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By Becky, May 15, 2012 7:28 am

While I was waiting for my chocolate Malt-O-Meal to boil over and make a mess of my stovetop — or cook, as you might refer to it — I realized I had no idea what it was made out of. Chocolate certainly, but malt? Meal? I didn’t know.

Checking the nutrition label, I saw that wheat farina was the first ingredient. Hmm. That’s no help since I had no idea what farina was. Luckily I know how to work the mighty, mighty Wikipedia. They say —

Wheat farina is a carbohydrate-rich food, often cooked in boiling water and served warm for breakfast, or cooked with milk and made into semolina pudding. It is used as an ingredient in many dishes and in processed foods such as breakfast cereals and pasta.

The word farina comes from the Latin farina, meaning meal or flour.

 Farina is made from the germ and endosperm of the grain, which is milled to a fine granular consistency and then sifted. Because the bran and most of the germ are removed, this cereal is sometimes enriched with Vitamin B and iron.

So I learned something, but admittedly it was quite boring. But then I was reminded of a funny bit Eddie Murphy does in his stand-up about Buckwheat’s sister, Farina.

Enjoy!

Which is funnier … Eddie Murphy or Wikipedia?

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By Becky, May 8, 2012 8:59 am

People who know of such things predict this year will be the worst for allergy sufferers, I guess because of the weird weather across the country all winter and spring. Imagine how screwed up the bees and daffodils are feeling if we’re so discombobulated!

At any rate, here’s some of their advice.

Don’t use any leave-in products in your hair. Gel and whatnot collects pollen all day long so it’s as if you’re wearing a Sneezy Hat. Not as fun as it sounds. Shower and shampoo at night, otherwise all that pollen builds up on your pillow and sheets and you continue to inhale it and rub it in your eyes and nose.

Try to keep the pollen off your hair in the first place by wearing a hat.

Wear oversized sunglasses to keep it out of your eyes, too.

Wash those hats and sunglasses often, but try not to let them shrink. Ha!

If you do get itchy eyes, you can rinse them throughout the day with a little baby shampoo and water.

They’re studying the relationship between pollen allergies and fruit allergies so if you’re having a particularly hard time of it this season, try peeling your fruit before you eat it and maybe that will help. I don’t know. But that’s what they said.

Now get out there and breathe some pollen! Take a stand. Show it who’s boss. Go all Dirty Harry on it.

Are you having a hard time with allergies lately? What are some of your favorite remedies?

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By Becky, April 10, 2012 7:32 am

Technically, Wellness Week is in March, but I, ahem, march to my own drummer. It’s not that I missed it or anything, sheesh. But here are 7 days worth of activities to keep you well.

Monday — Eat breakfast. If you already do this, then you get an extra Lazy pat on the back! Think outside the cereal box, though. While cereal is certainly quick and easy, it’s not always the best choice. It doesn’t have protein, for one thing. Try poaching an egg and eating it on whole grain toast with a drizzle of olive oil. For about the same calories (maybe even fewer!) you get protein, whole grains AND some healthy fat to keep you happy longer.

Tuesday — Drink a big glass of water when you first get up. Think of yourself as a sponge that has dried up during the night. Rehydrate yourself for a little extra oomph this morning.

Wednesday — Make a healthy menu and shopping list for next week. Include lots of fresh fruits and veggies AND something indulgent. Life’s much too short for constant deprivation. What’ll it be? Fresh mussels? Fancy cheese? Doesn’t need to be food; it could be one of those cool ceramic pans they have now. Or a new book. Or a spice you’ve never used. Have fun!

Thursday — Phone a friend. Meet for coffee. Vintage Barbra Streisand said it best. Be a person who needs people. It’ll do wonders for your spirit.

Friday — Get some sleep tonight. Hang the Do Not Disturb sign and sleep until you wake. Then maybe even sleep some more. Enlist the aid of a spouse or friend to herd children as necessary and reciprocate next week. Forget the health benefits of a good night’s sleep, you’re simply not your best when you’re sleep-deprived. And let’s face it, you look better too. So go for it for your sake and theirs.

Saturday — Get outside today. Take a walk. Sit on a bench. Anticipate all those flowers soon to bloom. Watch the birds/dogs/squirrels/kids at play. And if it’s not creepy, go join them!

Sunday — Enjoy some silence. Reflect on your past week and how well you took care of yourself. Congratulate yourself or vow to do better next week. Be specific. What did you do right? What can you fix?

Have a delightful week!

How many of these do you already do? What will you try to add into your life? What’s your biggest Wellness challenge?

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By Becky, April 3, 2012 11:18 am

I was sad to hear the other day about the death of 58-year-old Micah True, also known as Caballo Blanco, the ultra marathoner who went out for his regular 12-mile run in the Gila Wilderness area in New Mexico and never came back. He wasn’t known to have any health issues and he’d run all over those trails like they were his backyard playground. As I write this, the autopsy is pending.

I first became aware of him when I read BORN TO RUN by Chris McDougall. I posted about this remarkable story back in July 2010. If you haven’t read it, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. It’s the account of True’s residence with the Tarahumara Indians in the harsh Copper Canyons in Mexico. The members of this tribe think nothing of 100-mile runs for fun. They are the world’s most natural ultra-marathoners. And they do it practically barefoot.

BORN TO RUN sparked the interest in shoe mechanics and caused the spike in sales of barefoot runners. At least for me.

True was the race director of the Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon, which sends runners through the desert for 50 punishing miles.

With his death, the fate of future races is up in the air. That’s a shame because he loved the area and the race so much. I hope it doesn’t go away and someone steps up to turn it into his legacy.

Hal Higdon runs and writes about running. He said, “The marathon never ceases to be a race of joy, a race of wonder.”

I have the feeling every time Micah True ran it was a race of joy.

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By Becky, March 22, 2012 8:44 am

I know, I know. We’re supposed to make time to exercise. Yeah, right. Maybe in a perfect world.

I’m a fairly consistent little exerciser. I alternate cardio days with strength training days. I stretch. I try and get my 10,000 steps in. Blah, blah, blah.

But sometimes I get hopelessly bored and/or my workload seems too overwhelming. Guess which item on my To Do list gets jettisoned faster than Tebow from the Broncos roster? (See what I did there?)

Yep. Exercise.

But I heard a little piece of advice when I was chatting with Bob Harper the other day. Well, not so much chatting as watching him on TV. But that’s quibbling. He told me that when things get busy or I’m traveling, all I really need to do is three sets (although five would be better) of 20 jumping jacks, 20 lunges, and 20 push-ups.

I don’t remember much, but this morning when I was feeling rushed, I remembered this. So I took his advice. I could only do 40 push-ups, so for my third set I did 20 bicep curls then held plank position until I collapsed. Even with stretching, the entire workout only took 15 minutes. And I bet — if I really put my mind to it — I could do another three sets this afternoon. Or even in front of the TV tonight.

What do you think? What do you do when you feel too busy to exercise?

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By Becky, March 20, 2012 7:57 am

I found a very cool website called My Fridge Food. It lists common items and you click the boxes of the ingredients you have on hand. Then it presents you with a list of recipes you can make.

I plugged in bacon, salsa, eggs, lemon juice and broth and immediately a long list popped up.

Seems I have 100% of the required ingredients for BACON CUPS!

I also had 67% of the ingredients for Easy Guacamole (although not so easy without an avocado) as well as Chicken Noodles with a Twist. The ‘Twist,’ I presume, was that I had no chicken. Or noodles. I was all over the lemon, though.

I had 50% of the ingredients for 21 recipes, and 40% of ingredients for a bunch of recipes, and 33% of ingredients for even more than that. Truth be told, I have more than just those five ingredients in my house, so these figures aren’t technically true. But I’m always looking for another bacon-salsa-eggs-lemon juice-broth recipe. You really can’t have too many.

You can sort the recipes by percent of ingredients, category, number of ingredients, cooking time, calories, carbs, fat, or protein.

I can see a lot of uses for this website.

For instance, they tell you the ingredients you’re missing which allows you to substitute something that you do have.

It’s obviously great for the immediate problem of “Gah! I’m HUNgry! What can I make with this stuff?”

My 81-year-old father lives alone and plays a game he probably calls “Grocery Store.” The rules are simple; he doesn’t buy any groceries until he is completely out of all the food in his house. All. The. Food. As you can imagine, it makes for some exciting and unique dinners. Much in the same way buying cans without labels does.

But also, My Fridge Food could be a great planning tool. What if my grocery budget is running low so I only want to buy cheap stuff this week? What can I make with beans, eggs, peanut butter and ramen?

Or, “I’m looking for different low-calorie recipes; here are all the items I like to eat, O Wise and Generous Website.”

I can’t wait to play around in there some more, but first I have to go stuff some scrambled eggs and salsa in my Bacon Cups. I think I’ll hold back the lemon juice and broth for something fancy when company comes. Cocktails, perhaps.

So what can YOU make with the weird stuff shoved in the back of your fridge? (And don’t be telling me there’s no weird stuff. If you’re reading this, I know you have at least a teensy lazy streak and that means, by default, there’s weird stuff in there!)

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By Becky, March 13, 2012 7:55 am

I’ve often wished I could lose weight simply by being hot and sweaty, rather than actually exercising. Now I find that my wishes might come true!

Except I’d have to be cold instead.

Seems there’s a new study involving ‘brown fat.’ Researchers thought only rodents had brown fat, but recently realized humans have it too. Rodents can’t shiver (it’s true, this is a very informative blog) and their brown fat generates heat so they can keep warm. Three groups working independently from each other all discovered adults have brown fat too — not much, just a little between the collarbone and the shoulder, along the spine, in the upper back, and on the side of the neck. They saw it while doing scans when the participants were in chilly rooms.

Everyone of normal weight has a little of this brown fat. When they get cold, the brown fat sucks fat out of the rest of the body to fuel itself.

The weird thing is that this brown fat never shows up in obese people. So the question is, are they obese because they don’t have brown fat, or do they not have brown fat because they’re obese?

The implications of this research are fascinating. Can we get more brown fat — or rev it up — simply by being cold? Obviously there’s a lot more work to be done, but I’m going to take my sweater off, just in case.

What do you think? Let’s pretend it’s as simple as ‘if you’re cold, you could lose weight.’ Where would you set your thermostat? Would you be more tempted to move to Minnesota or someplace chilly? Would you forego chicken noodle soup for gazpacho?

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By Becky, March 7, 2012 2:00 pm

I read an article about J. Graham Thomas’ study of over 6,000 people who have maintained a weight loss of one year or more. Ninety percent of them had lost weight in the past but put it all back on.

So how did they keep the weight off this time?

1. Committed to at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise/day

2. Limited TV time to less than 10 hours/week

3. Ate a low-calorie diet with less than 30% calories from fat

4. They stuck to regular eating patterns; not much food variety

5. Ate breakfast every day

6. Avoided emotional eating and fast food

7. Had weekly weigh-ins and tracked calories

No magic bullets and, I’m happy to say, everything I preach here in LazyLand. Except that TV thing … how’s a girl supposed to forget she’s on an elliptical, if she’s not immersed in Liz Lemon’s problems??

 Don’t you just love Liz Lemon?

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By Becky, February 28, 2012 8:02 am

Did you see my weekly produce a couple weeks ago?

Actually, I posted the weekly produce blog a couple of weeks ago, but according to my camera, I took the photo on January 4th. That’s almost six weeks ago as I write this. Five weeks and five days, to be exact.

Did you notice the clamshell package of lettuce in the back of the photo? This one?

I’ve been using these leaves of lettuce for wraps of all kinds … I’ve spread peanut butter on them, rolled them with swiss cheese and sauerkraut, filled them with Laughing Cow and strawberries, stuffed them with bacon and tomato … whatever I had handy. Love ‘em! Low-cal, convenient, filling.

Unfortunately, there were two leaves of lettuce left in that container before it went AWOL in my fridge. (I think the avocado was a bad influence on it.) When I saw it waaay back on the bottom shelf of the fridge yesterday, I thought, “Ugh. This’ll be nasty” because I’ve had those bags of pre-washed lettuce go bad on me.

Don’t judge me.

But when I opened the container, those two leaves of magic lettuce were as crisp and lovely as the first one I had eaten five weeks earlier. I know! The packaging called them a cross between iceberg and romaine, but I think we all know there be magic a-foot, Puck. I slopped my avocado-tuna salad in them and crunched my way through lunch. Delightful!

Have you ever seen this lettuce? Ever tried it? Do you have any magic food? Do you think it’s magic lettuce or a magic container?

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By Becky, February 21, 2012 8:05 am

I love avocados and I’m glad they’re okay to eat every day.

Lately there’s been a commercial on that makes me smile every time. The first time I heard their jingle, I wasn’t actually watching the TV. What I heard, however, was “Gobble, gobbles from Mexico.” Huh? So now that’s what I hear every … single … time.

Try it. Close your eyes and listen ….

Gobble, gobbles?

Avocados are high in fat, but it’s the healthy kind — monounsaturated — that helps to lower cholesterol. There was a study done in 1996 (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social in Mexico, Archives of Medical Research, Winter 1996) that concluded the participants who ate avocados every day had an average drop in their total cholesterol of 17%. Plus, their ‘bad’ cholesterol and their triglycerides both went down too.

I’ve been hearing for a long time about the need to have fat at breakfast, so having half an avocado makes perfect sense. The problem, however, is keeping the other half from getting all brown and ugly. I’ve tried many remedies to keep my avocado from uglifying, but nothing seems to work every time. And I don’t know about you, but to me, brown avocados are not at all appetizing!

But I really can’t justify eating an entire avocado in one sitting (so many calories! so much decadence!), so I bought this avocado saver.

I don’t have anything to do with this company, but it seemed like such an elegant (and cheap) solution to my problem that I wanted to try it.

You just cut your avocado in half and place the half with the seed into the keeper. Strap the little seatbelt on and put it in the refrigerator.

This avocado got lost in the back of my fridge for a few days (which seems to be a chronic problem for me lately), but you can see, it ain’t too bad. You could probably brush fresh lemon or lime juice on the cut side before putting it into the keeper, but I’m not convinced you have to.

I don’t typically like to have one-trick-pony kitchen utensils, but this and my mango slicer have come to be can’t live withouts for me. Oh, and my wine rack. Can’t live without that either.

I eat avocados sliced on my plate, spread on toast instead of butter, chopped in my omelette, stuffed inside burritos, and I’ve recently discovered using it to replace the mayo in tuna salad. Delish! What do you do with avocados?