Eating dogs and cats

I read in a news story that China is about to outlaw the eating of dog and cat meat. Why? Why are they doing this? Chinese people have been eating dog and cat meat for generations. Now, all of a sudden, it will be against the law and people who eat it will be fined. Animal lovers say it is cruelty against cats and dogs to eat their meat. What about steak and fish? This is terribly confusing. Will the cat and dog population in China suddenly explode? This topless woman probably doesn't care either way.

YOGURT

I had never heard of this product though it's been on the market for about eighty years. I guess it takes time for news to travel this far. After all, it took Columbus three months to cross the Atlantic. If you research this brand name yogurt and like it, let me know - I might buy it, depending on the price. I have a hunch it's probably expensive. This quote is from its website: "With its fuller, richer taste and ridiculously thick texture, FAGE Total yogurt has been incredibly successful in the U.S. That’s why the company has invested nearly 85 million dollars in an all-new, state-of-the-art production facility in Johnstown, NY, about 200 miles northwest of New York City. " Maybe we'll all end up as slender as the girl next door.

Biggest loser

Jillian Michaels has these tips for us. Enjoy

1.) DON'T APOLOGIZE FOR SELF-PRESERVATION. "Why should we apologize for the practices that help us manage the symptoms while we deal with the real reasons we eat? I pour candle wax on my food at restaurants," Jillian admitted. "Not wanting to 'waste food' is a poor excuse for ending up far worse off later on, dealing with all the health problems that come with obesity."

2.) RUN. I asked Jillian if running really is the best form of cardio for weight loss. "Absolutely," she said. "There are lots of great ways to get your heart rate up, but if you want to see the pounds melt off, running is the fastest way. But I get that not everyone is built for it--knee problems, tight IT bands, heel spurs; I get it." Whatever you do, she said, "Don't forget the weights! The more muscle you build, the faster your metabolism will run."
3.) THE BIGGEST LOSER IS NOT REALITY. "You don't watch the Olympics and think, Hmm, I should swim for 6 hours a day like Michael Phelps, do you? But you might think about joining a pool and swimming a few times a week," she said. That's what Jillian wants people watching TBL to think, too: "If these people can lose ten pounds in two weeks, maybe I can lose ten pounds in a couple of months." She adds: "I want people to realize their own potential; I meet people all the time who never thought of themselves as athletic, but now? They truly are athletes."
4.) FORGET WILLPOWER. "Losing weight is not about willpower--it's about moments of bravado, like the moment when you ask your waiter to take the bread away from the table right away."
5.) JUST SAY THANK YOU. When I told Jillian how much weight I've lost, she congratulated me. And then (as I always do), I added, "But I still have a long way to go." "Cool," she said.

Diet tips from Yahoo!

Granola Bar: 200 calories15 g sugars - Eat this instead! 1 oz cheddar cheese with Triscuits: 150 calories 5 g sugars -- Yogurt with Fruit on the Bottom: 190 calories 30 g sugars - Eat this instead! Plain yogurt with fresh fruit mixed in 110 calories 15 g sugars - Pass on these over-sweetened yogurt cups; they contain as much sugar as a soft drink. Almost all of that comes directly from the “fruit,” which is swimming in high-fructose corn syrup. Yogurt and fruit can be a great way to start your day, but do it yourself by mixing a cup of nonfat plain yogurt with a half cup of mixed berries. - Bagel with Cream Cheese: 700 calories 40 g fat 13 g saturated - Eat this instead! Cheese omelet 425 calories 18 g - 6 g saturated - Bagels are bogus. The bread is bad enough, containing 300 calories and 60 grams of carbohydrates, but tack on the liberal cream cheese schmear (by our survey of popular breakfast chains, up to 4 ounces for a single bagel!) and your "harmless" breakfast sandwich weighs in as worse than a Whopper. The omelet swap will save you nearly 300 calories, plus provide a surge of metabolism-boosting protein. And a recent study from the University of Connecticut found that eating eggs can help raise HDL (good) cholesterol. Dried Fruit: 175 calories 45 g sugars. Eat this instead! Fresh fruit, like an apple or a peach 70 calories 15 g sugar. OK, so dried fruit won’t totally derail a day of good eating (unless you down the whole bag of banana chips), but it’s far from being a harmless snack. First, because the dehydrating process sucks most of the volume from the fruit, you can eat cups of the stuff, and 600 calories later, still not feel any fuller. More troubling, though, is the fact that Sun-Maid and Ocean Spray add sugar to the fruit, making Craisins closer to candy than Mother Nature’s original intention. The choice is clear: Stick to the original, straight from the tree. Fish Sandwich: 600 calories 30 g fat 11 g saturated. Eat this instead! Grilled chicken sandwich 300 calories 13 g fat 4 g saturated. Fish is good for you, except when it’s battered, fried, robed in cheese, and bathed in tartar sauce. Even the biggest star can be sabotaged by the supporting cast. To this end, avoid any menu item with the word "crispy," the restaurant industry’s favorite euphemism for “fried.” Make sure your next fish or chicken sandwich is grilled, dressed with fresh produce, and topped with a low-cal barbecue sauce, or even ketchup and mustard. And watch the salt; Stick margarine (1 Tbsp): 100 calories 11 g fat 2.5 g saturated 2.5 g trans fat. Eat this instead! Whipped butter (1 Tbsp) 50 calories 6 g fat 1.5 g saturated. In their haste to remove saturated fat from butter, margarine makers created the margarine monster — a dangerous lipid called trans fat, with more dangerous links to heart disease than saturated fat. Pick up whipped butter instead; by whipping air into the spread, manufacturers decrease the caloric density of a tablespoon of butter, and they make it easier to top your toast. If you buy margarine, make sure it’s the type found in the tub, hopefully with an added bonus like omega-3s folded into the mix.

Diets

Dieting is a touchy subject for many people. I have an opinion about diets - no matter what diet plan you are talking about, I probably disagree with it. This may sound simple-minded, but it's my honest opinion. If you eat more than you need to, you will gain weight. If you spend more than you earn, you will go broke. Same difference. As for diet plans - don't complicate your life if you want or need to lose excess pounds. Just eat less, and eat less fatty and starchy food. If you need a gimmick that will allow you to eat less, simply talk more at the table. If you talk, you will spend less time filling your mouth with food. Also, eat all the vegetables and drink all the beer (or whatever) first. It works and I can prove it. My proof is all those pictures one sees on TV of starving people in remote places where food is really scarce. Why do you think none of them are overweight? Nothing to eat. That's my best guess.