Single, two kids, sick, unemployed, and weighing in at 315 pounds, Marilyn Chivetta’s story seemed hopeless. That might be most people, but it’s not Marilyn. This is a woman whose wedding was called off six days before the vows, and she still hosted the reception, a party she ended up calling the Broken Heart Ball.

“I celebrate everything, all of the time,” she told us. While she used the party to momentarily pick up the pieces of a life that unexpectedly shattered around her, it wasn’t long before she turned all of her focus to her young son and not herself. Then, a car accident would break her back leading to multiple health problems that would render her unable to work. At the end of 2010, when things couldn’t seem to get much worse, she received an eviction notice for her rented house; she learned the landlord hadn’t been making the mortgage payments.

“One thing lead to another and the next thing you know I’m over 300 pounds,” Marilyn said. “I started 2011 barely walking. Things were really bad, I was really sick,” she told us.

It was then that she had that all-important “ah-ha” moment. She says she prayed about what to do, and relied on her faith. Her plan was to “lose the weight and go see Oprah.” It didn’t quite happen that way, but her outreach to Oprah did land her an appearance on Dr. Phil in spring 2011. That was the turning point.

At her heaviest, Marilyn weighed 315 pounds. Today, she’s down more than 129, and notes that the number is “so far,” because she’s not done. She lost the weight in about 10 months, and credits the majority to her Bistro MD diet.

“I started feeling better within three days,” she says of the Bistro MD meals, which were afforded to her after her Dr. Phil appearance to help her lose weight and start regaining her life.
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Have you ever pictured yourself doing a happy dance in the grocery store because you could afford oranges? No? Me neither, but that’s what happened during my 30-day challenge to feed my family of three at or near the poverty level. There were also moments of frustration and a few tears shed. Here’s how it all started …

I was roaming around a section of the USDA website where they keep track of over 8,000 families and what they spend every month for groceries. This helps them set four different budget levels: Thrifty (near the poverty level), Low, Medium, and Liberal.  Amounts are broken down by gender and age; kids and the elderly account for less money than 20-something guys, for instance. 

If you think this is a futile exercise and a waste of taxpayer money, you’d be wrong. If you’re going through a divorce, it’s likely that the courts will assess child support at the “Low” level, no matter your income. The food that our servicemen and women are served is budgeted at the Liberal level. So this monthly assessment by the government has a bigger effect than you might realize.

When I looked at the numbers, I realized my family was living at the “Low” level, but that wasn’t taking into account how often we eat out (two to three meals per week between lunches and dinner). The amount we spend does reflect us eating a lot of organic foods. Plus, we can sometimes be too wasteful; I cringe some weeks at what we throw away. It’s not just a waste of money, but a waste of resources for the planet.

Could our family live at the Thrifty level? What would it take? And what if I tried doing this while only shopping at Whole Foods, aka “Whole Paycheck”? And then what if I also threw a dinner party for eight as the very last meal?

I contacted Whole Foods and suggested a bet. If I could feed my family of three for 30 days exclusively from items purchased at Whole Foods for $491.10 they would reimburse me for my food. If I didn’t make it, they’d owe me nothing. The budget worked out to $16.31 cents per day total for all three of us. In case you’re wondering, here’s what we bought for the month.

Whole Foods said yes, my family was gung ho, and we were off on January 1st, shopping for over 90 minutes, trying to figure out what we could afford.   
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If you love cheese, you’re not alone, and you may not want to read this.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) believes cheese to be the guilty culprit of our nation’s obesity problem. They believe it so much that they have recently began a billboard campaign in Albany, New York. Large billboards display dimply thighs or flabby guts and read, “Your Thighs on Cheese,” or “Your Abs on Cheese.”

Are they right? Is the ooey gooey goodness of cheese really the enemy?

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s estimates, Americans have tripled the amount of cheese they eat each year since 1970. Today, the average American eats 31 pounds of per year. Let’s be real, that’s a lot of cheese!

Neal Barnard is part of the PCRM and clearly stated how he feels about our cheese consumption, especially our children’s cheese consumption. “Cheese and other dairy products are the leading source of saturated fat that our kids are swallowing. And I think most Americans are totally oblivious to it.”
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By Lauren O’Connor, MS, RD for Nutri-Savvy.

You may tread on it, wear it, and yes, even ingest it! The same chemical used in making tires and the make-up you wear may be found in a wide variety of common, everyday food products.

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) is a synthetic chemical found in petroleum, rubber, cosmetics, animal feed, and food packaging. Because it prevents oxidation, it is also used to “preserve freshness” in food products. It works by retarding rancidity and eliminating odors in fat and oil-containing foods. Though an “antioxidant,” this widely-used substance may be cause for concern.

The exposure to BHA in foods increased nearly two-fold from the 1970s to the early eighties, with US annual usage rising from 170,000 kg to 300,000 kg. The additive may be found in butter, meats, cereals, chewing gum, baked goods, snacks, nut products, dry beverage mixes, active dry yeast, dehydrated potatoes and beer! And let’s not forget the environment: If you work around livestock or in the cosmetics, rubber or petroleum industries, you have increased exposure. Fast-food employees who cook and serve fried, oily foods are also more exposed.
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Patriots quarterback Tom Brady stays in top physical shape with a combination of weight lifting and cardio, both during the football season and during the off-season.

During the season, he lifts four days per week. “I take off Wednesday, Saturday and obviously we play most Sundays,” he says. “I also do 40 to 60 minutes of cardio six days per week in order to improve my conditioning. “For cardio, he avoids doing the same workout too often. “I try to mix up my cardio using a variety of machines like the stepper, precor, as well as some running.” He also does drills that are designed to improve agility, as well as lots of jumping rope.

During the off season, he continues to do cardio workouts for close to an hour six days per week. “I do more running than in-season,” says Brady. His weight training program also focuses more on strength training. “My sessions are usually about 25% longer since my body isn’t beat up from playing,” he explains.

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