Most women are under the impression that cellulite is irreversible and therefore they put up with the appearance of cellulite because they don’t believe any treatments exist for the removal of cellulite.

They are wrong.

Removing cellulite is quite simple, however it is not just a one step process in removing cellulite, there are a few steps involved in eliminating cellulite which has built up over the years.

Cellulite is the build up of toxins in the body’s system.

These toxins are consumed through preservatives, flavours, colours, and alcohol in our diets. Stress and hormonal imbalances can also be contributing factors to the toxins in our bodies.

Reducing cellulite involves the breaking down and flushing out of these toxins from our bodies. Steps involving the breaking down and flushing out of toxins which contribute to cellulite include body brushing, drinking plenty of water and herbal teas, leg exercises such as squats and leg raises, and applying a good cellulite cream.

It is not a matter of carrying out just one of these steps to get rid of cellulite, such as applying a cellulite cream every day, as this just won’t budge the cellulite. Some women have purchased a range of ‘best’ cellulite creams hoping that they will do the trick to remove their unwanted cellulite, however not even the most expensive cellulite product on the market will have the effect of removing cellulite on its own.

Dry body brushing helps to promote good blood circulation which will help to move the toxins from your body, cellulite creams will not be able to increase your blood circulation.

In the meantime, while you’re waiting to remove cellulite from your thighs and buttocks, try applying a self tanning product to mask the appearance of cellulite.

Especially for those of you who tend to internalize information you see on the news. The media does not give a balanced perspective of what is going on in the world. If it did aim for perspective, it would perhaps show the following chart, night after night.

The fact is, information in this chart is not very entertaining and it certainly isn’t what most people want to think about. It’s much more exciting to talk about rare or unrealistic events because then we don’t have to hold ourselves accountable for events that affect us daily. Well, here’s to not passing the buck. Here’s to facing reality and holding ourselves accountable:

Oops!

Here it is, two days before taxes are due and I haven’t started. I can’t believe I’ve done this to myself again. Next year, for sure I’m going to start early….

Anyway, since I haven’t completely figured out how to stave off cravings, and since I still use food for psychological comfort, here is what I’m currently chowing on while feeling the stress of the IRS:

• dried mango (the Trader Joe’s, unsweetened kind)
• FruitSource-sweetened chocolate covered almonds (I can only find them at Safeway)
• raw almonds
• macadamia nuts, and
• Tazo “Passion” tea, hot.

Now, I’ve got work to do! Good luck with filing taxes, if you haven’t already!

First of all, opening the squash is a story in itself. In general, I find it very traumatic to use giant butcher knives, and I had to wrestle this thing while trying to cut into it. My imagination immediately takes me to the emergency room where my husband is carrying a bag of my chopped-off fingers on ice. Someone else must have used their imagination, too, because I had assistance opening the squash. I’m considering using an axe next time.

Scooped out the giant seeds to pick through and save for planting, then baked the giant halves at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or so. When the flesh was soft, I tasted it. Delicious, but very different from other squash tastes. It tasted very sweet and meaty.

I let the squash cool and then sauteed onions in olive oil and butter and whipped up the rest in the blender before pouring the entire batch of pureed squash soup ingredients into a large pot to simmer. I didn’t add curry until everything was simmering on the stove.

I kept returning to the kitchen and dipping in a large wooden spoon to taste. It was so good. It’s times like these that I wish my husband ate more than chocolate and cheese and steak. It’s amazing to look at our plates of food, which are usually entirely different substances (mine vegetable, his rare meat) and see that both of our foods are able to nourish us.

If any of your winter squash has made it this far without molding, try this recipe. It’s so good, I prepared to eat five bowls of it but one bowl was very filling.

Let me know if you try this recipe and tinker with the ingredients. I did. I’m giving you the list of ingredients/amounts that I used, taken from another recipe. I would love to know what you do with this.

Curry Squash Soup

Bake or steam squash, after scooping out seeds. Use squash meat after baking, discard peel.
1 onion chopped
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs butter
1/4 C. spelt flour
1/2 C. cream/dairy alternative
4 C. or more water
1 tsp spike as “broth” in water
2 C. apple juice
1 tsp or so curry powder
sea salt and pepper to taste

1. Sautee onion in olive oil and butter. Add flour and some water to make roux.
2. Put 1/2 squash meat in blender with 1/2 of left over ingredients. Blend until smooth.
3. Pour into large pot.
4. Repeat step 2 with leftover squash and ingredients.
5. Simmer on low or medium-low for 30 minutes to one hour, stirring occasionally. Add curry, salt and pepper to taste.

He grabbed his usual pint of Ben & Jerry’s and I grabbed my favorite naturally sweetened ice cream line made by Luna and Larry’s called Coconut Bliss. They make the most fantastic coconut ice cream I’ve ever had. I’ve written about them before, but my taste buds made me promise to write something again this morning.

I chose Dark Chocolate, which I have not had in a long time. It was the sweetest, most decadent surprise. The last pint of Coconut Bliss I finished off was Strawberry Lemon Love. The strawberry flavor was incredible and creamy, but the lemon was a little icy and tasted quite sour. Normally lemon is my leading lady, but I could do without this version. It just didn’t seem to have the oomph that I’ve come to enjoy in this line of ice creams. I found myself diving for strawberry in an ocean of sour lemon.

The dark chocolate is either pure heaven on earth, or my palate has become so jaded and needy that my opinion does not count. Eating no white refined sugar or corn syrup has changed the tolerance of my taste buds quite severely. It’s a good thing for me, but when it comes to being a good judge of sweetness and flavor, I’m not the one to ask. Anything with a drop of honey makes my taste buds happy and satisfied. It was only a year and a half ago that my taste buds would not shut up unless I got them drunk on huge amounts of sugar: cookies, donuts, candy, chocolate and cake to name a few of my old favorites. Although I’ve always been a fairly good judge of flavor, since last year when my palette adapted to smaller amounts of sweetness, I’ve had to acknowledge that a sugar-free tongue is not the right judge in a sugar-laden world.

It’s been a dark and rainy spring here so far in the northwest. Day after day of cold gray skies, rainy outbursts and spittle. No sunshine. So, it was a special moment last night when I experienced joy from a delicious spoonful of dark chocolate coconut ice cream. Jeff agreed to stay up late to watch Casablanca for his first time which added to the thrill. My favorite movie….my favorite ice cream….I felt like a kid again. Isn’t the psychology of desserts a strange and mysterious thing?

Dark Chocolate Coconut Bliss Ice Cream Ingredients: Organic Coconut Milk (Organic Coconut, Water, Guar Gum), Organic Agave Syrup, Organic Fair Trade Cocoa, Organic Fair Trade Vanilla Extract

Casablanca: Not only is this romantic drama set during World War II, it was filmed during World War II. One of the best films ever made. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca_(film)

Sucrose: a pure crystalline disaccharide extracted from sugar cane or sugar beets and consisting of glucose and fructose joined together in the molecule.

Fructose: a crystalline monosaccharide found in sweet fruits and in honey; fruit sugar.

Dextrose: a right-handed form of glucose found in plants and animals and in the human blood, and made by the hydrolysis of starch with acids or enzymes.

Nutrition: nutritious, nourishing; a nutritious ingredient or substance in food.

Nourish: to feed or sustain (any plant or animal) with substances necessary to life and growth; to foster, develop, promote.

Essential: of or constituting the intrinsic, fundamental nature of something. Basic, inherent; aboslute, complete, perfect.

Natural: of or arising from nature; in accordance with what is found or expected in nature; produced or existing in nature; not artificial or manufactured.

Corn Syrup: a syrup made from cornstarch; it is a mixture of dextrose, maltose and dextrins.

Honey: a thick, sweet, syrupy substance that bees make as food from the nectar of flowers and store in honeycombs.

-Webster’s New World: College Dictionary, 2002

Bonus items directly from the FDA website:

“What is meant by sugars on the Nutrition Facts label?

Answer: To calculate sugars for the Nutrition Facts label, determine the weight in grams of all free monosaccharides and disaccharides in the sample of food. The other nutrients declared on the nutrition label are defined in 21 CFR 101.9(c). 21 CFR 101.9(c)(6)(ii)

What are the requirements to use the word ‘Healthy’?

Answer: You may use the term “healthy” or related terms as an implied nutrient content claim on the label or in labeling of a food that is useful in creating a diet that is consistent with dietary recommendations if the food meets the conditions for total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and other nutrients

-http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/2lg-toc.html

What is the difference between natural and artificial ingredients?

Answer: Natural ingredients are derived from natural sources (e.g., soybeans and corn provide lecithin to maintain product consistency; beets provide beet powder used as food coloring). Other ingredients are not found in nature and therefore must be synthetically produced as artificial ingredients. Also, some ingredients found in nature can be manufactured artificially and produced more economically, with greater purity and more consistent quality, than their natural counterparts. For example, vitamin C or ascorbic acid may be derived from an orange or produced in a laboratory.”

-http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/foodic.html

Take McDonald’s. Okay, so a burger is $1, let’s say, and the fries $1.50 and a drink for $1. (I have no idea what these items cost. I am just guessing and being conservative.) That’s a total of $3.50. What nutrients will your body derive from these foods? You have a little slab of beef, (lettuce, tomato, pickle, cheese?) the bun, greasy, deep-fried french fries (sauce?) and who-knows-what to drink. Soda? Milkshake? I’ll just call those unnecessary sugar/beverage calories.

The nutrients your body gets from ingesting the above are questionable. You get some protein, a lot of empty calories and carbohydrates from the bun, possibly trans fat with your french fries and a lot of starch from those fries and empty calories from that soda that your body’s insulin will have to deal with to regulate your blood sugar. The hamburger bun, as I talked about in an earlier post, offers nothing but sugar to the body. Its carbohydrates are almost immediately digested in the stomach, leaving you feeling hungry.

For $3.50 I could buy kale or red chard on sale, and a loaf of tempeh or some bulk quinoa to boil, and maybe an apple or orange for dessert. The nutrients I get from this healthy variety of colorful foods greatly outweighs the poor nutrients offered in the McDonald’s scenario above. Nutrient per cent spent on food equals this: you get more nutrients from a few healthy foods than you do from 10 hamburgers or 30 french fries.

If we were to compare the contents of two different grocery carts at a grocery store, it may reveal something like this:

Cart A: Bottles of soda, frozen pizzas/meals, bags of chips, crackers, ice cream, boxed cereals, white rice, etc.

Cart B: Cabbage, blueberries, apples, cherries, turnips, carrots, beets, spinach, kale, chard, bulk quinoa and steel-cut oats, olive oil, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, almond milk, etc.

It would take you a tremendous amount of calories from the foods in Cart A to get nutrients for your body. Even then, you are not eating foods that your doctor would ever recommend. (If you do have a doctor recommending these items, you may want to consider switching doctors.) However, if you ate from Cart B’s list of foods, you would get more nutrients, and quicker so that you feel full and are apt to eat less.

I can almost hear some of you ho-hum right now–preparing foods like those in Cart B can be so overwhelming and time-consuming. I’ll just mention priorities this once. It comes down to not wanting to prepare all of these fruits and vegetables. It is not convenient and we are living in a culture of “convenience is best.” We want more time at our computer, or being on the phone, in the car, working, etc. We spend more time doing the very things that end up being very stressful to us and eventually killing us.

Have you tried telling yourself that it is okay to spend more than 15 minutes in the kitchen? Have you told your partner/family member that it is a priority to eat healthy and might require more time in the kitchen? Don’t forget to tell them that you also saved money on your groceries because you bought healthy foods instead of expensive cereals, crackers, chips and drinks. Everyone can still munch on snacks, but they will be different. Out goes the Cheetos and Oreos and Ben & Jerry’s (admittedly, some of my old favorites) and in comes the fresh, crispy carrot sticks and slices of cucumber and tomato and trail mix, to name a few.

Eating healthy is tough these days. There are so many options and gimmicks that we fall prey to, especially when our stomach begins to get hungry.

Think of it this way: 15 extra minutes in the kitchen (simply to wash and slice and store veggies/fruits in the fridge as snacks) may save you 15 days in the hospital down the road if you don’t watch what you eat. Heart disease, obesity and diabetes are leading health concerns in our country. People are not having these problems because they ate their vegetables. Although these health issues have many variables and can have complicated relationships with lifestyles, no one ever regrets eating more fruits and vegetables than junk foods. No doctor is going to point his/her finger at you and say, “The problem here is that you just eat too damn healthy.”

Just in case you did not know, and in case you were wondering if there is some sort of conspiracy to get us to eat junk food, there is. It’s called the…..no, wait. You are not going to believe this. I was shocked that there was such an organization. Why haven’t I heard of this before? Why didn’t we ever talk about it in school? It’s called the Snack Food Assocation. No kidding.

Here is a brief introduction: “The Snack Food Association (SFA) is the international trade association of the snack food industry representing snack manufacturers and suppliers. SFA represents over 400 companies worldwide….SFA business membership includes, but is not limited to, manufacturers of potato chips, tortilla chips, cereal snacks, pretzels, popcorn, cheese snacks, snack crackers, meat snacks, pork rinds,snack nuts,party mix, corn snacks, pellet snacks, fruit snacks, snack bars, granola, snack cakes, cookies and various other snacks.”

I’m surprised they don’t just come out and call themselves the Junk Food Assocation. “Snack” bars? Oh, and we’re just in time to participate in SNAXPO, which “will draw thousands of industry professionals from more than 60 countries around the world looking for the latest products and developments, face-to-face meetings with suppliers, networking, outstanding speakers and educational seminars.”

I have this little fantasy that I dress in sharp, career-woman clothes and join in the SNAXPO event, talking to people and hearing what goes on in such an event. I can’t imagine.

The bottom line is what I love to say most: EAT HEALTHY. Make those tough decisions to just “SAY NO” to the bright cereal boxes that beckon, the chips that call your name and to the ice cream that does not have your name written all over it. Try your best to see past fancy packaging (think of multi-millionares mingling at the snack expo and talking about how they can get someone just like you to buy their junk-food product to increase their wealth.) and make the effort to break bad habits. It’s worth the time, it’s less expensive and it is something in life you won’t regret. Be a leader in your family, your social network and your community.

My evening began with a drive into town for pizza. I had to pick up Jeff’s favorite. (Consequently I parked too close to a car in the parking lot and hit the side of it with my car door. I pretended to not notice the small scratch/dent it made when all of a sudden I noticed activity inside the car. Somebody was inside! I played dumb and walked away. No integrity there!) He would not be joining me in my vegetable experimentations. As he satiated himself on cheese, sauce and thick doughy crust, I conjured up a recipe for my left-over quinoa from the day before. I began by chopping up fresh kale, red chard and turnips and throwing them in a little stir-fry pan with coconut oil and some water. I let that steam for about 10 minutes and then set that aside.

I got out the loaf of tempeh that I have been saving and cut several thin slices. I threw them in the stir-fry pan and let them sizzle a bit before I realized that I would do anything to add BBQ sauce. Well, everyone knows that there is no such thing as sugar-free BBQ sauce, so I decided to try making my own. I got out my agave-sweetened ketchup and then grabbed a bottle of Jeff’s BBQ sauce to look at the ingredients. Then, I put some ketchup in a little bowl and added red wine vinegar and molasses. Those seemed to be the most prominent ingredients on the label of the BBQ sauce. I mixed it all together and tasted. Wow. Very…..strong. Spicy. It was delicious. I ladled it atop of my tempeh and let it sizzle for a few minutes. It didn’t take long to carmelize on the pan and cover the tempeh. I was ready to chow.

I added the finished BBQ tempeh to my plate of vegetable quinoa and just sat staring at it. It looked so good and I didn’t want it to go away. I knew even before I took a bite that this was going to be one of the best dinners I’ve ever made. And it was so quick to make. I tried experimenting a little with different types of vinegars to make the BBQ sauce, but nothing tasted as good as the red wine vinegar.

The result was that I ate my entire dinner with my eyes closed. It was heavenly. Instead of having any thoughts during dinner, I experienced a kind of nirvana. A zen of nothingness but one of my senses. My tongue was pleased and I felt quite satisfied. I did not get a sweet tooth attack after dinner. I felt perfectly satiated without feeling overfull.

That was just the beginning of several culinary experiences tonight. After dinner I joined my husband outside in the freezing cold to observe a new favorite past time: making giant soap bubbles. They are particularly neat in the dark with a flashlight shining directly on the bubble. We had fun practicing making those for a while and then brought our chilly bodies inside.

I was still nice and full from dinner but wanted to sample a new chocolate bar I found a few days ago at a little local co-op. The chocolate bar was made with raw ingredients: cocoa, vanilla, himalayan salt crystals and amber agave nectar. I broke off a small piece and popped it in my mouth. Not expecting heaven (sugar-free afterall!) I was pleasantly surprised at the mild flavor. It was very dark chocolate but sweet. There was a nice balance of sweet to salty. For being sugar-free and only having four ingredients, it was wonderful. I broke off another tiny piece and savored the cocoa as it melted slowly on my tongue. What a perfect ending to a delicious evening of vittles.

Then the doorbell rang. Audrey our neighbor was standing in the dark on the front porch carrying a basket of something and a bottle of wine. We invited her in and she set out the pear tart that she had made earlier today in preparation for her dinner party this evening. She had an uneaten tart leftover. She also brought a little dish of sliced pears floating in pear brandy, made locally here in Oregon at Clear Water Creek distillery. The last dish contained her home-made, honey sweeted whipped cream. I pulled out the wine and poured a small glass.

Horse Heaven Hills is a local Washington winery. Audrey’s dinner party tonight was themed “Local Ingredients.” She spent all day yesterday searching for local ingredients and came back with a plethora of food items and information about farms, co-ops and locally milled flours. As I sipped the cab, she told me about her dinner party. Everyone brought homemade food made with local ingredients. The farthest location of an ingredient was a cream cheese made in Sierra Nevada. It helped form the perfect crust for the pear tart.

Audrey’s pear tart was so beautiful I hated to cut into it. Two seconds later I was slicing a piece for myself. I added a few dollups of whipped cream and the rest is history. I sat on cloud nine savoring the delicate flavors of pear, cinnamon, brandy and a resonating honey after-taste. She had substituted whole wheat flour for white, and the results were perfect. The crust is indescribable. Pear brandy mixed with a bit of honey had crystalized on top of the thinly sliced pears and it tasted like caramel.

I was not expecting to indulge in decadence like this tonight. My plan was to sip herbal tea until I began to feel tired. Instead, I got surprised with an evening of delectable flavors and great conversation.

Here are the recipes from tonight:

My Homemade BBQ Sauce (really good, but you could probably do better)

Mix these together and enjoy: About 1/4 C. agave sweetened ketchup, less than 1 tablespoon molasses and less than 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar.

Quinoa & Vegetables Lightly Steamed with Coconut Oil

Cook quinoa normally. Chop red chard, kale, turnips and throw in stir-fry pan. Add about 1 tablespoon of virgin coconut oil and add about 1/2 C. of water.

Cover and steam for about 10 minutes or so. Add pre-cooked quinoa for the last few minutes. Remove from pan and add sea salt. Enjoy!

BBQ Tempeh

Slice thin pieces of tempeh from tempeh loaf. Throw into stir-fry pan and sizzle on medium-high. Flip them once while sizzling. Throw on BBQ sauce until it bubbles. Remove from pan and enjoy!

Audrey’s Pear Tart

Whip heavy cream with honey and a little pear brandy to accompany tart.

2 ounces cream cheese
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 C. whole wheat flour, plus extra for your hands
1/2 C. plus 1 1/2 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons pear brandy
1 Bosc or Red Bartless pear
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Line an air-cushioned baking sheet with parchment. Combine cream cheese and butter in a food processor. Add flour, 1/4 C. honey and the salt and process until combined. Dough will be sticky. Turn dough out onto prepared baking sheet. With lightly floured fingers, pat dough out into a flat 8-inch circle.

2. In medium bowl, combine 1/4 C. honey with lemon juice and brandy. Halve pear lengthwise; core; leave skin on. Cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices; transfer to lemon-juice mixture; coat well. Place slices in strainer to drain liquid. Arrange lengthwise around border of dough, overlapping slightly. Arrange remaining slices in center. Drizzle tart with a little pear brandy-honey mixture. Dust pears with cinnamon. Bake until golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Enjoy!

(recipe alterations courtesy of Audrey of course; original recipe: Martha Stewart Living, Oct 97)

Alas, as I write this the last of the sweet flavors have dissipated into enzymatic digestive juices. I sip herbal tea and prepare for a night of dreams about more dessert. It was a most fun evening. Thank you Audrey!

Do you eat mindfully? Do you live mindfully? What the heck do I mean, you ask. By eating mindfully, I am implying that there is a difference between eating because you see it, and eating because it will nourish your body. By living mindfully I am implying that you are making every minute count, and being considerate of other people/animals on the planet. (I’m not about to give a lecture on vegetarianism or organics.)

I recently visited an old neighborhood where I lived out my twenties. It was incredibly nostalgic to drive around the familiar neighborhoods and see so many houses and giant trees that I used to walk past regularly. What struck me most, however, was how changed I am since my twenties. Nothing magical or superior to my younger years, just older and more concerned for bigger-scale things in life. For example, in my twenties I spent most of my time figuring out what to do based on what would make me happiest. Though not necessarily a bad thing, one can get obsessive in search of Mr/Mrs. Right. I didn’t always take other people’s concerns seriously. I spent a lot of time on myself. This might be indicative of many people in their twenties–for sure mine. I did not live very mindfully in my twenties.

I realize now that I am in my thirties I have done a lot more for others than I ever did in my twenties. I was discussing this with someone last night and she asked, “Is it because you are in your thirties now, or do you do more for others because you’re married and not always looking for Prince Charming?” I couldn’t answer that because I only know my thirties as being married. Whichever reason it is, I live much more mindfully now than I ever used to. In part, I think, because at one point I decided to eat mindfully.

My first exposure to eating mindfully was in an environmental science class at a community college. Up until then I had been aware of eating healthy, but had no idea that food choices affect others-both people and animals. It was one of the biggest turning points in my life (besides when I was 10 and found out that Whoppers malted milk balls came in a 5-pound tub). I learned that I could make a difference in the environment based on specific food choices. It was the hottest topic in my life for many years following. I became a militant food cop. Luckily I chilled out when I realized that no one appreciated my bible-thumping style of sharing. I would have to lead by example, not by my bumper stickers and self-made posters.

Years later, I finally found middle ground in my eating habits. What occurred to me at some point is that all of my food choices led me to begin thinking more mindfully about others and life in general. In my thirties now, I sincerely care about that. I care about others just as much as I care about myself. I don’t spend two hours primping in front of the mirror and I don’t spend all of my money on new clothes. Instead, I find great joy in contributing money to those in need. I contribute my time and energy to my loved ones, my neighbors, my community and people all across the globe.

I hope this is not sounding preachy in any way. It’s not my intention. If you want preachy, rent a time machine and go back to the year 2000 and find me. I was at the height of preaching to the world and telling everyone what they should do. Fire and brimstone upon you if you didn’t listen. Or at least a sticker slapped on your bumper.

Why all the chatter about mindful this and that? I was inspired by a post I read this morning called “30 Days of Mindful Eating,” written by “A Content Life.” It really stirred up my sensibilities. Take a look at the above post and learn the seven different types of hunger. It’s very interesting. The information comes from the book, “Mindful Eating.”

Do you have a story about mindful eating or mindful living? There are probably very few of us who were raised this way. It seems like the following generations were graced with these concepts, but not mine!