Friday, May 14, 2010

TGIF and Fun Facts Friday


Don’t you just love Fridays? There is nothing like knowing that I get to spend two days with my hubby to put an enormous smile on my face. I could spend 24 hours a day 7 days a week with that man and be totally content. The smartest thing I ever did was marry my best friend. Spending time with my hubby makes even the most mundane activities pleasant. As you can tell I adore my husband?

The weather today has become glorious after 4 days of either overcast skies or rain we actually have sun. Not only do we have sun but it is 88 degrees. What a great start to the weekend!

For some reason I am very chatty today and have been working on this post all day. Every person I talk to gives me a new idea of something to write today. Sorry for the length of this post, I was on a roll.

Diet versus Lifestyle:

Heather and I were chatting today about food and the concept of diet versus lifestyle. This came up because I have been posting my daily food intake which has lead to some questions regarding whether I am eating enough. I asked Heather’s opinion and she responded by asking how many calories I eat per day. I told her I have a general range (1500 to 2000) but don’t get too hung up daily intake. I am much more concerned about the nutrition in each meal, and by this I mean the micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Also I track my weight daily and chart it so that I can see trends. This is undoubtedly my numbers background rearing its ugly head. But a chart is great for identifying trends both good and bad. After all you can’t change what you don’t know. An interesting side note to the calorie conversation is that  the average American consumes 3,850 calories according to one of the e-Cornell lectures I watched today.  That is definitely something to think about.

I look at the issue of food consumption very simply. If your weight is doing what you want (going up, down or maintaining) then what you are doing in terms of calories is right for you. Put differently if you weigh more than you want and you aren’t losing pounds then you probably need to make a change. I also think that the concept of being on a diet is completely wrong. Diets by their nature are short term and that is why they don’t work. People eventually return to the way they used to eat and the weight comes back. However if you make permanent healthy lifestyle changes now you are on to something in my opinion.

We changed our food consumption in order to be as well nourished as possible to stay ahead of cancer. Studies have shown that a nutrient dense, low fat, whole foods diet is best for preventing chronic disease. As a by-product of these lifestyle changes both my husband and I have lost weight. Weight loss was not the initial goal, but it has been a positive side effect of the changes we made. I have found that a super clean diet (like the 6 week Eat to Live plan) had the impact of changing our taste buds for the better. Our food consumption follows Eat to Live but we aren’t on the 6 week plan any longer, the primary difference is that we eat more grain that that plan suggests. I add or delete food to our day depending on our weight trend. For Dan I have been adding a smoothie in the evening since we are trying to put a couple pounds back on him.

In general terms our diet consists of whole plant based foods without oil. This is the same diet that is advocated by Doctors McDougall, Fuhrman, Esselstyn, Ornish, Barnard and T. Colin Campbell. I have found it quite fascinating that these doctors, though focused on different health issues, all came to the same conclusion in terms of overall recommendation. I can also safely say that another side effect to this diet is lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, fewer wrinkles, better skin color, stronger and faster growing finger nails and fewer GI issues. Our dietary changes have had many unexpected but welcome benefits. I would advocate a whole foods plant based diet to anyone that is interested in better health, no matter what the reason.

What is wrong with whole wheat flour?

Those little “good source of whole grain seals” that the FDA allows on whole wheat bread make me crazy. Flour, even whole wheat, is a not a whole grain, it is a processed food. If you look at the glycemic index (GI) of white bread versus whole wheat you will see there is very little difference both are approximately 70 depending on the brand. Why is this? It is very simple actually. The whole wheat grains have been pulverized into oblivion. By “pre-chewing” the whole wheat it very easy for the GI system to break it down and extract all the starch in the grain and elevate your blood glucose. How can that be good? Well, it isn’t. In my opinion when you swap whole wheat flour for white flour you have done very little other than get a few grams of fiber. I came to this conclusion a while back that the healthiest thing for us was to reduce our overall flour consumption to the least amount possible. For those of you that wonder why we don’t eat much flour this is why. While I admit it would probably be healthier if we eliminated flour completely I don’t think that is possible for me. I love pasta and bread and need to know I can have it occasionally.

Sorry to go on rant. This is one of my hot button issues, I am certain you noticed. I find it frustrating that so many Americans think whole wheat flour is healthy when it isn’t. For over a decade I also thought whole wheat flour was healthy and it still annoys me that so much bad information is put out on this topic. Rant over. ;-)

Fun Facts Friday

I have decided to make this a regular Friday item as long as I can come up with decent questions.

What is your best feature, the part of yourself you really like? I imagine this one is tough for most women since we seem to focus on the negative more so than the positive. I choose this question because I think we all should spend more time thinking about the things we like about ourselves. For me this one wasn’t that easy. It is a tie between my hair, which I love and the strength in my legs. Guess which body part I like to work out? LOL

If you could change careers what would you be? From the time I was a teenager I always wanted to be a commercial airline pilot but in the early 80’s there was a minimum and maximum height requirement so I went into business instead. But if I had known then that the min and max would go away I would be a commercial pilot today. There is something free and magical about flying that I have always loved.

Have you had any brushes with celebrity and did it impact you? This question was prompted by Rose and Laloofah last week. Both their answers were so much fun I thought I would see if anyone else had any fun stories. My idea of celebrity may be different from most of you. Also my story isn’t nearly as fun as theirs but it is my favorite. One of our neighbors when I was a child was an economics professor at University of Chicago so I was able to meet Milton Friedman a few times. If you are a finance geek you know he is a Nobel Prize winning economist. Even as a young girl I knew this man was both the most important and the smartest guy in the room. He is the one that really made me feel like being short wasn’t an impediment to success since he was not only the smartest man in the room, but the shortest at 5’0”.

I can’t wait to read your answers and get to know you all a little more.

My meals today:

As I promised I am trying to keep track of my food all day long. I think I am getting used to it, but I will probably not do this all the time because it is tedious. I have added notes to the meals to remind you of why I consume particular things. I have mentioned them before but don’t know how long many of you have been reading.

7:30 am – breakfast

½ cup oats
1 cup water
½ cup frozen wild blueberries, no sugar added
½ cup mixed berries, no sugar added
1 tablespoon flaxseeds, ground
1 tablespoon walnuts, chopped
Sprinkle of cinnamon

I use berries for our breakfast because they are a low sugar fruit that contains ellagic acid which is thought to promote cancer death. Flaxseeds and walnuts are included for omega three fatty acids. I try to include cinnamon with most fruit to help our body process the sugar more efficiently.

10:30 am – snack

Double green tea (two bags) with ascorbate C (approx ¼ teaspoon)
1 tablespoon of dry roasted edamame
½ cup super flavorful fat free hummus
Carrot and celery sticks to dip in the hummus

I started adding the ascorbate C to our green tea after reading that it helps the EGCG be bioavailable longer and therefore more will be absorbed. I also brew the tea for 10 minutes to get the maximum EGCG from the tea. Including the dry roasted edamame is done because I read that when green tea and soy are consumed together there is a synergistic effect making them both more “healthy”.

1:30pm – lunch

Leftover Indian veggies and rice from yesterday

4:00pm - snack

Double green tea (two bags) with ascorbate C (approx ¼ teaspoon)
1 tablespoon dry roasted edamame
2 cups frozen grapes

9:00pm - dinner

Spiralized Zucchini with Fennel and Red Lentil Sauce (recipe to follow)

Dinner:

It felt as though I had been eating all day so I made something on the light side for dinner.  Additionally I don't seem to sleep as well when I eat a heavy dinner later.  I added quinoa to Dan's dinner to up the protein and calories for him.   Here is what I did:

Fennel and Lentil Tomato Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients:

½ large yellow onion, peeled and finely minced (about 1 1/2 cups)
½ large fennel bulb, diced finely (about 3 cups)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
¼ cup water to sauté aromatics
28 ounces diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, or to taste
½ teaspoon fennel seed, or to taste
1 tablespoon wet hots, or to taste (or sub red pepper flakes to taste)
2 tablespoons capers, drained (or olives if you prefer)
½ cup red lentils
a splash or two of red wine vinegar for serving

Directions:

Sauté the onions, garlic and fennel until translucent (about 3 minutes) add the remaining ingredients. Cover the pan, turn the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Then stir, to make certain the lentils aren’t trying to stick to the bottom, add water as necessary and cover and cook another 15 minutes. Now taste the lentils to see if they are tender. It they are tender adjust the seasonings and serve this over a cooked grain or spiralized zucchini.  If desired you can add a little wine vinegar to the top of each serving to lift the flavor without adding a lot of salt.

Tonight Dan had this over quinoa (for additional protei) and zucchini spaghetti and I had mine over zucchini spaghetti alone.  If you didn't have enough fat in your day a dollop of almond feta would be good on top of this.

Nutritional Information (for sauce only):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 156.07
Calories From Fat (5%) - 8.22

Total Fat - 0.97g
Saturated Fat - 0.12g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 171.81mg
Potassium - 996.48mg
Total Carbohydrates - 30.3g
Fiber - 12.35g
Sugar - 6.47g
Protein - 9.36g
Comments:

This is a lighter tomato sauce in terms of flavor. It makes a good warm weather sauce for that reason. You can add a tablespoon of tomato paste if you want a deeper flavor. I added capers to this sauce to mimick the salty flavor that anchovies brings to standard Southern Italian recipes. You can substitute olives for the capers if you prefer.

Each serving of this sauce 1,750IU of vitamin A, 80mg of calcium, 165mcg of folate, 200mg of phosphorus, and 65mg of magnesium. Additionally if you serve this over a cup of quinoa the entire meal has almost 18g of protein. I wanted to mention this for those of you that try to manage your protein intake. That was the topic of one the lectures I watched today in the Cornell program. I will be summarizing what I learned about this soon.

Unrelated Note:

My husband has given me the best birthday present ever. He will be taking the day off for my birthday, except for a conference call in the middle of the day. Since he doesn’t even take his own birthday off I am very happy that he will be spending my day with me. Yay!

Tomorrow and Sunday we are going to be a little swamped here. Since it has rained the last few weeks we are very behind in the yard work department. Both Dan and I will be gardening tomorrow and Sunday. Also we will be going to the farmers’ market Sunday morning and getting our first CSA share. I can’t wait to be back on local organic produce. I am mentioning our activities so that you will know why I don’t respond to comments as quickly as normal.  My hands will be covered in dirt much of the weekend.

Happy Friday everyone.  I hope your weekend is starting off well.  Talk to you tomorrow.

26 comments:

  1. oh you have to show what you get in the csa box! so this is your birthday month, hope you do lots of fun things. im with you on the whole wheat, and im with you on how wrong/misleding info can be, its sad.

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  2. Michelle,

    I will share my CSA stash on Sunday. We are lucky, our CSA lets us pick what we want. I will explain it all on Sunday. But it works well so that we can mix and match.

    This is my birthday month. In fact it is coming up very soon. I will blog about it when it is here. ;-)

    Thanks for sharing your opinion on the whole wheat topic. I switched us to whole wheat about 1997 and am still annoyed by that. I really thought I was doing the right thing for our health. I guess better late than never. It is just a shame that our govt allows and encourages such misleading information. Ugh!

    Alicia

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  3. Thank you thank you thank you for this post. I am one of those clearly misinformed people out there who was totally oblivious to the problems of wholewheat flour. Your post was clear and I'm definitely going to be looking towards consuming WHOLE grains more, not in the processed form in wholemeal breads etc. Also, thank you for the info on sugar yesterday. I went and did some reading on the subject and again am very shocked. I think the general principle seems to be about keeping your blood sugar as stable as possible?
    I love your fun facts..pilot?! Crazy!
    I was in the RAF cadets at school so got to fly a few times in a little plane!

    Enjoy the gardening :)
    Emma

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  4. Emma,

    I am so glad what I wrote about whole wheat flour made sense. I wrote that portion because of your question. Everyone, not just you, thinks whole wheat flour is a whole grain. I used to think that too. But when you have broken something down into such tiny pieces the body is able to quickly turn it into glucose which is not what you want.

    You are absolutely correct on the sugar. The overall goal is to keep your blood sugar as stable as possible. That is part of the reason I eat so often as well.

    You ask great questions, please don't stop. I get wonderful ideas for posts from your inquiries.

    I took flying lessons when I was in high school. I was also accepted into the aeronautical engineering program at Johns Hopkins before I gave up my flying dream. I was well on my way before I got the news that I was too short. At the time it was devastating.

    I hope you are having a good Saturday,
    Alicia

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  5. Wow, that sounds incredible, what an awful blow to have to give up your dream because of something as trivial as height. I hope you've managed to find fulfillment in your life in new ways though. You certainly sound content in your marriage :)
    Thank you again for all your advice, I really do value it. Emma

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  6. Emma,

    I have an incredible life. I am married to a wonderful man that I adore, who loves me just as much.

    When the flying thing didn't work out I did a undergrad and grad degree in Finance. It was fun, but it wasn't flying. ;-)

    My work life was interesting before I retired. I was a hospital controller for almost 2 decades. That career gave me exposure to a lot of doctors and clinicians. My best friend (other than my hubby) is a pharmacist and I ask him questions all the time because I love learning new things.

    Retiring young (which I highly recommend if it is possible) has given me the opportunity to do things that make me happy. I have been very blessed to have a wonderful life overall. I hope you have as much pleasure in your life as I have.

    Alicia

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  7. Well, Alicia, you have written on so much that I'd like to comment, but I'd have to scroll back up to remind me of it all. And, I can't do that here. :( Okay, from what I remember...Ah, yes, Dan...I think it's wonderful that you guys have such a great relationship. I love my guy, too, and consider him my best friend. That's the way it's supposed to be, I think. So many others don't have that though. Okay, calories, yes. See, this is my brain trying to remember :-). I agree with the whole not counting thing. If you are eating the right kinds of foods, then you shouldn't worry about the quantity. My problem is, that I sometimes indulge (still) on salty, oily or sweet things and that's not helping. My metabolism is up, though, and strength, from continually exercising, so my body is getting healthier. The flour thing - yes, that's shocking. My husband just got a check-up with follow-up papers from the doc outlining the lack of nutrition even in whole wheat flour. I'm pretty stumped what we're going to do because with kids, sandwiches are always around. This is something that's going to take some time for me. There was more...argh. Food? Yes, your food is great; I think most of us read what you write on nutrition - that's why we come to your blog besides the great tasting food. We are going to incorporate some of your recipes into our diet. We have a CSA and love it. We mainly got it so the kids would get excited about veggies. We already have an extensive garden, and with the farm box, we are trying to make veggies appealing. Fruits are not as difficult. :) Finallly, happy birthday! I'm dying to know how you're going to treat this day meal-wise. I can only remember two of your q's: on me physically, I guess my smile. On celebrity, I met a soap opera star when I was a teen on an airplane. In July, I'm meeting my modern-day celebrity: a Christian homeschooling mom who's the speaker at a retreat. I have no idea how long this is, I'm sorry!!!

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  8. Blessed Mama,

    How nice that you are married to your best friend too. I do think that is the way it should be. ;-)

    People always focus on calories which I think is somewhat short sighted. If you are eating high quality healthy food the calories are naturally low. Sugar and fat contain a lot more calories than veggies and fruit but you know that.

    How wonderful that your doctor took the time to give your hubby info on the lack of nutrition in whole wheat flour. You need to keep that doc, he is a rare one. Most docs have no idea about nutrition.

    Try using leaves (like collard or chard) to wrap sandwich fillings in. I prefer them to bread now and they are so much healthier.

    I will post all about my birthday, including the food. There may be an indulgence or two. ;-)

    Thanks for answering the questions.

    talk to you later,
    Alicia

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  9. As I comment, I hope your hands are indeed covered in dirt LOL! Great post. I knew it would be.

    I love my arms and shoulders. My closest brush with a celeb was Judge Reinhold at the bday party of a friend. He was doing a movie here and my friend was his trainer. No impact - I knew I knew the face but didn't know his name even!

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  10. Heather,

    Thanks, I am glad you liked it.

    Arms and shoulders make sense for you. ;-) I have not thought of Judge Reinhold in years. Something tells me I would have been like you, recognizing the face but not his name. I am horrible with names. LOL

    We aren't in the garden yet, as you can tell. We opted to sleep in and get a later start.

    hope you are having a great Saturday,
    Ali

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  11. Hi Ali,

    I agree on the calorie counting thing...it's more important where the calories come from rather than how many.

    I hope you have a great time out in the garden...it's always a wonderful way to spend the day as far as I'm concerned...post pics....love to see more of your garden.

    As for the fun facts...I guess if we're talking physical features, it would have to be my tosh (when I'm fit that is).

    Change of career? That's easy: veganic vegetable farmer and animal rescuer.

    Celebrities? Well...I already told my story...

    BTW: Laloofah if/when you read this: I just read your follow up comment from last week's post: Jeff Goldblum? Cool story...I'd take him over Peirce Brosnan any day. :)

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  12. Rose,

    It is so good to see that so many people agree with me on the calorie thing. Eating quality calories is most important in my book.

    I didn't take any pics of the garden today. If the light is good I will get some when we go back out there. We have much more to do this evening and tomorrow. It is like a jungle out there since we have had so darn much rain. ;-)

    I love your fun facts. My tush has never been my favorite. I have been working on that lately with Heather's guidance. She has great suggestions, btw. I hate the step ups but they are definitely working. LOL

    Your career change was so clear, but then again we talk a lot. I think you are a great farmer organic farmer and critter mom so making those a career makes complete sense. ;-)

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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  13. CSA goodies, you're so lucky! Our nearest CSA is 40 miles away and I've heard it's pathetic, with a pitiful, overpriced selection that's sometimes wilted and nasty. Bet yours is great - enjoy your goodies!

    I'm starting to look forward to these Fun Facts Friday posts! I may have to do something similar. Maybe "Titillating Trivia Tuesdays." LOL

    Let's see, my favorite feature is probably my back. Since the Fates didn't see fit to give me a chest, they made up for it by giving me a nice back. :-) So I wear a lot of backless tops and try to enter every room backwards. Play to your strengths, I say! LOL

    Career change, hmm. Maybe a wildlife photographer, so I could be outside and be around animals and have excellent justification for buying myself an awesome new camera. :-) (Hi, Rose! *waving* Your career choice is perfect, in fact you seem to already be doing both things, albeit on a smaller scale than you will someday when your dream comes true!)

    I already shared my brush with celebrity story too (Rose, Jeff's great fun but a notorious flirt, he'd be on you like a duck on a June bug! lol), and it's hard to top the tango. But for some random reason I've met several celebrities, so I'll share another story (and maybe blessedmama won't feel so bad when my comment makes her look like the queen of brevity!) :-)

    One summer day when I was in high school, my mom and I spent the day in Boston. We were walking up Beacon Hill (a wealthy area of historic brownstones) when a man passed us from behind, saying hello as he did. Mom and I continued up the hill, gawking at the houses, when we came to one that was undergoing a lot of renovation, inside and out... workmen everywhere, sawdust flying. We stopped, and since my folks were renovating our 150-year old Maine farmhouse, my mom did her best to peer in the open windows from our spot on the sidewalk to see what they were doing. I was 17, so I was ogling one especially cute shirtless workman (and wishing I'd worn something backless, lol). The man who had passed us a block or so earlier was standing on the front porch talking to one of the workers, and when he saw us he came down his walk and asked if he could help us. So mom explained about our farmhouse, and asked what he was having done. As they discussed remodeling (yawn), he mentioned, in an offhand way, his other homes... condo in NYC, house in LA, etc. Mom, not one for being shy (nor always tactful) said, "What is it you do for a living?" He said, "I'm a writer." Now mom, who hates to read, zoned out - but my little bookworm ears perked right up. "Have you written anything I might have read?" I asked (I am my mother's daughter, after all!) He said, "Well, I wrote "Coma." As it happened, "Coma" was playing in the theaters, so this was pretty exciting stuff, meeting Robin Cook in front of one of his houses! :-) He told me about TV shows he'd written for too, and I asked if he was working on a new book. He said yes, a murder mystery set among the Egyptian pyramids. I asked him if he'd named it yet and he said no, but it ended up being his book "Sphinx." I can't say I'm a huge fan of his writing, but of course I do own both "Coma" and "Sphinx" because of that experience.

    Thanks for the fun post, Ali!

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  14. Lalo,

    You should absolutely start a Titillating Trivia Tuesdays. I would be there every time, with bells on. LOL ;-) Actually I have bells, and that may be one of the fun facts next Friday. LOL

    Both Dan and I are still giggling at the idea of you entering a room backwards. You are too funny!

    A wildlife photographer is so perfect for you. Have you thought about that? I think you could make some money that way. Although stand up comic is still my first choice.

    Dan is quite impressed that you met Robin Cook since he loved Coma and Sphinx. I have not seen or read either *hangs head in shame* so I feel like I have missed something.

    Thanks for playing along. As always your answers have us both smiling,
    Ali

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  15. You have bells? On your fingers, and bells on your toes? :-) Are you a gypsy, or perhaps a bellydancer? Okay, I'll be looking for next Friday's post no matter what! LOL (And if I decide to do the TTT post, you'll be the first one I tell!) :-)

    Tell Dan that Robin Cook was very gracious and humble, he never even mentioned that he's also a medical doctor who taught at Harvard Medical School (and still may, for all I know!) Has Dan read more of his books? He's prolific. I think I've read one other, but can't remember it now. I'm more of a "Discworld" girl. :-)

    No, I haven't really seriously considered being a professional wildlife photographer, I just have fun on the amateur level! But you're kind to suggest I could make money at it! We'll see how it goes tonight at my Lost Springs Store and Post Office stand-up comedy premier. If it's successful, I'll sign you on to open for me, dancing with your bells. We'll make a fortune! LOL

    Have fun digging in the dirt, that's one of my favorite things! And I meant to say that's so great of Dan to take your birthday off! Is he going to surprise you with some special plans for the day, do you think?

    Have a great evening, Ali! xoxo

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  16. La,

    I am so glad I have piqued your interest with the bells. Good guesses, you will need to wait for next Friday *insert evil laugh here". LOL

    Dan has gone upstairs to watch more sci fi. I don't know how many of the books he has read. He is more of a movie watcher these days.

    I love your wildlife pictures. You should look into selling some. They really are quite good. You manage to catch such personality.

    I was thrilled that he is taking the day off, mostly. But I imagine there will be a surprise or two. He loves surprising me. :-)

    talk to you later, big hugs,
    Ali

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  17. Awwww...I hope your hubby reads your blog so he can see all the sweet things you had to say about him in this post! So sweet :-)

    There are so many "other" careers I would be interested in doing! Especially if skill were not a real requirement, lol. But now you have me curious...were you too tall or too short to be a pilot?!?

    When is your birthday? It must be coming up? Happy early birthday :-)

    Courtney

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  18. Hi Courtney,

    Dan saw this, he thought it was sweet. I would say I was buttering him up for my b'day but that would be a fib. I still love him after all the years we have been together.

    Sign me up for a career without a skill. I really needed one of those when I was working, LOL.

    That is easy I was too short, the minimum used to be 5'3". One of the guys are work used to call me vertically challenged. If I stand up really, really tall I am 5' 2 1/2", the 1/2 matters at my height, LOL. Most of my friends don't realize I am that short because I am always, and I do mean always, in heels and I have a "big" personality which probably doesn't come as a surprise. ;-)

    My b'day is early next week, so it is very soon. I will write a post about it and share my day and presents assuming the hubby comes through, which he always does. Thanks for the early b'day wishes. I really appreciate it!

    I hope you are having a great weekend,
    Ali

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  19. Ok, so now I have to chime in on a guess about Alicia and her bells...(pun intended)...my guess is that she is in a bell choir!

    Hey Lalo,next time I see a lady with a gorgeous back walk into the room backwards, I'll know it must be you!

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  20. I'm enjoying these fun facts Fridays! Also really great food for thought regarding flour and caloric intake. I just joined my first CSA and I should be getting my first delivery in about 2 weeks. I signed up like 8 months ago so it feels like I have been waiting forever!!

    So for my fun facts:
    It's so true that it is so much easier to pinpoint the things that you would like to change about your body! If you are making me say so, then I'll say that I would not change a thing about my face. ;)

    I actually would not change careers. I am a print buyer for a publishing company and I love what I do. Talking ink and paper all day is really exciting to me! I suppose if I really thought about it I could come up with something that sounds even more exciting, but honestly nothing comes to mind! If I could change anything, it would be that I had the same type of job, but at a publishing company in NYC. That's my ultimate dream!

    I have had a few brushes with celebrities. And by brushes, I mean they walked by me in relatively close proximity, so nothing too exciting. I'll just share the "most exciting" story. For whatever reason a few years ago the red carpet premier of a National Lampoon's straight to dvd movie starring Paris Hilton was in the suburb over from me. They advertised free entry for the first 500 people. Some friends and I joked for weeks about going to it, but then ultimately decided to actually go! So yeah, Paris walked by me on the red carpet at a strip mall movie theater, and I have a picture of the back of her head to prove it. Worst movie ever, by the way. :)

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  21. Rose,

    LOL, that is too darn funny. So absolutely not me but quite a hoot. Are you trying to take that stand up gig from Lalo?

    thanks for the giggle,
    Alicia

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  22. Sarah,

    Thanks I am glad you are enjoying the Fun Facts Friday posts.

    I think all women can rattle off a dozen things they don't like about themselves which is why I went with what do you like. ;-) Good pick, btw.

    Wow, how lucky for you that you love what you do. That is fantastic! Needless to say I was never that fortunate, I just kept doing it because it paid well, but I didn't like it in the least.

    I love your story, particularly the part about it being the worst movie ever. Sometimes the most terrible movies are the funniest. But it sounds like that was the not the case for this one. ;-)

    I hope you are having a great weekend,
    Ali

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  23. I know I am late on the post, but I wanted to echo your frustrations with whole wheat and grains in general! My hubs and I both avoid gluten and limit our intake of processed grains and everyone always says "But grains and whole wheat bread are good for you!" After I explain how grains work in your body and explained our "diet" (which is not about diet at all - its a lifestyle, they usually relent.
    Eating fairly similarly to you, we often get asked or questioned about how much we eat or if we are getting enough protein, calories or vitamins. It can be hard to explain to people who eat fast food 3 times a day, why we eat what we do. The results speak for themselves though. I used to have a lot of GI problems (part of the reason I changed diet)and frequent vitamin deficiencies, but not anymore. Plus we look better, we both lost weight and are no longer overweight. It's changed our lives for the better, so I am glad we did it it and I am sure you feel that too!

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  24. Vegan Possum,

    Thanks for letting me know you agree on the flour issue. I have so many friends that think whole wheat breads and pasta are healthy. The government has done such a terrbile job on this issue.

    We also get the "how do you get your protein" question all the time too and from people eating a disease promoting diet. Ugh! I agree completely with you on the benefits of eating this way. :-)

    thanks for sharing your experiences,
    Alicia

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  25. I like your distinction about whether or not your caloric intake is sufficient--if your body is doing what you want it to do (up, down, maintain), then you're eating enough calories.

    Re: whole wheat flour, I learned that the reason it's so low on the glycemic index is because it is not a whole grain; they've removed the germ because it will become rancid so quickly. However, the germ has the most nutrients (and fat). When the germ is removed, what's left is very similar to a processed grain. I'd be curious to know what the Cornell course says.

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  26. Ricki,

    I wrote that about calorie sufficiency because had quite a few comments that I wasn't eating enough. Since I am 5'2" I probably eat less than many. I think the best thing to do is listen to your body, it will tell you when you are eating too much, or not enough.

    I had read the same thing about the germ in whole wheat. I will go back and see if they specifically mentioned flour in the Cornell course. Off the top of my head I don't know that they did. The basis of the program is whole food which leaves all flour, sugar and oil out because they are processed. If I find something I will let you know what it is.

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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