faToid
During the Depression, restaurant owners found that diners would eat less if the food was served on a blue plate. Thus the term 'blue plate special.'
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Feng Shui and the Blue Plate Special
FENG SHUI (pronounced “fung shway”), the Chinese art of placement, literally translates as "wind-water." Wind represents that which we cannot see and water represents that which we cannot grasp. Feng Shui helps to harmonize these unseen forces in our lives.
According to ancient Chinese philosophy (and the laws of physics), all things – both living and nonliving - are composed of energy. This energy is called "chi." It is the life force of all matter. Through the principles of Feng Shui, one can create a balanced and harmonious environment, which in turn creates a happier, healthier, wealthier, better life for you.
Feng Shui is primarily used for interior/exterior design applications. However, these same principles may aid the efforts of those who want to lose weight.
The Kitchen, one of the most important rooms for health and wealth, should be organized. Your stove should be kept clean. Your refrigerator and pantry should be stocked with foods that are NOT past their expiration dates! (I'm in violation.) Be sure to place a bowl of fresh fruit on the counter or table. This represents vitality and healthy choices.
Bright colored foods should be well represented on your plate, while neutral color foods should be less than one-third. The chi value in a bowl of veggies far exceeds the chi in a plate of pasta.
Be sure to balance the five elements of feng shui – earth, metal, water, wood and fire, as well as yin (alkaline) foods with yang (acid) foods. It’s all about resonating with your space. When your chi is up, you feel good, and are less likely to gorge, binge or go on a bender.
The water element (represented by the colors blue and black) is extremely important, as it will slow down your eating process. Dinnerware should be either black or dark blue. The color of the plate subconsciously affects your appetite. Dark colors diminish your appetite. Bright colors, like red, stimulate your appetite!
Place a dark tablecloth on your table after lunch. Your appetite should lessen as the day progresses. Decorate your table with fresh flowers. Use your best china for all your meals, making eating a sacred ritual.
Aside from visual influences, let's consider smell and sound. Free-flowing music, such as Gregorian chants or 'new age' sounds may enable you to slow down and savor your meal. Interesting concept!
For an even more satisfying and sensual experience, consider adding the scent of chamomile or rose oil to the dining table.
Your attention may shift to the conversation rather than the food!
LINKS:
Natural Health Web - tons of good Feng Shui articles and more.
Feng Shui at Geomancy.
Feng Shui and the work place. Create an almost stress-free working environment.
Dance tip of the week: Put that sexy "Latin motion" into
your dancing. Pretend you're a bear scratching your back against a tree! Grrr, sexy. Courtesy of
Empire Dance!
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Righteous Recipe - This Week's Blue Plate Special is Macaroni & Cheese!!! Beige, but nevertheless YUMMY. Serve with huge green leafy salad, red pepper, tomatoes - the works. Get your CHI up!
Note: I made this Mac & Cheese for some hardcore Comfort Food
Aficionados, and they LOVED it! Said it was the BEST Mac & Cheese they ever had. No Kidding!
| Ingredients:
8 oz. low-fat cottage cheese
16 oz. low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup chopped green onion
2 cups low-fat cheese, grated
1/2 cup evaporated skim milk
2 eggs
One 16 oz. box of cooked elbow macaroni
Paprika
Salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup bread crumbs
Non-Fat cooking spray |
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray & set aside.
In a blender, mix together, sour cream & cottage cheese until smooth.
Combine blended mixture with cooked macaroni, cheese, milk, chopped onion, and eggs (slightly beaten).
Mix well & add salt & pepper to taste.
Pour into prepared casserole dish & sprinkle with bread crumbs & paprika.
Bake covered for 35 minutes, uncover and bake 5 minutes more (or so until brown). Everyone's oven is so different!
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Fruitful Contest ~ Fill in the blank: Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a village near the forest. Whenever she went out, the little girl wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the village called her ________________.
The first to enlighten Our Lady wins an Our Lady of Weight Loss prize!
Write Our Lady.
Last week's Fruitful query: True or False!
True or False: The more you eat, the more satisfied you are.
True or False: The amount of food in a package influences how much you eat.
The answers are: False / True respectively! And the winner is Ruth H., Mifflinburg, PA. Congratulations, Ruth! Bravo.
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Chewing the Fat - How you doin'? Write Our Lady.
Forgive me, for I have sinned.
I feel so dirty. I got home really late last night from a volunteer program I assist with, had been gone all weekend and had no food in the house and not enough time to make coffee and be on time for work. So I stopped by McDonald’s and got an egg biscuit and ... for the first time in as long as I can remember ... hash browns. I sullied myself for the sake of convenience and I can feel the sluggish movement of transfats gooping their way through my arteries on their direct passage to my derriere. Ah well ... nothing to do but recreate my commitment to my own health and well-being and dance on... I’ll eat extra fruit today for penance. I did order an orange juice ...
All is Forgiven * Move On.
Send your confession to info@ourladyofweightloss.com.
No Names - Strictly Anonymous |
Dear OLofWL, I am inspired by your creativity. I am inspired by your reader's tips. (Even more so than those on the Weight Watchers web site.) I find that
gardening is a great way to lose weight, and I swear a lot so it helps
with anger management as well. I'm sure my neighbors don't appreciate
my utterances, but it works for me! I always feel relaxed, happy and
thinner after tackling the garden. Being in California we can garden
almost every month of the year, one of the reasons I love living here.
This weekend I jumped on our lemon tree and discovered the joys of pruning. Do you know when you prune a lemon tree it smells like furniture polish? Battered and bruised today, I am also happier with the way the tree looks and the way I feel.
I find that if you do lots of reaching - as in pruning, painting, and pulling ivy out of trees that you can lose significant weight. Pretty cool. I'm seven pounds from goal weight - this is going to get me there. As long as I keep my sugar addiction at bay.
Oh, another hint. Grapefruit juice. I have a grapefruit tree that has about 150 fruits on it right now. I drink a glass of grapefruit juice it's like some sort of energy potion. Also very cool, as the grapefruit are hitting the ground at about three a day right now. Manna from HEAVEN! God is encouraging me to lose weight for free! (I can imagine, can't I?)
I really like your weekly email. It always cracks me up. A great way to start the work week. Here's to gardening, here's to your fantastic art! ~ Robin from the Urban Turf of San Jose
* * *
Dear Robin from the Urban Turf of San Jose, Wow! You live in a magical place, filled with lemon and grapefruit trees. Enviable (as I sit in my apartment with 4 degree temperatures outside)! I am reminded of one of my favorite books, The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino. It's about a young Italian nobleman of the 18th century, who rebels against parental authority by climbing into the trees and remaining there for the rest of his life. Ahhhh - wouldn't that be nice? But I digress - gardening, pruning, pulling ivy out of trees are such wonderfully creative ways to work your body, and lose weight. What's better than dirt? You have inspired me to work on an indoor herb garden. Congratulations on your weight loss. And yes, you are being encouraged to lose weight, for free, from many sources! Let us know how your personal pruning process proceeds! ~ OLofWL PS: Thanks for the Weight Watchers comparison!!!!
Note to Our Lady's Angels: If anyone out there has any simple info on how to grow an indoor herb garden, please let me know! Thanks.
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The Art of Weight Loss Workshop
Interested in joining the next Six Week Workshop?
Gain insight into your inner Weight Loss Artist ™while steadily shedding pounds.
From weight loss mantras to songs to sacrificial Twinkies. When it comes to permanent fat removal, thinking outside of the donut box is key!
What's Your Weight Loss Mantra?
You need to insert a pause somewhere between seeing the donut and eating the donut. A few meaningful words that give you a moment to think this donut thing through may give an opportunity to make another choice. My Weight Loss Mantra is "STOP! In the name of love."
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The Art of Weight Loss is a six-week workshop that is dedicated to approaching weight loss from a creative place. We will share weight-loss thoughts, frustrations, successes, recipes, and find creative ways, both literally and figuratively, to redirect our feeding frenzies. You need not have an artistic bone in your body - just the desire to have some fun.
Here's what one participant had to say!
" As I was walking along 3rd Avenue this morning, passing all those yummy bakeries and thinking that I really need to take a different route for my daily walks,"my song" popped into my head. I started humming "HELP" by the Beatles. By the time my walk was completed I was singing it out loud and chuckling to myself. It worked!!! I didn't buy even one crumb. Hooray for me! ~ Leslie J-M."
IF YOU ARE NOT able to attend group meetings but wish to be a part of it, please read on.
There will be a weekly goodie bag filled with some very cool handouts that can be snail-mailed to you.
For more info... click here or
contact: info@ourladyofweightloss.com
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The KICK in the TUSH Club provides a weekly reminder in the form of an Art-KICK for those who wish to anchor themselves to their weight loss and/or health goals (or for those who need to satisfy their craving for a quirky kick). It's fun, fab and fat-free. Sign-up now (there's no charge). Click here! Our Lady. (Or send an email to: info@OurLadyofWeightLoss.com) and say, "YES! I need a KICK in the TUSH.
 
Sign up now!
It's fun, fab and fat-free -
no charge either.
This way to the boutique!
Volume II, KICK #5™©
Janice Taylor
www.OurLadyofWeightLoss.com™®
a Division of Oy-Caramba, Ltd!
Interested in reprinting the KICK in the TUSH or licensing the art?
Contact: info@ourladyofweightloss.com
Our Lady of Weight Loss has been recommended by:
The New York Daily News,
The Arizona Republic Newspaper,
SKIRT! Magazine,
Energy Express, Tribune Media Co., Herbs for Health,
Good Housekeeping and more...
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Disclaimer: This column is for information only and no part of its contents should be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, recommendation or endorsement by Our Lady of Weight Loss, Oy-Caramba, Ltd! or Ms. Taylor.
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