Diets and the New Year

OK how many of you are thinking about starting  a diet??  Go ahead - raise your hands!!  If you are I would encourage you to  find one that fits your lifestyle and is not a fad or a "quick fix".  The most successful people I know who lose weight prefer to look at a "diet" as a change in the way they eat.  They also do their research and  talk to others on the diet.  Yo-Yo dieting is dangerous as it can cause radical changes in blood chemistry and fluctuations in key nutrients.  Take your time and make the commitment to a change in how you eat as well as making smart choices on what you eat.

You should also check with your doctor and get his/her recommendations.  See if the proposed changes will affect any medications that you are taking.  Simple foods like Grapefruit or Orange Juice do affect how some medications are absorbed.  So before you try any juice diet find out.  Likewise potassium can be increased or decreased by certain food and drug combinations. 

Lastly remember it takes time to lose weight.  It took time to gain the weight. Any over the counter fix may have some very harmful effects. There have been deaths from some of these so do your research.  Make 2012 a healthful year.

I will be teaching three classes on Super Foods at Williams Sonoma this month.  Come by and learn. I will post the classes on the Thursday before.

New Year Food Tradtions

If you are from the South, you most likely will be having Black Eyed Peas today.  That is a traditional good luck food in that region.  Others may have a hard boiled egg or a special soup.  Whatever your cultural tradition for food to start the new year, I say go for it!  Teach your children about it.  Food and culture go hand in hand and need to be preserved.  That does not mean that you cannot change it or make it better. Spending time in the kitchen with family is a blessing that needs to be passed on and preserved.

So Happy New Year! Eat and join with friends and family to bring in the new year. Worry about the calories later today is special!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

To many who read this blog it is already 2012.  I want to take a moment to thank all of you who read the blog and wish each of you a very Happy and Prosperous 2012! 

Let me know what you like in the blog and what I can do to make it better.  If you have questions, or need recipes let me know. I will do my best to help.

Thank you again for a great 2011 and may we  all enjoy peace and happiness in 2012.