Marilu Henner's Blog, page 178

Spirit Sunday * Be a winner

So there's a big sports contest today, between two good teams. Although one of the teams will win, both teams have garnered a lot of respect, and are already winners by getting to the game.

Do you consider yourself a winner?

What makes you a winner?

What can you do to play harder? With more heart?

How do you train for the game of your life?

How do you kick it up a notch when the going gets tough?

What's your reward?

 

pssst…. get up and move!

//www.marilu.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/06 - Sure Fire Winners.mp3

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Amazon.com Widgets

 

Super Bowl facts

Super Bowl Sunday is the second largest day of food consumption, behind only Thanksgiving.

~ American Institute of Food Distribution

Six percent of Americans will call in sick the day after Super Bowl Sunday.

~ Dayton Daily News

 

The lesson? Pay attention to what, and how much, you eat on Super Bowl Sunday.

Choose healthy options.
Eat normal (not restaurant) portions.
Choose one quarter of the game for "meal time" and don't eat for the other three quarters.

Remember you're with other people, and use your energy interacting with them, not with the buffet table.

And if you need a little guilt for motivation, think about the people who don't have all that food available to them. Make a donation to your local food shelf or soup kitchen this week – maybe the amount of money you spent on Super Bowl food, or the weight of the food on your buffet table.

 

If you have 5 minutes…

Five minutes can make a difference in your day – in how you feel about yourself, in how organized you are, in the length of your "to-do" list. We all have those really short segments of time throughout the day, and if we are conscious of them, we can use them to get things done. And that always makes us feel better about ourselves.

Here are some of our favorites. What can you do in five minutes?

Clean the trash out of your purse (tissues, receipts, wrappers, expired coupons, etc.).
Adjust all the bills in your wallet so they face the same way.
Gather your reusable shopping bags and put them in the car.
Straighten your underwear drawer.
Put to-be-donated clothes in a bag by the door.
Get one more thing from your closet to put in the to-be-donated bag.
Fold the scarves and pair up the mittens in the coat closet.
Polish your favorite shoes.
Pick up five things and put them where they belong.
Wash the dog's or cat's bowl.
Test your smoke alarms.
Water the plants.
Call your dad.
Write a thank-you note that you've been putting off.
Write a card to a friend.
Empty the bathroom wastebaskets.
Check your stack of magazines and eliminate half.
Take out the garbage and recycling.
Tie up the cardboard or paper (whatever your community requires) for recycling.
Floss your teeth.
Look in your shower stall. Ditch any shampoos or body washes you haven't used in forever.
Move worn-out towels to the highest shelf of the linen closet.
Clean one shelf of your medicine cabinet, wipe it down, and toss the expired stuff.
Clean out one shelf of the refrigerator.
Organize the freezer, and toss the really old stuff.
Sanitize your kitchen counters.
Clear off the top of the refrigerator and wipe it clean.
Gather your plasticware lids into a basket (rounds in front, squares in back) to contain them neatly.
Stretch.
Reflect on a favorite quotation or poem.
Look through a box of photos and frame one that speaks to you.

 

Fitness fun * Channel your inner Kennedy

The extended Kennedy clan is known for (among other more important things) their football games on the lawn. This year, during your Super Bowl event, plan to be active.

Spend the pregame time playing touch football outside – way more exciting than all those sports commentators. Divide into two evenly matched teams. Have one person "hike" the ball to someone who can throw it to another team member. The defending team tries to catch the ball, or tags the receiver to end the play. It's not very complicated, but it moves fast – and that's the point!

Snow and rain are not an excuse – wear appropriate clothing and enjoy the fresh air. If you haven't played football in the snow, you're missing some real fun, and quite a workout. (The deeper the snow, the harder the workout.) If it's raining, be prepared with a lot of towels and a big pot of soup.

Having guests for the game? Invite them to dress for touch football. Don't think you like football? You won't know until you try.

 

Featured recipe from Marilu's table * Stromboli

Here's an old favorite, perfect for Super Bowl Sunday.

We don't use a lot of meat substitutes, but we like this recipe on special occasions, and the meat subs make the stromboli appealing to the guys.

Pizza dough can often be purchased from your local pizza restaurant or bakery.

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Stromboli

Yellow * Serves 8-12

1 pizza crust

1 package Gimme Lean sausage, cooked

1 package vegan pepperoni

shredded vegan cheese of choice

Preheat the oven to 350F. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle. Cover (to about an inch or so from the edges) with sausage, then pepperoni, then shredded cheese. Starting at one of the long ends, roll into a long log and place on a baking sheet in a U shape. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Video of Marilu on Access Hollywood

Access Hollywood Live: Three Things You Don't Know About… Marilu Henner

Marilu Henner takes on Access Hollywood Live's "Three Things You Don't Know About…" segment. Which animal was she "deathly afraid" of for most of her life? Plus, what keeps popping up on the Internet about her that bugs her every time?

&nbps;

Access Hollywood Live: Marilu Henner Performs Magical Memory Tricks With Billy Bush & Kit Hoover

Billy Bush and Kit Hoover are blown away by Marilu Henner's superior autobiographical memory when she recalls the exact date that Billy allegedly cheated her son out of money for a bet they made. So, did Billy ever pay her son the money?

 

Gong xi fa cai

It's the Chinese New Year! Gong xi fa cai (gong-hay-fat-choy)!

This is the year of the rabbit *

… a placid year, very much welcomed and needed after the ferocious year of the Tiger. We should go off to some quiet spot to lick our wounds and get some rest after all the battles of the previous year.

Good taste and refinement will shine on everything and people will acknowledge that persuasion is better than force. A congenial time in which diplomacy, international relations and politics will be given a front seat again. We will act with discretion and make reasonable concessions without too much difficulty.

~ www.theholidayspot.com

 

We aren't sure we need to hide away to lick our wounds, but it's true that we want to be introspective this year – figure out what we need versus what we want, make our passion into our path, and live a more integrated life.

And if good taste and refinement are part of the package, that's great! We could use a bit of an upgrade in the external part of that. Perhaps a new hairstyle, new makeup colors, and a few more nice outfits (and fewer days in jeans or sweats). Perhaps it means a few more outings to the museum and theater (and fewer nights in front of the television). Perhaps it means more beautiful, fresh meals that taste as good as they look (and no more fast food, or chain restaurants, or meals we just throw together without care).

We'd like to go through the year with that same sense of wonder and joy that we feel when we see a rabbit in the yard, too.

Here's to a great new year! (And if you need a second start on your new year's resolutions, why not start again today?)

 

Veganism… and "veganish"

Marilu's Total Health Makeover® is easily adaptable for vegans, and many of our members here are vegans. But many are not – though they probably eat a lot less animal protein than they did before following THM®.

Yesterday on Oprah, Kathy Freston (author of Veganist) helped the staff and their families take the vegan challenge. Kathy said her husband calls himself "veganish" – which is a great word. So many of us are happy to eat vegan most of the time – but then big family celebrations or holidays or unwilling partners get added to the picture, and it becomes impractical (or the beginning of an epic battle), and it's not worth that. So we are "veganish" – mostly vegan. Vegan at home, perhaps. Or vegan on our own. Or vegan most days of the week.

And that's okay. The most important thing is to keep eating the best food available – fresh, organic, nutrient-dense, local, etc – and to choose your food consciously. Know what you're eating. Learn the process of how it got to you. Prepare it with care.

If you naturally transition to a "veganish" diet over time, it's likely (with your good choices) to make you healthier, too.

If you're looking for vegan recipes, click on our index tag over there on the right. All the recipes we post on Mondays are vegan.
If you want to lose weight and get healthy, we have a great 30-day program with vegan recipes and meal plans, and daily personal coaching to answer all your questions and provide support. Join now to take the class (starts each Monday).

 

See Marilu on Shatner's Raw Nerve

Shatner's Raw Nerve

Saturday, February 05, 8:30 AM Eastern

Biography channel

Host William Shatner has a personal conversation with actress, Marilu Henner. Shatner and Henner discuss the death of her parent, motherhood and healthy lifestyles. Henner talks about an interesting condition she has called hyperthymesia, which gives her a superior autobiographical memory.

 

Eating clean… as in, clean produce!

Did you know that plain water is just as effective at removing germs and pesticides from your produce as those special sprays and washes?

Yes, plain water.

To get ride of bacteria and viruses, use a solution of one part vinegar to three parts water, and scrub or soak the produce, as appropriate. Then rinse under running water for about 30 seconds. That's it.

Use the cheap distilled white vinegar for this – very budget-friendly!