attention, weekend bodybuilder 1+1= 1 diet

Did you go out shopping today? It is a job and some sort of regret from last night's dinner! Well, we only have one life, so we better enjoy it.

But if you would like to get back to the normal routine (or start doing exercise!), you may want to add this to your shopping list.

Have you had KONNYAKU, or miracle Yam Noodle, before?

konnyaku noodle

Konnyaku plant

This Yam noodle or Jelly comes with zero calories, but it cleans up the entire pipe system. Even better, as it goes through the pipe (intestines), it grabs excess cholesterol, sugar, etc., so normalize the level of cholesterol and sugar level. This has been scientifically tested in many different research centers in Japan. By simply adding this wonderful noodle or slices to your dish, you will be feeling full faster, so naturally one eats less than usual.

Many Japanese women love this not only to maintain normal bowel movement and but also to have beautiful skin, as it absorb toxins.

In an ancient time, konnyaku dish was served after funeral or offered as a first food to digest after a long starvation.

Interestingly, the plant is so irritable that even farmers needs to wear grab to touch this Yam. Also no animals or bugs can eat this ugly veggie. So it is naturally organic.

It comes with so many different shapes, colors, and textures, but you may find only few types in most of American stores. I recently saw it in Whole Food and Wegmans.

Best way to try this magical Yam is to start with the noodle form. Wash them under hot water and add to your favorite soup or salad. My favorite recipe is shown below.

Side Dish

• 1 pack of Konnyaku noodle (tied - see above)
• Cucumber (continental or pickling)

Dressing

• Soy source (kikkoman or Yamasa) 1/4 cup
• Sesami oil 5-6 drops
• Rice Vinegar (sushi quality) 1/2 cup
• Mirin (sweet rice vinegar) - you can replace this with honey 1 tsp

1. Open bag of Noodles into a colander draining the water that the noodles are packed in. Boil for one minute, drain, set aside.
2. Slice up cucumbers into super thin pieces
3. In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients under Dressing. 
4. Add noodles and toss cucumber slice and pour dressing over. You can add egg or sesame seeds throughout the salad and serve.

Enjoy!

***Recession Proof Holiday Gift How People Shopped @ Craft Fair

WOW is the word for holiday shopping. People are looking for the "perfect" yet "rock bottom CHEAP gift", excuse me, gift"s" here. I've never seen this many people at any craft fair. At some point, I was bounced out of my booth by my buyers. Some woman was complaining that I did not make enough of these pendants. People get really personal when someone else buys the last one of their choice. The BLUE was the choice this year - that and Water energy (Feng Shui) were almost all gone. People do want "good energy" and "change".

Yes I did sold roughly 111 items - but all these women were savvy buyers. Some had pen and paper, and some had very strict budget (how much to spend @ each category!).

Princeton ywca crafter's market

Many of my jewelry/art colleagues discourage me from showing the local craft fair. "Makiko, people count pennies there!". Well, this one is high-end and must be judged, but I was prepared to have plenty of gifts for teens. Interestingly, these days, teens are the ones who start and ignite "trends". If they like it, we buy it for them, and we end up with wearing them as well. So I made many different kinds which are "liked"by teens. Many of you know I love market research, so its something I'm used to.

I also brought some high-end jewelry - knowing that this won't sell like others. And they caught many critical eyes - artisan and other jewelry-makers stopped by and were very pleased to see something beautiful and different. And some of them found very good owners!

Result? Yes I think I sold the most in my section. I was out of bags, cards, and change.

Let me know what you want me to post about.


Follow me or leave your comments on my online store, and get a discount.

Why Women Have Harder Time To Loose Weight Than Men?

Don't Do Diet after 40s

Have you noticed why women have more difficult time to shed extra pounds?

If you are a men, you notice you can lose weight relatively easily. This was shown in a controlled study where 100 men and women participated. The program they enrolled in was a no exercise no diet plan - measure your body weight in the morning and at night. Yes that's it. Plot the results on the scale and watch your weight go down. More than 80% of men lost 4-14 lb in 8 weeks. Those men were not obese to begin with, so these numbers are pretty good. Also there was no exercise or a specific diet they followed. You don't believe it? Try it -see what you will loose?

This, sadly, may not happen for all of us. Mainly because our brain is wired in a different way - a bit more complicated.

We got a couple of more hormones working on us, estrogen, progesterone....and we are very much "social". These two factors affect our weight, more specifically "fat"accumulation, and motivation. Without going too scientific, estrogen helps our body burn fat. Progesterone in other hand make us store more fat under our skin. As we get older, we will have less estrogen, so we will burn less fat. We will also produce less growth hormone, so our muscle cells tend to turn to fat cells. As you know, progesterone is a bit%$ hormone - some of us become more moody, hungry (for no reason), and/or irritable. During this phase, it is known that our bodies do everything they can do to maintain the body weight. So we may not see any "results" from diet or exercise. So some women get discouraged and throw away the perfectly good routine or clean diet. 

If you know the cycle well, you can use this to your advantage - do a lot exercise during the estrogen phase. Pay attention to your body, chances are you will be less hungry. You may not need to eat as much as yesterday or your "suggested" calories. During progesterone, don't expect to see "great results" and anticipate a more than usual appetite. You can plan ahead to bring "healthy snacks" with you. So you can maintain relatively clean diet during this phase.

It makes sense we are wired in this way. We need to prepare for "nesting" (progesterone phase), so we will be left alone and eat more. During estrogen phase, we will be hunting (?) for the perfect mate, so we will skip a meal or two. 

Does this make sense?


For those who want to try this no cost no diet weight loss challenge, look at the graph below. Make something similar to this, and start measuring up your body weight.

The graph is in a kg, so you may want to adjust it to lb. It's more effective if you can add a comment each day. For example, I had an entire bag of potato chips when watching a football game. Or, I ran 3 miles today. As you begin to "see" the weight come down, brain will begin to produce a "pleasure hormone", endorphin, and you will follow a more healthy life style. This works pretty well for men. I did this for a while, it did work for 6 weeks. You may want to start this around Thanksgiving Holiday. So you can track your weight and stay in your zone.

Sources: Science for Everyone, various articles

everybody is free...

do you have "the song" or "the quote" when your feeling down?

My song is, "everybody is free to wear sunscreen". If you've never heard this song, then you should definitely listen to it.

You can listen to this on youtube. I printed out the lyrics and put them away in an envelop, so my kids can see it when they leave the house.

life is full of surprises - it cares less about your master plan or daily, chores things happen just because, and sometime its OK to accept it and just go with it.

So...

Now I will be blogging much more about health, diet, and exercise. Please let me know in the comments if you find it interesting. I can do more research on your behalf!

Today, I am introducing this product. I just tried this, and its amazing! It is called Shakeology® from Beachbody. I have been a big fan of Beachbody DVD (for the last 10 years!!!). But I never purchased their shakes. Its really expensive and I just do NOT believe those pictures - saying I lost so much weight because of these!

Well, I have been doing exercise called P90X for a while, and I did see some change. But I just gain muscle on top of you know what...I did not see "desirable" body change. Then I stick to cleaner diet. This will be another blog, but yes, I saw CHANGE. It is not easy for women after 40 to lose weight in a very graceful way.

The diet is a HUGE part of this. 

I won't say this shake is the key, but I tried and tested MANY products out there, but this shake rocks! Calories, Composition breakout, and rich chocolate taste!!! You won't get it anywhere else. Now, I need to be careful not to drink this too much though.

Exercise program only

Exercise program with clean diet

I am planning to list ten tips to get lean muscle without starving yourself. 
Sorry for those who love to see jewelries and accessories, but this topic is hot and is very important.
Do let me know what you think.


Don't forget to chime in and listen to the sunscreen song. It will definitely reduce your stress level. ;-) 


cheers