The Myth of All-Natural Products

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The government does not specify what ingredients are required to label a product All-Natural. In fact products labeled All-Natural often have chemicals in the form of natural flavor. There is nothing All-Natural about these products.

Any food that is a “product” is cheap because it contains chemical additives called natural flavor. The government allows food and drink companies to use the term natural flavor instead of listing the real chemical name.

Food and drink companies use natural flavor because the chemicals are cheap ingredients that lower the cost of making the product. We should not be buying food because it’s cheap. It’s really screwed up when it’s cheaper in America to make yourself sick and more costly to remain healthy.

I would say like others have to pass up on food and drink with chemical additives and ingredients that appear to be chemicals. Simply doing this should help a person maintain their health.

Real Talk About Health

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We need to have an honest talk that centers on the idea of how much a person “should” weigh:

NOT 103 pounds for 90 percent of us.

A talk about how much exercise a person really needs to do each week:

NOT 2 hours a day every day in the gym.

A talk about why people are looking in our plates and judging what we’re eating.

Instead each of us should be enjoying the food on our plates guilt-free.

In the coming blog entry, I will revisit a topic I’ve touched on in here before: The use of unnatural ingredients in food products.

I don’t want to live to be 80 if I’m in poor health and need 5 or 6 pills to swallow each day for health issues.

After I talk about food I will delve into how I’m changing my eating plan and firing up the kettlebell again. To regain my health and fitness after the freak accident with my arm.

My hope is to encourage and motivate readers to create a SMART goal this year. One that is Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic and Time-Focused.

It’s not realistic to want to weigh 127 pounds when you weigh 205 pounds. It’s not smart to mindlessly consume food and drink products.

I’ve studied nutrition and fitness for decades by checking books out of the library to read for free. What I’m writing about is not a gimmick or sensational so I’m not going to get a book contract to peddle that pablum.

I’m an ordinary person who’s figured out how and what to eat by reading a book like How to Be Well by Dr. Frank Lipman, MD. I’m reading my copy again for a refresher.

Can we really believe the Medical Medium who allegedly channeled an Angel or Spirit to get and give health information? I don’t think so.

Common sense is not common today. Expecting quick easy results to our health and fitness goals sets us up to feel poorly when we can’t meet this strict restrictive deadline.

That’s why I’m giving myself one whole year in 2025 to reboot.

I also don’t think we should frame a goal as engaging in self-improvement. I happen to think the majority of us are OK the way we are. Instead, I use the term self-development project to talk about a goal. Striving to learn a new skill or adopt a better habit over time. Not because we’re deficient or inferior in anything. Only because we want to “level up” from where we are today.

We don’t need “fixing.” Even though people like the media darlings given column space on the internet and book contracts judge and attack us for a myriad of sins.

Each of us should start where we are. Chances are we have what it takes. Even though we could feel ashamed and buy into the myths out there that say we’re not good enough. That if only we buy a product an influencer is selling we’ll magically become worthy lovable have a better life or whatever.

Read on for the topic I’m going to resurrect in here: the use of unnatural ingredients in food products. This has been my wheelhouse in terms of nutrition and what I think is the biggest culprit holding us back from optimal health.

Last Post Was Edited

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Hey everyone – I edited the last post by adding new information and changing the ending.

This because I didn’t want to come across in a way I hadn’t intended with the first version.

You can read the revised blog entry again if you want.

I’m as leery as anyone of white women influencers peddling “thinspiration.”

In this blog I would like to giver common-sense information that readers can use to create a better life for themselves.

Let’s face it Americans are coming down with all sorts of health issues. Separating trustworthy claims from sensational ones is my goal. There are people hanging out shingles as experts to cash in on our ill health.

I’m going to talk in a coming blog entry about liking yourself at any size. Which is more to the point.

The Myth of Disordered Eating

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I’m a tiny person with a big mouth. I’ve always been a feminist. What surprises me today is the alacrity with which I’m speaking out about real issues.

I think it’s a myth that a healthy woman can have disordered eating. Unless you have anorexia or bulimia I don’t think it’s possible that your eating is disordered.

Having a so-called expert or another person judge us can be shame inducing. Not only can a 200-pound woman feel poorly. We girls of any size can feel insecure.

I had not intended to lose weight. It’s just how it is. I want everyone to feel good at any size. Which is why the policing of how and what women eat should end.

I weigh 103 pounds because I lift weights and eat healthful food 90 percent of the time. I lost 20 pounds at the height of Covid because I lifted weights in my home gym and did not buy “snacks” to eat while indoors. Instead I bought organic CSA boxes of produce to make recipes with.

More to the point is that I follow the advice in the book I reviewed here How to Be Well by Dr. Frank Lipman, MD– a functional medicine doctor who is a trustworthy expert.

Big Food will sell you the cheeseburgers and Big Pharma will tell you that if you take a cholesterol pill, it will be OK to keep eating cheeseburgers.

One female nutritionist in a print advertisement recommended using Splenda years ago. How could a supposed diet expert accept funding to promote an artificial sweetener? Instead of needing to use an artificial sweetener simply cut out using sugar to begin with.

This is why what a so-called expert claims is disordered eating should be questioned. Policing how and what women eat is only going to shame us. Nobody accuses a man of having disordered eating when he mouths down a Porterhouse steak.

The shaming of women for our eating habits will have the opposite effect: Turn us away from eating dark leafy greens which you are supposed to eat. Who’s kidding who about what constitutes disordered eating.

Coca-Cola hired academic researchers at a college to promote the health benefits of Coca-Cola. You can see where I’m going with this line of thinking.

In the 1990s SYMS clothing store ran this commercial on TV in New York City touting: “An educated consumer is our best customer.”

We need to educate ourselves and seek out the truth. I’m not an influencer peddling a product. I take NO money from advertisements on my blogs or from a drug company or anyone else.

Dancing in the Rain

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It was not lost on me that the Saturday after the election I woke up with a sore left arm. Since then the PT sessions took only exactly 2 months. Doubt I did that it would be over so quickly.

Not able I was to lift weights then. At the end of this setback I realized things must change. Ordinarily I work out like a madwoman in training for the prizefight of her life. The PT assistants at the rehab center kept telling me to ease up when I first started the sessions whirling into each exercise too intensely. Wise up I did and took it slower and calmer.

My PT therapist cleared me to end my time there. The quandary is: how to recover mentally from a setback after you’ve physically healed. How to begin again your normal fitness routine.

You don’t know what you have until it’s gone. I took my fitness for granted. The time had come to rethink my approach not just to lifting but also to living life.

I would practice mindful exercise and pace myself. Say a prayer before I first lifted in the routine thanking my body for being a workhorse that enabled me to achieve my goals.

Today I choose to act in a slow and deliberate fashion. The violent and quick workouts are gone like the dinosaurs. They outlived their usefulness.

Not only is the bigger better more ethic of consumerism an economic trap the bigger better more extreme of fitness is quicksand.

I became fitter after I started working out in my “home gym” (OK–the clear unobstructed hardwood floor in my apartment).

My new approach is going from fast and furious to serene and lean. As I turn 60 soon. Being proactive in our older years will help us stay mentally and physically fit.

Getting infirm is not the guaranteed outcome in old age. It’s the result of poor eating, not enough sleep, and not being active.

Recovery from any injury or illness or any kind of setback at all takes time, patience, hard work, and determination.

My goal is to return to the floor and gradually increase the weight as I begin to lift again.

We each should have the radical grace to change what’s not working and chart a new course. As hard as it is to start all over from square one the alternative is no option: not getting back in the ring.

This time around I want to lift weights to lift my spirits not just get muscle.

Perhaps this blog can be a guidepost for everyone who needs a shot of confidence to embark on a new path after the old route was a dead-end.

Dancing in the rain is the only way to live.

Spicy Yogurt Spaghetti

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The November issue of Bon Appetit has this recipe:

Cook 1 pound spaghetti in large pot of salted water. Stir every so often until 1 minute less than package direction for al dente.

Drain. Reserve 2 cups of pasta cooking water. Return pasta to the pot. Add 1 1/4 cups plain whole-milk Greek yogurt. Toss with tongs to coat thoroughly.

Add 1/2 cup pasta cooking water and then toss. Add cooking water a splash at a time to get to a creamy sauce like Alfredo.

Use shallow bowls to divide pasta into. Top with your desired amount of chili crisp. I bought and used Momofuku chili crunch.

Serves 4 to 6.

A surprising combination of flavors. Yet a recipe to try once to see if you like it.

The fall just might be the season to cook this recipe too.

Thought for Food

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Per Sherry Pocknett chef owner of Sly Fox Den Too restaurant:

“Everything that comes out of the ocean is Indigenous food.”

Her Nation (commonly called a Tribe) is the Mashpee Wampanoag. She is the James Beard Award-winning Northeast chef based in Charlestown, Rhode Island. Pocknett’s restaurant serves food native to her culture.

I too prefer to eat what swims in the blue sea or grows on the green earth.

You can buy a copy of the November Bon Appetit magazine to read the Pocknett story.

We are all of us Indigenous or not losing our moorings in this precious world that is God’s gift to us to live on.

We need to truly embrace not just tolerate others’ unique perspectives. We have so much to learn from each other that can help us live happy healthy lives together.

Decades ago I watched a band of Native Americans give a musical performance. The lead singer told the audience that Native American history is OUR history not just theirs. They are our ancestors too.

It’s time to honor embrace and accept Indigenous Nations as American royalty so to speak. They were here before us and we’re ravaging their land that we took over and live on today.

No one can achieve perfection in our lifetime. However we can strive to do better and be a little better every day.

I’ll end here by saying that whatever we’re doing in tiny ways can make a big difference.

Like with climate change little actions can be sustainable versus drastic dramatic action you’re forced to take after the damage has been done.

I recommend subscribing to Bon Appetit magazine. It’s gotten better with the new Editor in Chief.

Keeping a Grateful Journal

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While others rail against keeping a grateful journal as a form of self-care I’m all for this weekly thanksgiving practice.

Research indicates that writing down what we’re thankful for can alleviate sadness.

My recommendations:

Buy one of the spiral-bound colorful-cover hardbound journals you can get in Rite Aid or even in the aisle at Kohl’s waiting in line.

Write in the book 3 times per week. Before you write a new entry read the last 3 to 5 entries to get you going.

Instead of simply listing what you’re grateful for list Why you’re grateful for this blessing.

Write things you like about yourself too. Write what brings you joy as well. Go further and write about specific achievements.

Remember: ordinary actions taken are worthy of documenting in the journal not just “superstar” accolades to give yourself.

Practicing gratitude is a way to build self-esteem regardless of your life circumstance at the time.

2024 Fall Lower Body Routine

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1.Squat press: 5-8 pound DB held at shoulder squat then press up toward ceiling as you stand up from squat. 3 x 12.

2.Single leg bridge: Lying flat on floor one foot down and the other elevated press hips toward ceiling and squeeze glutes 5-8 pounds 3 x 12 each side.

3.Walking lunges: with available space step and lunge alternating legs continue with 8 on each side for 3 rounds.

4.Single leg Romanian deadlift: Holding on to stable surface hold DB in one hand one foot stays flat while you reach other leg back – reach for stretch in hamstring – leg goes back at same pace as arm. 3 x 10 each side.

5.Goblet squat with close feet: Hold DB at chest – feet within shoulder width. 3 x 12 8 pounds.

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Alternating leg raises.

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Plank (30 seconds) 2 rounds – As long as possible 3rd round.

High knees (30 seconds)

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Sit-ups (13). Squeeze Abs!!