Mom always said...

How many things did your mom constantly tell you to do when you were a kid that you still do as an adult?
Along with the standard, "Brush your teeth after every meal" and "Wash your hands before eating," my mother added a few 'rules' to the mealtime ritual.

1. Take small bites.
2. Chew each bite at least 25 times.
3. Leave a part of your meal on your plate.

Each of these rules had their purpose.  Taking smaller bites would essentially prolong your meal which helps to improve digestion.  Part of the problem we face today is our propensity for eating quickly and on the go.  We don't give our bodies a chance to digest the 'food' that we are eating.  Chewing each bite at least 25 times goes hand in hand with the first rule.  Yes, it does cause you meal to last longer, but it also aids digestion in another way.  Chewing food thoroughly before swallowing causes more exposure to saliva which helps to break down the food.  This helps it to be more fully digested and the nutrients more available for absorption.  Finally, leaving a part of your meal on your plate was intended to prevent over-eating.  I suppose this was meant to be a sort of portion control.

Since beginning The Maker's Diet, I have been trying to follow the first two rules more diligently.  The third rule is somewhat unnecessary due to the fact that I am already taking smaller, more appropriate portions than I had previously eaten.  As well, by slowing the process down - actually taking the time to enjoy the food - I actually feel 'full' on less food.  This is no mystery, though.  It basically gives your body time to respond to the influx of food.

Yesterday, I made another visit to It's Only Natural.  I was actually looking for a specific product - raw, organic honey.  I was pleased to find that they had a couple of brands to choose from.  As with all other healthier food options, the choices were not cheap.  Well, I ended up picking up a jar for about $11.00.  Given that I intend to limit my usage to no more than 1 Tbsp. per day, this jar should last me about a month (unless Rae decides to also add it to her tea!).  Today, I added a Tbsp. to the 32 oz. container of yogurt I have in the refrigerator.  After blending it in - no easy prospect as the honey was almost solid - I dished out a serving.  I was amazed that that comparatively small amount of honey sufficiently sweetened the entire container of yogurt.  As I primarily intend to use the honey for this purpose, I should get even more than 1 month out of each jar.

It looks like I am going to need to make another visit to Deerfield Farm soon.  I really want to try making my own yogurt and other things that require milk.  I am not sure when I can get there next, but hopefully it will be soon.

Wow, I'm tired!

Today has been an eventful one!  I decided to use The Biggest Loser game today as we need to return it tomorrow.  I wanted to give it another round so that I might be able to solidify my opinion of it.  I spent about 30 minutes on the various activities that it offers and worked up a decent sweat.  It really does offer quite a good workout.  Sadly, I just didn't feel motivated to stand there and record my food consumption for the previous day as well as what I had consumed thus far.  I suppose that if I were better able to plan out my meals and snacks, I could enter the whole day even if it were still only morning.  That just isn't me, though.  I pretty much decide what I am going to eat shortly before meal time.  Now, I realize that exercise and weight loss requires more than just a passing 'game,' but this aspect of the program seems a bit cumbersome.  If I am going to record what I eat and keep an activity log, I don't want to have to turn on the TV, the Wii, and put in The Biggest Loser game just to do it.
As a result of my experience today, the jury is still out on this one - though it is leaning 8 to 4 in favor of it.

After my trial with The Biggest Loser, I decided to push it a little further on the exercise front.  As such, I popped in my Wii Fit Plus disc and spent some time with that.  'Some' time turned into an additional hour!  I really like the boxing routine in the game.  It seems to be one of the biggest calorie burners offered - which makes sense as it incorporates the entire body in the workout.  You have to step on and off the balance board (not a huge step, but I do have the additional risers added to it) as well as throw punches in time with the 'beat.'

When I was finally done exercising, Victoria and I went downstairs to finish putting together some bookcases we were building.  This project actually began during the summer.  We had replaced the carpet in the basement and decided to give it a complete overhaul.  We thought that turning it into a sort of library would be really cool.  So, that meant needing more bookcases to properly display (and improve access to) all of the books we own.  I didn't want to get any of the cheap but heavy stuff (you know, the stuff built out of cheap particle board with cheesy laminate covering it to make it look like real wood), so we decided to build our own.  'Our' bookcase project quickly became 'my' bookcase project.  I had gotten all of the wood measured and cut to size, cut dado grooves in the upright pieces, and assembled several of my new bookcases - though not all - on a particularly productive day during the summer.  I had reached my limit when I still had three more bookcases to assemble.  Well, as things go, the prepped pieces came inside, went downstairs, and sat there waiting for the day that I would finish them.  Today was that day!  With the help of Victoria, we drilled the pilot holes and screwed the three remaining bookcases together.
As you might imagine, I had just about reached my limit for the day so the rest of my day has been, and will continue to be, rather peaceful (aside from helping to prepare dinner, that is).

Oh, I almost forgot...  I also signed up for the Pound for Pound Challenge.  If you don't watch The Biggest Loser, then you may not know what that is.  Basically, it is intended to serve two main purposes: 1.  To help people to lose the weight that they really want to/need to lose, and 2. To help the 1 out of every 6 Americans that struggle with hunger.  Essentially, for every pound pledged, $0.14 is donated to Feeding America.  At this point, I am not sure if there is any accountability for those that pledge to lose weight.  Either way, I figure that I am planning to lose the weight, anyway, so I might as well help others in the process.

Some reviews...

Well, you already know by now that I have been following The Maker's Diet since the beginning of the year (yeah, I know - a really long time).  In addition to reading the book, I also picked up The Maker's Diet: Shopper's Guide.  Recently, I checked a book out of the library that has a similar approach to nutrition that The Maker's Diet has, Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (wow, that's a really long name!).  This book was written by Sally Fallon, the current president and treasurer on the board of directors of the Weston A. Price Foundation.  While this book is - as the title suggests - primarily a cookbook, it is also loaded with information that challenges current tenets of nutrition.  So, how do these books fit together?

Essentially, the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) "is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism. It supports a number of movements that contribute to this objective including accurate nutrition instruction, organic and biodynamic farming, pasture-feeding of livestock, community-supported farms, honest and informative labeling, prepared parenting and nurturing therapies."  Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats is based on the nutrition principles promoted by the WAPF.  It exposes the dangers of processed foods and other things that are commonly accepted as health food.  About 90% of the book is devoted to recipes and preparation instructions in addition to information about the various recipes.  Honestly, I have only read the first section of the book and briefly scanned through the various recipes but I am impressed thus far.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to move away from processed foods and toward a more natural diet.

The Maker's Diet is essentially a subset of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats.  It takes the tenets of the WAPF and goes a little further.  Where the WAPF allows for the consumption of bacon and other pork products (though Nourishing Traditions does mention that "in the laboratory, pork is one of the best mediums for feeding the growth of cancer cells.") while The Maker's Diet does not.  The Maker's Diet takes a look at nutrition as detailed by the Bible.  For example, the Old Testament labels pork as 'unclean' and not intended for human consumption.  Similarly to the WAPF, The Maker's Diet rules out all processed foods including refined sugar and white flour.
As to the differences between The Maker's Diet and The Maker's Diet: Shopper's Guide: both books are, of course, describing the same diet.  The former has a lot more text describing and supporting the diet while the latter is very streamlined.  There is essentially no new information in The Maker's Diet: Shopper's Guide.  It is a compact version of the original book.  I provides a more expanded listing of sample meal plans, but other than that it simply repeats the recommended food lists and recipes (most of which are actually reprinted from Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats) from the original.  I would not recommend buying both books - you simply don't need them both.  However, I was grateful that I had them both when I loaned one to a friend and still had the other to refer to.  Of the two, I would suggest that you pick up The Maker's Diet and not The Maker's Diet: Shopper's Guide.  If you plan to have a partner participate in the diet with you (that does not live in your household), have your partner get a copy of The Maker's Diet: Shopper's Guide so that you can swap and get the benefits of both books.

As previously mention, I had rented The Biggest Loser for the Wii.  I have since been able to give it a try.  I have to say that the workout it offers is a lot more intense than that offered by the Wii Fit Plus and it can be used with or without the balance board.  The Biggest Loser 'game' provides the opportunity to record an estimated caloric consumption while also providing a recommended calorie target based on your height, weight, and weight loss goals. 
After entering my personal data (using the balance board in order to record my weight), I started to explore the options in the game.  For exercise options, you can select from preset programs, make your own program, choose from individual exercises, or participate in challenges.  I decided to try out a preset program first.  The choices of programs are focused on various goals - you can choose among programs for upper body, core, lower body, and more.  Prior to starting the program I was given the chance to do a warm-up.  Even though I could not do a couple of the exercises called for in the program that I chose, the game still registered activity and gave me credit for doing it - though not as much as it would have had I actually done them.  As I was using the balance board in addition to the remote, it did take into account when I stepped on and off the board.  After I finished the program, I was given a chance to do a cool down.  As I planned to continue trying out the game, I declined.  I next decided to try to create my own program.  This option allows you to choose up to 9 different exercises.  Once you have determined which exercises you want, you then choose how many circuits you would like to do up to four.  Again, you can choose to do a warm-up prior to your program and a cool down following it.  After running through my program, I wanted to look at the challenges.  The challenges each utilize a couple of exercises.  You alternate from one to the other - depending on the challenge you chose - in an attempt to beat your opponents.  Each challenge lasts for up to 8 rounds depending on your performance.
I found the preset programs and the challenges to be the more intense workout options.  The other options provided too much 'down-time' between movements.  There is a bit of a learning curve involved with the game - learning the various movements as well as making the best use of all of the options.  As well, it seems that getting the most out of the game requires inputting data at least a couple of times per day (calories consumed, activity level, etc.).
I want to give this one a bit more time before I decide how much or little I actually like it, but my early feeling is that it is a good one.