YOU on a Diet .....

[jezzie]

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Pre-Breakfast:
2 cups half decaf with evaporated milk
12 almnds

Breakfast:
1 cup Fiber One w/evap. milk
orange

Snack:
8 oz. soy milk
banana

Lunch:
12" vegetable sub (Subway)
apple

Snack:
6 oz. 100% concord grape/cranberry juice
6 walnut halves

Dinner:
salmon (baked in garlic, olive oil, vinegar)
spinach
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[jezzie]

I'm still laughing at "or alzheimers was settling in! LOL"


9 High-Energy Ways to Start the Day

Morning madness can make you feel like food is a time-luxury you can't afford. But research shows that breakfast eaters are slimmer and healthier than their coffee-only counterparts.

One reason: People who start out empty are more likely to overeat later. Need something to eat almost anywhere? No problem. Fuel up with these 10 breakfasts -- they've got lots of fiber to control cravings, protein to trim appetite, and a dab of healthy fat to keep you full for hours.

*Brown Bag
What to take along for the car, bus, or train: A stick of string cheese, a slice of whole-wheat bread, and a cup of seedless red grapes.

*Blender Bliss
Throw everything here into the blender and whip up a delicious smoothie: one small banana, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt, 1/2 tablespoon honey, 1/2 tablespoon flaxseed oil.

*Grab and Go
On even the craziest mornings, there's still time to prime your body with this fast-and-healthy food: a pear or apple, a handful of almonds, and seven low-fat Triscuits.

*Desktop Parfait
Not ready to eat first thing? Take something for later. At home, alternate layers of low-fat vanilla yogurt (1 cup) with 1 cup sliced strawberries in a clear plastic container. Put 1/4 cup Grape Nuts cereal in a baggie and sprinkle on top when you get to work.

*Morning Mini Meeting
Even if your meeting’s casual enough to eat while you work, think quiet food: half a peanut butter sandwich on whole-wheat bread, a banana, and a half-pint carton of skim milk.

*Before or After Workout
This simple homemade trail mix will get you going: 1 cup Cheerios, seven walnut halves, 2 tablespoons raisins, and a sliced medium apple.

*Convenience Stop
Even mini-marts have some healthy options. Snag a low-fat yogurt, a small orange juice, and a single-serving box of whole-grain cereal.

*Chill Chaser for Warmth
Get stick-to-your-ribs goodness by mixing 1 cup hot oatmeal with one diced apple, eight chopped pecan halves, and 1 cup skim milk.

*The Drive-Through Dash
Not a first choice, but better than nada. At Dunkin' Donuts, get half of a wheat bagel (they're huge), a small OJ, and a half pint of 1% milk.

*Slow Sundays
At last, there's time to savor the day -- and the meal. Start with half a grapefruit. Scramble a large egg with some sautéed veggies and crumbled turkey sausage. Serve with a slice of whole-wheat toast. Relax.
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[Sweeter-than-Splenda]

LOL, glad you thought my altzimers is funny! LOL J/k My kids tell me that all the time!

Menu for today:

PB- 1 cup of coffee
Kashi honey and flax snack bar

B- 1 cup steel cut oatmeal w/ raisons and splash of skim milk

S- handfull of almonds.

L- Ham, LF chedder cheese on WW bread w/LF mayo, mustard, lettuce
fresh strawberries

S- fruit

D- Taco meat on WW tortilla w/ lettuce and salsa
fruit

Exercise: Did 30 min walk, weight machines

Enjoy the day!

[jezzie]

Occasionally I've said 'pre-alzheimers'. It's not as funny when I say it since I'm a senior.


•All About YOU: Aging Taste Buds

If those pretzels don't seem as salty as they used to, and the sweet-and-sour pork isn't so sweet or sour, your taste buds might be to blame.

As you get older, you can start to lose more and more of those little onion-shaped structures that tell you what you're eating.

Budding No More

Taste buds reside primarily on your tongue but can also be found on the roof of your mouth. The average person is born with about 10,000 taste buds, but by the time he or she reaches retirement years, only about 5,000 may be left.

People regenerate new taste buds every 3 to 10 days, but the buds renew at a slower rate as we age.

What does all this mean? Read labels -- don't rely so much on your taste buds -- to figure out if you're getting too much salt or sugar. Learn which foods are most likely to trick your taste buds into overeating.


The Nose Knows

Actually, what one thinks of as loss of taste may actually be loss of smell. Researchers say that three-quarters of how we taste food comes from how we smell it, and smell can diminish with age, too.

Better with Age

RealAge Benefit: Training your taste buds to love antiaging foods can make your RealAge at least 3 years younger.
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[jezzie]

.
Pre-Breakfast:
2 cups half decaf with evap. milk
handful almnds

Breakfast:
1 cup oatmeal (dry measure) w/cinnamon
nectarine

Snack:
8 oz. soy milk
banana

Lunch:
whole wheat pasta w/sauce and parm
salad w/olive oil & vinegar

Snack:
6 oz. 100% concord grape/cranberry juice
handful organic walnut halves

Dinner:
grilled cheese on Rudy's 7 Grain w/Flax bread
sweet potato topped with broccoli
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[jezzie]

Pre-Breakfast:
2 cups half decaf with evaporated milk
12 almnds

Breakfast:
1 cup oatmeal (dry measure) w/cinnamon
banana

Snack:
Dan Active smoothie
blackberries

Lunch:
PB & J sandwich on Rudy's Organic 7 grain w/flax bread
blackberries

Snack:
6 oz. 100% cranberry/concord grape juice

Dinner:
spicy brown rice and beans
salad
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[jezzie]

Best Picks and Skips at the Salad Bar

Salad bars can be diet salvation or junk-food minefields. Here's how to get from one end to the other without detonating an explosion of bad fats, sodium, sugar, and refined carbs.

*1. Go dark on greens: Build a vitamin- and fiber-packed foundation by starting with roughly 1 cup of spinach and romaine leaves (for more than half of your daily vitamin A and all of your vitamin K, plus some folate and vitamin C).

Skip 'em: Lighter greens tend to offer less nutrition. Iceberg lettuce, for instance, delivers only about 7% of the A you need, some K, and not much else.

*2. Go bright on veggies: Next, add about 1 cup of the most colorful crudités -- think broccoli, carrots, cherry tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, beets. Ounce for ounce, vibrant veggies give you more fiber, minerals, vitamins, and disease-fighting antioxidants than their paler companions, like celery and cucumbers.

Skip 'em: Anything coated in mayo or an indefinable dressing, including carrot-and-raisin mixes, coleslaw, and potato salad.

*3. Choose lean proteins: Aim for about 1/2 cup of these. Chickpeas and kidney beans are nifty sources of fat-free protein (6 grams each). Sliced hard-boiled eggs (8 grams) are another smart choice, just limit the yolk to limit the fat.

Skip 'em: Chicken, tuna, or crab salads -- they're usually made with high-fat mayo; three-bean salad, which typically is afloat in a sea of oil; and cottage cheese, which is high in aging (read artery-clogging) saturated fat.

*4. Sprinkle on extra flavor and crunch: Like cheese? Add 1 tablespoon of Parmesan (22 calories) to punch up the flavor, or 1 tablespoon of walnuts or sunflower seeds for some healthy crunch. Both have good-for-your-heart fats that help your body absorb the nutrients in all those veggies.

Skip 'em: Cheddar cubes -- you'll quickly eat more than you need; croutons -- they may look harmless but at 100 calories per 1/4 cup, they're usually high-cal booby traps of refined carbs, sodium, and trans fats. Ditto for crunchy Asian noodles.

*5. Dress for success: Now swirl on about 1 tablespoon of heart-healthy olive oil, a splash of vinegar, a grating of pepper, and toss, toss, toss. Ask any chef -- it's the secret to a perfect salad. Thorough tossing ensures that all the flavors and textures are evenly distributed and lets you use minimal dressing to maximum effect.

Skip 'em: Walk right past those vats of ready-made salad dressings. Even the low-fat or fat-free versions are usually loaded with salt, sugar, and additives. And just 2 tablespoons of regular blue cheese or ranch have about 160 fat-packed calories.

*6. Prefer a fruit salad? Easy. Go for whatever's fresh -- melons, berries, pineapple, kiwi -- and top with 1 to 2 tablespoons of chopped walnuts or sunflower seeds for a sprinkling of good fats and crunchy flavor.

Then buy a small container of low- or no-fat yogurt or cottage cheese for creamy protein minus the saturated fat in dairy foods.

Skip 'em: Syrupy canned peaches, apricots, pears, etc. They have far more calories and fewer nutrients than fresh fruit.
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[jezzie]

Pre-Breakfast:
2 cups half decaf with evaporated milk
12 almnds

Breakfast:
1 cup Fiber One w/evaporated milk
orange

Snack:
8 oz. soy milk
banana

Lunch:
whole wheat pasta w/sauce and parmesan
salad

Snack:
6 oz. 100% concord grape/cranberry juice
6 walnut halves

Dinner:
salmon
asparagus
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[jezzie]

6 Healthy Reasons to Eat Watermelon

Big or small, seedless or not, red or yellow -- nothing says summer like a big, juicy watermelon
(or a seed-spitting contest off the deck).

But there is a lot more to this melon than water. Turns out it's packed with phytonutrients, vitamins A and C, and a good hit of potassium, plus some vitamin B6 and thiamine -- everything except fat, sodium, and calories. Cool.

Stay healthier: Watermelon has lots of lycopene, a key plant antioxidant that is famous for fighting heart disease and prostate cancer. Tomatoes are usually considered the lycopene all-stars, but you have to cook them in a little oil to release it. Watermelon, on the other hand, needs no cooking to unleash its lycopene. And, cup for cup, watermelon has 40% more of the antioxidant than tomatoes do.

Get your C: A big slice of watermelon (about 2 cups) provides almost half your daily vitamin C quota.

Fight infection: Two cups of the juicy red melon also supply nearly a quarter of your daily beta carotene, which your body uses to make vitamin A. Running low on beta carotene can leave you vulnerable to viral infections and vision trouble.

Heal faster: Watermelon (especially yellow-orange varieties) is one of the rare food sources of citrulline, an amino acid used in wound healing and cell division. Slurp up the juice, but bite down, too: There's extra citrulline in the white and green part that most people toss. Pickled rinds anyone?

Soothe stress: Watermelon is a good source of potassium, which helps control blood pressure -- making it the perfect snack for stressful family reunions.

Quench cravings: There are only 96 calories in 2 fill-you-up cups of sweet watermelon, and its high liquid content makes you feel full. So start your dessert course with a wedge and you'll be less likely to go overboard on Aunt Edith's brownies.
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[jezzie]

Pre-Breakfast:
2 cups half decaf with evaporated milk
12 almnds

Breakfast:
1 cup oatmeal (dry measure) w/cinnamon
2 oz. 2% cheddar
granny smith apple

Snack:
Kashi honey/almnd/flax bar
sf root beer

Lunch:
whole wheat tortilla pizza
salad or green vegetable

Snack:
6 oz. pomegranate/cranberry juice
banana

Dinner:
shrimp sauteed in garlic, oil, butter
salad
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[jezzie]

•Healthy-Up Your Burger

A tart cherry pie may be an Independence Day cookout favorite, but save a few of those sour red beauties for your burgers, too.

It may sound strange, but adding chopped tart cherries to your ground-meat mixture will make the hamburgers healthier and tastier. They'll be juicier and lower in fat, and they'll form far fewer carcinogens during high-heat grilling.

The Heat Is On

When meat is cooked at high temperatures or for too long, nasty compounds called heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) can form, and they're linked to all sorts of cancers, including colon, breast, stomach, pancreatic, and prostate.

But adding about one-third cup of chopped tart cherries to every pound of ground beef can slash HAA production by as much as 90 percent!

Cutting Carcinogens

Your best bet for reducing HAAs is to use lower-temp cooking methods like stewing, boiling, or baking. If you do grill, here are some other ways to healthy-up your barbecue:

• Turn down the temp. Set your grill's temperature to 320-356 degrees Fahrenheit (160-180 degrees Celsius). Higher temps don't save much cooking time, but they do increase the formation of HAAs.

Invest in a meat thermometer to make sure you cook meats to the proper internal temperature .

• Keep flipping. Flip your burgers every minute or so while grilling. They'll cook faster and form fewer HAAs than if you flip 'em just once halfway through cooking.

• Microwave first. Microwave meats for 1 1/2-2 minutes before grilling, and toss the drippings, which contain the building blocks for HAAs.

• Marinate. Marinate meats for at least 10 minutes before cooking to reduce the formation of HAAs. Great marinade choices include olive oil, red wine vinegar, teriyaki sauce, or citrus juices loaded with garlic, onion, herbs, and spices.
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[Sweeter-than-Splenda]

Hi!

I see you have been busy over the weekend! Your menus look great!

I didn't follow any menus over the weekend, but did pretty good at staying on track. I even turned down Birthday cake! which is hard for me!!

I weighed in today and lost another 4 lbs. So I am down 7 lbs in two weeks! Yippeee! LOL I can tell in my clothes and I feel less bloated than I did! So I'm going to keep on watching what I eat and exercising!!

Menu for today:

PB- coffee w/ cinnamon and FF skim milk
Kashi snack bar

B- Kashi WW cereal w/ raisons and Splenda
Coffee

S- none

L- Sandwich on WW bread w/ lettuce LF mayo, mustard and lettuce
fruit

S- fruit

D- salad w/ LF dressing

Exercise- Weight machines, 30 min walk and pilates
fruit

[jezzie]

You are doing so good! Congratulations!

[jezzie]

Pre-Breakfast:
2 cups half decaf with evaporated milk
handful almnds

Breakfast:
1 cup oatmeal (dry measure) w/cinnamon
large navel orange

Snack:
8 oz. soy milk
banana

Lunch:
whole rottini w/sauce and parmesan
small spinach salad

Snack:
6 oz. 100% concord grape/cranberry juice
6 walnut halves

Dinner:
grilled cheese sandwich on 7 grain w/flax bread
small baked sweet potato
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[Sweeter-than-Splenda]

Originally Posted by jezzie

You are doing so good! Congratulations!

Thanks Jezzie! Looking at your menus I KNOW you will see a good loss when you weigh in on July 7th! I love the cute pictures you use! I'll have to look some up!

Todays menu:

PB- coffee
Kashi snack bar

B- fresh strawberries w/ cottage cheese cinnamon and trail mix on top. Yum!

S- Low carb Slimfast chocolate shake

L- large chef salad
few WW crackers w/ LF cheese

S- apple

D- Spagetti over Dreamfields pasta
salad, fruit

Have a great day!

[jezzie]

Tuesday, after breakfast, I ate fruit all day. Not for any reason other than I felt like it.

3 bananas, 1 orange, 3 apples, 2 peaches, bowl of cantaloupe, and about 1/2 lb. of cherries.

[jezzie]

•Every Move You Make

Your odds of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: about 1 in 50.

But you can reduce your risk by 21 percent if you are a man or by 41 percent if you are a woman by doing a little bit more of something you're probably already doing -- exercising. How much do you need to sweat to see your risk drop?

Risk Raisers
Rates of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) continue to climb, and researchers aren't really sure why. Risk rises in people who have a weak immune system, have infections like Epstein-Barr or Helicobacter pylori, have a family history of the disease, or experience toxin exposure (e.g., pesticides).

Exercise This Much
But men and women who get about 4-5 hours per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity have much lower rates of NHL compared to their inactive peers. So that means doing something more intense than taking a leisurely stroll through the park now and then.

Get that heart pounding a little -- whether you do it by playing volleyball, chasing down Frisbees, walking briskly, or swimming laps. Each spike, catch, step, and lap helps strengthen your immune system, enhances antioxidant activity, improves insulin sensitivity, and combats obesity -- all of which can help decrease your risk of NHL.

RealAge Benefit: Exercising regularly can make your RealAge as much as 9 years younger.
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[jezzie]

•Almonds: Give Me Some Skin

If you're a health nut, munch on almonds with the skin they're in.

The skins give almonds extra heart-protection powers, especially if you take some vitamin E or vitamin C to boot. So what's in the skin?

Almond Attributes
Almonds abound with heart-healthy goodies, including vitamin E, monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, arginine, potassium, and fiber. The skins add even more nutrition: They're bursting with flavonoids that help protect cells from oxidation and inflammation.

Synergistic Effects
In a lab study, almond-skin flavonoids helped prevent LDL cholesterol (what's that?) from oxidizing -- and that's a very good thing, because when LDL oxidizes, it can lead to heart attack. Adding vitamins E and C enhanced the effect by working synergistically with the almond-skin flavonoids.

RealAge Benefit: Getting 31 milligrams of flavonoids a day can make your RealAge 3.2 years younger.

[jezzie]

•The Skinny on Fat

Too much saturated fat in the diet appears to raise your risk of yet another health hazard: diabetes.

Saturated fats promote insulin sensitivity and the metabolic syndrome, conditions that increase your risk of diabetes, a study suggests. Keep tabs on both the quantity and quality of the fats you eat.

Choose mostly healthy fats, such as those in nuts, olive oil, and avocados, and limit total fat consumption to 30 percent of your daily calories.

Easy ways to get healthy fats into your diet are to serve salmon or tuna instead of red meat, dress salads with olive oil and vinegar, and add nuts to salads, cereals, and low-fat yogurt.

Salmon, tuna, olive oil, and nuts all contain polyunsaturated and monounsaturated forms of fats, which are a much healthier choice than saturated fats and will help your body regulate insulin.

Saturated fats, found in red meat, butter, creamy salad dressings, and full-fat dairy, not only interfere with the body's ability to properly utilize insulin, but they also raise your LDL ("bad") cholesterol and promote heart disease.

RealAge Benefit: Eating a low-fat diet--and eating healthful unsaturated fats when you do eat fat--can make your RealAge as much as 6 years younger.

[jezzie]

Pre-Breakfast:
2 cups half decaf with evaporated milk
12 almnds

Breakfast:
1 cup Fiber One w/evaporated milk
peach

Snack:
Dan Active Smoothie
banana

Lunch:
whole wheat pasta w/sauce and parmesan
salad

Snack:
6 oz. 100% concord grape/cranberry juice
6 walnut halves

Dinner:
chili w/brown rice, topped w/raw onion and cheddar

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[Sweeter-than-Splenda]

Originally Posted by jezzie

Tuesday, after breakfast, I ate fruit all day. Not for any reason other than I felt like it.

3 bananas, 1 orange, 3 apples, 2 peaches, bowl of cantaloupe, and about 1/2 lb. of cherries.

Wow, that's alot of fruit!!!! DId you get a stomach ache at all? I think I would have! But hey, I think it's great!!!

Menu for today:

PB- coffee
kashi snack bar

B- Steel cut oatmeal w/ raisons
fresh strawberries

S- almonds

L- Turkey on WW bread with LF mayo, mustard, purple onion, lettuce

S- apple

D- Grilled turkey breast, 1/2 baked potato, salad, fruit

Exercise- 30 min walk, weight machines, pilates.

[jezzie]

No tummy ache. I have a cast iron stomach.
I think the only thing that has bothered my stomach in the last ten years was
artificially sweetened Activia yogurt.


•When a Pound Is More Than a Pound

Knees ache? Make a promise to lose 1 pound.

Yes, you heard right. Just 1 pound could mean a lot to your knees. If you are overweight or obese, losing 1 pound feels more like losing 4 pounds to this all-important joint.

Extra Weight and Your Gait
When you carry excess weight, your gait changes to accommodate your size and help you keep your balance. Often, these gait changes involve placing a disproportionate amount of stress on already strained knees. That's why losing weight -- even as little as 1 pound -- helps give your knees a much-needed break. Losing weight can even help reduce your risk of knee osteoarthritis.

More to Lose?
Now, of course, losing more than 1 pound would be even better, if you're carrying a lot of extra weight.

RealAge Benefit: Reducing your risk of arthritis by losing excess weight can make your RealAge
up to 6 years younger.

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