The Joys (and Tastes) of a 3-Day Weekend

I don't know about you, but I'm eating up this three-day weekend. My husband and I decided to stay at home for this holiday and we haven't regretted our decision once. Particularly since we re-discovered the beauty of our favorite appliance ever: the bread machine. When we were deciding what to make for dinner last night, I said, "What about homemade pizza?" and his eyes lit up about as bright as my were shining when I thought of the idea.

We'd never made pizza dough before, so the whole process was new and therefore fun and oh-so-yummy. I got the ball rolling on this one, but as soon as the dough was ready to come out of the bread machine Jeremy couldn't take his hands off it. There's something about digging your hands into real homemade dough without the emulsifiers and pectins and guar and xanthum gums...and whatever else comes in the pre-packaged stuff.

And I have to say -- this pizza was the best pizza I remember eating in a long time. As you'll see above, this wasn't a picture-perfect pie because we had to break the dough into two oblong pieces to fit in the cookie sheets we had. But it made it even more fun to eat.

If you're wondering what was in Maggie & Jeremy's best pizza ever, here are the ingredients, which I'm proud to say are fully pronounceable and amount to only 8 ingredients! Dough: warm water, olive oil, all purpose flour, salt, sugar, dry yeast; and then cheese and pepperoni, which came from Whole Foods. DELISH!

We were planning to go to our favorite gelato store in the city after dinner, but both of us were so satisfied with this meal (with also entailed broccoli cooked with garlic and olive oil) that we didn't want dessert -- and that's practically unheard of for us.

I'm telling you -- Eat When You're Hungry (make it good-quality stuff), and stop when you're full. It's the only thing you ever need to know when it comes to food and feeling good.

Happy Labor Day!

America The Beautiful

I just found out about America The Beautiful, a documentary exploring our nation's obsession with beauty. I am turning my schedule upside down so I can see it this weekend, and I encourage you to do the same. Check out the trailer below. I'm so excited about this film. I think it's going to be an important one. Come out and support it with me!

Way To Go, Margaret Cho!

Despite being a person who rarely uses a bad word -- it just doesn't come naturally to me -- last year I shared a piece written by Margaret Cho that, aside from being filled with f-bombs, was brilliant. Today I'm happy to follow that up with this "news." Cho's weight loss is making headlines this month and for once in my life I'm happy to share the news of someone's weight loss on this blog.

Why? Because Margaret Cho reminds us all that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Because Margaret Cho reminds us that she eats ice cream and pizza and chips. Because Margaret Cho reminds us that diets don't work, and that listening to our bodies -- even when they want cheeseburgers -- does work. It works by helping us tune into our own hunger and fullness signals. It helps us learn to appreciate our curves, our strengths, and yes, even our weaknesses.

Back to watching the Olympics. Just wanted to share this with you before the "news" is forgotten.

And so you're not surprised, I plan to re-post Margaret Cho's original piece as long as the link is live. It just doesn't go stale.

Dieting Doesn't Work. Intuitive Eating Does

We all have reason to celebrate today. And to thank Ken Carlson for writing a great piece in The Modesto Bee about intuitive eating. I hope to see more of these soon.

Only thing I must caution you about when reading this piece is the last part of the article where a source from WW says that WW is not a diet. HA! Though believe me, I understand the requirements of journalism and balanced reporting, so this was probably necessary.

If you ignore that last bit about the WW DIET, this is a great article on intuitive eating.

This is all very funny timing for me. For some reason, I've encountered a lot of people recently who are on diets. Friends, colleagues and acquaintances who are skipping out on things they enjoy (wine, salad dressing, you name it) because it isn't allowed on their particular diet.

This saddens me. Immensely. Because study after study after study after study has shown that diets don't work. As Traci Mann, UCLA associate professor of physchology and lead author of a study on dieting, said, "Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people."

And....intuitive eating does. So take a deep, appreciative breath of life. Close your eyes for a moment. And remember that if you listen to it, your body will tell you exactly what it wants -- and needs -- to eat. Honor that.

And have a great weekend while you're at it.

Take a Stand!

My number one mission in launching Eat When You're Hungry was to help as many people as I possibly could to stop dieting and start living. I'm proud to say that I think I'm doing that, reaching one person at a time. At the heart of my efforts is and always has been health.

Health of body
Health of mind
Health of spirit

Given my commitment to health, I was awe-struck when I learned about a new movement called Stand Up To Cancer. It's mission is simple yet poignant -- to Stand Up To Cancer. The site beautifully states that "this is where the end of cancer begins: when we unite in one unstoppable movement and Stand Up To Cancer."

So check out what is shaping up to be a pretty massive movement. All inspired by people's personal experiences with cancer. You can share your story, take a stand, launch a star, or befriend the movement on Facebook.

I may be posting more about this in coming weeks, so stay tuned. But for now, consider doing something grand today -- go out there and take a stand!

Birthday Bowls (thanks Katie!)

My sister bought me these adorable bowls for my birthday this past Wednesday, and after eating out of one of them today I had to write about it. After all, when there's even an iota of an Eat When You're Hungry lesson I have to share it here first.

To finish off my lunch today, I cut up some fresh pineapple, and while I'd normally serve my fruit in a plain glass bowl, today I served it (to myself) in one of my adorable new birthday bowls. It will be no surprise to anyone that I chose the pink one to try first. After cutting up the fruit and placing it inside the bowl, it was time to sit down and eat. And let me tell you -- it was just about the cutest, birthday-ish pineapple I've ever eaten. Because the bowl was so fun to eat out of, I ended up savoring each and every bite of pineapple so I wouldn't have to put away my brand new bowl too soon.

So if you're having trouble slowing down your eating and actually tasting your food, try serving meals on/in your most favorite dishes. If you don't have anything other than boring white dishware, splurge on one pretty dish, and start with that. It'll be a whole lot cheaper for you -- and don't even get me started on how much healthier it will be -- than starting a new diet.

Below....my new birthday bowls, and some Saturday afternoon pineapple.

Summer Special

Tomorrow is the first official day of summer, and I have one message for you: beware of advertisements that are going to try to convince you to start a new diet. Airwaves around the world (as well as new stands, water cooler conversations and grocery check-out lines) are saturated with dieting messages right now. These messages can be alluring because they're fueled by a multi-billion dollar diet industry that's dependent on signing you up for a new gimmick just in time for bathing suit season.

In order to stay true to my original mission -- to help as many people as I possibly can to stop dieting and start living -- I'm dropping the price of my book to $9.99.

If you haven't bought my book yet, and are feeling tempted by the smiling faces of people dancing across the screen (or page) in dieting ads, buy it now.

Imagine a summer spent in freedom. No dieting, no restricting, and no foods off-limits.

I'm off to try a new recipe for peanut-butter and jelly bars -- kind of like peanut butter cookies meets blondies meets PB&J. I thought it would be a good snack to bring pool side on the first day of summer.

Happy swimming!