“Stress Eater Diet” Review and a Giveaway

It’s no surprise to anyone reading this that survey after survey shows American’s stress levels have gone through the roof in recent months. Everyone, to some degree, is impacted by the financial crisis, whether it’s directly through a job loss or cut back; loss of savings through the stock market; higher prices at the grocery store; or reduced services provided by federal, state and local governments.

What worries me (OK, stresses me out) is that more people will turn to food for comfort. Stress eating is already something 50 percent of Americans report they do, and a more recent survey shows that 82 percent of people say they have eaten in response to a stressful situation.

It worries me because, as a news junkie, I’ve noticed the overweight/obesity epidemic has not only taken a back seat to the economic crisis in the media, but it’s been downright kicked out of the car along the side of the road. And now with everyone stressing out over money and jobs – and rightly so, this is a serious situation – chances are people are going to get even bigger than smaller as the financial crisis continues.

That’s why I was thrilled to read (and highly recommend) “Stress Eater Diet” by Robert Posner, MD, and Linda Hlivka.

This “diet” is normal and healthy – real food and no “cleansing” – and it places a strong emphasis on mindful eating, behavior modification, and stress-reducing techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga and exercise.

I was really glad to see the question, “Who are you losing the weight for?” asked almost right away. God knows enough of us have lost (or are are still losing) weight “for” someone else, “for” something else, like “just for me” isn’t good enough.

The “spin” to this diet (and you know every diet has a spin) is its emphasis on serotonin imbalance. The authors recommend eating foods that contain tryptophan (an amino acid essential for normal growth and metabolism). Foods include: turkey, chicken, fish, pheasant, partridge, cottage cheese, bananas, eggs, nuts, wheat germ, avocados, milk, cheese and legumes. They also want us to get out in the sun more.

Another big reason I can recommend this diet is because it encourages journaling, both food and emotions. Long-time readers, you know I’m all about journaling, even before you start to lose weight. Figuring out WHY we overeat, WHY we treat ourselves the way we do, and WHAT we eat can help us develop personal strategies for overcoming old patterns.

The book includes an Emotional Eating Worksheet which I can see would be very helpful, very “journaling-like.”

Tips for “Breaking the pattern of stress eating” include waiting 15-30 minutes before eating, keeping a diet log, changing your snacking routine pattern, making it a habit to eat only when you’re sitting at the table and not occupied by another task, putting a note such as “Why am I eating?” on the refrigerator or pantry (I like this one the best), and “As a last resort, if you cannot stop yourself from eating a particular food, limit the portion and STOP after you have eaten that portion. Do not feel as though you have ruined the day and might as well eat everything else in sight. Start fresh from that moment on.”

The book includes several other practical tips like how to reduce stress in the car, managing stress and anger, and how to “sniff” away stress. They recommend one of my favorite essential oils: frankincense. I always thought it was some ancient perfume long buried in the ruins of old Bethlehem until I found some at the place I get a massage.

The heart of the book is the actual diet. The last section deals with stress-reducing foods and outlines a four-week eating plan. It includes the best explanation I’ve read on why it’s important to “eat your colors,” and what those certain foods do in terms of health benefits.

The meal plan gets two thumbs up. There a lot of emphasis on protein, fruits and vegetables, and while the plan suggests several kinds of meat, I can see how it could be easily adjusted to accommodate those of us who choose not to eat meat.

The Stress Eater Diet authors also write a blog. I’ll be adding it to my blog roll. And while most of you probably realize if you eat when you’re stressed, the Stress Eater Diet website offers a Stress Eater Quiz (click the link). It’s also in the book.

So, who wants to win this book? Leave a comment about stress and how you deal with it. I’ll “draw” a winner on Tuesday!

This Is The Time

I bought myself some tulips today at WalMart. Just a little $5 bunch of small purple tulips that are still tightly closed. Soon they’ll open and then they’ll die, but from now until then they give me hope that, as I look out my window and see snow blowing little birds off the feeders, spring really is a month away.

More than that, they symbolize what I realized today listening to David Cook sing in my iPod at the gym. I never thought I’d find something profound in one of the corny songs written for American Idol winners since they’ve all been disappointingly bubblegum in nature (not to mention I hate any song that refers to rainbows), but there are three lines in the lyrics of “This Is The Time” that said to me this morning, “Hey, Lynn. Listen up.”

The first is the opening line: “I’ve been waiting for my dreams to turn into something I could believe in.”

I’ve been doing this for awhile now: waiting, sort of acting, but definitely being a mostly passive observer. I know dreams don’t simply get dumped in our laps. At least not usually. We have to act, often aggressively, to make them a reality. But this one dream I have…man…it’s been tough to envision as real.

While I’ve been aware of my holding back for awhile now, the song was there at the right place at the right time. I’ve not been acting to make one of my biggest dreams come true. I think about it all the time. I plan strategies for how to accomplish it. And still, I do nothing other than dabble in it.

Why do I do that? I thought as I cooled off on the bike. What’s holding me back?

Fear, said the little voice. Fear that you’re not good enough.

I thought about that for a few minutes and realized it was true. I don’t believe in myself. That’s the bottom line. I mean, I do a little, otherwise I wouldn’t have lost 170 pounds, right? Obviously a cheerleader lives inside me, albeit subconsciously. I need to resuscitate her. Give her some pompoms, a short skirt and some kicky white vinyl boots (that’s how pompom girls dressed when I was a kid) and let her give me an L! Give me a Y! Give me an N! Give me an N!

The second lyric that caught my attention was: “This is the time to be more than a name or a face in the crowd…”

My dream has nothing to do with fame and fortune. It’s more like losing weight – something I want to do for me, not anyone else. But it still wants to be done. Still wants to be accomplished.
There are nights I go to bed and vow to never write another blog. I want to simply vanish into anonymity and be nothing more than a face in the crowd. It’s safe being one of the masses. But always I wake in the morning and know that my voice, as small as it is in the billion-blog realm, needs to come out, even if I’m the only one who hears it. Well, me, my mom, my kids and Gail, who I’m pretty sure reads every one of my blogs. (Hi, Gail!)

Then there’s the third part of the lyric. I thought about it and decided it’s something I want to do: I’m “Ready to run; I’m keeping my feet on the ground; My arms open wide; My face to the sun; I’ll taste every moment; And live it out loud; I know this is the time.”

What have I got to lose? What’s life if I don’t break out and do what I really deep down want to do? And why not live it out loud? I’m gonna do it. I need to restructure some things, rework my priorities, but it will be done. The dream that is. It’s time.

I’d love it if you’d break down this song – or any other song or poem or writing that speaks to you whether it’s in an elevator, a commercial, or at the gym – and apply it to your own life. What dream do you have? Are you living it? Or are you merely thinking about it? This is your time. YOUR time. Just give it some thought.

Oh, and buy yourself some tulips. You deserve it.

Disabling Comments

About 80% of the comments submitted to me were just sugar-coated spam.I used to review and reject them, but I can’t take this anymore. :(I get all these seemingly wonderful posts... Comment: “You are soooooo amazing!!! I was going to go bulimic, but your site gives me hope!”But then it links to: “SUPER-DUPER WEIGHT LOSS PILLS! BUY NOW!”ARGH!!!!!!! I am so disgusted!!I find it despicable

Getting Skinny. Staying Skinny. How Do “They” Do It?

“How do they stay skinny?” Every time I go to Facebook, I see this ad, as well as the one for Hollywood’s secret for eliminating wrinkles *eyeroll*. The ads use headshots of Jennifer Aniston, Diane Lane, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, and every other thin female celeb you can think of. My blood boils every time I see it because I know there are people who actually believe the ad is real and end up getting duped. Desperation is like that.

I clicked on the darn thing last night to see what it was all about and gee, surprise surprise, it was an acai diet. I played along and called myself Sid who wanted to lose 10 pounds. Here’s the message I got back (oh, and keep in mind I won’t be 46 until August, thank you very much)

“Hello Sid, Based on your goals of moving from 128 lbs to 118 lbs, your height of 5'6" and the fact you are 46 years of age, you seem like the perfect candidate for one of our remaining weight loss packages with 14-day Trial period. However due to the small number of trials we have left to hand out, there’s just a few short questions we’d like to ask before having a full month’s supply (that's 60 capsules!) rushed to your door.”

I answered their questions and this was the next message:

“Great news! Sid, you qualify for one of our remaining trial packages! Not only that, but if you take AcaiBurn 2x per day and....- go for an easy 30 minute walk (or swim, or cycle) three times a week- don’t eat after 7:30pm- drink 8 glasses of water a day… you can lose weight fast and be well on your way to your weight loss goal by Mar 18, 2009!

Your BMI is within the normal range of weight for your height. Weight is not always the true indication of your fitness. The BMI represents a range of healthy weight for your height. Your Wu-Yi Tea will help you fuel your engine and get you to your goal weight without compromising your energy or good nutrition.

DIRECTIONS: As a dietary supplement, take 1 capsule of AcaiBurn 2x per day, approximately 30 to 60 minutes before your morning and afternoon meals. Consume at least six 8-oz. glasses of water per day. Read the entire label before use and follow directions. Do not exceed 2 capsules in a 24 hour period. Do not take within 3 hours of bedtime. If you begin to experience weight loss in excess of one pound per 24 hours, temporarily discontinue use.

WARNING!....The AcaiBurn system was not created for those people who only want to lose a few measly pounds. The AcaiBurn System was created to help you achieve the incredible body you have always wanted…USE WITH CAUTION!”

So there you have it. That’s what’s being advertised on Facebook and I’m sure a million other places. Just take a few pills, drink some tea, walk a little, and pray you don't lose so many bodily fluids that you lose a pound every 24 hours.

Where do you suppose these ads originate? My guess is somewhere in Asia. This doesn’t sound like the same “voice” you get in those “I am living in exile and have $5 billion dollars in my bank account…” email scams.

Call me naïve, but I don’t know how advertisers like this live with themselves. Shame on them.

But mostly I’m sadly perplexed by the number of people who actually give out their credit card numbers to these scammers. I don’t mean that as a slam on anyone. God knows I’ve made my share of financial mistakes in my life. But my heart really goes out to the desperation people feel to lose weight fast and, in most cases, so unhealthily.

I’m sure many of you (me included) have felt that “fat desperation” before. That “Oh my god just get it OFF me already!” kind of panic when it comes to weight loss. It’s easy to forget we have better choices and we have time. Time to think. Time to develop patience. Time to remember that weight loss isn’t something that’s best done quickly.

We need time for our brains to catch up to our bodies. Time to figure out what made us fat in the first place. Time to just breathe and be and start loving who we are despite the scale. Actually, just remembering to breathe and keep loving who we are is something that continues in maintenance. I’m always reminding myself to be patient.

It’s hard, though, when day in and day out we’re bombarded with ads promising fast weight loss. Promising that our lives will be perfect once we lose weight. Sadly, that’s the biggest lie ever. How do we combat it? I don’t know. I guess just one blog at a time, eh?

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I want to give a shout out and plug to my sister Emily's best friend Carye who is an independent artist living in Portland and runs a little press called Red Bat Press. Carye designs very fun cards, calendars and blank books.

I'm particularly fond of her bunny series. I also love the birds.

If you're looking for something a little different, click here to go to her website.

Wait...What Was I Doing?

Nothing sounded appealing yesterday, so I did a half hour of strength training in silence (as silent as my house gets with three dogs). I realize I need to do this more often because I get a better workout when I concentrate on the moves rather than sing “Mas Tequila” at the top of my lungs.

Instead of music or news or a podcast, I listened to the Pink Panther neon wall clock ticking loudly on every second. I followed its cadence while lifting rather than the cadence in my head because, as I learned, 10 Lynn seconds is about 6 or 7 real seconds. Amazing the difference 3 or 4 seconds can make. Just ask my obliques. Fifteen to 20 reps, 3 sets…that’s 2-3 additional minutes per exercise. Yikes.

After the ST at home, I went to the gym and did cardio for 50 minutes. With all the thinking and music listening I do to distract me, the exercise itself becomes tertiary. I just muscle through doing the same old same old and wishing it was over. Halfway through my workout yesterday, the song “The More You Ignore Me…” by Morrissey came on. I forgot I’d added that to my playlist.

“The more you ignore me The closer I get You're wasting your time The more you ignore me The closer I get You're wasting your time”

It was like Morrissey was channeling my body. “Stop ignoring me!” it was saying. “Pay attention!”

I focused on my thighs and calves and heart rate and realized, yes, I really was being an ignorant nit. I could do better, work harder, stop wasting my time. So I cranked up the arc trainer to 50 and a 7 incline, found “Mas Tequila” on the playlist, and stepped in time to the beat (no, I didn’t sing). I paid attention to everything me. I felt every drip of sweat fall over my nose and watched them drip to the floor. I felt my feet and legs and arms and abs. For 3 minutes it was just me, my myself and I. Well, and Sammy, too, but I didn’t engage in my usual fantasy of drinking tequila in Baja and licking the salt off of…oh never mind.

Today, I rode my spiffy new recumbent bike in silence. I thought I’d go stark raving mad, but it wasn’t too bad. I learned where I need to focus, so hopefully that will become second nature with some practice.

I am easily distracted, though. My mind wanders all over the place, whether I’m exercising or writing or whatever. For instance, the first thing I wanted to do this morning was pay bills and balance the checkbook. I got up from my desk in my office to retrieve my checkbook in my purse hanging on a chair in the dining room. On my way, I remembered I wanted to plan meals for the week. I wandered into the kitchen, dug out cookbooks, figured out the plan, and then walked back to my office. I sat down and thought, Wait. I need my checkbook. Back to the dining room. On the way, I remembered I wanted to add soap and paprika to the grocery list. But before I could do that, I had to turn off the electric candles in the windows, open the shades, make some tea and pick out workout clothes. I got back to my desk and still didn’t have my checkbook.

This is a recurring issue for me. Even after yesterday’s intentional mindfulness during exercise and I was feeling so good about how well I’d done, today comes and I have to start all over again.

And that’s OK. I didn’t lose weight overnight. I can’t train my mind to pay attention overnight, either, right?

Now I’m really going to go pay bills and balance my checkbook. Really. I am.

Welcome To My Kitchen (Plus…The Veggie Burger Recipe)

My stepson Andy calls our house a “death trap for tall people.” It has high ceilings on the first floor, but dormered ceilings on the second and very solid (and very low) wood beams in the basement.

In spite of its smallness, it’s cozy. Especially the kitchen. Because it’s the size of a postage stamp, it forces me to do dishes more than once a day (thank god for the Scotch-Brite Soap Dispensing Dish Wand), which means I always have clean knives and cutting boards (even though I’m a bit of a board whore. They are one of my kitchen addictions). It also means more counter space for visitors to sit and chat.

This lack of space also forces me to keep my cookbooks and recipe files (that I store on an old metal baker’s rack) up-to-date and orderly. (Yes, that’s one lonely apple you see in the hanging basket. I should have done the grocery shopping during my steroid high a few days ago, but driving didn’t seem like a good idea.)

I own a lot of cookbooks, but most of them are in the Big Box ‘O Books in the basement. Before I store them in said box, I tag the recipes I make the most, bring the book(s) to Staples, make a copy of each, and stick them in the corresponding homemade recipe file keeper. Not only does this take up less space, I’m free to write any changes or comments on the paper rather than messing up the book.

These three-ring gems saved me from recipe hell. You know the place: that abyss of clipped snippets of recipes from magazines, soup cans, applesauce jars, flour bags, the underside of Cool-Whip or yogurt containers, and the sides of rice, pasta and cereal boxes? All those recipes you say you want to try just pile up in the junk drawer until you practically go insane trying to find “that one recipe” ten times a week.

Thus, I use binders.

I also love LOVE my Clear Solutions Jumbo Cookbook. When I plan meals for the week, I take out the necessary recipe from its file or I tag it in a cookbook and stick them all behind the plastic cover guard where they stand ready when I am.

You can see in the photo a can of white kidney beans. I’m fixin’ to make some more of those veggie burgers I talked about in my last blog, the ones that don’t fall apart. For two years, I’ve been on a mission to find a homemade veggie burger that doesn’t crumble to bits the second I flip them in the pan or stick a fork in them. Apparently many of you have the same problem, based on the number of requests I received for the recipe. I found this one in my Healthy Cooking magazine from Taste of Home. I’ve typed out the recipe as is, but on this next go round, I plan to add chili powder and use barbecue sauce instead of ketchup to spice them up a little.

Veggie Burgers
4 servings = 2 Points each; 6 servings = 1 Point each

1 can (16 oz.) kidney beans (I suspect you could use black or pinto beans as well)
½ C old-fashioned oats
2 T ketchup
½ C finely chopped fresh mushrooms
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 small sweet red pepper, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ t salt (I omitted this due to sodium concerns)
1/8 t pepper

Place the beans, oats and ketchup in a food processor; cover and pulse until blended. Transfer to medium bowl; stir in rest of ingredients. Shape into four or six patties. On a baking sheet coated with non-stick spray, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (or until well browned), turning halfway through.

You can also wrap these individually in plastic wrap and store in the freezer. WAY cheaper (and less sodium) than Bocas or Morningstars.

To download the recipe, click here. Keep in mind, the nutritional stats included on the Taste of Home site account for a hamburger bun. And ignore the question by a would-be reviewer on the page as to whether she should use an egg because every other burger recipe she’s seen requires an egg. Trust me, you don’t need an egg. *eyeroll*

Hope you enjoyed the little tour of my kitchen. Here’s one last photo. It’s of my refrigerator, or as I call it, a big metal photo album.

Also, keep in mind this disclaimer if you ever come to visit: I can’t be held responsible if you’re taller than 5’7” and you forget to hunch over when you walk around upstairs or do your laundry in the basement and you smack your head on an overhead light or a big old beam. I’ll offer you an ice cube for the ensuing bump, though.

Adventures in Steroids

I’ve been up since 4 a.m. even though I went to bed at 11:30 with a half a Xanax. Nothing was going to keep me sleeping. Not after that steroid shot.

After the root canal yesterday, Dr. Jimmy gave me a shot that he said would help keep the pain to a manageable level. Oh, and by the way, it might cause a burst of energy in the evening. What the? What kind of burst of energy? I asked. He just smiled and said, “You’ll know.”

Six hours later, I was like Ed Grimley on speed.



For instance, I made homemade refried beans. I drained them from the crockpot (they’d been cooking all day), threw them in the food processor along with all the spices and such, started pulsing it, then the food processor stopped working. Oh well. Transferred it all to a bowl. Dug out the hand mixer. It didn’t mash it the way I wanted. Oh well. Dug out the blender. Dumped in the bean mixture. Started pulsing. Wasn’t blending. Too many beans. Took half out. Blended in two smaller batches. Perfect. Threw the beans in a Tupperware and into the fridge. Cleaned up the crock pot, food processor, mixer, blender and the ten bowls I messed up, all without so much as a swear word! In real life, I’d have been pretty ticked by the time I got to the blender.

I let the dogs out. When they came in they tracked in mud. Oh well. I washed the kitchen floor.

Talked to my daughter on the phone while doing dishes. I think I let her talk, too. I don’t remember. I wasn’t hungry, but I put some frozen soup on low on the stove and started singing and dancing to “Free Ride.” That song hasn’t made me happy since, what, sixth grade?

I’d skipped my workout in the morning because of the tooth debacle, so I thought I’d get on the elliptical. Then I remembered it was broken. That’s probably a good thing because I probably would have cranked that baby up to level 15 at a 9 percent incline for an hour. Can you image what my thighs would be saying to me today?

I felt 20 years old and invincible. I felt thin and nimble. I could have brokered a deal on the stimulus package and read “War and Peace” in Russian. It was like I’d slept in a Holiday Inn Express or something.

I suspect that steroid could also be an aphrodisiac, but Larry was really tired last night.

It’s now 6:30. I’ve already written a blog for Refuse to Regain and this one. I gave pieces of my book a look-see and started compiling a list of questions for my agent. I’ve read the news and looked at the weather and a video for a core exercise I’d like to try. I changed the photo on my desktop, put away the clean clothes from Sunday’s laundry, and wrote an entry on my maintenance support group chat site. I read three blogs.

I was hoping I’d be sleeping again by now, but that’s obviously not going to happen. It’s already 50 degrees outside so I think once the sun comes up I’ll go for a walk. “Dr. Feelgood” is on the iPod. I’ll listen to it and think of Dr. Jimmy and his magical shot and wish for the day when whatever it was that made me feel this way could be added to a daily vitamin. Well, in a lower dose. I don’t think I can take another day of a million accomplishments. I really do like to sleep.