Marilu Henner's Blog, page 198

Next class starts Monday!

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Our next class is all about making your family happy. And "family" means all those people you cook for – spouse and children, roommates, in-laws, co-workers, partners or significant others, neighbors, friends. When they don't think they want to eat healthy meals, and you love them enough to want them healthy – for a long, long time – what do you feed them? This class will show you.

The Family Class starts Monday, October 11, and runs through Friday, October 15. Coach Beth Miriam – wife and mother of two – will help you redefine and realign family meals.

Sign up now to get tips and tricks for making your healthy meals enticing and inviting, no matter who is around the table.

Members are automatically enrolled in classes, and will receive the class email on Monday morning.

Not a member? Join today and get the benefit of monthly classes, along with private message boards and a private chat room available 24/7.

 

Fitness Friday * Give yourself a lift

Want a little lift? Try the Fly!

The fly (or butterfly) builds up your pectoral muscles, the ones under your breasts, and they help give you that extra lift.

Using hand weights or soup cans, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Keep your back straight and your abs tight.

Put your arms out to your sides, then bend them at the elbow so your fingers point up to the ceiling, palms forward.

Squeeze your chest muscles to slowly bring your arms together in front of your chest. Your hands, forearms and elbows will meet in front of your chest.

Slowly press your arms back to the starting position.

During the whole exercise, make sure to use your pectorals, not your arms, to make the movement. Try two sets of 10-12 repetitions to start, and add reps (or weight) from there.

That's what we call Fly'ing!

 

Thinner is complimentary

When you talk about yourself – either to yourself or to others – what kinds of words do you use?

Stick with positive self-talk. Compliment yourself on a job well done, a lovely outfit, beautiful hair, making healthy choices, sticking to your principles, standing up for someone else, going the distance, giving it your best, getting it done.

Build yourself up. Your confidence is a big part of how you carry yourself, and the better you feel about yourself, the easier it is to take care of yourself, body, mind and spirit.

 

Featured recipe from Marilu's table * Seafood gumbo

Since our vacation is taking us to Louisiana, y'all get to enjoy some recipes from that part of the country. Seafood Gumbo is one of Marilu's recipes from Healthy Holidays. You don't need to limit eating gumbo to Mardi Gras, though. Enjoy it any time – like now!

Fresh shrimp and crab is available at the fish counter of your grocery store.

Making a roux is a basic cooking skill, and this recipe describes the process so it's easy. A roux is not usually cooked this long (until it becomes chocolate-colored), but it must be cooked to get the flour taste out of the resulting sauce. Once you've mastered the roux, most sauces are easy.

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Seafood Gumbo

Green * Serves 6

1 pound okra

1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons soy margarine, melted

1/4 cup unbleached white flour

1 bunch green onions, sliced

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 (16 oz) can chopped tomatoes, untrained

1 bay leaf

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 fresh thyme sprig

1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 pound fresh crabmeat

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, sauté the okra in 2 Tablespoons of the soy margarine until the okra is lightly browned, about 7 to 10 minutes. Set aside. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup margarine and the flour in a large iron skillet. Make a roux by cooking it over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the roux is the color of chocolate, about 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in the green onions, celery, and garlic and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes.

In a large Dutch oven, combine the roux, okra, tomatoes, bay leaf, parsley, thyme, salt, red pepper, and 2 quarts water. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, or until it thickens. Add the shrimp and crabmeat and simmer 10 minutes more. Remove the bay leaf and serve.

 

Cruising your way to knowledge about health

A Taste of Health presents the ultimate gift for your mind, body and spirit. Share the experience and wisdom of some of the world's leading authorities and experts in holistic living and natural health, including Marilu Henner!

This cruise is the perfect combination of luxury, fitness, knowledge and entertainment. During the 7-day cruise, the ship stops at exotic ports of call; at sea, there is a wide variety of lectures, workshops, and private consultations by leading authorities in the fields of alternative health and holistic healing.

You'll get the opportunity to hear Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, and take a cooking class from Christina Pirello, author of Cooking the Whole Foods Way. Christina and Marilu are also teaming up for a lecture called Everything you Always Wanted to Know About Men, Women, Food, Sex, Relationships, Career and Life. (You don't want to miss that one!) And of course, Marilu is presenting (live!) the ever-popular Role of Your Life workshop.

All this while dining on specially prepared natural foods, swimming and snorkeling in the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean, and lounging in saunas and Turkish baths.

Start saving now – and book your cruise today!

Program information * Holistic Holiday at Sea

Toll-Free: 1-800-496-0989 or 1-828-749-9537

Email Taste of Health

Reservations * Travel Group International

Toll-Free: 1-866-447-0750, ext. 102 or 108

Email Travel Group International

 

Stop talking, start walking

While we love our job with Marilu and Marilu.com, we also love taking vacations. We were in Memphis earlier this week, and it seemed fitting to let The King lend some wisdom to our workouts.

So… stop talking about your fitness plans.

Stop talking about how much you want to work out.

Stop talking about what you'll do when you have the time/money/no kids in the way.

It's time to stop talking, and start doing.

Now get up and move. You know you want to. It's only your words that have talked you out of it.

//www.marilu.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Disc 2 06 - A Little Less Conversation.mp3

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Weight and breast cancer

One of the best established factors affecting breast cancer survival is body weight. Women with breast cancer who are near their ideal body weight at the time of diagnosis are more likely to survive than are women with higher body weights. And although weight gain often occurs after diagnosis, studies suggest that women who avoid weight gain after diagnosis tend to have longer disease-free survival.

The link between lower body weight and better survival may relate to estrogens, female sex hormones that can encourage the growth of cancer cells. In essence, body fact acts like an estrogen factory, producing estrogens from other compounds coming from the adrenal glands (small organs situated atop each kidney). As a result, women with more body fat tend to have higher amounts of estrogens circulating in their blood, compared to leaner women.

~ Dr. Neal Barnard, The Survivor's Handbook: Eating Right for Cancer Survival

 

Thinner is not guilty

Eating is not an exercise in morality.

Eating a particular way does not make you a success or failure.

Food itself is not "good" or "bad." Those are moral judgments, and they just don't make sense when talking (or thinking) about food. Some food is better for your health, or easier on your digestion, or more delightful on your palate. But the foods themselves can't be judged.

Eating the cake at the office birthday party doesn't make you bad. It may not have been the best choice for you, but you are not bad for choosing it. Having a great day doesn't mean you deserve a food "treat." If you want to reward yourself, choose a different way to pamper yourself. Laying emotions on your food just skews the relationship you have with it.

When you have a healthy relationship with food as fuel, you'll avoid the emotional connections that lead to weight gain or hinder weight loss.

 

Featured recipe from Marilu's table * Apple squash soup

This vegan soup features the fruits of fall – apples and butternut squash.

The soup travels well in a thermos, making it perfect for brown bag meals. Pair it with a salad or some sauteed greens for an easy and complete meal.

Purchase a whole nutmeg from the bulk spice section, and grate it on a microplane grater. Store the unused part of the nutmeg in a glass jar with your spices. It's way tastier than the powdered stuff, and actually a lot less expensive.

Handheld (immersion) blenders make soups really easy. A simple handheld blender is inexpensive and much safer than transferring hot soup to a blender or food processor. If you do use a standard blender or food processor, only fill the container halfway (blend in batches), and use caution when removing the lid, because of potential steam burns.

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Apple Squash Soup

from Clean Food, by Terry Walters. We reviewed the book here.

Blue * Serves 6

1 large butternut squash

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 Tablespoons grapeseed oil (or substitute olive oil)

4 large apples, peeled, cored and quartered

4 cups vegetable stock

1 cup rice milk

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

sea salt

Peel squash, cut in half and remove seeds. Cut into 2-inch pieces.

In a large pot over medium heat, saute the onion in oil until soft (about 5 minutes). Add squash, apples, stock, rice milk, coconut milk and nutmeg. Cover, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until squash is soft. Puree with handheld blender and remove from heat to cool slightly. Season to taste with salt and serve.

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Do you cook for other people?

Our next class is all about making your family happy. And "family" means all those people you cook for – spouse and children, roommates, in-laws, co-workers, partners or significant others, neighbors, friends. When they don't think they want to eat healthy meals, and you love them enough to want them healthy – for a long, long time – what do you feed them? This class will show you.

The Family Class starts Monday, October 11, and runs through Friday, October 15. Coach Beth Miriam – wife and mother of two – will help you redefine and realign family meals.

Sign up now to get tips and tricks for making your healthy meals enticing and inviting, no matter who is around the table.