Diet Advice????

B"H

I happen to like reading health magazines and books. I also happen to eat a healthy diet and actually enjoy exercise. But, because neither my weight nor my blood sugar are as low as I'd like them to be (I would love it if I could lose about 25 or so pounds and I would be ecstatic if my daily fasting blood sugar were about 20 or 30 points lower) I'm always looking for changes I can make to my diet to make it even healthier (I'm already a vegan -- this means no animal products: no meat, poultry, fish (I was never fond of fish anyway, but I digress...), dairy or eggs -- and, in addition, I eat no sugar, no grains (except sprouted whole grains), no soy (that's a tough one for a vegan, let me tell you!!), well, basically, what I do eat is beans (except soy), nuts, things like wild rice (not a grain) and kasha (buckwheat -- also not a grain), vegetables and a little bit of fruit.

But despite this diet, I'm having a tough time losing weight. I've tried adding fiber (by eating foods high in fiber -- I've been doing that for over 30 years now), lowering fat (I once had it so low that I'd say my diets averaged about 5-7% of its calories from fat -- I haven't done that in years), I even once tried the Adkins diet (boy, was THAT a mistake!) before I was a vegetarian (and, actually, even while I was ovo-lacto vegetarian -- somehow or another, I doubt I could find a way to keep to Adkins as a vegan)

So I keep looking for more ideas and more information about dieting. I read books, magazines, newsletters. I've tried eating more of this or less of that. And I still have a belly that won't budge.

So I read the latest "new thing" as far as belly fat goes from Prevention magazine. They were writing about the virtues of MUFA -- Monounsaturated Fatty Acids. These fatty acids are in things like nuts and nut butters, olives and olive oil, peanuts and peanut products, avocados, sunflower and safflower oil. And we're supposed to eat them at least at every meal. Ok, this is not an issue for me. I eat a lot of nuts and nut butters, lots of avocados, olive oil (and, occasionally, canola oil) and other high MUFA oils.

Ah, but here's the kicker. You have to eat these high MUFA foods at least three times a day, but you still have to keep your caloric intake under 1800 calories a day.

So I tried to figure this out. I also read that I need to eat one gram of protein for every kilogram of body weight. Fair enough. That means I need to eat in the neighborhood of 70 or so grams of protein. That would mean the equivalent of two cans of beans a day. Another few hundred calories.

I also noticed that I do best when I have either vegetable soup or sauteed vegetables (or both) during the day. But that's also more calories.

So how do you get by on 1800 calories a day? I guess I don't.....

Let's go Mets!!! (Do we need to "get out and 'push'"?)

B"H

The Mets have done it again, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. After 3 straight losses to San Diego (who had, at the time, a winning percentage under .400) 2-1, they were ahead in the 4th game.....

Then, again, yesterday, against Arizona, they were ahead 5-1. But, again.....

So I was watching tonight (of and on -- I switch to the game during commercial breaks on nights there are shows I watch with my Mom) and I tuned in in the top of the 9th and there were 2 out, 2 on and the Mets were ahead 3-0.

Well, I had to turn back. Then I tuned over again and it was the bottom of the 9th and the score was 3-3. I felt very frustrated. (When you're hot you're hot and when you're not you're not)

Well, the end of the story (at least today's story) is that in the bottom of the 13th inning, Carlos Beltran, hit a two-run home run and the Mets are finally out of their losing streak.....

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What this is all about....

B"H

I do have several blogs with specific subjects. But every now and then, I want to write about something and it doesn't fall into one of those categories. So I decided to start and "Everything Goes" blog -- that means it could be about anything that's on my mind.

Lately, what's been on my mind it the Mets. I'm a big baseball fan. I don't get to see the games as often as I'd like (I rarely get to see the entire game from beginning to end, but thanks to Sports Channel, I do get to see more games than I used to). I've been following the Mets since I was a little girl (about 6?) and, while I have other teams I root for (the Angels, the Red Sox and the Cardinals mostly), I don't get to see their games with the regularity I get to see the Mets (being that I live in the NY viewing area).

At the beginning of the year, everyone was saying the Mets were the team to beat. Well, I think that was right -- they were the team EVERYBODY was defeating.

I watched the games (and recalled their crash and burn from last year and this is what I came up with:

1) As Jose Reyes goes, so goes the team (this was confirmed for me last night with actual statistics). It's important for people like David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, etc. (and Ryan Church has been a pleasant surprise, though he still seems to need some TLC after the two concussions), but when Jose Reyes is "on" -- hitting, walking, stealing bases, smiling and enjoying himself, it gets infectious and it infects and helps the rest of the team.

2) Starting pitching needs to be tightened up. This is happening, to some degree, and with the return of Pedro Martinez and I hope it will tighten up a bit more.

3) Relief pitching needs to really tighten up. It does no good if your starting pitching is on the money but the relief pitching totally blows it (this happened a lot during the crash and burn from last year but hasn't totally disappeared this season).

4) And this is a biggy -- one of the things the Mets do well when the team is hot is those ubiquitous come from behind victories. They haven't done this at all this year.

5) Get over last year. It happened, it happens, life (and Baseball) goes on. It shouldn't define who the Mets are.

In the past week or so, the fog seems to be lifting (KI"H). I hope it continues.


Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz

Check out my other merchandise:
Other merchandise