Slim People in Progress

Pumpkin Infused Hot Cereal

I came up with a new concoction this morning...pumpkin infused multi-grain hot cereal.

I had a lot of canned pumpkin left over from the Pumpkin Muffins I made. What to do?

Since pumpkin is so good for you, I decided to add a tablespoon to my Trader Joe's multi-grain hot cereal, along with a tablespoon of honey (straight from the bees - no sugar added!).

A tablespoon of pumpkin is 0 points. The cereal and honey is 3 points.  Not bad for a tasty alternative with lots of healthy fiber. Add a cup of coffee with fat free half and half and you've got a filling 4 point breakfast.

Pumpkin should be on the menu year-round

Yesterday's Weight Watchers meeting, after the reports on how we all fared on Thanksgiving, focused on Pumpkin. It's actually quite an amazing food. Apparently it's quite high in potassium which, for athletes, is important to get to help avoid muscle cramping.

I looked up pumpkin and pumpkin seeds in The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. A cup of mashed pumpkin has 49 calories, 2.5 grams of fiber, tons of nutrients for eye health, it's high in vitamin A, has some calcium, iron, magnesium, and more potassium than a medium banana. A diet high in potassium also helps preserve calcium in the bones.

Pumpkin seeds have properties that can help with prostate health. Plus they are also high in magnesium, potassium, zinc, fiber and cancer-fighting selenium. Yesterday I roasted raw pumpkin seeds sprayed with olive oil and seasoned with turmeric.  You have to be careful though. Pumpkin seeds are higher in calories. 1 oz of seeds is 3 points. I was really in a pumpkin frenzy...

America's Most Obese Cities

Forbes.com announces it's list of America's most obese cities and it's a shocker.  Sorry Memphis, Tennessee, but you made #1 on their list!  A combination of bad eating habits (fried, processed and nutritionally empty foods) and a sedentary life-style, including spending hours in our cars each day, are the main reasons obesity is on the rise.  That translates into rising health care costs: Obesity's associated costs add $93 billion to the nation's medical bill annually. Each year, 112,000 people die from obesity-related causes, and the condition is responsible for an increased risk of chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

Click here for a slideshow of the Top Twenty Most Obese Cities

Read the whole article here!

Plus Size Perfection - TeleClass

I have some clients who write a terrific blog called Fabulous After Forty. As the title indicates, it's written for boomer women who want to look and feel stylish.

They have started to present a series of free teleclasses and the next one promises to be great...Plus Size Perfection- How to Look Chic no Matter What Your Shape, on Tuesday, November 27 at 9 pm ET.

In the one hour teleseminar you'll learn the secrets of Plus Size Dressing.

Deb and JoJami will be interviewing special guest Laura Caravaggio from the Plus Size web boutique Lola and Gigi, an online shopping site that specializes in hip clothing for women sizes 12-3x.

Just click here to register and get all the details:

http://www.tvimagelive.com/fabulousafter40/Plus.html

It's free!

He who stuff-ith, puff-ith

Did you know the average person gains 7 pounds between "fat Thursday" and "happy new rear"? So stated Flora at Saturday's Weight Watchers meeting.

Naturally the topic was how to survive Thanksgiving. This is my third WW Thanksgiving so I've heard all the tricks before. But the reason I went to the meeting is because I need to keep hearing the suggestions so they are fresh in my mind when the big day arrives.

Remember, put veggies on your plate first.  Your plate should have 1/2 veggies and/or fruit, 1/4 protein and 1/4 starch (potatos, stuffing).

Here are general points values for typical Thanksgiving food: