I have a new love affair. This one comes in the form of a capsule that can be taken daily and has been said to reverse the signs of aging. So why am I so excited about fish oil? Check out the recent video from ABC news.
I admit that at first I was skeptical. I was not the supplement type of gal. I am a whole food believer, or one who believes you can get all your vitamins and minerals from eating a balanced diet of non-processed food.
So when I got my blood work back for the doctor I thought that I should be jumping for joy. My total cholesterol was so low. Yay! But when you break it down and divide the good(HDL) and the bad (LDL), my good cholesterol was just plain ugly. It was too low. A health coach suggested that I start taking a supplement of fish oil a day. I thought, "can't I just eat more fish and get the good fat my body so badly needs?" Then, being the good coach that he is, he started sending me information on fish oil. The more I read, the more I was convinced. If you don't want to dig through the research conducted at the NIH,etc., there is a great little article in Men's Health.
To convince myself, I decided to think of fish oil the way I explain climate change to non believers. Does it matter if human activity is causing the planet to warm? If you can make some small changes in your life that may lessen or alter the effects of warming, wouldn't you do that? So, if I can improve my heart health, possibly reduce joint pain and inflammation and improve my memory, why wouldn't I try this little pill? (Actually the pills are not so little, but you get my point).
So that is what I have done. I am convinced. I am giving it a try. If the only downside is a little fish breath once in a while, I am OK with that.
Speaking of research -- I notice that most research has been done with men only. If anyone knows of any studies conducted with women, would you let me know?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
An oxymoron for sure
Taco Bell and Diet. Do those two go together? Or Drive Thru and diet. Sorry, I don't get it so I did a little investigating. I decided to explore the new Fresco menu at the Bell. No, I have yet to actually sample something because the last time I may have eaten the food from the bell was in college, over ten years ago. Remember the 2 a.m. cravings? And I wondered how I gained the freshman 15. Bingo.
So my investigation revealed that the fresco menu is not really all that healthy. Sure it may be "balanced" and what I would say lower calorie compared to traditional options. But it is only healthier if you limit your intake by eating only one taco or burrito. I cannot remember a time when I just ate one taco.
Taco Bell, do us a favor. Just keep doing what you do and don't jump on the diet bandwagon. So you want to offer lower calorie portions, that is great. Just don't call it a diet.
If you want to try the fresco taco, you can grab a free coupon from their site
So my investigation revealed that the fresco menu is not really all that healthy. Sure it may be "balanced" and what I would say lower calorie compared to traditional options. But it is only healthier if you limit your intake by eating only one taco or burrito. I cannot remember a time when I just ate one taco.
Taco Bell, do us a favor. Just keep doing what you do and don't jump on the diet bandwagon. So you want to offer lower calorie portions, that is great. Just don't call it a diet.
If you want to try the fresco taco, you can grab a free coupon from their site
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Who is your Hero?
Willie Nelson's heroes have always been cowboys, but for me, my heroes have been people who have touched my life in ways that they may never know. My first hero was my 5th grade teacher, Mr. Dale Beltzner who helped me develop self confidence and also taught me not to be so afraid of science and math. He is the man responsible for teaching me what it means to be a leader and I think about him often.
As I was pumping my gas this morning at our neighborhood 7-11, I ran into another of my heroes, but I many not be alone in my fondness of this individual because he is a former Olympian and a local celebrity.
This encounter made me think about heroes. So many people look to celebrities to be role models or heroes and I wondered what others thought about this. A couple of months back, I overheard someone in the supermarket complaining about what a terrible role model Brittany Spears is and how we should not buy her music or the Star magazine, which this woman was coveting (and did purchase). I just laughed to myself thinking, why do people think we should idolize celebrities? For me, I will buy Brittany's albums along with Usher and many others who may not have a pristine social life. Why? Because these artists are good at their art (or at least they have great producers who help them be good at it),and I do not look to celebrities to be role models?
Or do I? Tiger Woods was a role model to me and we all know how that one turned out. At least he is a great athlete and I can appreciate that.
My new hero though, while a celebrity, may not count as "celebrity role model" because I can talk to him, our boys are just a year apart in age and take the same gymnastics class sometimes, and we live in the same neighborhood.
So why do I find Bart Conner heroic? Here's why. He greets everyone with a smile, always. He's active in his son's life. I always see him and his wife at the park with their son or at the gym, or out and about in our community. He's also active in our community. He has worked in the area to help develop the Olympic training facility on the Oklahoma River. He's a great model of health. He doesn't look any different than he did when he was in college. He also makes me feel blessed to live in our community and he genuinely cares for other people.
Bart's wife, Nadia has always been a role model of mine for achieving the perfect 10, but as far as people go, Bart gets a perfect 10 in my book.
Anyone out there care to share their heroes with me?
As I was pumping my gas this morning at our neighborhood 7-11, I ran into another of my heroes, but I many not be alone in my fondness of this individual because he is a former Olympian and a local celebrity.
This encounter made me think about heroes. So many people look to celebrities to be role models or heroes and I wondered what others thought about this. A couple of months back, I overheard someone in the supermarket complaining about what a terrible role model Brittany Spears is and how we should not buy her music or the Star magazine, which this woman was coveting (and did purchase). I just laughed to myself thinking, why do people think we should idolize celebrities? For me, I will buy Brittany's albums along with Usher and many others who may not have a pristine social life. Why? Because these artists are good at their art (or at least they have great producers who help them be good at it),and I do not look to celebrities to be role models?
Or do I? Tiger Woods was a role model to me and we all know how that one turned out. At least he is a great athlete and I can appreciate that.
My new hero though, while a celebrity, may not count as "celebrity role model" because I can talk to him, our boys are just a year apart in age and take the same gymnastics class sometimes, and we live in the same neighborhood.
So why do I find Bart Conner heroic? Here's why. He greets everyone with a smile, always. He's active in his son's life. I always see him and his wife at the park with their son or at the gym, or out and about in our community. He's also active in our community. He has worked in the area to help develop the Olympic training facility on the Oklahoma River. He's a great model of health. He doesn't look any different than he did when he was in college. He also makes me feel blessed to live in our community and he genuinely cares for other people.
Bart's wife, Nadia has always been a role model of mine for achieving the perfect 10, but as far as people go, Bart gets a perfect 10 in my book.
Anyone out there care to share their heroes with me?
Friday, January 8, 2010
Q…Q…Qdoba
You have to love a restaurant whose name starts with a Q and is not followed by a U. Too bad it’s a proper name and no able to be used in scrabble.
What I really love about this place now is that they have made some great changes to their menu. I have always like the build-your-own burrito type of joints, but really wasn’t all that in love with Qdoba’s style. I prefer the old Atomic Burrito style (boo hoo – they went out of business), which is closely familiar with Freebird (the best of all build-your-owns currently), where you get to choose your own toppings and build a burrito by looking at all the condiments and items behind the glass. It’s like Subway for burritos.
So what was my beef with Qdoba (pun intended)? First off their beef is nowhere near as good as the fresh, spicy, grilled chicken and the verde pork. But what I hated the most was you didn’t get to choose your burrito size. Since I cannot control portions on my own, I would rather someone do this for me and that is what I was looking for. I know, I know, I should just save half for later, but since they taste so good, that never works for me.
What they have always offered is the “naked” burrito, which is simply everything you want in a bowl and the tortilla on the side. This does help a bit with portion control. What I didn’t love is that they made you follow their given formula. For example, let’s say you want a chicken burrito with black beans, no rice, and you don’t want the queso, but you want the grilled veggies, etc., they didn’t offer this. While technically, they can make it that way for you (although you pay for lots of extras), they want you to follow their predetermined formula from queso burrito to poblano pesto burrito to grilled veggie burrito.
So, now not only have they given you the options to truly build-your-own, but they have a pick two option. So you can pick a naked burrito to be paired with a quesadilla or a cup of soup, etc. You should check out their menu to explore all the combinations.
What is probably more enticing is that they have added options to the kids menu to include a choice of milk or juice rather than only a soft drink and you can have black beans, applesauce or chips for the side.
For these reasons alone and their scrumptious homemade chips, I will be making more trips here. Thankfully the service at the location by our house has improved; otherwise I would have never gone back and seen such wonderful new changes.
What I really love about this place now is that they have made some great changes to their menu. I have always like the build-your-own burrito type of joints, but really wasn’t all that in love with Qdoba’s style. I prefer the old Atomic Burrito style (boo hoo – they went out of business), which is closely familiar with Freebird (the best of all build-your-owns currently), where you get to choose your own toppings and build a burrito by looking at all the condiments and items behind the glass. It’s like Subway for burritos.
So what was my beef with Qdoba (pun intended)? First off their beef is nowhere near as good as the fresh, spicy, grilled chicken and the verde pork. But what I hated the most was you didn’t get to choose your burrito size. Since I cannot control portions on my own, I would rather someone do this for me and that is what I was looking for. I know, I know, I should just save half for later, but since they taste so good, that never works for me.
What they have always offered is the “naked” burrito, which is simply everything you want in a bowl and the tortilla on the side. This does help a bit with portion control. What I didn’t love is that they made you follow their given formula. For example, let’s say you want a chicken burrito with black beans, no rice, and you don’t want the queso, but you want the grilled veggies, etc., they didn’t offer this. While technically, they can make it that way for you (although you pay for lots of extras), they want you to follow their predetermined formula from queso burrito to poblano pesto burrito to grilled veggie burrito.
So, now not only have they given you the options to truly build-your-own, but they have a pick two option. So you can pick a naked burrito to be paired with a quesadilla or a cup of soup, etc. You should check out their menu to explore all the combinations.
What is probably more enticing is that they have added options to the kids menu to include a choice of milk or juice rather than only a soft drink and you can have black beans, applesauce or chips for the side.
For these reasons alone and their scrumptious homemade chips, I will be making more trips here. Thankfully the service at the location by our house has improved; otherwise I would have never gone back and seen such wonderful new changes.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
BTT -- pleading the 5th
Today I devoured some Big Truck Tacos and I strayed from my usual order. Venturing out a bit, I chose the 5th, which is the surprise taco of the day.
Amazing -- I think that I may have had salmon steak or perhaps it was tuna or trout. It was definitely some pinkish fish and it was yummy, but coupled with the spices and the cheese and rice, I can't quite put my finger on it. I literally inhaled the food, the smells were of cilantro, chilies and onion. They I quickly gobbled it up way too quickly.
If you have yet to try BTT and you live in the OKC area, I highly recommend it and then you can add them as a fan on your facebook to find out the 5th from the previous day.
Go venture out and trust me, nothing there is bad. Off for a siesta now.
Buenos dias.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Dear Cooks Illustrated
I know with the abundance of food magazines on store shelves, each has their niche. For my favorite magazine, Cooks Illustrated, their niche is preparing recipes multiple ways in the test kitchen to develop the best tasting food possible.
Perhaps I like it because there is science to this art, or perhaps I love it because their recipes seem to be fool proof, I am not sure. They do a wonderful job at explaining each step of a recipe in detail. Also, what some consider a downfall of the magazine with a lack of photographs, I find to be liberating. If you see a picture of the four layer lemon cake with meringue, you might not be motivated to take on that task. (I did see the photo of this cake and thought that I would tackle it. Thankfully, it was broken down well and the cake was spectacular, but it did take forever to make). They have cute drawings that show you some of the steps rather than one enormous photo of a yule log that looks impossible to emulate.
So all this love for one magazine? Yes, I do love it, but I have one request of Mr. Kimball. Would it be possible to test the nutritional value of your recipes? I know most of your recipes don't include the lowest fat or lowest calorie option because the goal is to achieve the most flavorful dish possible; however, in this day and age people count calories or have special dietary concerns (low fat, low sodium, cholesterol, etc.). These people are looking to cook meals that they can eat, enjoy and measure the nutritional value. Sure two sticks of butter in a pan of dinner rolls is not that bad in moderation, but it makes me think twice before adding extra butter to the warm roll once it is baked.
It's just a thought. I know it might not be possible for all recipes, and I do appreciate that in the healthy cookbook recently released, the nutrition information is included, but what about the Gilman staples like the stuffed baked chicken?
If not the magazine, perhaps the Daily Plate could test some of these and apply to their database. Just a thought.
Perhaps I like it because there is science to this art, or perhaps I love it because their recipes seem to be fool proof, I am not sure. They do a wonderful job at explaining each step of a recipe in detail. Also, what some consider a downfall of the magazine with a lack of photographs, I find to be liberating. If you see a picture of the four layer lemon cake with meringue, you might not be motivated to take on that task. (I did see the photo of this cake and thought that I would tackle it. Thankfully, it was broken down well and the cake was spectacular, but it did take forever to make). They have cute drawings that show you some of the steps rather than one enormous photo of a yule log that looks impossible to emulate.
So all this love for one magazine? Yes, I do love it, but I have one request of Mr. Kimball. Would it be possible to test the nutritional value of your recipes? I know most of your recipes don't include the lowest fat or lowest calorie option because the goal is to achieve the most flavorful dish possible; however, in this day and age people count calories or have special dietary concerns (low fat, low sodium, cholesterol, etc.). These people are looking to cook meals that they can eat, enjoy and measure the nutritional value. Sure two sticks of butter in a pan of dinner rolls is not that bad in moderation, but it makes me think twice before adding extra butter to the warm roll once it is baked.
It's just a thought. I know it might not be possible for all recipes, and I do appreciate that in the healthy cookbook recently released, the nutrition information is included, but what about the Gilman staples like the stuffed baked chicken?
If not the magazine, perhaps the Daily Plate could test some of these and apply to their database. Just a thought.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
It's a new year, finally.
"They (whoever they are)" tell you when you get older, time seems to fly by and I tend to agree, but having a child in the house somehow makes time stand still and fly by all at the same time. I am sure many of my friends with toddlers would agree.
So 2009 wasn't exactly the best of years for our family and I am really looking forward to a fresh start. What's this year's resolution? Here is my short list.
1. Sleep less -- yes, you read that right. I would like to be able to do more on little sleep. In order to accomplish all that I want, the only way I will be able to cram it all in is going to be giving up sleep. My nightly sleep goal will be to get 6-7 hours and not sleep more than 7.
2. Many have asked for me to blog more. Well, if I cut the sleep out I should be able to find time to write. I am surprised you guys really care what I have to say. Strange to me, but you asked for it so I will try and deliver.
3. Keep up with reading and not just my magazines, which I am about two months behind on. I really want to dive back into fiction that doesn't include Blueberries for Sal or Where the Sidewalk Ends. Let me tackle the rest of the Twilight series and then I can move on from there.
4. Along with reading more, I need to start watching TV (other than the occasional HBO series) and go to movies so I can keep up with pop culture. I have considered a subscription to Entertainment Weekly, but the thought of another magazine to add to the list is a bit daunting. Would I make you guys crack up if I started reading smut like People magazine or US Weekly? It's pretty bad when your in-laws, who are not the most pop culture savvy people in the world, know more than you do. When they start quoting The Hangover, you should be worried.
5. Lastly, I am going to try and not sweat the small stuff. I realized something had to be up when I started freaking out because the playdoh colors were all mixed into one mess. There are some battles that I should try and let go.
That's the list. How did I fare from last year's list? Number 1 on the list was the half marathon and I did complete it. Check that one off. Second on last year's list looks similar to this year's list to read more. Oh well, I will get back into it. Wonder if a kindle would help? Third on the list was organization. I have to say that I did improve in this area, but I can always improve in this area. I guess compared to others, I would be considered "organized." However, if you saw my Costanza wallet, you might disagree.
That's the list for now. Who knows? I may sneak in training for an actual marathon. I have sort of wavered on this idea and my body will let me know if I can do this. Please send me back your posts and tell me what your resolutions are. Cheers and Happy New Year.
So 2009 wasn't exactly the best of years for our family and I am really looking forward to a fresh start. What's this year's resolution? Here is my short list.
1. Sleep less -- yes, you read that right. I would like to be able to do more on little sleep. In order to accomplish all that I want, the only way I will be able to cram it all in is going to be giving up sleep. My nightly sleep goal will be to get 6-7 hours and not sleep more than 7.
2. Many have asked for me to blog more. Well, if I cut the sleep out I should be able to find time to write. I am surprised you guys really care what I have to say. Strange to me, but you asked for it so I will try and deliver.
3. Keep up with reading and not just my magazines, which I am about two months behind on. I really want to dive back into fiction that doesn't include Blueberries for Sal or Where the Sidewalk Ends. Let me tackle the rest of the Twilight series and then I can move on from there.
4. Along with reading more, I need to start watching TV (other than the occasional HBO series) and go to movies so I can keep up with pop culture. I have considered a subscription to Entertainment Weekly, but the thought of another magazine to add to the list is a bit daunting. Would I make you guys crack up if I started reading smut like People magazine or US Weekly? It's pretty bad when your in-laws, who are not the most pop culture savvy people in the world, know more than you do. When they start quoting The Hangover, you should be worried.
5. Lastly, I am going to try and not sweat the small stuff. I realized something had to be up when I started freaking out because the playdoh colors were all mixed into one mess. There are some battles that I should try and let go.
That's the list. How did I fare from last year's list? Number 1 on the list was the half marathon and I did complete it. Check that one off. Second on last year's list looks similar to this year's list to read more. Oh well, I will get back into it. Wonder if a kindle would help? Third on the list was organization. I have to say that I did improve in this area, but I can always improve in this area. I guess compared to others, I would be considered "organized." However, if you saw my Costanza wallet, you might disagree.
That's the list for now. Who knows? I may sneak in training for an actual marathon. I have sort of wavered on this idea and my body will let me know if I can do this. Please send me back your posts and tell me what your resolutions are. Cheers and Happy New Year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
