Everything I Needed to Know About Eating Right I Learned in Kindergarten

Never put a bean up your nose.
Eat your vegetables.

Drink your milk.

Sodas are for special treats.

Don't eat too fast.

Finish your dinner or you don't get dessert.

Brush your teeth after every meal.

It is not okay to eat sugar right out of the bowl.

Don't eat all your Halloween candy in one night.

Always try at least one bite of a new food.

Share good food with others.

A perfect lunch is a sandwich, a personal-size bag of chips, a piece of fruit, and two small cookies.  (And it always tastes better if there's a nice note from Mommy in your lunch box.)

To Eat or Not To Eat: WHEAT

     My friend, Sara, recently read and recommended WHEAT BELLY by William Davis, who advocates the elimination of not just gluten but all wheat products from the diet.  I'm on the library's request list for the book, along with 242 of my nearest and dearest, and I'll be back to discuss it further after I've read it.

     In the meantime, Sara shared a wheat-free cookie made from the following recipe:

     1 cup of organic unsalted peanut butter

     3/4 cup of granulated sugar

     1 large egg, slightly beaten

     5 tsps. of baking soda

     1/4 tsp. of kosher salt

     3/4 cup of good quality bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

     1/2 cup of unsalted peanuts, chopped

     Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, sugar, egg, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in the chocolate and peanuts.  Using a small scoop, form the dough into teaspoon-size balls.  Place the balls 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake until golden brown, 12-14 minutes.  Sprinkle lightly with fleur de sel.  Store in an airtight container up to one week.

     All I can say is, if this is what wheat-free tastes like, I'm in!  Yummo!

New Year's Resolutions? No thanks!

     So how's that New Year's resolution going for you?  You know, the one where you vow to eat nothing but lettuce and egg whites until you lose the 10 pounds you gained over the holidays?  Yeah, THAT one.  Still going strong?  Holy prune pits, I hope not because then maybe I can convince you to give up that useless tradition. 

     Here's how I see it:  You were doing just fine before the holidays, right?  Minding your own business, eating healthfully (most of the time), exercising regularly (most of the time), gaining a pound here and there but taking it right off again (most of the time), right?  Then in came those hair-raising holidays with all their parties and cookies and festive foods, and the wheels came flying right off that healthy bus of yours.  You ate everything in your line of sight, forgot how to get to the gym, and decided then and there to live the remainder of your life as a Junior Plenty.  But now that the holidays are over, you want your magnificent vessel back, don't you?  Well, of course you do, and you deserve to have it back.  

     So here's what I suggest:  Write down on a piece of paper that awe-inspiring resolution of yours.  Done?  Okay, now TEAR IT UP AND THROW IT IN THE TRASH.  That's right, get rid of it.  Let it go.  Take the pressure off yourself.  

     Now then.  Wasn't that cleansing?  Don't you feel better?  But now what the heck do I do, you may be wondering.  Reread the second paragraph of this post. Isn't it obvious?  Go back to what you were doing in real life before the holidays.  Eat healthfully (most of the time -- don't forget those sanity-saving  cheat days), exercise regularly (most of the time), and don't sweat over a pound here or there.  You were doing so well!  Give yourself plenty of credit for that, and get back to that happy, healthy place.  I guarantee that if you'll do that, not only will the leftover holiday pounds gradually come off, but you won't feel like you're doing time in a black-and-white-striped onesie while they do. 

    So next year, consider skipping the resolution.  Or better yet, make one that involves something positive and proactive in your family or community rather than running yourself through the ringer.  And don't forget to relax a little and enjoy the holidays!