h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well done H!

Let's see... I thought I'd share some more things from that book I'm reading...

'Face lift' - you know, when you've just put on make up and look at yourself in the mirror - you tend to maybe open your eyes a bit more, smile, lift your eyebrows, trying to look your best...

...think of that 'face lift' every now and then, and try to do it without a mirror, to get the same feeling - it will make you look your best!

...and then there was this thing I read in a magazine:
Exercise your stomache muscles while brushing your teeth - stand on one leg, and preferrably on your toes!

I tried it, and then I tried putting my hands on my tummy to see if I could feel anything - and yes, the muscles did seem to be working...

To me, it seemed that the muscles you activate in this way are the very ones that are needed for a good posture - and after trying to identify the muscles a couple of times I've learnt to locate them, and work with them even without standing on one leg!

I've been tensing and relaxing these muscles every now and then, while waiting in line, waiting for the commuter train and so on - and a couple of days ago I discovered that my muscles were aching after the exercise (and I don't do any other exercise except for brisk walks and stairs)

There is a yoga pose.....I think it's called the lion......where you make this terrible face and stick out your tongue. It's supposed to exercise your facial muscles and act like a natural face lift.

My exercise program was sort of derailed by the pneumonia. I can just now climb the back steps at the library again without becoming winded. I need to do the pilates and/or yoga to firm my muscles up. I'm sort of at the now or never age.

Something I've discovered already about my eating plan is that I do better when I don't eat anything made with flour. Even the whole grain bread seems to cause me to bloat. Maybe it's my imagination. Wouldn't a food allergy cause me to break out in hives or something? I've never heard of bloating being an allergic reaction.

And the smaller meals idea is certainly helpful. I had a big meal the other day and felt terrible afterward and had the acid reflux problem again that same night. So, I've proved that one to myself.

I'm familiar with the lion face yoga thing - better not have a mirror in front of you while doing it, or you'll collapse in a fit of the giggles...

You can be just a little or quite a lot allergic to things - you might try to avoid flour for say... two weeks, and see if it makes any difference - if not, try eating something with flour in it every day for two weeks and see if that makes you feel different...

I just bought a copy of the South Beach Diet for the library. It's on the bestseller list and when I glanced through it, it seems remarkably sensible. It restricts carbs but not as severly as Atkins. It emphasizes good carbs vs. bad carbs, incorporating the glycemic index. It also restricts fats more than Atkins. A chapter on good fats vs. bad fats. So, it is relatively low fat, but not like Ornish; lower carb, especially the first two - four weeks, but not like Atkins; and fairly high fiber. It claims that most people will lose 8-12 pounds the first two weeks, then 1-2 pounds thereafter while eating fairly normally, compared to most diets.

It's actually very similar to the 10 step program I made up. No full fat cheeses and it is in 3 stages. But the emphasis on healthy fats and carbs and in eating a wide variety of foods is the same. One thing I really like about it is you don't weigh, measure or count anything.

I don't know anyone who has actually tried it. But I'm seriously thinking about it.

I had spare ribs yesterday and bought a sourdough baguette for garlic bread. Sourdough doesn't spike your blood sugar like other white breads. And fresh corn, fresh string beans, a salad and watermelon for dessert. Not low calorie or low carb or low fat. But relatively healthy choices. Except the spare ribs, which are too high in fat to be healthy. But they sure did taste good. I skipped the traditional potato salad and strawberry shortcake and no one complained.

*fascinated by the similarity between the English word sourdough and the Swedish word for it: 'surdeg'*

*since it's a very old Swedish word, wondering if it might have been exported by Vikings or Swedish settlers, instead of imported from the English language like so many modern words*

My diet consists mainly of whatever there is in the fridge lately
I wish I could get back on track with the natural foods, but everything is so expensive, and money is so short lately.......
I can barely stand to look at myself in the mirror anymore
Keep on being positive, H You are Mahvellous!!!!!

Hi Karen. Are you planning a garden this year? Didn't know if you'd have time what with taking care of all the animals.

Ti, I always thought that sourdough bread was German or Dutch. But I've never really checked to find out. Maybe it's Swedish.

Now I have to find out everything there is to know about sourdough bread. I'm a librarian. I can do that.

Whew! Sourdough bread is the oldest bread - at least dating to 4000 BCE. And before the advent of dependable modern yeasts, all bread was sourdough. So, we can't track the origin of the word that way.

That old?! I checked the German word for it, and it's 'Sauerteig' - so far, the English, Swedish and German name for it is exactly the same if you translate it - sour dough

I once got a chain-mail style sourdough - you were supposed to feed it sugar, flour and milk every now and then, and keep the bowl in room temperature with a towel covering it...

...it felt a bit spooky, because it was obviously a living thing, always being extra bubbly right after feeding...

When it was big enough, you'd split it in 4 parts, giving away 3 to friends of yours, and then baking a cake from what was left - a very delicious cake that would stay fresh for weeks, tasting something like soft ginger snaps

I'm ba-a-a-a-ak!!
Thank you Lady H for your E's & whatever you've told the pub goers about my MIA.... ;-D

As for your 10 step program????? Well, I haven't read uiet everything everyone's said....but how 'bout a ten-step plan where you actually take ten steps away from the kitchen?

Can I take my bag of chips with me?

Nice to have you back, Pan. Things were mighty quiet around here. Course I didn't have to worry about being tripped, shoved, whacked, clubbed or drenched with an assortment of smelly liquids.

...*sticks out her foot just in time for Hypatia to land in a heap in the strawaberry patch...*
Whatever do you mean? ...*swats at a blow fly missing it and wacking Hypatia with her walking stick leaving a goose egg on her forehead...*

Congratulations, Hypatia!

I must say that I looked at your posting with considerable scepticism, but there is a lot of very worthwhile stuff in there.... so much so I need much more time to mull it over.

So thank you for all your work.... it has condensed together admirably.

Like you I believed that a pound or two a week is the only healthy way to lose weight. Trust me : this is a load of Dingos Kidneys - on a par with other sayings like "Size isn't Important". They are no doubt said with the best will in the world... but this does not make them true.

Rebounding in weight is a danger for every member of the "frugal genotype" - that's the 60% or so of the pouplation who can actually get really obese. But as Zarquon says, deciding to become something is much more effective than deciding to give something up...

The simplest ideas are often the most effective. And what could be simpler than step 1? Absolutely correct. A lot of hunger is in fact dehydration - most people just don't drink enough. My diet requires a minimum of 4.5 litres a day (that's a gallon!) and I can tell when I have forgotten to keep sipping away during the day - because it is also important not to stress your system by downing it all in vast volumes.

Water flavoured with hops and malt would be nice, but I'm afraid just palin cold unflavoured water is the plat-du-jour! Fizzy, but still unflavoured, water is a life-saver and becomes much more palatable (sorry, potablen - whatever).

And as for weight loss.... I am in week thirteen of a hospital-supervised clinic for the chronically obese. I have lost 91lbs in this time. Do you want to know what it feels like to want to do things again.... and to be able to do them? Whether its simple things like breathing whilst tying shoes, or more complex pleasures like climbing up York Minster or walking the Humber Bridge... or cycling.

But I do draw the line at wearing Lycra. Some things should be banned for wobble-bottoms! But please don't knock radical weight loss unless you've tried it.... Who knows, it could be just the reward I need to forever stay away from the "old ways". Starvation? It's a piece of cake!

(Sorry) Good Luck, and lots of distractions from thinking about Carbs...

Good for you Eric!

I've always thought the brain actually feeds off stored fat when carbs are craved.
There was a study done, I'm not sure, but I'm thinking: JAMA....anyway....it was found that a vast majority of people who were morbidly obese actually lose weight simply by driving PAST a Mcdonald's, etc..
Guess the only problem I can see with that is the actual
*drive by* part.



I love my cross-country ski-machine thingie...I swing my legs back and forth...easy to fold flat too. I get into a 'znoe' man!