Healthy Eating: Some Pitfalls to Avoid

Does anyone else remember Pepsi Light, the first lemon cola? I know, it had saccharin in it, but still, we thought we were doing something good by not putting the sugar from cola in our bodies.

Here are some warped things I (or others I've known) have done in the name of "healthy" eating:

-Justified eating a double cheeseburger by washing it down with a diet Coke/Pepsi and a side salad.

-Had a cup of soup and side salad with an unlimited Snackers basket (and I mean solely for you, not shared with everyone at the table). For the uninitiated, Snackers are cracker-like pita wedges (I believe they're fried) served with a generous tub of a spreadable smoky Swiss-style cheese. So having unlimited Snackers is not good for you, no matter how much salad you ingest.

-Had a Boston Cooler made with diet Vernors Ginger Ale (or a "brown cow" made with diet A&W Root Beer).

-Convinced yourself that you can have a 1/4-cup portion of any side dish you want as well as a couple of desserts at your uncle's funeral luncheon.

-Drunk more white wine at a party than is desirable at a friend's house party because a glass of wine is only two points, making it better for you than one fruity alcoholic drink you really wanted. (At best, this will end in your sleeping on a friend's couch, in your clothes, getting a crick in your neck. At worst, you'll be sleeping (still in your clothes) in a friend's daughter's room when two other friends — coincidentally engaged to each other — plop on the couch in said room and proceed to have a loud, drunken argument when you're still too sloshed to drive home.

I'm naming just a few of the pitfalls my friends and I have dealt with in the past 10 years; what are your experiences? 

Video Promotes Blog

Yesterday, I learned something at The Oakland Press about how to shoot, edit and post simple video clips. I was lucky enough to have Karen Workman, a reporter at The Oakland Press who writes The Dog Blog show me and another blogger, Chef Stacy Sloan, who writes the Cooking from Scratch blog, the basic steps of taking, editing video and creating a finished product to put online.

It was a wholly practical exercise: Karen shot my video first, and then it was Stacy's turn. Stacy got to edit her video and create her video "movie" first; after that it was my turn, with considerable coaching from Karen. Ultimately, the video will be used in streaming to promote my blog). I was extremely excited to see the finished product and thank Karen for her patience.

I may attach a video clip to the blog soon!