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Alright Fat Farmers, let’s get started living better by getting all the hoopla out of the way and start becoming more healthy today.  

We’re going to start slowly by making only two changes;

1. Promise to eliminate all processed food.
2. Eliminate any food that has more than 3 ingredients 

Long List

It Really shouldn’t be that hard.  How important is your health anyway?


Now, if you are really serious and aren’t going to look back, go to the pantry and either finish off (“waist” not, want not) or throw away all, yes ALL of the snack food you have lingering there (potato chips, crackers, chocolate bars, candy etc, etc).


Do it!!


We are going to have 3 or even 4 meals per day and at least 2 snacks in between.

You won’t starve, trust me.


Breakfast: 
Start the day by having eggs and bacon or sausage. Protein will fill you up and stick with you.  No toast today.  Orange or tomato juice or water and or coffee or tea.

Lunch:
Eat at Subway if you have one near by.  Have one of their salads or even a sandwich on wholewheat.  Get one of the ones rated around 500 calories.

 Drink water, not soda, especially not diet anything.

If you are hungry in between meals have an apple, tomato, celery, or even a pickle.

No carbs for snacks!

What we are shooting for is protein in the morning that will stick to your ribs and not turn to sugar quickly.  This should easily hold you until lunch if you don’t put sugar in your coffee.

A nice hardy lunch will maintain your energy until dinner.  If you are tired and hungry eat some fruit in between.

Low Carb Fruits

Can you see, this really isn’t that hard, you just have to want to.  We will get more adventurous in the near future.  Start simple, don’t cheat, please.  


If you find yourself cheating a lot, you really need more help than I can give you.

Either give up and stay fat, cheating your family out of having you around in the future, or get professional consulting.


Let me also explain that our goal is NOT to lose weight, but to be HEALTHY.  The weight loss will follow.

SUN DRIED TOMATO CHICKEN BAKE by Sarah Fargoso

Dinner:
Try this recipe and let me know what you think.  You can have it with a simple salad and home made dressing or oil and vinegar (better yet, lemon and a little olive oil).  Drink water or the wine you cook with.  Eat until you are satisfied, not stuffed.




Baked Chicken and Sun Dried Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS
1 lb chicken breasts, boneless, cut into 4 oz portions
1 oz olive oil
A medium yellow or white onion, cut in half then sliced thin
1/2 c sun dried tomatoes, chopped, (not packed in oil)
1/4 cup white wine
1/2-3/4 cup chicken stock (home made if you’ve got it, low sodium if you don’t)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rinse the chicken under cold running water and pat dry.Place an ovenproof skillet over moderate heat. Once warm add oil. When the oil is hot, add half the onions to pan and place chicken in the pan with the onions.
Cook chicken for about 8 minutes or until it will release itself easily from the pan then flip to cook the other side. Continue to cook for 4 minutes.  Stir the onions to keep from burning.

Remove the chicken from the skillet. Set aside.

Place remaining onions and tomatoes over the caramelized onions in pan. Allow the onions and tomatoes to sweat in the pan for 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat and add wine. With a spoon stir the pan to remove the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. This deglazing technique will remove the flavor stuck to the bottom of the pan and release it to the vegetables.

Add chicken back to the skillet. Add stock just until the liquid level reaches halfway up the sides of the chicken. Add oregano and pepper to taste. Cover with tight fitting lid and place in oven. Bake 30 minutes.


Enjoy.


No ice cream tonight.  Promise! – jughandle

If you look up images of Gout on Google (don’t), you will thank me for not posting one here.  Trust me it is bad enough suffering through the pain of without seeing pictures of how bad it can get.

Definition

Gout is a form of arthritis that effects the joints.  It is caused by a build up of uric acid which crystallizes and collects in the joints.  The crystals have sharp pointed ends like crystals tend to do and can cause swelling, severe pain and redness in the joints.

Attacks

An attack of Gout can come with out warning, usually over night.  Any joint in the body can be affected but usually attacks begin in the big toes, feet and ankles.  A bad attack can cripple you for as much as a week.  If treated with anti-inflammatory medications, pain and duration can be reduced.

When I say cripple, I mean cripple.  You won’t want to have the bed sheets even touch the painful area.

Who gets Gout?

In by-gone days it was thought that Gout was a rich man’s problem.  Not so much today.  The body can retain uric acid for many reasons.  A diet high in Uric acid such as wine and red meat can contribute but isn’t the only way to get Gout.  Men tend to be affected more than women and anyone over 40 is much more likely to get Gout than a younger person.

If your blood work shows an elevated uric acid level of 6.0 mg/dL or more you are at risk of an attack.

Medications

The good news is that changes in diet, exercise and alcohol consumption can help.  Also, your doctor might prescribe medications such as colchicine or allopurinol which are very useful in the treatment.

Conclusions and Recommendations

If you start to suffer “with the Gout”, go to your Urologist as soon as you can get an appointment.  Get a physical and blood work.  If you have Gout it is likely you have other problems.  My gallbladder that was full of stones and was removed that week.  I still take a daily 300 mg tablet of allopurinol and haven’t had a severe attack since.

If none of that works,  what the hell, cut back on rich foods and alcohol and start an exercise program – jughandle 

Baking Soda vs Baking Powder, what’s the difference?  When should we use one over the other?  Are there any other uses for either, than baking or cooking?

If you are a serious cook, you should be able to rattle off the answers to those questions instantly.

Baking is more of a science than an art.  Chemistry and exact proportions are very important to achieving a quality finished product consistently.

The holes are formed by the expansion of CO2 as the dough rises and sets.

Baking Soda

Sodium bicarbonate, sodium bicarb, bicarb soda, bicarbonate, and bicarb are all names for the same thing – NaHCO₃ 

It is a salt made up of sodium and bicarbonate molecules.  For a more in-depth explanation and chemistry, go to Wikipedia.  Sodium Bi-carbonate is used for many things but since our many focus is cooking, let us look at that first.

without and with

Cooking

In cooking Sodium bi-carbonate is called Baking Soda.  By providing CO2, its primary use is as a leavening agent in batters and dough such as pancakes and breads, but is also used to crisp up the batter in fried foods.  Baking soda is very alkaline and in too large a quantity can leave sodium carbonate, which has a bitter or soapy taste.

What you need to remember is that Baking Soda releases CO2, carbon dioxide gas, that causes the batter or dough to rise by expanding within the lattice like structure of protein, known as gluten, in the dough.  The gluten traps the CO2 gas as it forms to make the bread or batter rise. 

Ok, now dig deeper and recall a little high school chemistry.  Baking Soda, aka: Sodium Bi-carbonate, is a base.  A base will decompose in the presence of of heat, starting at 180 deg F, but give up only half of its its CO2 leaving, proportionately, more of its bitter, soapy flavor, relative to the gas, in the final product.

You may also recall that a base and an acid have a strong chemical reaction.  In the case of Baking Soda, if you also use an acid such as a phosphate, cream of tartar, lemon juice, yogurt, buttermilk, cocoa vinegar or even a sourdough batter, you can create a reaction that will release much more of its CO2. Remember that unlike batter or dough that has no acid, which will only rise when CO2 is released at 180 deg when baking.  When your acid and baking soda are mixed the reaction will start immediately and you will need to hurry and start the cooking.

Additionally

You might find useful the fact that when adding baking soda to your coating for fried foods, your crust will be more crispy.  The reason for the crispiness is that the emerging CO2 leaves passages for steam to escape from the food not only keeping the breading from being soggy but also preventing the crust from being blown off during cooking.

Baking Powder

Let us now consider, baking powder.  Not the stuff with a thousand uses that you put open in the refrig, but the powder in a round can that that said
“Double Acting” on it.

Baking powder generally contains around 30% sodium bicarbonate combined with calcium acid phosphate, sodium aluminium phosphate  or cream of tartar, which are activated by adding water, not needing acid.  Having both the Baking Soda and other additives make it “double acting”.

While baking soda is alkaline; the acid used in baking powder helps to avoid the metallic, bitter, soapy taste when the chemical change during baking creates sodium carbonate.

Tipsbulletin.com

Tips bulletin is a very informative site that gives tips on all sorts of different topics.  The following are excerpts from their 50+ Amazing Uses of Baking Soda

1. Clean Your Bathtub

Bathtub Cleaner Recipe

• Baking soda (1/2 Cup)
• Coarse salt (1 Tbsp)
• Dish soap (1 Tbsp)

A safe and effective way to wash your bathtub, sink, and surrounding tile is by sprinkling a light layer of baking soda on a clean, damp sponge and scrubbing the tub as usual. Thoroughly rinse the bathtub and wipe it dry with a clean towel.

Baking soda also works well to clean fiberglass and glossy tiles. For extra cleaning power, you can make a paste with the baking soda for a deep-down clean.

9. Clean Furniture

Baking soda is an excellent product if you need to clean or remove marks from painted furniture or walls. Apply baking soda to a clean damp rag or sponge and lightly rub the area that you need to clean.

Baking soda works especially well to clean patio furniture. Using a clean, dry cloth, remove the residue from the furniture or wall. This method will even work for removing crayon marks from your walls and furniture.

17. Natural Fruit and Vegetable Scrub

Even if you buy organic produce, it is important to make sure to wash your fruits and veggies before consuming them. Not only can this get rid of any pesticides that may have seen use during the growing of the produce, but it can remove bacteria from your food.

You can make a natural produce cleaner by adding one teaspoon of baking powder to one tablespoon water. The paste is an excellent way to get rid of unwanted bacteria and pesticides from your produce.

23. Extinguish Grease Fires

If you encounter a minor grease fire in your kitchen, you can use baking soda to put it out quickly. Pouring baking soda on the fire will instantly stifle the flames. When the baking soda is heated, it discharges carbon dioxide and produces water.

The carbon dioxide doesn’t support combustion like oxygen. It smothers the fire, allowing the water that has formed to cool the fire to below the temperature needed for ignition.

31. Deodorize Recycling Bin

You can make sure your recycling bin doesn’t smell by adding baking soda to the top of the container every time you add to the container.

You can also clean the recycle bin with baking soda after it is empty. Place some baking soda on a damp sponge and wipe down the inside of the recycle bin, followed by a thorough rinse with warm water.

And many others – Check it out – Jughandle

Foods that raise your metabolism.  These are the Holy Grail of dieting and losing weight.  My wife used to eat almost as much as I do but she weighs 122 and I weigh 300 lbs.  The difference is that her metabolism is that of a hummingbird.  She can lose weight by just saying the words.  I can look at a picture of food and gain 2 lbs.

What I need are foods I can eat that will raise the rate my body metabolizes it.  I know that it sounds like a pipe dream but if you keep reading you just might learn something like I did. – jug

Fuel for the furnace to start the day

Milk, Whole Grain Cereal, Oats – 10%

Jalapenos, Habaneros, Cayennes – 25%

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/abs_diet_foods/Jalapenos_Habaneros_Cayennes.php#ixzz0bNGaPZYO

A Good Team for burning fat

Green Tea, Coffee – 80 calories a day

Lean Protein

Lean Beef, Pork, Chicken, Turkey – 5%

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/abs_diet_foods/Lean_Beef_Pork_Chicken_Turkey.php#ixzz0bNGwBAFG

Cold water fish

Salmon, Tuna, Sardines

Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/abs_diet_foods/Salmon_Tuna_Sardines.php#ixzz0bNH2FvGF

Observations and Conclusions

If you are trying to find ways to help yourself loss weight, I can’t think of a better way to start than by eating your way to a smaller body.  If you count the percentages beside each of the headings above you’ll see that you can raise your metabolism by at least 40% just by eating.

I’m giving it a shot and I’ll let you know how I’m doing.  Please do the same. – jughandle

High-Fructose Corn Syrup, Aka: HFCS.  Is the Devil, Right?

I’m a huge opponent of high-fructose corn syrup otherwise known as HFCS.  That said, I will do my best to remain neutral and explain why.  This topic is not black and white.  There are many shades of gray.

A Little Chemistry

Our body uses glucose and Fructose (monosaccharides) as its energy sources and both are “simple sugars”.  The most important monosaccharide is glucose because it is already at the state where the body’s enzymes can initiate metabolism and doesn’t need to be processed further.  Most other more complex sugars and carbohydrates need to be processed in order to be turned into glucose by the body.  Glucose is also our “blood” sugar.  The body’s pancreas produces insulin in response to elevated levels of glucose in the blood as well as the energy regulating hormone leptin. Not so with fructose.

Fructose is a natural sugar found in fruits and vegetables.  It is also added to foods and beverages to sweeten them.  The problem lies in the metabolic pathway fructose has in the body.  Fructose is not the preferred energy source for muscles or the brain as is glucose and tends to be treated more like fat in the body than sugar.  Fructose can only be metabolized by the liver and is more fat-producing than glucose.  More importantly, fructose does not cause insulin to be released or leptin to be produced.

Because Fructose isn’t the body’s primary energy source it builds up in the body and is stored in the liver as triglycerides (fat) while the body’s insulin response is only to the glucose.

Chemistry

The History Of HFCS vs Sucrose

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a fructose-glucose liquid alternative sweetener to sucrose (table sugar), and was first introduced to the food and beverage industry for mass use in the 1970s.  HFCS is not meaningfully different in composition or metabolism from other fructose-glucose sweeteners like sucrose, honey, and fruit juice concentrates.

Sucrose is 50% glucose and 50% fructose.  There are basically two types of commonly used HFCS, HFCS-42 and HFCS-55.  42 is only 42% fructose and 55 is 55% fructose.

Food formulators quickly moved to HFCS as a replacement for sucrose, and its use grew between the mid-1970s and mid-1990s. Its sweetness is comparable with that of sucrose, it has improved stability and functionality, and is much easier to use because it is already a liquid.

Even though the use of HFCS today is roughly equal to sucrose use in the United States, the world’s preferred sweetener is sucrose: greater than 90% of the  sweetener used worldwide is sucrose.

Sucrose

The Good

HFCS is less expensive to produce than sucrose.  Sucrose comes from countries that are somewhat unstable and the basic crop price can fluctuate wildly.  When sugarcane is processed into sucrose it is a solid gradual that must be dissolved in water to the proper concentration before it can be used.  HFCS is produced as a liquid, ready to use and is more easily transported.

Even though the product is called High-Fructose corn syrup, it has only slightly more (55%) or slightly less (42%) fructose than does sucrose which has 50% fructose.  The Corn Refiners Association has petitioned the United States Food and Drug Administration to change the name simply to “corn sugar”.  So far they have been denied.

The Bad And Ugly

I’m not going to hit you with a bunch of numbers.  All I need to say is that obesity in America is at an all time high.

Why

As I see it there are many reasons why, pick a few of these.

• Food is easier to get
• It is “cool” to over eat, there are even eating contests
• Serving sizes are much larger
• Everything has sugar or sweetener in it
• Prepared or fast-food is now more common and easy to get when time is short
• There are many more places to get food than ever before
• Deserts, candy and sweet foods that were once considered a treat are now readily available at any time.
• There are many more “snack” foods flooding the market
• School children are NOT required to exercise for the most part
• TV and Computers have taken over play time where playing outside and physical games once dominated
• The general public is not sufficiently educated as related to nutrition and diet

Conclusions and Recommendations from the Farm

For the first time in modern history the average life expectancy has dropped in the US.  The reasons given mostly revolved around obesity and heart disease.  

My research has lead me to conclude that high-fructose corn syrup is no worse for us than ordinary table sugar.   The problem is that we are consuming many times the sugar than is healthy.

The chart above shows that in 1822, the average American ate the amount of sugar found in one of today’s 12-ounce sodas every 5 days. Now, we eat that much every 7 hours.  We are now eating roughly 100 pounds of sugar apiece each year.

Since you are reading my rants on the Fat Farm you are doing the best thing you can to improve your health. Educate yourself.  As always don’t believe a thing I say.  Research, trust but verify.  Put in the time and do the work.  Ask questions. – jughandle

CNN Obesity among all US adults reaches all-time high