Once Upon a Thigh: April 2007

Table of Contents

Letter from the Editor

We had a great time last month with Dr. Gracie Hargraves. She gave us some great information on relieving stress. I will include some excerpts from her talk next month. We will invite her back to talk about gender differences.

On April 4th at 7 PM, I will be reporting on the Diabesity Conference I attended. The conference was outstanding. Hope to see you at our meeting.

Gibbs Oat Bran Muffins

Here is a great recipe to share...
  • 2 1/4 c oat bran
  • 1 tbs baking powder
  • 1/2 c sugar or maple syrup
  • 2 tbs chopped almonds
  • Handful of raisins or blueberries
  • 1/4 c shredded coconut (optional)
  • 1 1/4 c non fat milk
  • 2 egg whites
  • 2 large overripe bananas or 1 c fresh pineapple
Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Blend all other ingredients into a puree and mix thoroughly with the dry ingredients. Fill muffin tins allowing some room for muffins to rise. If you use blueberries, it is easier to add them by hand to the filled tins. Bake at 450 about 15 minutes until lightly browned. Makes 1 dozen muffins. You can freeze them when cool, then thaw them and microwave for 30 seconds. Yummy.

Simplify Your Life-Elaine St. James

Many years ago I purchased this book and continue to enjoy it even now. I was enthralled with the following advice.

#64: Get Up an Hour Earlier
"The best hour of the day is the hour just before the time you are currently getting up. If you're like most people, you schedule your wake-up hour so that you have just enough time to get dressed, grab a bite of breakfast, take a quick peek at the headlines or the morning news, maybe help get the kids off to school, and get to work by eight-thirty or nine o'clock. There's not much time in there for lollygagging.

"Imagine how nice it would be if you had a whole extra hour in the morning to do some things you've been wanting to do, like taking a walk, or establishing your own morning ritual, or just to have enough time for a leisurely breakfast with your family.

"Adding an extra hour to your day, especially if you use it to do something other than work, is a very effective way to relieve stress and to give yourself the feeling of having much more time throughout the day. Studies have shown that we need less sleep as we advance in years. It could be that extra hour in the morning would do you a lot more good if you were awake and enjoying it rather than trying to catch up on sleep you don't really need. If you've never had an opportunity to enjoy that quiet hour before dawn, I urge you to start doing so tomorrow. You'll be amazed at the richness, peace and simplicity it can add to your life."

Next month, look for #73: Just Be Yourself.

FYI
  • Soda has 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 calories, 30-55mg of caffeine, plus artificial food colors and sulphites. Diet sodas contain artificial sweeteners which are even more unhealthy and have even been linked to some cancers.
  • Potato chips and French fries are popular snack foods that contain acrylamide, a known cancer causing agent that is formed when foods are baked or fried at high temperatures. They're also full of trans fats, which have been linked to heart disease, diabetes, and stroke
  • Doughnuts: Break a doughnut down and you find nothing more than refined sugar and flour, artificial flavors, and partially hydrogenated oil that is loaded with trans fats. A true heart attack on a plate.
  • Coffee cake and other baked goods: These foods almost always contain high amounts of trans fats as well as corn syrup, preservatives, and artificial flavors and colors. In fact, these foods are often made with hydrogenated oils.
  • Luncheon meat/hot dogs are processed meats containing cancer causing sodium nitrite. Never microwave a hot dog. If you boil it, the nitrites come out in the water and then you can eat the hot dog.
  • Canned soups have high levels of trans fats, sodium, artificial preservatives. Just one cup can contain almost 1,000 mg of salt, nearly half of the recommended daily guidelines. This is a blood pressure nightmare.
So what are you having to eat now? NEW Drugs on Market

Buyer beware of new medications. Advertisements for new medications can be very tempting to find that one miracle pill. My rule of thumb is to wait at least 6 months before I will prescribe it because I want to see what side effects are going to present themselves with a larger population taking the medication.

Online Pharmacies

Please check to make sure your pharmacy has a Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites seal of approval certificate. That means that the web site is licensed and complies with quality and privacy standards according to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.

See www.fda.gov/buyonline for more help.

No Success and You are doing Everything I suggest?

Let's hope that you are not included in the above statement, but if you find yourself there, please call and make an appointment for a consultation and then let's form a team for your success. Remember, success is not always in the form of weight loss. It could be inches lost, it could be in feeling better about taking charge of your life, it could be having more energy.

Please call.

Julie Andrews: My Favorite Things

To commemorate her 69th birthday, actress/vocalist Julie Andrews mad a special appearance at Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall. She performed the following song, sung to My Favorite Things.

Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting.
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings.
Bundles of magazines tied up in string.
These are a few of my favorite things.
Cadillacs and cataracts, and hearing aids and glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings.
These are a few of my favorite things.
When the pipes leak, when the bones creak, when the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad.
Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions.
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.
Back pains, confused brains, and no need for sinning.
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinning,
And we won't mention our short, shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.
When the joints ache, when the hips break, when the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad.

 Thought you would enjoy this. Happy spring.

-- Carol

Don't forget to tell a friend about Once Upon a Thigh!