Olive Oil Buyer's Guide

Olive oil is one of the few good vegetable oils. It is about 10% omega-6 (n-6) fatty acids, compared to 50% for soybean oil, 52% for cottonseed oil and 54% for corn oil. Omega-6 fatty acids made up a smaller proportion of calories before modern times, due to their scarcity in animal fats. Beef suet is 2% n-6, butter is 3% and lard is 10%. Many people believe that excess n-6 fat is a contributing factor to chronic disease, due to its effect on inflammatory prostaglandins. I'm reserving my opinion on n-6 fats until I see more data, but I do think it's worth noting the association of increased vegetable oil consumption with declining health in the US.

Olive oil is also one of the few oils that require no harsh processing to extract. As a matter of fact, all you have to do is squeeze the olives and collect the oil. Other oils that can be extracted with minimal processing are red palm oil (9% n-6), hazelnut oil (10% n-6) and coconut oil (2% n-6). These are also the oils I consider to be healthy. Due to the mild processing these oils undergo, they retain their natural vitamin and antioxidant content.

You've eaten corn, so you know it's not an oily seed. Same with soybeans. So how to they get the oil out of them? They use a combination of heat and petroleum solvents. Then, they chemically bleach and deodorize the oil, and sometimes partially hydrogenate it to make it more shelf-stable. Hungry yet? This is true of all the common colorless oils, and anything labeled "vegetable oil".

Olive oil is great, but don't run out and buy it just yet! There are different grades, and it's important to know the difference between them. The highest grade is extra-virgin olive oil, and it's the only one I recommend. It's the only grade that's not heated or chemically refined in any way. Virgin olive oil, "light" olive oil (refers to the flavor, not calories), "pure" olive oil, or simply olive oil all involve different degrees of chemical extraction and/or processing. This applies primarily to Europe. Unfortunately, the US is not part of the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC), which regulates oil quality and labeling.

The olive oil market is plagued by corruption. Much of the oil exported from Italy is cut with cheaper oils such as colza. Most "Italian olive oil" is actually produced in North Africa and bottled in Italy, and may be of inferior quality. The USDA has refused to regulate the market so they get away with it. If you find a deal on olive oil that looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Only buy from reputable sources. Look for the IOOC seal, which guarantees purity, provenance and freshness. IOOC olive oil must contain less than 0.8% acidity. Acidity refers to the percentage of free fatty acids (as opposed to those bound in triglycerides), a measure of damage to the oil. Fortunately, the US has a private equivalent to the IOOC, the California Olive Oil Council (COOC). The COOC seal ensures provenance, purity and freshness just like the IOOC seal. It has outdone the IOOC in requiring less than 0.5% acidity. COOC-certified oils are more expensive, but you know exactly what you're getting.

Thanks to funadium for the CC photo

New weightloss photo

Well, I have been umm-ing and ahh-ing about whether its time to do another photo session for you groupies...

I decided that 6 pounds lighter than my last photo on my "weight loss expedition" back on June 6th was enough to warrant a photo.

Considering I GENUINELY thought (until about 10 minutes ago) that I looked better in my old photos that now, I must admit to being a little bit emotional when I pasted the photo on this blog. The change between June 2007 and today is staggering. I am BOWLED OVER by my hips! I like, don't have any bulging hips! My pants are sort of rounded in my June pic, but they are straight across my body today. My gut HAS shrunk so much. My bust is obviously smaller too, where I thought that it was exactly the same.

I am so pleased that I took this photo. It has really given me a serious confidence boost. I think somewhere deep down I have always thought that it still wont work, and that maybe my scales are wrong (although they cost a small fortune!), or that I am still not at my slimmest...

But I AM! I am the slimmest I have been for 10 years. That is truly amazing. I LOVE MY BAND

Check out my new picture http://weightloss-expedition.blogspot.com/2007/04/photo-gallery-february-2007-present.html

Yeah, OK I am still a fatty, but watch this space my Friend's!! HO HO HO!

Also, I have realised that I am bang on target...

If you take my weight losses from prior to the band blow out..

1 month - 15 lbs down
2 months - 20 lbs down
3 months - 23 lbs down
4 months - 22 lbs down

Then it busted...

But I am 5 months after renewal... So it like I now have my REAL 5 month pic and weight loss.
I am still on target. When you put them all together, I kind of haven't lost any window of opportunity or anything... I think maybe it wont work as well this time cos my body is used to it a bit... but that's not true. It has not made a difference at all. If my band had not broken I would be thin now. But ultimately I am 5 months out and at the same result. All I have to do is forget about that 8 month weirdness and I am rocketing along with my band.

Just shows me well and truly that this thing works like a wizard!

So if I put it all together and forget the 8 month nightmare...

1 month - 15 lbs lighter
2 months - 20lbs lighter
3 months - 23 lbs lighter
4 months - 22 lbs lighter
5 months - 28.5lbs lighter

Now that's what I call results. I feel like I am back in the zone physically, mentally and spiritually. This, although probably trivial for you guys (if you can even understand what the hell I am talking about) is really important to me. My mind can now kind of 'get over' having the break, and look forward to a slimmer future because its so obvious that I will have a slimmer future.

I am going to now continue on my journey and post monthly photos. The photo I posted today can wholeheartedly in my mind be my 5 month photo. Because, basically, it is.

Watch for the next one when I get back from my holiday in Malta at the end of June.

Biggest Loser is a Woman

For the first time in the history of the TV show Biggest Loser, a woman has won the grand prize of $250,000.

Ali Vincent weighed 234 pounds at the start of the show. She went on to lose 48% of her body weight and now weighs 122 pounds.

See TV Guide's interview with Ali Vincent here.

Weight Loss Success for Jody

Here's what Jody used to look like before she lost 133 pounds.

See what she looks like now and her success story here. At 5'9" and 52 years old she now weighs 146 pounds.

After many years of being overweight and losing weight occasionally on fad diets only to regain it soon afterward, this time she changed her underlying lifestyle.

Couldn't blog yesterday...

Something was wrong with blogger.. it would not let me in at all, so I gave up.

So yesterday was a good day again. Food wise and work wise. I was absolutely rushed off my feet but that's the way I seem to like it.

I had a small packet of yogurt coated raisins for a mid morning snack, a banana at mid afternoon and then some chilli with rice when I got home from work at about 10:30. No more than 850 calories for the day tops.

Today I have had a packet of sesame snaps for brekkie and some ravioli with pasta sauce, cheese and mayo for lunch. Its amazing the little I eat. I always want to put amounts, because when I write it, it sounds like loads, but its like a 1/3 portion of a normal adult. Take the pasta today for example. DH had 2/3rd and I had 1/3rd of the packet. Pre banding i would have used 2 packets to feed the three of us. So you can see how much it has reduced. Infact I think the band pays for itself after a while because I have really noticed that we have been shopping less too.

So I have my longest day of work today. Its my top earner, obviously, but I dread it. its because I have 4 pupils all in one house and 1 of them I don't like. However, I cant drop all 4 of them just because of 1 person. They would be mad, so I just need to keep hold of my pride and grit my teeth. I like the big fat cheque at the end of the day, so I don't have much choice!

At the moment, we are quite flush. DH got his redundancy cheque and I paid it in on Monday. Then he just got paid for his last 2 weeks work with them + his holiday pay and days he had accrued. I was well chuffed with that. Means at last we can get some money in the savings. I feel much better when we have a bit of cash in the bank.

So I am off to work now. See ya!

Weight Loss Motivation - Inspirational Quotes

Weight Loss Motivation

What you think you create, what you feel you attract, what you imagine you become.

The whole world steps aside for the person who knows where he is going.

Feeling healthy and feeling good about yourself is not a luxury - it's an absolute necessity.

A change from unhealthy habits to healthy habits will yield extraordinary results.

Failure is only a fact when you give up. Everyone gets knocked down, the question is: Will you get back up?

There is no such thing as luck. Success comes from actually doing it.

If you don't dare to begin, you don't stand a chance of getting there.

Some goals are so worthy it's glorious even to fail.

Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.

Take twice as long to eat half as much.

In eating, a third of the stomach should be filled with food, a third with drink and the rest left empty. (Talmud)

Your body is the baggage you must carry through life. The more excess the baggage, the shorter the trip. (Arnold H.Glasgow)

Real Food V: Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is part of a tradition of fermented foods that reaches far into human prehistory. Fermentation is a means of preserving food while also increasing its nutritional value. It increases digestibility and provides us with beneficial bacteria, especially those that produce lactic acid. Raw sauerkraut is a potent digestive aid, probably the reason it's traditionally eaten with heavy food.

Sauerkraut is produced by a process called ‘anaerobic’ fermentation, meaning ‘without oxygen’. It’s very simple to achieve in practice. You simply submerge the cabbage in a brine of its own juices and allow the naturally present bacteria to break down the sugars it contains. The process of ‘lacto-fermentation’ converts the sugars to lactic acid, making it tart. The combination of salt, anaerobic conditions, and acidity makes it very difficult for anything to survive besides the beneficial bacteria, so contamination is rare. If it does become contaminated, your nose will tell you as soon as you taste it.

Store-bought sauerkraut is far inferior to homemade. It's soggy and sterile. Ask a German: unpasteurized kraut is light, crunchy and tart!

My method is inexpensive and requires no special equipment. I've tested it many times and have never been disappointed.

Materials

• Wide-mouth quart canning jars (cheap at your local grocery store)
• Beer bottles with the labels removed, or small jars that fit inside the canning jars
• Three tablespoons of sea salt (NOT iodized table salt-- it's fatal to our bacteria)
• Five pounds of green cabbage

Recipe

1. Chop cabbage thinly. Ideally the slices should be 2 mm or so wide, but it doesn’t matter very much. You can use a food processor, mandolin or knife.
2. Put all the cabbage together in a large bowl and add the salt. If the salt is not very dense (sometimes finely ground sea salt can be fluffy), you can add up to 5 tablespoons total. Mix it around with your hands. Taste some. It should be good and salty.
3. Let the salted cabbage sit in the bowl for 30 minutes or so. It should be starting to get juicy.
4. Pack the cabbage tightly into the canning jars. Leave 2-3 inches at the top of the jar. When you push on the cabbage in the jar, you should be able to get the brine to rise above the cabbage. Try to get rid of air bubbles.
5. Put water into the beer bottles and place them into the canning jars. The weight of the bottles will keep the cabbage under the brine. It’s okay that some of the brine is exposed to the air; the cabbage itself is protected.
6. Let it sit for 2 weeks at room temperature! As the fermentation proceeds, bubbles will form and this will raise the level of the brine. This is normal. You might get some scum on top of the liquid; just check for this and scrape it off every few days. It won’t affect the final product. If the brine drops to the level of the cabbage, add salt water (1 tsp/cup, non-chlorinated water) to bring it back up.
7. Taste it! It should be tart and slightly crunchy, with a fresh lactic acid flavor. If fully fermented, it will keep in the fridge for a long time.

Here are some photos from making sauerruben, which is like sauerkraut but made with turnips: