Food=Friend or Foe?

In the past couple months, I’ve been hearing quite a bit of buzz about the failings of the American diet, rumblings about why there is a problem with obesity in this country, and what to do about it. More and more spin offs of the biggest loser keep popping up on every conceivable television network. I’ve been noticing more and more obese people on the subways, in Manhattan, a city typically known for it’s obsession with being thin.

It all started with an article in Vogue about Daphne Miller, a physician who traveled the world searching for nutritional indicators as to why certain diseases that plague other nations do not exist in locations including Iceland, Mexico, and Africa. She examined differences in rates of depression, heart disease, and diabetes and found that certain nutritional patterns greatly decreased if not eradicated chances of developing the diseases. Miller employed the metaphor that food is like the soil that our bodies grow in, if we eat a diet sucked free of the nutrients we need, how can we expect to grow anything but a withered, yellow plant? Or, if we over feed with one type of nutrient or fertilizer, a plant whose body wildly exceeds its normal size? I snapped up her book The Jungle Effect to learn more.

Then I started reading about the South Beach Diet (it is the season for new years weight loss resolutions, no?). The cardiologist who invented it, Dr. Agatston, speaks at length about the reason that carbohydrates are often shunned in popular diets. It’s not what you think. Agatston is an advocate of incorporating carbs into your diet, the healthy kind, like those found in fruit and veggies, and whole grains. Bread and pasta are not evil. The reason that carbs are dangerous to Americans is because they are so overly processed that all fiber and nutritional value that allows our bodies to process them appropriately have been stripped. Instead of moving the carbs into the body as fuel with their partner fiber to help processing along, they are processed directly into simple sugars, cause an imbalance in blood chemistry, and are often stored as fat. This has resulted in wide spread insulin resistance (a pre-cursor to diabetes-EEK!).

Most recently there is the ruckus created by Gary Taubs, a diet writer who insists that it is something wrong with the food supply in America that is causing our bodies to store too much energy in our fat tissue. This means, as a nation, we have chronically elevated insulin levels. The culprit is simple carbs. They are in everything as sugar, over processed starch, and you’ve got it, high fructose corn syrup. Scary stuff. I just heard that the corn refiner’s association wants to rename the stuff corn sugar since so many negative health links (high triglyceride levels and obesity) have been established with products containing high fructose corn syrup. A new name won’t make it healthy.

I was at the gym last night, and I read a fourth piece of disturbing info. Women’s Health Magazine reports on a study by the Journal of the American College of Nutrition that discovered it’s not just carbohydrates that are getting worse and worse for you in America. The constant desire for faster, cheaper, easier food at the expense of quality and nutritional value has decreased the amount of nutrients that common whole foods contain since 1950. Carrots contain 24% less Iron. Eggplant contains 44% less ascorbic acid. Broccoli contains 37% less calcium, and winter squash contains 52% less riboflavin. The study pegs pressure on farmers to grow bigger and faster crops through fertilizer use which limits the amount of time plants spend growing, and thus, the number of nutrients they can absorb before harvest.

If you can’t turn to whole fruits and veggies for nutrition, what’s left? I think it’s time for our food producers to take a long look at what we’re doing to ourselves as a country with the most basic human function. We are what we eat.

Unlucky Breaks

I recently received a gift subscription to Lucky magazine. Yay! Another magazine to read! Overall, I liked the mag, but on page 54 is where the magic happened. There was a “What I want Now!” page featuring the lovely Sondra Roberts pink chiffon clutch shown below, and LUCKY me, it was designated a lucky break item. For these special products, anyone who buys the mag and flips to the back gets a special discount.

Swoon. I’ve been looking for a cute clutch that would go with black and brown, dressy and jeans with a chain strap. This teak rose color was the perfect little number!

I couldn’t wait to get off the subway, get home, and order myself one. Well, friends, the magic ended here, and I must say that I may never trust Lucky’s special breaks again.

The website they provide where you can get the discount does not appear to sell anything. And further, the purse shown on glorious page 54 does not seem to exist.

After a little googling, I found the Sondra Robers R48526 clutch for $88 (listed for $100 in the magazine). However, it doesn’t seem to be the same bag pictured. It’s more oval shaped, and a little smaller. And it happens to be sold out, everywhere.  To the publishers: please check your facts, and then publish. I am a very unsatisfied customer.

I did find what appears to be the actual bag pictured in Lucky, only in white through White House Black Market, for $88.

Now the only question is, do I like it as much in this color?

Kate Bosworth designs Jewelry

It's called Jewelmint, and she designs each piece with her BFF Cher Coulter. For $30 a month, you can pick a piece once each month at 70% off the retail value. The positives? It's cute, hippy jewelry, and you get to take a quiz that evaluates selections you might like. It characterizes you into a type based on photos and fashion choices you like. I happen to lean towards effortless beauty (apparently...). The negatives? Based on your selections, you can only view part of their inventory, and certain pieces each month. And yet, the innovative site gives suggestions for what to wear it with, what inspired it, and an activity it might be perfect for all in one shot. The Coachella chain shown above should be paired with a jumper, worn to a picnic in the park, and gets it's name from Kate's trip to a certain music festival in Cali. Groovy.

Just in case you need a reason to buy those fabulous shoes...

A study found that each inch in height tacks on $789 more in yearly salary. You're welcome.

Amy taking on Archetypes

There are certain actors and actress who play the same type so often that it makes you wonder, are they acting, or are they just playing themselves? Can they only do one thing?

Take Charlie Sheen. In real life, he is a total douche. He abuses women, drinks too much, and in general appears to be a scummy womanizer, albeit some may find him handsome and charming. I’ve never really got it, but to each her own right? Take a look at his character on Two and a Half Men. See the parallels?

Then let’s think about Angelina Jolie. She tends to play fierce, sexy, powerful women. Does that sound like her in real life? I’d say so. She runs a household with 8 kids, managed to snap up Brad Pitt—the sexiest man alive at the time---- and still finds time to fight world problems as a UN ambassador. I’m guessing if you pissed her off, she’d probably kick your ass, then carry your blood around in a vial on her necklace.

I could say the same of George Clooney. He seems to be the handsome, wickedly funny seducer of women in each and every role he takes on, with his eye crinkle and inviting smirk. I think the line of beauties he’s dated speak for themselves.

Catherine Heigl? As much as I love the quirky beauty in every role she’s played, let’s be serious here. She always manages to seduce the unlikely lover with her humor, gorgeous hair, and slightly odd ball tendencies. I’m guessing she’s the honest, funny lady with a stinging tongue in real life. We all heard about her verbal lashing of Isaiah Washington’s bigotry in the famous Grey’s Anatomy scandal, am I right?

Amy Adams was in danger of pigeon holing herself into a similar pattern. She’s played the doe eyed ingénue in: Enchanted, The Wedding Date, Julia and Julia, and Leap Year. Can you pick a role that screams I’m innocent, naïve, and a fragile little flower MORE than a Disney princess?

What I’ve wondered in the past, is this really the girl that Amy Adams is? Well, she just hasn’t been in the tabloids enough for me to know. Then I went to see The Fighter, in which Amy stars opposite Mark Wahlberg as a bartender with a trucker’s mouth, and a temper.

She plays an angry Bostonian like 2^nd nature. Throw in a couple sexy scenes and her midriff tops at the bar, and Amy has just turned the paradigm she’d created on it’s head. There is no innocence here, and it’s the world weary wisdom of such a young girl that makes her character both appealing and inspiring as she picks up after some bad choices, tough breaks, and tries to make a life for herself and the man she adores. Before this movie, I would have thought, Amy Adams would never fight, or pull hair, but rather flutter around making the world a better place. Now I’d have to say she’d be a tough opponent.

It’s a courageous performance. Amy bares nearly all in the movie, and yet was not all skin and bones like most actresses who do nearly nude scenes. She had a little (tiny) bit of tummy and actual arms that didn’t look like twigs. I appreciate someone who has the nerve to get up there and put it all on the table, the ugly parts of life, and a real body on the big screen. Well played Amy, well played.

My Lipgloss is Poppin

Everyone has one, that lip gloss that was their favorite when they were a teen, but then they somehow lost track of---maybe it was discontinued, maybe you graduated to lipstick, or maybe you just forgot you ever liked it in the first place. I’ve had many lip glosses that I’ve loved. It all started with Lip Smackers in sugary flavors like Cotton Candy and Dr. Pepper. However, their chapsticky, fast fading shine didn’t really do it for me.

So, I branched out. I wore Bath and Body Works Dewdrop gloss complete with a fancy wand to apply it rather than a tube you screw up when it wears down. It was love. Shiny, thick clear gloss at any mall. Then they discontinued it.

Now that I’m a little older, I still enjoy lip shine. Even when I wear a lip tint, or stain, my pout just doesn’t seem complete without a little gloss to top it off. Yes, I am one of the ladies in my 20’s who has not yet started wearing lipstick. It just looks weird.

These days I like DuWop Lip Venom brand, in original. In the positive, it’s a clear, not too sticky shine it makes my lips a little fuller, and it smells like cinnamon. Yet, it’s ultra-tiny tube has a habit of getting lost a day or two after I buy it, it’s a little pricey, and when I inevitably get it in my mouth, my tongue gets a little numb from the plumping ingredients. Not satisfied.

Then, I was doing a major clean of my childhood room while I was home for the holidays. And I came across a tin of my old standby, Candy Kisses buried in the bottom of an old purse from High School. A series of thoughts went racing through my head.

How could I have ever forgotten about this glorious gloss? Won’t my friends think this is hilarious? Do they even still make this stuff? I wonder if its still good?

I opened up the tin (still magically sealed in plastic), and gave it a try. Magic! After many years of sitting in the dark unused, it is still fabulous gloss. I’ve been carting it around in my purse for the past couple weeks, and my love has been renewed.  Let’s just say I’m hooked again. It has SPF. It smells delicious. If you happen to get some in your mouth, it has a delightful taste. And lucky me! It was my favorite flavor (strawberry) I happened upon. I was pondering how I’d live without it, and what I’ll do when I use up this tin. I haven’t come across it in stores for years.

A couple minutes of googling and I had my answer. Candy Kisses still exists! AND there are more flavors than I even knew existed. Mango? Peach? Chocolate Mint? YUM! And you can order it in quantities ranging from 1 tin to 12 in a package. AND at $10.50 for 6 tins, it’s a bargain. Just beware, bubble gum smells gross. Vanilla is a little too white, watermelon is a little too pink, strawberry is juuuussst right. The company doesn’t test on animals, use any animal products in their gloss, and as a bonus, if you don’t use it all at once, it will last for many many years, and still be just as fab when you happen upon it again. Take a little trip down memory lane.

Obligatory New Year's Post

I don’t typically make new years resolutions. Why set yourself up for failure when you are just starting fresh with a clean slate for the year? I mean really, surviving winter in the northeast is enough of a job on its own. I think the main problem with resolutions is that people tend to be a little too ambitious, setting lofty goals that are just annoying to complete, overly difficult, or so strict they are impossible to stick to for any length of time (helloo? Swearing off sweets after weeks of eating nearly exclusively Christmas cookies—does that seem easy?). This year, I wasn’t planning to resolve to do anything besides live my life, and to look fabulous in my bridesmaid dress by April. 

But then, I talked to my co-worker on January 3^rd. She had a list of many things she plans to do to improve herself this year. So, to take the lazy lady’s approach, I’m going to steal a couple of her resolutions rather than making my own. 

• Read one article in Spanish once a week. I used to be a very good Spanish speaker, reader, and writer. Flash forward 5 years from me studying abroad, and my foreign language skills are rather worse for the wear. It’s amazing how fast they fade when you don’t use them every day. Here’s to not letting them get any worse. 
• Pay attention to the World news. Anyone else rely on their relatives to call and inform them of major events? Hands? Ok, I know it’s a rather hands off approach to knowing what is up around the globe, but sometimes the news is just down right depressing. Adding a news website to my google homepage as we speak. 

And here’s a couple I’ve added on myself: 

• Clean my fridge. I’m pretty sure that there’s a bag of moldy shredded cheese, and an open bottle of wine that is at least 3 months old kicking around in there somewhere. While I’m at it, I just might clean the freezer too. Goodbye ice cube trays stained with some mysterious orange liquid. 
• Organize my closet. While I was home for the holidays, I got rid of 4 bags of clothes to the Salvation Army. It felt good. As a bonus, I received a lovely set of hot pink no-slip hangers for Christmas, so I need an excuse to take everything out, and put it back in again. I’m hoping I make enough room that it’s not an arm workout picking out a top anymore, and so I don’t create a major avalanche every single time I wear a sweater. 

There you have it. What are your plans for 2011?