What do you think about Oprah and her weight gain?

First, I’m thrilled that Oprah has finally jumped on the health bandwagon. I was a yo-yo dieter for many years, but thirty years ago after my mother died, I finally understood that it’s not about my weight, it’s about my health. And once I decided to see my entire life through the prism of health, it totally changed everything about my life – my body, my weight, my attitude, my relationships, my career, everything. It changed the way I related to everything in my life. So it’s great to see that Oprah is seeing her weight problem through a health perspective. When you take care of your health, and put that first, the weight will come off – you’ll become the animal you were meant to be.

… a dime of conditioner.

That’s not how much it costs, that’s how much to put in your hand. Use only a quarter-sized blob of shampoo when you wash your hair. Too much is hard to rinse out anyway. Use only a dime-sized blob of conditioner, unless you have really long hair – then you might need a quarter’s worth.

Another way to look at it? Wash your scalp; condition your hair. Yep. When you rinse the shampoo from your head, there’s still enough action to wash out any product left on your hair. And you don’t need to condition your scalp – start at the ends and work up.

So wash your scalp; condition your hair. And don’t use too much shampoo or conditioner. Your hair will look better, and your wallet will be a little fatter.

Regular commercial oils are made using heat and hexane (a powerful solvent) to extract the oil from seeds, plants, and sea life. The heat changes the nature of the oil molecule from a normal trans-fatty acid to an abnormal configuration. Molecules of hexane are left behind after the extraction process. In addition, there may be molecules of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides from the growing process, if the plants were not organically grown!

The solution is to use cold-pressed oils, which are extracted using a high-pressure press (no heat and no hexane). When the plants are organically grown, there are also no chemicals, no pesticides and no genetic engineering. The pressing also occurs at much cooler temperatures.

At this point, the oils may be bottled or combined with other products to create margarine.

There’s no further processing, no additives, no preservatives, no caustic sodas, no bleaching, etc. Because of this, cold-pressed oils are very delicate and need to be handled with care to preserve their delicate flavors and high nutrition values. Always store cold-pressed oils in a cool dark place. Heat and sunlight will cause these oils to go rancid quickly. They will also transform the fats contained in the oil into trans-fatty acids.

Use cold-pressed oils in nearly all your recipes that call for oil. They are especially good on salads and other fresh food where the flavor and freshness of the oil is important. Most commercial oils come in a cold-pressed version. Do not use cold-pressed oils for high temperature frying or sautéing. These delicate oils do not work well at high temps.

Here’s a very basic salad recipe, with a simple vinaigrette. For a main dish, add 4 oz canned or grilled tuna or chicken, or 1/2 cup beans (such as cannellini beans or aduki beans).

Marilu’s Salad 101 and Dressing 101
Purple * serves 1

2 cups mixed greens
1/2 tomato, sliced
1/2 cucumber, sliced
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (or apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon cold-pressed olive oil

Arrange mixed greens, tomato and cucumber in a salad bowl or on a salad plate. In a small bowl, combine vinegar, mustard, and oil and mix well. Drizzle on top of salad and toss.

Good morning!

Let’s get the week off to a really good start. Stand up and stretch! Reach for the sky. Lean back a little, and feel it in your abs. Lean to the left, and then to the right, stretching out your sides. Bend forward and hang, stretching your spine.

Now you’re ready to move. Just turn on your speakers, and press the green button. No complaints. MOVE.

The chaos of Monday mornings, that is.

Here’s a quick (and probably incomplete) checklist.

• Clothes – Are they planned? Clean? Pressed?
• Meals – Are they planned? Do you have what you need for dinner? Are lunches packed? Are icepacks (or water bottles) in the freezer? Do you have a pre or post workout snack? Are you ready for breakfast?
• Homework – Is it done? (hey, this includes work that adults brought home, too) Is it typed/printed/assembled? Is it in the right bag?
• Bags – Are they packed? This includes purses, backpacks, lunchboxes, briefcases, gym bags, instruments… and probably more (there’s no arguing we’re a mobile society). Are they by the door?
• Alarms – Are they set? Are you ready?

This is a very easy soup to make.

Garden Vegetable Soup
Green * serves 8

3 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cups onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
11 cups water
2 cups broccoli, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup cauliflower, chopped
2 cups zucchini, chopped
1-1/2 cups brown rice (uncooked)
1 large potato, diced
2 Tablespoons granulated (dried) garlic
1/2 cup tamari sauce (or low-sodium soy sauce)
2 Tablespoons dried parsley

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 1 hour. Uncover and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Photo by Rolve

Marilu.com has a “Spirit Sunday” tradition. Take some time today to rest, to relax, to breathe. Enjoy a moment in nature, or a nap, or a yoga meditation, or a prayer. Just take a little time out.

Did you know that the average consumer eats about 140-150 pounds of additives every year? Yuck! That’s like an entire human body full of chemicals!

These preservatives are put in our foods for the benefit of the seller not for us, the consumer. These foods could sit on the shelf for years! Some preservatives keep produce from spoiling (ever!).

Some additives give certain foods more color, some give it a different flavor.

These chemicals and additives have side effects, making us lethargic, sleepy or wired, headachy, and can even cause cancers and other life-threatening diseases.

We should all be reading those labels so that we know what to avoid. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient or if it sounds like something you used in Chemistry 101, you probably shouldn’t be eating it!

ASSIGNMENT – Read the ingredient labels on all the food you eat or buy this week. Do you understand what the ingredients are? Or does it sound like chem lab?

As you move through your living space, always keep an eye on what needs to be thrown out, put away, or taken to another part of the house. Keep this up, and your home will start to declutter itself.

I just have to pay attention to my stomach instead of eating with my brain turned off.

~ my friend Andrea