In 2007, Marie Claire magazine created a diet called the Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Diet.
Their idea was that if we Americans ate like the French, we'd be skinnier. They proved their point, or at least, supported it, with an experiment wherein an American woman lost 4 lbs. following the aforementioned diet and the French woman gained five eating our fast or processed food.
The diet involves about 500 calories for breakfast, 500 calories for lunch and 600 calories for dinner. Here's a sample menu for one day, found at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/247532_eater09.html...
Breakfast: One croissant and fresh fruit.
Lunch: A grilled goat cheese sandwich with a balsamic heirloom tomato salad.
Dinner: Merlot filet mignon with pommes puree.
In case you missed it, dinner is basically steak and mashed potatoes. But, for me, the best part of the meal is that you can have a glass of wine or champagne with dinner or a piece of chocolate for dessert.
I'd choose the wine!
The recommendation is that you make each meal special, and that you use real, natural, gourmet ingredients. Butter, not margarine. A croissant, not a plain piece of bread. This way, you get to really enjoy and savor each bite, as the French seem to do.
Moderate exercise is encouraged, and of course, you should check with a health professional before making major changes in diet or exercise level.
But the good news is that in addition to losing weight while you savor each bite, a glass of wine each night, especially red wine, may improve heart health.
Wine has chemical ingredients that are believed to act like anti-oxidants in our bodies, which means they help prevent free radicals from damaging our bodies. Other research indicates that red wine may help lower the risk of heart disease and help to prevent other illnesses, as well.
So what I take away from all this is: eat less but eat well and have a glass of wine!
Friday, February 27, 2009
4 Easy Ways to Stay Connected with Your Closest Friends
We live such busy lives these days that aside from a phone call here and there, we may find it hard to stay connected with those that mean the most to us. Here are some ideas for putting plans in place so that months don't go by without getting to see your closest friends.
1) Start a wine-tasting club: You can rotate hosting the event and have a fun girls' night out once a month or so.
Whoever is hosting can order the wine in advance and a wine consultant can pour the wine you sample. Add cheese and crackers and soft music and you've got an easy night to hang out with your friends.
2) Have a monthly dessert night: If everyone brings dessert, instead of planning an elaborate dinner, your friends can choose how much time they want to put into preparing the dessert they bring. Someone with lots of time can bake a multi-layered cake from scratch.
The friend who doesn't cook and frequently works late can grab an apple pie at the store on the way. The host can provide a dessert wine or coffee and each friend can take turns hosting.
3) Start a book club: You can follow along with Oprah's selections or come up with your own. You could have a theme, and make every book choice about healing or spirituality or financial success.
Or, you might want to mix it up a little. You could read a chapter at a time or a book at a time, depending on how often you want to meet and how much time you each have to read.
Set the meeting time for after dinner, so no one has to fuss to prepare and then, offer simple refreshments, such as wine and grapes, tea and cookies, etc.
4) Have a weekly or monthly movie night: this idea might be the easiest one of all to implement.
Everyone can bring her own popcorn and snacks and show up right before the movie starts. or, you could all meet at the movie theater to see whatever's playing.
1) Start a wine-tasting club: You can rotate hosting the event and have a fun girls' night out once a month or so.
Whoever is hosting can order the wine in advance and a wine consultant can pour the wine you sample. Add cheese and crackers and soft music and you've got an easy night to hang out with your friends.
2) Have a monthly dessert night: If everyone brings dessert, instead of planning an elaborate dinner, your friends can choose how much time they want to put into preparing the dessert they bring. Someone with lots of time can bake a multi-layered cake from scratch.
The friend who doesn't cook and frequently works late can grab an apple pie at the store on the way. The host can provide a dessert wine or coffee and each friend can take turns hosting.
3) Start a book club: You can follow along with Oprah's selections or come up with your own. You could have a theme, and make every book choice about healing or spirituality or financial success.
Or, you might want to mix it up a little. You could read a chapter at a time or a book at a time, depending on how often you want to meet and how much time you each have to read.
Set the meeting time for after dinner, so no one has to fuss to prepare and then, offer simple refreshments, such as wine and grapes, tea and cookies, etc.
4) Have a weekly or monthly movie night: this idea might be the easiest one of all to implement.
Everyone can bring her own popcorn and snacks and show up right before the movie starts. or, you could all meet at the movie theater to see whatever's playing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
