BITS-O-WISDOM: "Chocolate contains many preservatives.
Preservatives make you look young" ~ anonymous

USDA Dietary Guidelines 2005

The new USDA Dietary Guidelines are meant to provide sensible eating ideas; confusion surrounds serving size because most of us think a "serving" is "how much I intend to eat."

For instance the USDA's recommended two cups of fruit and two and-a-half cups of vegetables a day may seem mighty high if you aren't eating any fruit and vegetables now, let alone several times a day. It's not difficult though if you think of fruits and vegetables as the filler. Use them to round out your meals and make them snacks; you'll easily get the recommended amounts, you'll be fuller, and you'll start to feel better because you'll be getting better nutrition.

Guidelines for fat are all over the map though, from 20 to 35%. What this means, "You decide, we just had to pick a number." Thank you, U.S. Government. All I know is my health was best and my body was in its best shape when I ate less fat and more complex carbs (high fruits and vegetables).

Think of your nutritional needs as a bank account. It just doesn't make sense to withdraw a high amount of currency for a small amount of return; i.e. processed foods with little or no nutritional punch.

How Carl's Jr. Stacks Up Against USDA's Food Guidelines:

It's time for lunch so let's go to Carl's Jr. for that yummy looking "Six Dollar Burger." Uh, oh! That "heart-attack-waiting to happen" meal totals a mind numbing 1748 calories, 30 grams of fat and 2010 grams of sodium! Congrats! Carl's Jr. just helped you meet or exceed USDA's daily guidelines for calories, fat and sodium in one meal. If you go home and eat something else an hour or so later, it's easy to see why this kind of meal makes it difficult to get the best value for your nutrition dollar.

I'm not a fan of denial eating. If you love a certain fast food meal like that six dollar burger, that's fine, but think of it as a treat, rather than something you eat every week and you'll start to lose some weight with no other effort. It doesn't have to be such a struggle.

Make an effort to eat less processed food and more whole foods and use the USDA's guidelines to get started.

Read entire article:

Updated USDA Dietary Guidelines 2005

5-Steps to Blast Through Weight Loss Plateaus

Stuck on a weight loss plateau? Follow the five easy steps outlined in my free weight loss e-book, 5-Steps to Blast Through Weight Loss Plateaus, and break through that plateau now!

Shop with a List To Help Lose Weight

Not exactly new but shopping from a list is a far better idea than just wandering aimlessly up and down the aisles. No matter whether you like to cook at home or not, it's smart to plan at least a few meals for the week and shop for those items you'll need, then round it out with fresh produce and fruits for snacks. Find one night during the week when you'll have a home cooked meal, even if it's a microwaved chicken breast and frozen vegetables (one of my staple meals, BTW).

You'll find it far easier to stick to your plan if you have a plan in the first place.

Our Daily Bites

If you don't read The Daily Bites, weight loss lessons using EFT , then you're missing out on some of the best EFT for Weight Loss instruction available. This list is sent usually twice sometimes three times a week and is a fairly short, timely message; sometimes just the thing you need to hear to get you back on track.

Learn to Use EFT Now with Our Daily Bites

EFT by Example: Ending Nighttime Cravings

A recent evening at home, full from a nice meal and suddenly wanting to eat mini-Snickers bars prompted this EFT session. I detail here how I used EFT step-by-step right then and there to end the cravings and how you can do the same.

Excerpt: "Remember, I'm doing this because I'm not hungry. I'm quite full in fact. That's not the best time for a snack. I can eat a few of these Snickers tomorrow when I am hungry, and it would make much better sense. The idea of waiting for hunger isn't new, but sometimes it's easily forgotten.

I got a knife and cut the Snickers open so I could really examine it, and I noticed there was some nougat and chocolate clinging to the knife. I scraped it off with my teeth so there is a faint taste of Snickers in my mouth. You'd think it would make it all the worse, but it hasn't. In fact, I don't seem to have much desire at all to eat it."

Weight Loss Article: Ending Nighttime Cravings on the Spot

People are Talking About One More Bite Weight Loss:

Dear Kathryn,

"Thank you for articulately expressing my feelings about EFT and weight loss in such an interesting, upbeat way. I have lost 54 lbs. using EFT to change my entire relationship with food. I was surprised, as I read your last post about changing habits, that I felt resistance well up inside me. EFT takes the "sting" out of those feelings of deprivation, "should" and "shouldn't" foods, dirty looks from my mother for eating the wrong foods, etc. It is only with the help of EFT that I have been freed from the prison of food obsessions.

You are providing a wonderful service and I thank you for taking the time to share your outlook with us. I know and believe, in my deepest place, that this is the way to relate to food. To life!" -- Michelle H."

Sometimes it just takes a little nudge or the right words at the right time. Maybe working with a private weight loss coaching is right for you, right now. Whether the 8-week Ending Emotional Eating course or the course plus personal coaching is what you need, you can get started at any time, so why not right now?

Calories Used in Everyday Things:

Tipping your hat to a lady ... 5 calories (but so worth it)
Facing the music ... 50 calories
Bending over backwards ... 55 calories
Carrying a grudge ... 70 calories

Fitness & Health Website Finds

Always handy, Cooking Conversion Tool

Nothing more fun than looking for new recipes, try SOAR - Searchable Online Archive of Recipes

Where Our Tax Dollars Go: US Regulations on Chocolate Coating for Military Cookies

A fine example of our tax dollars at work is the 26 page booklet the US government created for Military Cookie and Brownie Regulations, but hold onto your cookies! On closer inspection you'll see this regulation is specific for "Chocolate Covered Cookies and Brownies," ostensibly there is a separate regulation for those with no such chocolate covering? Sheesh.

Section 3.3.11: "The chocolate coating shall be Salmonella free (see 4.5.1.4)."

Oh, man, I should hope to shout. It doesn't seem like too much to expect Salmonella fr.ee chocolate coating on my oatmeal cookies.

Next time you wonder where your tax dollars are going just chant, "Chocolate covered oatmeal cookies and brownies, oh my."

Save the Surgery, Do it Yourself Butt Implants with Wall Squats

Those who have assets larger than they'd like are baffled by the recent surge in butt implants, ala Jennifer Lopez. In my younger days my people would joke that I could give them my extra off the top, so I can relate. There are exercises you can do which specifically target the asset area such as lunges and squats, but you can start working your lower body right at home, right now. All you need is a wall.

How to Do Wall Squats

Stand with your back against the wall, feet out in front of you. Now just lower yourself into a seated position. Move your feet farther forward if necessary. After you've done these a few times you'll know where to place your feet.

As you begin to squat you'll notice a tension in your thighs. Depending on your physical fitness level, stop where comfortable and hold. You should stop far before it becomes difficult because it's holding the position that does the work.

Some will do wall squats with an up/down movement, but that's not what I'm recommending here. These wall squats are meant to be held for as many as 90 seconds at a time. Squat and hold for 90 seconds, and that's it! Your legs will tell you it's working.

As you build up strength you can lower yourself deeper, and/or increase the amount of time you stay in that position. For beginners, I'd recommend only going about a quarter of the way down and holding for 30 seconds, then build up to more time and more depth.

Example Wall Squat Routine for Beginners:

1. Week 1, Mon, Wed Fri, lower yourself just slightly and hold position for at least 20 seconds
2. Week 2: Mon, Wed, Fri, add more time the same depth
3. Week 3: Mon, Wed, Fri, slightly lower depth, same time
4. Week 4: Mon, Wed, Fri, Add more time, same depth

Slowly work yourself into the full seated wall squat, holding for 90 seconds. Don't be in a hurry. It's far better to work up your strength slowly, plus it's great to set and achieve goals. Working out and building your fitness should be something you look forward to and something you think of as a personal challenge. Make it fun!

You'll know when the depth of the squat or the time is right because it won't be easy but it won't be impossible either. Eventually work up to performing this exercise three times a day, three days a week, and you have a lower body workout!

Chair Squats:

Performed much the same way, with a sturdy chair behind you (not one on wheels), begin by lowering yourself as if you were going to sit, but stop short of actually touching the seat, then stand back up. Keep your focus on your thighs, those muscles should be doing the work, then raise and lower 8 to 10 times.

Rest at least 30 seconds, then repeat, rest, repeat. That's a set. When you're ready, go a bit lower, and build up to three times a day, three days a week.

Look what I found while looking for exercise illustrations. Fabulous site. Way too much for one visit, so bookmark this one.

Okay, I'll admit, this prompted the Butt Implants thing. I'm a fan of The Varga Girl, I admit it. -- Warning! This "garment" only works if you're bone thin to start. My thighs exceed their largest size! Too funny.

No Time to Exercise: How to Reach Your Fitness Goals

Remember, you can get the same benefit of exercise in several short sessions, so two separate 10 min sessions is better than none, if you can't find 20 full minutes. Even very busy people can work exercise into their routine if you make an effort to find those moments.

I often ride my stationary bike for 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes again at night for a total ride of 30 minutes. With interval training which for example is five minutes riding at a level 2, then 30 seconds at level 3, then back down for five minutes at level 2, and back and forth, until I've ridden my 15 or 20 minutes. Interval training or short sports of more intense activity interspersed with less intense is supposed to be more effective for revving up the calorie and fat burning, so you can get more benefit in less time.

I either ride for 20 minutes with intervals, or 40 minutes without.

Potato Chips vs Whole Potato: Economics 101

If you think whole foods are more costly than processed, think again. The Journal of Food Composition and Analysis says 30% of the average American diet consists of junk food; that being food supplying little or no nutrients in exchange for the calories. In other words, processed foods such as potato chips made from potato starch deep fried in oil, versus slices of whole potato baked in a pan. One is a whole food while the other is a modified, processed food.

The difference is in taking that innocent potato, peeling (losing much good nutrition in the peel), squeezing liquid from the mash (more nutrients lost), drying, then reconstituting with water and chemicals to retard bacteria. Next forming into shapes (fries, hash browns, those weird hockey puck things at McDonalds) and sending them off to a deep fat fryer near you. No, they aren't all done this way. This isn't a research paper, let me have my fun.

All those steps create the magical transformation from whole food to processed food. The potato once skinned, mashed, dried, bleached and bathed in chemicals eventually creates a substance completely devoid of nutrients and fiber. Food processors like it because it doesn't spoil and can create a uniform product such as Pringles (TM). Where's the fun in chips that all look exactly alike? I prefer those you might find on EBay that resemble people or the state of Florida, such as those at The Potato Chip Gallery

Potato Chips are said to have been "invented" in 1853 by George Crum, a Sarasota Springs NY chef, first to fry extremely thin slices of potato in oil. Many companies make potato chips the old fashioned way, slicing, cooking, then serving. Try those. If you make an occasional chip a treat, instead of something you eat by the bagful, you'll find a gourmet experience in the eating.

No, I'm not trying to make you hungry. I'm making the point that you don't have to give up your favorite foods and snacks but start thinking quality not quantity. A lot of what you eat regularly just isn't that good, even if it is cheap. As Ren of Ren & Stimpy would say, "Use your head man!"

Better Made Potato Chips says potatoes are 80% water so they yield 20 pounds of chips for every 100 pounds of potatoes. That explains why processed foods cost far more than whole foods. I keep hearing the argument that processed foods are cheap and whole foods are expensive, but I think the opposite is true.

Where I live fresh whole potatoes start at 35 cents a pound while plain potato chips are 4.29 dollars for a 14 ounce bag (ouch!), roughly 4.90 dollars per pound. For the same money you could have 14 pounds of fresh potatoes or 14 ounces of chips. If money's tight in your house, skip the chips and go straight to the produce aisle.

What About the Nutritional Cost?

4 oz fresh baked potato with skin: Approx. 9 cents
Calories: 124 calories
Carbs: 28.8
Fat: 0
Sodium: 0

4 oz potato chips: Approx. $1.23
Calories: 440 calories
Carbs: 92
Fat: 8
Sodium: 600

Recipe: Home Made Oven Fried Potato Chips

Potato Candy: Potato flour is used by those who can't have gluten, so it's not at all farfetched to use potatoes in candy.

More Fun Facts to Know and Tell about Potato Chips
Ever find a green potato chips or one that looks totally burnt? Are they safe to eat? Here's the straight scoop

Dirty's Potato Chips, a company name with guts. I like that.

Barbara's Natural Potato Chips

Cape Cod Chips

Supplement News: Hoodia Appetite Suppressant

I've tried Hoodia and I liked it, but there is much debate about whether products contain real Hoodia. How do you decide, and should you try it?

I recently purchased online and in the store and frankly, I liked the powder in capsules better than the hard tables I bought at the store, so I'm going to get the powder for now. I like this type of thing when I'm having "inappropriate hunger pangs" such as those that strike half an hour after you just ate too much, and those that hit at inappropriate times (right before bed, middle of the night, etc.). You can also try the one hour before eating approach and see if it makes any difference in how much you want to eat but frankly unless you're making an effort to stop at satisfied that won't be of much use.

Appetite suppressants only work if you work with them, meaning it becomes even more important to pay attention to those hunger signals.

More about Hoodia Diet Pills

I'll do more research so stay tuned. If this turns out to be a good thing, chances are the FDA will swoop in and outlaw it anyway. ;-(

Rice Krispy Treats

I'm still on a quest to figure out how to make these without the associated calories and I'll keep you posted on that. Did I tell you how I foolishly picked up some Marshmallow Creme one day because the label screamed "Fat Free" but while reading the nutrition label on the way home I realized I'd been duped. Of course it's fat free! There's no fat in sugar, and marshmallow creme is primarily sugar. Labels can fool you, that's for sure.

What I want is a sugar free marshmallow creme or recipe for sugar free marshmallow creme, and I'm still looking. If anyone has found some that's good, let me know, or send me the recipe.

Instant Cooking Remedies

Problem: Strong onion or cabbage cooking odor

Remedy: To prevent odors, set a tin cup of vinegar on stove and let it boil while you cook onion or cabbage; you'll prevent odors

Portion Control in Frozen Food Aisle

Do it Yourself Jenny Craig Style: Frozen food meals or entrees make a great "diet" product simply because they are already portion controlled. Add extra vegetables to round them out. Remember an entree is not a meal. Cut up a tomato and eat it too (yes, a whole tomato, it's not a crime), or a bowl of salad greens with a hint of dressing (it's that half cup of dressing that adds too many calories, but a tablespoon or three should be plenty to add flavor), or splash with vinegar and oil. You want to enhance your food, not drown it.

Candy or Condiments, You Decide

Ketchup or Catsup, either way it's tomato candy. Sugar and tomato. No wonder I liked it so much as a kid! Mustard isn't as bad, but check the label of that stuff you liberally add to your foods and make sure you aren't adding several hundred extra calories a day in the enhancements. Then eat more food, less enhancement and you'll find it's much more satisfying.

Food Labeling Made Easy

Not all claims on products are true, such as when they say fat free on an all sugar product -- yes, it is fat free, but if it never contained fat in the first place then that label is deceptive. (See my comments about Marshmallow creme above.

Here are what the U.S. labels mean as of 2005
g = gram
mg = milligram

• Fat-free: less than .5 g fat per serving
• Low-fat: 3 g or less per serving (if serving size is 30 g or less or 2 tablespoons or less, no more than 3 g of fat per 50 g of food)
• Light: One-third fewer calories or half the fat of the "regular" version
• Low-sodium: 140 mg or less per serving (if serving size is 30 g or less or 2 tablespoons or less, no more than 140 mg of sodium per 50 g of the food)
• Lightly salted: At least 50 percent less sodium per serving than "regular" version
• Reduced: When describing calories, sodium or fat content food must have at least 25 percent less of these nutrients than the "regular" version

You will still see plenty of labels that tout these claims, despite that the food never had them in the first place such as a bag of sugar proclaiming, "Fat Free!" Just be aware there is a lot of deception going on with our food labels.

+++ -------------- Ending Emotional Eating -------------------- +++

If you've taken seminars, read books, bought gadgets, and tried everything to lose the weight, but still nothing works, the answer may be in resolving the negative emotional issues that have kept you stuck.

The One More Bite 8-Week Ending Emotional Eating Workshop and/or private sessions may be the answer. Is now is the right time for you to end your obstacles to weight loss success? If yes, get started today.

More Info on 8-Wk Ending Emotional Eating Workshop and/or Private Sessions with Weight Loss Coach

If you Know You're Ready to Get Started Losing all the Weight You Want: Register Now

+++ ------------------------------------------------------------------- +++

New in Food News: Skippy Squeez' It: Lose the Knife

Once companies run out of ideas for new food combinations, they turn to packaging for new ideas. Brushing their teeth one night, someone thought, "Hey, why not put food in these tubes," and the food-in-tubes idea was born (I made that up. I don't know where the idea originated, in fact those hapless space pioneers were forced to endure food in tubes, but I'm getting sidetracked).

I saw these first in the produce aisle with certain herbs and spices which is a great idea, especially if you only occasionally need fresh basil for instance.

Skippy, the peanut butter folks, thought that squeeze tube sounded like a swell idea since no one likes the mess of making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Now just grab a slice of bread, and squeeze the nut butter right out nice and clean. Oops, you still need a knife if you want to spread it around. Maybe they figured you'd use the tube to do the spreading which could be pretty messy, or your fingers, which is ... alas, I'd say you still need the knife.

The idea may catch on for certain foodstuffs (the spice idea makes sense) but other than needing a compact source of food when camping or hiking, I'm not sure the tube food idea is prudent. It seems it would add unnecessarily to the already too high cost of food.

Check it out: At Safeway.com a regular sized jar of Skippy's creamy is $4.99 for 40 ounces or 13 cents an ounce. Our new squeeze tube is 9 ounces of Skippy creamy at $4.29 or 32 cents an ounce. Holy P B & J, Batman! That means if you paid the squeeze tube price for your regular jar of pnut butter you'd be paying $12.80 dollars. Okay, you decide. $4.29 or $12.80? It doesn't take a genius to see that fancy packaging is adding substantially to your food costs.

I'd say that's a miss. Convenience is a good thing but sometimes we can take it too far. Next they'll design something we wear and just squirt the food straight in, bypassing the need for any handling at all.

What's There to Eat in the Great Outdoors

I think about this: What if I were stuck in the wilderness. Could I survive? Would I know which plants to eat and which to avoid? It wouldn't be a bad idea for everyone to at least know a few basics about the foods we have available in our back yards and Wild Man Steve Brill is the expert.

School of Self Reliance

[This site is no longer updated or maintained] Check out the "Guide to Wild Foods" and other survival skills books. It makes sense to be able to fend for yourself in the wilderness, if need be. Recent disasters including 911 and the tsunami have made me think of whether I could descend 80 stories (my legs start to get sore after about three stories), or whether I could survive in the wilderness for a few days, let alone weeks. It also makes it easier to consider life without Krispy Kreme.

Food Trivia: Avoiding Flabby Greens

Q. "When serving a Luncheon Plate on which are a cold salad and also a hot meat and h!ot vegetables, should the plate be Cold, or should it be Hot?"

A. It seems to us that you would play safer in having the plate cold -- that is, not exactly set on ice, but at the temperature of the china closet. This because, though the hot foods predominate, yet the injury to the salad through the hot plate--melting the dressing and making the greens flabby and wilted--would outweigh the injury to the hot meat and vegetables, which would lose only an inappreciable portion of their heat.

-- American Cookery Aug - Sept 1927

People really used to talk like that! Holy smokes, and that was just 80 years ago. Just think how weird people will think we were come the year 2080.

See the One More Bite's Weight Loss Articles Archive for Dozens More Articles, Tips, and Great Finds for Real, Permanent Weight Loss

Why You May Never See this Newsletter, Despite Requesting it

About those * and ! and other weird characters in the newsletter. Filtering is a big problem, and without those silly spellings, many of you would never see your newsletter, despite that you asked to receive it. In an effort to get the Bits-n-Bites, Newsletter for people Who Chew to the majority of those who request it, I sometimes must munge the spellings of common words. Ridiculous words that won't allow delivery include

• hot (so I can't talk about the temperature of food)
• grapes (take away the "g" and that's why)
• market (filters hate any word having to do with selling, markets, etc.)
• friend (why? Don't know, but it's a fact)
• your own (they hate this too, but that's just dumb)

There are literally hundreds of words and phrases that trigger the filters, so if you subscibed, yet never receive any issues, your ISP or work place is likely filtering your mail (without your knowledge). The solution? Use a web based e-mail account such as Yahoo.com or Hotmail.com, then resubscribe and you'll be happily receiving the mail you asked to receive.

Yours in good eating,
Kathryn Martyn, M.NLP