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Must-Read: The End of Overeating

FitSugar — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:10:33 -0700

He took on big tobacco as the head of the FDA, then once out of the government Dr. David Kessler decided to take on America's growing obesity problem, focusing on the issue of overeating. His motivation was personal this time, having dieted on and off for years watching his scale yo-yo up and down.

In his new book The End of Overeating, Kessler explains why foods that takes you to your bliss point are not only preying on human biology, but these foods have also been engineered by the food industry to whet your appetite. Kessler lays out his arguments like a scientist, backing up almost every point. It is easy to get bogged down by these reports, but from them you learn how and why we crave sugar, fat, and salt. The author makes a point to reemphasize that eating more calories than you burn creates weight gain and that we wasted a couple of decades finger-pointing at specific macronutrients. Kessler also details the inner workings of the food scientist and research used to engineer food to ensure it not only tastes good, but will make you want to keep tasting until well beyond satiety. All in all, the book details why many Americans are obsessed and even addicted to food. To see what Kessler has to say about the actual process of ending overeating continue reading.

Weekend Reading: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

FitSugar — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 03:30:00 -0800

Reading about running inspires me to lace up my sneakers and hit the pavement. However, when I am curled around a book late at night in my PJs, a run isn't really a viable option. Setting my alarm, putting my running clothes out, and planning my route for the following morning - these are things I can do at 11 p.m. Reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by one of my favorite novelists Haruki Murakami, definitely had me picking out sports bras and socks by the light of my bedside reading lamp. The tone of the book is considerably more contemplative than Dean Karnazes' book 50/50, but it still makes you want to get out and run.

Murakami is a solitary guy who began experimenting with running around the same time he began writing novels and explains how those separate activities influenced each other. He explains that he is not naturally a runner or a writer, but you can feel his pride at committing to both activities for years. I fully appreciate that he blows the hard drinking, cigarette smoking stereotype of novelists out of the water. He has run a marathon every year and has even started competing in triathlons. He explains that running keeps him healthy so he can keep writing. To him the endurance required to run 26.2 miles is not that much different from writing a novel. Murakami really enjoys running, even on the days he has to beat his leg muscles to start moving and you can feel his quiet love of running on each page.

I also appreciated that I could pick up this book, flip to any page, and find myself absorbed by Murakami's thoughts on running. He is a regular dude who runs. He just also happens to write really great novels too. This book would make a great gift for the runner your life, and you can put it on your wish list too.

Find it online or at your local bookstore. Enjoy the read, but keep your sneakers close!

Weekend Reading: 50/50 by Dean Karnazes

FitSugar — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 03:30:00 -0700

You might know Dean Karnazes as the Ultra Marathon Man. In fact that is the url to his fancy website. Not only can this man run, run and run, he also writes entertaining and motivating books.

The subtitle of Karnazes' latest book, 50/50 ($25), which he co-authored with Matt Fitzgerald, explains the book: "Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days-and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance." I will admit, I find the thought of running a single marathon daunting, let alone 50 races back to back, in 50 different states. The endurance I gained from this book can be measured in pages per night. I flew through this book and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The tone of the book is very chatty as Karnazes explains how the idea for doing 50/50 evolved and how it came to pass. He details every race and peppers his prose with helpful running tips like what to eat, what to wear, how to catch your second wind. Mostly, he wants you to get out and go for a run. Karnazes emphasizes the importance of listening to running advice and then experimenting with it to find out what works for you and your training regimen. After burning the midnight oil many nights reading, I always woke up inspired to lace up my sneakers and hit the road. As a runner who struggles with both speed and endurance, I appreciated his humble preface where he repeatedly states that he is just an average guy. His average-ness is our opening to create and meet our own challenges. I think both running newbies and old timers will enjoy this book. You can find it at Amazon, but why not just run down to your local running store to get your copy.

Weekend Reading: Chalked Up by Jennifer Sey

FitSugar — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0700

With the Summer games less than a week away and gymnastics on the top of my list of sports to watch, I was looking forward to reading Chalked Up by 1986 US Gymnastic Champion Jennifer Sey. Her memoir of the US gymnastic scene in the 80s is truly a page turner. This coming of age story is as much about the sport as Sey's overachieving, fiercely competitive personality. Although those traits might often be construed as negative, for a thirteen year old competitive gymnast they are essential.

The book is a bit repetitive, but the rhythm mirrors the relentless repetitions of "sticking" a complicated beam routine ten consecutive times. Her accounts of her injuries are particularly painful to read, and broken bones are celebrated as preferable injuries to career ending knee dislocations. Sey definitely delves into the darker side of gymnastics, how it denies a little girl childhood and denies a budding teenage womanly curves. Sey is berated for having three percent body fat at age 18 and this after abusing laxatives for years, and she states repeatedly that gymnastics is a sport for girls and at 17 she is over the hill.

There's more so read more.

Witnessing someone's struggle with her demons definitely holds a reader's interest, and to this story add the element of public competition of one of America's favorite women's sports and you have a page turner. Sey's demons are internal (perfectionism, body image) and external (the unforgiving apparatus like uneven parallel bars, four inch wide balance beam, the vault). Her internal struggles follow her into adulthood, but as a mother of two with a career in advertising she has definitely carved a life beyond gymnastics.

You can see clips of her performing feats in competition at her website and you can buy her book online or check your local bookstore. It is a quick read and you could definitely finish it by August 10th when the female gymnasts begin competing in Beijing.

Book Review: TravelFit London

FitSugar — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:00:00 -0700

Vacations and honeymoons are a great time to sit back and relax, but that does not mean you have to let all your healthy efforts go to waste. If you and your new spouse are heading to London for your honeymoon then you'll definitely want to bring along TravelFit London ($15).

This handy, little travel guidebook gives you the ins and outs on how to keep off holiday weight gain in a city that treasures its fish 'n' chips. From finding bike tours to health clubs that offer day passes, to health-food stores, to walking tours, you'll be sure to keep up with your health while still be able to take in the sights. I love that it's small enough to fit in your purse so you can take it on all your outings. After all, Ben may be big, but you don't have to be.

If the City of Lights is your destination, be sure to check out TravelFit Paris.

Book Review: Half-Assed by Jennette Fulda

FitSugar — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:30:00 -0700

The clever title and cover image of Half-Assed ($15.95) brought more than a delighted half-smirk to my face. After reading the tag line "Think the last 20 pounds are the hardest? Try the last 200," I realized that the author was standing in one of the pant legs of pants she used to fit into. Then I was amazed. I never thought a weightloss memoir would be a page turner, but this book certainly was. Fulda is funny and insightful, and the book is littered with gems like: "Being fat is like having a built-in asshole detector." She compares the process of building muscle by lifting weights, the destroy and rebuild cycles, to the many incarnations of Rome. And we all know that Rome wasn't built in a day.

Her path to losing weight is not a direct one. Muffins and hormones can create mundane detours, but she fights them off. What I enjoyed most about the book was Fulda's realization that she enjoyed cooking and exercising, that eating well and working out made her actually feel better. She experiments with star fruit and flax seeds. She starts running and takes up Pilates. She writes "Weight loss itself was a somewhat empty reward. All the cool things I could do because of my new fitness and health were the real prize."

At the beginning of Half-Assed, Fulda weight 372 pounds, and by the end she is down 200 pounds but still shy of her goal weight. Although the book is satisfyingly written, you do end up wanting more and because Fulda still writes her Half of Me blog, you can still keep up with her. Get her book here.

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Cookbook Review: Baking with Agave Nectar

FitSugar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 07:30:00 -0700

I have tried many sugar substitutes in my day. Mostly out of curiosity and in a vain attempt to quell my sweet tooth. In my search I must say that agave nectar works the best for me. It is sweet, without being overly sweet and it is great in tea and salad dressing. I was curious to bake with it and found Baking with Agave Nectar ($15.95) and thought I would give it a whirl.

The cookbook contains over 100 recipes from cookies to ice cream – some vegan recipes and some that include milk, eggs and butter. Many of the recipes sound tasty and I appreciate the fact that the author, Ania Catalano, includes easy to find whole wheat pastry flour as a substitute for the not so easy to find sprouted spelt four. The directions are easy to follow and the photographs are lovely; I just wish there were more of them. If you are new to cooking with ingredients typically considered health food, Catalano includes a detailed glossary of terms with in depth explanations of things like carob and guar gum. The introduction is equally inspiring.

Since I had a vegan houseguest this weekend I whipped up a batch of vegan Linzer torte cookies. The recipe took well under an hour to make (super quick) and my daughters thoroughly enjoyed helping me make the cookies as well as eating the final product. These Linzer cookies (made with almonds and raspberry jam) are truly healthy cookies. I found myself eating them after running like I would an energy bar. Next on my list to make from this book is Skinny Vanilla Bean frozen yogurt, banana cream pie and the agave Margarita.

I liked the recipe so much I wanted to share it with you. To check out the Linzer cookie recipe just read more.

Vegan Raspbery Linzer Torte Cookies
Baking with Agave Nectar by Ania Catalano

This is as healthy as any cookie can get!

Ingredients

2 cups raw almonds
2 cups regular rolled oats (not quick cooking)
2 cups sprouted spelt four or whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup light agave nectar
1 cup canola oil
1 cup juice-sweetened raspberry preserves

Directions

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place almonds in a food processor and grind to a fine meal, about one minute. Remove and set aside.
Place the oats in the food processor and grind to a fine meal.
Return the almonds to the food processor along with the flour, cinnamon, agave nectar, and canola oil. Pulse to combine all the ingredients.
Roll the dough into walnut-size ball and place on the prepared baking sheets. Using your thumb, press an indentation into the center of each ball.
Fill the indentations with preserves.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

Reprinted with permission from Baking With Agave Nectar: Over 100 Recipes Using Nature's Ultimate Sweetener by Ania Catalano. Copyright (c) 2008 Celestial Arts Press, Berkeley, CA. www.tenspeed.com. Publisher retains all copyrights and the right to require immediate removal of this excerpt for copyright or other business reasons.

Print recipe with images | without images

You can buy the book here.

Weekend Reading: Ten Years Thinner

FitSugar — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 02:00:00 -0800

If you search hard enough, you can find a diet/exercise book that tells you what you want to hear. I have found this to be true for both gardening and child rearing, and now I know it to be true in the quest for a healthier, fitter, thinner body.

The contrast between Ten Years Thinner ($26) and The Thrive Diet is a case in point. Ten Years Thinner, written by Christine Lydon, M.D., argues that lean animal protein and strength training are the key components to looking and feeling your best. On the other hand, The Thrive Diet asserts that vegan, and even raw food, along with endurance training is where you will find your wealth of health. I have only read these books, and haven't followed either plan, but the contrast is fascinating to me. Both books lay out their plans convincingly, and discuss how their diets combat the negative impact of inflammation while increasing your energy levels. It just boils down to finding a plan you think you can follow for the long haul.

Want to hear the details about Ten Years Thinner? Then read more.

The diet plan in Ten Years Thinner starts with eliminating certain foods and gradually adding them back into your diet over the course of six weeks. The first two weeks you avoid legumes, soy based food, dairy, grains and high glycemic index foods like potatoes, fruit juice and alcohol. Each subsequent week you reintroduce these forbidden foods, so in the end no food groups are completely off limits. Although you are encouraged to eat as little grains as possible as well as alcohol.

Workout wise the focus is strength training in daily 20 minute sessions, for four consecutive days followed by a rest day. The workouts are designed to get your heart rate up and create a post workout metabolism calorie burn too. The cool thing is that the exercise plan requires no gym time; you can do the workouts in the comfort of your own home with hand weights, a mat, a step stool and a pillow. The book includes a handful of recipes and workouts to follow. The tone of the book is, of course, up beat and friendly even though Lydon does mention that she went to Yale for medical school a few too many times in the introduction. The information is detailed and easy to follow. If you do decide to follow this plan you can find online support here in the form of active forums.

If you are curious and want to check out the book for yourself it is available at Amazon for $17.16, $8 off the cover price.

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Weekend Reading: Thrive Diet

FitSugar — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 04:00:00 -0800

When I flirted with being a vegetarian in college, my parents told me tales of a collegiate basketball player from their co-ed days. The athlete decided to eat a plant-based diet and subsequently was injured all the time. My parents seemed to think that meat was a form of injury prevention. They would be amazed by the whole food, plant based, vegan, almost raw diet that professional Iron Man athlete Brendan Brazier ~~cooked~~ dreamed up and promotes in his book The Thrive Diet ($16.32).

The first third of the book lays out a very convincing argument for a plant based diet. It decreases stress, decreases over all body acidity (which is cause for inflammation), and provides more nutrients per calorie. His food philosophy is to eat plenty of small meals a day, drink nutritious smoothies daily (some recipes contain kale), eat raw greens daily, and to partake of an afternoon snack. Brazier also believes we should all be eating a raw energy bar daily concocted out of ingredients like dried dates, quinoa, and ground flax seeds. All that sounds healthy, but for me to follow this diet I would have to completely change how I eat and approach food. Brazier definitely sees food as fuel to power his extreme workout schedule. Food for me is also about taste, texture and pleasure. Not to mention food provides a social forum for family and friends.

To see how to start the diet, just read more

Brazier is clear that you need to take on the Thrive Diet one step at a time. It is not about perfection but about progress. Since change can create stress, you need to ease into the Thrive Diet by adding nutrient dense foods and weaning yourself off of coffee and refined carbs.

If you are vegan, especially if you are into endurance sports (he has recipes for raw vegan sports gels!), and looking for some super healthy recipes, this is the book for you. It contains a lot of recipes for meals, snacks and sports drinks. If you are looking to thrive, buy the book at Amazon. I bet Brazier would prefer that you walk or bike to your local bookstore to pick up your copy.

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Healthy Book Alert: New Good Food

FitSugar — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 04:00:00 -0800

If you own tons of cookbooks, but somehow just never manage to cook yourself a meal, then New Good Food might be the book you need to get a homemade meal on the table. Margaret M. Wittenberg, who is not only a self proclaimed avid cook, a VP for Whole Foods, and authority on natural and organic foods as well as sustainability, wrote this book to inspire cooking.

Let me preface this explanation of New Good Food by telling you that it is not a cookbook; it contains no recipes. This book is more like a very readable and thorough encyclopedia of ingredients. While there are no recipes, the book contains many important basics like: how long to cook whole, dried fava beans (one and a half to two hours), the ratio of barley to water for cooking (one to three), and the burn point for flax seed oil (it shouldn’t be heated at all). Basically, if you have a question or need a cooking suggestion for almost any food, you really need look no further than New Good Food. The index is great. Be warned though, if you love food photography, this book contains no images. The cover photo is lovely, but the book is just the food facts.

I keep my copy of New Good Food nestled between my favorite cookbooks. It is not only a great resource, but inspirational as well. You can buy it directly from the publisher Ten Speed Press. I have also seen shoppers buying the book with their groceries at Whole Foods, so check for it there as well.

Happy reading, cooking and eating!