Twas the night before Thanksgiving

And all through the house

Not a creature was stirring

not even a “fat” mouse.

The pots were a stuffed by the kitchen with care

With hope that a turkey and stuffing soon would be there.

I’ll let you fill in the rest……

So, I hope you all had a proper breakfast.

I just had egg beaters, a piece of whole wheat toast and green tea. I’m off to LA for meeting and a lunch, where I know I will have this great salad with shredded chicken and dressing on the side.

Then dinner tonight is more grilled chicken, Greek salad and a baked, russet potato.

That’s my plan. What’s yours?

Jim

Already the calls are coming into our Chicago and New York office with messages such as:

1. I have to cancel my sessions for all of next week as I have family coming into town.

2. I have to cancel my sessions for all of next week as I have to get 5 days of work done in 2.

3. I have to cancel my sessions for all of next week as I have to leave town on Wednesday night.

All three of these scenarios are a disaster. I promise you, they will all gain weight and will really NOT get back on a regular training schedule until after the first of the year and after gaining between 8-12 pounds.

See, the biggest problem is they are already planning to fail. You can tell it in their message. They have NO desire to change their behavior this time of the year, so they are just throwing in the towel.

Please don’t do that. Many of you have worked hard this year to get some weight off. Don’t relapse in the last 5 weeks of the year and gain it all back.

Jim

It’s already happening.

I just ran into the grocery store and there were samples E V E R Y W H E R E.

Please stay away from those temptations.

And don’t go to the store hungry in the first place.

Good luck.

Jim

Forgot to add, I call movie theatre popcorn “Death In A Box” as you easily will speed up your death by regularly eating it.

And that’s all for popcorn today!

Yesterday, one of my newsletters came and the cover was about the enormous amount of calories and fat in movie theatre popcorn.

This is OLD news.

I have been saying for almost two decades that movie theatre popcorn is a disaster when it comes to calories, fat and sodium.

I know all the media is going to say that it is something that you can eat every now and then, but if you are on a weight loss plan, one medium sized popcorn can set you back for an entire week.

Like soup in a restaurant or salad bar, just eliminate movie theatre popcorn. Pop some Healthy Choice at home. It’s only 250 calories and I eat it all the time.

Jim

Interesting segment on “Good Morning America” about supplements.

You really do have to be careful about what you are taking as people either:

1. Take too much

2. Feel they don’t have to make wise food choices as they are taking a supplement

So please, if you are taking supplements, bring them to your next annual physical and talk about them with your doctor. Don’t just read an article about some new “miracle” pill and decide to pop it.

Jim

Yes, the CDC showed that 20.8% of U.S. adults ages 18 and over, or about 46 million people, were smokers, in 2008, up slightly from 19.8% in 2007.

Just like obesity, this trend HAS to stop and the only way to reverse both trends is for people to take personal responsibility.

Look, I smoke for many years, but quit when I turned 21. It is a tough habit to break, but you can succeed, as millions have in the past.

And obesity, well, I think you know my opinion. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, so it’s considered acceptable to be overweight. I totally disagree!

Jim

To pack on pounds , you would have to eat 54 apples, or 875 strawberries!

Unless you eat two or three watermelons or a peck of apples on top of a regulars days food . You’d have to stay pretty dam determined about fruit eating to do any real damage to your waistline !! It is a diet buddy, not a diet saboteur!

Jim again - I TOTALLY agree with the doctor.

Here is a study just reported in “The New York Times:”

Nutrition: Chocolate Milk May Reduce Inflammation

By RONI CARYN RABIN
Published: November 9, 2009

Move over, red wine. Make room for chocolate milk. A new study suggests that regular consumption of skim milk with flavonoid-rich cocoa may reduce inflammation, potentially slowing or preventing development of atherosclerosis. Researchers noted, however, that the effect was not as pronounced as that seen with red wine

Scientists in Barcelona, Spain, recruited 47 volunteers ages 55 and older who were at risk for heart disease. Half were given 20-gram sachets of soluble cocoa powder to drink with skim milk twice a day, while the rest drank plain skim milk. After one month, the groups were switched.

Blood tests found that after participants drank chocolate milk twice a day for four weeks, they had significantly lower levels of several inflammatory biomarkers, though some markers of cellular inflammation remained unchanged.

Participants also had significantly higher levels of good HDL cholesterol after completing the chocolate milk regimen, according to the study, which appears in the November issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and is already online.

“Since atherosclerosis is a low-grade inflammatory disease of the arteries, regular cocoa intake seems to prevent or reduce” it, said Dr. Ramón Estruch of the University of Barcelona, the paper’s senior author, adding that more studies were needed.

Back to me - I say this is stupid because just eating whole wheat carbs and more fruits and vegetables can reduce inflammation. So can folic acid.

To tell our OBESE population to start drinking chocolate milk is insane since all the research points to the fact that liquid calories don’t make us feel full.

Jim