Oh, goody, goody gumdrops! The beginners and intermediate holiday gift guides were a great start and will definitely fit the bill for those who are just starting on their path to wellness, but I’m betting there are the folks on your gift list who are very serious about healthy living and already commit themselves to […]
Dec 9 2014
Scratching your head about what to get that special someone who’s trying to live a healthier lifestyle? Here are some great, inexpensive gift ideas for a friend or loved one who’s ready to embark on a new fitness routine or wants to spend more time in the kitchen preparing healthy meals in 2015. Read more “Healthy […]
Feliz Navi-dog from Stella! The days after Thanksgiving are a time of excitement as we begin the transition into Christmas or Hanukah mode (some of us faster than others). I’m not a shopper, so my idea of Black Friday is staring at the inside of my eyelids, leaving the lines and crowds to someone else. […]
Nov 27 2014
The tables are set, the stuffing and cranberry are sauce are made, and the star of the show is brining in the fridge. It’s Thanksgiving morning and I wake up to a house that’s quiet, but not “too” quiet, if you know what I mean. Three out of four of my kids are home (my […]
Nov 25 2014
BAM! I have got this Thanksgiving dessert thing figured out! Let me just say up front that I am a dessert fiend. I love them all: tarts, crisps, pies, cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes, trifles, flans, glacees, gelatos, truffles … you get the picture. I love making them, I love eating them, and I love the leftovers […]
Nov 21 2014
Nov 18 2014
Turkeys, eyeing farmer with cleaver headed toward them: “If we work together, I think we can take him.” Excerpted from “Holiday Horror” blog (original post November 29, 2012) My husband (aka “resident comedian”) has said for years that he can time the guests’ arrival at any family gathering by the onset of my nervous breakdown. Haha! Funny […]
Even those of us who don’t spend much time in the kitchen the rest of the year are dying to gather up our favorite tools to make the most-anticipated meal of the year: Thanksgiving dinner. Not hosting? Take a healthy side dish to share, or maybe bring one of these Thanksgiving-essential cooking tools for your […]
Nov 10 2014
I was having lunch with a friend the other day who told me that her high school senior had just made her college decision. It’s a nerve-wracking process every time, but this was my friend’s first time through; she was both nervous and elated. Her biggest fear was that her daughter had chosen a school […]
It’s haunting to you, isn’t it? That damn bowl of candy that’s been sitting on the counter since Halloween night. Maybe even keeping you awake at night. You lay there, telling yourself you’re just gonna eat a piece or two a day, but as if possessed by Zuul the Gatekeeper of Gozer, you end up with a mound of wrappers […]
Oct 30 2014
I’m so grateful I had (still have!) THAT kind of mom. The kind of mom who made our Halloween costumes every year. (That’s me and my brother, circa 1965. I’m the flower. My brother was a monarch butterfly.) The kind of mom who threw elaborate-themed birthday parties. The kind of mom who tried desperately to […]
Oct 17 2014
If you’re like most people, you’ve tried to change your health habits before. You’ve started and stopped diets and exercise plans at least once, if not many times in your life. You start each new plan or program with renewed zeal. You start out strong. You eat only 1200 calories per day (or less), you track your food, […]
Oct 6 2014
That’s my new house. At least, it will be in six to nine months. The exact date of completion is somewhat nebulous and depends on whether one believes the builder or the neighbors who have already moved in and found that their move-in dates that were moving targets. Nonetheless I am excited beyond words about this […]
Sep 30 2014
My long-suffering husband lives in fear of our wedding anniversary; hopefully not because he has any regrets, but because I use it as an opportunity enlist him in all kinds of adventures. It’s become our tradition now to try out a new exploit each year to mark the occasion. Earlier this month we celebrated 28 […]
Sep 17 2014
We all have our crosses to bear; mine’s covered in peanut butter. As my desperate tweet implied, I’d eat anything with peanut butter on it. If I was forced to choose just one thing I could take when stranded on a desert island, it wouldn’t even cause me to blink. Peanut butter. I suppose I […]
Aug 24 2014
Here’s the Week 7 “10-Week, 10-Pound Challenge” podcast. This week is all about maintaining your healthy living goals while traveling. I recap this week’s blogs and take some questions from the “Ask Marilyn” mailbag. Click here to download for offline listening.
Jul 25 2014
Jul 16 2014
Actual scenario: Connor (my 14-year-old son) stomps in the house after another inspiring day at middle school, throws open the refrigerator with an exasperated groan, grabs a bowl of freshly washed strawberries sitting front-and-center on the top shelf, and lets out a relieved, “Thank goodness!” He takes the entire bowl upstairs to his room and […]
Jul 7 2014
Where I live, summer officially begins on July 5th. Seattle weather is pretty predictable; you can bet money it will rain on July 4th. In fact, it is historically the rainiest day of the month in these parts. Here I am, taking cover on Friday night while waiting for the fireworks to start. Our family […]
I gave serious thought to subtitling this piece “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.” Just like the song of the same name, you get the idea: there’s always going to be a reason to overindulge if you’re looking for one. The summer holidays are upon us, including the 4th of July. We share picnics and barbecues with friends […]
Jun 18 2014
Though not technically an amusement park, I refer to our current food culture as a “food carnival” because it’s like a funhouse ride. Enticing foods assault our senses everywhere we go and we must learn to see through the attraction of it all and make sensible choices. As parents, it’s equally important that we teach […]
It’s time for a “Top 10” list! Haven’t done one in a while and they’re always such a kick in the pants. Let’s take a look at ten foods you might assume are healthy that actually are not. It shouldn’t surprise you that most of the foods on this list are highly-processed. It also shouldn’t […]
Jun 16 2014
The kitchen may be the hub of the home, but wherever there are screens – TVs, computers, laptops, tablets, video games, smartphones or iPods – that’s where you’ll find kids. And truthfully, most of us grown-ups, too. The average American 8-10 year-old spends eight hours per day in front of screens. Teens spend closer to […]
Jun 13 2014
Jun 11 2014
That’s my son Connor. He’s a happy, healthy 14-year-old these days, if a little on the snarky side. Gee, I wonder where he gets that?!? Ahem. If you’re wondering whether it bothers him that I use him as an example of what I’ve learned about children and obesity, it doesn’t. We talk about it all […]
Teaching your kids the value of eating healthy food and exercising evolves from very simple messages when they’re 3 years old to much more sophisticated conversations when they’re 13. The 3-year-old just wants to hang out with you in the kitchen, help tear lettuce, maybe sample the ingredients while you’re cooking. The 13-year-old already has […]
Jun 5 2014
Childhood obesity is a societal problem, to be sure. We are all impacted by the repercussions of generations of young people who are conditioned to overeat for a variety of reasons: they are less active than older generations, they are more technologically connected but less connected to other people than older generations, unhealthy food surrounds […]
Jun 3 2014
As I said in the introduction to “Healthy Grown-Ups, Healthy Kids,” obesity doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it happens in the context of families. Whether it’s the family we grew up in, the family we created or both, our eating patterns and food preferences, our exercise habits and body image are formed inside our family […]
Jun 2 2014
Welcome to Healthy Grown-Ups, Healthy Kids! This is our month-long look at the impact of overweight and obesity within families. You probably already realize, weight problems don’t happen in a vacuum; they happen in the context of families. That is, our eating patterns, food preferences, exercise habits and body image all are formed within our […]
May 29 2014
When you set out on a weight loss journey you need to survey your home almost as if you were a homebuyer going through a house assessing its strengths and weaknesses. You must evaluate each room with a critical eye, discerning how well it meets your needs. In terms of creating a healthy lifestyle, you […]
May 28 2014
You achieve success one decision at a time. You succeed at weight loss one meal at a time. It can feel overwhelming to contemplate losing 100 lbs. or even 20 or 30, especially if you’ve tried many times before. But if you commit to a healthy lifestyle one meal at a time, it’s more manageable. […]
May 26 2014
All month we’ve been talking about how to create a home environment that supports weight loss and healthy living. There was the “Pantry Purge” and “The Proactive Pantry,” the “Refrigerator Rehab” and “Refrigerator Reset,” the “Franken-Freezer” and “Frozen is Fabulous.” But what about the rest of your house? Is it set up to support a […]
May 15 2014
There are two forces at work in your refrigerator that you can use to your advantage for weight loss: foods that must be refrigerated are by definition perishable. Buy fresh foods and use them quickly! And second, the number of very healthy convenience foods has dramatically increased in the last few years. Now that we’ve […]
May 13 2014
It’s time to rehab the fridge as we continue our quest to create a “safe haven” in your home to support your weight loss goals. I’m really hoping we don’t have to call in a HAZMAT team to clean it out! Just like when we cleared out the hazardous foods in the pantry and cupboards, […]
May 8 2014
I am probably the last person on the face of the Earth who will tell you to start canning all your food in order to eat healthier. I am, after all, the laziest (healthy) cook in North America. I will, however, tell you that once you’ve done your “Pantry Purge” based on the principle of […]
May 6 2014
You’re afraid to open the cupboard, aren’t you? It’s all gonna come crashing down if you open it … don’t do it! Maybe your pantry and cupboards aren’t overstuffed and disorganized to that degree, but sometimes it seems like we keep buying things because we forget what we’ve already got. Or, we’re just in the […]
May 1 2014
Dorothy didn’t have to go looking for her heart’s desire over the rainbow because, as she learned by the movie’s end, it was in her own backyard all along. In fact as we all know, there’s no place like home. Throughout the month we’re going to look at how to set up your home environment […]
Apr 23 2014
Mar 20 2014
Maybe you’re asking yourself, if dinner is roughly 300 calories and it’s primarily vegetables, what in the heck can I have other than rabbit food?!? In Tuesday’s blog I shared one of my all-time favorite salad recipes “Spinach Salad with Dried Cranberries and Gorgonzola.” It’s one of a half-dozen or so salads that I make […]
Mar 12 2014
Jan 31 2014
Jan 30 2014
In Tuesday’s blog, “Ditch the Time Wasters” we talked about the activities that eat away at your precious time, making it less likely that you’ll have room in your day for healthy meals and exercise. The second big time waster is harder to identify and root out. There are people who intrude on your personal […]
Jan 29 2014
Jan 27 2014
Dec 27 2013
A few days after Christmas my house still looks like a set for a post-apocalyptic movie. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but only because my long-suffering husband is so tidy. Truthfully, there are neatly stacked piles everywhere: things to go upstairs, things to get returned or exchanged, things to go off with the […]
Dec 24 2013
Dec 23 2013
I won’t keep you today; I know there are a lot of things you’ve still got to get done before the caroling and wassailing can begin. Hopefully you don’t save all the wrapping until the last minute like I do, but if you do, put on your favorite Christmas album and enjoy a cup of […]
Dec 19 2013
I love the visual of the two tables because it so clearly defines for me what I have proactively chosen to eat (my table) vs. every possible food choice (the other table). I use this visual constantly when I’m confronted with a new food or need to remind myself which table chocolate chip cookies belong […]