The dreaded candy dish...

It sits there staring at me as I pass the receptionist...chocolate, caramel, nougat, sugary sweet goodness.

The candy dish.

The devil dressed in colorful packaging – the candy dish.

I went back to work in November and have fallen victim to the candy dish's evil clutches. "It's just one," I say as I peel back the wrapper revealing a mini Twix.

"It's little." Snickers.

"I worked out today." Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

"It's probably OK to have two." Mr. Goodbar + Twix.

"Gosh, that was a long meeting, I better have another piece of candy." Milky Way.

"I had a salad for lunch, one more won't be bad." Baby Ruth.

"What's another." Snickers.

"I've sent like three emails in the past 20 minutes, I need candy..." Snickers, Twix, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.


By the end of the day, I saunter by slyly with my purse in hand. I casually dump the rest of the contents of the dish in and run quickly to the elevator.

OK, I really didn't do that. But I thought about it.

I made a lot of excuses to justify eating a lot of candy every day since November 6! I don't even want to calculate the unnecessary calories.

I think that we do this about a lot of unhealthy habits. We make excuses to skip the gym, eat dessert, have french fries, eat an extra helping of mashed potatoes, etc. And that's just what they are: excuses.

Every morning I go into the office thinking, I don't need any candy. I usually make it to about 2pm and then I quickly rack up the minis. I have good intentions. But, as they say, "good intentions pave the way to hell."

I don't want to go to hell. I want to be eating angel food cake. So, I decided today (as I felt the guilt set in from my dip into the dish) that I am quitting cold turkey. I'm done. No more candy dish. It does me no good. The crazy thing is, I'm not even a candy person. I like baked goods. If I really want something sweet, I should save it for a real dessert (brownie, cookie, piece of cake).

You don't own me candy dish!

Temptation will be there to greet me each day, but I am going to triumph! Damn you candy dish!

My advice today: Outlaw a bad habit. Identify something that does you no good, whatever that may be.

Share your habit with me and the steps you plan to take to quit, once and for all.

Nude Nutrition

I kinda like naked things.

My little baby Elvis at bath time...

My former nude self (pre-baby Elvis)...

Nude beaches (I've been on one, seriously)...

Naked juice, try it, it's good...

My blog...

And of course raw fruits and veggies.

I'm not obsessed with nudity. I wear clothes frequently and generally don't lounge around in the buff. I am referring to "nude nutrition," as I call it. Foods are best naked. Fruits and veggies get stripped of some of their goodness when they are frozen, cooked and drenched with unnecessary sauces and additives.

You know that first sweet strawberry of the summer? You didn't need any whipped cream or Splenda to make it taste good. It was pure heaven all by it's lonesome. Better than Halloween candy (which is sitting in the candy dish at work taunting me, by the way).

A sweet coworker that is days away from giving birth asked about how she can get more raw fruits and veggies into her diet, thus my reason for this post. According to the USDA, it is recommended that adults get five servings of fruit per day and three servings of veggies to prevent a long list of ailments including various cancers. "Pick an ailment these days and researchers somewhere are searching for chemicals in plants that will prevent them, or offer a cure. Plant chemicals, known as phytochemicals, are the cutting edge of nutritional research because they hold the keys to preventing some of our most deadly diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, as well as some of our most common, like asthma, arthritis, and allergies." But, sadly, the average American only eats 1 1/2 servings of vegetables a day and NO fruits. Shocking, but true. Take a quick audit of your recent fruit/veggie intake. Surprise!

Fresh produce comes with its challenges. It's time consuming to get them prepped to eat, they tend to spoil quickly and sometimes without those sauces and additives they aren't that appetizing.

My solution: The Juicer


I've always wanted a juicer (and an Easy Bake oven). Juicers should be added to the 7 Wonders of the World, because they can take just about any fruit or veggie and squeeze all the delicious goodness out into a drinkable delight.

I was curious about the health benefits of the Juicer and turned to my friend Google to provide you, "my naked stretchers," the findings.

Juicing gets more nutrients to your naked bod
Juicing removes the indigestible fiber, allowing nutrients to be made available to the body in much larger quantities than if a fruit or vegetable was eaten whole. For example, because many nutrients are trapped in the fiber, when you eat a raw carrot, you are only able to benefit from about 1% of the available beta carotene. When a carrot is juiced, removing the fiber, nearly 100% of the beta carotene can be assimilated.

Pure, naked water
According to living-foods.com, "More than 65% of most of the cells in the human body are made of water, and in some tissues, for example the brain, the cells can be made up of as much as 80% water. Water is absolutely essential for good health, yet most people don't consume enough water each day. Plus, many of the fluids we do drink, coffee, tea, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages and artificially flavored drinks each contain substances that require extra water for your body to eliminate. Fruit and vegetable juices are free of these unneeded substances and are full of pure, clean water."

Enzyme-envy
Fresh juices are rich in enzymes. In fact, the "freshness" of juice is a key feature, because enzymes are killed by heat. "When you eat cooked foods, whether its meat, grains, fruits, or vegetables, if the food is cooked at temperatures above 114 degrees, the enzymes have been destroyed by the heat. Since fruits and vegetables are juiced raw, the enzymes are still viable when you drink the juice."

Juicing still takes some time. But you should be investing a good amount of time for your health each day, anyway. My suggestion is to take an hour each week (maybe on Sunday night) to prep. And P.S. fresh juice keeps for about a week in the fridge.

I also got Googlicious and came across some delish sounding recipes to get you started:

Apple Pineapple Ginger Juice Recipe
1 apple, cored and sliced
1 cup fresh pineapple, cubed, skin removed
1/2 inch fresh ginger

Juice the apple and ginger together, then juice the pineapple and serve.

Blueberry Grape Juice
handful of grapes
1 cup blueberries

Apple Kiwi Juice Recipe
3 kiwis, peeled
2 apples, cored and sliced

Pineapple Orange Strawberry Cocktail
1 orange, peeled and sectioned
1 cup fresh pineapple, cubed, skin removed
5 strawberries

Cucumber Celery Cooler Recipe
4 medium carrots, greens removed
1/4 medium cucumber, peeled
1 stalk celery
1 apple, sliced
1/2 lemon, peeled

My take? Juicing is smart. Make the investment (both financially and with your time). And buy me a juicer for Christmas, please. I guess I'm too old for the Easy Bake Oven.



Sources: www.living-foods.com, www.lifeclinic.com, www.healthrecipes.com