The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl – When I first discovered the popular Black Heels to Tractor Wheels on-line love story last spring I was instantly hooked.  I sat at my computer for the next 3-hours and I didn’t move. I devoured Ree Drummand’s (aka Pioneer Woman’s) true story about how she met her husband, fell in love and lived happily ever after.

Apparently I’m not the only one, as I’m editing this post tonight I saw on Twitter, via the LA Times, that 2 million people visit Pioneer Woman’s blog monthly.  Wow!

I am also partial to Pioneer Women because she and I have lived a similar life – only in reverse order.  For the first 18 years of my life I grew up on the farm that has been in our family for over 120 years; then I moved to live life in the city (London, Los Angeles, Orlando, Denver).

Pioneer Woman, on the other hand, grew up in the city, attended USC and was on her way to become a young professional in Chicago when a handsome cowboy unexpectedly came into her life and whisked her off to the country.

I now read Pioneer Woman’s weekly accounts of life on the ranch.  She talks about hearding cattle, annual pasture burns, and the isolated life on the ranch.  I often think, “oh, better you than me, as I’ve been there done that, and it’s not exactly my cup of tea.”  Yet her adventures on the ranch are so fun to read.

Pioneer Woman makes home-cooked meals for her four kids and husband every day.  She recently put her favorite recipes into her first cookbook and she is gearing up for a national book tour. Here is her promotional video about the cookbook.  It’s very cute.  I’m excited for this down-home-farm-style-cookbook to arrive in bookstores October 27, 2009.

BabyCakes: Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York’s Most Talked-About Bakery – Once upon a time not very long ago I tossed around the idea of starting a side business making gluten-free muffins.  I quickly discovered that manufacturing, packaging, delivering and running a food company is not easy. This is why I have admiration and appreciation for what  Erin McKenna, owner of BabyCakes has accomplished.  She makes gluten-free, vegan, low sugar baked goods in her New York City bakery and her products are wildly popular.  In May she released her first gluten-free cookbook.  Here is Erin’s promotional video about her cookbook – this video is way cute!

Healthiest Meals on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What Meals to Eat and Why – Okay the first two are fun, speciality cookbooks but if you’re looking for healthy, super food cooking, this is my favorite cookbook. Author Jonny Bowden is my nutritional hero!  His cookbook is dedicated to healthy, easy meals that taste great. Love that!

Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking – I loved Stephanie O’Dea’s 365 days of crock pot cooking blog last year.  This year she put those recipes into a book and it will be in bookstores on October 13, 2009.  I’m adding this one to my Christmas wish list.

And finally, if you haven’t seen the movie, Julie & Julia it is worth seeing.  Blogger Julie Powell made every recipe in Julia Child’s, Mastering The  Art of French Cooking Cookbook in 2002.  She blogged about it, wrote a book about it and then Hollywood made a movie about it this year.

It will inspire you to live your dreams (Julia Child didn’t start cooking until she was in her 50′s), create beautiful partnerships, both Julie and Julia (like Pioneer Woman) have amazingly supportive husbands.  And most of all, it will remind you to laugh at yourself and have fun along the way!

Bon Appetit!

When I teach and write about health I try to focus on all the fabulous things (Healthy Discoveries) that people can “add into” their lives. I think focusing on deprivation, and telling someone they should “stop doing something” often has a backlash effect.

With that said, when things like trans-fats , artificial sweeteners and SOY PROTEIN ISOLATES cross my path I have to digress.

I didn’t watch Oprah’s 2009 season premier on Monday, but I heard it was all about healthy living. Oprah’s recent weight gain, which she attributes in part to her thyroid gland, was the motivation behind the show.

I did watch Oprah and Dr. Oz on Tuesday. They talked about things like Omega 3 fats, anti-oxidants, fiber, exercise, and Vitamin D. I can’t criticize, it was all good.

However, I do want to say this. In the past Oprah has talked about her “health drink”, soy milk. While Tuesday’s show didn’t specifically address soy milk, it gave me the inspiration to write about it here.

I do not think we all should be jumping on the SOY BANDWAGON! Gasp! Did I just write that? Yeah, I did. Sorry!

I know, you’ve heard that soy is “healthy” and you should add copious amounts of soy to your diet. Oprah certainly has.

But here’s the thing. I think there is strong evidence that connects soy isolates to potential thyroid issues, which could trigger frustrating weight struggles.

Don’t take my word for this. If you’ve taken one of my workshops you know that I always say, “get second, third opinions. Do not take one thing you hear and turn it into your health dogma. That includes things you hear from Oprah, your own doctor, AND ME!“. Never stop questioning and doing your own research!

Here’s a “Healthy Discovery” research resource. It’s called The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food I heard the author, Kaayla T. Daniel Ph.D, speak this summer at a functional medicine conference. I was impressed by her thorough research.

The Israeli Health Ministry, French Food Agency, UK Committee on Toxicity and German Federal Institute of Risk Assessment have all issued big warnings against soy. Dr Daniels has exhaustively researched the inconsistent and often contradictory evidence in the U.S. on soy and disease. She focuses on three high-risk groups:

1. Babies on soy infant formula.
2. Vegetarians who consume soy as meat and dairy replacements.
3. Adults who self medicate with soy foods, soy milk and supplements.

Daniels is primarily talking about soy isolates, such as; the popular American soy protein powders, soy protein snack bars, soy milk etc.

Thyroid and reproductive problems have been connected to soy isolate consumption. When Oprah took a break in Hawaii last summer to heal her thyroid gland she was quoted as saying, ” I drank a lot of soy milk”. Hmmm?

I myself have a hypothyroid. I have written why balancing the thyroid gland is not easy. There are many factors to consider beyond soy, but this is my personal opinion (I am NOT a doctor): Thyroid patients should consider avoiding all wheat-gluten and soy. I’m waiting for the day when Oprah has her “ah-ha” gluten-free, soy-free moment! The scientific research is strong regarding the negative effects that soy and gluten can have on the thyroid gland, thus potentially leading to weight issues.

Daniel’s book has a lot of good “food for thought”. She references hundreds of epidemiological, clinical and laboratory studies which link soy to malnutrition, digestive problems, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders, immune system breakdown, even heart disease and cancer. Daniels also provides the information you need to determine which studies are valid, which justify hope and which are mere hype.

The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food, might just be the missing physiological link to Oprah’s recent weight struggle; but I digress!

I went on a political and economic news fast last week. I needed to focus on things “that lifted my spirit”. During my media avoidance I came across Gabrielle Roth’s “move through your stress theory“. I heard about Gabrielle and her dance technique when I took Nia Dance classes a couple years ago, now I wanted to give this a try.

This week I have been dancing to Gabrielle’s Wave DVD . I like it, and that’s saying something because I’m not a “dancer,” but I like the let-your-body-sway-and-relax-your-mind-type-movement.

Yesterday when I was reading through my favorite blogs and watching one of my guilty pleasure TV shows last night, I found a thread about Jillian Michaels. Jillian is a trainer on The Biggest Loser. The Internet is singing praises about Jillian’s 30 Day Shred DVD. Apparently these are kick a** workouts – literally and figuratively!

Her workouts are based on the 3-2-1 method: 3 mins strength, 2 mins cardio, 1 min abs. Each workout is 30 minutes. Now I want to try this DVD after reading all of these rave reviews.

In my quest to reclaim my own sense of balance in these ever-changing times, I found some great new Exercise Healthy Discoveries!

Have you been watching the Olympics this past week? I’ve been glued to the T.V. Now that the swimming competition is over I’m going through withdrawal, I want to see more. Along with the rest of the country I’m on the Michael Phelps bandwagon. I love watching people overcome the odds, set and reach astronomical goals and push the limits.

Here’s an article from ADDitude Magazine- Living Well With ADD And Learning Disabilities. They interviewed Michael’s mom in the spring of 2007. When Michael was nine years-old he was diagnosed with ADHD and that’s when his mom got him involved with swimming. His busy schedule of swim practice and meets imposed so much structure on his life that he was able to stay focused and stop his medication. I thought his mom was very well spoken in this Today Show interview.

She talks about her trainers, daily chiropractic, massage, supplements (high intake of amino acids), and drug-free training. The Internet has been so fascinated with Dara’s ab’s that the Innovative Body Site crashed yesterday. Everyone wanted to see the resistance stretching program she did to get stomach muscles that look like this.

Dramatic, transforming weight loss fascinates me.

I admit it, I watch the TV show, The Bigger Loser. I don’t agree with the rapid weight loss that happens on the show (sometimes 10-20 pounds a week). Nonetheless, I’m hooked. I think it is interesting (physically, emotionally, sociologically, medically) to understand how and why people gain hundreds of pounds and then how they lose hundreds of pounds.

Jennette Fulda blogged about her amazing, at home weight loss on her popular blog, Pasta Queen. This month she released her first book Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir where she tells her complete story.

Jennette weighed 372 pounds when she began losing weight. She doesn’t say exactly which diet approach she used, although she lost the weight using only diet and exercise, no surgery! She says she loosely followed a diet of lean meats, whole grains, vegetables, fruits and eliminated the white flour and sugars. She had slips along the way and writes with humor and honesty as she lost over 200 pounds in two years. She “never got crazy” about following a diet and I enjoyed her insight and non-obsessive approach to eating.

Initially I wasn’t thinking of this book as a Healthy Discovery. I heard Jennette being interviewed on The Today Show . I added her book to my stack of leisure reading because I enjoy reading memoirs. Three quarters of the way through the book I realized this is definitely a Healthy Discovery. If you have a hard time staying committed to your weight loss goal, if losing weight frustrates and fails you, or if you’re curious how someone gains and then loses hundreds of pounds, I think you will like Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir; I certainly did!

Click here and watch Jennette lose 192 pounds in 7 seconds