Ch-Ch-Changes

I always like to think of autumn as a time of renewal and self-evaluation. It’s probably because it’s my birthday month (Libra’s Rock) and as I get older, I like to ponder the future and what it may look like. But, this year, I decided to make a drastic change in my life and move.

That may not seem like a big deal but in Manhattan, moving is akin to climbing Mount Everest – no matter how prepared you may be, an unexpected storm or avalanche can devastate you.  And it costs as much to move two blocks as it does to move across the country – maybe a new place in LA – I wonder if I could do the commute every day – with the time change, it can probably be done.

I am not looking to move far but my current apartment seems a bit too big and I wanted views and more sunlight.  In my little perfect historically preserved neighborhood, that is a challenging endeavor. Moving a few blocks means changing dry cleaners, parking garages, subway stops, corner bodegas and Remington’s route.  He is going to have to get to know a whole bunch of new trees, fire hydrants, street lamps, not to mention new dogs.

I just came back from looking at an apartment literally two blocks away and I felt like I was in an entirely new neighborhood…..and it scared me.

As I was walking those long two blocks home, I realized how much change I ask people who come to see me to do every day.  To me, it seems like nothing since I have been eating in a healthy fashion for so long, I don’t remember how to eat poorly and when I do, like on my birthday just recently, I felt so sick, I couldn’t wait to stop eating badly.  Of course, that took three days of misery but hey, my birthday is just once per year and I needed an entire birthday cake (not really, the rest is in the freezer for what reason other than my mother taught me to never throw a good cake away and you can make it into frozen ice cream cake anyway); and risotto and dumplings.

Anyway, enough about me, let’s talk about all of you.  I ask you to give up everything, start exercising and change your life.  Yes, all of what I ask you to do is going to save your life in the long run but short term, it can be brutal.  So, as Teresa from Long Island Medium would say, this is me, not as spirit (not yet anyway, although many of my patients say they can hear my voice in their heads when they ponder making the wrong choice) acknowledging what I ask of all of you.

So while food may be easy for me to handle and I may be able to go into any situation and know that I am going to be able to eat something that will promote health; thinking about changing parking garages is, right now, making me a bit anxious – I like those guys.  New Yorkers live their lives in a few small blocks of their homes. The proprietors and the workers of the shops we go to become an extended part of our families and to lose that and have to say good bye is difficult.  We won’t cross the street to go to Starbucks as we know another one is a mere block away but on our side of the street.

While change may do you good and Mama, welcome to the 60’s #hairspray; it isn’t always comfortable but in the end it will have been worth it.  I will let you know if I go through with the move because right now, that left-over cake in the freezer is looking pretty tasty to me

As for TV, The RHONJ reunion – need I say more

Until next time…..

Keep On Trucking Baby

I am not talking about the first solo hit from Eddie Kendricks from The Temptations.  I am talking about the plethora of food trucks.  Are we that hungry that we can’t even go into a store to eat, but we have to eat at the curb?  Even Chick-fil-a is launching a food truck.  Can someone please explain to me the appeal of eating standing up with food dripping on your clothing or onto the sidewalk in front of others?

What happened to eating and meals being about togetherness, family, and community? Eating is not just about stuffing our faces.  Speaking of stuffing our faces, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend.  And, I hope that the spirit (now I am starting to sound like Theresa from Long Island Medium) of the holiday was your driving force and not all the temptations.

Usually, I indulge at Easter as my family tradition included lasagna and tons of pastries for dessert, grain pies and all sorts of things that were very special and cooked only at this time of the year.  I typically have my friends and family to my home and recreate the feast (to the best of my ability – I will never be as good a cook as either my mother or father).

This year, I didn’t do it.  I wanted to see if I could distance myself from those “food” traditions in favor of a new tradition that just involved family and friends but with healthy meals.  Guess what? It worked – everyone had just as good a time. I just had to serve more alcohol – kidding (probably

It’s interesting to me how different people deal with stress in their life.  We all have stress to a certain degree and some of us eat ourselves through it and some avoid food and lose weight.  While others use equally self-destructive behaviors – but let’s face it, the behaviors are self-destructive.

So, I am watching Bethenny who as anyone who reads my blog knows, I am a big fan.  But, during the past few weeks, she has been self-destructing, perhaps sabotaging her relationship (that one’s hard to say because we only get to see what the producers of the show want us to see) but taking her stress out on herself and she turned away from food.  The point is we all have our own ways of dealing with stress.

But this week, she went too far.  She began to whine about how being so rich has made her a target for bloggers, has made her life miserable and uncomfortable and she can’t enjoy her life because of this. 

Now, Bethenny and I share a few things but one of which is our love for being on talk shows and for being on the studio lots.  There is something exhilarating about it all; but, (spoiler alert) her pilot did not get picked up.  I feel bad for her and for Ellen about it but perhaps she needs to clean up her personal space. 

And we all need to do that – taking responsibilities for our actions, determining what is important to us and never veering from the path.  It is really hard to do that when it comes to food and a healthy lifestyle because everyone has this attitude of, “it’s only the one time” or “c’mon have just a little”

That is not the recipe for success and is not how Bethenny achieved the amazing things she has thus far.  There is more for her in the future but she really can’t be whining about how poorly she’s being treated by the press (Marilyn was hounded by the press dear, not you) when people are going to bed hungry, losing their homes because they can’t pay their mortgages and she is being driven around Manhattan (where you shouldn’t even have a car – that’s why we have taxis) in a chauffeured Mercedes Benz SUV to Waterworks, one of the most expensive places in the country to pick fixtures to renovate what appears to be the 4000 sf apartment you just bought (probably for cash)

I found that inappropriate and felt humiliated for her.  I hope when she watches it back, she will see what a mistake she made.  I am sorry for harping on her for so long, but with success, should come service and modesty and quite frankly, you knew what you were getting into.

We all need to step back and examine how truly blesses we all are in life and not focus on the bad.  You may have made poor food choices today but that doesn’t mean you have to make them tomorrow. 

Before I go, I just have to mention my favorite TV line of the week comes from American Idol.  I am not yet mad at the show becauseAmericais voting off who I think should go (am I becoming more likeAmericaor isAmericabeing more like me?) I think my favorite right now may be Colton Dixon or Philip Philips.  But anyway, that’s not the point.

Steven Tyler, after hearing one of the contestants, leaned forward and said, “I forgot where I was.”  Dude, how many times have you used that line in your life?

I am so excited about the Borgias being back – I wonder if theVaticanhad any food trucks – they would probably have been food carts though; but I doubt they did.  Tradition had them eating at home as a family.  The more time you spend eating as a family, the less food you generally consume; and for the Borgias, that meant more time for scheming.

Until next time……

Rage Against The Machine

I had a really good idea for a blog this week but it is going to have to wait until next week.  I guess even the Long Island Medium didn’t see this one coming.  I was watching 60 Minutes when this past weekend and they did a giant expose on sugar – discussing all of its evils.

While I was happy that this information is being disseminated to a very large audience, I was shocked by Sanjay Gupta’s ignorance on the subject and his incredulity about it.   Please remind me that when I have my own television show to still maintain my own ideas and not become another vacuous talking head.

Ok, so this is what really bothered me.  They were interviewing this Dr. Lustig. Really? Who the f*** is he?  He did a little research and now he is the guru about sugar.   I wanted to kill myself.  Here are some of his mind-opening ideas:

1. A calorie is a calorie is wrong
2. Consumption of High fructose corn syrup (less than is in one can of soda) increases LDL within two weeks.
3. Consuming too much sugar turns into fat
4. When they took out fat, they replaced it with sugar
5. Increased insulin during high sugar meals is a catalyst for cancer
6. Sugar is addictive and activates the pleasure centers of the brain like cocaine
7. You can build up a tolerance to sugar so you need to eat more to experience the same high
8. It’s a public health crisis
9. They should limit sugar just like they do tobacco and alcohol
10. Sugar leads to obesity, diabetes and heart disease

Someone should alert the American Diabetes Association who says that you can eat 60 grams of sugar at each meal.  Or the American Heart Association that gives or has given its seal of approval to PopTarts and potatoes.

Where have you heard each and every one of those things before – that’s right – here! Or in my books or in any one of the many pioneers that came before me and from those who are still out there fighting the good fight.

So since 60 Minutes didn’t have the sense to give a shout our to these people, allow me to give them their due

1. Dr. Robert Atkins
2. Drs. Michael and Mary Eades
3. Drs. Richard and Rachel Heller
4. Connie Bennet
5. Johnny Bowden
6. Martie Whitekin
7. Dian Grisel

Quite honestly, the list is endless and this may be the first time in my life when television made me mad – oh, it makes me mad once a year when they vote off someone on American Idol that they shouldn’t.

I haven’t mentioned The Real Housewives of Atlanta for a while but don’t think I have forgotten them – they are my favorite group after all but I am giving total props to Kandi this week – well, actually last week as I haven’t watched this weeks episode yet. 

And why does Silver from 90210 (yes, I am too old to be watching this show; but I was too old to have watched the original show too so there) have to have the BRCA2 gene.  Is this supposed to be educational for young girls? I am sure one of the writers has a personal experience with this but really?  Are they advocating that all young girls get tested? And then what? Memorial Sloan Kettering estimates that up to 10% of all breast and uterine cancers are hereditary.  Should we remove 10% of the female population of this country breasts and give them hysterectomies?

Maybe TV made me mad again but we live in a world where genetic testing is far ahead of our ability to make decisions based on the results and doctors are pressuring people to have these surgeries – Silver is getting hounded by her doctor.

But, perhaps we should look at both of these situations and put two and two together.  If sugar causes cancer, perhaps that is what turns on the BRCA2 gene.  Therefore, stop eating sugar, take more preventative measures in your lifestyle and keep your body parts.  Works for me!

And of course, to do a fair story one must hear from both sides so they interviewed some sugar farmer who was from the sugar council who said that the science is not clear that sugar causes any health risks.  DUH! What did they expect him to say? Sanjay, Sanjay, Sanjay.  I wonder what would have happened ifAndersontook on this story – not the daytime Anderson but the Anderson 360 

Before I forget, Happy Pesach and Happy Easter and whatever other holiday there may be coming this week.  May you get to enjoy quality time with your friends and loved ones. Remember it’s about the good times, not the indulgences.

And how happy are we all the Game of Thrones is back?

Until next time…..