I just discovered the Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte Larabar – it is amazing. It seems gooey-er and softer than some of the “original” Larabars (Cherry and Apple pie for example) which makes it seem like even more of a treat. Cherry and chocolate go perfect together, and for 190 calories this treat rocks!

If you are wondering where I found this treat – look for it at Target, usually in the pharmacy area, near the other “diet” bars (although personally I think it is a shame Larabars are lumped in with all those other processed junk bars that claim to be healthy).

For each of these beers I would need to spend about 16 minutes running at 6 mph to burn them off. To quote Homer Simpson:

“Mmmm… beer. The cause and solution to all of life’s problems.”

Why? All are high in valuable minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium, all of which are depleted bystress and anxiety.

Key points:

Studies have looked at the type and quantity of food intake, but nobody has undertaken the question of whether the timing of what you eat and when you eat it influences body weight, even though we know sleep and altered circadian rhythms influence body weight,” said the study’s lead author Molly Bray, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology in the UAB School of Public Health.

Bray said the research team found that fat intake at the time of waking seems to turn on fat metabolism very efficiently and also turns on the animal’s ability to respond to different types of food later in the day. When the animals were fed carbohydrates upon waking, carbohydrate metabolism was turned on and seemed to stay on even when the animal was eating different kinds of food later in the day.

“The first meal you have appears to program your metabolism for the rest of the day,” said study senior author Martin Young, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine in the UAB Division of Cardiovascular Disease. “This study suggests that if you ate a carbohydrate-rich breakfast it would promote carbohydrate utilization throughout the rest of the day, whereas, if you have a fat-rich breakfast, you have metabolic plasticity to transfer your energy utilization between carbohydrate and fat.”

• Eat food, not too much, mostly plants
  This should be my new mantra, especially on the weekends when I tend to over-indulge.
• Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
  Or, in the case of things like Kimchi, “don’e eat anything someone’s great grand mother wouldn’t recognize as food”. Yogurt-like substances in tubes – not food. My only exception would be Lara bars.
• Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce.
  This applies to things we buy in the supermarket, not recipes you make at home.
• Don’t buy any food you see advertised on television
  This rule captures most processed foods – those high in HFCS and other crap.

OK, so this is one of those “extreme posts” but I really do feel strong about this: Ezekiel Bread (or more generally sprouted bread) is the only bread you should be eating. Here is why:

Ezekiel bread is made from wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt, based on the scripture at Ezekiel 4:9. When these six grains and legumes are sprouted and combined, an amazing thing happens: a complete protein is created that closely parallels the protein found in milk and eggs. The grains are sprouted, which is important because sprouting neutralizes the negative affects of phytic acid. Sprouted grains also produce enzymes that help promote the digestibility of the entire grain, making the nutrients more bio-available for the body to process and absorb.

Nutritional details (per slice): 80 calories, 3 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein and no trans-fats or HFCS. So go out and buy some Ezekiel bread – you will find it in your grocer’s freezer, possibly in the “natural and organic” section, or with the other bread products.

Let’s look at why anit-carb diets are so popular: eating too many calorie dense carbohydrates, such as white breads, pastas, cakes and cookies, causes insulin to spike. When that happens fat burning potential is greatly decreased, resulting in fat gain. So it seems that a low carbohydrate diet would make sense. And it is true; you will lose body fat more quickly on a low carbohydrate diet than other types of diets.

So why should you eat carbohydrates? Well, when carb intake gets too low, your muscles have no fuel. Your body then turns to alternate fuel sources, namely fat and protein. We don’t want to loose lean muscle mass, because lean body mass we have dictates how fast our metabolism is, 24 hours a day.

So many people are wondering, what carbs can I eat? We want to focus on carbohydrates that have a good amount of fiber and are nutrient dense. Also, don’t eat them alone – combine them with protein and a small amount of fat, to slow the insulin spike.

Here are my favorite carbohydrates

• Steel-cut oatmeal
• Brown rice
• Black beans
• Sweet potatoes
• Fibrous vegetables: bell peppers, green beans, summer squash, carrots