THE PERFECT COUPLE

               THE FRESH DIET & WATER

                                        

                                                                                    

First of all, let me tell you about today's FRESH DIET meal. Breakfast was Toasted Granola with Diced Pears & Honey Almond Ricotta Cheese.  I love this breakfast, the best Granola I've had and a very satisfying way to start my busy day. 

Lunch was a very tasty Reuben Style Deli Wrap with Smoked Turkey Breast, Swiss Cheese, Baby Lettuce & Thousand Island Dressing. I love this wrap. I always toast my wraps on a dry non-stick grill. It's very tasty with the tortilla crispy and the melted cheese inside the wrap. UUMMM love it!  

The Snack was a Pistachio Crusted Chocolate Dipped Fig, which was as juicy as the figs right out of my backyard Fig tree! The chocolate on it is the best. The nuts add a nice little crunch.

Dinner tonight was a very generous  portion of Grilled Chicken Breast with Apricot Curry Sauce with Steamed Snow Peas and Steamed Asparagus.  I just love how THE FRESH DIET cooks their veggies to a crunch. Never overdone!  

Tonight's Dessert is a fresh Papaya Cheese Cake. It was so silky smooth and just melted in my mouth. Uummm love it!

Today's meals were very delicious and of course the best drink to go with them is water.

                              THE PERFECT COUPLE...THE FRESH DIET & WATER

As THE FRESH DIET has been trying to impress upon you every now and then, drinking water is important if you're trying to lose weight. Some studies have shown that thirst and hunger sensations are triggered together. If there is a slight dehydration, the thirst mechanism may be mistaken for hunger and one may eat when the body is actually craving fluid. As most food contains some water, if one doesn't drink much, they may be subconsciously driven to eat more to gain the necessary water supply, however, you also gain the undesired effects of increased calorie consumption. Drinking more water can help to prevent overeating and benefit weight loss.

All functions within the body require the presence of water. A well hydrated body enables these functions to occur quickly and efficiently. All chemical processes involve energy metabolism and drinking plenty of water will make us feel more energetic and boost our metabolic rate.

Water makes your metabolism burn calories 3% faster. Soooo DRINK UP!!!

Health Benefits of drinking water 

• regulate appetite
• increase metabolism
• boost energy levels
• less water retention
• alleviate some headaches
• help reduce blood pressure
• help reduce high cholesterol
•  ease joint pain
• decrease in risk of some cancers
• less chance developing kidney stones
• release toxic waste products
• improve skin

Brenda Davy, PhD, an associate professor of nutrition at Virginia Tech and senior author of a new study says that drinking just two 8-ounce glasses of water before meals helps people melt pounds away. People who drank this amount before eating a meal ate between 75 and 90 fewer calories during the meal.

Personally, I found that to make it easier to drink more water, it helped to use colorful glasses. A pretty color made it more appealing.

Whatever works for you, just remember THE FRESH DIET & WATER are THE PERFECT COUPLE.

POP, POP, POP-POP, POP, POP-POP

                                                                  

MOVIE THEATERS FILL BUCKETS...AND BELLIES

Ready to sit back and enjoy the movie? Not yet. First, the theatre is hoping you'll stop by the concession stand for a snack. You know, something light...like, say, a bucket of popcorn with the calories of a Hamburger plus a Quarter Pounder plus a Big Mac at McDonald's.

Surely, no one expects you to sit through a two-hour movie with nothing to eat or drink. After all, you're burning dozens of calories in there, what with that leg crossing, shifting around in your seat...and reaching for some popcorn.

With all that activity, you can really work up an appetite, especially if you're still growing And, sad to say many adults are.

What's the healthiest snack to buy at the movies? You can go for 400 to 1,200 calories' worth of popcorn that ( at many theaters) is essentially fried in one to three days' worth of saturated fat. Or you can buy a package of candy with 300 to 1,100 empty calories ( plus at least half a day's sat fat if it's chocolate). Soft drinks dispatch another 150 to 500 calories to your thirsty fat cells.  The best snack at the movies?  No snack at all.

Or, if you're like me, (I know, it's a no-no to bring something in) I enjoy a snack from THE FRESH DIET.  So many to choose from. Here are just a few of the savory and the sweet:

WITH  548 theaters in 39 states plus the District of Columbia, The REGAL ENTERTAINMENT GROUP is the largest chain in the United States. It pops in coconut oil, which is 90 percent saturated. ( In contrast, lard is 40 percent saturated).

Translation: A "small" popcorn (that's about 11 cups' worth) with no buttery topping has 34 grams of saturated fat. So even if you split it with a friend (unlikely), you each get nearly a day's worth of artery paste. And it gets worse from there.

A "medium" (20 cups) or a "large" (also 20 cups) has 60 grams of sat fat. Of course, a large means a free refill (YAY!), so there's no limit to the damage you can do.

Suggestion: Move your cardiologist's phone number to your speed dial before the lights go down.

Just kidding. It takes years to clog those arteries...and years for your blood pressure to respond to the salt shock (550 milligrams of sodium--a third of a day's worth... for a small and 980 mg for a medium or large. 

The calories,  on the other hand, may show up much sooner... and where you least want them.

Budget 670 for a small and 1,200 for a medium or large. You could think of each small as a Pizza Hut Pepperoni Pizza and each medium or large as two. But the two pizzas pack "only" a day's worth of sat fat--nowhere near the three days' worth in a medium or large popcorn.

How can a medium or large at Regal each hold the same 20 cups of popcorn? Simple. The taller medium comes in a bag with straight sides, while the squatter large comes in a tapered tub that's wider at the top. The tub sure looks like it holds more. Other than the free refill (shudder), why else would moviegoers pay $8 for a large (a medium is $7) ?

Another oopsy-daisy: According to Regal, a medium has 720 calories, while a large has 960 calories. Both are lower than the lab results from Nutrition Action. Oh well. What's an extra 200 to 500 calories when your snack hovers around the 1,000-calorie mark? They don't call them tubs for nothing. 

TOPPINGS: For customers who think plain popcorn isn't soaked in enough oil, Regal offers a "buttery" topping. According to Regal and the topping manufacturer, it adds 130 calories to a small, 200 calories to a medium, and 260 calories to a large. Nutrition Action analyzed the topping to make sure it had no trans fats. But they didn't check to see how much topping the concession staff at Regal----or any other chain---adds. Odds are, it varies. And odds are, it's more than what Regal claims.

                                                                            

THE FRESH DIET SAYS, "KEEP ON MOVING!"

                  LET ME COUNT THE WAYS

                                                                                   

                                                                              

 

                                                                                  
  

SIGNS OF A HEART ATTACK

We've all seen what a heart attack looks like in movies and on TV. A man clutches his chest in severe pain and (in some cases) keels over. That's not how most heart attacks happen.
They're more likely to start slowly with milder pain in the chest,. And instead of chest pain, some people report:


PRESSURE, squeezing, or a sense of fullness in the chest. It usually lasts more than a few minutes, or it may go away and return.

                                                                        
DISCOMFORT or pain in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach.

 SHORTNESS of breath.

 OTHER SIGNS like breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or lightheadedness.

     Women are more likely than men to experience nausea or vomiting, shortness of breath, or pain in the back of the jaw.
  In any case, the bottom line is the same for men and women: don't wait more than 5 minutes before calling 9-1-1. 
(Don't drive to the hospital yourself. You can get life-saving treatment in an ambulance, and you get there quicker.)       

THE FRESH DIET MEALS DESERVING OF A GARDEN SETTING

TODAY'S FRESH DIET MEALS




Looking at today's scrumptious FRESH DIET meals, I'm thinking...garden setting.  Beautiful refreshing Fresh Fruit Salad with juicy Mango, crisp White Grapes, Pear, Honeydew that's so sweet, it makes me want to sing, and my favorite berry of all, Strawberries, with a wonderful topping of Coconut Cottage Cheese.


As for today, the garden setting will have to wait for lunch. I couldn't wait, I'm dining on this delectable Fresh Fruit Salad as I'm writing this blog. Hahaha! After taking this photo, I snatched a strawberry and enjoyed it so much, one piece of fruit led to another. So here I am enjoying every morsel.


Aaaah lunch! What's my favorite food of all? Salmon! As you can see in the photo, lunch is a Salmon Ceasar Wrap on Spinach Tortilla with Romaine Lettuce & Ceasar Dressing. Beautifully prepared by my world-renowned Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute Executive Chef Yosef Schwartz's Los Angeles Team.  Since this dish has bread involved, and I love all my breads toasted, I will briefly toast it on my grill. This wrap is so delicious and the salmon so tender, I've got to sit in my ROSE garden and enjoy every moment of it. As you probably can tell by now, I'm a foodie.
Since I've let you in on my lunch, I'll give you a peek at some of my ROSES. Since these photos were taken very early in the morning, they have marine layer mist on them.
( you may click on each photo to see a larger view)

The top photo, The rose is called LOVE. Can you just see why!  It's unusual where white is outside of the petal and red is inside. There's a little story behind this rose bush. 
A few years ago when I was visiting my neighbor, she had had a recent surgery at the time,  and her friends had given her lots of plants and flowers.  I noticed a dead looking potted rose in her trash, that she had thrown out. I told her it might not be dead. She said it most likely was. Seeing that I was so interested in saving it, she gave it to me, again telling me it was a waste of my time. I brought the poor thing home with me. I planted it, it really looked dead! I stubbornly watered it, fed it, and babied it. Slooowly, very slooowly, it came back to life. Now, it's taller than I am. I feed my darlings, every six weeks and prune them religiously.  I've planted my flowers in gardens that can be seen from every window in the house.  The first thing I see when I wake, are beautiful flowers. It's a great way to start my day.

This one, called Joseph's Coat, can be seen from the kitchen window, as well as one of the bedrooms.  Joseph's Coat has many colors. As a bud, it looks red, as it opens, the colors are more dark orange and yellow with a tinge of red. Joseph's Coat is worthy of a painting.

What can I say about this one... delicate beauty...it just doesn't do it justice!

Wow! What else can I say! This one I can see from at least four windows. That brings sunshine to my day. All this gardening , even though it has compromised my back, was worth it and still is. 

This little beauty can be seen right from my bed!! First thing I see in the morning. Just enough to put a smile on my face, get me out of bed, ready to start my day in a very good mood. La Vie en Rose! Mais oui!

This one looks so feminine, so delicate, very pink! A real beauty.

Here's my peppermint stripe rose. Close up, it actually looks like a painting! This one can be seen from two windows. This is a climber, like the Joseph's Coat.

This is where I sit for lunch. I painted this table red, I thought it would add interest to the garden. It was getting all rusty and I had to really brush it first with a metal brush before painting it last spring. Here in the next photo you can see part of it. The next photo was taken in the very early spring, could have been late winter, it's hard to tell around here. Flowers are almost always in bloom!

I guess you can't see all the raised paint on this table, the worst was the other half that is not showing. In any case it came out good. Like new!  As for my snack today I had it in the potting shed...I had a lot of work that had to be done in there. While I get that photo, let me show you a few more roses.

This rose, which is by the front gate is called, Double Delight. You can see why!

                The next rose can be seen from the bedroom window.

  Snack was a delicious Vanilla Pecan Pudding and since I was very busy in the garden today, I had it in my work area, the potting shed. I also painted the whole potting shed in the spring, it truly needed it. Here's a photo of it.

                                                                                
Do you like the Jasmine Vine that I planted on the potting shed? It's soooo fragrant, it wafts right into my bedroom window, which is across from it.


Dinner is a wonderful Filet of Salmon with Spiced Pomegranate Sauce with Rosemary Carrot Mash and Sauteed Kale. As you all know by now, this is one of my favorite meals. The Salmon was so very tender again and the Carrot Mash was very fragrant. It reminded me of the Rosemary in my own garden. 
Did you know that Rosemary here in CA grows so well? It's a perennial that grows into a bush! I have a lot of those in my yard. It's a very fragrant yard!! 
Getting back to dinner, The Kale is one of my favorite vegetables. THE FRESH DIET Team does such a geat job preparing it.


Dessert is Raspberry Cheese Cake. This is a special dessert. As far as I'm concerned, it should be eaten in a very special environment. It's really delicious anywhere but why not dine on it in an environment like in the next photo.

     California has such beautiful SUNSETS, the beach is a great place to bring my cheese cake and enjoy both at the same time. 
 This has been a day in the life of my FRESH DIET MEALS. I wonder what tomorrow will bring!

THE FRESH DIET KNOWS THEIR TELOMERES & OMEGA-3s

Wasabi Crusted Salmon Salad with Cucumber, Tomato, Hearts of Palm, Baby Lettuce & Dill Dressing




The longer your telomeres, the longer you're likely to live. And the omega-3 fats in fish (DHA and EPA) may keep your telomeres from shortening. 
Telomeres are the proactive caps at the ends of chromosones. Each time a cell divides, its telomeres shrink. So shorter telomeres are a sign that your cells are getting old. They're also linked to a higher risk of heart disease.
Between 2000 and 2002, reserchers measured the length of telomeres in the white blood cells of roughly 600 San Francisco Bay-area residents with heart disease. Five years later, those who started out with the highest blood levels of DHA and EPA had the least telomere shortening, while those who started out with the lowest levels had the most shortening. The results weren't influenced by income, education, blood pressure,weight, cholesterol, smoking, statins, vitamins, exercise, or other factors.


What to do: It won't be clear whether fish oil can preserve telomeres until reserchers give the oil (or a placebo) to people and measure their telomeres. But based on the evidence that fish oil protects the heart, it's worth eating fatty fish like salmon twice a week.  That should supply, on average, about 500 to 1,000 milligrams a day of DHA plus EPA. 
If you have heart disease, follow the American Heart Association's advice to take a daily fish oil supplement with 1,000 mg of DHA plus EPA to make sure you get enough. 
(Taking more than 3,000 mg a day may cause bleeding).


What I do: I put it in the capable hands of The Executive Chef Yosef Schwartz and his culinary team of THE FRESH DIET to take care of my dietary needs. He knows what the body needs. He makes it easy and wonderfully flavorful.