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Big Game Day : Got Your Appetite On?

It’s the big game today – the Super Bowl. Like the last Super Bowl, you’ll see two great teams battle it out, and you’ll be tempted with delicious foods.  Eli Manning New York Giants vs. Tom Brady and the Patriots.  Regardless of who you’re rooting for today (I’m for the NY Giants, Tom Brady bothers me on a personal level for some reason), we all know that today is one of the biggest pig out days of the year.  Not counting Thanksgiving of course.

It is estimated that in one sitting for the game, people probably eat at least an entire day’s worth of calories. So what are you gonna do to make that ok? Are you going to fast all day so that when you finally eat you don’t eat a whole lot since your stomach is smaller? Are you going to just chalk it up ot a losing day on the diet scale?

Or you can plan your day out and make sure you eat nothing but fruits and veggies up unitl the fateful game where you know you’ll be stuffing greasy, salty fatty and maybe even some sugary foods down your throat?  Or you could do neither and eat normally up until game time and just get right back on track on Monday.

I’m doing the latter.  I’ve been really good for the month following the holiday season because I blew it out during the few weeks leading up to Christmas. I just started to fit back into all of my work pants by eating low carb for about one month and really limiting my caloric intake, so I’m not about to blow it by going on a couple day binge.

But one day? One day I’m pretty sure won’t kill me. And I’m not planning on stuffing myself silly. I want to still enjoy myself, and sitting there with a belly full of gurgling and brewing up a storm of problems doesn’t sound like fun to me.

The ticket to enjoying these one day pigouts is to tell yourself it is truly one day. The next day you MUST get back on the wagon and eat well or else you risk making these one day vacations something that you cannot indulge in because you can’t get back on track.

Food is fun, and it should stay that way. And guess what? It’s way more enjoyable if you get to do it for one day – it’s more like a treat if you know it’s a “once in a while” thing. Otherwise, you don’t even enjoy eating these sinful foods if you do it say once a week or twice a week.  The whole key is to look at it as a temporary treat that you can savor and carry into your next few weeks.

If you need to the day after a “treat” day, you can always help suppress your hunger using a natural supplement to help you get through those initial  cravings.

Snookie and JWOW’s Big Weight Loss

So I know I’m always behind the eight ball on pop culture stuff, but I just noticed that Snookie and JWOWW of Jersey Shore fame have both lost significant portions of their previous body weight lately. Actuall, JWOWW showed her major weight loss on last season of the Shore in Italy. Snookie was still in the process of taking it off at that point, but she definitely still lost some, you could tell.

Snookie has said that she now works out religiously and tries to not drink sugary drinks and eat junk all the time like she did on the first two seasons of the show.  She also has opened up about struggling with anorexia and bulimia (possibly bulimia, definitely anorexia) in high school and getting down to a dangerously low weight.

This could be worrisome, since women who have previously struggled with eating disorders would probably cave in to the immense pressure when they are in the spotlight constantly on a show that got so big like this one did, so I hope she’s keeping the weight off in a healthful way.

My husband and I have only watched the first two episodes of the Italy Jersey Shore, but we can already tell that their eating habits have changed. You don’t see Snookie or JWOWW eating pizza and other fattening things, instead you see a lot of salads and the like.  They made chicken cutlets, but they were very lightly breaded, so it looks like so far they may be doing things the low carb way.

JWOWW has recently come out and said that her face looks so different because she lost a ton of weight, but there is speculation that she has had something done to her face, such as lip injection or Botox. I agree it does look a bit suspicious, but I also do know that losing a lot of weight can radically change the way your face looks for many people, so the weight loss definitely has at least something to do with it.

The two have not come out and endorsed any weight loss supplements or programs that I know of – but I’m sure that deal is in the works somewhere!

Aromatherapy for Weight Loss?

Aromatherapy is truly a wonderful gift for many people. Some people really do think that inhaling various aromas from real essential oils (oils that are pressed from various plants or flowers) has real effects on their mood or state of mind.  This may also include appetite as some studies have suggested.

Any why would that really be all that surprising? We know that certain aromas definitely cause stirrings of sexual desire, or make us feel relaxed, or happy, or maybe even sad. So hunger is definitely many times connected to some of these emotions. It’s not really much of a stretch that aromatherapy could help us to lose weight by potentially reducing our appetite, or at least putting our mind on something other than hunger, which is what aromatherapy can often do.

Cinnamon is one of the oils that can be used to help curb appetite.  Just as it curbs appetite when taken (ingested) orally – just a teaspoon is supposed to not only regulate the appetite internally but also balance the blood sugar and stave of cravings – cinnamon also is a scent that makes us not want to eat as much when we inhale it.

Curiously, another herb that has a strong fragrance to it which also works as an appetite suppressant internally has the same effect when inhaled. That is mint. Mint tea is a great way to help reduce the appetite and give one a feeling of satiety without eating much of anything.

Combining the two scents may be even better to help reduce hunger and cravings.  What I would do is buy the essential oils since they are pretty reasonable.  Be careful as cinnamon oil should not be applied to the skin as it can produce a burning sensation, so be careful when letting it come out of the container.

These two essential oils will last you a very long time because a little goes a long way. Heck, you can even try to just inhale right from the jar every time you feel the urge to eat nonsensically. That won’t even cost you much at all since you can use and re-use the jar.

Appetite Control Patches Perfect for All Day Needs?

Appetite control patches are quite popular right now because so many people are looking to regain that willpower and control they once had before the holidays seemed to magically rip every ounce of self control out from underneath them. Oh, oops sorry I’m talking more about myself than anyone else!

So is anyone else feeling the serious pain that I am after the holidays putting on their work pants and getting back into the swing of things, only to find that their work pants -even the “bigger” ones aren’t fitting quite right?  Well, that was me. I was in for a very rude awakening after I allowed myself to indulge, indulge again, and then again this holiday season.

Even when I wasn’t hitting a holiday function or having food sitting in front of me at work or taunting me at other gatherings, I seemed to still make poor food choices. I think it’s because in our minds, we often figure why even bother during times when it seems like resistence is futile and we’re going to be tempted at every turn anyway.

It does seem like your body becomes so accustomed to eating fat and sugar and all that stuff that you’re not supposed to be eating that it almost becomes like withdrawing from a drug when you do get back on track and cut this stuff out of your diet.  So in order to get back on track, one of the most popular ways now is to use what is called an appetite control patch.

These little patches are great because you don’t have to remember to take a pill every couple hours, and you can affix the patch in a very well hidden area of your choice. It literally works all day long by slowly time releasing the hunger control ingredients in to the blood stream, effectively reducing your appetite and cravings for things like sugar, carbs and fats.

I like them because they seem to work pretty quickly after you attach them to your skin. I also think that they are more effective than a lot of orally taken supplements because they are more effectively delivered right to their source rather than having to pass through the digestive tract and be digested before they have any effect.

They also work better as an all day controller of the appetite and cravings. If you want to see a couple reviews of some of the more popular brands then see our special page on appetite control patches.

Many Diet Pills Come with Side Effects

The sad things about most diet pills is that they just about all come with some sort of unsavory side effect.  Especially the heavy hitters, the ones you have to go to a doc to get the prescription for. It seems that almost every big weightloss drug that’s been put on the market is either found to have serious side effects and taken off the market later, or is forced to put huge warnings on the product.

Heck, look at Alli (orlistat), the nonprescription sister of the prescription weightloss drug Xenical.  This one is notorious because of its potentially embarrassing and very uncomfortable side effect. It is known for producing water stool and diarrhea when too much fat is taken in.

People have literally gone in their pants with this stuff and had leakage, so that’s pretty unsavory and has prevented a lot of people from staying on it very long.  Then there are the heavy hitters like Meridia which I believe was finally taken off the market because of potential heart problems.

And who can forget the Phen Fen disaster? People actually lost their lives due to this lethal combination of prescription diet drugs. Heart problems were also associated with the drug, which is a shame because it was actually effective for weight loss. There are of course herbal phentermine options available and the one part of the drug, phentermine I believe is still available on the market for prescription use.

Then you have some problems even with the OTC stuff or stuff you can buy on the internet that’s herbal or all natural. First off, there have been a couple of scandals about “herbal” products actually containing potentially dangerous and interactive prescription drugs.

Second off, there have been scandals about some of the herbs and ingredients themselves. Consider the ephedrine ban. Ephedrine was linked to heart issues such as rapid heartbeat, arrhythmia and other problems associated with the fact that it tended to make the heart beat too fast.

Of course, this is the same reason it kept the appetite down, because it had you on “speed” motion all day long!  I know a lot of the herbal diet pills out there now give me that “shaky” feeling, like I’m going to pass out, or like I just can’t calm down.

Some of them even have made me feel sick, like I’m going to throw up. Sure, they’ve killed my appetite, but at what cost? Making me feel like crap all day?  These are all reasons that I’ve consistently turned to non-stimulant diet aids like carb cutters and hoodia appetite suppressants. They help me to get that extra “willpower” to not eat so much without making me a nervous, jittery mess!

Low Carbing It Again to Cut Weight Fast

So, it’s after the holidays and I really, really indulged this time. Too much. Waaaay too much.  After a week of work, I returned to the grind by waking up at the crack of dawn and finding that none of my work pants fit me.

I ended up having to wear an awful pair of sparkly pants that I never would set foot in if I were able to fit in any other of my “big girl” pants.  Even my largest size I’ve allowed myself to buy did not fit me. They wouldn’t even button at the waist – a sure sign that I needed to go on a very serious diet and lose weight very quickly.

The diet I almost always turn to when I need to simply cut weight really fast is the low carb diet. My body really responds to these types of diets because I’m normally such a carbaholic that my body just goes into total calorie burn mode when I totally cut them out.

In my mind, the low carb diet is among the easiest to follow. I find I don’t have to be so militant about totally cutting fat and calories down with the low carb plan because my body is burning off everything I eat due to such low carb intake anyway.

I also find that, while I do crave carbs and could probably benefit from a carb cutter or some similar supplement from time to time, I am not hugry a lot on this diet because I’m able to eat in quantities that are satiable to me.

Other diets, where you eat more of a balanced diet and include carbs and fruits and desserts, I feel deprived because the portions are so teeny.  I can actually eat things like brats with mustard and burgers with cheese, and big chicken salads with dressing that’s not fat free.

I get to feel like I’m indulging, but really I’m still keeping that carb burn up and not adding too many excess carbs to burn, so my body is still using up all the fuel I’m giving it and starting to burn off the stores of fat since I’m depriving it of the “gas” that is carbs.

I’m only on day three so far of my almost carb-free diet, and I can already tell a difference in the way my clothes are fitting. My pants are still tight, but at least I can button them.

Were You Shocked When Something in Your Pantry Turned Out to Have Trans Fats?

Well I can tell you, I was!  Funny how something you’ve been using for years and never thought twice about tends to seem insidious when you find out it has that all too scary unhealthy buzzword “trans fats” in it.  For me, it was our treasured nondairy coffee creamer we had used in our morning coffee – every morning mind you – for years.

We started using it because it was low carb, and we were your traditional “low carbers” a few years ago when we started using the convenient stuff instead of traditional creamers like milk or liquid creamers that don’t have trans fats in them.

Oh, let’s go over what trans fats are again too. They are regular chained fats that have another fatty chain added to them called hydrogen. This makes them even more dangerous to your heart health and can clog your arteries even worse than other fats that do not have the extra hydrogen added.

So many processed and packaged foods have these trans fats today, although now with public awareness rising, they are being removed from some.  The reason these prepackaged foods have them is because they are both cheap and tasty.

They can literally increase the shelf life of a food product by months or years. That is a warning signal right there. That’s akin to parabens in skin care – you know it’s just not natural for something to have a shelf life of five years.

So, what are some healthier options to trans fat loaded powdered creamers?  Well, you can try finding a powdered creamer that is void of the ingredient “partially hydrogenated” anything, but good luck with that because I haven’t found one yet. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated on that front!

However, there are some healthier liquid options.  You can use skim, 2% or whole milk of course.  I prefer organic in milk though because it is void of the toxins that so frequently inhabit dairy products.

There is also full on creamer, or heavy cream. Now this is a truly fattening option, so try to limit the amount you use. You really only need a tiny bit if using heavy cream, that’s the good part, because a little goes a very long way.

Fad Diets of 2011

Well, 2011 is over officially. What I can’t believe is that there really were not any new, radically different fad diets that cropped up.  I mean, you have the infamous butter shortage that happened in Norway.

This was because Norwegians seemed to have really taken the to the high protein, high fat diet that was all the rage here in the US in the sixties, again in the seventies, and then again in the nineties – otherwise known as the Atkins diet, named after the Doctor that conceived and wrote about the diet.

Aside from that, we had the lemonade diet which seems to crop up here and there, and a little resurgence of the cookie diet.  Both of these sound terribly unhealthy by the way.

There was also a bit of new talk about the Mayo Clinic diet, which is a primarily liquid diet that is designed to help patients lose a lot of weight in a short period of time for things like surgeries and procedures that require it.

Then there were the other “usuals” that tend to crop up every few years and surge in popularity for no apparent reason.  There’s the disgusting baby food diet, which puts you on only baby food, so no wonder why you lose weight.

This diet uses the same basis as the liquid diet – you almost always lose weight when you get all your calories through things that are liquefied.  Let’s face it, when all texture is gone, and you lose the visual appearance of your food as part of the whole palate pleasing experience, you’re a lot less likely to over eat, right!?

Then there is the all too infamous “Master Cleanse” diet. This one was sold as a small, almost pamphlet-like book by the same name. It started off as a trend a couple decades ago, and re-emerged as a Hollywood trend in the early 21st century.

This diet is based on an all liquid diet of a concoction of water, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and maple syrup.  The idea is that you sustain your blood sugar just enough not to pass out, sipping this drink all day long.  It is supposed to starve (did I say starve?) I mean cleanse your body of toxins and help you shed weight very quickly.

However, lots of people who tried this diet claimed that it just led them to gain the weight right back after they even ate a morsel of food. Also, some experts claim the diet is downright dangerous because it essentially is starving the body, which may explain the “euphoria” so many people explain feeling at or after day 3 on the diet.

I tried this diet and didn’t make it past day 2.  It was hard when I smelled food, for sure. However, I did notice how much I seemed to really get done while I was not focusing on food as a main entertainment and pastime in my life.

I do think that sort of “education” is valuable. However, I don’t know that this diet is healthy over the long term as it may end up sabotaging the metabolism over a long period of time on and off this diet.

Black Beans Good for Weight Loss?

Black beans are a food that is well known in vegetarian and vegan circles. This is because they contain only the tiniest amount of dietary fat, they are tasty and have many uses, and they have a ton of filling fiber, as well as some other vitamins and nutrients that help you to maintain a svelte figure.

Just one cup of black beans contains about 15 grams of protein. Protein, especially when combined with fiber, is very filling. Now I know what you’re thinking. Sounds like it might make you a tad uncomfortable, right? Well, there is no denying the gas-inducing powers of beans of any sort.

However, you can help to mitigate this by buying only organic black beans. You can also reduce it by rinsing the beans thoroughly before using them. This helps to rinse away some of the gas-causing stuff.  Of course if you’re making rice and beans, you usually want all that oily stuff, but if not, then make sure you rinse it all off.

There is a theory I heard once. I’m not sure how much stock I should put in it. The theory is that organic beans may actually cause less gas than non-organic kinds. Why would this be?

It is supposedly due to the pesticides and chemicals that are heavily sprayed on beans.  Unfortunately, beans contain high levels of pesticides – this includes coffee beans as well.  Since organic is required to be grown without pesticides, fungicides and other chemicals, you may experience less gastrointestinal discomfort from these naturally beneficial beans.

The good thing about black beans, in my opinion, is their flavor.  I actually enjoy them more than kidney beans in a traditional chili. I also like them in soups and stir fries.  They are much softer than other types of legumes, and I appreciate that.

I prefer to eat them out of a can rather than reconstituted from the dried bean, but that’s just me. They are much easier to use this way, and they are prepped for immediate use so you can use them in easier recipes.

Black beans contain phytonutrients including the following : anthocyanin flavonoids: delphinidin, petunidin, and malvidin. They also contain manganese, tryptophan (yes, the same stuff that’s in turkey that makes you sleepy), magnesium, vitamin B1 and iron.

They are thought to be beneficial to the digestive tract, even though some don’t think this due to their ability to cause flatulence in some people.  Black beans are overall a great source of fiber, some vitamins, and protein and qualify as an excellent diet food.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of our cherished readers here at Daily Diet Blog.  We wanted to wish you a Happy New Year earlier, but were derailed by some unexpected news around the holidays. So better late than never!

We’re looking forward to yet another year of offering you the latest news in dieting, weight loss, health and wellness, food information and updates, healthy low fat recipes, diet reviews, new diet and recipe ideas, and more.

We look forward to increased reader participation as well, and can’t wait for the new year of hope and prosperity for the American people, who have been through far too much to consider not celebrating making it this far with their health, and hopefully a lot of their happiness.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Looking forward to spending another year with all of you….