience. I have an undergraduate degree in economics and political science. I have experience in accounting and policy research. I was in the military.
I hesitate to comment on global warming or nuclear issues, as I don't have experience in those areas, and anything I say would be an uninformed comment.
But there are many people who defer to their own haphazardly formed opinions, which is called "common sense" in the everyday parlance. It is not always common sense. My grandmother told me it was common sense that sex caused babies, and one could not expect otherwise. She died shortly after I announced that I was pregnant for the third time, so I never got a chance to disabuse her of the notion that I believed that nonsense. ( I had no subsequent children.)
When it comes to science, there has been a disdain for science in the US and even in Canada in the last few years. It comes with the Conservative dogma. That dogma has waned in the United States with the decline of Bush and the catastrophic market and economic crash that ensued because of the decline of regulation. Science was pooh-poohed in favour of dogma, with other catastrophic repercussions around the world, especially in countries in Africa, Asia and South America. Again, birth control is an example, as well as the use of condoms to reduce AIDS transmission.
Science must always be used to combat ignorance and superstition. Mr. Obama has served notice that science is on the upswing as the basis for decision making again. Where dogma once prevailed, as in the mantra of deregulation, the science of limited regulation will once again prevail.
We're coming back from the dark ages again.
Mr. Obama
I hesitate to comment on global warming or nuclear issues, as I don't have experience in those areas, and anything I say would be an uninformed comment.
But there are many people who defer to their own haphazardly formed opinions, which is called "common sense" in the everyday parlance. It is not always common sense. My grandmother told me it was common sense that sex caused babies, and one could not expect otherwise. She died shortly after I announced that I was pregnant for the third time, so I never got a chance to disabuse her of the notion that I believed that nonsense. ( I had no subsequent children.)
When it comes to science, there has been a disdain for science in the US and even in Canada in the last few years. It comes with the Conservative dogma. That dogma has waned in the United States with the decline of Bush and the catastrophic market and economic crash that ensued because of the decline of regulation. Science was pooh-poohed in favour of dogma, with other catastrophic repercussions around the world, especially in countries in Africa, Asia and South America. Again, birth control is an example, as well as the use of condoms to reduce AIDS transmission.
Science must always be used to combat ignorance and superstition. Mr. Obama has served notice that science is on the upswing as the basis for decision making again. Where dogma once prevailed, as in the mantra of deregulation, the science of limited regulation will once again prevail.
We're coming back from the dark ages again.
Mr. Obama
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)