The Denim Diaries by Kami Gray

$176.00 Hudson “Dakota Wash” Triangle Flap Pocket Bootcut Stretch — Fits most body types, especially helpful if your backside could use some enhancing.

$172.00 True Religion, “Becky” Bootcut Stretch Jeans — The quintessential “LA” trendy, yet flattering, designer denim.

$158.00 DL 1961 Milano (1185) in Harbor, 4-Way Stretch — The 4-way stretch is nothing short of a miracle. These are my go-to pair.

$69.50 Levi Eco Skinny Boot Jeans in Dusk, Style #15548 — Flattering, eco-friendly, and you can’t beat the price.

$69.50 The Gap, “Essential” Jeans — Basic, fits most body types, good everyday pair of jeans without looking like mom jeans.

From my segment on San Diego Living last week…I highlight some of the tips I offer in my book, The Denim Diet.

San Diego Living: June 15, 2009

1) FPV–Food Planning and Visualization Most of us eat out a couple of times a week. One of the biggest reasons it’s hard to be successful when you’re trying to lose weight is not knowing how to eat out at restaurants without overeating.  There’s a trick to doing this successfully that I call FPV-which stands for Food Planning and Visualization. You plan in advance what you are going to eat and you visualize yourself doing just that. Successful people visualize their success before it happens, whether it’s perfecting a golf swing, delivering a great presentation, or not succumbing to food temptation. Now that so many restaurants have their menus online, FPV has become even easier.  Go to the restaurant’s website and select exactly what you are going to order when you get there.  Picture yourself saying, “I am going to have the grilled chicken breast salad lightly dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.” See yourself eating it and enjoying it and not going home feeling overly-stuffed and needing to lie down on the couch wondering, “Why did I do that?” Make a plan and you are far more likely to execute it perfectly.

2) Embrace Dieting Failures and Move Forward With Baby Steps. Every woman I know who has tried to lose weight has been unsuccessful at one time or another in her attempt, whether it was a daily setback or less frequent eating mishaps. I know many dieters get this idea in their head that when they’ve blown it, like say they ate a 200 calorie chocolate chip cookie, they figure well, I’ve gone and ruined my diet for today and I may as well really blow it and eat a few more cookies or maybe a half a pint of ice cream. Can you imagine what would happen to the shape of our financial health if we had that same attitude when we’re out shopping for clothes? Just like you really can’t afford a 200 calorie cookie, you splurge on a pair of $200 jeans and then figure you’ve blown it now so you may as well buy a $200 pair of shoes and a $400 handbag? No, we cut our losses, vow to stick to the budget next time, maybe put a few more hours in at the office and get back on track. Same goes with your diet. So you ate a cookie, forgive yourself, let it go, vow to be better the rest of the day, and move on.  Successful weight loss is all about the baby steps…a lot of little baby steps in the right direction adds up to steady and permanent weight loss. But the opposite is also true so don’t beat yourself up over one cookie – that only makes matters worse…just get back on track.

3) Have The Big O: An Organic-ism that is! Put your money where your mouth is.  Organic food costs more and you’re worth it.  A study through The Organic Center (http://organic-center.org/) recently proved that organic food is, on average, 25 percent more nutritious, so you’re definitely getting more for your money and any good chef will tell you it also tastes better. Organic food also takes a lot of the guesswork out of reading labels. The USDA does not allow nasty, fat-making ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and partionally hydrogenated oils (aka, trans fats) in certified organic food. Instead of being a member of the Clean Your Plate Club, drop your membership effective immediately and join the Clean Eaters Club where eating local and seasonal food that has been minimally processed is all the rage and for good reason. Go to eatwellguide.org to locate farmers’ markets, food co-ops, restaurants, and bakeries that provide local, sustainable, and organic food in your zip code.

4) Eat Well With Others Understand where friends, family, and favorite food enablers our coming from. Recognize that your plateful may look slightly different than your children’s or your spouse’s or your roommate’s.  You may even get hassled a bit or questioned by your loved ones. Prepare yourself for comments and concerns from family members and well-meaning food enablers who want to tell you how “you’re missing out” and “limiting yourself”. Some may try to guilt you into eating something that you shouldn’t by saying it’s your favorite and they made it (or bought it) especially for you.  Be gracious, and politely but firmly decline.  Your best defense is not to be defensive – you’ll get hassled more!  Be indifferent.  Indifference is a powerful tool.  Do what dogs do – quietly tilt your head in a semi-puzzled, but trusting look and go back to what you were doing.

5) Jeans vs. Junk Food: Be A Master of Your Denim. Every time you want to eat junk food, ask yourself…what is more important, the momentary pleasure of eating this, or fitting into that dream pair of jeans? I say, Behind every successful dieter is a supportive pair of jeans! Buy the size you are realistically going to fit into when you’ve shed your unwanted pounds and keep them visible in your bathroom, or hanging at the front of your closet and try them on once a week.  This is such an excellent motivator and one that has worked for me for over two decades. And here’s what you do if you’re home and you’re being summoned into the kitchen by a bag of potato chips, go try on that pair of jeans! That’ll stop you dead in your tracks – especially if you notice your jeans are actually feeling a little looser. Such good motivation!

I went to an online social networking presentation last night and learned a bunch of new things. The presenter was Janet Lee Johnson (@janetleejohnson on Twitter) and the event was sponsored by The Link for Women, a women’s networking group located in Portland and Seattle. I’m actually the speaker for next month’s event so it was good to see the drill. Now I’m really nervous because Janet really knew her stuff and gave an engaging and informative talk.

I learned ALL about twitter (come tweet with me!) and more importantly, I discovered Tweetdeck! If you like twitter, Tweetdeck will be life changing! I ran into a gal at the event that looked hauntingly familiar. After a few probing questions, I discovered that I was her high school cheerleading coach! Yes, I coached one LONG year of girls competitive high school cheerleading. I’ll dish on that torture-filled year some other time. This gal was a wealth of information. Like most people 10 (okay 12 or 13) years younger than me, she totally knows her way around social networking and online marketing.

Good thing because she inadvertently taught me about contxts.com. I say inadvertently because she didn’t really espouse the virtues of contxts.com to me, she merely sent me her contact info using their clever service, which is basically a handy tool that sends a text message to any cell phone you desire that contains all your pertinent contact information. This is perfect for me because I’m constantly asked for my business card, but I haven’t had one since the late 90s. At first it was because I was doing a second bachelor’s degree and didn’t need one during that time and later it was because I didn’t want to waste the resources and energy that goes into the printing of business cards. 

Of course, then I went and wrote a book which is obviously printed on paper…although my publisher, New World Library, is a member of The Green Press Initiative and has books printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper with soy-based ink. Plus, The Denim Diet just came out on Kindle! Finally!

As far as not having a business card…thanks to Lisa Anne, problem solved! Once you get your account set up on contxts.com, all you have to do is send a text message to 50500 from your cell phone and type “Send 000-000-0000″ in the main text body area and hit send (the 0’s stand for the number you want to receive the text).  The recipient immediately receives all your vital “business card” info like your name, email address, phone number, website, blog, etc. How cool is that?

And according to The New York Times, it’s now a selling feature! Where did it go? Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior analyst at Mintel International, a market-research company, says ““Sugar was the old devil, and high-fructose corn syrup is the new devil.”

Brett, at Dadtalk just posted a fab column yesterday titled, THE SWEET POISON SHUFFLE. He explains why you should stay away from both sugar AND high fructose corn syrup!

I put in my two cents last week in my post titled, FIVE HEALTHY HABITS, reminding us all to replace all refined sweeteners with natural, whole sweeteners. Ditch the white sugar, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and fake sugars like Splenda, Equal, Sweetn’Low and replace them with a natural, whole sweetener like agave nectar. There are other good choices like real maple syrup, but I’m keeping it simple here. Refined sweets like white sugar spike your insulin levels and metabolize very quickly and lead to fat storage. HFCS confuses your body (it’s that fake!) so your body does the only thing it can…throws it into fat storage!

Sugar substitutes like Splenda, Equal, and Sweetn’Low basically tell your body it’s about to get sugar. Then when you don’t actually follow through on that promise, it goes after it with a vengeance! Sugar (aka, carb) cravings! You can’t fool your body! Agave nectar on the other hand is not refined and it contains one ingredient…nectar from the blue agave plant. It metabolizes slowly and doesn’t spike your insulin levels so unless you use the whole bottle on your morning oatmeal, it shouldn’t lead to fat storage.  It’s really sweet and tasty (and fairly inexpensive) so one teaspoon easily does the trick!

Check your labels…white sugar, HFCS, and sugar substitutes are in everything! Say NO to them and watch a miracle happen!

My good friend and co-worker, John J. Campbell (Director of Photography), is finally out of the ICU and recovering from open heart surgery. His friends and family are grateful he’s mending well and should be good as new…We’ve all been sending you are good thoughts, wishes, and prayers John! Can’t wait to have you back in full force behind the camera!

Before I share with you Dr. Oz’s Tips To Keep Your Heart Healthy (I’m not even going to attempt to say it better than Oz who is a Professor of Cardiac Surgery at Columbia University, director of Cardiovascular Institute at Columbia Presbyterian, directs the Heart Assist Device Program and is the founder of the Complimentary Medicine Program), I’d like to brag a little about my good friend John!

John was the cinematographer on Director Gus Van Sant’s, My Own Private Idaho and Even Cowgirls get the Blues. His credits are a mile-long including features, shorts, and TV commercials (which is where I met John…I think it was for some wart removal product…very glamorous!). He and I decided over a year ago that we should try our hand at still photography so John conceptualized three photo shoots; each one with a different theme. I fleshed out his ideas in the way of art direction and wardrobe styling (hair was styled by Lindsey Avenetti and makeup by Jennifer Gill). It was a team effort, but John’s beautiful photography deserves a great deal of the credit. Click on the links to view our collaboration for “A Tribute to Calvin Klein,” “Dante Rossetti,”, and “In The Mood for Love.” Feel better John! We love you and miss you!

So as promised…your heart healthy tips…Thanks to Dr. Oz (as reprinted on Associated Content):

1. Go out and play. You are better off being in good shape and fat than thin and in bad shape. There’s no pill or diet that can substitute for the health benefits of exercise. Don’t starve yourself, but eat well and get moving, doing whatever kind of exercise is fun for you. Go for a bike ride with your spouse, or play basketball with your kids. You’ll look and feel better, and your heart will thank you.

2. Watch your waistline. Despite the advice above, where your fat lands is key. Abdominal fat is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome, which dramatically increases the risk of heart disease. So do sit-ups and keep your waist measurement less than 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women.

3. Have sex. Sexual activity can provide exercise and emotional bonding, perhaps explaining why one study shows that having orgasms at least 100 times a year (that’s twice a week) is associated with longevity. On the other hand, sexual dysfunction can be a signal of heart disease. Like a dipstick, erections of the penis reflect the vascular health of a man’s heart, so trouble in that department may mean it’s time to see your doctor.

4. Go nuts. Rich in healthy fats, nuts are great to snack on and very filling, so you don’t feel compelled to eat as much junk.

5. Relieve the pressure. Emotional stress causes physical stress. Avoid traffic jams, for example, which studies show are associated with heart attacks. Relaxation techniques keep the heart healthy. Yoga and meditation are great, but even simple stress-reduction techniques can work. Try counting to 10 and taking yourself outside the situation, as if just observing it. Stress can also raise your blood pressure, and studies show that people with the lowest blood pressure have the fewest heart attacks. What we once thought was normal may be way too high for heart health. While we don’t know yet how low is low enough, if you have heart-disease risk factors and your blood pressure is 130/80 or higher, see your doctor.

Thanks for the great tips Dr. Oz! BTW…that was the first (and possibly the last) time I’ve mentioned S-E-X on my blog!

I’ve been checking out the ivillage.com message boards on health-related topics lately to see what the big issues are for people in terms of their weight loss efforts.  Finding motivation to get weight under control seems to be the biggest one for a lot of people. A friend of mine, with a busy medical practice and five kids, came up with a great idea a few years back when she wanted to lose some weight, start exercising more, eat healthier, ease up on the wine, have more energy, and just feel better.

She bought a spiral-bound calendar that she uses as a health journal. She doesn’t write down her appointments or people’s birthdays in her health calendar though - she writes down the commitments she’s made to herself. Everyday, she makes a plan…what she’s going to eat, how she’s going to exercise, how she’s not going to drink more than one glass of wine or skip it altogether, how she’s going to remember to take her iron and calcium supplements, and so on. She doesn’t write down her actual weight or even her weight loss goals. In addition to her daily plan, she makes comments like, “I have a lot of energy today,” and “my pants feel looser today,” and “I feel good about myself because I’m taking great care of my health” and “Pilates class made me feel strong and flexible today.” Each day before she writes a new plan, she reviews what she wrote the day before. This helps her stay motivated and makes sure she’s honoring the commitments she’s made to herself.

She lost that extra weight a long time ago, but still writes in her health journal everyday because being healthy is a priority to her. It’s helped her stay on track and is a daily reminder to put herself first even though five kids and thousands of patients also need her. She knows that if she doesn’t take care of herself, she’s not much good to anybody else.  If you think a health journal might motivate you as well…I highly recommend the calender from Mixed Role Productions that can be found almost anywhere or ordered online. They are the perfect size with plenty of room to write and are printed on 100% Post Consumer Recycled Paper from a Eugene, Oregon company. What are you waiting for?

I spent an hour yesterday at Costco hoping to find that the number of organic, healthy foods they’re selling would have increased dramatically in the year or so since I’ve been there. It hadn’t. I found a few things, but not much I can’t already buy for pretty cheap at Trader Joes and at least I don’t have to purchase six packages of whole wheat organic spaghetti to get a good deal when I shop there…great for large families though. Here are my top (all certified organic) picks from my Costco trip…

Dave’s Killer Bread (Power Seed)…$3.50/loaf. The best part is Dave’s is sold by the loaf and not in multi-packages. I pay almost six bucks a loaf at Whole Foods, New Seasons, and most other places.

San Francisco Bay Coffee…$13.99 for 3 pounds. Organic coffee typically costs me $13.99 for 1 pound. This is a steal.

Free-range, boneless, skinless chicken breasts….$5.89/pound. Last time I shopped at Trader Joes, New Seasons, or Whole Foods (which was about six weeks ago by the way, which is why I’m so excited to talk grocery shopping…I’m starving!)…I paid $7.00/pound.

Wild Copper River Salmon…$29.99 for 3 pounds. Okay, it’s frozen, but it would take me a loooooong time to eat three pounds of fresh salmon.

King’s Estate Pinot Gris…$11.99…I have no idea if this is a good deal, but it’s organic and super tasty and I’m a women over forty…we like wine…J

I have two friends I was speaking with recently that have both had their gallbladder removed. Neither friend was informed by their healthcare professional that their body might not be able to digest fats as well as it used to and that their diet may need to be modified to compensate for this change.

Put simply, the liver produces about a liter of bile each day (yes, the gross, smelly yellowish stuff you throw up when you have food poisoning after your stomach feels completely empty). Through ducts, it’s secreted downward from the liver into the gallbladder which can store up to roughly a half a cup of bile at a time. This bile just sits there ready for a message from the small intestine (via a fancy hormone called CKK or cholecystokinin) saying that it has food in it that contains fat. The small intestine (specifically the upper part called the duodenum) is looking for a little help in dissolving that fat. Your rockstar gallbladder goes into a kind of muscle spasm and squeezes the bile through ducts and into the small intestine where it helps to emulsify the fat. Because the liver can still get bile to the duodenum without the presence of a gallbladder; the gallbladder is not considered (by some) to be a critical organ…hence the common practice of gallbladder removal. This is a simplified description which I derived from an article by Dr. Dixie Mills on womentowomen.com.

On Medicinenet.com, Dr. Marks says, “When the gallbladder is removed, bile made by the liver can no longer be stored between meals. Instead, the bile flows directly into the intestine anytime the liver produces it. Thus, there still is bile in the intestine to mix with food and fat. It is true that there is not as much bile, but there is enough to allow the digestion and transfer of fat.”

Even so, if I can avoid gallbladder complications, I think I’ll keep mine because in researching this topic, I’ve discovered that many people that have had their gallbladders removed experienced weight gain. It seems possible (and to me, very likely) that bypassing the gallbladder in the process mentioned above could be one likely culprit. So the question is, how can we help our bodies digest fat more efficiently? Things I do to help my body digest fat as efficiently as possible are including prebiotics, probiotics, and plenty of fiber in my diet. I also drink a ton of water which I also think aids in good digestion. Here’s a quickie explanation of those terms…

Prebiotics: According to Realage.com, “prebiotics prompt the growth of healthy, keep-you-regular probiotic bacteria.” They list these “Gut-friendly Foods” as Bananas, berries, asparagus, garlic, wheat, oatmeal, barley, flaxseed, tomatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, chicory, greens, and legumes,” which, “all contain prebiotic carbohydrates — nondigestible fiber that sets the stage for beneficial probiotic bacteria.”

Probiotics: Realage.com says probiotics are, “something you definitely want, because probiotics do everything from protecting your bowels from toxins and infections to helping things move on through.” Think organic nonfat or lowfat plain yogurt with live cultures, or fermented milk, tempeh, miso, and even some juices. I’m a yogurt gal myself, preferably with blueberries and a few nuts sprinkled on top.

High Fiber Foods: Realage.com recommends aiming for 25 grams per day. To put that in perspective – one cup of cooked black beans has approximately 16 grams while a cup of raspberries has a little over 8 grams…Check out this handy chart to see how the numbers on fiber break down…get it “break down?” I love food puns!

Not surprisingly, a balanced diet consisting of those items as well as healthy fats (like nuts, seeds, olives), plant-based foods including whole grains and fruits and vegetables, and limiting packaged and processed foods is a terrific way to prevent gallbladder disease.

If you have the patience and want a more detailed and far more academic explanation of life after gallbladder removal, I encourage you to read a post on Studyhealth.net titled, “What your doctor forgot to tell you about gallbladder removal.” Here’s an excerpt, “Once the gallbladder is gone, there’s nowhere for that bile to collect. Instead of that, fat from pommes frites (not to mention bigger sins) cannot be modulated as it was before when person still had a gallbladder. And without bile (its function was to break down the fat), the small intestine can become flooded with water. This happens because the fat draws water from surrounding regions of the body. This can be combined with activities of intestinal bacteria, which can cause bloating, bad restroom experiences, and stomachaches.” Yikes.

Just something to think about…obviously your healthcare provider is the best place to get accurate information about what will make you optimally healthy. I believe good digestion is a critical component to weight loss and maintaining your ideal healthy body weight so I hope you get the help you need if you’re experiencing weight gain after gallbladder removal surgery or even if your gallbladder is intact like mine!

Starting next month, I will be adding a Podcast button to my blog. It will also be available on iTunes and on my website for THE DENIM DIET. I get asked for weight loss and diet advice quite often. I love inspiring people to become healthier, become better stewards of the planet, to have more energy, and to feel better about themselves. There is nothing I would rather talk about…okay and designer denim and vintage shopping!

I would like to hear from you! I will answer your questions on my weekly podcast (no names mentioned of course). You can ask your questions on any one of my posts by clicking on the comments link below each post or you can send an e-mail to me at kamigray@gmail.com.

No question is too silly or too basic and I will never make fun of you. I only want to motivate you and inspire you to make good habits that help you live a long, healthful life.  So what are you struggling with? What’s not working? What do you want to know? What habits needs changing? What’s your problem area? What puzzles you? I’m all ears!

Get a good night’s sleep. Want to know how to get a good night’s sleep? Avoid high saturated fat foods.

According to Glamour Magazine, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem “fed rats either a high-fat diet or a low-fat diet and found that animals given fattier meals had disrupted circadian rhythms (also known as your 24-hour biological clock). Your biological clock regulates your metabolism, and when it gets thrown out of whack it can lead to a hormone imbalance, obesity, psychological and sleep disorders and cancer.”

I also talk about the importance of a good night’s sleep in The Denim Diet…here’s an excerpt.

Did you know that getting plenty of sleep could help you maintain your optimum metabolism? According to a study conducted by two Northwestern University researchers and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a lack of sleep can make you fat. They studied how “loss of sleep alters the complex metabolic pathways that control appetite, food intake, and energy expenditure.” I truly believe that sleep matters. I’ve been going to sleep embarrassingly early my entire life, and I think I have a pretty kickass metabolism. So try your best to get your eight hours in. Research in the journal Cell Metabolism found that cutting out saturated fats and trans fats may be a way to improve your sleep and help control late-night snacking – it worked for a bunch of mice, anyway.

It’s an icy, cold day in Portland, Oregon. Venturing out is not such a great idea. I tried yesterday and slipped three times before heading back home. Best to stay indoors right? Maybe not. I went to a small dinner party last night in my condo building and while we were playing Cranium, I downed about eight tollhouse cookies! And French vanilla ice cream! Totally uncharacteristic of me, but I must say, those cookies were goooooood!

No big deal…I’ll get a good workout in today and monitor my food intake more carefully over the next few days and all will be forgiven. Then I learned that my Jazzercise studio is closed today due to bad weather and may remain closed all week since the forecast is more cold weather. Darn! I can’t get out and walk either because of the icy streets.

I’m not totally helpless though. My building has tons of stairs and there are always pushups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks and dancing around the house to 80s tunes to get my heart rate up. I’ll burn those cookies off…maybe not all in one day, but they won’t get the best of me. If you slip up, make a plan, and then execute your plan. If you make it fun and involve Duran Duran, Madonna, and Bananarama, you’re bound to be successful.

According to my calendar, it’s December first today. Here we are facing another holiday season. Before things get out of hand, let’s make a better plan for the holidays this year. Let’s arrive at January first, 2009 feeling great because we didn’t overdo it on unhealthy, fattening foods and we stuck to our exercise routines.

If you’re one of those people who loves the tradition of making cookies and other sweet treats, consider trying out some other crafty creations like making your own wrapping paper, tree ornaments, or healthy food items like raspberry vinegar or rosemary olive oil. I find that having all those sweet treats around doesn’t do anybody in the household any good. A nibble here and there and before you know it, your jeans are a little tighter.  

For holiday parties, eat a little something before you go like a small handful of walnuts and a piece of light string cheese. This will help prevent you from noshing on party appetizers and helps prevent the absorption of alcohol.  Overdoing it on alcohol packs on the calories and can greatly diminish your ability to make good eating choices. For dinner, skip the starchy side and stick with protein and vegetables and watch out for rich sauces.

Make time for regular grocery shopping. As people get busier this time of year, takeout food, fast food, and eating on the go becomes way more common. Having healthy, easy-to-prepare snacks on hand will help to keep you on your normal eating routine.

Make time for exercise. Put it on your calendar just like you would any other commitment and stick to it. Even a thirty minute walk inside the mall everyday will keep your energy up, your attitude positive, decrease your stress, and keep the pounds from creeping on. If you don’t get regular exercise, don’t wait until January for those New Year’s resolutions to kick in…get going now!

Think how much better you will feel on January first – one month from today – if you ditched the sweets, kept to your healthy eating plan, got plenty of exercise, and not only maintained your weight through the holidays; maybe even got rid of some of that excess weight. How awesome would that be?

It’s 9: 30 AM and I ate breakfast over three hours ago. I’m hungry, but I can’t eat a meal because I’ll be doing that around lunchtime. Twice a day, I wander into my kitchen (I work from home most days) and enjoy a small snack. These can easily transport to work or school. I don’t like to spend time doing a lot of food prep. Conveniently, healthy, whole foods don’t require much effort to prepare. Here are my current favorites for quick snacking (always go for certified organic whenever possible):

1. 1 tablespoon of hummus on two whole wheat crackers

2. A small handful of raw walnuts w/ square of dark chocolate

3. Light string cheese and a piece of fruit

4. Celery sticks dipped in 1 tablespoon peanut butter

5. Sliced (nitrate-free) turkey rolled up with 1/4 small avocado

These little midmorning and midafternoon snacks go a long way in preventing me from overeating at lunch and dinner. Anyone have any other good snack ideas?

I tagged along with a friend recently who was furnishing her new place. We ended up at Target, Ikea, and Costco.  I frequent these places every so often; Target sells an organic wine I like for cheap, Costco sells a decent organic, fair trade coffee, and Ikea sells wine glasses and coffee mugs for less than a buck a piece. Since I was helping a friend this particular day and not on a mission of my own, I took the opportunity to “digest” all the activity going on inside theses big boxes.

I was astonished at how well-patronized the big box restaurants were…Not too many people were eating at Target, mostly employees in their red vests, but Costco was packed. Mom’s buying hot dogs and ice cream bars for their not-so-little ones to quiet them down. Dad’s waiting for Mom and downing a Polish Sausage to pass the time. Teenagers eating churros, berry sundaes, and tropical smoothies. Since it was late afternoon, I was curious whether these Costco shoppers were eating their dinner at Costco or just staving off hunger and would also be eating a Costco-sized dinner.

At Ikea, same thing. Dozens and dozens of shoppers were lined up in the restaurant waiting for  Swedish meatballs, boiled potatoes, gravy, and lingonberry jam. By quick glance, the average serving size was the twenty meatball plate. I saw a lot of perfectly cleaned plates. What I didn’t see was any nutritional information available for any of the “food” served at these big boxes. So I did a little research of my own.

For your sake, I’m hoping you’re not one of the many I saw standing in line, but for those choosing to patronize the big box restaurant….how about a little reality check on a few popular items?  Check out Target’s Nachos with Cheese!

COSTCO (Hebrew National) Hot Dog

530 calories, 32 grams of fat, (14 grams, saturated) 1530 mg of sodium (64% of RDA)

COSTCO Polish Sausage

570 Calories, 32 grams of fat, (12 grams, saturated) 1570 mg of sodium (65% of RDA)

COSTCO Churro

430 Calories, 18 grams of fat, (5 grams, saturated) 450 mg of sodium (19% of RDA)

IKEA Meatballs (this is for the 6 meatball dish…before the gravy, boiled potatoes, and lingonberry jam which appears to add an additional 334 calories…you do the math)

240 Calories, 13 grams of fat, (5 grams, saturated) 450 mg of sodium (17% of RDA)

TARGET Barbecue Chicken Sandwich

867 Calories, 25.7 grams of fat, (9.5 grams, saturated) 915 mg of sodium (38% of RDA)

TARGET Nachos with Cheese

1101 Calories, 59 grams of fat, (18.5 grams, saturated) 1580 mg of sodium (66% of RDA)

Target and Costco nutrition information found on http://www.calorieking.com/foods/

Ikea nutrition information found on http://www.thedailyplate.com/

A post on Diet-blog.com got me thinking…

If you’re anything like me, traditional exercise routines like daily visits to the gym, running four miles five times a week, or swimming laps at the Y, do not work. I get bored easily. I make an effort to walk a lot, bike around town, take the stairs, park my car as far away as possible from my target destination, move quickly, dance around the house while I’m doing chores, and take a yoga class every so often. It probably adds up to roughly thirty minutes a day of getting my move on. I also stretch and do weight-bearing exercises while waiting for my coffee to heat up, the computer to boot up, the bathtub to fill up, and so on. The US Department of Health and Human Services just updated their exercise guidelines and my “just move more and incorporate what works for you into your exercise routine” seems to have the approval of the government. The new guidelines presented suggested “activity that could be easily incorporated into daily routines such as bike-riding or vigorous walking.”

That works for me…what works for you?

Eating whole grains not only transforms your body and makes you healthier; it also helps transform the Earth and makes our planet healthier.  You are requiring less energy from the planet when you eat food that is minimally processed.  The planet’s energy and resources aren’t expended taking apart the grain and processing, refining, and bleaching it. 

Those whole grains you’re eating are eventually processed or broken down though – guess where that energy comes from?  YOU!  So not only are you saving Earth’s precious resources and energy that are required to process whole grains into white foods; your body is using its energy to break down those whole grains instead.  That’s good news for you.  When your body uses more energy, you become less fat.  With “white” foods; all the good stuff, like the nutrients and the fiber, are thrown away and end up as waste.  By eating whole grains, you are conserving the planet’s energy, becoming less fat, and being less wasteful.

I’m not obsessed with counting calories, measuring my body mass index, or calculating my target heart rate, but every so often, I check how I’m measuring up. DietDetective.com has some handy calculators on their “Healthy Living Tools” page if you’re interested:

Daily Calorie Needs Calculator

Calorie Burn Rate Calculator

Activity Burn Rate Calculator

Basic Target Heart Rate Calculator

Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculators

Food Nutrient Search

Now that summer is officially over and farmer’s markets may be wrapping up business in your area soon; less expensive, organic fruits and vegetables may be harder to come by. If buying organic produce this time of year at your local grocery store is tough on the family budget, the Environmental Working Group has made a list of the 12 most and least contaminated fruits and vegetables. To keep you and your family healthy and safe, make an effort to, at a minimum, purchase organic items that appear on the most contaminated list. A pocket guide, to take with you to the grocery store, is also available at www.foodnews.org.

12 MOST CONTAMINATED:

Peaches

Apples

Sweet Bell Peppers

Celery

Nectarines

Strawberries

Cherries

Pears

Grapes (Imported)

Spinach

Lettuce

Potatoes

12 LEAST CONTAMINATED:

Onions

Avocado

Sweet Corn (Frozen)

Pineapples

Mango

Asparagus

Sweet Peas (Frozen)

Kiwi Fruit

Bananas

Cabbage

Broccoli

Papaya

One of my workshop students asked me yesterday how I sort out all the conflicting research and evidence that we are constantly bombarded with concerning food products and ingredients like high fructose corn syrup. I told her I don’t. I keep it simple and don’t pain any attention to the hype. I eat foods that could have been eaten long before I was here. Does it surprise me that Pepsi helped fund the latest “research” on high fructose corn syrup and claims that it’s really no different than regular white, refined sugar? Not all all. I disagree wholeheartedly, but it doesn’t matter to me whatsoever because one, I don’t consume refined food and two, common sense tells me to steer clear of ingredients that are comprised of four words strung together. To me, that sounds complicated, manufactured, fake, and toxic.

I keep it simple. Most of the foods I eat don’t have brand names or an endless list of ingredients. The biggie food manufacturers have taken the food out of our food and replaced it with chemicals, preservatives, and poison that make us fatter and fatter and full of disease and cancer and they’ve packaged our food in a way that creates a mountain of waste and ensures our dependence on non-renewable resources like oil. Trust your common sense, your instincts, and your ever-expanding gut.