Hmmm…..where to begin?……

We could begin with the fact that Ms. Deen has kept her condition quiet for a few years. Certainly, it is a personal issue and need not be discussed publicly. That is, until it is time to collect a check from a major pharmaceutical company.

We could begin with the fact that she continued pitching her brand of cooking– high-fat and high-sugar– when her condition could have prompted her to come forward and help create a change in the way many people view their plates and indulge their palates.

We could start by saying that she is the victim here and that the diet does not necessarily cause diabetes, that there is a genetic factor that must be taken into account.

Here’s where I’ll start: yes, there is a genetic factor and it is unfortunate when people develop this illness later in life. But serving up a menu of buttermilk fried chicken is beyond irresponsible. If there are individuals, Ms. Deen included, who are genetically predisposed to type 2 diabetes, then her manner of culinary expertise is the equivalent of a loaded cross bow– may not kill ya, could kill ya but maybe not. And her response to the accusations of irresponsibility? “I always preach moderation, y’all!” As if adding her li’l southern “y’all” is just going to make it so damn cute, well, hell, let’s just drop the whole thing. We’re talking about high fat and sugar contents. Moderation is pretty tough with these substances that our brains crave. And once our taste buds become trained to seek these foods, it becomes even harder. So the idea of a great frisee salad with a side of buttermilk fried chicken is pretty amusing.

No, this irresponsible individual decided to keep right on serving up her Southern cuisine, avoiding the high road and the ability to initiate change. That is until she is given the opportunity to make some money pitching Victoza. Hey, anybody mention that FDA has warned about possible thyroid cancer in animal studies? I know, I know– the animals were probably going to get thyroid cancer anyway so a little bit of the old drug, in moderation y’all, ain’t going to do all that bad, will it?

Anthony Bourdain, another celebrity chef with no shortage of opinions, went off the deep end about Deen. “I would think twice before telling an already obese nation that it’s okay to eat food that is killing us,” he told TV Guide in an interview, calling her “the worst, most dangerous person to America.” I love Anthony Bourdain. But it’s a bit much. I don’t think she is the worst. In an age of ponzi schemes, it seems like she has stumbled onto a culinary cash cow– selling the poison and the cure.

But what do you think? Time for a poll…..

Today is Ali’s 70th birthday! A tip of the hat to the Greatest, a man whose athletic achievements are so famous that they need no mention on this page. He has been called by many the most famous person on the planet. If that ain’t the truth, it certainly is close.

In an attempt to celebrate the man, I searched for a quote to post on the Fitness Guru Facebook page and I came up with the one above. The man has had many, many famous quotes, but this one hi me hard this morning, I think, perhaps, because we are still in the midst of the Resolution Revolution.

Here’s the thing about working out: it just isn’t pleasant. Not in the traditional sense. Sure, there is the endorphin high (and my friend Chris writes about the biochemical effects of exercise brilliantly in his book, The Athlete’s Way). But for the little investment that you make working out on a regular basis, you will feel better. The effects of exercise on every aspect of your life are tremendous: more energy, less pain, even psychological benefits like…..what’s that word?…….joy!

So maybe you won’t be calling yourself Champion for the rest of your life (but you should). The quality of life will be improved greatly simply by exercising. So as we get deeper and deeper into the Resolution, and all your friends who started out the year with the very best of intentions start to drop by the wayside, remember the words of the Greatest. Have a workout or two where you don’t care about calories or burn or sweat. Do it just to get the blood flowing. Your body will thank you, your mind will thank you. And, most importantly, it will keep you solidly on track this year, making it the healthiest year of your life.

Rock on!!

But…….

(you know, at times I hate being the “half empty, half full” guy)

…..are these the same Girl Scouts who are wandering hill and dale selling their cookies by the pallat-full. Yes. And some of those cookies are wonderful little snacks that are, by and large, not all that bad when eaten in moderation. But many of those cookies are still baked with high fructose corn syrup. Now, there is the ever present debate that maybe, just maybe, high fructose corn syrup isn’t the evil entity that some people fear it to be. That scary old house on the corner is just in need of a new coat of paint. I don’t want to enter that debate– though, I will note that obesity trends increased at a RIDICULOUS rate moving forward from the early 1980′s when high fructose corn syrup was introduced as a sweetener in processed foods. The Girl Scout web site says that they leave it to their bakers to decide on ingredients for the cookies, and that the corn syrup is necessary to give the cookies that wonderful crispy brown coloring.

Okay…….

But I’m not buying. Girl Scouts: I salute you for getting the ball rolling. You are responsible for the development of many of our children and helping them grow into the strong women of this nation. But don’t pass the buck and say you leave it up to your bakers to make these decisions. If you are committed– and I mean TRULY committed to the well being of our kids (and, let’s face it, some of the adults end up eating the cookies too)– then take the bull by the horns and start making serious changes. Create healthier cookie options; educate the consumers as to the fact that cookies are a treat and should be consumed according to the serving size (anyone every read the serving size on the side of a cookie box?). Or how about finding a new means for the Girl Scouts to raise funds that drive the healthy message home? Yes, cookies have a low production cost and high sales appeal and you can sell millions and millions of boxes. But dammit, if you are going to try and build this message, build it from a firm foundation and drive it home. Anything less is hypocritical.

Rock on!!

KFC's Double Down

Now, as The Fitness Guru, I would hope that Food Stamps would be used in the best interest of health. Fast food doesn’t fall into that category. Many health advocates would agree with me: by giving people easier access to fast food, we are increasing the likelihood of further health problems down the road and an even greater economic problem. But the pro-restaurant lobby would argue that many people don’t live near fresh food supplies. (Author’s note: that argument bugs the hell out of me. Maybe it would work in 1853, but in 2011, with one out of five New Yorkers on Food Stamps, that argument doesn’t wash).

Four states– California, Arizona, Michigan and Florida– have all allowed restaurants to accept Food Stamps.

So here’s today’s question:

Most of the people that I see on a daily basis come to me because they want to live a healthier lifestyle. And, for almost all of them, that lifestyle includes some degree of weight loss. When we take a good, hard look at what they are eating, time and time again, they will find that there is sugar in their diets that they weren’t even aware they were consuming. And, as soon as we ween them from these sugary elements, they find the weight comes off. I ran a quick poll on the Fitness Guru Facebook page and found that many people who felt energized and powerful throughout the day were also the ones starting the day with less sugar and more protein and fiber.

I say “ween” because sugar is like a drug, and our use of sugar on a day-to-day basis is akin to an addiction. Don’t think that’s true? Go cold turkey on all sugar and see what happens: you’ll become cranky, tired, irritable and unfocused.

So to lose weight, one of the key elements will be ridding yourself of sugar. So what should you do? Here we go:

1. Keep a food journal: write down what you eat, when you eat it and, as close as possible exactly how much. If you don’t write it down, it doesn’t exist and you will never take responsibility for it. What are you looking for?
2. Find the sugar. It’s kinda like Where’s Waldo? We’re looking for foods that will spike your blood sugar and the fastest, easiest way to do that is with the Glycemic Index. The GI will help gauge just how “sugary” your foods are. 100 is the highest, so, for example, a banana would be a 52, an apple 38 and a grapefruit a 25. Instead of starting the day with a banana, try starting with a grapefruit. Which brings us to…….
3. Unless you are one of those people who is really capable of “all or nothing”, begin a strategy for weening yourself off of sugar. If you have a banana every morning, have half a banana and half a grapefruit. If you eat sugary breakfast cereals, buy a healthier non-sugary cereal and add your own teaspoon. In a few days, make it half a teaspoon and slowly, over time, you will gradually remove the sugar from your system.

The benefits of getting out of the addictive sugar cycle are SO many: more energy, healthier moods, healthier skin, greater focus and, yes, the pounds will start to come off.

There are other elements to healthy weight loss and we will get to those. But this is a brilliant place to start. And start you should. Be gentle with yourself if necessary, but the sooner, the better. Your body and mind will thank you.

To paraphrase: ask not what your diet can do for you, but what you can do for your diet.

Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email at michael@fitnessgurunyc.com

Rock on!!

That’s why I was so satisfied to see that Robert Pattinson was fighting the good fight as the role model for young men. The Twilight star has admitted that he is a compulsive eater, enjoying Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and pink cotton candy as well as eating a 40-ounce bag of pretzel M&M’s in one sitting while reading a book of essays by David Foster Wallace (no, he’s not name dropping….).

“I’m, like, a compulsive eater,” Pattinson, 24, says in the April 2011 issue of Vanity Fair. “I’m going to be so fat when I’m older, it’s ridiculous,” laughs the 6’1″ actor.

Fantastic, Rob! Shoot for the stars. Is it that the fat 40′s seem like a distant Never-Land for the Hollywood 24-year old? Should be an interesting learning curve…….

At least he’s not making headlines for his tiger’s blood……

Give ‘em a whirl. Let me know what you think……

And don’t forget, Sunday you’re making a big pot of oatmeal and storing it in the fridge so you have something healthy for breakfast all next week……..

From the Washington Post……

Arugula Salad With Mango Vinaigrette and Cranberry Cheese

Fresh mango emulsifies this vinaigrette, giving it the kind of creamy consistency usually found in egg-thickened dressings. If you happen to have some spiced pecans on hand, by all means use them. If not, toasted pecans will do.

The cheese is available at Whole Foods Markets.

MAKE AHEAD: The vinaigrette can be made 2 days in advance. You might have some left over.

8 servings

Get the recipe HERE

From The Food Network…….

Linguine with Tuna Puttanesca

No time to hit the store? Toss linguine with canned capers, olives, tomatoes and tuna for a simple, affordable weeknight dinner. For the best results, look for high-quality Italian canned tuna at your local import or grocery store.

Get the recipe HERE

And back to the Washington Post……

Gluten-Free King Cake

Summary:

This xantham gum-free version gives celiac sufferers extra reason to celebrate at Mardi Gras.

The specialty flours called for here are available at organic grocery and health-food stores; they also can be ordered through online purveyors.

12 to 16 servings

Get the recipe HERE

Enjoy!!

And whenever I get this involved in so much nutritious talk in such a short period of time, I always find myself surfing an old favorite. I check in on this site every so often just to see what’s going on in the United Eats of America.

Ladies and Gentlemen……….

This Is Why You’re Fat………., a beautiful web site dedicated to all the culinary joys of this great country.

BBQ Pulled Pork Donut Sandwich

Surprisingly, there haven’t been any entries in the past couple of months (insert your own joke here). I hope this is not the end of this stroke of brilliance. Check it out……..

“This McDonald got it! Oatmeal for breakfast!!!!”

Whoot Whoot! Throw up your hands in celebration! That arterial obstructionist, the Egg McMuffin is dead and in it’s place– Oatmeal! Praise Ronald!!

Well, not so fast. I did some quick checks of the nutritional content of this new menu item ( I know, I know– I’m a perpetual buzz kill. Sue me, it’s what I do). First, the oatmeal, just the oatmeal. Here are the contents: Whole grain rolled oats, brown sugar, food starch-modified, salt, natural flavor (plant source), barley malt extract, caramel color. Rolled oats we would probably expect. But brown sugar? Modified food starch? Salt? Ummmmm…….

Then there’s the cranberry raisin blend (yum!): Dried sweetened cranberries (sugar, cranberries), California raisins, golden raisins, sunflower oil, sulfur dioxide (preservative). See the word “sugar”? The light cream you can have added?: Milk, cream, sodium phosphate, datem, sodium stearoyl lactylate, sodium citrate, carrageenan. Hmmm….

McDonald’s is serving it’s own blend of instant oatmeal. Needless to say, some instant oatmeals are healthier than others. Some processing techniques include adding sugar and salt to the oats. ‘Tis the case with the MCDonald’s Oatmeal. But why, oh why, you ask, would Mc’Donald’s add those things to their oatmeal? The answer is because you have a sweet tooth. And if they can bring you to the counter with the promise of oatmeal, a word that echoes with thoughts of wholesome nutrition, and then serve you something high in sugar, they can pretty guarantee repeat business.

So that begs the question: just how much sugar is there in one serving of McDonald’s oatmeal with the cranberry raisin blend and light cream? That would be 30 grams. To put that in perspective, that is the same amount of sugar found in one and a quarter servings of Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough Ice Cream or a little more than a Snickers bar.

In contrast, McCann’s Irish Steel Cut Oatmeal has zero grams of sugar per serving. Zero. It’s slow cook so it takes about 20 to 30 minutes to cook. So if it’s a question of the economics of time for you in the morning, do what I do: make four or five servings of McCann’s on Sunday night, put it in a large Tupperware container and reheat one serving for yourself every morning. You won’t have the mid-morning sugar crash that will come with the instant oatmeals; you’ll feel more full for a longer period of time; and the high fiber content will do wonders for your cholesterol level. Win win win.

Rock on!!

McCANN’S Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal, 28-Ounce Tins (Pack of 4)