Marilu Henner's Blog, page 195

Eat to prevent breast cancer

Eat more fruits and vegetables! They're nature's medicine cabinet.

Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, bok choy and cauliflower contain many different cancer-protective phytonutrients.

Leafy greens such as kale, chard and spinach help alkalize your body, making it a less-friendly environment for cancer cells.

Colorful fruits such as blueberries, cherries and red grapes are loaded with antioxidants that reduce harmful free radicals in your body.

 

Featured recipe from Marilu's table * Witches' hands

Today's recipe is a fun snack for Halloween – or any time. Make this for the kids in your house.

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Witches' Hands

Yellow * 12 cups

8 cups air-popped organic popcorn

3 cups mini-pretzel twists

1 cup roasted peanuts

2 Tablespoons dairy-free margarine

1/2 cup Sucanat®

1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup

clear plastic gloves, optional

spider rings, optional

In a large bowl, combine the popcorn, pretzels and peanuts.

Make the toffee syrup by melting the margarine over low heat in a medium saucepan. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the Sucanat® and continue stirring until the mixture bubbles. Remove from the heat and stir in the maple syrup until the toffee is smooth.

Drizzle the toffee onto the popcorn mixture, tossing to glaze evenly. Cool the mixture.

For special Halloween presentation (and to make the recipe name true), distribute the mixture into the plastic gloves and tie the gloves closed. Put a spider ring on the middle finger of each filled glove.

 

Class news * An Unforgettable Life ~ Yours! starts today with Marilu

Members * Check your inbox for today's daily email. If you didn't receive an email, contact Tonia to verify your membership status.

Not a Member? Join now, and you'll receive the daily email with links to the class – you won't miss a thing!

 

Spirit Sunday * Pay attention

The secret of a good memory is attention, and attention to a subject depends upon our interest in it. We rarely forget that which has made a deep impression on our minds.

~ Tryon Edwards (1809 – 1894)

 

Pay attention to the most important things that happen in your day. Focus on love, family, connection, and joy when you experience them.

 

All new online class with Marilu starts Monday

AN UNFORGETTABLE LIFE…YOURS

This all-new exclusive online class with Marilu starts Monday, October 25.

Marilu will lead us through a class that's designed to help YOU make the most of your natural abilities! This will be thought provoking, high energy and like nothing you've done before!

It all starts this Monday, October 25.

Members * Make sure your Membership is up to date and don't miss this class! Look for your first daily email on Monday morning and join us on the Message Boards.

Not a Member? * Join now, and you'll get Monday's email with links to the class.

 

Seeing your doctor about the girls

Schedule a physical for yourself every year. If you're over 40, request a mammogram. Consider it a birthday gift to yourself.

Ask how to do a breast self-exam, then be sure you actually do them. There's a standing part you can do in the shower every morning. There's a lying down part (because, as we all know, the girls are affected by gravity) you can do in bed every morning. Know the girls and what they feel like, so you know when something is different. This is you being responsible for your health.

No one loves a mammogram – it's not comfortable. Fortunately, it doesn't take forever, and the technologist knows what it feels like. So don't put it off. Join the club of squishees.

Sometimes the radiologist wants more information than a mammogram can give, so they'll want to do a follow-up ultrasound. We always end up with the ultrasound (we like to think we're "special"…) so we want to assure you not to panic over that. Most of the time it's just to get a clearer picture through that "special" (that is, dense) breast tissue. Better diagnostics means better information.

 

Fitness Friday * Laugh more

Fitness includes relaxation – not the napping on the couch kind or the zoned out in front of the video game kind – the kind where you have fun, the kind where there's still a physical component.

So do something really fun, something that makes you laugh. A lot.

Go to a comedy club or rent a funny new (or favorite) movie and allow yourself to relax. Or call up a friend who always puts you in stitches. Laughing not only enhances your mood, but those giggles can add up and burn calories. Try to find something to chuckle about each and every day. Humor is a great stress-reliever.

 

Featured recipe from Marilu's table * Pumpkin cookies

These are easy drop cookies – they come out a little soft, and full of the perfect fall flavor of pumpkin spice.

They can also be vegan (no eggs! and use the agave instead of honey) and can be made gluten-free by using a GF flour blend (we like the one by Bob's Red Mill). We like to make them with golden raisins, or sometimes a mix of golden raisins and dried cranberries.

We're big fans of using parchment paper on cookie sheets. Oiling a cookie sheet just means more stuff to wash off. Parchment keeps the cookie sheet clean (you'll still want to wash it), and keeps the food from the metal. Some foods react to metal, and the flavor of the food changes – you can avoid that by lining metal baking pans with parchment. Parchment paper is sold alongside foil and plastic wrap. You can use the same sheet of parchment for the whole batch of cookies.

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Pumpkin Cookies

Blue * Makes 18-24 cookies

3/4 cup honey or agave syrup

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or gluten-free flour blend)

1/4 cup soya flour

2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1 cup raisins (optional)

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix honey, pumpkin, oil and vanilla in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add to pumpkin mixture. Stir in raisins and nuts, if desired.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a parchment-covered (or oiled) cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

 

Time to get moving

Sometimes the best motivation for an energetic walk or an enthusiastic run is a new song.

Here's one we like, with a chorus that inspires us to keep going. And no, it's not the lyrics (although we like them). It's the music that gets us moving this time.

Go on – it's time to get up, and get out there. Move! Energize all your parts, the ones you can see and the ones you can't. Get that metabolic furnace fired up. You're looking good this fall.

//www.marilu.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/02 - Do You Love Me.mp3

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Amazon.com Widgets

 

Catch some zzzz's

Lack of sleep can render it impossible to take off pounds.

According to a study at Emory University, we eat more and more often when we're tired.

Make sure you time your meals and your exercise in order to get a good night's sleep.