Deep in the bowels of...your body by Elizabeth Brown, MS, RD

A Truly Moving Experience

One of my first jobs out of college was working as a Dietitian in a nursing home. Like most people, I imagined nursing homes to be depressing places where people put their older family members when they could no longer care for them. I thought I would only see pain and suffering, but I actually found many good friends, comical moments and life-changing experiences.

I recently reminisced about this job while eating prunes a.k.a. dried plums. My dad always had prunes at his house. It was one of the few sweet things he kept around. So each time he went into the kitchen to grab one, I usually had one too. I’ve always loved sweets. I never thought eating prunes was anything unusual, but while working in the nursing home, I learned that older people treat prunes like medicine.

The Next Food Network Star by Elizabeth Brown, MS, RD

I want to be the Next Food Network Star!

Last weekend I attended the casting call in Austin, Texas for season six of the Next Food Network Star. This is the sixth time I have applied for the show but the first time I have ever attended a casting call. I had high hopes that this casting call would teach me something about the application process. I was hoping I would learn what the casting people are looking for. I was hoping they could at least tell me whether or not I should keep applying for the show. But all I learned was that if they liked you, you would get a call back the next day.

I didn’t get a call back but I was the only one who submitted an audition video on the spot. Perhaps they liked me and since they already had my audition video, there was no need to call me back.

Anti-Masturbation Diet by Elizabeth Brown, MS, RD

A Conversation Starter

During my culinary training, my classmates and I were making a dessert using graham crackers when one of my classmates, who always had interesting trivia tidbits for every occasion, said, “You know that graham crackers were developed to keep boys from masturbating.” I thought this was a hilarious fact. I vowed that one day I would put it in an article and now it is time.

Just Do It! by Elizabeth Brown, MS, RD

Which way’s the beach?

It was at the young age of 17 when I first found my love of strength training, lifting weights. That was over 23 years ago. I started out as a powerlifter and then a body builder. I was never “huge” but when I first started to see them, I was so very proud of my muscles. I’d do my double biceps pose and point out the beach to my friends…”It’s that way”, I’d say. They would laugh and laugh. They were really good friends.

People use to say, “Sure, you look good now but wait until you stop lifting weights. It will all turn to flab.” Which is just silly by the way, muscles do not turn to flab. But like anything, if you don’t use them, you do lose them. Regardless, I have never stopped “using” my muscles and I doubt I ever will. At least I will never stop exercising. I will always make an effort to move my body in purposeful ways that take me out of my comfort zone of sitting on my butt all day at the computer. You too have to move your body each and everyday if you want to have a beach body all year long.

The Key to Weight Loss by Elizabeth Brown, MS, RD

Water, Water everywhere…

We flock to the beach for one big reason. It’s the biggest reason in the world actually, comprising 70% of the earth’s surface and, ideally, up to 70% of your body weight. It’s water, the most essential element of life. Every single person, plant, animal and living, breathing, creature needs it. You seek it. That is why so many of us live by or vacation on the coast. That water draws you to it. You can’t get enough, ever, literally. You need it everyday and without it, within seven days, you would likely die. Maybe that is really why we go to the beach for vacation or to live. Instinctually we know this about water. For some of us it is calming, soothing, sedating even. For others it’s invigorating, energizing, stimulating, literally life giving. Water ebbs and flows and emulates the cycles of life. Sometimes we don’t even realize its effect on us until we don’t have it.

Freedom of Choice by Elizabeth Brown. MS, RD

You have a right to eat a burger!

We celebrate Independence Day to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, which sought to give the American colonies freedom from Great Britain. I love the U.S. and Great Britain, and I love the freedoms we have to live our lives as we see fit.

The Declaration of Independence proclaims that we are all endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I interpret these rights to mean that we are all born with the ability to make the best choices, including choices that improve our overall health and well-being. But with obesity and associated health care costs on the rise, it seems that our free will is not so “free” after all.

Who's Herb Slaw? by Elizabeth Brown, MS, RD

Pickin’ Picnic Fixins’

Someone was describing their typical picnic fare, from charred hot dogs and burgers to mayonnaise-laden salads and baked goods. Maybe it’s the celebration mode of picnics which causes people to bring high calorie comfort foods. But if picnics are a time to gather and celebrate with loved ones then by all means think about ways to keep your loved ones around longer.

Instead of thoroughly grilling processed and saturated fat-laden animal products, try partially boiling some chicken on the stove and finish it on the grill. I know it is more work but so is cardiac rehab. In lieu of baked goods, try fresh fruit. ‘Tis the season for melons, berries, peaches, nectarines and pluots, my all time favorite: a cross between a plum and an apricot.