Beyond Glycemic Index and Radical Diets This New Year.

Besides amazing pastries, I do love their tag line!

"You guys eat a lot of pastries", she noted, commenting to my husband, her brother. Not a strange observation, I might add. After all, there were the baked goods from the gourmet shop, purchased Thursday, the croissants—chocolate, sweet-cheese topped with plum, and raspberry-filled, fresh from the St. Lawrence market, and finally the long awaited Dufflet Bakery Dacquoise. Oh, and as blogger NewMe can attest to, part of a slice of a disappointing layer cake on Friday afternoon, which my sister-in-law didn't even know about (until reading about it now, that is). 

I think we were a bit of a puzzle to her. We appeared the same sizes we had been last we saw her, about 5 or 6 years ago. Well, I’m projecting now. We are the same sizes we were then, although I can’t exactly say that’s how we appeared.

Like the rest of the world, she gives a fair amount of thought to food, eating and weight. Expression of guilt regarding her carbohydrate consumption combined with questions about glycemic index of sweets engaged me in conversation, and got me going. I dowonder if I will be invited back!

An endless assortment of breads and croissants--
and happy customers!

I corrected the misinformation that carbohydrate is the culprit in weight gain. As for glycemic index (GI), I shared that a food’s GI has rather limited value in weight control. Defined as the impact of a carbohydrate-containing food on blood sugar, as compared to a standard food (typically sugar or white bread), this value was designed as a tool for helping with blood sugar control. 

GI may impact one’s sense of fullness—generally less processed, higher fiber items have a lower GI and tend to help us feel more satisfied. Yet focusing on GI for weight management has its faults. If anything, taking into account the portion of carbohydrate, a calculation known as glycemic load (GL), would be a lot more useful. Otherwise, foods like carrots come out looking like items to be avoided—which would be quite idiotic, if you ask me.

But truthfully, the GI and GL are overrated for weight management. Why? Because we don’t eat foods the way they are evaluated in the lab, as single items, by themselves. Rather, we eat foods as part of mixed meals, which alters the impact on everything from blood sugar rise, to how quickly food empties from our gut, and our sense of fullness. Perhaps that's more than she, or you, cared to learn about glycemic index.

While staying with my sister-in-law and enjoying having her cook for me, I encouraged using less saturated fat than she would otherwise use. I recommended brushing the homemade blintzes with melted butter, then baking, as opposed to frying them in a pan with a more generous amount of fat. And she did. And everyone loved them. I suggested (only when prompted for my input) use of a non-stick pan for scrambling the eggs—topped with a quick shmear of butter for some flavor; combined with the sautéed onions, the reduced amount of fat in the pan was clearly not missed.

Among the many overwhelming sights at the
St. Lawrence Market, Toronto

I discouraged sweetening the fresh and ripe berry fruit salad—neither with sugar or Splenda—as it struck me as unnecessary.

As for those pastries I mentioned above? I had a sampling of the three croissants, amounting to one whole one, for my breakfast the next morning. Was I tempted to consume them, all three of them, while strolling around the market Saturday? Of course! But was I hungry then? Absolutely not! And I knew I’d enjoy them all the more when I was hungry, and not overwhelmed by the sights and distractions, so that I might savor them.

Our first night, when my sister-in-law served some pastries she selected for dessert, I just wasn’t hungry. After our fashionably late dinner, it was easy to pass them up. Of course I knew it wouldn’t be my last chance to enjoy such delectable items.

Am I treated like royalty or what?

Saturday night, however, I looked forward to, even longed for eating the hand-picked baked goods. Think macaron layers (meringue with ground nuts), filled with buttercream, flavored with hazelnut or cappuccino, covered with chocolate ganache, and topped with a French name I can't begin to appropriately pronounce. It met my expectation, as I vividly remembered these delights before their reincarnation from raspberry buttercream, 6 years back.

Admittedly, I worked out when visiting in Toronto, although I did less than my usual workouts, as we had other things on our agenda to accomplish. And Mica wasn’t there having to be walked.

And no, I don’t typically eat pastries with such frequency in the course of a week. But I can trust that it’s not my only chance to include these delights, so it’s easy to have just as much as I need, and only when I really care for them. 

Remember that carrot cake? Believe it or not, there are still a few pieces remaining in the freezer. Really.

 So don’t be pulled to extremes this time of year, lured by food rules, diets, and radical eating. The New Year shouldn’t mean the end of what you enjoy—be it high glycemic white breads, or great tasting pastries—but a new way of embracing what you truly desire, regardless of your weight. Just do so with respect for your hunger and your fullness, with the trust that it’s not your last chance to eat.

High-Fat Diets, Obesity and Brain Damage

Many of you have probably heard the news this week:

High-fat diet may damage the brain
Eating a high-fat diet may rapidly injure brain cells
High fat diet injures the brain
Brain injury from high-fat foods

Your brain cells are exploding with every bite of butter!  Just kidding.  The study in question is titled "Obesity is Associated with Hypothalamic Injury in Rodents and Humans", by Dr. Josh Thaler and colleagues, with my mentor Dr. Mike Schwartz as senior author (1).  We collaborated with the labs of Drs. Tamas Horvath and Matthias Tschop.  I'm fourth author on the paper, so let me explain what we found and why it's important.  

The Questions

Among the many questions that interest obesity researchers, two stand out:

1. What causes obesity?
2. Once obesity is established, why is it so difficult to treat?

Our study expands on the efforts of many other labs to answer the first question, and takes a stab at the second one as well.  Dr. Licio Velloso and collaborators were the first to show in 2005 that inflammation in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus contributes to the development of obesity in rodents (2), and this has been independently confirmed several times since then.  The hypothalamus is an important brain region for the regulation of body fatness, and inflammation keeps it from doing its job correctly.

The Findings

Read more »

Breakfast Smoothie (C2)

Breakfast Smoothie (C2)

Recipe Author: Simmie Sinow

A great smoothie to go along with your breakfast!  Shown below, this comes to 460; if you eliminate the oil, it's 400 calories.

3/4 cup Kefir (or yogurt)
2 cups blueberries (I use frozen)
1 Tbsp flaxseed meal
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
1/2 Tbsp olive oil (optional)

I use frozen blueberries and microwave them just a bit -- about 1.5 minutes, to soften them from being rock hard when blending them.

Put all the ingredients in your blender and let it go!

What you wind up with is a thick smoothie.  If you use yogurt, I'd recommend using some oil to give it a creamier consistency.

This is both of your fruit servings for the day; obviously, you can make this with only 1 cup of blueberries and save your other fruit serving for later.

Monday MOETivation: Last Night Phil Collins Saved My Life With a Song

Oh, Spin class. How I long to go sweat in places I have never imagined and breathe in the fumes of others sweating in places they never imagined. There is no feeling quite like the pain you feel in your ass cheeks after being mounted on that bike for an hour, or the aches you get in your wrists and forearms from propping up your body on said bike. But there is also no other class that reshapes your body and burns 4279382039232 calories per session, leaving your face looking emaciated from nearly perspiring to death.

I haven't gone to Spin in (eek) about a year. I think the last time I went was when I was preparing for my wedding, last winter. When I woke up this morning, something came over me and I felt compelled to go. It was 8:45 am, and I was on my first cup of coffee, curled up in my silk  leopard PJ's, squirming at the creepy banter between my local newscasters. It was my fifth day off in a row from work, and though I had been hitting the gym regularly, I felt like I should take advantage of the empty schedule ahead of me and just go power through the class. I looked at my gym's website, saw a class slated to start at 9:30, and immediately slammed my coffee and left the house (don't worry, I changed out of the silk leopard PJ's).

I get to class 15 minutes early, and immediately stake out the best seat in the house. Far enough away from the instructor so I won't get yelled at for sitting when I should be standing, and close enough to the door should I have to bolt outta there if I feel death is imminent. 9:30 arrives faster than I expect, and before you know it, the strobe lights are on and I have mounted the bike of doom, ready to tackle the next hour without suffering from a severe heart attack.

I start pedaling, and I'm totally feeling it. The music is pumping, and I'm not winded - yet. The only distraction was the fact that the instructor is about 4'5 and 90 pounds, and she's cycling so fast she looks like she's about to take flight. Aside from that I think I can handle this without being too distracted of freaked out.

Photo courtesy of weheartit.com

Fast forward 25 minutes later. I am DYING. Actually, dying is an understatement. I am beyond death at this point. I actually don't know how I haven't fallen off the bike, and I keep looking in the mirror envisioning myself slumped over as hot firemen come in and try to revive me. I contemplate leaving. Could I do it? I'm never gonna see this people again. It won't matter. No, don't go, you wimp! Stick it out, bitch. Plus, if you get through this, you'll burn enough calories so you can drink an entire bottle of Champagne tonight.

I keep pedaling and praying to the gods of Spin for something to give me the boost I need to make it through the next 35 minutes. Then all of a sudden, BAM. I hear the first chords of "Easy Lover" by Phil Collins, and immediately I am transformed. If you don't know by now, I am an 80's music FREAK. I love the 80's. LOVE LOVE LOVE. My iPod is comprised of every 80's song you can imagine - from the obscure to the embarrassing to the downright amazing. Hearing a familiar beat literally breathed life into my veins, and suddenly I went from fat girl (who gets sent home on week 1) on The Biggest Loser to a leading competitor on the Tour de France. I'm spinning away, up, down, out of the damn saddle and loving every minute of it. And it wasn't just me - I caught the girl next to me mouthing the words as she cycled, so it was clear this retro pop infusion was just what the doctor ordered.

60 minutes later and I finished the entire workout. Legs shaking, body soaked from sweat, but I did it. I kept thinking what a horrible way to start the New Year by skipping out on my first workout of 2012. I powered through, and that, my friends, is what Monday MOET-ivation is all about.

Now on to pop that bubbly...I earned it, baby. Every last drop.

Cheers!

Cara

2012

Hey guys!!!

It is the year 2012 woohoo.... if we are to measure in time and numbers.... ;)

Today is the 2nd of January :) I spent yesterday outside in the fresh air, in nature, riding down stream at "Ross and Lock" in Cairns, Australia! Here is a video I put together with my intentions for 2012...

I had a rough day today. I had not expected my day to be like this, it happened, and it happened that it is out of my control and involves family and some not nice happenings. So what can one do? Get through it, move forward, turn it into a lesson, I learned from this that the most important thing for me to do is to find and keep true inner peace and stillness, so that no matter what happens around me on the outside, that within I remain centered, loving, strong, peaceful, still and solid :) During today all I wanted to do was go and buy the biggest fattest block of chocolate and munch it down... but I didn't... I started the day with beet/beetroot juice, lemon water, a bentonite clay drink and some green tea :) Then later I was still craving processed foods, knowing very well that as soon as I would eat them they would give me a quick satisfaction and then quickly feel unfufilled but ate some sausage and lollies/candy ;-/ BUT I refuse to beat up on myself...no more!!! I will not inflict more self harm... it is a vicious cycle and self harm leads to more self harm. I am really seeing how unneccessary it is to entertain anger, darkness, negativity, bad emotions and negative thoughts about myself or others! I feel like we are at this time in humanity where we are to step up, and live in inner peace... if everyone had inner peace the world would not be in the way it is now! I see more and more people 'waking' up, 'awakening', becoming more connected within, more harmonious and dealing with past experiences. It is such a beautiful and perfect time for humanity. I truly love every single human on this planet! And all that exists :)  My intentions for 2012 is to set intentions, to be open, and willing, always willing to evolve and transform and create and maintain true inner peace.

Here are some of Sarah and I's videos from 2011... as we shift from a 'processed' lifestyle to a lifestyle that focuses on the ABUNDANCE of what earth provides naturally :) We are aiming to walk down the red carpet at ALIVE New York looking and feeling absolutely abundantly healthy!!! If your New Year's resolution is to be the healthiest you ever have check out our TED Programs at www.TheEarthDiet.org 

Love and peace guys :)

Love Liana

Junk Free January

Last year, Matt Lentzner organized a project called Gluten Free January, in which 546 people from around the world gave up gluten for one month.  The results were striking: a surprisingly large proportion of participants lost weight, experienced improved energy, better digestion and other benefits (1, 2).  This January, Lentzner organized a similar project called Junk Free January.  Participants can choose between four different diet styles:

1. Gluten free
2. Seed oil free (soybean, sunflower, corn oil, etc.)
3. Sugar free
4. Gluten, seed oil and sugar free

Wheat, seed oils and added sugar are three factors that, in my opinion, are probably linked to the modern "diseases of affluence" such as obesity, diabetes and coronary heart disease.  This is particularly true if the wheat is eaten in the form of white flour products, and the seed oils are industrially refined and used in high-heat cooking applications.

If you've been waiting for an excuse to improve your diet, why not join Junk Free January?

Resolution for 2012: Live Your Most Effervescent Life!

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Photo courtesy of weheartit.com

I was never one for New Year's Eve. In my past life, as I like to call it, New Year's Eve was very sad for me. It was a time to look back and reflect on mistakes; where things went wrong. I thought about who or what I missed, and all the things I didn't get to do. That attitude was reflective of the way I felt about life in general, and it was pretty shitty.

As I've said before, I started living The Champagne Diet lifestyle by accident. I had gotten to the point where I was fed up. Things needed to change for me. I was not going to tolerate the negativity anymore. I wasn't going to tolerate it in my job, my relationships, my friendships, the way I felt about my body, or my eating habits.I was ready.

My first step was drinking Champagne (great way to start, huh?) But I was on a mission to find a low calorie drink that I could enjoy regularly, and bubbles were the perfect option for around 100 calories a glass. I was sold on that alone, but as soon as I really started drinking it, everything changed for me.

I fell in love with everything about Champagne. The sound of a fresh bottle opening was like poetry to me. The swift pop filled me with excitement, and pouring a glass was an experience in itself. Watching the gorgeous golden bubbles tower over my flute and finding a new reason to toast each time I drank it became a ritual. Drinking bubbles made me feel luxurious, beautiful and worthy. I wondered why people didn't drink Champagne all the time. Why were they saving this magical drink for New Year's Eve and birthdays? Why weren't they all indulging in something so wonderful every day? Weren't they worth it? And just like that, The Champagne Diet was born.

Champagne has truly become a metaphor for me. I have made it my priority to live my most effervescent life. To settle for nothing but the best. To truly live a Champagne life. To celebrate everything, no matter how small it may seem. To raise a glass each night and toast to something - anything. To me, life is best lived through rosé colored glasses.

I also found passion in sharing my "sparkling" new ways with all of you. The network we have built on Twitter and Facebook is remarkable to me. I remember when I launched this blog in 2009, I had no concept of where it would take me. I remember saying, "If I could change one person's way of thinking, my job would be done." Now, two years later, with press across the globe from Australia, to India, to the UK, to Italy, I think I may have done just that. There is nothing like touching someone else, and if I have touched any of you, I am eternally grateful for that. I want you all to live the sparkling, Champagne-filled lives you deserve.

Now, here we are, New Year's Eve 2011, and this holiday has become a true celebration for me. It's a chance to reflect back on all of the amazing things we have accomplished over the past 12 months, and really set our minds to achieve all of the goals in front of us in the coming year.It's a chance to learn from the mistakes, and celebrate what we've learned from them. It's a chance to be better.

I don't believe in traditional New Year's resolutions. I think we should make resolutions all year long, whenever we want to change. I don't believe in waiting until December 31st to decide you want to join a gym or stop eating carbs. But I do believe that you should think about the way you want to live your life in 2012. If there are things you want, go get them. You deserve them all. If there is negativity in your life, kick it to the damn curb. Fulfill yourself. Dream, and do. Don't be afraid to fall. Don't be scared of rejection. Only accept the best in your world. Live your most effervescent, Champagne life.

Go get it girls, it's all waiting for you.

With Love,

Cara