High-Fructose Corn Syrup - More bad news

I've known there was something wrong with High-Fructose Corn Syrup for a long time, and now here's more bad news:

A study has found that there is mercury in many food-derived product additives including High-Fructose Corn Syrup. Here is a human-readable document with the information about the study.

The press release begins, "Mercury was found in nearly 50 percent of tested samples of commercial high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), according to a new article published today in the scientific journal, Environmental Health. A separate study by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) detected mercury in nearly one-third of 55 popular brand name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first or second highest labeled ingredient-including products by Quaker, Hershey's, Kraft and Smucker's."

If you are not reading product labels for additives, start doing it. This stuff is pervasive! It's in everything, and sometimes it's the first ingredient (i.e. 2nd ingredient in most soda aside from carbonated water....) Dangerous (for more than just this reason....). We absolutely need to go back to basics -- or as close to basics as humanly possible.

And this mercury discovery is on top of all sorts of other implications for HFCS -- obesity, complications for our sugar metabolism, empty calories, etc. My nutrition teacher said there were two huge nutritionally devastating trends to keep an eye on: HFCS and Partially Hydrogenated oils -- keep them both out of your diet and you'll be much better off for it, he warned.

Thinner....

Update: Mom is down 52lbs now.

I just bought new clothes today so I can stop stalling my weight loss and get back into gear. I was afraid if I lost more weight, I wouldn't have any clothes that fit me for the winter! It's easier in the summer in 1-size dresses, but I'd be too cold in the winter. I deliberately "cheated" on my diet for a couple weeks, just maintaining my weight. Now, armed with several new slacks, a nice warm wool/cashmire blend sports jacket, and new blouses, I'm ready to take on the next 20lbs.

So here I am at 155lbs or so. I'll be heading firmly into size 12 territory, and once I do, I'll have to abandon the size 16s I've been "getting away with". The size 14 clothes I still have will see me through the transition up to the brink of size 10, but there wasn't enough clothing for the whole cold season in New York.

Onward, and downward! :)

Comment from Mom

This is from my mom!

Congratulations on 24" less of you ... That's a wonderful number and so is
43 lbs down...

I'm happy I'm seeing less of you all the time.. keep sending pictures ...

I'm down 46lbs and I don't know how many inches, haven't measured myself
yet.. I know I'm smaller since all my old clothes are falling off of me and the
smaller things I've saved for yrs fit now...and some are almost too big.

This Cinch stuff is Great..

Helen... Criss' Mom

She started her diet at the same time as I did, but she started off just watching what she ate and joined me on the Cinch plan after watching the pounds coming off me and hearing about my progress. Now my mom, who has struggled with diets for MANY years is convinced that Cinch is really THE inch-loss plan.

Size 14 and shrinking

I went on a trip to New Orleans for 10 days and walked around so much I had blisters, putting a few miles of walking on per day. I basically stuck to my diet plan, with two shakes a day, my "boost" pills, and occasionally a snack bar. When I came back, I only weighed maybe a pound or two less than when I left because I was eating somewhat over what I would normally eat and I didn't try to resist chocolate and creme brulee. But when I came back, I was squarely on the small side of 16 or a 14 stretch.

Now I'm a size 14 and shrinking. I've had to dig out old clothes I thought I would never wear again. I've been shopping at the thrift stores looking for suits and clothes that will fit. My metabolism changed to match my increase in muscle mass from so much walking, so I keep thinking I'm cheating on my diet -- I have a feeling it's just that I downright require more calories to stay out of starvation mode now. Pounds are still coming off, but since I'm so close to my target clothing size, I'm not being militant about watching what I eat.




I currently weigh 154 lbs as of this morning. I took photos on September 7th, around 157lbs (40 lbs lost!), so here's an updated photo. I'm wearing pants that are too large on me, and that shows under the tight shirt. I'll try taking more photos, my mom keeps asking me to show off :)

I had set my target weight at 135, but more importantly my target pants size at 12. I just bought 1 classic grey pinstriped pantsuit size 12P, and one dress size 12 -- thrift store purchases. I'm down from 1x and 2x tops to large, and I'm starting to look at mediums. I'm afraid to lose weight too quickly at this moment because I'm not ready to buy a whole new wardrobe. :) That's a terrific reason to both keep to my diet, and to relax a little on how quickly I lose weight. I'm also thinking that size 10 is quite possible if I'm going down to 135. If I add a little more exercise into my routine and that means I need at least two more wardrobes. Thank goodness I'm not buying suits at $100 a pop!

For now I'm collecting my larger clothes and considering either freecycling them or donating them back to the thrift stores.

Anti-Aging conference call

Tuesday, August 26th 7pm-8pm EST


Do you want to feel younger and live longer?

I'd like to open up a FREE conference call to discuss the latest findings in Anti-Aging science and inform people of a revolutionary anti-aging supplement that's now available on the market. I will explain the biology of aging, and some of the findings from a collection of over 2000 clinical studies on how to prevent age-related diseases (cancer, diabetes, heart disease and more...), cellular wear-n-tear, and the low energy that is associated with aging.

There is a limit of 99 people on the call. If there's sufficient interest, I will book additional conference call dates.

Please RSVP for the call-in number, provide your name & your email address so you can be updated on any changes in the schedule. Please indicate whether you would like to be notified on other topics related to health and wellness, otherwise I will assume that you do not wish to be contacted about other topics.

Due to the nature of this topic, I personally think it's akin to a sin to hold back from telling as many people as I can about it. These new findings, this new natural product, may prevent deadly and crippling diseases, and may alleviate suffering for people with certain diseases or disorders, so I hope you don't mind my contacting you about it. I've been trying to consider how to politely inform as many people as possible and open up the opportunity to start living a much healthier life RIGHT NOW to as many people as possible.

Please invite your friends or family to attend the call!

Since some cancers or diseases may only be prevented, not cured, it is important that adults start using this product as soon as they feel comfortable doing so.

Criss Ittermann
Herbalist & Reiki healer

Amazing Anti-Aging Product

We've found the fountain of youth, and it's north of Florida!

We've just released a fabulous new anti-aging product. It's all-natural, it's proven safe & effective, and no one else can produce it.

Delivers 100mg resveratrol that is 10x more effective than the resveratrol found in red wine, protects your DNA, gives you energy, and will protect you from aging.

And it's made from "super grapes" that grow in the south eastern United States. Yes, it's super grape juice.

A 30 day supply is $100 retail, members and autoship gets a discount (15-25% off). You take 1 teaspoon a day, each bottle is a 10 day supply, and a package is 3 bottles. It's so new it's not even in the online store yet! For more news and availability, make sure to sign up on my mailing list! http://yourgreenclub.com/Main/MailList and I'll let you know when it's available for distribution.

I'll write more technical posts when I have a chance. It's absolutely amazing! I have to run off and have a taste!

[Ed - product now available at http://www.shaklee.net/yourgreenclub/vivix ]

Documentary about Monsanto's food-supply conspiracy

I try to believe in the inherent good of all people. It keeps me going. I try not to look at anyone as absolute evil. After this video, I'm having a very very hard time picturing these people as anything but evil. It's one thing to be greedy -- it's another thing to hold all of life as we know it in your hands as a control & monetary leveraging tool.

This French documentary/exposé is a full-length feature film intended for theaters, and aired March 11 on French TV. Now it's essentially an underground video, squished from major video feeds and stores.

The World According to Monsanto

The video takes us through the beginnings of the Monsanto conspiracy, following a French investigative reporters' footsteps through the web of lies and government favoritism shown to this chemical-producing mega-giant. She goes to the US, India, Canada, the UK, Paraguay, and Mexico in pursuit of the truth. If you go to the Monsanto website, you will see many lies.

One example of a lie where Monsanto was caught is labeling RoundUp herbicides as "biodegradable" -- but the fines don't matter. After years of advertising the product as biodegradable, everyone already believed it -- the fines for false or misleading advertising don't matter. Once you've sprayed with RoundUp -- an intensive defoliation chemical -- it won't go away any time soon. Combine this with genetically modified crops -- crops modified to resist RoundUp.... I thought they would be modifying crops for better taste or yields, the same reasons we cross breed...this is absolutely insidious.

Don't break out the popcorn yet... corn, canola, cotton, soy and wheat are the compromised crops, with more to come soon.

Personal Note: I am SO glad my diet plan is non-gmo soy. However, I need to throw out my Boca burgers. :(

The moral: Buy organic (until the USDA allows gmos sprayed with RoundUp to be labeled organic -- I'm sure it will happen some day), buy non-gmo, buy local, and try SPIN farming. Meanwhile, we have to figure out something much more powerful to do, but what do you do when a powerful company can turn your food supply off?

You can order a DVD or download a copy using the big red button. I recommend downloading.

One Size fits me

174.6lbs. 36.5"waist, 45.25" hips. [Ed. oops, just noticed the typo -- I don't weigh 74lbs, nor do I ever want to!]

The way my body is built, I'll never have a 20" waist, but I'm going from "rather plump" to "pleasantly curvy" which is a change for the better.

I felt for the first time in a while like I could wear a dress yesterday -- 80 degrees, and I feel less than fat. A dress that would NOT fit me just last fall, now fits well and will only look better and better as I take off weight. I put on a different dress first, but while it fit, it was still too tight in the gut-hip area, where I'm carrying what my mom calls the family belly, so my daughter wore it.

I've been having discussions with my weight-loss partner (my mom) about rewards for a good job done on a diet, about feelings of entitlement when traveling or socializing. It's just not healthy to think that you spent so much money to go someplace you deserve to have a large meal (or dessert, or snacks, or...). The two are unrelated. Our society brainwashes us into thinking that white flour, sugar, potatoes are "rewards" and these messages are hammered into our head from the time we wake up to the time we go to sleep.

If you spent a lot on a trip you should darned well enjoy the trip, enjoy healthy choices, enjoy your food, relax, get extra sleep, get some extra exercise in the pool or workout room, but don't think that you deserve to treat your body badly because you're spending some extra time away from home or with friends.

I spend a lot of money every month on networking events, often those events come with breakfast, lunch or dinner. I also go to committee meetings where the fare of the morning is donuts or bagels (I've come to call them the "donut meeting" and "bagel meeting" respectively when talking about them to my partner, just to really point out how ridiculous this "culture" is.) I can think to myself "Well, I pay my $400/year for membership in this chamber, so I deserve the free breakfast!" And that type of thinking can get me into much more than $400 of health concerns and illness, and new larger clothes purchases to accommodate my brainwashed mentality. Several members of said chamber are in trouble healthwise and taking drastic measures to change their weight, and I find that very very alarming. I drink my shake religiously before going, treat myself to an herbal tea when I get there, and instead of fussing with food, I pay attention to the meeting! I can network better without a mouth full of bagel anyway.

We need to reconsider what we put into our mouths. 500 years ago there WAS no white sugar, or white flour, or white rice. It's not in our genetic or metabolic make-up to properly handle them, much less "high-fructose corn syrup" and "hydrogenated fats". To watch our weight, every calorie that goes into our body has to carry nutrients with it, and any nonsense calories that go into our body aren't holding up to their end of the reasons we ingest food in the first place. High-glycemic foods like potatoes, sugar and white flour cause a bounce-back reaction that leads to cravings, and cravings lead to binge eating and overeating. I watch people put 3-4 spoons of sugar into their drink, eat 3 pieces of white-bread before eating a full dinner, a plate full of french fries, etc. I just have to choose differently than they do, not feel deprived. I think of those things as fat cells going right into their bodies, and they're far less appealing.

I miss those starchy sugary foods just like the next person would, but I know better. Even if it takes a lot of mental willpower, discipline, and self-talks to stay away, I know I can change my own mind about anything, and I'm determined to erase the nutritional brainwashing and damage done by our culture, so I can live a healthy and long life.

Next goal: halfway point: 166.0lbs - squarely size 16 pants, and the original broadway cast recording of Evita (my reward, a 2 album set). Not going out to dinner. Not dessert. Not ice cream.

Eat Local Perishables or Perish

Check out what's going on with food imports, and buyer beware. Please locate and frequent your local small farms and food sources. What's happened to our spinach, our cat food, our melons, our children's toys, etc. needs to stop. Visit http://www.notinmyfood.org/ to send a letter to your representatives asking that food is traceable to point of manufacture, and labeled with country of origin, and that we start inspections before foods are even sent.

And for people in the area who want good local food & produce that doesn't come from other countries, please check out http://abundantlifefarm.com/ for the Virtual Online Farmstand -- 100mile radius foods delivered to your neighborhood.

The youngest bag lady!

I asked my partner to come to the grocery store with me, and he eventually gave in (muhahahah!), and on the way out the door he said we'd take his car because it was already clear of ice. Ok, no problem. Then I said "Oh, I have to get the bags out of my car!" He stops and looks at me funny. "Bags?" "Yeah, bags for the groceries."

At this point I'm a little puzzled by his reaction, he's looking a little incredulous, like he's indulging a weirdo at a funny farm. With a little shrug he's off to his car, and I fetch a bag -- full of bags -- and get into his car. I'm puzzling over what's so odd about bringing my own bags to the store.



Mind you I have one of the most eclectic collections of bags. I have many more bags, but here's a sample in a photo of the types of bags we're talking about -- the ones that were in my car on Saturday.

So we fill up a shopping cart with more things than we intended to buy, and at the register, I put 3 bags on the belt and start putting the groceries on the belt. The cashier nonchalantly takes the bags I offered and starts checking out groceries and filling the bags. It's a Redners, and they have a bag policy (2cents off for every bag you bring -- it's not much: it's the environment that matters). At this point, my partner is watching. When the guy is running out of bags, I hand him a few more. He uses one plastic bag for the yogurts (the ones with only a flimsy tin lid now that they've dropped the extra plastic one (yay!)) in case they leak. When he's done he tallies the bags in my cart, and refunds me. Never mind that the bags in my cart hold 2-3 times the number of groceries -- the point is still clear that we're saving something. Money, environment, whatever it takes to motivate people.

We leave with about 6 or 7 of MY bags full of groceries. We're putting them into the car, and finally it's all filtering in and digesting in my partner's brain. When we're unloading the car carrying 6 comfortable bags over our shoulders and in our hands, packed to the brim, instead of 15 flimsy plastic bags with tiny uncomfortable handles, half-filled because the stuff weighs too much for the bags to handle he finally gets it. By now he's muttering, "This is brilliant! I hate even touching the plastic bags. And they gave you a refund for them!" I'm not impressed about the $.12, but I chuckle knowingly.

I always loved to carry a backpack with me in the city. A notebook, a fiction book, pens, pencils, maybe a sweatshirt, and often an extra string bag. It always gave me a pleasurable feeling to tell merchants to skip the bag and toss something into the backpack. I've been doing it for years and years. That's how Europe works -- they don't do the whole massive plastic bag thing like the US. We think it's a major hassle to carry a bag around, but they fold up really small or the string bags easily stuff into a spare compartment of another bag. My bag-of-bags fits easily in my trunk, and is easy to grab the big bag's handle and run into the store.

I have string bags from food coops, a couple paper bags just because they're large and it's a shame to not reuse them a few times -- they also hold their shape really well for bread and other soft foods. I have a huge(!) shopping bag -- certainly a 3-4 bag capacity -- from Prisms Promotions, a local promotional products consultant. I have another smaller bag from the Sullivan (NY) County Chamber of Commerce that specifically talks about going green. A very large plastic bag (in case I purchase pillows or blankets -- craft store purchases, etc. fluffy light huge things or big boxes) from a wholesale liquidation outlet. I don't always remember to take my bags into stores, I'm trying to get better at it. If you add my collection of "gadgety bags" like messenger bags, waist pouches, briefcases, computer bags, etc. I really start to look like a bag lady. I even crocheted my own string bag, and create bags when I do craft projects. Just call me a bag lady!

Delicious Choices

I received more products, and that means I now have chocolate shake mix and peanut-butter chocolate chunk meal bars to add to the plan. Yay. I brought home a sizable chunk of last night's dinner, so lunch is ready for me when it's time to have it, and I'll probably do the diet products for dinner, since Fridays are "Kid exchange nights" where I'm always dashing out of the house to drive kids back and forth for visitation.

I had the chocolate shake for lunch yesterday. At dinner, one of my clients, who sells exquisite therapeutic magnetic jewelry, was remarking on how great these products taste (She has a photo at her website -- I hope she doesn't mind me giving her a little plug!). :) She doesn't LOOK like she needs a weight loss plan! Maybe I'll look that terrific someday. :)

I really have to say something about the peanut-butter chocolate chunk meal bars now that I'm having one as a meal. WOW! These things are fabulous! I've had a taste-test, but nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to actually sitting down and eating them as a meal in itself. It's great! It was on back-order for a week, arrived yesterday, and finally I'm eating it right now. [I had eaten over half the bar before realizing you might like to actually SEE it. Oops! :) What can I say, I was hungry! :) ]


I'm thinking of calling this "waist watchers" as in watch your waist disappear :)

Have a great weekend! I'll probably be blogging, but I thought I should say that.

Shake Styles

I'll probably have more to say on this as time goes on -- I've been using the vanilla waist-loss protein shake powder as directed and mixing in fruits and having mixed results. Banana -- stellar combo. Blueberries are OK. Raspberries from my garden -- well, if you like a LOT of seeds, try it, but this was positively chewy at the bottom -- I can't blame anyone but me, though, it was all my idea. Another chewy combo: this morning I did 1/2 cup blueberries and about 1/8 cup of oat bran. I feel like a horse chewing on mash. However, 1 frozen banana + 1/2 cup frozen mango -- that was delightful, if very hard to shake, it was too thick.

The program suggested 1/2 apple, but it never specifies whether to put that IN the shake or just eat the apple, so I just ate the apple with the shake. That was a very good combination.

Variety is the spice of life, right? At least I'm not bored of the shakes :) I have more on the way of the vanilla, and my first try of the chocolate shakes are on the way. I'm also expecting a delivery of the meal replacement bars. I am not used to drinking 2/3 meals a day.

I'm not exercising enough, and I'm not drinking enough water :/

Oooh -- I get to weigh in and measure myself tomorrow. Stay tuned!!!

Say cheese!

It's almost a struggle to figure out what I can have for my "real meal" that fits my suggested protein/carb/fat ratios. Thank goodness for cheese. When I'm stuck needing some extra protein and fat, cheese to the rescue!

I calculated my entire intake using the application that comes with my diet program. I had 8 lean chicken meatballs with mozzarella (2 servings), green beans, brown rice -- and even had butter on the beans & rice! But I darned well needed more fat and protein, so I was able to have 4 1" cubes of cheese last night. That's a lot of cheese. This is a mixture of local farmer's cheddar and horseradish cheddar. Mmmm.

If I'm struggling to lose weight, I'll adjust my carb intake down, but I'm trying out about 1500 carbs a day.

Do I weigh too much? The camera lies....

Just kidding about the lying. It's true. I weigh too much. Egads. Hard to look at. I hope I look fatter on camera than I do in real life -- eternal optimist, I guess. I'm glad I'm on a diet. I have to keep this blog around as a reminder. Whew.

I hate taking photos, but at least my partner and I can laugh together. That makes it far more tolerable. I stood in front of his pies, laughing about playing Vanna to them, then I did it....here I am showing off the pies. They're the Pièce de résistance! I'm going to resist. Nya.

So I weighed-in at 197lbs at 5'3" -- and I'm on a diet. I told you about the pies, and took a photo yesterday evening -- well, now there's about 1.125 pies left -- that's to say about 1 pie and one whopping slice or two petite slices. And it really wasn't me. I had a shake this afternoon with a frozen banana blended in. It was awesome. I got to choose a free item from the unmentionable company today, and I chose the 28 day supply of the supplements (metabolism regulation) you're supposed to take on this plan, because they're one of the more expensive single items, and I want to make sure I stay on the plan.

Anyway, time to run to see a potential client. I hope Ecto is working to post on my blog.

Am I in denial?

Is this denial of pleasure?

I have Ghirardelli chocolate chips in the cabinet. Pita chips. Sun chips. Blue corn chips. Surrounded by what might be temptation.

My partner, who purchased a different brand of fake-sugar protein products to help control his own weight also just baked 2 apple pies.

Me, I bought a food scale.

I don't think of this as "denial" -- I think of this as discipline. I'm drinking the 3rd shake, having gotten through yesterday A-OK. This thing is really good. No "getting used to" needed. Ok, maybe I have to get used to drinking my breakfast until my meal replacement bars come (they're backordered). But I don't feel like I'm missing out on something sweet, because this shake really is sweet. Maybe too sweet, because I don't usually run around having very sweet things.

Still, I'm glad he baked apple pies and didn't make another cheesecake. Once the inches start coming off and I'm seeing real results, I can probably resist cheesecake. That's a tough one.

I'm actually an all-around cheese freak, so I'll have to make sure I can get in doses of cheese, too. I'll check the meal tracker to make sure they're allowable, and figure out how to add cheese to this diet plan -- even if it's lowfat, I'm just cheese-dependent :)

[By the way, said pie was baked the night before, and wasn't touched until the morning. Half a pie was eaten by my roommate and my partner. This photo is before my son tried a small slice in the evening. I can resist apple pie, it's not my favorite. I'm glad my pie-website client didn't offer barter as a form of compensation, though. :) ]