A Sweaty Palm Full of Nuts!

Blog follower email..."did you forget how to write?"
Blah blah blah... I got lazy, worked out, played with my girls, s@!# power's out!  Band had a couple gigs, worked out, played with my girls, s@!# power's out again!!!!  WTF, with all the power outages this summer?  Good thing I don't have as many belly rolls anymore... that sweat was brutal!  So, no I didn't forget how to write (said with an immature sneer), summer just got away from me for a second.  But I sure have a lot of stuff to say right now... like the fact that I'm now going to the pool with NO SHIRT!


Sweaty Betty's Medical Advice
I don't know when, in the last few months, I grew a pair of 'sensitive, little girl armpits' but I was using a Tom's brand deodorant/anti-perspirant with some peach or mango scent and I started getting a rash.  Before I go any further I need to reach into my deep 'pile' of medical knowledge and share something that will dramatically change your health FOREVER.  You know those little things that trouble us that we never tell anybody about because we either think nobody else would care or we're too embarrassed to share?  Things that hurt but we figure it'll just work itself out.  I'm not saying you better stop doing that, cause we all have some crazy shit going on, I'm just trying to do LESS "just, livin' with it!"   There it is by the way... that's my medical advice!  "Stop, Just, Livin' With It!"  Granted, a 'pit rash' isn't like a '3rd arm growing out of your neck' level issue, but it was bugging me so I asked HER.  Yes her, the one who's helping me get rid of my side-boobs now that my belly-rolls laid down and gave my sweat an 'expressway' to my underwear!  Of course I would ask her what to do, she's an MD, and she would have just the right stuff to make this uncomfortable, burning rash go away.  Dr. Savic sent me to Nutrition Works to buy a 'rock' in a pretty, red-velvet pouch.  So now every time I get out of the shower, while my pits are still damp, I rub a $10 Thai deodorant stone under there and no more rash and unbelievable odor protection.  I rub it under my feet too.  ATTENTION SWEATY BETTY'S!  This rock will HOLD back your funk... but it will NOT HIDE IT if your funk is already... shall we say... comin' out the speakers!!!!  Another piece of advice... Deodorant and Cologne are for AFTER bathing not INSTEAD of bathing!


Not A Damn Thing!
Being exempt from something was never an idea I could get behind.  For whatever reason the idea of not being able to do something, for any reason, just seems wrong.  Why shouldn't I, who says I can't, you're not the boss of me, just because nobody ever did it before doesn't mean it can't be done... and so on!  I subscribe to EVERY one of those theories.  Even if I should happen to suck at it, I'm going to do it anyway.  I'VE CHANGED MY MIND!  After having most of my tendons reattached that connect my quadricep my right knee... Oh, maybe I forgot to mention that they were torn off in 2010 because for about 3 months that year I apparently forgot how to stay on my feet in the snow & ice.  Anyway... my surgeon, Dr.  Chris Green, told me that there would be a few things that would still bother me more than a year later and it might limit a few physical activities.  He said when I start going down a flight of steps without thinking about it I would be pretty much completely healed.  When I started working out heavily I noticed that one exercise was going to have to wait... squats.  Every time I went down with weight, it felt like my kneecaps were going to pop right out of my skin and shoot across the gym!  For the last couple months I've been able to put them in my workouts without that weird 'kneecap across the room' feeling but not without a different kind of unbearable pain (in the ass).  2 days after ANY kind of squat workout my butt hurts so bad I can't sit on ANYTHING... chair, car seat, toilet, top of short file cabinet (huge mistake).  I start everyday in the shower bending over and touching my toes several times, it really helps get the blood flowing, and 2 days after a squat workout I'm lucky if I can touch my knees.  You know what I said earlier... I'm fine if I never do another squat in my life... I don't like a thing about 'em... Not A Damn Thing!


New Thing I'm Diggin'
Been tea toddling' since the latest Royal wedding and this one rocks...
Lipton Green Tea with Orange, Passionfruit & Jasmine


Nuts are great for weight loss AND your own nuts!
How are nuts good for weight loss if they are so nutrient dense and loaded with fats?  Here's what I read recently read.  Nuts are a high energy (calorie) food with calories coming predominantly from protein and fat.  Protein is a valuable contributor to fat loss and the fats from nuts are the healthy variety including Omega 3 fatty acids.  When I refer to nuts I refer to tree nuts. Take note that all others are technically legumes that grow from a plant. Cashews and peanuts are examples.  Nuts were a staple of our ancestors before the advent of agriculture. Our bodies long association with nuts virtually guarantees their compatibility with our digestive systems.  Magnesium and vitamin E are micro nutrients that nuts provide in abundance.  Magnesium is a mineral heavily implicated in healthy fat loss and is one of the minerals that we get the least of when compared to the diets of our ancestors.

• Walnuts

Walnuts may be the superstar of healthy nuts. They are full of antioxidants with one study showing that they contain more than blueberries.  Walnuts are also a rich source of heart-protective omega-3 fatty acids. They lower total and so-called “bad” LDL cholesterol, work to preserve bone, and even may slow the growth of malignant tumors of the breast and prostate. I've been eating an ounce of these every morning for the last month

• Pistachios

Pistachios are known for battling bad cholesterol. While all kinds of nuts help lower cholesterol, pistachios reduce the amount of oxidized “bad” cholesterol, which is considered more deadly than simply elevated cholesterol because it speeds up the formation of plaque deposits in arteries. This information was reported in a Penn State University study.

• Almonds

While almonds have been known as a good source of vitamin E, magnesium, and potassium, a study published several years ago in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found they contain levels of antioxidants comparable to amounts found in green and black tea and broccoli. Catechin, epicatechin, and kaempferol, the main antioxidant compounds found in almonds, offer the greatest degree of cell death protection from oxidants, researchers reported.  Whenever I need a between meal snack, I grab a handful of almonds.

• Pecans

In addition to its cholesterol-lowering powers, the pecan may protect the nervous system by delaying the progression of age-related motor neuron degeneration, according to a study published earlier this year in Current Topics in Nutraceutical Research. Researchers suggested vitamin E, an antioxidant found in pecans, may be the key factor. Previous studies have shown that antioxidants help fight Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

• Brazil nuts

Brazil nuts are a rich source of magnesium, one of the minerals that regulate blood pressure. In addition to heart health, Brazil nuts also may play a role in protecting the prostate. The nuts contain another mineral, selenium, a lack of which has been linked to prostate cancer. Stanford University researchers found that men diagnosed with prostate cancer had much lower selenium levels than healthy men years before their cancer was diagnosed. High blood levels of selenium were associated with a four to fivefold decrease in the odds of developing prostate cancer, researchers discovered. Two freshly shelled Brazil nuts provide the recommended daily amount of 200 mcg of selenium.

Another Memorial Day is less than a month away

We're coming up on the 10th Anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on American soil.  I read something Memorial Day weekend that I wrote down in a notebook so I would never forget it... We Are The Land Of The Free BECAUSE Of The Brave!  Have you ever thought about what you do or say in a day, a week, month or year that honors that bravery.  And I don't mean standing before the ballgame or wearing your Old Navy tee on the 4th, I mean really doing something that fosters the spirit of togetherness.  Maybe that sounds a bit too 'fairytale' like.  I guess my point really is... when did being hurtful become a strategy and when did being, the smarter opponent, stop being the most important battle plan.  Of all the groups of people I've been a part of that were broken apart, you know what did it?  Dissension!  It's starting to feel like this country is 'pegging the meter' again!

And on the subject of being hurtful... a couple weeks ago I overheard a conversation where one person believed someone they knew wasn't likely to succeed with their weight loss goals because they were TOO FAT.  If you ever feel like someone might say that about you PLEASE KNOW THIS:  It will be hard and often it may suck, but it can be done!  The sweetest things in this life take a little bit of work... but YOUR reward will be GREAT and the way you feel will be almost indescribable.   I have now lost 52lbs. since the 4th of March 

That's this bag of salt plus,

this gallon of milk and...

                                                                                                                       and this half-gallon

and when you put your weight lost in this perspective it gives you all the motivation you need!

Now the massive applications of Palmer's Cocoa Butter lotion... thanks for the tip mom's!  I can't believe this might work.  One thing's for sure, I smell so good after putting this stuff on I feel like a dessert!

Making Cardio Suck Less!

A song to put in your iPod to help get through the dreaded Cardio!  It was Madonna's 53rd birthday this week, and while this song might not make you want to go faster... it will make you feel sexier