Weigh down and Way down--cult leader Gwen Shamblin

The New Year is always a time for resolving to lose the extra pounds packed on during the fall and holiday season.  That said, I was only casually familiar with the Gwen Shamblin diet plan called "Weigh Down." [established in the late 80s]   I have a vague memory of seeing her book [1997] about the diet plan on our church library shelves and maybe 20 years ago I believe there may have been a group of her followers/dieters at our church.  Gwen, her husband, her son-in-law and some friends died in a plane crash in Tennessee in late May.  It was completely off my radar (excuse the pun) and I hadn't heard about it.  I just found out that she had moved from diet planner and nutritionist to a prophet and leader of a cult that denied the Trinity and still claimed to be "Bible based" and a follower of Christ. She taught that the Father was physical being and the Son was created, and the Spirit was Christ's teaching.  She isolated her followers, and said her plan was the way to salvation. She said the teachings of grace were a license to sin. There is a documentary about her and the cult, called "Remnant Fellowship" Gwen Shamblin: The Documentary | Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc (midwestoutreach.org) 

 Al Kresta, a Roman Catholic (EWTN) recently did a monologue on his radio show about the difference between ignorance and arrogant.  Many Christians, he noted, are ignorant about church history and the Bible, but others become arrogant and decide they know better than 2000 years of church teaching and all the scholars and church leaders and believers of the past. Shamblin he put among the arrogant. He said her ignorance about church history was breath taking.

 Unfortunately, if they have even a smidgen of charisma or a few Bible verses to hang their teachings on, they can find followers.  If you think there are oppressed peoples among the intersectionality groups (LBGTQ, women, minorities), there's no group as oppressed as the obese and they are quite vulnerable to affirmation/manipulation and new ideas to retain their dignity and humanity in a world that ridicules them.

"On Aug. 10 [2000], Mrs. Shamblin disavowed the Trinity, the Christian belief that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are united in one Godhead. She also invited people to the Remnant Fellowship, an 80-member nondenominational church she and her accountant husband had formed.

Almost overnight, what slimmed down fastest were the ranks of Mrs. Shamblin's Weigh Down Workshop followers. Thousands of churches that embraced Mrs. Shamblin in their battle against gluttony have dropped the program." . . .  

"In eight years, Weigh Down became the biggest in a wave of Bible-based diets. It now operates in 70 countries and 60 denominations. Groups of five and more meet weekly, mainly at churches. They pay $103 apiece for a 12-week workshop, including workbooks.

"Diets made God look stupid," Mrs. Shamblin asserts. "He was the chef behind lasagna. He loves sour cream. He was not happy that broccoli became righteous while Haagen Dazs became sin."" 

Church Lady of Diet Weighs In On Trinity and Her Flock Flees (culteducation.com)  (Wall St. Journal article from October 2000)

Shamblin became another very wealthy religious celebrity selling deceit and lies, and according to an article I read, left nothing to Remnant Fellowship in her will.  Another story said her daughter (whose husband also died in the crash) will continue with the teachings of the cult.

‘This is a cult’: inside the shocking story of a religious weight-loss group | Documentary | The Guardian

Inside Gwen Shamblin Lara’s creepy weight loss cult - News Flash

Gwen Shamblin's will leaves nothing to Remnant Fellowship (newschannel5.com)

What's Up With Weigh Down? My Brush With A Dangerous Cult (spiritwatch.org)  (Personal testimony)

https://youtu.be/w5SA1yVrB6A  When her Trinity views alienated followers

https://youtu.be/FTvE1ICKFZA  (includes a video clip of her using the Covid lockdown to promote her church/beliefs/weight loss program)

Note: I'm not familiar with any of the websites or news channels that I've listed here. I don't claim they have any more authority than the cults they describe.  But making weight loss equal to salvation is certainly not Biblical.

Cutting back after the shut down

After the lock up/ shut down/ shut up is over, half the adults will be going on a diet (my estimate). Here's some tips:

My observation is that diet drinks and special diet foods make people fat. They don't taste right and create a craving for more food. Use less, or just add your own water or milk, which is often the first ingredient.

EPA reports if you remove 100 lbs of junk from the trunk or back seat, your car's fuel efficiency will improve by 2%. Same with your body. Remove 10% of your body weight from your trunk or back seat and it will improve your own energy efficiency. I think I'll try that 10% and I still might weigh more than Bob .

Women who weigh themselves every day are on average 7-8 lbs lighter than those who don't.

Move! Obese people tend to sit for 150 more minutes a day than their lean counterparts.

Losing the sloppy jeans and t-shirt and getting a good haircut will make you look 10lbs thinner, even if you don't lose a pound.

Eat less, move more. ELMM. Shop the outside aisles at the grocery store.

And remember: A BMI of below 25 can't be normal if so few people are there.

I’d planned to start today, but had 2 slices of peanut butter toast for breakfast.  Maybe tomorrow. . .

My exercise log turned 8,000 today

In late December 2014 I had a check up and the scale at Dr. Bush’s office said 170 (which I call 165 on mine).  So I started a log for riding my exercycle and told myself I’d ride to Jeanne’s home in Indianapolis, about 180 miles and back.  When I met that goal I said how about Debbie’s in California (Bob’s other sister).  Meanwhile I started using my Silver Sneakers membership at the Metro next to Panera’s on Bethel road.  So I recorded miles (and for awhile minutes, but that ended in a few weeks) in a small notebook for which I’d had no use.  Today, on the second notebook I logged in 8,000!  My routine usually is to go to Lifetime Fitness on Henderson Rd near by, but I’m down to about 4 miles (3 on cycle and 1 on treadmill), but if it’s nice I walk maybe a mile outside, and occasionally use the treadmill in my office while watching the news. I’d also been doing a resistance routine and some regular stretching, but when we got back from Lakeside on Labor Day, that sort of dropped off.

Looking back through the first log I see I was far more successful at weight loss in 2015 than in 2019.  After 6 months of logging my miles, I’d lost 30 pounds—obviously I also stuck to my tried and true diet plan of “eat less move move” aka ELMM. I’ve put about 13 back on.
I was working on our Spain travel plans then, both saving money and trying to lose weight for all the walking we’d be doing.  Unfortunately, I developed bursitis and did have to carry a cane much of the time in Spain. To save money, I stopped having my hair colored ($500/year), gave up my morning coffee (about $2/day) at Panera’s, sold a piece of pottery for $500, rolled the change in the piggy bank (about $200) and cashed in some points on our Freedom Card, about $200. Saving money for me is easier than losing weight!

Riitta and I on the stairs in Gaudalest September 2015

April 2015 with new exercise outfit

I stepped on the scale today

It's adding up. Patio donuts—cinnamon, chocolate, vanilla are my favs; peanut butter on toast; cheese on crackers; honey on biscuits; fried potatoes, eggs and sausage for the breakfast special after Sunday services; the pie lady at the Farmer's Market; bowls of ice cream on the porch with friends; hosting a block party; going to the CIC club for brunch with John and Katie; invites to Arlene and Roger’s peach cobbler. Over my adult life I've lost about 130 pounds beginning in college, but usually 20 pounds here and there (1960, 1983, 1986, 1993, 2006, 2015). And the last time, 2015, it was 30 lbs.! and it's time to suck it up, pull it in, and stop having so much fun.

What’s bad is good, and good is bad

Do you ever have the feeling that "science" isn't very scientific? Wine. Chocolate. Coffee. Butter. Fat. All the things we were taught were bad, and now they are good. And now variety which we were all taught was good, might not be?

https://www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/dietnutrition/74498

Happy New Year 2018

Have to learn to write a new date.

 Pete and Peg are my in-laws once removed, brother and sister-in-law of our son-in-law

I don't plan to do this, but thought it was funny.  Everyone is dieting.

Diets work; maintenance doesn't

All diets work, it seems.  At least for awhile. http://www.dietsinreview.com/  This site rates the most successful.  For me, it's always ELMM.  Eat Less, Move More.  The problem is that darn metabolism. My body just doesn't seem to like 135 lbs. which is where I feel the best and is a comfortable size 8. The summer of 2015 I was 135 lbs, then we went to Spain had delicious meals compliments of our hosts the Tulamos, and it bounced up a bit (great food and wine with most meals).  Then the summer of 2016 I was back at about 136 lbs. and now at about 145 and have been since Christmas.

I've recently looked at some of the fasting methods, and realize that's actually what I've done in the past.  For instance, sometimes on Monday I don't eat a full meal until supper, or some days I have breakfast and lunch, but not supper. There's a lot of research on the benefits of even brief fasting, such as 24 hour (not eating after 6 p.m. and nothing but liquids until the evening of the next day), or 2 days a week, like Monday and Thursday, or eating your total calories during an 8 hour period or 10 hour period.

A website about 5 methods of fasting lists occasional fasting as #2. I find this needs almost no self control--however, most of my beverages do have some calories, like watered down juice or coffee with cream. I just have to do it.

2. Eat Stop Eat

Started by: Brad Pilon
Best for: Healthy eaters looking for an extra boost.

It’s all about moderation: You can still eat whatever you want, but maybe not as much of it. A slice of birthday cake is OK, but the whole cake isn’t.

How It Works: Fast for 24 hours once or twice per week. During the 24 hour fast, which creator Brad Pilon prefers to call a “24 break from eating,” no food is consumed, but you can drink calorie-free beverages. After the fast is over, you then go back to eating normally. “Act like you didn’t fast,” Pilon says. “Some people need to finish the fast at a normal mealtime with a big meal, while others are OK ending the fast with an afternoon snack. Time it however works best for you, and adjust your timing as your schedule changes,” he says. 

The main rationale? Eating this way will reduce overall calorie intake without really limiting what you’re able to eat — just how often, according to Eat Stop Eat. It’s important to note that incorporating regular workouts, particularly resistance training, is key to succeeding on this plan if weight loss or improved body composition are goals. 

Pros: While 24 hours may seem like a long time to go without food, the good news is that this program is flexible. You don’t have to go all-or-nothing at the beginning. Go as long as you can without food the first day and gradually increase fasting phase over time to help your body adjust. Pilon suggests starting the fast when you are busy, and on a day where you have no eating obligations (like a work lunch or happy hour). 

Another perk? There are no “forbidden foods,” and no counting calories, weighing food or restricting your diet, which makes it a bit easier to follow. That said, this isn’t a free-for-all. “You still have to eat like a grown-up,” Pilon says. It’s all about moderation: You can still eat whatever you want, but maybe not as much of it. (A slice of birthday cake is OK, he says, but the whole cake isn’t.) 

Cons: Going 24 hours without any calories may be too difficult for some — especially at first. Many people struggle with going extended periods of time with no food, citing annoying symptoms including headaches, fatigue, or feeling cranky or anxious (though these side effects can diminish over time). The long fasting period can also make it more tempting to binge after a fast. This can be easily fixed… but it takes a lot of self-control, which some people lack.   http://dailyburn.com/life/health/intermittent-fasting-methods/

 http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/06/short-term-fasting-may-improve-health

"When you don’t eat for a while, several things happen in your body. For example, your body initiates important cellular repair processes and changes hormone levels to make stored body fat more accessible. . . Studies show that intermittent fasting can improve numerous risk factors for heart disease such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, triglycerides and inflammatory markers. . . Increased autophagy [waste removal]  may provide protection against several diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer’s disease  "
 https://authoritynutrition.com/10-health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting/

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-benefits-of-fasting-that-will-surprise-you.html

Losing a father

Forty years ago in 1977 we flew to California with our children for an extended visit with my in-laws, Bob and Rosemary. My husband's father, a large athletic man, bigger than either son, had lost about 50 pounds that year, as had my own father, and my husband's step-dad, Jim. I had lost one entire father just from their dieting.

It's that time again

Low fat and no fat diets may be dangerous to your health

If you want to make a New Year's resolution that should be easy to keep, give up low-fat or no fat food items. For 40 years the U.S. has been on the fast track to obesity problems--diabetes, more cardiovascular problems, and decreased exercise and activity because it's just tough to do it with all those extra pounds that damage knees and hips. Now it turns out the the U.S. government, the professional nutrition organizations, academic researchers and the food processing companies (which followed government guidelines) probably had it wrong.

When I was a child about 40% of our calories came from fat--mostly animal fat. My mother cooked with lard, we drank whole milk (cream would freeze and push up the cap when the delivery was on the porch), we used butter, we ate eggs and bacon, but sugar especially when rationed during WWII and Korea was used frugally. Somewhere along the way my mother was swayed by articles on nutrition published in women's magazines--and in the 60s and 70s she switched to margarine and 2% milk, she was cautious with eggs, and bacon probably wasn't used. Lard became Crisco and then Safflower Oil and Peanut Oil for her fabulous pies.

For 40 years Americans tried to decrease their use of fat--we (at least I) bought low-fat or no-fat salad dressing, skim milk, low-fat sour cream, skinny bread, and added carbs just as the government recommended, and sugar was added to processed food to make them palatable, as the flavor and satiety  was gone. Special chemicals were added to provide texture and thickening. So we just ate more of everything because the food didn't taste or feel right and didn't satisfy. And we all got fatter and less healthy; cardiovascular diseases which had been on the decrease, began to increase; diabetes which had been relatively rare became an epidemic. In studies of low-fat, high carb diets, those studied had higher rates of premature death, not lower as was expected. Industry went along because there was a profit to be made--ordinary products like dairy and cereal were advertised as low fat; diet products proliferated and became a huge industry as did weight reduction surgery and weight clubs and support groups. Exercise products and clubs sprung up.

Researchers know more about the human body in 2016 than they did in 1966--men and women aren't the same (no matter which pronoun is demanded), blacks and Asians aren't the same, teens and elderly aren't the same, children are not just small adults, our grandparents did actually pass along culture as well as genes, and you just can't change thousands of years of evolution of our bodies' response to famine and plenty by having the USDA or HHS mandate food for school lunches and grants for academic research.

So put some butter on that toast, and fry up some bacon and enjoy the New Year while you wait for the next expert to report on why we need to believe them about climate change.

 http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2564564

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2015/12/16/dr-david-ludwig-clears-up-carbohydrate-confusion/

 

 

Changing The Conversation From Dieting To Mindful Eating….

Jean Fain is the author of  http://www.jeanfain.com/newsletters.html.  She had an opportunity to interview neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt about her ideas on the downside of dieting. Ms. Aamodt has a Ted Talk and a NYT editorial piece about mindful eating.

Q. As a therapist specializing in eating issues, I’m well aware of mindful eating’s many benefits. But for those who’ve never stopped and savored a raisin, how do you define mindful eating and what advantages does it have over dieting? 

A. I define it as eating with attention and joy, without judgment. That includes attention to hunger and fullness, to the experience of eating and to its effects on our bodies. As we learn to clearly observe how food tastes and how it makes us feel, we naturally start making more satisfying choices. Mindful eating views food as an ally, while dieting treats it as an enemy, leading to constant struggles between willpower and temptation. That's one reason that the results of mindful eating look better in the long-term than in the short-term, while dieting shows the opposite pattern.

Q. After three decades of trying and failing to lose the same 10-15 pounds, you resolved to stop dieting and start eating mindfully. What prompted that resolution?

A. I didn't exactly fail to lose those pounds. Instead I succeeded one time too many. The main trouble with diets is that they work in the short term, but they fail in the long term. As I started to look into the research showing that almost all dieting is yo-yo dieting in practice, I realized that my story was typical, a result of my brain working as it should to protect me from starvation. Knowing that, it didn't make sense to keep doing the same thing and expect different results. The resolution, which I made for New Year's in 2010, was an experiment. I didn't know how well it would work, but I knew that I needed to try something new because the old way was costing a lot of energy and delivering little payoff.

Q. Judging from the firestorm your recent NY Times op-ed incited, not everyone is ready to ditch dieting and their big weight-loss dreams. In fact, if Reddit commenters are any indication, dieting is as popular as ever. So, I’m curious, who are your ideal readers and how do you hope your book impacts them?

A. My strongest hope is that parents will read the book and realize that expressing anxiety about children's bodies is not going to make them thinner. Instead, it's likely to lead to weight gain and increase the risk of eating disorders. The easiest place to break the cycle of diet obsession, I think, is at that parent-child relationship, before a lifetime of weight cycling has gotten started. The other class of readers I hope to reach is people like me, who are tired of repeated dieting that isn't getting them anywhere and looking for a better way.

Q. While you couldn’t be more clear that mindful eating doesn’t guarantee weight loss, you can be sure that a good number of readers will expect to lose weight doing as you’ve done -- eat mindfully without restriction for six months to a year. What do you have to say to them?

A. Whether or not you hope to lose weight, the process of learning to eat mindfully will go better if you don't make that a goal. Part of the point of mindful eating is to loosen the grip of cognitive controls on your food choices, so you can let the brain regulate hunger as it's done successfully for hundreds of thousands of years. Try mindful eating for the benefits you can count on, such as developing a good relationship with food or being able to apply your willpower to being a better partner, parent, or worker instead of using it up in repeated attempts to fit into smaller pants.

Q. As of your 2013 Ted Talk, you’d lost 10 pounds. How goes the weight maintenance?

A. I'm still wearing the blue dress I chose for that talk. As long as my lifestyle is stable, my weight stays the same. Last year I had an injury that stopped me from exercising for several months, and I gained five or 10 pounds. When I became active again, my weight dropped back to normal within a month, without any particular effort.

Q. You say you can’t learn mindful eating from a book, and I couldn’t agree with you more. How did you learn to eat mindfully and how do you suggest readers do the same?

A. I learned on my own, without any previous training in mindfulness. I started by deciding to pay attention to how my body felt before and after eating for an entire year. It ended up taking me about six months to learn how to eat mindfully. Early on, I had trouble figuring out whether I was hungry, I think partly because I was invested in getting the "right" answer -- the one that agreed with my preconceptions about whether I should be hungry at the moment. I also had trouble detecting fullness before I'd overeaten. With time and attention, both hunger and fullness signals became stronger. Now I automatically notice when it's time to stop eating, even if I'm deep in conversation. Shaking off the guilt and learning to fully enjoy food was a slower process, which has greatly enhanced my quality of life.

For people who don't feel comfortable learning on their own, there are a variety of books and workshops that provide mindful eating exercises. But no matter how you approach the experience, you can't skip the exercises and expect to learn anything just by reading or listening. Mindful eating requires experimenting -- "playing with your food," as Jean Kristeller says -- until you learn what works for you and how it feels to eat according to hunger. 

Q. How do you understand why mindful eating helped you stop eating donuts, but not ice cream?

A. The simple answer is that I learned to taste my food. When I was dieting, there was so much chatter in my head about "should" and "must" and "don't" around food that it often drowned out the basic experience of eating. Once I learned to pay less attention to those voices and more attention to the physical sensations, I discovered that I didn't like some of the foods I'd been using to cheat on my diet, like donuts or Doritos. But I still love other treats, like ice cream and strawberry shortcake.

Closing Thoughts….

Yes, even the most mindful eater can gain weight as Aamodt did when she got sidelined from exercise. Fortunately, mindful eating has taught her to trust that, even if life throws her a curve ball and she gains a few pounds, her weight generally takes care of itself. In my professional opinion, that’s as good as it gets. 

Why you can't lose weight on a diet

Protections for special groups, but not the majority?

Obama  is offering special protections for the .3% of Americans that are supposedly confused about their gender and he's demanding the rest of us pay for their fantasies of body mutilation.  One has actually sued her employers because they use a pronoun s/he objects to.  Where are the special accommodations for other groups who are bullied, ridiculed, or can't find suitable clothing or furniture? Especially women. 

82% of black women, 77.2% of Hispanic women, and 63.2% of white women have been declared overweight or obese by researchers funded by the government. They endure a lot, including bathroom stalls designed for size 6 women, and airline seats for people no bigger than a size 10. Ridiculous portion sizes. They've been taunted by everyone from classmates to doctors to academics to wait staff, and all the government does is publish more papers on how they need to change their eating habits and life style. I'm not suggesting that you not be allowed to comment on Hillary's weight and pants suits, or Chris Christie's girth, but where is their protection from the size bigots and butt bullies? Where's your compassion, Mr. President?

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/gim/research/content/obesity.html

 http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/overweight-weight-loss.html

 https://report.nih.gov/categorical_spending.aspx

https://phpartners.org/obesity.html

 http://www.mrctv.org/blog/taxpayers-continue-spend-millions-find-out-why-lesbians-are-fat

Self-Compassion-Based Eating Awareness Training

That’s the title of a workshop.  Supposed to teach one to trust her taste buds and loose weight, but with “mindfulness” (aka Hindu meditation).  Ha. Self compassion for me meant slices of cheddar on crackers, and baking lots of cookies.

I trusted my taste buds and “felt my hunger” 3 years ago and put on 30 pounds, which I’ve now taken off the old fashioned way—eat less, move more.

Five no-no white edibles

I ran into a friend last night we see only in the summer.  She’s lost about 20 lbs since I last saw her and looks and feels great.  I asked her how she did it, and she said she gave up 5 white things.  1)  White sugar, 2) white flour, 3) white rice, 4) white shortening, Crisco, 5) and white potatoes.  To give up sugar she said she had to detox for 2 weeks, and got headaches and the shakes.  Wow.  Sugar was never my problem, I’m a potato chip and cheese crackers gal, and I didn’t eat a lot of rice (although now I am eating brown rice), and flour was only if I baked, of which I don’t do much.  Potatoes are a powerhouse of nutrition—so I still eat those on occasion.  She’s hoping to get off all her medications.  Her doctor said she was obese and laid down the law.  I couldn’t even get a doctor to tell me I was over weight when I complained about leg pain.  I’ve been using an exercyle, but she uses some sort of trampoline thingy because she has bad feet and it provides a nice cushion.  She loves it.  We both expressed some concern about our wrinkles.  Fat is such a great crease filler!  She has beautiful skin, and no wrinkles at all on her face (so far with 20 lb gone), so we’ll see.   I’ve lost 30 lbs., and only gave up my “triggers,” those things that make me eat more (I bear no responsibility—ha, ha) like peanut butter, cheese, and potato chips, plus any meal that needs a few pieces of bread to hold it together. So I’m eating a lot more fruits and vegetables, more beans, brown rice, onions, red cabbage, dark lettuce and greens, more fat free yogurt and less meat, fewer potatoes. I’ve added 35-40 minutes a day of exercise.  I hate exercise.  In 6 months I think I’ve had French Fries twice and maybe potato chips once. I added in my dark chocolate drink, which satisfies a lot of cravings. Every BODY is different.  Find your spot and stay there.

2013 at 165 lbs and counting (it went up)

2015 ca. 140 lbs (not sure of the date)

Anti-inflammatory diets

They are all similar, and they all sell books.  This article from 2008 in WebMD lists the components. These articles all have enriched links (for making money to support the website).

Specifics vary from diet to diet, but in general anti-inflammatory diets suggest:

• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.
• Minimize saturated and trans fats.
• Eat a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish or fish oil supplements and walnuts.
• Watch your intake of refined carbohydrates such as pasta and white rice.
• Eat plenty of whole grains such as brown rice and bulgur wheat.
• Eat lean protein sources such as chicken; cut back on red meat and full-fat dairy foods.
• Avoid refined foods and processed foods.
• Spice it up. Ginger, curry, and other spices can have an anti-inflammatory effect.

From Molly’s Fund in 2013: Here are the basics of the anti-inflammatory diet (all versions vary, but this is the general proposal for all:

• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables.
• Minimize saturated and trans fats.
• Eat a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish or fish oil supplements and walnuts.
• Limit your intake of refined carbohydrates such as pasta and white rice.
• Eat lots of whole grains such as brown rice and bulgur wheat.
• Choose lean protein sources such as chicken; cutting back on red meat and full-fat dairy foods.
• Avoid refined foods and processed foods.
• Use spices like ginger, curry, and other spices that have been shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect.

Reading through the paleo diet, I think one could starve in place. You’d at least have a problem at restaurants and parties.

Carrot Cake Smoothie
Serves 1

1 cup chopped carrots
1 frozen banana
6oz cup Chobani Pineapple Greek Yogurt
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or milk of your choice )
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add almond milk as needed to acquire your desired thickness.
Note: For a vegan option, omit the Greek yogurt (and almond milk) and sub with 1 cup of coconut milk instead.

I haven’t tried this—just using it as an example of something on a Lupus page.  I like making smoothies in my blender—have never tried adding oats.

The China Study has been around a long time—about arthritis and plant food.

Penn Jillette’s 105 lb. weight loss

Penn Jillette (atheist, libertarian entertainer) was on Glenn Beck again last night, and I'd noticed his weight loss the last time, so I looked it up. 105 lbs. Even on 6'7" that shows.

“I was on six very powerful meds to bring the blood pressure down,” Jillette, 60, tells PEOPLE. “My doctor said I needed to get my weight down, and if I brought it down 30 or 40 lbs. it would be a little easier to control. And then he said something in passing that completely blew my mind – he said, ‘If you got down to 230, you probably wouldn’t need any of the meds.’ ”

I don't think I could follow his diet. http://greatideas.people.com/2015/04/08/penn-jillette-weight-loss-las-vegas-home/

His typical daily diet consists of an “enormous salad” with vinegar as dressing for lunch (he doesn’t usually eat breakfast) and a dinner consisting of 3 lbs. of greens and three servings of black or brown rice with a vegetable stew, along with lots of fruits for dessert (his favorite is “an enormous amount of blueberries with plain cocoa powder”) and vegetables with vinegar or Tabasco sauce as a snack.

Notice the cocoa powder? Good for cognitive function and weight loss.

Collard greens soup and baked butternut squash

with a side of black beans and brown rice.  That’s the sort of things I’m eating these days for lunch, along with fat free feta cheese (bleh) and fat free yogurt (also bleh).  (Feta cheese is made with sheep's or goat's milk and it has a bold and tangy flavor. The cheese supplies key vitamins and minerals, but it can also be high in saturated fat and sodium.) The secret to my loosing weight is to not eat things I love and which will encourage my taste buds to ask for more.  I’m a sucker for cheddar cheese, peanut butter, Fritoes and potato chips.  My daughter has been known to accuse me of “grazing” at her house. Also cookies.  Love cookies.  I can avoid candy and cake with no problems. After a week of no weight loss, I finally see a little progress.  I bought a pair of navy slacks Tuesday at VOA for $.50.  They fit great and I think a touch of Lycra and a good brand is the secret to a good fit—like Docker’s or Talbot’s .  I also bought Pendleton blue jeans for $.50 but they are still too tight.  I didn’t know Pendleton even made jeans, but they are awfully nice. About a year ago I had given away all my 8’s and 10’s, so yesterday I took some cotton jeans of various colors and sizes, washed them, and put them in the dryer.  They fit now.  Usually I never put jeans in the dryer.

It wasn’t curried, but this is a possibility.

Crash diets work better than slow and steady, but they all fail

“People in the fast-dieting group were more likely to achieve their target weight loss than the slow-dieting group, but both struggled to keep the weight off over time.”

I actually think this is good news.  Quicky diets are much easy; I have no will power for the long run.

Weight-loss guidelines have long counselled that kilos shed too quickly are likelier to creep back than those lost at a slower pace.

But a new Australian study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, found that over the long term, fast-track and slow-track dieters were equally likely to regain most of the weight they lost.

Research led by Joseph Proietto of the University of Melbourne divided 204 obese men and women into two groups.

One group entered a weight-loss programme of 12 weeks, the other a more gradual 36 weeks.

The 12-week group were restricted to a diet of 450-800 calories per day, while the other group had their energy intake reduced by about 500 calories per day.

Those who lost 12.5 per cent or more of their bodyweight from both groups were then placed on a three-year maintenance diet.

By the end of the trial, individuals in both groups had regained some 71 per cent on average of the kilos they had shed.

"By contrast with the widely-held belief that weight lost rapidly is more quickly regained, our findings show that regain is similar after gradual or rapid weight loss," the team says.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/10/16/4108436.htm

There’s only one answer.  Regardless of how much you lose and how you do it, immediately go back to dieting when you’ve regained 5 lbs.  Because you definitely will gain it.

Who’s fault is it?

       

[snark] I know who ordered that pizza, who bought that bag of chips and forced open my mouth. Yes, someone in the 1% who needs to be taxed more so I'll eat more fruits and vegetables which I grew in my backyard.

Have you ever looked at photographs of the over 50 crowd in 1910 or 1950—before the days of fast food restaurants, or 32 oz. bottles of coke?  Yup.  They are fat.  What’s different today is how heavy the young people are.  For that I think we can give thanks to the women’s movement of the 1970s, and less time playing outdoors. Women in the 1970s didn’t really calculate how much of their income was being taxed at a confiscatory rate [tacked onto their husband’s rate], and they were tired after working and driving, so they began taking the kids out to eat.  The restaurant industry and the processed food industry responded to the market, and so the next generation barely knew how to make a white sauce or hard cook an egg.  That gave rise to cooking shows and gourmet clubs and more food advertising, which lent itself to more and more government regulation.

See how neatly this all fits together?  Instead of blaming an industry or an agency, just eat less and move more.

I defend her right to burgers and fries

It's not often I defend Mrs. Obama--only in 2 areas--as a fine example for other young women in marriage and family (i.e., she married the father of her children) and in her desire to see a healthier America (even if I don't always support her methods like that garden someone else has to take care of). All First Ladies seem to come under attack--they (the opposition) were merciless with Hilary Clinton and Nancy Reagan. They even picked on Mary Lincoln. Lady Bird wanted to beautify the country and campaigned against bill boards and she succeeded. Helen Taft wanted to beautify Washington, D.C. with better parks and she succeeded. So Michelle Obama wants us not to be so fat.

Meanwhile, yesterday she ate a 1700 calorie lunch (burger fries shake) and the conservative bloggers and talkers are going crazy. Lighten up. Criticize her politics--that's bad enough. However, diabetes and high blood pressure are serious and even more deadly in the black community. We all pay for that in loss of lives, and in our own insurance costs, whether it's Obamacare or one of the Blues.

Also, every dieter knows an occasional pig-out helps the cause.