Reevalutating the "F" Word

Regular readers of Throwing a Fit and/or The Jinifit Blog can tell you; I don't often re-post articles from other bloggers or writers.  The article below is an exception. I am a big fan of the work of Dr. Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS (AKA "The Rogue Nutritionist") and felt this piece was an important one. I hope you get as much out of it as I did.

Prejudice against the obese: the last "acceptable" prejudice in America?

Have you ever seen a terribly overweight person walking down the street and thought to yourself, “How could she let herself get that way? How disgusting. She has no self-control. What a glutton!”

If so, you’re not alone.

I Can Make You Thin

How hypnosis can help with fat loss

“Remember, repetition is the key to success. When we repeat an action, a neural pathway is created in the brain and each repetition reinforces it.” So says Paul McKenna, PhD., in his short but mighty book, I Can Make You Thin. Reading this sentence, you might think he is talking about repetitions in a workout routine, and he could be.  I could, and have, repeated those sentences on many occasions.  But in this case he is not talking about fitness, but about the brain and how human behavior can be influenced through suggestions made to our subconscious mind. These suggestions do not discriminate and can have a positive or negative effect depending on their nature.

The Plate Plank

Core core core core core.  It seems like the focus of every exercise you try these days is a core exercise.  It’s not your imagination. In response to a near epidemic of lower back, hip and knee injuries (even upper body muscle groups are effected), researchers are finding that the best defense against these injuries is good flexibility, mobility, and a healthy core.
 
For all the focus that core exercise has gotten in recent years, few people understand what is truly meant when an exercise is referred to as a “core” exercise.  If you’re visualizing your abdominal area right now, you hit the target….sort of.  Abdominals are only a part of what is considered core musculature. The term “core” really applies to every muscle from your arm pits to your knees.  If you think about it; that’s a lot of muscle groups. The important thing to remember is that because muscles and fascia are interconnected, it is almost impossible to completely isolate only one muscle to the extent that no other muscle is involved in a given movement.  Take the plate plank (below) for instance. While you can easily see the muscular recruitment of the abdominal area, take a look at what is happening with the shoulders, the pecs, the triceps, glutes and quadriceps. It is deceiving but this is really a total body exercise.

 Here’s how to do it:

"A"

1)  Take a 25 pound weight plate and balance it on its rim or, side.  Then kneel in front of it.

2)  While balancing the plate on its rim, grab the weight by placing hands on the top of the plate’s rim with hands at the 11:00 and 1:00 positions-keeping arms perfectly straight. Try to keep the wrists as straight as possible also; without losing your balance-do not flex your wrists excessively.

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

This recipe is taken from the very excellent cookbook Nourishing Meals by Tom Malterre and wife Alissa Segersten (see my review of Nourishing Bites in a recent post.) What a pleasure it is to have 300 delicious new gluten/dairy/soy recipes to try-including one of my all-time favorites.  Let me know how you like it!

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Fall favorite: Serve w/quinoa & cabbage slaw for a complete meal

1 large onion, chopped

1-2 tablespoons of finely chopped ginger

4-5 large carrots, peeled and chopped

4-5 celery stalks, chopped

2 Granny Smith apples, cored and chopped

10 cups of water, vegetable stock, or chicken stock

8 cups of sugar pie pumpkin puree (made from the small but not mini pumpkins)

2-3 cups of cooked white beans

2-3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

3-4 teaspoons Herbamare or sea salt

1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

The Conflict Between Pleasure and Happiness

Does "easy" make you happy?

How would you like to lose weight and get in fantastic shape with little to no effort at all?!  Right!  Seems ridiculous doesn’t it?  Yet we see and hear ads like this every day.  We are correct in thinking that “with little to no effort” doesn’t exist. So why would an advertiser want to appeal to you on that level?

Let me draw your attention to this (it might make your fat loss efforts more successful): 

Gluten Free Recipes

Delicious gluten/dairy/soy free recipes

You’ve probably heard it before; gluten-free, dairy-free diets are the healthiest way to eat; for a variety of reasons.  Rather than go into a long, explanation of the benefits of going gluten/dairy free, I’ll let Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre do it.  In this wonderful cookbook, they give a general explanation of the foundations of health, the threats to those foundations, and the solution to the problem-all in one book and then they follow it up with over 300 delicious recipes. 

As the authors of Nourishing Meals, they do an excellent job of explaining why a big part of the solution to better health is removing gluten and dairy from your diet.  In addition to educating you on the why

Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are no longer just for Thanksgiving and as the weather starts cooling down  and fall approaches, we naturally start moving away from lighter summer meals and into more...satisfying fare.

Sweet potatoes are a great way to get your small portion of starchy carbs and this recipe will really kick up the flavor a notch or two without piling on all the fat and sugary stuff that jacks up the calories and destroys the natural flavors.

The recipe appears just as I found it.  It's borrowed from The Food Network's chef Alton Brown.  I've made it many times and it is good!  The smoky chipotle flavor lends an exotic taste to the traditional autumn tuber but don't go crazy with the peppers-things can get real spicy, real fast.

My suggestion?  To make it healthier, use only 1 tablespoon of butter and keep the portion small. 

Yams go yummy with the smoky flavor of chipotle