Yesterday, a Friday, was a good day. My hubby and I had a nice, long lunch with a businessman friend, Then we bought some special treats for tea, went home and enjoyed a relaxing tea-time sitting by our large picture windows overlooking the river and the forest. I know this may sound somewhat unhealthy, but if you’re careful about what you indulge in and how often you do it, it doesn’t have to be. I haven’t put on any weight at all, and my health checks have all been good.

Anyway, after tea, we had a little nap. We’ve been working hard on our websites, so we decided to give ourselves a break. A movie followed. Later in the evening, after walking our dog Ginger, we checked our computers and found that a customer had made a large order on one of our websites. I also received a nice message and thank you from someone who recently discovered this website, Healing Pastures. It’s great to be able to help.

Ah, the joys of working from home! Who wants to be a slave to a job?!

Posted: January 23rd, 2010 under Rest & Sleep, Work From Home, weight loss.
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Christmas is over but we’re still in the midst of the holiday season with all its parties and festive gorging – um, I mean eating. Another week to go of playing hide and seek with calories. I just survived several parties and I’m happy to say that I got to enjoy various Christmas delicacies without putting on any weight. How did I do it? Little did I know that I had been practising mindful eating, a weight management
approach which I’ve only just heard about.

According to a recent article in the Washington Post, mindful eating is a spin-off from a lifestyle practice called mindfulness, which is about slowing down to savour life’s details, noticing small things and appreciating every sensation. Mindful eating is not a diet. Instead, it focuses on the way you eat, rather than what you eat. So, instead of eating haphazardly and mindlessly at meals, shovelling food into your mouth, you:

- Decide in advance how much to eat, and what to eat. Rather than piling food on your plate, be selective about what you choose to put into your body. Brian Wansink, author of the book “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think”, goes further by suggesting that you make half that amount vegetables and fruit, the other half protein and starch. Psychologist Susan Albers advises that before taking anything, you should ask yourself whether you really want to eat that item. Would you really enjoy it? Are you really so hungry? Take only what you really, really want.

- Before you start eating, pause and soak in all the sights, sounds and scents of the gathering. If it’s a holiday party, enjoy the atmosphere. Train yourself to use all your senses to relish the food.

- Take your time to savour your food. Appreciate how every morsel smells and tastes. Notice the temperature and texture. Put your cutlery down while you slowly chew each bite, enjoying every moment.

- After you’ve fully savoured each bite and swallowed, then pick up your cutlery again and enjoy another bite.

- Try to be the last to finish eating. Eat slowly. Don’t rush the experience.

- By the end of the meal, you will not only be full, but truly satisfied.

Some tricks to help you remove obstacles to healthy eating include not arriving at a meal hungry, as that may cause you to wolf down more than you should. Another one is using small plates rather than large dinner plates. Your food portions will then seem more substantial. Using tall, thin glasses instead of short, squat ones will also help control your fluid intake without reducing the pleasure. Thin glasses hold less liquid. If your host presses you to take a second helping, take a teaspoonful rather than a full serving. This way, you satisfy your host without sacrificing your waistline.

Eat mindfully, and you’ll probably enjoy your meals and the company more than ever before, and without weight gain too.

Posted: December 28th, 2009 under Diet, weight loss.
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I was a skinny little thing when I was growing up. Maybe it was because playing was more important to me than eating. I had five siblings and we were always chasing each other or our menagerie of pets through the house. That’s unless I was climbing trees, of course, which I did almost daily.

Then puberty came along when I was only about 11 years old. And the weight started accumulating insidiously on my previously gangly frame. Before I realized it, I was chubby. By the time I was 13, I had ample curves. Boys were looking at me in funny ways. I was often teased about being well-endowed for my age. It was so embarrassing.

As the years went by, more weight crept on. Crash and fad diets helped me lose some of the fat, but the lost pounds – and more – always returned eventually. I put on weight gradually, just a pound or two each year, not enough to raise a red flag. I more or less accepted that I had a more womanly figure than most. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I was around 135 pounds, way too much for a petite frame.

Since then, I’ve learned that being overweight or obese is a contributing factor for cancer. Fat is BAD NEWS. Estradiol, the most dangerous form of estrogen, resides in fat cells, so fat is particularly bad for those with estrogen-dominant cancer. Most breast cancers are estrogen-positive. Thank God, I’ve shed more than 20 pounds in the last couple of years. I’m looking forward to losing another 10 pounds.

Fat people shouldn’t be treated like pariahs, but do you know that the American Institute for Cancer Research just reported a few days ago that obesity causes more than 100,000 incidents of cancer in the US every year?

The group, which funds research on the link between diet and the disease, said 49 percent of endrometrial cancers, which originate in the womb, and 35 percent of esophageal cancers are linked to excess body fat.

“It’s clearer than ever that obesity’s impact is felt before, during and after cancer, it increases risk, makes treatment more difficult and shortens survival,” said Laurence Kolonel of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii.

Scientists have long seen a link between obesity and certain types of cancer, but the study — extrapolated from US cancer incidence data — is among the first to conclude the link exists on such a scale.

Researchers have yet to pin down the exact link between obesity and cancer, but some have suggested that fat tissue may produce heightened levels of sex hormones that spur cancer growth or that fat lowers immune function.

If the link is proven to be true, cancers could be expected to balloon in tandem with US body sizes. According to the government-backed Centers for Disease Control, 34 percent of American adults aged 20 and over are obese. Red alert!

Posted: November 9th, 2009 under Cancer, Diet, Enemies To Health, Health Basics 101, weight loss.
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