turningthescales

Go for a run, then grab a beer

amweigl — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:00:23 -0400

Andrea Weigl, food writer, wrote:

Thanks to everyone who sent in information about social run clubs which gather at a local bar or restaurant to go out for a run and then enjoy a beer, margarita or glass of wine. Here's the weekly schedule:

Mondays:

6 p.m. Nog Run Club, sponsored by Fleet Feet, meets weekly at Tir Na Nog Irish Pub for 3, 4, 5 and 6-mile runs through downtown Raleigh followed by a $1 pasta buffet and beer specials. For more information, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/nOgRunClub/
6 p.m. Rockfish Grill and Carolina Brewing Co. sponsor a weekly run club that starts at Rockfish Grill at Durham's Streets of Southpoint. They do 2-mile, 5k and 8k runs and end with $2.50 draft beer specials. For more information, go to http://www.meetup.com/TriBeer/events/75584942/.

Tuesdays:

6 p.m. Natty Greene's Run Club, sponsored by TrySports, hosts a weekly 1-mile walk or a 2.5-mile or 5-mile run followed by a free taco bar and $2 beers.
6:30 p.m. Raleigh Running Outfitters sponsors a weekly run at Bottle Revolution in Raleigh in preparation for the City of Oaks marathon.
7 p.m. Big Boss Beer Run Club meets every week for 5k and 4, 5 and 6-mile routes on the Raleigh Greenway. For updates, check out their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/207706669260119/ (They plan to add a Saturday run starting in November.)

Wednesdays:

6 p.m. Fullsteam Ahead Run Club meets each week at Fullsteam Brewery for 3 or 4-mile runs through downtown Durham. For more information, go to http://www.bullcityrunning.com/events/fullsteam-ahead-run-club/
6 p.m. runners gather at Centro in downtown Raleigh for a weekly run through the Oakwood neighborhood followed by $5 taco bar and $5 margaritas.
6 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month, runners gather at InsideOut Sports off Cary Parkway in Cary, go for a 5-mile run and then enjoy a glass of wine at Sip, a Wine Store, which is in the same shopping plaza.
6:15 p.m. Bottle Revolution Run Club hosts a weekly run club that starts from the beer store at 4025-105 Lake Boone Trail in Raleigh.
6:30 p.m. Fleet Feet sponsors a weekly pub run starting at Tyler's Taproom in Carrboro with 3-mile or 5-mile runs. For more information, go to http://www.fleetfeetcarrboro.com/community/pub-runs.

Thursdays:

6 p.m. Wake Forest Area Runners (WFAR) meet weekly at Cellar 275 in the Factory in Wake Forest. (1839 S. Main St.) Here is their website: http://wakeforestarearunners.com/
6 p.m. Bull City Track Club meets every the first and third Thursdays of the month at City Beverage in Durham. For more information, go to http://bullcitytrackclub.blogspot.com/2012/06/1st-and-3rd-thursdays-at-city-beverage.html
7 p.m. River Run Club meets each week at Nantucket Grill at 1145 Falls River Ave. They enjoy 3, 4 or 5 mile runs. Here is their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RiverRunClub

Plus, the Triangle's chapters of the Hash House Harriers meet at different locations and at different times for running and drinking. There are two chapters: Sir Walter's Hash House Harriers (http://swh3.com) and the Carolina Larrikins (www.carolinalarrikins.com.)

If I missed any groups, please let me know. Send an email to aweigl@newsobserver.com

My diet secrets

ctmiller — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 10:42:37 -0400

Carole Tanzer Miller, features editor, writes: I have stepped on the scale for the world to see for the last time.

After chronicling my struggles to maintain a 65-pound weight loss for about a year-and-a-half, I'm ready to keep the number on the scale to myself. That's another way of saying I think I'm ready to continue the maintenance journey without the crutch of public accountability.

I'm grateful for those of you who have emailed "atta girl's" from time to time or stopped me at the Harris Teeter to offer encouragement. Your support has helped me steer down a path to better health. I don't veer much from my five-pound comfort zone, and that's owing in large measure to the prospect of public disclosure when I go way wrong.

Trust me: If you had to admit to the world that you wolfed down whole bag of red licorice and more than a day's worth of calories before breakfast, you'd think twice about it. And for the most part I did.

I'll never be an exercise fan. I'll never eat only what's good for me. But I think about it much more than I did before, and that's a plus. I'm just going to keep it to myself.

So I'm going forward accountable only to myself and my doctor for my eating and exercise habits -- and mindful that too many lapses will still be there for the world to see. On my thighs and hips.

I want to walk for MS

Messcook — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 13:11:26 -0400

Sharon Denise Powell, news assistant Eastern Wake News and Clayton News-Star

My quest to be healthy continues. I just learned that registration opens for the 2013 MS Walk Oct. 1. I called the Raleigh chapter of the MS Society but there was no answer so I left a voicemail message. I need to know the date of the walk. It’s time for me to put up or shut up. I’m going to do it – I’m going to walk for MS.

A 5k-walk is about 3.1 miles and it should take me about an hour to finish. In the navy I ran a mile and a half in 20 minutes. I don’t care if I’m the last person across the finish line -- that happened once when I ran my navy physical fitness test -- only once, and oh the humiliation. This is different.

Just like the little engine that could I’m going to take this walk repeating to myself the mantra, ‘I think I can, ‘ I think I can … I know I can, I know I can,’ and finally, ‘I can, I can, I can!’

I've talked about this walk for months but in the beginning I admit I wasn’t totally committed to training for this, but I am now. I’ve done my research and found tools to help me on this quest.

I normally cram long walks with my trusty hound into Saturday, Sunday and Mondays – my days off. Starting this week I’m going to get up at six and Sammy and I will walk for 30 minutes daily.

Also, I just signed up for the online “Walk of Life 10-Week Program” and I will receive a daily email with a walking assignment, walking lesson, nutrition tip, healthy recipe and motivational tip.

I’m excited about this journey. I said when I started writing on this blog I wanted to improve my health, reach a healthy weight, take the 5k-walk for multiple sclerosis and live to be a hundred. So far I’ve gained five pounds, but I still don't always eat healthy and I might not live to be a hundred, but I can walk for MS.

Why is this walk important? I have MS. In the past I’ve struggled with maintaining a healthy weight and was once diagnosed as malnourished. This is not good for someone with my disease.

I’ve been lucky, in spite of my diagnosis I can take my dog on longs walks. I can get in my 5-speed manual transmission mustang and drive 17 miles to work. Also, I can practice the craft that I love – writing. Not everyone with MS can do this -- this is why I have to take the walk.

Sammy can’t go with me on that walk, but thanks to him and this blog I’ll think I can, no, I know I can!

I did it! Back to pre-pregnancy weight

amweigl — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 09:46:19 -0400

Andrea Weigl, food writer, wrote:

I stepped on the scale this morning and was shocked to see: 149.4 pounds.

I'm back to what I weighed before I got pregnant with my now 10-month-old daughter. I really had no idea when this started that it would take this long. (Although if I think about it, it took me as long to lose the weight as it did to put it on.) Those first 20 pounds came off so quickly after childbirth but those last 7 or 8 pounds were much harder to lose.

I shed the last couple pounds by modifying a friend's advice. She suggested eating raw uncooked foods for breakfast and lunch. I decided to eat fruits and yogurt for lunch everyday. (Or if I went out for lunch to swap that routine for dinner.) I'm now at the weight I wanted to wear a nice, smaller dress at her wedding next month.

Thanks to everyone for their supportive emails and comments on this blog while I was chronicling my weight loss. Don't worry: I will still offer chances on this blog to win healthy cookbooks, so stay tuned.

And next week, I'll share the list of Triangle-area running groups who gather at bars and restaurants after their runs to enjoy a beer.

Irregardless Cafe hosts series of wellness talks

amweigl — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 12:20:32 -0400

Raleigh's Irregardless restaurant is offering a series of monthly wellness talks starting this month. Here is the schedule:

Aug. 28, "Trouble Shoot Diet Dilemmas" with Suzanne Havala Hobbs, a nutritionist, UNC professor and author of the weekly column, "On the Table," in The News & Observer.
Oct. 2, "Health Benefits of a Plant and Mediterranean-based Diet," with Elizabeth Politi, nutrition director at the Duke University Diet and Fitness Center.
Nov. 6, "Healing the Hungry Among Us," by Jill Staton Bullard, founder and chief operating officer of the Interfaith Food Shuttle.
Dec. 4, "The Roots of Eating: Our Life Together in Gardens," by Duke professor Norman Wirzba, author of "Food & Faith: A Theology of Eating."

The free talks are from 7-8 p.m. The restaurant is located at 901 Morgan St.

To make a reservation for dinner beforehand, call 919-833-8898.

Trimming the fat

ashleyortiz — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:24:22 -0400

Ashley Suarez-Ortiz, News Clerk writes: It has been a very long time since I last wrote a blog and I apologize for my absence.

I am happy to report however that despite my lack of keeping everyone in the loop that I have been finding ways to exercise and have been able to trim off some of the fat.

I still have much more work to do and I am glad to have the readers out there to keep encouraging me and I hope that I have encouraged some of you.

What I have done so far

I have began eating far more fiber and multi-grain enriched foods. Instead of eating something full of sugar and fat, I will grab a snack that is far healthier but still tastes great. One of my favorite things to eat are Multi-Grain Cheerios.

I have also cut back on the amount of soda I drink. Now, instead of soda, I will substitute tea or water, making it much healthier for me.

I have also began walking more. When I take my lunch breaks at work, I walk to my lunch destination instead of driving. I also enjoy going to the Farmer's Market in downtown Raleigh every Wednesday. I also like to take walks with my kids on the weekends and we spend several hours at the park, running and playing together. I get my exercise and get to spend time with my kids at the same time.

These are just a few things that I have done but it normally is the small things that count.

I hope that all the readers out there are doing well and please feel free to leave your comments below.

Wage war on cellulite

ctmiller — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 10:06:06 -0400

Carole Tanzer Miller, Features editor, writes: Dr. Andrew Ordon, co-host of the syndicated TV show “The Doctors,” has a new book out, “Better in 7: The Ultimate Seven-Day Guide to a Better You.” It includes tips for avoiding the bumps and lumps of cellulite. In a piece for McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, the good doctor outlines them. Check it out:
“If you want to lose cellulite, here are seven things to avoid:
Drinking alcohol: Alcohol dehydrates the body and destroys B vitamins, which keep your skin elastic and smooth.
Smoking: This worst-of-all bad habit interferes with the body’s use of vitamin C. You need vitamin C to make skin-strenghtening collagen and to keep your body cellulite-resistant.
Salting foods: Salt causes water retention and makes your skin look puffy.
Eating processed foods: Highly refined foods are loaded with salt and sugar – two additives that (exacerbate) cellulite.
Yo-yo dieting: Going off and on diets promotes development of cellulite. Women who repeatedly yo-yo diet tend to have higher deposits of fat on their hips and buttocks than those who keep their weight fairly stable.
Sunbathing: Repeated exposure to sun increases the activity of tissue-damaging free radicals. Free-radical damage promotes the formation of an abnormal type of collagen – one that is quite inelastic. Your skin gets looser and less elastic, and cellulite becomes more obvious.
Not exercising regularly: Women who don’t exercise tend to be heavier, with more cellulite, than women who workout regularly.”

Run a few miles and then drink a beer

amweigl — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:22:07 -0400

If you are into running, then you have probably heard of these weekly social beer runs. Folks gather at a local bar, head out to run 2, 3 or 5 miles and then return to enjoy a beer and a typically a pasta buffet or some other cheap food.

I know about the Nog Run Club, the Centro Miercoles Margarita Run and Fullsteam Ahead! Run Club. What others am I missing in the Triangle?

Leave a comment below or send me a note: aweigl@newsobserver.com.

I'll compile a list for the blog and have it run in the newspaper.

Only 2 pounds to go!

amweigl — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 11:55:36 -0400

Andrea Weigl, food writer, wrote:

I'm only 2 pounds from my goal weight of 150 pounds -- what I weighed before I had my baby last fall. I have the best motivation to shed these final two pounds: a friend's wedding in less than five weeks. I want to be able to get into one of my best dresses for the event.

I think I'm going to use the advice of the bride who has been toning up for her wedding, or at least some version of it. She said to eat raw foods for breakfast and lunch and then a normal dinner. I think I'll do a variation: plenty of fruits and vegetables, Greek yogurt and nuts, the latter two to provide enough protein to avoid hunger. We'll see how I do.

Here's hoping there's a sexy dress in my near future.

Comfort foods connect me to my past

Messcook — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:19:48 -0400

Foods trigger memories and take us back to that comfortable place we call home.

Sharon Denise Powell, news assistant, Eastern Wake News and Clayton News-Star, writes: My quest to reach a healthy weight, strengthen my muscles, get ready for the MS Walk-a-thon next March and live to be 100, continues.

When I was six, I lived in Virginia briefly with my half-sister, Sarah. Sarah’s mother, my father’s first wife, who I called Granny, also lived with Sarah.

Granny was in her 80’s and suffered from many ailments, including diabetes. My sister, a registered nurse, strictly monitored Granny’s diet. Granny loved desserts. So every night Granny could have one small bowl of sherbet. I remember the clinking sound of the metal spoon as she slowly dipped her spoon in the bowl.

I understand Granny’s dilemma—she always wanted more. If my sister hadn't been upstairs, Granny no doubt would have coaxed me into giving her more.

Just like Granny I love the desserts I learned to enjoy when I was a child.

Our roots are deeply planted on the farms of eastern North Carolina, a region known for its vinegar-based pork barbecue, smoked hams, fried fresh fish and rich desserts. It is also where most of the adults I grew up with—Granny, my father, my maternal grandmother, and many of their contemporaries—dealt with illnesses that, though perhaps predisposed, were exacerbated by the high-fat, high-cholesterol foods of our culture.

They grew their own vegetables but seasoned them with salt pork. They raised their own chickens, which they fried in lard rendered from the swine they slaughtered. Of course, there was the whole hog, slowly cooked for hours in a deep pit, the flavor of which there is nothing to compare. I’ve eaten pit-cooked pork in other states including Kalua pig in Hawaii. No offense to our president—his state’s signature dish simply does not compare.

Family events, school picnics and church revivals always included rich, incredibly tasty, but not always healthy foods.

Now that I’m all grown up I understand that even though something taste good, it does not mean it is good for me. My maternal grandmother, who had hypertension, died when she was only 62. She could not or would not give up the high fat foods, especially pork, that she loved.

My mother, also had hypertension, but she was much more careful about her diet and lived to be 80. Unfortunately, I eat more meat than she did – I can imagine the lectures I’d get if she were still around.

I don’t make barbecue a regular part of my diet anymore. My problems arise when I take the occasional 50-mile drive east home to Nash County—oh temptation.

Since January I have attended three family funerals and the first of four annual family reunions. That’s when I see the foods ingrained in the fiber of my heritage. Every time I eat a piece of fried chicken, a plate of barbecue pork with cole slaw, or a slice of sweet potato pie I feel an undescrible joy because I know I'm home.

Next weekend I’m going to another family reunion in a park in Rocky Mount. Pork barbecue is not on the menu – this is good. My hypertension is under control, and I’m in training for a 5k walk.

Still it is hard to give up certain foods – my comfort foods. It’s not about eating because I’m hungry – it’s about reaching back in time. Whenever I eat a slice of sweet potato pie or fried chicken I remember my mother and grandmother, my late sisters Lucy and Sarah and their mother, Granny and all the other people who made me feel safe and loved when I was a child. I imagine this is true for most of us.

Life at 30x2

ctmiller — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 09:42:30 -0400

Carole Tanzer Miller, features editor, writes: A new driver's license and a milestone birthday sent me to the magnifying mirror in a panic. Is that scary visage on my new I.D. really mine, complete with the turkey neck, saggy jowls and droopy eyelids of an old woman?

You know the answer.

There's nothing like embarking on a new decade to provoke a blunt assessment of what's what. I came away from mine with a decidely mixed review and a slew of what if's?

What if I never allowed my weight to balloon when I was pregnant and then got in shape right away instead of waiting 10 years?

What if I never indulged my junk-food cravings?

What if I had embraced organic food and had been a committed vegetarian?

What if I exercised religiously, every day of my life, slept well and avoided stress assiduously?

What if I didn't turn to food in times of stress?

And what if I weren't a serial dieter?

Who knows? Maybe I'd be healthier, more youthful-looking and not thinking, wistfully, of whether a few nips and tucks here and there might not make a nice little birthday present to myself -- if only I had the money. (Insert sigh here.)

Yeah, that'd be sweet. Until gravity took hold and shook me back to reality again. I guess I'll live with the wrinkles and the wattle. On balance, I'd say the former derive more from laughter than tears and too much time sun. That darned wattle is the price of a too-oft repeated cycle of fat-thin-fat-thin. No one to blame there but myself.

On the plus side, my weight (138.9 this morning) is in the normal range for my 5-feet 6-inches, and my blood pressure is under control. I'm eating more fruits and veggies, and usually buying the organic variety. I'm learning ways to deal with stress that don't involve calories. I am mindful of the need to stay active -- even if I'm not 100 percent successful at it.

Life could be way worse. And now I'll qualify for the senior discount!

My puzzling weight loss

amweigl — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 14:43:38 -0400

A week ago, I got back from vacation and stepped on the scale to see: 157 pounds.

This morning, I stepped on the scale to see: 153 pounds.

I am puzzled by my weight loss at times. I didn't make tremendous effort this week to lose weight. I didn't go on the cabbage diet. I didn't eat only vegetables. I probably ate too many potato chips in the last few days for this weight loss to make sense.

But this is the way my body behaves. I'll enjoy myself on a trip and lose 4 to 5 pounds when I return to my normal eating schedule. The experts always say one pound of weight loss a week is good and can be expected. But my body doesn't seem to have gotten that memo. I am stumped about what causes these swings in my weight.

One nation, under cheese

ctmiller — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:51:20 -0400

Carole Tanzer Miller, features editor, writes: If there's one food that's my downfall, it's cheese. I just love the stuff. So do most Americans.

According to the Washington Post, the average American ate 33 pounds of cheese in 2010 -- three times as much as in 1970. As the Post's commentary "One nation, under cheese" points out, few foods contain as much saturated fat.

Which just might explain why the adult obesity rate has more than doubled since the early 1970s -- from 14.5 percent to 35.7 percent.

Cheese is everywhere, the commentary points out, from fast-food restaurants to school cafeterias. We eat it plain and piled on nachos, pizza, noodles, burgers, even pie. If a recipe calls for 1 cup, I use 1-1/2. Can't get enough of it. (Good for bone density and all that, you know?)

When we visit old haunts in Oregon, Vermont and New York, we always buy a pound or two of local cheese (Tillamook in Oregon, sharp "private stock" cheddar in Vermont, Helluva Good in New York).

Nothing better than opening the suitcase after a cross-country trip to find that big block of trip-aged (read: soft and fragrant) Tillamook and a loaf of San Francisco sourdough.

On a recent trip to Vermont, I dispatched my son to the Putney General Store for the requisite slab of private stock. We expected to enjoy it back at the hotel AFTER our food fest at Curtis All-American BBQ.

But when we got to the room, the cheese had vanished. We combed frantically through our bags and souvenirs, and it was nowhere to be found. We couldn't decide which was more maddening -- the wasted money or the shattered promise of a favorite treat.

Four days later, we returned to Raleigh. There, in a dark recess of a backpack was the private stock cheese. I racked my brain for a loophole (something like the 2-second rule that some folks invoke, saying it's OK to eat something you dropped on the floor if it wasn't there longer than 2 seconds...). But I just couldn't come up with any way that four days outside the fridge would leave that cheese edible.

We chucked it.

With regret. But fat free!

Congrats to Sue Guy of Cary who won a coobook

amweigl — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:22:34 -0400

Congrats to Sue Guy of Cary who won the "Salads: Beyond the Bowl" by Mindy Fox.

Be sure to check back here for other upcoming cookbook giveaways.

Cookbook giveaway: Eat Your Vegetables by Arthur Potts Dawson

amweigl — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 14:44:31 -0400

While not a diet cookbook per se, I figured this book would have a receptive audience on this blog. Who doesn't need vegetable cooking inspiration when you are trying to eat healthier?

The author, Arthur Potts Dawson, is a British chef and restaurateur who wants folks to eat more vegetables and less meat, not by preaching, but by insipring with such recipes at carrot and ginger soup or stuffed red peppers with thyme, garlic and anchovies (pictured on the cover.)

That doesn't mean every recipe is low-cal or low fat. There's bacon and heavy cream and mayo in these recipes. But there are gems in here for the health conscious and you can save the less healthy recipes for special occasions.

You know the drill: Leave a comment below this post before noon Friday, July 27. Good luck!

Kansas City was not good for my weight loss

amweigl — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 14:13:20 -0400

Andrea Weigl, food writer, wrote: My trip to the Midwest was not good for my weight loss efforts. I stepped on the scale this morning and it said 157 pounds.

That makes sense since I enjoyed Booches' hamburgers and Shakespeare's pizza in Columbia, MO and a taste of my husband's ribs at Rosedale BBQ in Kansas City. I did eat salads as often as I could when we were not hitting the regular highlights of our Missouri trips but apparently it wasn't enough to offset the indulgences.

I'm not going to let a couple pounds get me down. While on vacation, I got one good run in along a dusty gravel road beside soybean fields in rural Missouri. I hope to get back into the swing of things here in my running regime. Now that our garden is overflowing with tomatoes, squash and peppers, I'll be enjoying our summer bounty.

The only way to lose the weight is to refocus even when you falter.

Weight loss: It's all relative

ctmiller — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 16:48:29 -0400

Carole Tanzer Miller, features editor, writes: There's a funny scale making the rounds online these days -- one that lets you see just how much weight you've lost, in stunningly graphic terms. My health coach, Charity Husk, of Take Shape for Life posted it recently on her Facebook page, and it gave everyone a good laugh.

Turns out the 65 pounds I lost (and have kept off almost two years!) falls between the weight of a male elephant's (censored) and how much fats and oils an average American consumes in a year. Oh my!

Where do you fit in? Here are some other rough equivalents:

1 pound = a Guinea Pig

1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts

2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs

3 pounds = an average human brain

5 pounds = a Chihuahua

10 pounds = chemical additives an American consumes each year.

15 pounds = 10 dozen large eggs

20 pounds = an automobile tire

25 pounds = an average 2-year-old

30 pounds = amount of cheese an average American eats in a year

40 pounds = an average human leg

50 pounds = a small bale of hay

55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner

60 pounds = an elephant's penis

70 pounds = an Irish Setter

80 pounds = the World's Largest Ball of Tape

90 pounds = a newborn calf

100 pounds = a 2-month-old horse

120 pounds = the amount of trash you throw away in a month

130 pounds = a newborn giraffe

140 pounds = the amount of refined sugar an average American eats in a year

150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary

200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds

235 pounds - Arnold Schwarzenegger

300 pounds = an average football lineman

The Obesity Control Center has a more detailed list. Check it out.

My perilous days: a dessert photo shoot and then a vacation

amweigl — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 14:58:27 -0400

Andrea Weigl, the food writer, wrote:

While Carole made it through her vacation unscathed, I've had a perilous week when it comes to potential weight gain. I baked peanut butter bars on the grill for yesterday's column. I baked pecan cobbler last night. I baked a pig pickin' cake and peach cobbler (pictured at left) today for a photo shoot for next week's food display. (At least, I'll send most of these baked goods to the office so I won't be tempted.)

And to top it all off, I'm headed Saturday to Missouri to visit my husband's family. My husband and I are debating where we are going to eat when we land in Kansas City. We've considered a burger joint called Town Topic or Calvin Trillin's favorite, Winstead's, or maybe we'll go to our old standbys, Arthur Bryant's or LC's. Then, of course, we'll go to Columbia for a stop at Booches, my favorite burgers on the planet. And I'm sure my husband may lobby for a stop at Shakespeare's Pizza, another favorite of his college days at the University of Missouri.

My game plan is to eat many vegetables when I'm not eating burgers or barbecue or pizza. And I hope to walk-run as often as I can. My weight has been hovering between 154 and 155 these days. If I survive the trip without my weight creeping north of 155, I'll consider it a success.

The Great Yankee BBQ Tour, 2012

ctmiller — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 11:36:00 -0400

Carole Tanzer Miller, features editor, writes: The Millers are fresh off a weeklong food fest we nicknamed "The Great Yankee BBQ Tour."

Some of you may wonder if it's even possible to get good 'cue north of the Mason-Dixon. Those of us from the Northeast know it is quite possible but you'll probably have to rewrite your definition of barbecue.

In other words, I'm not talking about the vinegar-based Eastern North Carolina variety I've come to love. Still, there is some good grub to be had.

But is it possible to partake and stay within the comfort zone? I'm here to tell you it is!

One of our favorite joints, Curtis' All-American Bar-B-Q in the little town of Putney, Vt., serves up a wicked baked potato with its chicken and ribs. I had one, fully loaded, with butter, sour cream, chives, cheese and bacon.

I played it a little healthier at the landmark Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Syracuse, N.Y., ordering up a platter with salmon, a marinated salad of tomatoes and cukes, boiled greens and rice and beans. It was too much to eat but I wouldn't have felt a bit guilty if I had cleaned my plate.

Maintaining weight loss not only means slip ups from time to time but also the occasional indulgence. The keyword is "occasional."

No way can I chow down like this every day, but this was vacation, after all, and denying cravings for favorite dishes of days past would have spoiled the trip.

Happily, my weight was still within my 5-pound comfort zone when I finally stepped on the scale this morning. To keep it there, I'll enjoy summer fruits and veggies, watch portion sizes and weigh in every morning. The numbers on the scale and my favorite khakis will keep me honest.

A cautionary tale about barefoot running

amweigl — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 17:08:33 -0400

Andrea Weigl, food writer, writes:

In reponse to my excited response to “Born to Run,” Peter Hessling of Durham wrote:

“I too found Born to run very exciting and inspirational. The problem is that it can be almost too compelling, especially regarding barefoot or minimalist running. The book makes you want to rip off your shoes and run free -- maybe do an ultra! Unfortunately, for us typically-shod runners, that’s a really bad idea and my friends who have tried barefoot running (or a Vibram-like alternative) have all gotten injured, sometimes requiring many weeks of recovery. McDougall also has a persuasive YouTube video advocating barefoot running. It is so tempting!

“I’m not any kind of doctor or therapist or anything related to health. (I also don’t work for a shoe company!). All I know is that some people who have read the book get excited, change their running and then get injured. So, I love “Born to Run” as a wonderfully inspirational adventure story. I also love McDougall’s thesis that we humans are natural runners. But we are NOT Tarahumara Indians and we are used to running shoes. Thanks for the article!”

Thanks for the cautionary note, Peter. I don’t plan to take up barefoot running anytime soon but I do think I’m going to pay more attention to how I run.