Marc's commitment

My friend Marc is making a commitment to stop smoking
and wanted to share it with you because there is power
in the written word. --Joan Clout-Kruse

-----

dear friends,
today is my first day at stopping smoking. many people consider addiction
to nicotine to be just as powerful as heroine
and other major drugs. i would agree. the worst times are not moments such
as now when i am doing fairly well.
the difficult times will be moments of loneliness, depression and sadness
when there seems to be no other alternative, no hope.

i will have to bear these moments alone, as they usually come in the middle
of the night.

thank you for your prayers.
marc

Nutrition Tip: Know about Selenium

- By Shari Liberman, PhD, CNS, FACN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In humans, a link has been found between selenium and heart disease. People found to have overt selenium deficiencies - alcoholics with cirrhosis of the liver and people receiving long-term intravenous feeding - have also been found to suffer from heart problems that respond to selenium supplementation.

In eastern Finland, which has one of the highest mortality rates from heart disease in the world, it was found that low selenium in the blood was associated with up to a six - or sevenfold increase in the risk of death from heart disease. In addition, children in certain areas of China in which the selenium content of the soil is low are known to develop a heart disease called Keshan's disease. Their heart problems, too, respond to selenium supplementation.

This article came from…

Optimal Performance Institute
www.opi.edu
1030 East El Camino Real #322
Sunnyvale, California 94087
1.866.796.6716

Simple Ways to Jump Start Weight Loss

By Chuck R Stewart

Many people are wondering these days if they should just throw in the towel when it comes to trying to lose weight and then keeping it off because they may have tried a lot of different weight loss programs or maybe they have tried to go on many different diets and even if they have had the endurance to go through them they may not have had success on one of these or many of these programs before. But there is no reason to just give up and to abandon all hope and go out and buy industrial scales and electronic scales. Because you should not give up hope and just resign yourself to the fact that you can not get into shape, because you can even if your genes seem to be saying that you can not.

The hardest part of going on a diet and starting an exercise plan is sticking to it and most of that is a mental struggle that you will have to win against yourself, and this can easily be the hardest thing to do if you do not try to make sure that you win the internal battle before you try to win the external battle with your body which depends so much on the mindset that you have when you are doing the program for it to be successful and work well for you personally.

One of the first things you can do to make going on a diet easier is to do the simplest thing which is similar to one method of going on a special diet which is to count the calories that you take in and this method is to just cut down on the amounts that you eat at each meal, and this can be as simple as having one cheeseburger instead of two or if you usually take two scoops of whatever side dish grandma serves at thanksgiving you may start taking one or even one and a half, cutting back wherever you can so that you will slowly be denying your body unnecessary calories that will just be stored as fat and unwanted body weight that will be difficult to get rid of if you want to.

Another thing you can do that will be a change in your eating schedule, but that will benefit you more than you may imagine is to eat more meals a day, and this does not mean eating two breakfasts or two lunches or two dinners, but what it means is that you should eat small helpings and if you try to do this and eat a lot of small meals throughout the day then you will be able to curb your appetite more and this will be good because getting stuck in the concepts of eating only three official meals a day is not what our bodies were designed to do and a lot of people are not able to alter their metabolism to this sudden change in the way we consume food so it can't keep up.

Chuck Stewart recently spent time researching electronic scales for a customer he does work with. He also researched industrial scales for the same customer.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chuck_R_Stewart
http://EzineArticles.com/?Simple-Ways-to-Jump-Start-Weight-Loss&id=2632165

Get Healthy - Live Longer

Are you ready to get healthy and live longer? In the newspapers, magazines, the Internet the headlines are forever telling us to lose weight. They all have different methods from programs like Weight Watchers, taking diet pills and prepared frozen food, fitness programs, and much more.

There is no excuse not to lose weight and get healthy if you want to. That is the key... I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT AND GET HEALTHY!

Even when the doctor tells us to diet and eat healthy foods or die we still have a hard time doing it. Everyone who smokes knows it could kill them but they still do it anyway. It is SO HARD to quit a bad habit.

Attention 20-40 year olds... If you don't do it now it is almost impossible to lose weight after age 40. Oh, some do it (like me) but believe me it is MUCH HARDER after 40. And harder to keep it off once you've lost it.

My daughter, Nancy, came from Southern California to visit us for a week here in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a director on "The Simpsons" television show. We had fun. Went to a Tea Room Cafe, ate at nice restaurants, it was awesome.

I figured I'd gain a couple of pounds, and I did. :-) Now I will work off the 2 pounds by eating Oatmeal in the morning. It is amazing how that meal works. It is better than dry cereal. I'm just guessing but I think it is because dry cereal has sugar in it even though I get the lowest count. But also it doesn't have the lasting power of Oatmeal. I get hungry faster if I eat dry cereal.

This was my first test at socializing and eating out more than one day since I lost my 18 pounds. Actually Nancy and I shared a salad and chicken dish. I highly recommend sharing if you eat out. You eat much less and as you lose weight you won't need as much food.

When I feel full now I feel guilty--like I ate too much. Then when I think about it my "full feeling" is light compared to last year when I would eat everything in sight!

Enjoy eating with friends and family and "eat oatmeal" the day after. You will be okay.

(c) Joan Clout-Kruse

Good News from the Doctor

Yesterday I visited the Doctor for my first checkup in six months since I lost the 19 pounds. The Doc was pleased. I don't have to take another pill -- that was my original motivation: lose weight and hopefully my triglycerides count will go down and I won't have to take another pill. It worked! No pill, thank goodness.

Now I have to go into some kind of exercise routine. Doc suggests Yoga (beginning) to help tighten up some of the loose skin (ugh!) I have accumulated since losing weight. There is always something else that I need to do to get back into shape.

A note to the younger set: 1) Stay in shape, 2) eat sensibly, 3) avoid processed sugars and carbohydrates as much as possible, 4) Exercise and stay active, and you won't have to go through what I and thousands of other people have to do to get back in shape and improve our health.

What are your experiences? Leave me a message below by selecting the "comments" link.

Happy, healthy eating,
Joan Clout-Kruse

(c) 2009 Joan Clout-Kruse

AnnaCoulter.com Vegan Food

Hi Everyone:

I was invited to a Zen meeting at the home of Anna Coulter and her husband this past weekend. I was invited by my friend Marc Isaac Potter who is a Zen leader.

Anna presented a vegan meal afterwards. I am not a vegan
so this was a new experience for me. Anna's meal was
unbelievable! I thought Korean Food was colorful and terrific
and healthy, but I never thought I would enjoy a Vegan meal
completely. This one was out of this world. Thanks to Anna
for such a terrific job.

Anna has a beautiful website as she is an artist. Her home also displayed many of her paintings--all make you feel at peace. They have a comforting effect. Her website includes some recipes and she is into "healthy eating forever." I hope to get some of her recipes and try them. It looks like a lot of work, though. For the healthy salad she had dried onions, blueberries, olives, and many other items to add to the salad. Some I didn't even know what they were--I just ate them! She had delicious avocado stuffed mushrooms.

I didn't even know it was a vegan meal. I thought I was eating bits of chicken in one dish, but not the case. Go to Anna's website www.AnnaCoulter.com and find her recipes. Her food is unbelievably nutritious.

Happy Eating, Joan

(c) 2009 Joan Clout-Kruse

Healthy Eating Works

Hi Everyone:

Below is a message I sent in February to my daughter about my
 weight loss. I was five weeks into my program and still trying 
to adjust to new eating habits.Email message sent to daughter 
on February 10, 2009:  Happy to say I've lost 10 lbs in the past 
5 weeks. My nutritionist said give up  sugar, potatoes, white 
breads, and to read "The South Beach Diet."  I am  reading it and 
although I am only following a some of their diet suggestions,  
I did learn how carbohydrates turn into sugar, plus it has lots of 
info on how  foods digest in our body  and affect our system.  
It was quite helpful and  motivated me more to want to watch 
what I put in my mouth. So I have  learned how to change my diet 
and eat in moderation.  

The most interesting thing is that my constant lower back pain 
has gone away!  Obviously, the extra weight contributed to my 
body aches and pains. I can now climb the 100 steps in BART S.F.
transportation system without huffing excessively.  

Blessings, Joan  

P.S. (Hubby) and I did go to visit his cousins in So.Calif. a 
couple of weeks ago  and he loves "Polly Pies"--a restaurant 
with the best pies ever. This guy doesn't  have to watch his 
weight so see what I am up against! Anyway, Polly's 
had  sugar free Cherry Pie and I ordered one. It was regular 
size and I ate the  WHOLE slice.  (Of course I shared a sandwich 
and other food with a cousin who also eats lightly. Splitting 
a meal is a new thing for me and it works.)  
Anyway, despite eating that pie I continued to lose weight--
a couple days later I weighed myself and I still lost one pound.  

(c) 2009 Joan Clout-Kruse  
www.Words4Money.com 

Cancer and Obesity

Dr Julie Sharp, of the charity Cancer Research UK, said less drastic measures, such as healthy eating and taking exercise, were the best way to control weight rather than weight-loss surgery.

"In the UK around 13,000 people a year could avoid cancer by maintaining a healthy body weight." -- Dr Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK

That is a motivating reason to lose weight if you are obese. Here are some key points to know as reported by the American Cancer Institute.

1. 64 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese. (1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey). Among children and teens ages 6 to 19, 15% (almost 9 million) are overweight. This study is almost 10 years old. Imagine what it is now?
   
   
2. What causes obesity?
   - Lack of physical activity. I sit at a computer most of the day. I must become more active. How about you?
   - High calories/high fat diet. I lost 19 pounds so far because I changed my diet. I cut out sugar and cut way down on carbohydrates that can turn into sugar in your system. That means no more apple pie or ice cream. At least not the way I use to eat it. Rather than deprive myself I now take a bite of my husband's dessert (he doesn't have a weight problem, lucky guy) when we eat out and it is enough now to satisfy me. I don't have desserts at home. Hubby has to buy his own if he wants any.
   
   
3. Relationship between obesity and cancer. Experts concluded that cancers of the colon, breast, endometrium, kidney, and esophagus are associated with obesity. There are links also with other cancers: gallbladder, ovaries, and pancreas.
   
   
4. Obesity and physical inactivity may account for 25 to 30 percent of several major cancers. Preventing weight gain can reduce the risk of many cancers.
   
   
5. How many people get cancer by being obese? 41,000 new cases of cancer in the U.S. were estimated to be caused by obesity. (2002 study) 14% of deaths from cancer in men and 20% of deaths in women were due to overweight and obesity.

You can read the full report on http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/risk/obesity

We heard it before and we know that good health is established by healthy eating habits and good physical activity. Now if only we could practice that message and promise ourselves that we will take care of our bodies by Healthy Eating Forever and Lots of Physical Activity.

To Weigh or Not to Weigh

Women like to weigh themselves frequently while on a diet. Men judge their weight gain or loss by their belt or the fit of their pants. I don't think my husband has ever got on a scale except in the doctor's office. He'd make a comment like, "My pants are getting tight. I need to cut back on the sweets." And he would. He never said he'd gained weight. He'd always say he needs to cut back on his food intake. It worked for him. It was an automatic thought process for him. For me, it was always an effort and I always said I'd have to lose weight--not cut back on my food.

Most diet experts say to only weigh yourself once a week, but it is much preferred that we pay attention to how our clothes fit. Weight goes up and down, or plateau for a number of reasons. Right now I am in the plateau stage and it is very frustrating to move ahead. This has been going on for about three weeks. Up and down, up and down.

To avoid being frustrated the experts say only weigh yourself once a week. Here are some reasons why we have these plateaus.

• We retain water when we increase our exercise regimen. As we become more active we drink more water. Gaining water weight is okay say the experts. Your body is finding ways to store this extra water. It means that your Metabolism is increasing as well as your potential to burn fat. So as long as I'm still eating healthy foods I'll stop worrying about gaining a pound or two.
  
  
• Of course, social eating with friends and family and going to restaurants is a challenge for me. I have to think ahead of time what I'm going to eat and stick to it. Fortunately, my digestive system is doing a better job of communicating when I'm full. And I'm doing a better job of listening, obeying and stop eating. In fact, I now know when I've eaten too much. I feel so full I'm miserable. I'm eating less and getting full faster. That's a good feeling.

It could be I've reached a real Plateau. Even though I want to lose another three pounds, maybe I've reached my "Set Point." However, I haven't done any real exercise program yet. I walk 30 minutes once in a while. I park far away from my destination so I can walk to it (except in the evenings). I have a more positive outlook about cleaning the house (which I always hated doing). Now, I look at it as an opportunity to get some exercise and move the body. It really has changed my attitude towards housecleaning. However, I do need to work on this exercise program.

The good news is that my clothes fit real good. I have more energy now. Life is good.

Maintaining Weight Forever!

Healthy eating forever is paying off. Yesterday, I almost slipped "off the wagon." I got home late again from the client's office and it is a 1 hour trip by BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit system) and then half hour drive to my house. I was starving! I didn't pack enough healthy snacks in my big bag. All the way home I kept on thinking about stopping for fast food because it was late, and so on.

However, I kept on thinking about the nice pot of stew I made the night before and how good it would taste when I got home. I knew I would grab the first thing I could eat when I got home, so I set up a plan in my mind to avoid eating junk food. First, I would drink a glass of water. Then take out a handful of mixed nuts to eat. Then I began heating up the stew. The water and nuts helped curve my appetite. The stew tasted terrific.

Happily, I didn't gain any weight. Even though I ate 4 small sugar free cookies. At this point in my weight loss it is just a test for me to see what it takes to lose the last two pounds of my goal weight. Whether I lose them or not shouldn't make a difference in my health goals. The important thing is to keep OFF what I have already lost.

Next goal---EXERCISE! EXERCISE! EXERCISE! (I have a lot of loose skin that needs to be firmed up. :-)

Happy and Healthy (even though the economy stinks),
Joan Clout-Kruse

Lost 2 + 1 lbs. !

In the last Blog I mentioned that I gained 2 lbs. Well two days later I lost 3 lbs! So now I have lost a total of 19 lbs. in 6 months. Healthy eating forever is a new lifestyle for me. I want to keep it up forever. I really do have more energy today because of my new weight loss.

I have to remember what I ate two days ago. Let's see..Oatmeal in the morning with toast. That was LOTS of Fiber. I had to see a client in San Francisco (20 miles North of me) and we got really busy. Rather than go to lunch I ate the mixed nuts, fruit and instant soup I carried in my big purse. That is one thing I learned...always carry healthy snacks with you just in case you get really hungry, then you won't run to a fast food place and overeat.

Dinner, I got home at 7pm and I hate to eat that late so I grabbed a frozen TV chicken dinner and ate it slowly. I am getting so I don't like TV dinners anymore. They are overcooked and hardly have any veggies in them. I also ate a big salad. As you can see I rarely eat dessert anymore. If I do it is a sugar free jello with Cool Whip or tapioca pudding.

Next day I had similar meals. I lost 3 lbs in those 2 days. Now we'll see if I can keep it off.

Today, I had a big breakfast with pancakes, bacon and 1 egg. The pancakes were a recipe on Bisquick Mix with low fat and low calories. The bacon was the microwave type and 4 thin slices are only 70 calories. I am uncluttering my office today so I hope I exert enough energy to call it "exercise." That is the next thing I have to work on, exercising regularly which I haven't done so far.

Well, back to uncluttering...

The "Yo Yo" Effect

Here comes the "Yo Yo" effect: UP and down, UP and down with my weight. I gain 2 lbs. and lose 2 lbs. This has been going on for a few weeks now. The good thing is that I do lose the 2 lbs. but I have to concentrate on doing just that--losing it.

Here are some of the things I do. First I always eat a good breakfast. I have learned not to skimp on breakfast because it keeps me out of that starvation feeling during the day. I love eggs, bacon and potatoes because that was the way I was raised growing up. I cut this back to once a week.

Since I'm gaining weight it's back to oatmeal for breakfast! It is probably the only food that lives up to its commercials. I can definitely lose weight if I eat 0atmeal for breakfast--probably any other time of the day is good too. I hate mushy oatmeal, so I've tried probably every kind there is until I found a chewy, almost crunchy type. It's called "Bob's Red Mill Extra Thick Rolled Oats Whole Grain." Oatmeal is filling for me. A half cup of dried oatmeal is 190 calories, 3.5g fat and 1g sugar. This half cup is more than one cup when cooked and is quite filling. So it's back to the oatmeal to lose those 2 lbs. I can eat all I want and not feel guilty.

The reason I'm gaining weight is because of eating out with my friends. Even though I eat half of what I use to eat when I eat at a restaurant, it is probably the way restaurants cook it that helps increase my weight. Imagine what it would be like if I ate the whole thing like I used to? Fortunately now, my digestive system has adjusted and I can only eat half of the portions they serve me--AS LONG AS I EAT SLOW!

I'd like to get out of this weight plateau I'm in and lose another 3-4 lbs., and that's it. These last few pounds are harder than I thought it would be.

Well, it's time to go out and meet a friend. But we're just going to Peet's for some tea and coffee. I never order the sweets anymore in these coffee shops because they are SO SWEET that I can no longer stand the sweetness. That's a good thing for me! I have hinted at why not some sugar free snacks. But of course they are not in charge and just take orders. It's big management that has to make that decision. With millions of diabetics in the country you'd think there would be more things offered for them. I'm not diabetic yet and hope I won't be.

Well off to Peet's and help a friend write his book. That is exciting for me to help someone write a book.

Joan Clout-Kruse
www.words4money.com (my real job)

Eating Slowly Rocks!

i eat too fast. That is a bad habit that overeaters have. We eat fast, then get second helpings, and before you now it we've gained another pound or two. Week after week those pounds add up. Here is a tip I learned from a friend...

Every day I take a handful of mixed nuts: cashews, almonds, macadamias, etc. I eat and chew one nut at a time. I eat it as slow as I can. At first it was very difficult to do because I love nuts. Any food I love I want to eat fast. Devour it and then eat more. My new eating habits tell me to eat slowly and take smaller portions.

Six months later I can now eat slowly as a general habit. Yes, it is a HABIT. That is the key--develop a good habit (eat slowly) and reject the old habit (eating fast). The reason I want to eat slowly is I then give my digestive system time to let me know I'm full. If I overeat it's because I ate too fast, still felt hungry, and ate more food.

Today, we had a buffet at church to celebrate our new young pastors' ordination. I was amazed at how little I ate and I was full! Chatting with friends it was easy to eat slowly and enjoy every bite. I wasn't focused on the food so much as I was chatting with my friends.

Practice eating slowly with mixed nuts, or with any kind of chewy food, such as toast (wheat, of course), or raw vegetables (carrots, broccoli, etc.)

I enjoy my food now. Eating slowly rocks!

What the Heck is a Carbohydrate?

“What the heck is a carbohydrate?” was the first question I asked. Yes, I’ve read it on labels and other places, but I wanted to know for sure why it is so important that I cut back on it.

About.com says, “Carbohydrates include foods composed of starches, sugar and/or fiber. They are the most common source of energy found in food. Most carbohydrates break down into glucose (a specific type of sugar).

“Examples of carbohydrates are: table sugar, fruit, milk, grains and vegetables.

“Proteins and fats make up the other two main sources of energy. They do not break down into glucose.”

“Carbohydrates break down into glucose (a type of sugar),” was the reason I needed to cut back as much as possible on sugar and carbohydrates as my triglycerides jumped sky high in the past year.

I was motivated to take charge of my health—not any pill if at all possible. The pill would be the last resort if changing my diet didn’t work.

I eliminated all white processed foods from my diet: white bread, white rice, potatoes, pasta, and sugar. The first two months I followed this plan all the time. Gradually, I added wheat bread, and wheat pasta to my diet. I found some substitutes for white potatoes, such as sweet potatoes, and broccoli or cauliflower mashed with mozzarella cheese.

The next thing was to learn how to eat slower and in moderation. I’ll share that in the next blog.

Joan Clout-Kruse, 18 lbs. Lighter today

Sugar No More!

"Give up sugar." Diabetics have to do it so why not me?

"Give up sugar as much as possible," said my Nutritionist. Gulp, was my thought.

She also told me to read the book,"The South Beach Diet." She didn't suggest I had to use the diet in the book, but she wanted me to understand more about processed foods, sugar, and carbohydrates. The first half of the book was how foods affect our digestive system. It was an eye opener for me and I was ready to make some changes.

I started by eliminating sugar from my diet as much as possible. I began reading the Nutrition Column on food products. I was surprised as to how much sugar is in all the processed foods I ate. Then if I added sodas and other drinks it could add up. My first decision was to try to only buy foods that had 5 grams or less of sugar content in them. It wasn't easy at first, but it became easier and easier as I continued to follow my plan. I soon knew what aisles to go to in the grocery store and what brands had what I wanted.

It became a game for me... Find processed foods with 5 grams or less sugar content. Of course there is lots of sugar in fresh fruit and fruit juices. I didn't worry about that in the beginning. I decided to do one thing at a time and stay focused on cutting down on sugar. That meant no artificial sugar either. You'll have to read "The South Beach Diet," to find out why.

I soon learned that you CAN do anything you put your mind to--even the foods you eat. You just need a strong enough motivation to do it.

Wishing you a happy, healthy life,
Joan Clout-Kruse
Celebrity Writing and Marketing Coach
(My real job at www.Words4Money.com)

Introducing Healthy Eating Forever

Hi, this is my first Post and I wanted to write about my healthy eating experiences and hear from others with similar experiences.

Healthy eating became important to me in January 2009 when my Doctor said I had to take another pill! "What can I do besides that?" I asked. She said, "Lose weight and exercise." How many times have we heard that? But this time the hidden message to me was, "Change your diet or die early."

I was motivated. I went to a Nutritionist and for the first time I listened and lost 18 pounds four months later. It wasn't easy at first, but now six months later it is easier. I noticed my friends were complaining about their health and needed to lose weight. Most were more than 50 pounds overweight. I am concerned for them as when we get older our body does not bounce back. I am dedicating this Blog to my friends; large and small. I hope they read it and learn how foods affect their body and why we should put only the most healthy foods in our body.

Most important though..."Before you go on any diet or exercise program check with your doctor." I am not an expert. I'm going to share with you what I learned and what worked and didn't work for me; plus my latest experiences. Yet, you should check with your Doctor before you change your diet or start an exercise regime.

Wishing you a happy, healthy life,
Joan Clout-Kruse
Celebrity Writing and Marketing Coach
(My real job at www.Words4Money.com)