Win Fred Hahn's Strong Kids Healthy Kids!

Well, you won't win HIS kids, just the book with that title.

So anyhoo, I'm super excited today! Why? Because my 12 year old son has decided he'd like to take better care of himself. He's trying to watch his carbohydrates and exercise. He's become my diet buddy! :)

To celebrate I'm giving away a copy of the very book we are using to help him. As someone who has used Fred Hahn's Slow Burn approach, I can tell you that it is one lulu of a workout in a short amount of time. With the release of his fantastic book Strong Kids Healthy Kids, I can now feel confident in helping my son get through an effective workout. And the cherry on top is the fact that this book contains great carb-conscious nutritional advice just for kids!

I've just finished a full review on the book at my Examiner column, so please go check it out. I'll wait.......


*humming off key*

*attempting to whistle but pathetically spitting on the keyboard instead*

*picking lint off my shirt*

*inspecting the gunk trapped between the keys in my keyboard*


Great! Your back!

Ok, so here's how you win this wonderful book. Simply send your full name and address to healthylowcarbliving@gmail.com and be sure to put in the subject line I WANT HEALTHY KIDS. This will help me keep it out of the spam-a-lot box. (We delete all your information after the drawing so you'll never be spammed or bothered!) Send me your info by midnight central time on July 17th and you'll be entered into the drawing. On July 18th my son will randomly draw a winner from the pile and I'll announce it here. (So be sure to check back!)

That's it. That's all you gotta do. :)

Chick-Fil-A giving away free food

Hey everyone! Chick-fil-A is giving away free meals this Friday, July 10th to celebrate the 5th annual Cow Appreciation Day. To learn more, check out my examiner column here.

And please, please let me know if you do this. I DO want photos! :)

Happy Independance Day!

Hey Everyone! I just wanted to wish you a safe, fun and happy 4th of July!

Instead of posting fireworks photos this year, I thought I'd share a cool little video from GoDaddy.

Enjoy!

Happy Independence Day from GoDaddy.com!

My review of EA Sports Active for the Wii

Hey gang! I'm short on time but wanted to share my latest article on Examiner. (Don't have time to post it all here.)

Today I reviewed the EA Sports Active for the Wii. I've included links and a slideshow, so please go check it out!

Those simple carbs may be hurting your ticker

Photo source: lusi

Reprint from Examiner

Many people spend a good part of their days counting calories, limiting fat intake and exercising until they collapse from exhaustion. The reason for all this torture is to prevent heart disease and live a long, happy, healthy life. For most though, just putting yourself through all that nonsense is enough to make you wish yourself into an early grave. The saddest part is that studies are consistently showing that it’s not only unnecessary, but probably counterproductive. The standard American diet (SAD) is high-carb and low-fat in nature and has yet to be proven the most effective or the healthiest option.

A study conducted by Dr. Michael Shechter and colleagues, of the Leviev Heart Center in Israel, set out to learn the effects of a glycemic- index dietary carbohydrates on the arteries. To accomplish this they assessed 56 men on four separate mornings, one to two weeks apart. After an overnight fast, each subject was examined and then fed one four meals to gauge the effect of said meals to the arteries.

The meals consisted of cornflakes, glucose, high-fiber cereal and a placebo (water) and were served in a rotating randomized fashion so that the subjects received all four meal types. They found that fasting blood glucose levels were the same in all patients, but rose significantly after the glucose and cornflake meals compared to the high-fiber and placebo meal. The result shows that high-gylcemic carbohydrate consumption (AKA sugar, starches and other junk low-carbers avoid) may enhance the risk for cardiovascular disease.

(My notes: I would have loved to see this compared to say, bacon and eggs. I would have also loved to see this study continue for a while, with repeated meals to be sure results were accurate and not circumstantial. As you know, I like longer studies and more through research, but at least this is being looked into.)

Come... laugh with me, won't you?

Awesome photo by s-s, text added by moi

Follow me as we journey through the fields of expertise that run rampant at Yahoo Health. Ah, what is this I see? A registered dietitian who thinks low-carb is unhealthy for the brain? *GASP* Thank goodness we have such knowledgeable people like this making sure we understand how the body works!

OH.

Wait.

Say what? She's relying on a 3 week study in which the LC participants were subjected to drastic diet changes compared to participants with little change?

You're telling me she doesn't realize the body can make it's own glucose from protein?

Umm... can 3 weeks even be considered a real study? (Nah. That there ma'am is called Junk Science!)

Yeah, you're right. She doesn't get it.

*****Rewind Sounds*****

Follow me as we journey though the fields of biased opinion that run rampant at Yahoo Health.... (pointing and laughing at the trained monkeys is entirely up to you.)

Low-carb living can benefit those suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome

"Meat" your answer to IBS. HA! I kill me!

Reprint from Examiner

According to an article found on Modern Medicine, Gregory L. Austin, M.D., of the University of Colorado in Aurora, conducted a study involving 17 patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. After following a two-week standard diet, the participants were then put on a four week very low carbohydrate diet, consisting of only 20 grams of carbohydrates a day.

The abstract shows that of the patients who completed the diet, which totaled 13, all responded with their results. 77% of the participants (10 of the 13) reported adequate relief of symptoms during the low-carb phase of their diet plans. (As someone who suffers from this malady, I can vouch that these results are accurate.) “Pain scores and quality-of-life measures significantly improved. Outcomes were independent of weight loss.” states the author. Their conclusion: “A VLCD provides adequate relief, and improves abdominal pain, stool habits, and quality of life in IBS-D.”

Visit the Mayo Clinic Website to learn more about Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

My Easy Low-Carb Meat Sauce

Easy Low-Carb Meat Sauce

(My homemade sauce with Dreamfields pasta.)

Reprint from Examiner

Pasta is a staple in many American households. It’s inexpensive and tasty. For those who have to carefully watch their carb intake, pasta is also a nightmare of epic proportions. Freddy Krueger has nothing on a big bowl of linguine drowning in tomato sauce. Thankfully there are ways to enjoy sauces and pasta-like meals without needing therapy for those sleepless nights.
Today I’m sharing with you my personal recipe for low-carb meat sauce, which will work wonderfully with whatever type of pasta substitute you prefer. It’s thick, hearty, and simple to make. Keep in mind that this kind of meal is generally best saved for later phases of weight loss or maintenance, but could be enjoyed occasionally, without guilt, in most circumstances.

Easy LC Meat Sauce

* 1 cup onions, chopped
* 1 ½ lbs ground beef
* ½ cup tomato paste
* ¼ teaspoon salt
* 2 cups tomato sauce
* 1 can diced tomatoes with liquid
* 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
* ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/8th teaspoon crushed red pepper
* 3 tablespoons real butter


In a large non-stick skillet brown hamburger and onions until hamburger is no longer pink. Drain grease.

Add the rest of ingredients and mix well. Cook over medium heat until it starts to bubble.

Cover skillet and turn down heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and serve over your favorite pasta substitute.

Severs 8.


Per Serving:

347 Calories

27g Fat

16g Protein

10g Carbohydrate

2g Dietary Fiber

Feel free to spruce it up with some of your favorite veggies as well. You can add in zucchini, squash, mushrooms or any other low-carb favorite that floats your boat. Add enough veggies and you won’t even need the pasta substitute! Just be sure to add in the proper nutritional counts when tweaking to your liking.

With options like these you can pull up to the table without fear. I don’t recommend inviting Freddy to dine with you though. I hear he’s a messy eater.

This, that and the other

Hey everyone! Just a quick update.

Diet ~ Still working on keeping water my main drink of the day. I haven't cut out the diet soda, but I'm doing better. (And for those of you who are determined to leave comments about how too much water will kill me, please save us both some time... and don't.) I'm also back to using my fitday program again. I'm getting way too lazy about counting so I need to pay closer attention.

Blogging ~ I'm going through writers block I think. It stinks. I was hoping that once things calmed down I'd be back to my old self, but I'm really struggling to write anything very interesting. Sure, I can blog about all the chaos in my life, but the dog chewing up my underwear kind of stuff can only go so far. I promise to keep trying though if you promise to keep reading. :)

Photography ~ This is taking up a good part of my time right now. I'm not complaining. I'm happy to be doing it because I love it so much. I'm constantly studying, experimenting and learning. And spending... spending seems to be a requisite to being a photographer. One day I might actually make enough to pay for all the equipment I've bought. Maybe.

Speaking of, I found this hilarious little youtube animation from a comic called What the Duck. WTD is a comic about photography and photoshop. It's hilarious to photographers and I'd guess anyone would get most of the jokes.

This animation is funny to me because I can't count the number of times my family has complained about how bright the flash unit is.

Well, I hope you all have a fantastic day. I'm going to try to stay out of this 105 heat index weather as much as possible. (Outside feels like a sauna already, thanks to the 1 billion percent humidity, and it's only 7 am. Cah-razy!)

Water Challenge Conclusion - Baby Steps!

I've learned something about myself while attempting this water challenge. I've learned I am REALLY addicted to diet soda. I suspected it, but this confirmed it. I did not make it the entire week without diet soda, but I DID get a whole lot more water in than I usually do and I drank LESS diet soda. So overall that's not too shabby. At least some progress was made. I did catch myself snacking a lot though. Again. :( I was consciously trying to avoid doing that and it happened anyway.

So my new goal for this week will be to continue as I have been. Lots of water - limited diet soda. It's certainly better than the way I was doing things before. To borrow from Bob in What About Bob?...

Baby steps away from the soda.

Baby steps toward the water.


In other news, I have an inbox full of all kinds of stuff I want to blog about. Now I just need a day full of time to do it in. Here's to hoping it actually happens.