What Ever Happened to the Best Cereal EVER?

I have written previously of the gloriously delicious and banana-y Banana Nut Cheerios, when I declared it Best Cereal EVER!  I have since enjoyed it periodically, for as I stated in that post, I am not much of a cereal person in general.  However, for some time, these wonderful Cheerios seemed to have vanished.  So you can imagine my delight when they suddenly re-appeared on a supermarket shelf and shortly thereafter in my home.  But my delight ended before my tummy received the cheery o's.  The Banana Nut Cheerios were little o-shaped imposters.

They did not taste strongly of banana; rather, they tasted mildly of it for the first bite, followed by increasing…something else.  'Twas a flavor I could not put my finger on.  Sugary?  Sort of.  Maple-y?  Maybe.  Brown-sugar-y?  Um, I don't know.  Of course, despite my disappointment, I continued to eat them, trying to re-attain the banana-y flavor I so yearned for.

In my previous post regarding these Cheerios, I explained that milk, especially real milk, brings out more of the delicious flavors.  Therefore, I must assure you, I did indeed have real milk with my not-so-Banana Nut Cheerios.  If you must know, it was a fancy organic and even grass-fed milk.  'Twas my first time having such a fancy milk.  I was surprised to find I did not moo as a result of imbibing it.  I did not moo at all.

I was uncertain if the lost banana flavor was General Mill's fault or mine own.  Perhaps I had a taste in my mouth that altered the cereal, or perhaps my taste buds were on the fritz.

So I conducted thorough research into whether the Banana Nut Cheerio recipe had changed.  Of course, by "thorough research," I mean I quickly Googled.  In so researching, I learned that the mysterious absence of Banana Nut Cheerios was due to an evil and cruel discontinuation of said cereal two flippin' years ago!  Didn't they know I love them?  Why would they do such a treacherous thing?  Anyhoo, they made what could have been a triumphant albeit limited-time return recently.  I then compared the old ingredients to the new ingredients, and it most certainly has changed.

Ironically, the changes in ingredients suggest an improvement in quality and healthiness.  There are no longer any chemical-sounding words in the ingredients list, and almonds have been replaced with pecans and cinnamon (I mean, "natural flavors" of these things).  There are 10 more calories per the same sized serving of 3/4 cup, and 1 gram less sugar.  Instead of a combination of whole grain corn and oats, it's now just whole grain oats.  None of this should be bad, except maybe the 10 more calories, though that's only a problem if you have many servings at once (as some people do).

I realized the problem was probably that the pecan and cinnamon flavors are stealing the spotlight from the banana, and those were probably the flavors I couldn't put my finger on.  Almonds (or "natural almond flavor" as it were) are probably more mild, and certainly a lack of cinnamon would keep the spotlight on the banana.  The old recipe got one important thing right: it knew that bananas were the star of the show.

With my new understanding of what the new Banana Nut Cheerios are, I decided to give them another chance.  This time, I had the cereal with Lactaid, another (less) fancy milk whose lactose is removed or something.  I don't think the type of real milk made a difference in this case because the cereal tasted the same as it did before.  However, my expectations and understandings were different, as I no longer expected anything all that banana-y, and I did expect cinnamon and pecan flavors.  And so it was.  Because I was no longer distracted by my disappoint in lack of banana flavor, I was able to experience the cinnamon pecan flavor as the initial banana faded.  While it is no longer the best cereal ever, and it is not a yummy banana-y cereal, it is a yummy cereal with an initial hint of banana.  I can still recommend it, but not as whole-heartedly as I once could.

Dearest M&Ms, You Can Fix This Great Blunder

I must preface this by explaining that I have a life-long love of M&Ms.  Since I was a young-un, I have enjoyed every advertising campaign, and I have enjoyed every variety of M&M.  I have even fallen for strange new packaging; "What?!  M&Ms in a TUBE???  I MUST have them!"  M&M advertising strikes such a lovely chord for me, that in college, I had some plush M&M characters adorning a portion of the wall in my dorm room in a lovely castle (that's right, I was a princess for two years).  Furthermore, my love for M&Ms extends beyond the M&M sub-brand, in that I think I love all the Martian chocolates (chocolate from Mars Bars* would be Martian, correcto?)

Therefore, you can imagine my joyfulness and delight when I saw the adorable and funny commercial regarding the new and very exciting Caramel M&Ms.  I acquired these new M&Ms as soon as I could, and eagerly ate one.  "Ugh, maybe I had a bad taste in my mouth."  I tried another, this time biting half of it so I could gaze upon the lovely layers, as one does.  I ate both halves slowly, being sure to eliminate any pre-existing tastes in my mouth.  My palate was cleared of all but Caramel M&M.  The next one would surely be better.  I tried another, this time eating it like a normal person might, since, as a not-so-normal, I can only guess what a normal might do.  Still no good.  I ate one more, for I became determined to ascertain the cause of this bizarre lack of deliciousness.  I ate this one more slowly and delicately, trying to savor and separate the flavors in the three layers (caramel, chocolate, and candy).  "Ugh, the caramel is gritty, and it's trying to taste like yummy caramel, but isn't quite doing it right."  That was it – the caramel is no good.  How could the wonderful Martians that created the Milky Way with all its delicious parts including delicious caramel, make this caramel blunder?!

Mars Bars, please, if you are reading this, or even if you're not, please fix it.  Make the caramel smooth and delicious, as caramel should be.  I believe you can fix the disgusting gustatory atrocities you dare call Caramel M&Ms.  They are undeserving of such a beautiful name and such a wonderful commercial.  Red was right.

  

*I know Mars Bars is really just Mars, and I've never actually had the thing called a Mars Bar, but Mars Bars rhymes, and I enjoy things that rhyme, so that is how I shall refer to the Martian chocolate company.  I apologize for any inconvenience this might cause.

Economics from a Dummy

**DISCLAIMER: If any of the following appears strange or offensive in any way, please assume that it is intended as exaggeration or hyperbole.**

Although I know almost nothing about economics, I shall present my economic theory here. Thusly, it shall, quite literally, be an idiot’s guide to economics, in that I am the idiot.

My Lack of Credentials

I was forced to take an economics course in high school – a whole semester of a course! I was told at some point in my life that I should love economics, for it is a social science infused with math, and these are two things I have been known to enjoy, excluding of course, my K-12 (minus 8th and 11th grades) difficulties with actual social studies courses. However, not only do I not love economics, I rather detest it. I find it painfully boring, and I find myself unable to grasp most economic concepts. It’s very possible that the former is causing the latter; in fact, I would argue that it most certainly is, as evidenced by my love of hardcore neuroscience and hardcore physics despite my inability to grasp things in those fields of knowledge. This is evidence because my lack of understanding with interest feels entirely different from my lack of understanding without interest. Furthermore, even when I do understand something in economics, I am still intensely bored by it, and I think it might be impossible for me to have any real interest in it.

Anyway, the point is, I don’t understand much of anything that involves economics, and I think I got a B or less in that economics class I was forced to take. Thus, I am by no means, an expert or qualified in any way to postulate any kind of economic theory or even thought.

My Theory (or Quasi-Theory, or really Non-Theory)

My Non-Theory has three nearly unrelated parts.

Part One: It’s All a Gamble

Something suddenly occurred to me today that I am quite sure no other human on Earth has ever realized before. In fact, I am so sure of this, that I am not even going to Google to confirm my statement.

It occurred to me that the whole stock market is nothing but institutionalized, society-encouraged, legal gambling. One is expected to invest money in something with the hope that that money will grow, but it’s very possible that the money will shrink significantly. One is expected to continue gambling that money, and decide at what point the stock should be sold, which is also a gamble. One is then expected to continue this never-ending loop of buying and selling stocks, and thus, the gambling never ends.

One of the few things I remember from that economics course that was forced upon me in high school was the claims of the importance of investing, particularly in the stock market. I believe it was a guest speaker that explained that it is best to start early, and that our parents would likely help us. Clearly, these stock-pushers wanted to get the kids started young on their new legal gambling addictions, and clearly they wanted to get as many of us involved in it as possible, while we were young and impressionable, by having an authority figure that we were to inherently trust to tell us of all the wonderful things that might happen if we invest early. This very clearly indicates the degree to which our society encourages stock market gambling.

Since I couldn’t help myself, I did Google, but I will just pretend that this wasn’t the first Google result of many that indicates that the stock market being a form of gambling is a commonly held belief.

Part Two: Commodity Stocks will be our Downfall

Some time ago (I don’t know how long ago, hence the use of  “some time ago”), I saw a video on the interwebs that explained commodity stock trading. I don’t know what that video was, and I am far too lazy to find it for you. As you should expect if you read the beginning of this blog posting, I failed to understand the bulk of what the video explained. However, I did understand one thing (that might or might not have been explicated in the video): The commodity stock trade will be our downfall.

The man in the video and people that I have seen on the TV after I saw the video explained that commodities are things like oil, sugar, coffee, and most importantly, cocoa. From what I gather, it seems that Wall Street people make presumably psychic speculations about the future of these commodities and then pretend to trade them via the stock market. Their pretend trading causes real things to happen to the prices of these commodities in our real economy, and I am therefore quite sure, will inevitably cause real problems and our real downfall as a society that once had a real economy.

The gambling of the commodity portion of the stock market is far worse than the normal stock market gambling. It’s a game involving imaginary trades that result in real changes that affect real people and real chocolate. I therefore suggest, with my complete and utter lack of credentials and nearly complete lack of economic understanding, that we abolish the commodity stock trade, and that alone will fix our economy. I’m sure of it – as sure as I am of the originality and pure novelty of Part One of my Fabulous Non-Theory of Economics.

Ultimately, I felt bad that I didn’t look for the video that first taught me about commodities, so I tried to find it, but I could not. While unsuccessfully searching for it, I saw several snippets that seem to agree with me in that commodity speculation is damaging, and I won't pretend those don't exist. Here are some French people talking about the need for regulation of it. This suggests that I might have understood this better than I thought I did. I go girl!

Part Three: Simple Taxes for Simple and Also Not Simple Folk

A few months or a few years ago, I had a brilliant thought. Instead of arguing about different groups of people being taxed different amounts, and instead of having horribly confusing tax laws and forms, why not have a simplified theory on taxation. Since I’m playing fast and loose with my misuse of the word “theory,” I figured I should continue with that trend. Anyway, my simplified taxation non-theory is as follows:

Pick a percentage, and require all the people to pay that particular percentage of their net (or would it be gross? I'm not entirely sure what these things mean) income to the government as their sole taxes. That way, the wealthier people will end up paying higher taxes, the poorer people will pay lower taxes, and no one will complain because it will be 100% fair. Perhaps a few tweaks here and there would be necessary, but I think this could work really well.

For someone who knows nearly nothing about economics, I sure am smart, with my brilliant ideas! But I won’t run for president, and you can’t make me.

Jew for Jesus in a Dream

DISCLAIMER: NONE OF THE FOLLOWING IS INTENDED TO BE OFFENSIVE TOWARD ANYONE OF ANY RELIGION.

I had the strangest dream a few months ago. I have strange dreams at times, amidst the boring and mundane ones, but this one could win a strange award, as far as my dreams go anyway.

As this bizarre dream began, I was walking across a very busy street. I think I was jaywalking actually. I couldn’t get safely across alone; I needed someone to help me. Someone (a regular person) was trying to help me cross this insanely trafficky street, with far-off shouts of “stop!” and “go!” With each step, the traffic became continually worse, and when I got halfway across, I felt like I couldn’t possibly make it the rest of the way, even with the far-off human guidance.

Just then, Jesus picked me up and carried me the rest of the way. I felt completely and utterly safe. Yes, Jesus, and please bear in mind, I am Jewish, or more precisely, I’m an agnostic Jew. Yet Jesus literally saved me in my dream.

In my dream, I knew it was Jesus, but he only partially looked like the traditional Christian, probably false view of what Jesus looked like. His head wasn’t very clear in the dream; actually, none of him was, but he had short hair (blonde I think), and he wore all white. SPOILER ALERT: LOST PLOT WILL BE MENTIONED NOW! While you might want to exclaim, “OMG! Maybe it wasn’t Jesus, but rather Jacob from Lost!” but that isn’t likely, as the rest of my description will illustrate. My dream Jesus was somewhat deformed in that his right arm and maybe his right leg weren’t really there and there was something that looked kind of like a drum instead (perhaps representing the little drummer boy?).

After he saved me in my dream, Jesus went on to help some other people. I don’t remember the details of who he helped or how. I said something where I referred to him aloud to other people as Jesus, and he said quietly to me, “No, don’t tell them I’m Jesus. Say G-d, or Orange.” I understood that he didn’t want his identity as Jesus revealed. I don’t remember anything else, and the dream might have ended there.

At first when I awoke, I couldn’t figure out why on earth I would have such a strange dream. I can’t emphasize enough that I’m a Jew, and an agnostic Jew at that. I don’t believe that Jesus was divine, and I don’t’ believe it’s possible to truly know if there is or isn’t a G-d at all (though I do tend towards faith). Nevertheless, in my dream, Jesus saved me, and made me feel completely safe and comforted, and I think at peace.

Later that day, I remembered some things that happened the day before that could explain the bizarre dream. I had eaten a truly delicious red orange (a Cara Cara navel orange) the night of the dream, and that is likely why Jesus told me to tell others that he is G-d or Orange. I suppose I felt the orange I had eaten was deliciously divine (it really was).


My orange consumption only explained one tiny aspect of my dream. Sometime after the Orange revelation, I determined that the divine nature of my dream came from Stephen Colbert. The night of the dream, I had watched an episode of The Colbert Report in which Colbert spoke of Bill O’Reilly’s certainty of G-d’s existence based on his lack of understanding of how the tides work. Neil deGrasse Tyson then came to Colbert's studio (via his wormhole of course) to explain that the tides are controlled by the moon, prompting Colbert to praise the Moon as G-d. When Tyson explained that the Moon is not G-d, Colbert praised Neil deGrasse Tyson as G-d, proclaiming “Neal before Neil!”

I think it’s clear then, that my Jesus dream was induced by Stephen Colbert and all his talk of who or what G-d is, and by a divinely delicious fruit. If I were a different person, I imagine my dream could have converted me to a Jew for Jesus, or even a full-blown Christian – not that there’s anything wrong with that. (Hey, look, by quoting Seinfeld, I inadvertently juxtaposed Christianity with homosexuality, and there’s nothing wrong with either.) But alas, I am just too practical (in terms of finding real-world explanations for my strange dreams) to put all my beliefs in one dream-woven basket.

Best Comedy Album EVER!

UPDATE September 29, 2010
Myq Kaplan has become a cartoon!

UPDATE August 9, 2010 (08-09-10)
Myq Kaplan was a top 5 finalist on Last Comic Standing. I un-biased-ly (impartially?) believe he was the funniest one there. He should have won.

UPDATE August 10, 2010
Some evidence for my lack of bias regarding Myq Kaplan's superior hilarity can be found at Entertainment Weekly and The Examiner. For more Myq Kaplan fun, here is an interview someone had with him.
Update: Friday August 13, 2010 (Happy Friday the 13th!): Here is another rather fantastic interview.

This blog posting is extremely biased, because I think I’m cool because I know the subject of it, Myq Kaplan. So take my over-hyping with a grain of salt, and bear in mind that I would probably feel similarly even if I didn’t know him.


One of the greatest comedy albums ever was released this week: Myq Kaplan’s Vegan Mind Meld. I could listen to it a thousand times, and, like a good Simpsons episode, I would find it funny every time.

Myq Kaplan builds jokes as a master chef might build a delicious layer cake (please note: I have never built a cake, but I have seen Alton Brown build a cake on Food Network). Every line is a delicious layer; each layer could stand alone, and the layers come together and build upon each other to form delicious hilarity. Now I want some cake.

I went to college with Myq Kaplan, but I didn’t really know him too well; I’m an excessively shy freak, so I tend not to make friends with people (or, you know, talk to them), as much as I might want to. What I did know, however, was that he is hilarious, genuinely kind, and ridiculously intelligent. Myq was in all the funniest classes that I took in college – obviously his funnies had something to do with that, unless maybe Semantics is just naturally hilarious.

When I found him on Facebook about two years ago, I was very happy to see that one of the funniest people I’ve ever encountered had become an actual stand-up comedian – everything was right with the world. At the time, he was going to be on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham. His success continued to grow; a few months ago, he was on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, and now (well, last night) he was on Comedy Central again, this time on Comedy Central Presents Myq Kaplan, which was obviously hilarious.

Myq Kaplan’s growing success brings me tremendous joy for two reasons: 1)A genuinely kind, talented, funny, and deserving person is gaining success, and 2) I know a famous person who I’ve seen on the TV three times. Therefore, as I said in the beginning of this blog posting, I think I’m so cool! Oh, also there’s a third reason: 3) His success means I get to hear and see his humor more.

Perhaps the title of this blog posting is a slight exaggeration, and perhaps it is partially motivated by some bias. However, all biases aside, Myq Kaplan and his CD are really quite funny.

Eat Less without Being Hungry

Yes, it’s true, assuming my experiences reflect what other people might experience, you really can eat less – a lot less – without being hungry. Well, that’s not entirely true; you might be hungry the first day, or the first few days, but after that, you won’t be left hungry, and when you are hungry, you will eat, and that will be ok, because you will be eating a lot less.


Eat breakfast, and make sure that breakfast doesn’t contain too much sugar, but does contain protein and fiber. Protein and fiber are filling, so they will reduce the likelihood of your getting hungry before your next feeding. Sugar makes you hungrier after you eat the sugar, as I’ve learned from the TV and other places. From what I’ve heard and/or read, it seems eating sugar raises your blood sugar too abruptly, which means your blood sugar will also drop abruptly. When the dropping happens, you will probably get hungry again, as well as tired and crashy. I was eating a yummy Thomas' whole wheat English muffin with Smucker's strawberry preserves every morning (along with my coffee and sugar), and I would eat an awful lot during the day. At some point, I discovered that the preserves contain high fructose corn syrup; feeling betrayed, I angrily shunned those tasty preserves and all its jelly brethren (I now will eat such things again, but only if I crave it, but not in the morning). I don't believe the English muffins contain any of the evil high fructose corn syrup. I now eat a slice of delicious Costco 8 grain toast with a little bit of Smart Balance Buttery Spread, crushed walnuts and toasted sesame seeds on it. It is absolutely delicious. I also drink my morning coffee with honey and cinnamon, because I read and heard that both honey and cinnamon don’t make your blood sugar spike the way sugar and syrups do. This is also delicious. After making these changes, I found myself eating a lot less during the day, without being hungry when I wasn't eating.

Quit or cut down on soda and other things containing massive amounts of sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup. I gradually and almost accidentally cut down on soda until I eventually quit, almost unintentionally. I now have soda very occasionally if I have a craving for it, which happens very rarely if at all. As I mentioned above, I’ve heard and read in various places (for example, I think I heard this from Dr. Oz) that consuming sugar without fiber or protein attached to it will make you more hungry later on, so that’s another reason, aside from just cutting down on massive amounts of sugar in general, for why cutting down on soda could help you lose weight. I’ve never been a fan of diet soda; I think I’m allergic to the fake sugar or probably more accurately, sensitive to the aspartame, so I can’t speak from experience regarding those. However, I have heard (I don’t remember where) that the fake sugar has a similar effect on people as real sugar in that it makes you hungrier later. I don’t know if that’s accurate, but it’s something to keep in mind.

Eat fiber. As Dr Oz says, colonics aren’t necessary to clean out your insides, when you can do the same thing with fiber -- I mean eating fiber, with your mouth. But be careful to introduce fiber gradually to your diet, because (as I think one of my doctors told me) sudden large amounts of fiber can actually swell in your tummy and make you constipated, and that wouldn’t be good at all.

Drink water. Sometimes, I think I’m hungry, but it turns out that I’m actually thirsty. Drinking water, or sometimes a little bit of fruit juice or tea or coffee makes the alleged hunger go away. I’ve also heard this somewhere, but I have no idea where. Furthermore, I’ve also heard somewhere (maybe on the John Tesh Radio Show?) that drinking water before you eat a meal can reduce the amount of food you end up eating during that meal. I think that intuitively makes sense, however, I haven’t intentionally or consciously tried it.

I have some other tips about eating less, such as eating consciously, at this blog posting, the very blog posting that inspired this one.

Good luck in your reduced eating endeavors, and don't forget to look at the disclaimer on the right.

Lose Weight While Eating Anything You Want

In the theme of writing blog postings that might appeal to larger populations (pun intended as always, and also no offense intended), I’ve decided to provide some tips on losing weight. Unlike my blog posting about how to make money, this one has actual tips that might actually help people lose weight. Seriously.


First, my credentials. I was fat for many years until my early 20s, occasionally yo-yoing, but for the most part, remaining chubby at best. Then, beginning in my early 20s, I lost 40 pounds over several years, consistently either keeping the weight off or losing more weight until my mid-to-late 20s. Then I started to gain some back, and now I can’t seem lose it. I think that’s partially due to my old age (I’m approaching 30 at an alarming rate), and also I probably don’t exercise as much as I used to. I probably should exercise even more than I used to because of the old age I just told you about. Anyhoo, my tips might only apply to people in their early-to-mid 20s, and people who exercise sufficiently.

How It Began

I’ll begin my tips with how I lost the initial 15 pounds that got me started on losing weight. I got very sick, with some kind of cold-like thing that lasted for a month one summer. I think it resulted from switching from an oral steroid for some crazy asthma issues I had to an inhaled steroid, which apparently left my body less able to fight infections (I learned that from a Flovent commercial several months after I recovered).

During my month-long cold, I had no appetite, so I only ate to survive. So I lost 15 pounds by eating very little.

As I recovered and my appetite began to return, I decided to take the opportunity my sickness had given me to change my eating habits.

I think a big problem people (well, I) had with losing weight is changing life-long bad habits. My month-long sickness forced me to temporarily change those habits, so as I recovered, rather than lapsing back into my old habits, it was just as easy to create new, better habits.

I’m not suggesting that people become sick to lose weight; I am suggesting that you take or make opportunities you might come across to help you change your bad habits if you have any. Or just use your will power to change your habits the old-fashioned way.

Getting back to my weight loss success story…

I had previously been quite the piggish one; I would eat lots of junk food and other fatty foods frequently. I also drank a lot of soda, and generally didn’t have a healthy diet.

I consciously decided that I would only eat when I was hungry, and I would stop eating when I was full. I learned while doing this that I had to be sure to eat enough food during the day, because I found that I wasn’t always hungry when I should have been, and I didn’t want to become anorexic.

Don't become anorexic. Seriously, be careful, because as strange as that might sound, I really think insufficient eating can occur if you're not careful. Perhaps it might help if you decide how many meals is right for you, and make sure you eat those meals each day. I used to forget to eat all day because I wouldn't be hungry, and I would wonder why I became grumpy and headachy; both symptoms would miraculously disappear when I would finally eat. Just make sure you eat enough to be healthy.

No Deprivation -- Eat Anything You Want

I could eat anything I wanted to, as long as I only ate while hungry. No food was off limits; it was only excessive eating and eating that resulted from boredom or attempts to fill some other void that were to be avoided. This method of weight loss was perfect for me, since I’m incapable of sticking to an actual diet, because I can’t handle being deprived of anything; the second that I can’t have it, I want it desperately. This was a change of habit, a lifestyle change; but there was no deprivation of anything at all.

Exercise

I also started exercising more. I began walking for the sake of exercising. To fulfill my PE requirement in college, I took the easiest PE course available, Walking for Fitness, where I was required to walk two miles two mornings per week. After I completed the two-semester requirement, I took the course again, and I think I ended up taking that course every semester until I graduated. It was the easiest course I ever took, and it had an enormous impact on my life, by getting me to exercise in what for most people is the easiest way possible: walking.

Anyway, after I started walking for the sake of exercising, I lost the next 15 pounds within a year, or maybe a few months (I really don’t remember how long it took). And it only required that I be consciously aware of whether I was hungry and Walking for Fitness.

Maintaining My New, Healthier Lifestyle

After that, I maintained the lifestyle of eating when I was hungry, not eating when I wasn’t hungry, stop eating when full, and eating enough to not be anorexic. I also exercised a bit more, adding crunches to my walking, and also I think I was walking more than I had been previously. Over the next year or years, I lost another 10 pounds.

I would occasionally gain a bit of weight back, and when that would happen, I would evaluate what I was doing, and what kinds of habits I had formed or reformed. I would always find something I was doing wrong: eating even if I wasn’t hungry, continuing to eat when I wasn’t hungry anymore (this has been my biggest weakness), eating s’mores everyday just because I had all the ingredients, drinking too much soda just because it was there, etc. So I would simply stop whatever it was, and go back to the mantra of eat when hungry etc. It was surprisingly easy to go back to that and to stop the new or re-emerged bad habit.

Some Other Little Tips

Eat what you crave, but only real cravings. I learned this from some friends who had joined WeightWatchers™. If you don’t eat what you’re craving, you will eat everything else until you eventually end up eating what you craved anyway. So just eat what you’re craving, but not a massive amount of it. Also (and this is coming from my experience), make sure it’s a real craving. It should be something you’re craving for a long time, not just on a whim that might pass, or something you saw one the TV that looked tasty (though that can become a real craving, in my experience).

Analyze your cravings. Sometimes, I crave extremely fattening food, but if I think about it, I’m not really craving the specific food, but rather a quality of that food. For example, I might crave greasy potato chips, but what I really want is something salty, or something crunchy or crispy. Some baked chips, toasted pita, or a few thin crackers might satisfy that craving for crunch, and an extra shake of salt on healthy food, some olives, some hummus, or a pickle might satisfy the salty craving (unless you have high blood pressure or other reasons to avoid salt). Another example is cheese; in my experience, a cheese craving might really be a calcium craving, a salt craving, a protein craving, or a fat craving. This might be satisfied with a calcium supplement, some low-fat yogurt, a few nuts, or some olives. Bear in mind that nuts and olives are also fattening obviously, though the unsaturated fats are better for you than the saturated ones. Of course, I usually just eat some cheese to fill a cheese craving.

Eat chocolate. Yeah, you heard me. This goes along with eating what you crave, so if you don’t crave or like chocolate, then don’t eat it. However, if you’re like me, and love chocolate and can’t live without it, have fun-sized or other small chocolates available at all times, and have one or two little pieces whenever you crave it. I find that if I don’t have chocolate constantly available, when I finally get my hands on it, I end up eating way too much of it. However, when I have it available, that doesn’t happen; it becomes very easy to only eat the one or two pieces that I’m actually craving and then stop.

Drink lots of water, but don’t drown yourself from the inside out. People always say you should drink lots of water, which seems reasonable. If it doesn’t help you lose weight or eat less, your organs will still thank you.

Moderation is the key. Don’t over-do anything -- don’t completely cut out anything. As Rachael Ray always says, "Everything in moderation."

One bite might be enough. I learned that somewhere on the TV and subsequently realized the truth of this in my own experience. The first bite of many tasty foods is often the best bite, and often the only bite that really gives you that “OMG this is so unbelievably yummy” feeling. When this is the case, the rest of the bites try desperately to match that first bite but never do. If you’re eating something that is not healthy or that is overly fattening, don’t bother continuing to eat after the intense yumminess is gone; it won’t come back until the next time you eat it. This is particularly true of most steaks and most cakes, in my experience. Of course, sometimes things are yummy the whole way through, but you’ll know when that’s the case.

Eat consciously. I learned this from the TV as well. According to the TV, if you eat mindlessly, for example while watching the TV, you end up eating a lot more than you would if you would pay attention to what you’re eating. In other words, you wouldn’t be aware of whether you’re not hungry anymore.

Pay attention to what you’re eating, and ask yourself these questions while you eat: Am I hungry? Is this delicious? Is each bite still delicious? If it’s not delicious, is it some nutritious thing that I should keep eating anyway (for example if you hate vegetables)? Am I eating enough to be healthy and not anorexic? If you need to, write these things down every time you eat; that is, keep a journal of when and why you eat, and whether you’re hungry or not when you eat. If you’re eating for non-hunger reasons, such as boredom, depression, happiness, not wanting to waste food, etc, stop eating and try to fix whatever needs fixing. For example, if it’s depression that‘s causing your non-hungry eating, seek some therapy and/or exercise – the serotonin and endorphins might boost your mood. Remember to always seek medical advice from health care professionals, and not from blogs, for blogs, particularly this one, are not your doctor. If you weren't sure of that, my disclaimer on the right tells you that.

I hope these tips and suggestions will help you in your weight loss or healthy eating endeavors! There are more tips on eating less without being hungry at this future blog posting. Don’t forget to consult your health care provider before doing anything!

Best Cereal EVER!

Banana Nut Cheerios. You're welcome.

I suppose I should elaborate a bit more.

When I first heard the words above (without seeing the picture on the box), I thought, “Ew, it’s probably just regular Cheerios (which are always good) with pieces of dried bananas and maybe some nuts mixed in.” I was very wrong. It’s more like Honey Nut Cheerios, except with Banana. Real bananas are used (based on the delicious banana-y taste and also it says so on the box) and are integrated into the delicious little o’s.

It tastes like really yummy banana nut bread, particularly if you have it with milk.

If you don’t or can’t drink real milk, it’s also good with almond milk, but I have to admit, the former is significantly more delicious than the latter. I don’t know if the real milk brings out more of the banana and nut flavors, or if the slightly almondy taste of the almond milk, (which is normally something I like about almond milk) is over-powering or obscuring some of the banana-y and nutty flavors. I haven’t tried it with soymilk, so anti-lactose people might still be in luck. Oh, also, like other forms of Cheerios, it’s rather tasty with no milk as well, though the dry form is definitely not as delicious as it is with milk.

I’m not much of a cereal person in general, but I truly believe that Banana Nut Cheerios is the best cereal I’ve ever had in my life.

Oh yeah, it’s also probably healthy for you, what with the whole grains and such. But who cares, it’s ridiculously delicious! I’m lying, I do care about the healthiness too, but in this case, that’s really just an added bonus, because even if it weren’t healthy, it would still be worth every delicious bite.

So Not the Best Ice Cream Ever

Two people have recommended that I try green tea ice cream. Interestingly, both suggestions came after I raved about the perfection of Edy’s Slow Churned Ice Cream in one form or another (see previous blog posting for one of those forms).

I was a bit hesitant to try green tea ice cream, because I once had a green tea ice pop that a friend very accurately described as tasting like perfume. Obviously popsicles and ice cream are very likely to taste very different, so I finally tried green tea ice cream, with an open mind of course.

Since one of the people suggesting this specifically suggested Haagen-Dazs All Natural Green Tea Ice Cream, I decided to go with that, in the form of those little containers they have in supermarkets. Sadly, I was very much disappointed.

I tasted this ice cream the same way I sample every new flavor I try: with a big heaping tablespoon-full of the ice cream, taking small bites so as not to overwhelm my taste buds.

Upon taking the first bite, I exclaimed “Ew!” or some other outcry of disgust. Assuming that it must be an acquired taste, I then continued eating the rest of the heaping tablespoon of ice cream. With each small bite, it became increasingly less disgusting. By the end, it was not too bad. But I can’t say it was good.

In Green Tea Ice Cream’s defense, green tea is generally not my cup of tea, literally (hahahaha). But then again, when I was little, I hated coffee, but liked coffee ice cream. Anyway, I imagine green tea ice cream must be tasty for people who do enjoy actual green tea.

So to conclude, I was really unimpressed with the green tea ice cream. To its credit, however, at least it didn’t taste like perfume.

Best Ice Cream EVER!

Ok, maybe it’s just one of the best ice creams ever, but it’s definitely on the short list.

Which ice cream do I speak of you ask? Edy’s Slow Churned Red White and No More Blues (Limited Edition). It’s spectacular. I only discovered the gustatory joy of this incredibly delicious flavor recently, but apparently it’s been available all summer (which explains the patriotic nature of it).

I always thought there should be blueberry ice cream, and now there is. It far exceeds any expectations I might have had. I’m glad I caused this to come into existence (hehe). I wouldn’t have even thought of the delicious addition of strawberries to the blueberry ice cream I envisioned.

Its beautiful and patriotic swirls of delicious real (I’m assuming because it definitely tastes real) blueberries and strawberries intertwined throughout the deliciously rich and creamy, yet not-too-fattening slow churned vanilla ice cream. The enchanting flavors and smells explode like beautiful 4th of July fireworks. The smell of the blueberries and strawberries is intoxicating, and the berries burst with intense deliciousness, perfectly complimenting the incredible vanilla flavor. Edy’s Slow Churned vanilla is seriously the only vanilla ice cream (other than Carvel) that I truly enjoy, because it has a rich vanilla flavor that I don’t believe I’ve ever tasted elsewhere.

I’m certainly not an ice cream connoisseur, and I’m not even much of an ice cream person in general (I prefer chocolate and to a lesser extent cookies, but I certainly don’t hate other tasty confections). But this ice cream is truly spectacular, and it is one of the best flavors of Edy’s Slow Churned that I have tasted (and I’ve tasted many of their appetizing flavors). That says a lot, since Edy’s Slow Churned might just be the best (or definitely one of the best) forms of ice cream in existence. Its texture is far superior to most (or maybe all) other forms of ice cream. To top it off, it’s less fattening than most ice creams. Edy’s states that their Slow Churned Rich and Creamy Light Ice Creams lave less fat and fewer calories than regular ice cream, but that it tastes as good. I very much disagree – it tastes significantly better and has vastly better texture than regular ice cream.

I hope that Red White and No More Blues becomes so popular, and its yumminess becomes so well-known, that the “Limited Edition” portion of its name evaporates. I really hope Edy’s adds this to its more permanent collection of flavors.