January 15, 2012

     After my last physical, my doctor informed me that I was “pre-diabetic.” This is a medical term meaning “you are getting fat.” I am supposed to see a special doctor for pre-diabetic counseling. The nurse who told me this said, “You might want to wait until after the holidays,” and I agreed. I may go further: I may not go at all. That’s because I have been that route before. Around seven years ago I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I got the counseling and learned how to prick my finger and take the blood tests and all that stuff. Whereupon I discovered a surprising fact: I really, really don’t want to have diabetes. In fact, I refuse to have diabetes.

     So I got rid of mine. I lost twenty pounds over the course of the next year, with the considerable help of a little ball of fire named Millie at Weight Watchers, and away went the diabetes. (You can see from item 2 below that this is something that does work and not a figment of my imagination.) I’ve kept ten pounds off; have regained the other ten over the last seven years. And now it’s time to get rid of those ten pounds. Again. Oh, yeah, baby, it’s that time again.

     I see in going through past newsletters that I tried pretty much the same thing last year, only last year, after losing five pounds, I gave way to inertia and the call to candy and gained it back. This time I hope to do better.

     Actually, I’m having a good time planning this, because I’m the one who decides what’s in the diet, rather than some doctor or some book. I’m set on two things: (1) it’s got to be healthy, and (2) it’s got to keep me from being hungry. Last year I planned a high-fiber, high-soup, sort of low-fat diet, and the same goes for this year. You can find some good weight loss information in items 1 to 4 and 12 to 15. People fighting fat tummies, please take note of item 13, while item 15 has a large selection of low calorie soups, and this is, of course, prime soup season.

     Incidentally, when I told Bill about that pill described in item 1, the one that’s supposed to give someone all the benefits of exercise, he just sat there and snickered. And I knew what he was thinking: No pill is going to give a person a nice set of muscles like the ones he’s developed from working out at the gym. So, okay, it won’t really give all the benefits of exercise, but it’s better than a kick in the pants.

     Janette Blackwell

----Table Of Contents----

1. A Pill With All The Benefits Of Exercise?
2. Cutting Calories Helps Both Heart And Diabetes
3. 52 Little Changes For A Big Weight Loss
4. Sparkpeople Is Wonderful!
5. They Took On Bank Of America, And Won
6. Dreaming A More Beautiful Back Yard
7. A Fountain In Your Garden
8. Five Sites To Help Students Get Financial Aid
9. Where Are The Jobs For Graduates?
10. Expert Help With Taxes
11. Nine Things Successful People Do Differently
12. Lose Weight While Dining Out
13. Lose Midriff Fat
14. High Fiber Foods
15. Soups For Fast Weight Loss

1. A PILL WITH ALL THE BENEFITS OF EXERCISE?

     I never thought I’d see the day. It sounds like something out of the science fiction comics that little boys read back when I was a little girl. This discovery, which we are assured is scientific rather than a piece of literary imagination, is a hormone that may help keep countless non-exercising fatties thin:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9008953/
New-pill-that-helps-you-to-stay-fit-without-exercise.html

2. CUTTING CALORIES HELPS BOTH HEART AND DIABETES

     According to this study, cutting calories does help both diabetes and heart function. The research made an additional finding that is odd but encouraging. Not only did cutting calories help heart function, but, “despite regain of weight, these beneficial cardiovascular effects were persistent over the long term." In other words, ‘Tis better to have lost and regained than never to have lost at all:

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/story/
2011-11-29/Study-Low-cal-diet-cuts-fat-around-heart-in-obese-people/51460952/1

3. 52 LITTLE CHANGES FOR A BIG WEIGHT LOSS

     iVILLAGE is very good at this sort of thing. In this case it’s little steps that can make a difference, in place of big steps you may not feel up to:

http://www.ivillage.com/52-little-changes-big-weight-loss-results/4-b-394731

4. SPARKPEOPLE IS WONDERFUL!

     I’ve used SPARKPEOPLE before and am listing it again, because its weight reduction program is just excellent. It includes exercise (never mind the pill mentioned in item 1), and is probably the best online program going. And it is, of course, absolutely free:

http://www.sparkpeople.com/landing_free_plus2011.asp?gclid=CPDO37TGy60CFYbe4AodYDxYgA

     THE NEW USDA SUPERTRACKER. You may like the USDA version better than SPARKPEOPLE’s. The USDA people put hundreds of hours of work into these gizmos, all to help you and me improve our diets and lose some weight:

https://www.choosemyplate.gov/SuperTracker/default.aspx

5. THEY TOOK ON BANK OF AMERICA, AND WON

     You think it’s only in Egypt and Libya that they use cellphones to bring about big changes? CHANGE.ORG is making dramatic changes all over the world. I believe we’ll hear a lot more about this organization. Please note the listing of popular causes on the right side of the page, which causes range from “Animals” to “Human Trafficking”:

http://www.change.org/

6. DREAMING A MORE BEAUTIFUL BACK YARD

     This is the season for catalogs with very red tomatoes and fruit trees magically and immediately loaded with fruit. It’s also the season to daydream of a better looking back yard. Here are a few possibilities:

     IMPROVE THE LOOKS OF A BACKYARD SHED:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Improve-the-looks-of-a-storage-shed/

     HIGH END GREENHOUSE, 100% RECYCLED MATERIALS:

http://www.instructables.com/id/High-end-greenhouse-100-recycled-materials/

     A WOODEN ARBOR, A SIMPLE DIY PROJECT:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Wooden-arbor-simple-DIY-project/

7. A FOUNTAIN IN YOUR GARDEN

     According to the clever people who posted these INSTRUCTABLE items, you can go about it a number of ways:

     MAKE A FOUNTAIN OUT OF ANYTHING YOU WANT:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Garden-Fountain-Out-of-Well-Anythi/

     A WOODEN GARDEN FOUNTAIN:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Wooden-garden-fountain/

     A DISAPPEARING WATER FOUNTAIN. Good if you have small children:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Disappearing-Water-Fountain/

     A SOLAR POWERED FOUNTAIN-HERB GARDEN. This magnificent undertaking fulfills about five daydreams at once:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-powered-fountainherb-garden/

8. FIVE SITES TO HELP STUDENTS GET FINANCIAL AID

     MAKEUSEOF says, “There are a gazillion scholarship search engines and websites on the web. Each of them could potentially lead you to a fitting scholarship that could help you save a few dollars. So, here’s looking at a few useful ones that could save you a lot of legwork in search of financial aid”:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-scholarship-search-sites-students-financial-aid-2/

     TEN ONLINE LEARNING TOOLS FOR STUDENTS

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/handy-tools-for-students/

9. WHERE ARE THE JOBS FOR GRADUATES?

     A college degree no longer guarantees a good job; in fact, these days it guarantees nothing at all. This article will help college students plan ahead:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/
new-study-shows-architecture-arts-degrees-yield-highest-unemployment
/2012/01/03/gIQAwpaXZP_story.html

10. EXPERT HELP WITH TAXES

     Click on FINANCES, TAXES, BUSINESS in the lefthand column and find much good information for small businesses, plus tax advice for everyone - because it’s once again that time of year:

http://tourthesites.com/

     IF ONLY HE’D KNOWN WHEN STARTING HIS BUSINESS. The first item he lists is “sell something legal,” and you realize this piece is aimed at college students. But keep on reading, and you’ll find some excellent suggestions for anyone starting a new business, large or small:

www.geekwire.com/2011/17-starting-business

11. NINE THINGS SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO DIFFERENTLY

     The author, HEIDI GRANT HALVORSON, is a motivational psychologist:

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/02/nine_things_successful_people.html

12. LOSE WEIGHT WHILE DINING OUT

     A key suggestion, which might make a person feel better about ordering a high-calorie meal in the first place, is to ask to have half the food boxed before you start eating! (And of course it’s true that it’s a rare restaurant meal that doesn’t provide twice the calories you actually need):

http://todayhealth.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/10/
10100924-lose-weight-while-dining-out-study-reveals-6-tips

13. LOSE MIDRIFF FAT

     TUFTS UNIVERSITY research found that “those who ate more whole-grain foods, rich in cereal fiber, had the lowest body fat and abdominal fat. In contrast, other aspects of diet, such as refined grains and dietary fiber from fruits and vegetables, were not linked to lower body fat”:

http://tuftsjournal.tufts.edu/2009/09_2/briefs/01/

14. HIGH FIBER FOODS

     You may want to copy this list onto a word processing page, then highlight the foods that are important to you, so that you can emphasize them in menu plans:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fiber-foods/NU00582

     SNEAKING IN FIBER. Clever little tricks that may make a big difference:

http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Sneaking-in-Fiber/Detail.aspx

     ELEVATE OATMEAL TO A SUPER FOOD:

http://www.realage.com/tips/how-to-elevate-oatmeal-to-superfood

15. SOUPS FOR FAST WEIGHT LOSS

     High-fiber recipes aren’t always that low in calories, while soups can offer a real boost to your diet while satisfying your appetite. If you include in the soup a source of fiber, such as beans or whole-wheat pasta, you’ll stay full longer:

http://www.realage.com/blogs/doctor-oz-roizen/
soup-diets-for-fast-weight-loss

     THIRTY-MINUTE LOW-CALORIE SOUPS:

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/
recipe_slideshows/30_minute_low_calorie_soups

     MORE GOOD LOW-CALORIE SOUP RECIPES:

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/quick-recipes/
dinner/healthy-hearty-soup-recipes/