#farmersmarketflow

Nopaltilla Homestyle Cactus Tortilla Chips are the best thing since sliced bread.  I am a total push-over for tortilla chips and it's a classic sabotage for any diet.  Some chips are overly salted and loaded with carbs.  I found these chips at the Burbank Farmer's Market.  The first day I binged on them, I suffered some dear consequences.  Now when I eat them in moderation, they are a perfect gentile laxative.

You might say, eew, but health gurus such as Dr. Oz don't shy away from talking about poop.

How are "diet and weight loss secrets" supposed to help other people if we keep them to ourselves?  I'm not saying everything on the Dr. Oz show is the honest truth.  The hype about Garcinia cambogia (a.k.a. Garcinia gummi-gutta) for example didn't live up in a clinical trial.

Garcinia gummi-gutta is a fad diet trick

I found the Nopaltilla chips to be such a god-send that I couldn't help writing about it here.  We've been eating a lot of fast food lately.  I've been out of the habit of cooking and into the habit of letting other people cook for me.  This has not been good for my weight.  The training we did over the Winter Break seems to have been counterbalanced by my disordered eating.  I have been skipping lunch.

Death Valley was such a great detox for me.  When I got back, I didn't crave sugar or soda.  Now I'm back to drinking at least 2 x 20 oz coffee in the morning and 32 oz diet soda in the afternoon.  Sheesh.  But I can say that after I eat a spinach salad or a couple (no more than 10) Nopaltilla chips, I feel green and great!

We're planning to run in the Glendale Downtown Dash (March 30th) which is a 5k run.  I'm REALLY looking forward to that.  We're also planning to run the Corona del Mar Scenic 5k (June 7).  I know it's a long way off, but it gives me that motivation that I need to keep training.  It's no fun being a runner when your nutrition is out of whack or you haven't pooped in 5 days.  Just saying.

Based on a quick read about Nopal (prickly pear cactus, a.k.a. Opuntia ficus-indica), it provides an ample supply of Vitamin C, magnesium, calcium, and manganese.  I love eating things rather than taking vitamins in pill form.  Not just because I love eating, but because I have a feeling that minerals from foods are already in the form we have evolved to extract them from and it's not so long (in evolutionary time) that we have been taking minerals in pill (capsule) form.

I'm sure there's more to learn about both these plants (Garcinia cambogia and Opuntia ficus-indica) especially in the way of organic acids, amino acids, sugars, minerals, and dietary fiber.  According to folk medicine, dietary Nopal may affect the glycemic index and be useful in diabetes management.  I have noticed this in my own body and I just wanted to post about it since it seems to be working for me.

In other news, I got a 21 class package with Bella Fitness and I am now doing Zumba among other people right in Downtown Glendale.  No more trying to get fit in the 372 sq. ft. house we are renting via a YouTube Playlist.  I am loving the atmosphere of working out with other people.  Not so much loving the giant mirrors but I'm getting used to it.  Love the clapping and shouting "Hey!" together.  Love the heart-pumping, ear-drum thumping, world music.  It reminds me of how multicultural Glendale is and I love getting Jiggy.  In my #adidas.  

And I have no idea what #farmersmarketflow means, I just know other people use it.  And more random stuff about hashtags here.  

When you are a real nerd, you make flowers out of twitter conversations.  Jealous?  Make your own by following the instructions here.