Archive for the ‘Weight Loss’ Category

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Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers – Ziti & Meat Sauce

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

I’ve long been one to shy away from food manufacturer’s attempts to take something that I remember as being awesome and making it healthy (which probably explains my expansive waistline). Recently Healthy Choice has been advertising a new product known as Fresh Mixers, this is the tale of my experience with the Ziti and Meat Sauce variety.

Health experts have long held a theory that the ritual of eating is almost as important as what you eat when it comes to controlling weight. A healthy eating ritual, for example would consist of preparing a meal, sitting down at the table to eat, and then going on to the next part of your day. In America many times our eating ritual is similar to: Grab fast food, eat it while [watching tv/surfing the web/working] etc, Healthy Choice’s new Fresh Mixer puts the cooking back into corporate lunch, or even a quick dinner.

The idea is simple you cook the pasta yourself, strain the pasta yourself, apply the sauce yourself and (hopefully) eat it, yourself. Compared to other Healthy Choice products which include “put tray in microwave for 2 minutes” this makes you feel like a real chef. The packaging is unique and includes everything (except for water) you need to cook your meal including a strainer, a bowl for the pasta, a bowl for the sauce and very easy instructions.

Preparing the meal is trivial, you simply remove the label on the straining lid, remove the lid, add water, put the lid back on and microwave for 3 minutes. Then you microwave the sauce for 30 seconds and combine the two in the bowl. No Muss, No Fuss.

For being a pre-packaged product I must say that the taste and texture of both the sauce and the pasta impressed me very much. The pasta was not watery and the meat sauce had (surprise) actual meat in it. The meat sauce also didn’t taste like watered down Ragu like so many other quick heat and eat meals provide. At 7 ounces coming in at just 340 calories and 6 grams of fat, this is a great lunch or main entree for any healthy dinner.

All in all the product is easy to cook, healthy, filling, and hard to resist. I would highly recommend the Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers Ziti & Meat Sauce. The best news is that it doesn’t set off the Alli atom-bomb.

Note: Most supermarkets only carry single containers of this, you can use the link below to order a 6 pack from Amazon for a little more than $20

-Drew

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Seriously, no more excuses.

Monday, January 5th, 2009

We (That is, people who struggle with their weight) know of a magical time of year where it seems almost pointless to watch what we eat, this time is known as the holidays. During the “holiday season” (November – January), it is estimated on average that Americans consume an extra 600 calories a day or more than they normally would. That extra 1LB per week can be a disaster to anyone who is trying to lose weight at a normal pace.

We all know how it starts, a few weeks before thanksgiving your resolve wanes. You console yourself with thoughts such as “Well, it’s the holidays, everyone does it” and before you know it you’re back to your old habit of eating P.F. Chang’s 3 times a week. (Okay, that is my old habit.) Then after Thanksgiving the “Well Christmas is right around the corner” attitude kicks in, and all the holiday cookies, drinks, and desserts settle firmly around your waist.  Once Christmas is over comes the biggest party of the year, new years eve! Binge drinking and binge eating are the norm here so why not indulge! This cycle can be devastating to your healthy lifestyle (and body).

The good news is that unless you consider Super Bowl Sunday a holiday, the next “Holiday” in which food could be a factor is Valentine’s Day.  It is alright to go out to dinner to celebrate with that special someone but try to avoid the gargantuan box of Lindt’s truffles that they just gave you (if possible..) After Valentine’s Day we have St. Patrick’s Day which is pretty much guaranteed to pack on some extra alcohol related calories, then comes Easter dinner, after that we are well into summer before memorial day bbq, the 4th of July bbq, and labor day (bbq) hit (thankfully cookouts usually provide some healthy alternatives, there is nothing wrong with some grilled chicken), then we are back to the ‘pre-holiday season’ again.

So, keep in mind that we as American’s have made up countless reasons to get together and stuff our faces over the years and that using the celebration excuse is just setting yourself up to fail. Besides in America eating is a social event unlike in other countries where people simply eat as a means to sustain their body.

-Drew

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Is society accepting obesity really good for us?

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

Keep in mind, I am on your side. I am obese and I absolutely hate the fact that I cannot fit comfortably onto an airplane, I cannot buy clothes in my favorite stores, and that people just pre-assume things about me which (may or may not be) true. Recently, I have begun thinking about all of the things we can do now to make ourselves more comfortable (as big folks) and have wondered if its really in our best interest to do so.

You and your girlfriend getting a little uncomfortable on a queen bed? Upgrade to a king! Can’t buy clothes you like in a store because they don’t stock your size? Buy them online! Can’t stop drinking regular soda? Introduce a junk food tax! A little too big to fit in that airline seat? Upgrade to coach “plus”! Don’t like going to “regular bars” because everyone there is a snooty bitch and thinks you’re fat? Go to a plus size club!

The list goes on and on, the number of “patches” keeps getting larger and larger but nobody is really tackling the core issue which is: People continue to become obese, stay obese, and die obese at an alarming level. It’s scary really, but consider what the world would be like if we treated everyone with a social stigma (and lets face it, being overweight obese is a social stigma) like we treat obesity for a moment.

We would have a Racism superstore at your local mall, a Heroine and Cocaine mart on every corner, and a Furries-R-Us playground in every park. Okay, so I am maybe exaggerating a little bit, but lets face it making it more comfortable and easier than ever to kill yourself just doesn’t seem like a good policy.

If when you got on a plane the seat in front of you didn’t crush your legs would you be as inclined to try to lose weight than if it was as comfortable as your favorite chair? (Be honest.) If being overweight suddenly became the “in” thing to do because everyone in Hollywood started doing it would it make you feel better that your life expectancy and quality of life was going to be substantially lower?

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I am in the same boat as you but recently I am just sick to death with ‘creative solutions’ for fat people. Don’t incentivize people to stay big, help them get healthy and stay healthy while loving themselves at the same time. I’m sure there is profit in that somewhere (Drug companies!)

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Toprimate (Topamax) and Addiction

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

Recently a study performed by the University of Virginia found that the drug Toprimate (Topamax) could be successful in treating alcohol addiction. In the past, other studies have shown that Topamax has had somewhat mixed results when used to battle obesity. Why would a drug which helps alcoholics stay sober only help some people lose weight?

It is well known that doctors have been prescribing drugs for off-label uses for years, but the number of off-label uses for Topamax is staggering. Although its FDA approved purpose is to treat migrane headaches and seizure disorders; Topamax has been used in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder, bulimia, smoking cessation, and other neurological disorders for years.

If Toprimate helps people stop drinking, quit smoking, and in some cases lose weight it seems to me that there would be a link between the action of addiction and Toprimate. Perhaps the reason the drug makes some people lose weight, while others do not notice an effect is because it only helps compulsive/binge eaters or people with food addictions.

Not that anyone didn’t already know this, but a study was recently published by Princeton that indicated that sugar had the same effect on the brain as a drug similar to heroin or cocaine. If this is the case the next logical step would be to classify “Sugar Addiction [Fructism, anyone?]” as a disease the same as Alcoholism and then work on treatments for folks effected by this.

I would imagine that a great percentage of obese people are addicted to food and aren’t really aware of it. Personally, I am aware of my own addiction and struggle with it constantly but I was 25 before I even knew binge eating disorder/food addiction was something that existed.

Anecdotally, I had a great deal of success with a combination of Toprimate/Topamax and Xenical (prescription Alli) lost a great deal of weight on it. Please keep in mind that I am not a doctor and that this article is not intended to be used as a replacement for advice from a trained medical professional.

-Drew

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