What's the Catch? Barramundi: Go Buy Some Damnit

image source here

By Crabby McSlacker

Tired of long-ass blog posts that take forever to get to the point?  Well hey, it's a new year, and mixing things up is good, so I thought I'd try something different for a change: succinctness!

So here are your five most important takeaways about barramundi, I fish I have come to love, brought to you with 95% less meandering.

1. Barramundi is a safe and extremely nutritious protein source, with a hefty dose of the good kind of fat, omega 3. (Unlike Tilapia which is annoyingly popular despite being a really crappy choice nutritionally). It also has other good fish nutrients like vitamin D and potassium. Unlike some farmed fishies, the barramudi (barramundies?) don't get pumped up with hormones, colorants, or antibiotics, plus they have no detectable mercury, PCBs, or other contaminants. Yay!

Summer's Here: Cheers?

photo: jamesmlink

By Dave Smith

This next guest post is brought to you by the awesome Dave Smith, who has helped us out before with great fitness advice such as his beginners' bodyweight workout routine. He was also a great panelist back in days of yore when Cranky Fitness had an"Ask The Personal Trainer" feature. Check out his informative site at Make Your Body Work, full of useful information and encouragement. And please welcome Dave as he presents some thoughts and research on Summer Adult-Beverage consumption!--Crabby

What I Learned About Mindfulness From My Birthday “Drinking Bender”

I've never been much of a drinker. I’m usually that guy who sips a glass of water at a restaurant (yup, every waiter or waitress’s dream customer). But on my recent 35th birthday I let loose and drank three entire beers (two of them being light beers) in one evening! A wild night, I know.

Let's all Shout for Trout!

image: wikipedia

Ok, so that's maybe not quite as catchy as the "we all scream for ice cream" thing.

But here's the thing: trout is a pretty darn awesome fish, for reasons I will bore you with below.

Usually my main gripe with it is that it's hard to find in my 'hood and can be really expensive, but I've been pleased to see it at Trader Joes lately.  And while it's not cheap (about $9 a pound), it's been cleaned up and made into nice neat fillets.

So, no guts or tiny bones or sad dead judgemental fish eyes staring at you creeping you out!

Anyway, why am I so taken with trout?

Kumquats! The Super-Freaky Superfood You Should Seriously Consider Checking Out

So I recently fell in love with the bizarre fruit known as the kumquat.  It's intensely tasty, plus it's nutritious and low cal.  It's sort of like eating little marmalade bullets, sweet and sour and bitter all at once, but with no jammy guilt or anything.

Yet kumquats must have really crappy social skills! Or the poor fruit hasn't figured out it needs some PR and marketing help.  Because even though I've always been vaguely aware they existed, I hadn't ever actually tried one until this year.

Kumquats are hard to find in stores, even in season. I finally scored some at a farmers market after a friend turned me on to them, approximately 50 years after I first heard of them.  (It didn't help that all these years I had them confused with loquats, which as kids we used to steal off neighbors' fruit trees and called them kumquats. But loquats are an entirely different fruit. Loquats are yellow and smooth-skinned and not citrusy, and have a big-ass seed in the middle. They are tasty too, if you have a nearby tree to steal from).

So, what's so awesome about kumquats anyway?

Secret Menus and Special Requests: Staying Healthy When Dining Out

By Crabby McSlacker

So it turns out many chain restaurants have "secret" or "hidden" menus--there's even  a blog called hack the menu devoted to describing items you can order that are not listed on the regular menu.

The problem? Almost all of these secret items are even more evil and poisonous than the usual craptastic chain offerings. They may make you feel more like a hip insider as you use the special secret passwords and score an exclusive treat--but the items themselves don't deserve any coverage on a healthy living blog. Even one as half-assed as Cranky Fitness.

There is one notable exception, however: Panera's Hidden Menu!

Wanna find out what happened on a recent Stealth Mission to check it out In Real Life?

Or, bored enough to hear some tips on how to get the healthier food you want in restaurants in general?

Let's get crackin'!

Protein: Getting Enough Without Busting the Budget

photo: Robert Huffstutter

Today we have a guest post by Andi Singer, who works with the folks over at ihmonline. She is way more of a badass than Crabby, and describes herself as: "a fitness and nutrition blogger and athlete based in the Boise area. She can deadlift 265lbs, run 5 miles, do the splits in all three directions, and kick a grown man through the wall."

Pork Butts and Wise Brains: Healthy Eating on the Road!

Blog regulars (hi, all 3 of you!) are aware that I am just now getting back from a house swap adventure in Toronto. And I've been threatening to do a post this week with a Healthy Eating on the Road theme, featuring a bunch of murky camera-phone pictures from our trip.

Gosh, can you contain your excitement? But then, just when I was hunkering down to slop together a bunch of trip pictures and contemplate the horror that is my email inbox, suddenly a new twist!

(Gratuitous Toronto museum photo.)

Yep, Rick Hanson's Wise Brain Bulletin just came out yesterday!

This is always cause for celebration, because it's a great read, and it's free, and if you haven't done so already you should definitely follow the link and sign up. But it just happens that this WBB is special... because it starts off with an ebook excerpt written by a foul-mouthed Wellness Coach and Health Blogger we happen to know.

So, I'd like to say a special hello to any Wise Brains who recklessly clicked on a link and found themselves at the weirdness that is Cranky Fitness! Where exclamation points are apparently on sale or something!

(And hey, speaking of Rick Hanson and wise things generally: Rick's new book, Hardwiring Happiness, is coming out soon and it looks like it's going to be great.  Plus he's got another free online interview series with even more experts talking about this stuff. More on that below).

Anyway, on realizing there could be a curious new visitor or two to the blog, my first instinct was to scuttle the lazy vacation post and put up something clever and practical and scholarly instead.

But then it occurred to me I'd have to write something clever and practical and scholarly.

Whoops.

So, welcome, wise-brained people, to the Healthy Eating Post-Toronto Cameraphone Photo Dump!

Ask the Nutritionist: Calcium Supplements, Yes, No, WTF?

Got questions about healthy eating and nutrition?

Well, today starts a new feature at Cranky Fitness: Ask the Nutritionist!

It could also rightfully be called "Ask the Dietitian," since both the contributors are RD's. I almost did call it that, but then decided to play it safe in case either of these two knowledgeable and articulate experts figures out what a silly blog this is and decides to bail.  What if I need to find someone new and have to cast a wider net?

 No certification, but pretty darn sensible!

Plus, half the time I spell it "Dietitian" and the other half "Dietician" and that was driving me kinda crazy.

Anyway, so today's topic is calcium supplements.  Used to be simple, right? If you weren't getting tons o' dairy, and especially if you were female, you were supposed to take 'em.

And my doctor still says I should, and studies are confusing. But even Jane Brody of the New York Times, not exactly known for going out on a limb with controversial advice, points out the risks of calcium supplementation, which include a higher likelihood of heart attacks and strokes.

So what's the deal?

The Alzheimer's Diet! Interview & Giveaway & Mini-Review

 

Good luck clicking.
 Image swiped from Amazon 'cause I forgot (!) to ask for one.

Alzheimer's is one of those tragic diseases many of us don't like to think about, despite how common it is.  I know very few people whose lives haven't been touched by it in some way.

And no lifestyle intervention can guarantee a healthy brain in old age. Let's hope for a cure, pronto.

Hurry Up, 'K? Thanks!

But in the meantime, there is a lot that clever scientists have discovered about stuff that you can do to make contracting Alzheimer's less likely.

Is it worth making a few changes now, perhaps decades ahead of Possible Trouble, in order to lessen your risk?  Admittedly, it's not as sexy a goal as having six-pack abs or buns of steel. So I worry that books like this The Alzheimer's Diet: A Step-by-Step Nutritional Approach for Memory Loss Prevention and Treatment may have an uphill battle in the Diet Marketing Wars.  But it would be great if resources like this found an audience. Plus, many of these suggestions are targeted at memory boosting now, even ahead of dire diseases.

So stick around, we have an interview with the two very thoughtful authors, plus 4 copies of The Alzheimer's Diet to give away.  Note:  one copy I'm going to reserve for Canadians, even if it means confronting my laziness and shipping it myself. And another copy is specifically set aside for Cranketeers who've been participating in the monthly Goal Support Group post,  aka ¡Toma! (And there's a fresh one coming soon!)

Sweet Giveaway and Review: Quest Bars and Peanut Butter Cups

Guess what I got in the mail to review and give away?

Well, I suppose with the title and picture and all, it's not a big surprise.

I got seduced with a pitch for Quest Cravings Peanut Butter Cups--a high protein, low sugar alternative to a regular Peanut Butter Cup.  And they sent me some Quest Protein bars to try as well.

Those who leave a comment will be eligible to win a big ol' box of their choice!

But first, what did I think of the Quest Bars and Quest Cravings Peanut Butter Cups?

Healthy Snacks Ideas, Gripes, and a Giveaway!

I Won't Even Speculate As To What Strange Ritual Is Going On Here.

Photo: Plan 59

Hungry... but it's not quite mealtime yet?

Some folks have a "no snacking between meals" policy. If that's part of your particular dietary religion, then so sorry!  You'll have to suck it up, distract yourself, and wait until the clock tells you it's time to eat again.  Just try not to think of any of sweet or salty or crispy or creamy or rich or flavorful favorites you might have--you know, those delicious treats you absolutely love that would taste so so good right now if only it were the right time of day?  Yeah, just don't think about them or imagine yourself enjoying them, because how frustrating would that be when you can't have any?

Hey, did that help? You're welcome!

Many of us, however, embrace snacking--especially me! I am a big oinky unrestrained gluttonous pig an enthusiastic consumer of all kinds of foods (though mostly healthy).   I figure if I'm hungry, and an official meal is not imminent, then hell, it's time for me to forage up a snack.

What's my biggest gripe about snacking?

It's the lack of healthy convenient options! Most packaged or fast-food snacks are Evil, and yet I'm lazy, and I sometimes like to leave my house.  You would think with the bazillions of dollars the food and restaurant industry rakes in, there would be a few more options for us healthy types, wouldn't you?  Yet despite the claims on labels and menus, most of the snack items marketed as "healthy" are pure crap.

Wouldn't it be nice if say, the vending machine in your office was packed full of healthier options than  chips and candy bars?  Well, turns out there's a company trying to do that, called HUMAN. Annabel from Feed Me, I’m Cranky told me about their attempts to improve the sad state of snacking in workplaces and schools around the country. And they're hosting a giveaway!

So, let's talk snacks... and who knows, perhaps you may win a gift pack of healthy snacks, along with a mighty cool T-shirt!

What Does Healthy Snacking Even Mean?

Of course everyone has a different idea of what "healthy" is.

And hey, just for fun, let's let the Vegans and the Primal folks and the Weight Watchers all duke it out:

Which snack is the Most Evil and which is the Most Acceptable?

(a) A serving of fried chicken skins;
(b) A Krispy Kreme Fruit Pie; or
(c) A 140 calorie serving of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sundae?

As the links and the associated dietary agendas will confirm, all of these snacks are either A-OK, or Absolutely Forbidden, depending on which camp you're in.  So let's disabuse ourselves of notion of a universal solution, shall we?

But heck, since it's my blog and all, here are some of my very personal and arbitrary standards for healthy snacking. Please pass on your own better ideas down in the comments!

Crabby's Personal Snacking Principles:

1. The snack item should not contain more hundreds-of-calories than there are hours before the next meal.

Whoa, that sounds like crazytalk doesn't it? What I mean is, 100 calories buys me about an hour before I'm hungry again. If I've got 2 hours until the next meal, my snack probably shouldn't be over 200 calories.

2. The snack should contain at least some protein and fiber, and ideally it should not have a high glycemic load. Bonus points if vegetables are involved. This increases satiety, nutrition, and contributes to a pleasant sense of smugness.

3. The snack should ideally be made entirely of organic local whole foods that were cultivated, prepared and delivered by cheerful well-compensated individuals in inspiring, life-affirming workplaces. But failing that, I'd at least like to avoid toxic snacks full of transfats and known carcinogens, and I'd like to minimize sodium, sugar, refined grains, gratuitous and non-nutritive calories, and artificial flavorings and colorings. (Though I do have a sweet tooth and thus somehow rationalize the use of sucralose, stevia, and erythritol. Whatever.)

4. The snack should not taste crappy.

5. However, the snack also can't taste too delicious unless portion control measures are in place.

(For example, I can easily consume an entire days worth of calories in 10 minutes eating trail mix, and still be sniffing around the cupboards looking for more. Even the healthiest of dried fruit and nut combos can be a nutritional disaster unless I throw a reasonable amount in a baggie and march my ass straight out the door).

A Few Healthy Snack Ideas

See how small this list is? That's 'cause I need help! If you have some good ideas or links to blog posts or other resources for healthy snacks, please put them in the comments and I'll try to add them.

• Raw Veggies with Healthy Dip (hummus, guacamole, yogurt-based dips etc)
• Canned wild salmon (mushed with a bit of goat cheese or mayo and onion). (Trader Joe's is rumored to have bpa free linings, even if they don't promote it).
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Meat or fish jerky (naturally preserved, not the junk-food kind)
• Fruit!
• Nuts
• Yogurt without a bunch of sugar added
• Veggie chips: kale, sweet potato, etc. (And by that I don't mean potato or corn or rice chips flavored with veggies, but actual vegetable chips. These can be hard to find unless you make 'em yourself or pay the folks at Brad's Raw Chips to fix some up for you).
• Seaweed snacks (my current obsession; I also get these from TJ's).
• Popcorn
• Whole grain crackers with meat or cheese or a sensible spread or dip
• Almond or peanut butter and bananas
• Dark chocolate
• A Very Small Plate of Last Night's Leftovers

See? I need help here!

So What's The Deal With the Vending Machines and the Giveaway?

So apparently the HUMANs are trying to get their vending machines in more places.  They're offering to pay folks to find places like schools, gyms, or corporate locations that might be up for a healthier vending machine option. You fill out a referral form, and if they end up placing a machine there, you get $250.00.

Also, in order to help publicize their efforts, they're giving away "a sample pack of some of the items we sell in our machines, including Larabars, Clif Z Bars, Zico Coconut Water and more, as well as a HUMAN-branded t-shirt." Which is apparently and ideal gift for any headless friends or relatives you have who need cute clothing items!

They also have a guys-style T-shirt available.

So if you'd like to enter, just leave a comment below (a healthy snack idea would be nice, but not mandatory).  We'll hold the random drawing in a week.  (Note: this is yet another giveaway that requires a U.S. mailing address, sorry about that!)

And do remember to check back; if you win, you need to claim your prize before the end of the day on Wednesday January 18th or there will be a new drawing.

Good luck!

So, anyone have any thoughts, gripes, or healthy snack ideas? I'm suddenly very hungry!

Winter Squash: Where the Hell Have You Been All My Life?

(Photo: Dunbar Gardens)

Curious about the health benefits of butternut, acorn, hubbard, turban, kabocha, and other winter squashes? Need some recipes?

And yes, I believe I am the last health and fitness blogger on the planet to discover that the big piles of gourdy-looking objects on display this time of year at the grocery store are actually edible food items. I thought they were table decorations!

As it turns out, winter squashes are tasty. They are not nearly as caloric as you might think, given the gloriously sweet & starchy nature of them. Though some are scary-looking, they can actually be easy to prepare if you're lazy busy, and they have tons of sneaky health benefits. How did I manage to miss them all these years?


So if you haven't already read a million other posts about sweet winter squashes, or if the posts you read had too much actual information in them and not enough swearing or gratuitous cat pictures (always a problem in nutrition posts, don't you think?) then it looks you've come to the right place!

Photo: aturkus

Winter Squashes and Nutrition:

The "World's Healthiest Foods" website has the full scoop on the nutritional benefits of winter squashes, so I'll steal their content pass along some of their info.

For example, winter squash has:

• Craploads of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-cryptoxanthin.
• Seeds that you can lightly roast (160-170°F for 15-20 minutes) that have lots of linoleic and oleic acid.
• Particularly virtuous kinds of starch--pectins--that are "specially structured polysaccharides that in winter squash often include special chains of D-galacturonic acid called homogalacturonan."  Um, yeah. Anyway, these are good because they have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and insulin-regulating properties.  And hooray for all that!

But WHF warns you to make sure you get 'em organic, as they are superstars at sucking up nasty soil contaminants, like PAHs.

Squash: A Better Calorie Bargain?

Starches have gotten a lot of bad press nutritionally (unless you're looking at the whole resistant starch issue; a topic for another time).  But check out the nutritional differences when Fitsugar compares squash vs sweet potatoes, and The Washington Post compares kabocha squash and regular potatoes. If you're trying to save a few more calories for inexcusably big slices of cake and big honking cheeseburgers extra portions of healthy fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins, then squash may make an excellent potato substitute.

Squash Recipes

Some of these big-ass squash look so intimidating it's hard to think what you might be able to do with them.

Photo: Rochelle Hartman

But if you'd rather eat them than disguise them, there are lots of ideas out there!

What Crabby Did

I peeled a butternut squash (pain in the ass, by the way), cut it up, & brushed lightly with olive oil. Baked for over an hour at 350 until the pieces were soft, then mashed them with some chicken broth and nutmeg. Easy-peasey, and tasted good!

Photo:  BourgeoisBee

OK, so that wasn't exactly helpful.  Sorry, frowny cat. But I believe that's a summery squash you're dealing with there anyway.  Hmm, is there anyone else out there who has some ideas for winter squash?

Pathetic Bid for Attention From Reaching Out to New Friends at... the Dole Health Summit!

So if you google squash recipes, especially if you have a particular kind in mind, it's not like there's any shortage.  But in honor of the upcoming Dole "Health and Happiness Summit," (which I'm sure you'll be hearing about later, or I'll never get invited to another blogging conference again),  I thought I'd check out the blogs of some of those folks I'll be meeting. Do any of them have any winter squash recipes?  As it turns out, many of 'em do! However, apologies to @APSandy, who is an awesome twitter person to follow but whose blog I couldn't find, and Tish from Luv and Kiwi who has an excellent blog but saw me coming and hid all her winter squash recipes where I couldn't find them and steal them.

So in no particular order:

Check out the fabulous FBG's  Acorn Squash Dip with Roasted Pumpkin Seeds!

Over at Meals and Miles, Meghann gussies up some hubbard squash by adding hummus, cheese, apples, and other tasty ingredients.

At Bookieboo's ginormous and helpful site, there's a tasty looking recipe for Stuffed Acorn Squash with Quinoa that looks really, really tasty.

Iowa Girl Eats has a recipe and nearly-pornographic pictures of a Butternut Squash Lasagna. Visit if you dare.

Tina at Carrots and Cake tried out Hungry Girl's Cheesy Butternut Bake, adding amusing commentary and a picture of a seriously adorable dog.


Over at The Token Fat Girl, yet another great blog, you can find a quick recipe for Recipe for butternut squash fries. And doesn't the world need more non-guilt inducing fries?

And finally, at Run Eat Repeat, there's a super-easy recipe for pumpkin creme which makes a creme to put on waffles. (Is pumpkin a winter squash? What the hell, close enough.  But dangit Monica, with your tasty breakfast pictures.... suddenly I'm in dire need of a waffle!)

BTW, I've been offline much more than I thought this week, what with our cross-country move and the odious unpacking, storing, schlepping, errands and chores exciting organizational challenges and functional fitness opportunities that's brought.  And I realize I may be a bit distracted by the Dole thing as it's my first blog event ever. (Can't imagine why "Crabby McSlacker" wouldn't be a welcome guest at any marketing event!)   So my apologies for unanswered emails, unvisited favorite blogs etc.  Will catch up eventually, I promise!

So, um squash. Or any new food item you recently discovered, or thoughts about conferences or moving or anything on your mind today? And if you've got favorite recipes, please throw in a link!

Healthy Smoothie Recipes: From Foofy to Fierce

Photo: echo0101

Admittedly, not everyone has joined the Cult of the Smoothie. Some people prefer not to drink their calories, some folks don't have a blender yet, and still others just don't see the point of tossing a bunch of perfectly good whole food items together and pulverizing them into an unrecognizable viscous substance that may vary in hue from a pretty pink to a repellant grayish brown.

But, for the rest of us: aren't smoothies awesome? You can drink 'em for breakfast or have one as a snack and, if made properly, they allow you to consume a bunch of virtuous healthy stuff without gagging! Or conversely, you can enjoy a tasty beverage that resembles a milkshake without feeling too guilty about it.

Funny thing, though: some folks may start innocently sipping milkshake-like fruity concoctions. But then concerns about sugar/fructose content, or the desire to snag potential health benefits from more adventurous ingredients, can lead to an obsessive quest for the healthiest smoothie possible that is still actually drinkable without holding one's nose.

Are you looking to start easing your way into the Smoothosphere with some sweet, creamy, pretty foofy smoothies? Or are you already well down that road and are now looking to create a fierce blender beverage that will shock family and friends with its outrageous healthiness and seemingly unappetizing combination of disease-fighting ingredients? Or maybe you've perfected your own smoothie recipe and wouldn't mind sharing some tips?


Well, let's get crackin'! Here are some tips for healthy smoothies, along with recipes and resources.

Smoothie Tips:

1. Buy a blender. Much more convenient than a sledgehammer or a wood-chipper for pulverizing produce.

2. If you're new to smoothies, start Foofy. It's more important that you LOVE your smoothie; if you start off with a recipe that calls for rutabagas, seaweed, and raw eggs you may incorrectly come to the conclusion that smoothies are not for you. Frozen fruit + reasonably healthy liquid and you're good to go. Don't have frozen fruit on hand? Fresh fruit + ice + liquid works too.

3. Other typical "starter" ingredients for smoothie newbies besides fruit are things like milk (cow/goat/almond/soy/rice etc), yogurt, fruit juice, coconut water, peanut or almond butter, sweeteners (sugar/honey/stevia etc.), vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, mint, cocoa powder, or whatever you can think of that isn't outright unhealthy but might make the smoothie more of a treat.

4. Proportions? Well, this depends on whether you like 'em icy or just cool, thick or thin, sweet or not so sweet... check out the recipe links below for suggestions, but really, when it comes to smoothies, it's best to experiment with your own favorite ingredients until you find the right consistency and flavor.

5. Found a smoothie you like? Now add protein! If you're one of those meat-loving primal folks, then sure, go ahead and throw in a rack of lamb. But for many, the idea is to have the protein part be unobtrusive. You can use dairy products like milk or yogurt (greek yogurt in particular is high in protein). But there are alternatives too, like pasteurized egg whites (flavorless and undetectable) or protein powders. There can be drawbacks to protein powders: some are expensive, some have a grainy texture, some taste gross, and some are surprisingly high in sugar and calories. I shied away for ages, but after reading a bunch of research about the health benefits of whey protein, I finally succumbed. My favorite is the vanilla whey protein at Whole Foods, the house brand called "365." It's cheaper than most, and sweetened with stevia (which may be good or bad depending on your Stevia views).

6. Go green! The next step is adding veggies. Same advice as above: go slowly and let the fruit dominate until you start acclimating to the vegetable taste. (Weirdly enough, you do get used to it, and even start to enjoy a little bit of veggie complexity poking its head out of the fruity sweetness). It helps to start with a little bit of something mild, like romaine lettuce or spinach, or something sweet, like carrots. Then gradually add more; when it tastes yucky, back off or you'll suddenly find yourself craving poptarts for breakfast and your healthy smoothies ritual may become a thing of the past.

7. Optimize and exoticize! See how many healthy things you can sneak into your smoothie without rendering it too disgusting to drink. Antioxidant powerhouses like blueberries, cruciferous veggies,  arugula or cabbage, green tea, healthy herbs, probiotics, spices, eye of newt... (Oh wait, wrong potion recipe.  Skip the eye of newt unless you're trying to turn your boss into a cockroach).

Hmm, not bad--just needs a tad more mouse.
Photo credit: Malingering

8. So what's in my smoothie these days? Let's see, this morning it was: frozen blueberries, a few stalks of asparagus, a little arugula, a whole crap-load of fresh spinach, some carrot juice, coconut water, egg whites, ice, and a scoop of the above-described stevia-sweetened vanilla whey protein powder.  Sure, it may look like a toxic oil spill. And sadly, house guests tend to flee the kitchen if they catch me concocting one, fearful that I may offer them a sample. But I swear, it tastes great (to me!)

Recipes and Resources

For new smoothie enthusiasts, who are looking for lightweight type smoothies, here are some Foofy ideas:

There's an Orange Creamsicle smoothie, and tons more recipes at Smoothieweb.

Oprah's magazine unearthed a pair of smoothie-making twins and among their recipes you'll find the Watermelon Agua Fresca Smoothie.

There are a whole bunch of foofy smoothie recipes in Good Housekeeping too, a magazine which probably contains all kinds of good stuff but has that problematic title--at least for those of us who are Stubbornly Bad Housekeepers.

And if you like audio/visual aids, Allrecipes.com has a video on how to make smoothies. (Did I watch it? Um, no. So if half-way through it turns into an infomercial for cuticle cream or a zombie movie or something, sorry about that).

And Fitness Magazine also has some healthy yet user-friendly smoothie recipes, including one for a Honeydew-Kiwifruit Smoothie.

For the more hardcore smoothie fan, here are your Advanced, Death-defying smoothie recipes:

Raw Family not only has recipes and videos but they even have a free green smoothie App for your iPhone or Droid or whatever. Their smoothies contain ingredients like dandelion greens, aloe vera, and stinging nettles, so you know they mean business!

Blisstree and That's Fit, two well-respected health blogs (which, since I've come back from hiatus now seem be sleeping together or something, it's a little confusing), featured the same smoothie article full of suggestions for healthy power ingredients that will boost your metabolism.

And of course I have to mention Vitamix, which is a company that makes high-end blenders and is a great source of green smoothie recipes.   Oh, and should some vitamix PR rep be searching the web for  health bloggers who drink smoothies to review one of those babies?  YES, PLEASE, CRABBY IS YOUR GAL! YOU HAVE FOUND THE RIGHT PLACE!

So, do you guys have any good recipes or links? Do you even drink smoothies or do you prefer your produce some other way? Are you Foofy or Fierce when it comes to making smoothies or other healthy concoctions?

Intuitive Eating & Exercise, Cranky Style

Photo: Plan59

Do you keep up with the latest research to create your own health and fitness routines? Follow a best-selling diet book or a popular fitness guru? Or do you take an intuitive approach?

If you're one of those Tweeple who Twitter, or if you've stopped by the blog over the last few months and peeked at the right-hand column, you may have noticed that even though I've been too lazy busy to write blog posts, I'm still tweeting some of the latest health studies. (However, I still don't get Twitter and stubbornly do it all wrong. You're probably better off following a real fitness tweeter with an updated blog like @joycecherrier). But the reason I Tweet is because I'm addicted to these stupid health studies and want to share them. And no matter how ridiculous or inconclusive they are, they often end up influencing my own approach to fitness and nutrition.

Is interval training better for you than conventional cardio? Will drinking milk help you lose weight? Is your morning coffee poisoning you or will it help you live to be 100? What are the absolute best superfoods and the most efficient exercises? When, where and for how long should one exercise/eat/abstain/imbibe/sleep/ruminate/eliminate/meditate/cogitate/medicate/procrastinate/masturbate/exfoliate?

So many questions, and the scientists and experts say they have the answers! Hell, if there are sure-fire secrets to becoming stronger, healthier, happier, slimmer, more energetic and smarter, I want in on 'em.

But there are also a lot of people out there who are moving away from one-size-fits-all expert advice, and who are ditching structured approaches to fitness and nutrition. They are refusing to count calories or label foods as "good" or "bad" or "forbidden." They are participating in only the physical activities they enjoy, and are not worrying overmuch about whether the scientists say there are a bunch of other, better activities they should be doing instead. They check in with their own bodies rather than the latest Science Daily RSS feeds, and trust their own intuition about how to become fit and healthy.

What does Crabby think about all this? Does she have any opinions about how to balance personal intuition and expert advice?

Of course she does--Crabby has opinions about everything! However, before we get into that, here's a totally unrelated question for those with short attentions spans who came here googling "one rule for flat stomach" and are about to surf over to cats morphing into croissants or something equally compelling. Hang on a sec before you leave:

Does anyone have any advice re: Maintaining Fitness post-Menopause and/or Recovering from a Hysterectomy? Please email me at CrabbyMcSlacker at gmail dot com or leave a comment!

I'm planning to do a post on this topic eventually and would love reader advice, warnings, personal experiences, weird-shit-your-mom-told-you, helpful links, etc. I'll run the post sometime after my hysterectomy, scheduled for October 19th. OK, so if they give me any good drugs, I may not understand the advice, but I'll appreciate any I can get. (And no worries, no cancer or anything scary; just loads o' big honkin' citrus-fruit sized fibroids. However, on the cancer front, Cranky co-blogger Jo has been dealing with some tough stuff; be sure to check in over at Head Nurse if you haven't already.)

Now back to the topic at hand...

So Who Knows Best What Your Body Needs: You? Or the Scientists?

Scientists Are Full of It!

How's this for a comforting statistic: apparently almost 70% of findings published in medical journals are refuted within a few years of publication. (Hey, thanks for that info, CalorieLab! ... Um, I think?)

However, I'm not sure what to make of that 70% figure. If over half of the medical research findings are bogus, that means that some of the studies that refute the bogus studies are bogus, which means... wait, my head hurts. And if that's true, wouldn't we be better off letting monkeys flip coins to determine answers to our health and medical questions? They'd be 20% righter!

But wait, if we asked the monkeys, they'd probably tell us to eat a lot of bananas and brachiate more often--which is fine, we'd get lots of potassium and have awesome upper body strength. But then if we only believed the monkeys and ignored modern health and medical discoveries, we wouldn't have doctors or medications or hospitals or iPods or deodorant or elliptical trainers, and we'd have to throw away our meditation tapes and start flinging our own feces around for stress relief. That can't be good. So all in all, I'm not quite ready to ditch the scientists for the coin-flipping monkeys just yet.

However, even if you prefer science to monkeys, it's awfully frustrating that many of the health headlines we read end up being contradicted by other health headlines practically the next day. Following every twist and turn and making lifestyle changes accordingly can drive a person bonkers! (Seriously, I am that bonkers person. Ask the Lobster--it's not pretty).

And that's just the actual scientific research. For every peer-reviewed fitness or nutrition article out there, there are dozens of self-styled pseudo health experts telling you to clean your colon with coffee grounds or do 5000 push ups before breakfast or eat nothing but bee pollen, grapefruit and shiitake mushrooms to rebalance your broken metabolism. No wonder people are saying "the hell with it" and trying to figure out what works best on their own.


But Most People, If Left to Their Own Devices, Are Even More Clueless!

If you take a look around at what the average Joe or Jane is eating and doing for physical activity, it makes both the scientists and the monkeys look pretty darn smart. I don't think even a monkey could sit still for four or five consecutive hours of "reality" TV, or contemplate eating a pizza the size of a beach umbrella followed by a quart of Ben and Jerry's. Yet that's what most folks, listening to their own intuition about what they're hungry for and what activities they're up for, end up doing.

As to the successful, healthy intuitive eaters? I suspect they didn't just wake up one day craving brussel sprouts instead of brownies. My guess is that the path to healthy eating involved at least some exposure to scientifically derived "good for you" and "bad for you" information. And also some effort, whether conscious or unconscious, to start hankering after the healthy stuff rather than the junk.

At Cranky Fitness, we tend to take the boring middle ground in most debates, because well, it's firmer and more comfy than the steep teetery controversial edges. So here are some special guidelines incorporating both schools of thought for you to read and ignore when constructing your own health and fitness plan.

The Cranky Fitness Informed-Intuitive Approach to Fitness and Nutrition.

A. How to Use Expert Advice

1. Be at Least Somewhat Aware of Scientific Consensus

Weirdly enough, there is actually a lot of agreement these days among health and nutrition experts about a lot of things. Do you really want to rely solely on intuition to determine if a food you're eating is going to give you cancer or diabetes in 20 years? Take advantage of all that research, you paid for it!

For example, experts seem to agree that getting lots of exercise and not sitting all day is Good for You. They also think refined grains, sugar, HFCS, transfats, processed meats, and excessive sodium are Bad for You. Foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, lean protein and even goodies like dark chocolate, green tea, red wine, avocados and coffee? These are good for you, hooray! (As to high-fat dairy, red meat and artificial sweeteners: sorry, slightly more controversy and contention there).

So if your intuition keeps telling you you need to eat a lot of Cheetos and Krispy-Kremes and Cherry Cokes and footlong chili-cheese dogs? You might want to tell your intuition to go f*ck off for a while until it has something sensible to say.

Sadly, there is a long way to go from the average American junk food diet to the point where one is debating whether raw whole milk from grassfed cows beats pasteurized nonfat, or whether you need to eat fish for Omega-3's or if you can get it from flax seed. So most people can skip worrying about the controversial stuff. Unless you're prepared to make a half-time job out of your health, you'll be doing better than 98% of the population if you just listen to the mainstream experts and heed their advice, however unhip these experts may seem.

2. Consider the Source

Sometimes you read some interesting health tidbit somewhere like "eat papaya every day it burns fat and fights cancer," or, "stop eating tropical fruit, it's got too much fructose and it's gonna give you metabolic syndrome." Well, it's human nature to store that information, no matter how questionable the source. Then you tend to forget where you heard it, and have a totally different reaction when you pass the big pyramid of papayas at the grocery store depending on which article you read.

Tip: don't even open junky non-reputable magazines offering health tips, because the crap you read in there will burn itself into your brain. And when your next door neighbor with the mail-order degree in natural healing starts telling you about the amazing supplement you can buy for only $99 a week that's going to give you more energy than Superman on steroids? Run away!

Where to get boring mainstream advice? Places like WebMd, or Mayo Clinic, or various disease groups like the Heart Association or government agencies like the ones that put out exercise guidelines or the food pyram.... oh wait. Never mind. The food pyramid people seem to have their heads up their asses.

3. Temper Advice With Moderation

Even expert, research-tested advice can be really stupid if you take it to an extreme and don't use common sense. For example, HCFS or transfats may not be good for you, but to freak out over an occasional processed cookie will cause more damage in stress than anything else. Very few substances, even the junky ones, are so toxic that you can't have them every once in a while. There's very little chance that ingesting a single package of Twinkies will cause you to dissolve instantly into a pile of chemically scorched molten mush. That hardly ever happens.

4. Be Prepared to Come Full Circle

I'm old enough to have worn bell-bottoms in the early seventies, and to watch them go from hip and happenin' to ugly and unfashionable and hideous. So then when they came back around again in the 90's and filled the store shelves so I had to buy them all over again? It just killed me!

Same thing happens in health research: old, out-of-fashion ideas come back around. For example, I am now pouring whole milk in my coffee (albeit the organic, grassfed, CLA-rich kind), after I totally trained myself to like nonfat. It tastes good but it seems so wrong! I'm prepared to switch back off it again if this whole CLA thing turns out to be a bunch of hooey. But I doubt my own intuition would have led me to embrace, reject, and then re-embrace dairy fat over and over.


B. How to Use Your Own Intuition

1. Slow the Heck Down and Pay Attention

"Intuition" doesn't mean habit, impulse, reflex, or half-assed, distracted, illogical thinking. It requires careful observation of your own body, how it reacts in different situations, and some monitoring of your own thought processes.

Sometimes it's hard to figure out whether you're really hungry or just bored; whether you're too tired from over-training to work out or just feeling lazy; or whether it's time to stop ignoring that funny lump and make a doctor's appointment. These decisions are even more difficult if you're on auto-pilot and not really paying attention.

So if you want to move away from diets and programs and rules and guidelines and doctor's orders? Then you have to step up and be present and accountable for your own well-being. There are some basic intuitive eating principles you can read about, and folks like Marsha over at A Weight Lifted or MizFit are big believers in intuitive health and fitness; check out their blogs for a sane, self-affirming approach to ditching diets and learning to personalize your own routine.

2. If You're Like Me: You May Have to Start With the Counter-Intuitive Approach

I follow a lot of the principles of intuitive eating, and intuitive exercise too. But totally by accident! I didn't arrive at the point where I actually enjoy and crave healthy foods and vigorous exercise by following my intuition. My intuition is pretty darned happy with cheeseburgers and cokes and brownies. Instead, I ignored my deep-felt preferences and inclinations and forced myself, over years and years, to try a lot of healthy, unappealing foods until I got used to most of them and even started to like them. And I made myself cut way back on yummy, delectable treats that I love, until I got out of the habit of expecting them very frequently. Exercise? Same thing. I sweated out a lot of classes and workouts that were sometimes no fun at all to get to the place where I've discovered enough fitness options I don't hate to keep me in reasonable shape.

However, if you naturally crave steamed vegetables and brown rice and getting up at 4 a.m. to work out, and you happen to despise warm cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven, crunchy nachos smothered in melted cheese, and lazing around reading the Sunday paper when you could be exercising, you may not need a Counterintuitive training period at all.

3. Don't Confuse Intuition with Wishful Thinking

This seems obvious in theory but is harder in practice. How many times have you heard someone express a self-serving, short-sighted, self-destructive impulse as a "gut feeling" that they just had to go with? "Sure, it may sound crazy to walk out on my job and my 20 year marriage and my darling kids to follow the hot Pilates instructor to Portugal to start an avant-garde theater troupe featuring trained parrots doing Shakespeare in exotic costumes, but I looked deep within and I just know, intuitively, that I'm doing exactly the right thing!"

4. Find Your Own Answers

Here's where the intuitive style and the scientific style can most complement one another. Learn to become your own lab rat! Because mainstream scientific advice often is about averages. And people are not statistics. Do you build more muscle mass using heavy weights and low repetitions, or light weights and high repetitions? Well, it doesn't matter what the scientists say if you've performed your own experiments and found out what works best for you. Can you skip breakfast with no ill effects? Does coffee keep you up at night? Do artificial sweeteners help you lose weight or cause you to put on pounds? Does chocolate give you migraines? Some questions don't require you to wait for the results of 20-year longitudinal studies of 200,000 randomly assigned research subjects. Pick something you're curious about, change it, and meanwhile don't mess with anything else for a few weeks, and then observe the results.

For example, in the course of dealing with my stupid plantar fasciitis, I found out that while interval training and long walks and strength training and stretching are all fine and dandy, my blood pressure only drops into a happy range when I'm doing 30-60 minutes of pretty heavy-duty cardio 5 or more days a week. Of course it took not being able to walk for more than ten minutes at a time to motivate me to stay on the elliptical that much, but whatever. Useful information! (And yes, I am finally seeing a PT for the PF and I'm hoping to God to see some improvement soon or I'm going to shoot somebody.)

5. Know When Your Intuition Tends to be Horseshit

Some mistakes that are so psychologically compelling, we just keep making them over and over because they feel so right at the time.

For some, it's the fantasy that "I'll just have one...[potato chip, tequila shot, week off from the gym]." If you are a person who can just have one, or a few, but get back on track? No worries! If you can't, your intuition may be screwing with you. If it does so over and over, it may be time to replace intuition with actual, you know, rules.

Another common "intuitive" error? Thinking that a short-term feeling of virtue is so important it's worth risking long-term health. This can lead to fad diets, weird cleansing rituals, or exercising too much while injured--which I suspect is the reason for the never-ending plantar fasciitis I was talking about. (Of course the most hilarious expert in over-training issues is Charlotte at The Great Fitness Experiment. Since all of you are fans already, and probably haven't been offline nearly as much as I have over the summer, I probably don't need to tell you she's back blogging again and has a new fitness book coming out soon! And another blogger inspiring me to pay attention to my foot issues and stop overdoing it is the always amusing Cranky co-blogger Merry, who is over at Sheesh dealing with frustrating foot issues of her own.)


So how about you guys? Do you take an intuitive approach, follow an expert, read the studies, or have other methods for deciding how to get fit and healthy and stay that way?

Decadent Desserts on a Healthy Diet?

Photo: chotda

Some people don't have much of a sweet tooth. They can pass up ice cream, pastries, cakes, brownies or other goodies without making a big deal out of it. If one of these people gets mugged by a girl scout on the way out of the supermarket, and somehow ends up with a box of Thin Mints? She can arrive home 10 minutes later without having to explain why half a sleeve of cookies is already missing.

However, a lot of us struggle with this issue. I'm one of those folks who, if I didn't worry about consequences, could happily spend my entire day munching on one sweet thing after another. Well, that's not entirely true--to fully appreciate my desserts, I'd blissfully intersperse them with cheeseburgers, nachos, and deep-fried potato skins.

But much as I'd love to, I don't generally eat like that. I am more likely to eat broccoli and salmon than onion rings and whoopee pies. I have way fewer desserts than I would if all of a sudden the nutrition fairy waved her magic wand and said: "The hell with it, let's just say all food is now created equal. Have whatever you want."

Hey thanks nutrition fairy!
Photo: Sarahnaut

However, in the real world (as opposed to the world of television commercials and benevolent nutrition fairies) it is generally understood that eating humongous quantities of chocolate chip cookies or lemon meringue pie or mocha almond fudge ice cream is a bad idea.

So what's the best way to balance the desire for good health with the nearly orgasmic happiness a delicious dessert can bring?

Well, the secret is... there is no one best way. All those diet and self-help books that that say there is? They're wrong. Everyone's different; the trick is to figure out which is your "best way."

Here are some possible strategies. Some of them, in my mind, totally suck and are stupid. Yet they all work for someone. The problem comes when you're trying to use a strategy that isn't right for you.

1. The Black and White Rule.

Some people find sugar (or other sweeteners) to be problematic in the same way alcohol is to an alcoholic. Rather than grapple with constant temptation, they find it easier to have a blanket rule: they don't eat sugar or sweet desserts at all. Except maybe just fake ones like a piece of fruit. (And yes, fruit is wonderful, but I maintain that no, it's not dessert.)

Advantages: Black and white rules are simple to apply! This approach works especially well for people who find their sugar cravings diminish when not toyed with all the time.

Disadvantages: No sugar? Acckk!!!! And for some, "all or nothing" type rules encourage rebellion, or lead to guilt and self-destructive behavior when rules are violated.

2. Heaping on the Healthy Ingredients.

There are two components to this strategy: (1) generally filling yourself up with ample quantities of healthy foods, so you're not feeling constantly hungry and don't have a lot of extra room for junky treats; and (2) using healthy ingredients in desserts along with the Evil ones.

For example, many tasty desserts feature fruits and vegetables, like the carrot and apple cupcakes in Simply Recipes, or Leah's banana pudding pie over at The Goat's Lunch Pail.

Advantages: eating more nutritious whole foods is a good way to improve your general health and mood, and keep you from feeling sick, weak, tired, cranky and generally crappy.

Disadvantages. Even desserts with a few healthy ingredients also usually contain loads of sugar, butter, and refined grains. Despite what many natural bakeries imply, these ingredients don't become good for you merely because they are organic or are snuggled up next to a shredded fruit or vegetable. It's not a great idea to eat large quantities of blueberry danish just because blueberries have some lovely antioxidants in them.

3. Portion Police.

This is one of the most common ways of enjoying desserts, but not experiencing the weight gain or other adverse health consequences of massive sugar consumption. Eat desserts in moderation! Don't consume big-ass slices of cake, or multiple scoops of ice cream, or entire packages of lame grocery store cookies. Have one of Geosomin's mini-cupcakes or Roni's mini-apple pies instead!

Advantages: If you can stick to your plan and eat small portions of your favorite treats, you can enjoy them without guilt.

Disadvantages: If you suck at portion control, there is no such thing as a small portion.

4. Special Occasion Exceptions.

This is another portion control method, but focuses more on frequency and less on quantity. Special Occasion people go ahead and have that second slice of chocolate layer cake--but only have cake at all when it's their birthday, or a holiday, or a long-awaited get together with special friends.

Advantages: When desserts are consumed only rarely, they stay "special" and don't worm their way into your daily routine and start sneakily escalating into habit-forming entitlements.

Disadvantages: It's tempting to start celebrating more and more "special occasions" like "I finally got my hair cut day" or "the fifteen week anniversary of my middle child going off to kindergarten," or "Tuesday Afternoon."

5. The Calculator Strategy.

If you count calories or carbs or weight-watcher points, and you're also eating enough nutritious whole foods, you can plan for a decadent dessert by cutting out discretionary calories elsewhere.

Advantages: No guilt! You earned your dessert; enjoy every bite.

Disadvantages: Counting calories or points or carb grams or whatever can be a huge pain in the ass. Also, some people get too focused on the numbers and forget how important it is to include food that's nutritious, not just waist-line friendly.

6. Exercise Erasure.

A rich dessert can be "bought" by an additional calorie expenditure above and beyond what is normal for the day. Say you already went to the gym in the morning, but you're craving a special dessert after dinner--so you put in an additional hour on the Wii or treadmill, then enjoy your treat.

This method can also be used as a deterrent to mindless overindulgence. Knowing how many miles of extra walking or running a double-dip ice cream cone represents can help you rethink that cone unless you're really dying for it.

Advantages: if you have the time, and commit to the exercise before having the treat, it's another no-guilt way to enjoy yourself--plus will pay off with all the health benefits that exercise brings.

Disadvantages: Many people overestimate how many calories they're burning when they exercise, and underestimate how many are in most treats.

7. Low-Cal Convenience Desserts

Some people are great cooks and use the best tasting ingredients they can find so that every dessert is a gourmet treat. (For example, The Bag Lady can show you how to make a perfect pie crust, and she's not afraid to bring on the lard.) Others may sometimes opt for convenient low-calorie treats, so that they can eat them more often with committing to an extra ten mile hike after dinner.

The funny thing about reduced-calorie treats? Everyone has opinions about which ones are delicious and which ones are so hideous they should be outlawed. But rarely do people agree on which is which. One persons "delicious" low-cal chocolate pudding will taste like 100 calories of fertilizer to someone else.

Advantages: if low cal treats taste good to you, you can eat them more often than full calorie desserts.

Disadvantages: if you're eating them instead of a "real" dessert, and they're not satisfying you, they may cause you to consume more calories in the long run, with less satisfaction.

8. The "F-ck It, We're All Going to Die One Day Anyway" Approach.

This may be hard for health and fitness enthusiasts to comprehend, but there are many folks out there who just don't give a crap whether their diet may one day kill them. They choose to eat what they want, in whatever quantities they feel like, and they don't worry much about whether gigantic portions of processed, sugary salty nutritionally bankrupt food with make them obese, give them diabetes, or set them up for a heart attack.

When I find myself mentally tsk-tsk-tsking over the contents of other people's shopping carts at the grocery store, or watching what people order and consume in a restaurant, I have to remind myself that nutritional choices are a lifestyle choice, not a moral one. What's it to me if the guy at the next table finishes his large pepperoni pizza and orders a 2500 calorie cake and ice-cream extravaganza for dessert? Why do I judge him for making different choices than I would, if I don't have to live in his over-stuffed and under-nourished body? It's his body and his choice.

(Not that I plan to stop the tsk-tsking any time soon, but I do know I'm being a judgmental butthead).

What strategies do you use when it comes to desserts? Or are you one of those people who doesn't give them a second thought?

[Note: this is also posted over at Blogher, where you can join us for grueling daily fitness challenges at the 10x Club.]

Vegetables: Painless Ways to Eat More of 'Em

Image: drewprops

Do we need to review the fact that vegetables are good for us? I think not. The only people who might argue that we should cut down on vegetables are the Meatatarians and the Breatharians. And do we really care what they think?

The problem is, while there are some people who love vegetables, most of us have more ambivalent feelings. We don't tend to crave them the same way we do cookies. And there may even be some vegetables we loathe so much that if we accidentally eat them, we might spit them out into our napkins when no one is looking. (Hello, celery? I'm talking to you).

On the other hand, there are times, depending on the vegetable and the preparation, when we don't even notice we're eating vegetables. Or, even better--sometimes they actually taste pretty darn good!

But for many of us, the number of servings of vegetables we should be eating a day adds up to way more vegetables than we can pretend to enjoy. Those darn nutritionists keep upping the recommended amount--I've actually seen experts who say nine to eleven servings a day. And holy crap, eleven is a big number when it comes to vegetables!

So for those of us who struggle a bit, here are some reminders about how to get more vegetables in without undue suffering.

Cartoon: NatalieDee.com

1. Seek Out Variety. This is harder than it sounds, because there's something a little bit suspicious about unfamiliar vegetables, isn't there? If it was really tasty and good for us, why didn't we grow up eating it?

Well, the good news is even as a grown up, you can learn to like new ones if you try them a few times. And having a bigger variety cuts down on the "chore" aspect of making sure you get enough.

For example, I didn't grow up with kale, and on first try, I frankly thought it was kind of bitter and yucky. But after a few tries, I actually kind of like it! As it happens, this Blogher post by Kayln has a whole boatload of things you can do with kale.

Don't think you're a broccoli fan? Well over at Kayln's own blog, Kayln's Kitchen, she's got a great sounding recipe for sauteed broccoli with garlic, pine nuts and paremesan. Or, try a new preparation of asparagus--an asparagus medley with cashews, courtesy of Lesbian in the Kitchen. (And thanks, Elisa and Everyday Goddess for the tips!)

2. Take Short Cuts. If you can afford to spend a bit more money, there are a lot more convenient options for fresh produce than there used to be. Remember when you couldn't enjoy fresh spinach without spending forever washing the dang grit out of it? Of course if you've got the time, it still makes sense to buy vegetables in their freshest, most natural state. But if you're trying to encourage more healthy side dishes and snacks, and you're pushed for time, take advantage of all those pre-washed, pre-cut or frozen options that you grab when you just can't face all that scrubbing and chopping.

3. Roast Those Veggies. This trick brings brings out the sweeter flavors, and can turn make otherwise "difficult" vegetables like cauliflower or brussel sprouts into something that actually tastes pretty wonderful. There's a recipe for mixed vegetables over at Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms. (And I'm no expert, but I just had roasted cauliflower last night--tossed in a generous slathering of olive oil and garlic, and baked at 400 degrees for about a half hour. Weirdly enough? I loved it!)

4. Don't Fear the Fat. Sure, it's not a great idea to totally drown every vegetable in butter, cream, mayonnaise, or bacon grease. But cooking with a a healthy fat like olive oil can makes a huge difference in flavor. Plus, many of the nutrients in vegetables need some fat to be best absorbed, so you're actually doing yourself a nutritional favor. And heck, if a little bit of butter can turn an otherwise bleak vegetable into something tasty and comforting? Well, I say that's butter well-spent.

Like cheese with your veggies? Check out Melting Mama's cauliflower Mac and Cheese recipe. Haven't tried it yet but it sounds great!

5. Blend Them Beyond Recognition. Regular Cranky Fitness readers know I'm a big fan of the Green Smoothie. Tossing some fresh veggies in a morning smoothie along with fruit and whatever smoothie base you like (milk, yogurt, kefir, fruit juice, protein concoctions, almond milk, etc) is a great sneaky way to get a vegetable in at breakfast. Spinach works especially well, but I've also snuck in bok choy, cauliflower, and asparagus. The trick is not to get too aggressive with the veggies at first, and keep the flavor very much in the background until you get used to it.

6. Dip Them. Use fresh veggies as a conveyance for your favorite healthy dip, like hummus, guacamole, bean dip, or, if you've got some calories to spare, peanut butter!

7. Hide Them. If you've got a favorite guilty convenience food or takeout option, sometimes you can at least redeem the meal somewhat by slipping a lot more veggies into the sauce. I find that while I love Indian food, the ratio of vegetables to sauce at most places is always way too skimpy--so I nuke whatever I've got around and toss it in there--makes for more leftovers too.

And if you're making soups or stews, you may notice that cooking things for a hell of a long time gives you the ability to cram more veggies in there--because some of them sort of dissolve and become part of the broth. (And you can use a blender to encourage this. Especially if you have picky kids at home, because "invisible" vegetables cause much less whining than visible ones.)

8. Take advantage of Farmer's Markets or Grow your Own: Fresh vegetables are sweeter and tastier than those that have been shipped from halfway 'round the world. So if you live somewhere where it's feasible, go for the freshest stuff you can find.

9. Salads Don't Have to be Boring: It's so easy to get into a fixed routine with salads, and before long you may feel like you never want to eat another one again. But it's amazing how changing up your dressing or adding a couple of new ingredients can make a salad something to look forward to again. Try goat cheese, pine nuts, fruit, avocado slices, or other healthy but tasty toppings. A few extra calories may be worth it to make the salad seem like something to look forward to rather to endure like a 20 year prison sentence.

So do you get enough veggies? And does anyone have other ideas as to how to get more vegetables into our diets?

[Note: This post is also scheduled to appear at the Blogher 10X club, where, if you're brave enough, you can join us for healthy challenges in the 10X forum].

Weight Loss: What Works?

Photo: Behind Forever

Welcome to the New Year! As you may have noticed, 'tis is the season when society's interest in weight loss escalates from the slightly obsessive to the barking, raving, shrieking insane.

Everywhere you turn, someone is telling you how to lose a quick and easy 10, 20, 50 or even 100 pounds. Of course, many of these are commercial pitches for dubious exercise devices, pills, fad diets, or low-cal convenience foods, squarely aimed at separating you from your hard-earned money.

Some of these pitches are laughably stupid. But there's also plenty of sensible advice on offer this time of year. It's just that few people want to follow the sensible advice, because, well, it makes sense! It doesn't promise magic. Real weight loss advice is no fun compared to a product we can buy that will miraculously make weight loss pleasant and effortless.

Yes, please sign me up for the diet plan where I get to eat my fill of delicious pizza, pasta, chocolate cake and ice cream while the pounds just melt away! Oh, and can you send me a little barstool I can swivel on for a few minutes at my desk each day that will magically sculpt my entire body and make me lean and muscular? Thanks! Oh wait, on second thought, I don't really feel like swiveling. Have you got something in a pill I could just take? You do? Awesome, let me get my credit card!

Not being clever enough to have any miraculous weight loss products to market myself, I suppose I have to share the boring sensible stuff instead. Which you probably already know! But in the season of jaw-dropping "before" and "after" photos, and "Lose 30 pounds in 3o days" claims, it might be a good time for a reminder about the tedious, obvious stuff that actually works.

1. Focus more effort on adding healthy foods to your diet than to subtracting calories.
I know, this seems backwards. And if you're an old hand at healthy eating and you're just working on portion control, feel free to skip this step.

But if you are eating even remotely like most people in this "modern" age, you are eating far too much processed, fatty, salty, sugary, dangerously tasty crap. You are getting a belly-full of transfats and saturated fats and sugar and refined grains and questionable chemicals. You are being programmed to crave junk and these cravings keeping you in a constant state of insatiable food-lust. And you are probably eating far too few fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, lean proteins, and healthy fats like olive oil. The stuff your body actually needs that will keep you from being hungry all the time.

This not only messes with your weight and your metabolism; it leaves you a handy target for disease and will make your old age miserable, if you even manage to get to old age.

Of course if you're trying to lose weight fast, it's tempting to focus solely on calories or Weight Watcher points, for which you get "credit." Instead of putting healthier stuff in your body, it's easier to plot and scheme about how you can replicate all your favorite treats in 100 calorie portion controlled versions. However, many folks have discovered that this energy and motivation may be better used slowly but surely acquiring a taste for healthier foods.

It takes trial and error and persistence, but you can retrain your tastebuds. Eventually, you may come to crave a spinach, mango, and kefir smoothie in the morning just as much as you used to love a frosted Poptart.

2. Learn to prepare at least a few healthy meals you like to eat.

I hate this advice myself because I don't much like to cook. But no matter how "healthy" a restaurant or take-out place claims it is, you often can't trust that they're not adding extra butter, sugar, salt, etc. to make it taste better. And lets face it, most places don't even pretend to offer healthy ingredients. And "healthy convenience foods" that are truly healthy and don't taste like plastic and overcooked vegetables and sawdust? These are few and far between.

The old standard advice is still good: do some menu planning, get a list together, stock up on healthy staples, and make a big-ass pot of something a couple times a week and freeze extra portions for later.

Looking for recipe ideas? We'll be talking more about that in the next few weeks, but in the meantime, check out This Mama Cooks--On a Diet, or Green Lite Bites, or for vegan ideas, Veggie Going Vegan.

3. Track what you're eating and how much.

Eating mostly healthy foods is a HUGE step towards weight loss. But if you're in the habit of eating for entertainment, or for emotional reasons, you may find you need to account for what you're eating and try to bring it within sensible limits.

This may mean weighing, measuring, tallying, charting, and otherwise holding yourself accountable.

It can be a huge pain in the ass until you get used to it, and it drives many people crazy. If you are someone who rebels in a big way when asked to hold yourself accountable, this may not work for you. But for lots of folks it's incredibly helpful. Knowing that you will have to write down the calories for all 8 "fun sized" Snickers bars you just found in the back of the freezer left over from Halloween will make you much less likely to eat them all in a moment of weakness.

4. Exercise

This is a huge subject in itself and there are lots of tips and tweaks that we'll get to. But a lot of folks seem to feel like this is an optional step in weight loss. It isn't. You don't want to lose muscle along with fat, do you? And virtually everyone who has lost boat-loads of weight and managed to keep it off incorporates plenty of exercise into their daily routine.

Start gradually; and remember any movement is better than none. You know all that advice about taking the stairs and walking on errands instead of driving? Do that stuff! But eventually you'll probably want to also be doing strength training, aerobic conditioning, and stretches. And if all that goes well, you may want to add high intensity intervals, balance training, endurance work, and "functional" fitness moves. Whew! It's exhausting just listing them all! But the more you do, the better you feel, the faster your metabolism goes, the easier it will be to lose weight and keep it off. You may, if lucky, even find forms of exercise you really like! I swear, it does happen sometimes.

Looking for inspiration and some exercises to try? Check out Truth2BeingFit, Weight for Deb, Stumptuous and Mizfit, among other sites I'll be suggesting as well when we get into more specifics.


5. Give up on being perfect.

Aim high, if you want. But don't expect to avoid falling on your face every now and then. You're NOT going to be perfect at this; no one is.

The people who are most successful at losing weight and keeping it off are those who don't freak out when they screw up. They know it's inevitable. They keep moving forward. After several skipped workouts or a big binge, they skip the self-flagellation and instead get all practical and analytical: what were the triggers? How could the situation be avoided or mitigated? What's the fastest way back on track?

If you follow the blogs of people who have lost lots of weight, you will find that all of them suffer setbacks and periods of crappy motivation.

For example, just read some random entries from A Forty-Something's Weight Loss Journey, or The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl, or Jack Sh*t, Getting Fit. None of these bloggers claim to be perfect yet they've all done an amazing job slowly but surely losing weight.

Anyone else have any "basic" weight loss advice that's helped you lose weight and keep it off? Have any favorite web resources to suggest to others?

[Note: this post also appears at the Blogher 10X club because I'm lazy like that when it comes to writing multiple posts. But feel free to come join us and check out the challenges and rewards in the 10X club forum!]