Can Smart Help?

At first,  it wasn't too bad.  I'd just call the person back and I'd usually be able to finish the call before the phone cut out.  Then, when then phone rang, the call would immediately end.  Repeatedly. I was trying to  chat with my sister who had just come back from vacation to her home in Virginia surveying the damage from hurricane Irene. I was in a traffic jam after moving my daughter back to college and thought it was a perfect time to talk. Right.  I think we called each other back 8 times before we quit trying.

I guess dropping the hand-me-down phone into water wasn't the best idea, even though I did get it out immediately. A well seasoned phone should be able to withstand a little abuse. After advice from one son, I stuck it in a bag of rice, but that almost seemed to make it worse.  It was time...

photostock/freedigitalphotos

I got on line.  I researched.  I try not to spend much extra money.  I mean, we are trying to put our 3rd kid through college and and 4 years now cost more than the original price tag on our home. It's unreal. But, I digress...

I decided to get a smart phone. It's time I connect with all these weight loss and fitness apps that my MM groupies, followers and clients are using!  Of course, it doesn't hurt that they are selling older models for so little money.

So, my new quest is to learn all about the heath apps that are available, and I need your help! My action plan this week is to start digging and find out what diet, fitness and health apps are rated the highest and most user friendly.

Two MM clients love their LoseIt! apps and another finds the Weight Watchers app perfect for her.  The Endomondo Sports Tracker gets rave reviews from one of our MM Followers.  It includes a GPS to track her walking and it really helps motivate her to keep up the mileage. What about you?

If you are a smart phone user, what apps do you use?  What do you like about them?  How easy are they to use?  Together, let's develop a list of apps that are MM Approved!

I'm Craving Pumpkin Muffins!

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It was perfect weather for a walk in the park today.  It was actually cool enough to wear my new UConn Husky sweatshirt and shorts, which is what I've always considered the perfect walking attire.  I have absolutely no idea why.  It just feels great to me. Walking along and crunching on a few leaves makes me happy. (For those of you who don't know, I grew up around the University of Connecticut:)

When I got home, it was time to create a new pumpkin recipe. With a few little tweaks here and there, here's what I made today.  These came out nice, big, tender and oh, so good. Just what I was looking for on an early fall day!


Pumpkin Muffins
-Makes 12 muffins.
-Preheat oven to 400.
-Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. If using paper liners, coat the liners with spray.
-Put in a blender and process until the consistency of flour:
         1/2 cup dry oatmeal
-Put oats into big mixing bowl and whisk together well:
        1/2 cup whole wheat flour
        1 cup flour
        2/3 c. brown sugar
        1 tsp baking soda
        1 tsp baking powder
        1/2 tsp salt
        2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/8 tsp nutmeg)
-In another bowl whisk together:
        2 eggs
        2 Tbsp canola oil
        1/3 cup non-fat milk
        3/4 cup plain, non-fat yogurt
        1 cup pumpkin puree
-Pour pumpkin mixture into dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Don't over stir!
-Divide into 12 muffin tins.
-Bake for 18 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Nutritional Data:
Serving Size: 1 muffin
164 calories, 4 g fat, 36 g cholesterol, 271 g sodium, 29 g. carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 14 g sugar,
5 g protein. Counts as 3 Units.

Lesson Learned from Mowing

DaniloRizzuti/freedigtalphotos

My back was doing so much better.  My physical therapy had been done for awhile.  I was still doing the exercises and stretches I had learned.  And, I was up to walking an hour at a time at a pretty good pace with no pain. I had no visions of trying to run again.  I wasn't even thinking about that.  I just want to keep getting stronger. And then, I lost ground. Big time.

You see, I decided to mow the lawn last Saturday.  I always used to mow before the discs in my neck were bulging onto nerves last summer and those in back protested this spring.  I used to enjoy mowing. Really.  It always made me feel like I was accomplishing something quickly, plus I gained the immediate gratification of having the lawn look much better.  And, I got a good workout.

So, last Saturday afternoon, it was a go. I  knelt down by the mower to pour the gas in, taking care not to stress my back. The mower started easily, so that was OK. As I walked behind the mower, everything felt great. Maybe half way through, I started to notice that when I came to the end of a row, I could feel my back just a little as I stopped and turned to go the other way. No real pain, just a little twinge or something. It just kept going like that and didn't get worse, so I just finished up the lawn.  When I was done, I was exhausted but proud that I had actually done it.

I did it alright.  As I showered, I started to realize my back was mad at me. Pain. It was telling me how it truly felt about mowing, and it wasn't positive.  After getting dressed, it was time for lots of stretching.  Then ibuprofen and rest.

 It's a week later now. I feel like a lost few weeks of progress with the mowing episode, but I will persevere. Still some pain now and then. I'm working on the stretching doing all the back strengthening exercises faithfully. I'm being very carefully not to twist, bend or distort my back. And, I'm choosing my activities wisely. Time and patience.

OK.  I've got it. I need to LISTEN TO BY BODY! Lesson learned. I hope.

By the way...my husband mowed the lawn today!

The Caffeine-Calcium Connection

digitalart

Diana likes her caffeine, as many of us do.  And she doesn't like milk. She puts 1/4 cup of coffee in her milk to "get it down in the morning." Later throughout the day, it's usually 3 Diet Pepsi's.  Diana wants to know if the caffeine in her coffee and soda prevent the calcium from being absorbed. Great question!

The easy answer is yes, but only to a degree. Caffeine has been shown to reduce the absorption of calcium from the foods we consume.  It also increases the excretion of calcium already in the body. But, this does not prevent all of the calcium from being used. Drinking one cup of brewed caffeinated coffee or 2 cups of tea essentially creates a loss of 2-3 mg of calcium. Studies conclude that drinking caffeine at these levels does not impact bone health in premenopausal women. Of course, the more caffeine you consume, the less calcium your body has available to use. And the older we get, the amount of calcium we absorb decreases (I hate all of these things on the list of "As You Get Older...!")

Caffeine is not the only substance that may wreck havoc on calcium. Phosphorus may also be a culprit.  This mineral found in sodas like Diana's Diet Pepsi, has been brought into question some observational studies pointed to a reduced bone mass and higher fracture risk with higher phosphorus consumption. Many experts think that what is causing these issues is that people are drinking soda instead of drinking milk or eating yogurt; not that phosphorus.

My advice is to keep getting those calcium sources in! If you consume more than 2 cups of caffeinated beverages a day, try to have your high calcium foods at another time at least once a day.  For example, I love to have a yogurt just before bed.  It's yummy and I'm not consuming any caffeine to interfere with its absorption. And late yesterday afternoon, I had a skinny decaf latte.

Don't forget, Diana, if you really don't like milk, look for other sources of calcium you really do enjoy: yogurt, low-cheese, fortified soy milk, sardines, tofu, salmon, spinach, kale...

Cheers!

The Incredible, Edible Egg*

SalvatoreVuono/freedigitalphotos

Nakia, one of our MM Followers, has a recipe that calls for egg substitute.  She'd rather use real eggs and is wondering how to make the change.  I'll bet many of you have wondered the same thing. Just keep in mind that one large egg is about 1/4 cup.  If your recipe calls for 1/2 cup egg substitute, simply replace it with 2 eggs.  If you would rather use all egg whites in a recipe, 2 whites are the equivalent of 1 whole egg.

Substituting is easy, but are you jeopardizing your health by using real eggs?

Eggs are an inexpensive nutritional powerhouse. One large whole egg comes in at only 71 calories, and offers protein, vitamins A, B-12, D, K, folate, riboflavin, selenium, choline, iron, and the disease fighting carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin. Since choline plays a role in brain development, I used to tell my kids that eggs were brain food.  I always made eggs for my kids on mornings before any big tests. I should point out that all 3 of them certainly ended up with high functioning brains!

Eggs took a big hit in the 1970's when the connection between higher blood cholesterol levels and an increase in the risk of heart disease became apparent. Experts warned us to consume fewer than 300 mg of cholesterol each day.  Since one large egg yolk has 211 mg of cholesterol, people were advised to limit their egg consumption to no more than three a week. While both the white and yolk contain complete protein, it's the yolk that houses all those other nutritional wonders.

But, all the cholesterol in your blood does not come from the cholesterol you eat. Your liver produces the majority of the cholesterol zipping around in your blood stream.  Genetics play a major role in determining whether it produces more or less cholesterol. This is where if you chose your parents wisely, you're much better off.  Exercise, soluble fiber (found in oats, beans and fruit pulp) and some medications have been shown to help reduce the amount of cholesterol your body produces.  On the other hand, eating more "evil" saturated fat, especially trans fat, seems to tell your liver to make more cholesterol. The cholesterol you eat actually has much less impact on the total blood cholesterol. That being said, if you are at high risk for heart disease, it's important to diminish the amount of saturated and trans fats you eat, eat soluble fiber, and to minimize the amount of cholesterol consumed.  In this situation, every factor impacting total cholesterol can make a difference.

As more research is completed, more is understood about cholesterol and heart disease. One study of 117,000 nurses found no difference in risk for developing coronary heart disease in people who ate more than one egg each day. Another study found that people who start the day with eggs tend to be less hungry and consume fewer calories throughout the day. Could it be that eggs help with weight control?

At this point, the majority of us can and should enjoy eating nutrient-rich eggs; experts now say an egg a day is just fine. Now the question is, do I go with scrambled, sunny side up, or poached?
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*The American Egg Board