Weekly Wellness
Issue 252
Featured Article
Healthy Holiday Suggestions -- Suggestions for getting through the holiday eating and baking season without too much damage to your waistline!
Fitness Tip
Beef Up Your Bones
Weight bearing and muscle-strengthening exercise helps you maintain and even increase bone density. Stress
felt by the bones during exercise stimulates your bone-building cells to both maintain and make new bone. Weight-bearing exercise primarily helps you maintain bone mass as you age. To qualify as "weight-bearing", the legs must bear your weight -- as in walking, running, tennis and aerobics. Read more: Exercise and Your Bones
Nutrition Tip
10 Minutes Before "Seconds."
Feeling like getting a second helping of food? Hold back for 10 minutes before you make your move. It takes at least that long for your brain to get the message that your stomach is full. Many of us can eat a double portion, or one very large portion, in less than 10 minutes -- so you may be full and not even realize it. Before you act on the urge to refill your plate, sit down, drink a glass of water, and then ask yourself if you really need more food. Remember: Eat so that you're not hungry, not necessarily until you feel "stuffed."
Quip or Quote of the Week
Quote:
"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for 30 years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found." --Calvin Trillin
Quick Recipe
Home Made Guacamole
Homemade guacamole is a colorful garnish for nearly all south-of-the border entrees. It also stands on its own as a dip that is ideal for vegetables or tortilla chips. To make guacamole, start with a ripe avocado that has been pitted and peeled. Mash coarsely with a fork or wire whisk. Mix in the juice of half a lime, minced garlic, cilantro, salt and, if desired, hot sauce. For an even quicker version, mix the mashed avocado and lime juice, then stir in prepared salsa.
Tidbit
The Volumetrics Diet
Created by Barbara J. Rolls and associates as the name implies, Volumetrics emphasizes eating high-volume, low-calorie foods and thereby getting full faster on fewer calories. High-volume foods take up more space, take a long time to eat and are often high in water content. You're still getting full, but on fewer calories, which adds up to weight loss.
What the Mayo Clinic says, "This program is based on research showing that eating high-volume, low-calorie foods can be an effective tool to decrease calorie intake, but the most effective weight-loss programs balance a healthy eating plan and exercise."
Food Fixes
Have just a small amount of leftover wine? Don't throw it away, try freezing it into cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.
To keep powdered sugar frostings moist, add a dash of baking powder.
To get more juices from lemons or limes, poke a small hole into the fruit, microwave for ten to fifteen seconds, cut, and squeeze.
Enjoy cooking tips? Check out the Quick Cooking Tips section! They're quick, easy and helpful!