Dana's blog

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A Facebook friend asked what we'd be having for Thanksgiving dinner, so I thought I'd let you know:

* Roast turkey, of course, with giblet gravy

* Sugar-free cranberry sauce, which is so easy it's silly. Just read the recipe on the back of the bag of fresh cranberries, and substitute Splenda, erythritol or xylitol for the sugar. Takes maybe ten minutes.

I recently made a snarky comment about a vegetarian, and was taken to task for it by a vegetarian low carber. It is true that there are many vegetarians out there who have simply made a dietary choice for themselves, and do not take aim at the eating habits of others, not even those of us low carbers who weight our diets heavily in favor of meat.

Okay, I've been drinking extra-light olive oil in the middle of the night, and again when I wake up, for maybe four or five days now. I haven't lost a bunch of weight, but it does seem easier to keep from creeping up from recipe development. I haven't been doing all-meat; I've included veggie and nuts and such ad lib, and I'm not gaining. Facebook fans know that I've really been struggling with that.

I made hash browns for breakfast this morning, and both That Nice Boy I Married and I thought they were wonderful. Here's how:

I peeled a couple of turnips -- maybe a little bigger than a tennis ball each -- and ran 'em through the shredding blade of my food processor. I tried running my onion through, too, but a lot of it was slipping past the blade in big chunks, so I just grabbed a knife and a cutting board and diced it fine. I used half of a medium onion.

Seth Roberts kindly answered my questions re the Shangri-La Diet:

Thanks for writing. Several studies show that food preferences can be produced with caffeine. You come to like flavors paired with caffeine. I think that explains your tea addiction.

Perhaps you are more susceptible to caffeine-generated addictions than other people but why that is I cannot answer.

Seth

About what I figured, but it seemed a good idea to ask. Where's that cup of tea?

I had a couple of things that puzzled me about the whole theory behind The Shangri-La Diet, so I sent author and originator Seth Roberts an email this morning. Here it is:

This must be my day for recommending other people's blog posts: Top Ten Non-Generic Prescription Drugs of 2009.

To recap: As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post about the Shangri-La Diet, the heart of the diet lies in decoupling the brain's association between taste and calories. This can be accomplished two ways:

1) Consuming extremely bland calories
2) Eating foods with unfamiliar flavors

To recap: As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post about the Shangri-La Diet, the heart of the diet lies in decoupling the brain's association between taste and calories. This can be accomplished two ways:

1) Consuming extremely bland calories
2) Eating foods with unfamiliar flavors

Dr. Mike Eades, at Protein Power, writes what is for me perhaps the most don't-miss low carb blog out there. Today he looks at a recent heartwire.com article, exposing the linguistic tricks used to make low carb diets, and those who research and advocate for them, look bad. Must-read stuff.

And by the way, I know Dr. Eric Westman. A more sincere man I never hope to meet. Nor a smarter one.

In response to my post about Sensa, a couple of readers suggested I take a look at Seth Robert's Shangri-La Diet. I promptly did some googling, reading what I could find online, and also reserved the book at my public library. I picked the book up yesterday, and I've read about two thirds of it already -- it's not long. It is, however, very interesting, and blessedly clearly written.

Here's what I have been able to glean so far about the theory and practice of the Shangri-La Diet:

Okay, I've been taking gelatin for a couple of months, and I'm on my second three-week cycle of growth hormone releasers. How is it going?

Hi Dana,

Just wondering if you ever had a chance to de-carb any of the holiday recipes sent in? I'm starting to plan my Thanksgiving meal now and wondered if the two recipes I submitted could be de-carbed. If not I'll just find something else to make. I think I sent in the Wisconsin Cranberry Salad and the Cranberry bread.

Also, I'd asked if any of the Whey Protein powders were safe for kids under 18. Let me know if you ever find out the answer.

I rescind my offer to try Sensa. A little poking around the 'net turns up the fact that A) the 30 day "free trial" ain't free -- they send you a two month supply, and simply don't charge you for it until thirty days are up. If you send everything back by day thirty, you pay only shipping and handling (both ways.) However, B) many people said that it was viciously difficult to cancel, and that the Sensa people kept shipping the product and charging their credit card, and even turning them over to collections, claiming they hadn't properly canceled. I'm not getting myself into that, thanks.