Photo by angeloangelo

I recently returned from an eight day vacation in Dubai. I never thought I would visit the Middle East in my life, so I was determined to make the most of this unique opportunity.

Every meal we had was lavish and indulgent. Every day we drank champagne and cocktails.

And although I logged over 100,000 steps during the week and made great use of the gym at our hotel, there was no denying that my clothes were uncomfortably tight when I got home.

Naturally, I regret nothing. I don’t mind how I look when I’m a few pounds heavier (most people wouldn’t notice), but I wanted to get back to my normal weight because I am more comfortable there. My clothes fit better and I feel more myself.

I’ve written before that I don’t believe in cleanses, detoxes or diets. Instead I rely on my Home Court Habits to get me back into my comfort zone.

But over the years I’ve noticed that there are certain habits I focus on more intently when I’m actively trying to lose weight.

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For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This is one of the best link roundups in a long while. Learn everything you’ve always wanted to know about protein and mortality, the real reasons habits are hard to build, and new guidelines for sugar intake.

Want to see all my favorite links? (There’s lots more). Be sure to follow me on on Delicious. I also share links on Twitter @summertomato,  Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you. (And yes, I took that pepper heart pic myself).
Read the rest of this story »

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

The LA Times has a nice review this week about the benefits (or lack of) of different kinds of milk that is worth reviewing. I’m also a bit surprised to see that there is some real science backing the claim that garlic wards of colds (the vampire claim is still pending). You should also check out Dr. Steve Parker’s self-experiment on the ketogenic Mediterranean diet.

I’m happy to announce that I’ve been nominated for a People’s HealthBlogger Award by Wellsphere! Wellsphere is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in healthy living. To vote for me I think you have to create an account with them, but you can delete it when you’re done (and I have yet to get any spam). I’d really appreciate your support. The guy in 1st right now only has like 50 something votes. We can beat that, right?

for Darya http://summertomato.com/

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For complete reading lists join me on the social bookmarking sites StumbleUpon and Delicious. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you there. (Note: If you want a follow back on Twitter introduce yourself with an @ message).

For The Love of Food

• Poring over facts about milk: cow’s, goat’s, soy, almond, rice and hemp <<Very informative article about the pros and cons of various milk products. I get asked about milk a lot, and my usual answer is that the type you choose is mostly about preference. But I would still recommend limiting all milks in general, since too much of any of these comes with associated health problems. Watch the sugar in the vegetarian milks. You should also be aware that calcium probably causes prostate cancer in men. (Los Angeles Times)
• The Claim: Garlic Can Be Helpful in Warding Off a Cold <<Apparently there is some truth to this claim. I cook with garlic regularly, so maybe I should add this to my reasons that I never get sick. (New York Times)
• 60 Delicious Detox Dishes <<Beautiful photos and wonderful recipes for post-football detox. You know who (me) is featured 😉 (Macheesmo)
• 10 Simple Freezer Tricks to Save You Time and Money <<Gotta love kitchen tips. Making good use of your freezer is a great way to save time and money. (Lifehacker)
• A Few Cookies a Day to Keep the Pounds Away? <<B.S. of the week I’ve mentioned the cookie diet in passing before. Are these people serious? Unfortunately, they are. (New York Times)
• Web Surf to Save Your Aging Brain <<When pressed I always say that my computer habit is probably the least healthy thing I do (I sit here a lot, in case you haven’t noticed). So it’s good to see there’s a chance it may at least be good for my brain. (HealthDay)
• My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet <<Dr. Steve Parker is doing an interesting experiment on himself over at the Diabetic Mediterranean Diet Blog. He put on a few pounds intentionally and is now trying to lose weight and improve his health by following a very low-carb ketogenic diet. His daily trials and tribulations are fascinating to me. He seems to be struggling quite a bit, including leg cramps, potential vitamin deficiencies and food cravings. Major props to Steve for doing this to himself for our benefit. As someone who has been through virtually every diet, I can feel his pain. For me cutting out processed carbs (not all carbs) is the perfect balance.
• Lard Lesson: Why Fat Lubricates Your Appetite <<Some people say saturated fat isn’t bad for you, but I’m not convinced. This is not the first time it has been linked to insulin resistance. (Scientific American)
• Salsa de Chile de Arbol Recipe <<Looking for something to do with all those extra chilies this season? Look no further than this delicious salsa recipe. (Over The Hill And On A Roll)
• Nerdy food photos <<These are some of the most awesome nerdy food photos I’ve seen. Can’t decide what I like best, the mitosis cookies or the chromosome gummy worms. (Kevin Van Aelst)

What are you reading?

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week I found yet another great article on mindful eating, as well as several discussions about what to believe in nutrition science and why. Turns out television is not the best source of information. Crazy, I know.

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For complete reading lists join me on the social bookmarking sites StumbleUpon and Delicious. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you there.

I also invite you to submit your own best food and health articles for next week’s For The Love of Food, just drop me an email using the contact form. I am also accepting guest posts at Summer Tomato for any awesome healthstyle tips you’d like to share.

I’m also really excited to announce that I have joined the Audible.com affiliate program. Audible, which is essentially Netflix for audiobooks, is my new favorite thing in the world. As a scientist, blogger and all-around information glutton I consume more text by the time I finish breakfast than many people do all day.

Thus it always annoyed me that my commute to work and all the repetitive tasks in the lab (genotyping anyone?) took up so much idle mind time. For years I have secretly wished I could find a way to read while walking and loading gels.

With Audible, now I can and do.

I find Audible to be especially useful for “reading” non-fiction (usually health- and food-related books), because I am interested in simply absorbing the information as quickly as possible (you can set the audiobook speed to 2x in iTunes). Fiction I still prefer reading the old-fashioned way, curled up in my bed before going to sleep at night.

Audible titles I recently finished:

• The End of Overeating, by Dr. David Kessler

• Rethinking Thin, by Gina Kolata

The prices at Audible are fantastic (feel free to shop around), and I have discovered that they frequently have sales that include dozens of great titles for only $5.99 each. During the last sale I stocked up on over half a dozen titles of books I was considering buying anyway. Audible has a selection of free books available for download as well, and with a membership you also receive a free subscription to the audio digest of either the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal.

You can probably tell I’m completely smitten and excited to share this with you. In practical terms what this means is that in addition to recommending occasional Amazon books, I will also be including links to the Audible version. I hope you check out Audible and come back and let me know what you think.

This post is an open thread. Share your thoughts, writing (links welcome!) and delicious meals of the week in the comments below.

For The Love of Food

• A Powerful First Step To End Comfort Eating <<Dinneen from Eat Without Guilt wrote a brilliant piece on our topic of the week, mindful eating.
• TV health coverage: bad for your health? <<Do you get most of your health and medicine news from the TV? Well, turns out it is probably all wrong. (Los Angeles Times)
• A Diet High In Fat Increases Insulin Resistence? <<Monica Reinagel tackles one of the more controversial questions in nutrition science, the role of dietary fat in insulin resistence. (Nutrition Data)
• Late Night Eating Linked to Weight Gain <<What you eat is important, but when you eat may be another thing you should think about if you are worried about your body weight. (New York Times)
• Could the Obesity Fight Backfire? <<B.S. of the week Dr. Jon LaPook argues that the fight to reverse the obesity trend may land us with a nation of anorexics. Ha! Fat chance. Since the only way to effectively lose weight and keep it off is to redefine a healthy relationship with food, I’d wager that an effective national weight loss campaign would cut overall anxiety about food and reduce incidence of under-eating disorders as well. (Huffington Post)
• Do These Candies Look Pornographic to You? <<These candies aren’t just bad for your health, they are also NSFW!! Or are they? (Internet Food Association)
• Is it Safe to Eat Apricot Kernels? <<I’ve often wondered about the safety of eating apricot kernels. This is a great resource if you’re curious. (David Lebovitz)
• Research studies: Inconclusive doesn’t mean “unscientific” <<Another great piece of food for thought from Monica. A look at why so many people are skeptical of nutrition research and why studies seem to always contradict each other. (Nutrition Data)
• Sauteed Spinach and Arugula with Pine Nuts and Goat Cheese <<This recipe for sauteed spinach looks AMAZING! (Jenn Cuisine)
• You Asked: End of Summer Detox? <<Love that FitSugar shoots down the lameness of detox diets. Don’t do it!!

Have a great weekend!!