So since I posted in November, I’ve done a 180 on you all. Me, champion of moderation. Me, the “no food is bad” girl. Me, variety is the spice of life, personified. I have given up gluten. Yup. And I have felt terrific. So terrific that I have passed up at least 1/2 dozen opportunities to snarf baguette. I am a baguette-lovah from way back. And remember those resort croissants that I have trouble with too? I just spent a whole week looking at them and they didn’t even call my name. That’s how good I feel.

It all started around Christmas, when I read William Davis’ Wheat Belly.

The book is a manifesto against grain. It goes into all sorts of detail on how wheat amps up your blood sugar, causes inflammation, etc. etc. It’s science-y enough, but an easy read, too, and it’ll make your hair stand on end. Combine this with all the testimony I’ve read in the on-line arthritis communities about how super-fab people feel when they give up gluten, and it made me stop and think – “why not try this for a few weeks and see what happens?” So I did. And within a couple of weeks I was PAIN FREE. I haven’t had gluten since. That’s two full months?!

Has it been challenging? Really, not so bad. Now I’ll admit that I have never been a huge sandwich eater, or toast maker so I haven’t had to revise too many habits. I also don’t eat much pasta or other refined carbs when I’m watching what I eat, which is most of the time. Around the end of January, I got a hankering for something crunchy that wasn’t a nut, so I got some Glutino gluten-free pretzels, and let me tell you – they are terrific. Even my daughter, who is not a pretzel lover, loves them. But they’re junk food, so they’ll be on the list for when I want to enjoy something nutrient-free and fun, but they won’t be in the house every day.

Reading about the effects that wheat has on our blood sugar levels (raises ‘em thru the roof), got me thinking about insulin and hormones and their effects on body composition . . . and let’s just say I’ve been doing A LOT of reading on the subject. And I’ve found that keeping my blood sugar at a more steady state and eliminating added sugars from my diet has made me feel better and helped me with my training goals. Stay tuned for lists and reviews of all the good stuff I’ve been reading and doing!

What about you? What tweaks have you made to your diet and/or exercise program since the new year rolled around? How are you feeling? Have you stuck with them? Why or why not?

*Disclosure: If you click on the Wheat Belly graphic above, it’ll redirect you to my Amazon.com store, and if you purchase the book, I’ll make a teeny tiny commission. To date, I’ve made $.04 from this blog!

© 2013, Sarah. All rights reserved.

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I urge you to make it this one.

 I know you’re not all as obsessed with nutrition as I am.  But do you have an appetite for a little more information?  Something practical and easy to read?  Something that empowers you by providing information on current hot topics and foods that “real” people eat like products from conventional supermarkets and items available at chain restaurants?  I have a recommendation for you . . . the Nutrition Action Healthletter, published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).  If you’re going to read one health/nutrition periodical, this should be the one.

First, a little background.  CSPI was founded in 1971 as an independent non-profit consumer health group.  You may never have heard of CSPI, but you’ve felt their impact.  From their website: 

CSPI’saccomplishments include leading the efforts to win passage of laws that require Nutrition Facts on packaged foods (and, later, to include trans fat on those labels), define the term “organic” for foods, and put warning notices on alcoholic beverages. CSPI also conducted eye-popping studies on the nutritional quality of restaurant meals and movie theater popcorn, helped to increase funding for the government’s food safety inspections and nutrition and physical activity programs, and spurred new policies in some cities and states to remove soda and junk foods from schools. CSPI also helped New York City adopt the nation’s first ordinances to ban trans fat from restaurants and list calorie information on menus and menu boards, and is working with other cities and states on similar measures.

CSPI doesn’t accept government or industry funding, and the Nutrition Action Healthletter accepts no advertising, so what you’re getting in this pint-sized publication (issues top out at around 15-20 pp. maximum) is unvarnished and unbiased.  Period.

Why should you spend $24 for 10 issues?  Because it’s readable and relevant.  Take, for example, the April, 2010 issue.  The cover story is about why Americans need to cut down on salt, along with practical advice on how to do it.  You’ll see ways to “defuse a salt mine” – namely, how to add ingredients to a typical Chinese take-out dish or the boxed prepared food you get at the supermarket to bring down the sodium content per serving.  You’ll see a side-bar with popular menu items from large chain restaurants (think Panera, Olive Garden, Chipotle) along with their sodium content.  You will be astounded.

Other features this month include one on probiotics.  The article cuts through the advertising hype and gives you the skinny on how to spend your money on probiotic foods and supplements.  Another article reveals the sugar and calorie-content of coffee drinks and popular menu items at major chains like Starbuck’s, McD’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.  Included here are helpful charts with the calorie, sat. fat, added sugar and caffeine content of popular menu items, along with suggestions for which are considered by CSPI to be a “Best Bites.” You could literally cut these pieces out and tuck ‘em in your wallet for reference if you’re a frequent flyer at any of these chains. 

Interspersed with the big articles are news-bites on various hot-button nutrition issues, along with the monthly “Healthy Cook” feature which serves up inspiration for quick ‘n’ easy whole-foods cooking.

I’ve been a subscriber for something like 15 years, and I’m paid up through 2012.  I pay for my subscription, and I haven’t been approached by anyone to endorse this publication.  I’m inspired to recommend it to you only by my respect for the CSPI and my adoration of the Healthletter’s content.  If you’re looking for some nutrition information to chew on, but not too much, this is the pub. for you.  Find out more here.

© 2010, Sarah. All rights reserved.

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I just read a book that I think you might really like – it’s called Live a Little!  Breaking the Rules Won’t Break Your Health by Susan Love, M.D. and Alice Domar, Ph.D.  For the uninitiated, these two are power-people in women’s health and psychology.  Susan Love wrote the bible on breast cancer, and Ali Domar is a psychologist and mind-body medical expert.  I’ve benefited from both of them, indirectly – I pored over Love’s Breast Book during my cancer diagnosis and treatment, and while in treatment, I participated in the Mind-Body Program for Cancer Patients at the (then) Mind-Body Medical Institute at the Beth Israel Deconess Hospital in Boston – Ali Domar was there, then, running her fabulously successful and interesting program for women with infertility issues. 

So all that background is to say, I trust these women, and I was intrigued by the title and premise of the book – it’s all about doing what you can to maintain your health, without making yourself crazy.  Love and Domar de-bunk the myth of “perfect health” and get down to brass-tacks about what’s really necessary.  They suggest a new standard for us to shoot for, “Pretty Healthy,” meaning that you generally stick to healthy habits, but that you don’t make yourself nuts following all the “wisdom” du jour.

Consider this excerpt:

What woman can’t rattle off a list of to-do items for healthy living?  Exercise for a healthy heart; train with weights to build muscle and bone; stretch to maintain mobility; eat meals that are carefully designed for good artery and bowel function; drink one glass of red wine daily to avoid heart disease; resist the temptation to drink two glasses of said wine to avoid breast cancer; get a full night’s sleep to promote immune function; expose the skin to sunlight for ten minutes to absorb vitamin D, then immediately apply sunscreen to avoid skin caner; relieve stress to strengthen the immune system; build a social support network to ward off Alzheimer’s; book appointments with our mates for healthy sexual pleasure; and, of course, maintain a body mass index that falls exactly within the “healthy” range listed in every women’s magazine. 

And don’t forget the Kegels.

Love and Domar know it’s impossible to follow all the good advice, all of the time, so instead, they give us the poop on what to worry about and what to let go.  They cover all the biggies:  sleep; stress; health screenings; exercise, nutrition; relationships; and give a decade-by-decade run-down of risks and challenges.

Consider this humorous tidbit on the myth of the “Perfectly Balanced Woman” (PBW) – you know, the one you think is everyone but you? 

The PBW is never psychotically busy but is also never bored; she always makes time for the yoga classes that refresh her soul and lend a rosy glow to her skin.  She never scowls at her coworkers; she doesn’t need to stagger into Starbucks in the late afternoon, desperate for a hit of caffeine and sugar.  And she never inconveniences her family by taking to bed with a tension headache.  Did we mention that she can wear adorable stretchy workout pants to her yoga classes because she never, ever needs to indulge in stress eating?

Instead of guiding us in how to attain “perfect balance,” Love and Domar let us off the hook for our imbalance, and note that a crucial part of stress management is self-acceptance.  Yes, we might have those days where we stress-eat a pound of fettuccine Alfredo, and that’s OK once in a while.  But they also give us some tips on how to prevent those reactions in the future.  Most of all, they encourage us to move on from those “indiscretions” and to forgive ourselves for them.

Whether it’s giving you the facts and the encouragement to have fun with food again, or just acknowledging that not everyone at every life-stage can follow the current exercise guidelines to a T (“Are you relatively young, healthy, physically competent, and very busy?  Well . . . for you, it’s possible that not exercising is a reasonable choice.”), this book is about doing the best you can, most of the time, and about easing up on yourself all of the time.

For a quick, entertaining read that’ll help to “take the hell out of healthy,” I recommend this book – it might change your perspective on things!

© 2010, Sarah. All rights reserved.

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