Another Silly Diet: Sweet Potatoes

       I almost feel like I should go back to the 3rd person for this review, silly as I feel for even checking this book out of the library: The Sweet Potato Diet, by Michael Morelli. At least I got it from the library instead of spending my hard-earned cash for it.

Why silly? Obviously: sweet potatoes may be super good for you, abundant in a veritable alphabet of vitamins (yep, A, B, C, and E).* But a diet composed of sweet potatoes? They're also high in carbs and low in protein. So I was skeptical, but willing to glance through the book.

And I found some interesting bits of information and some great recipes. But I still wouldn't recommend that anyone buy the book. You can find the same, or very similar, recipes online and in your Betty Crocker cookbook or any of the wonderful cookbooks your family and friends gave you as wedding gifts.

But what I really don't like about this book, beyond the silliness of the title, is the idea that anyone would think there is anything new about this diet book. It has the same format as every other fad diet: A lot of personal stories from the author and anecdotes about other people who followed this diet and lost 12 pounds in 2 weeks or whatever; followed by the fact that the author didn't really lose weight but did lose fat and did gain muscle; some nutrition info, a bunch of recipes with very nice photos to accompany them, and then, of course: the exercise plan.

The exercise plan? I'll bet you're asking. At least that's what I asked. Guess what: The exercises are just like the rest of the book: same old, same old. We all know all these exercises. We've all heard all this advice before. Why would we buy a book with this same old information? Why indeed!

And in the middle there's that whole part where you have to balance your carb days with your protein days or whatever. (I emphasize, again, that I did not read this carefully, and my excuse is that I couldn't stand to spend any more time on it than I already did, and then did in order to write this review.) Did I already say this?---Same old, same old.

In other words, what you really need to do, if you want to lose weight and be healthy, is learn how to eat right; balance your food intake to include sources high in vitamins, energy, and protein; and exercise in a reasonable way and amount.

So, go ahead and buy some sweet potatoes and try some new recipes with them, maybe even the sweet-potato-and-kale salad (excuse my barfing sounds), but you don't need this book for any of it.

(25 Healthy Sweet Potato Recipes)

(50 + Savory Sweet Potato Recipes to Eat This Fall)

(30 + Easy Sweet Potato Recipes)

(And so on. You get the idea.)

*"Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene). They are also a very good source of vitamin C, manganese, copper, pantothenic acid and vitamin B6. Additionally, they are a good source of potassium, dietary fiber, niacin, vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and phosphorus." (From the World's Healthiest Foods website:---which includes this very helpful graphic illustration of the vitamins in sweet potatoes:) (Sorry for the text---follow the link to the original to see what the nutrients are!)

Sweet Potato, baked
1.00 cup
(200.00 grams)

Calories: 180
GI: medium

NutrientDRI/DV

 vitamin A214%

 vitamin C52%

 manganese50%

 copper36%

 pantothenic acid35%

 vitamin B634%

 biotin29%

 potassium27%

 fiber26%

 vitamin B319%

 vitamin B118%

 vitamin B216%

 phosphorus15%

The Sunday Book Review: Two (I Mean Three) Memoirs

I've just finished reading "Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir)" by Jenny Lawson, and if you want to laugh your head off, read it. (new, under $9 from Amazon).

The only time I remember laughing harder was when I read the second volume of her memoirs, "Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things" (new, under $11 at Amazon.



Why did I read the second volume first? Because I found it on sale in an airport bookstore, so I read it, embarrassing myself as I chortled and chuckled and howled with laughter on my ride home. So then I looked for the first one. It isn't as funny, but you still might want to read it first. Nah, forget the first one, just go ahead and read "Furiously Happy." Really.


Meanwhile, I've been reading Gloria Steinem's "My Life on the Road," which hasn't left me in stitches with laughter, but has been considerably more edifying and enlightening (new, just under $11 at Amazon). And it also isn't full of the f-bomb and other vulgarities which, although sometimes hilarious, did detract from my enjoyment of the two Lawson books.

But I do recommend all three.

Fiction Friday: Stranger Than Fiction

Yep, I give in: I have nothing stranger to write about today than the fact that our country has just inaugurated a new president, a joke, a clown, a laughingstock who has made our whole country into an international laughingstock.

But there's this: Best Protest Signs from DJT Inauguration

I tried to post a couple of the photos here, but can't make it work. So do follow the link to see them.

It's a good reminder that we're not alone.

And is anyone else as sick as I am of photos of that usurper's face? I would like to see, from now on, only photos of the back of his head, his whole body, as he is leaving.

Again, I tried to post a photo showing what I mean, but I wasn't able to. But you can check out this Vanity Fair article about the history of his hair.

And this article about how his hair got this way: "A hairdresser explains why Donald Trump's hair looks like that."

One more try with the photo of the back of his head (from Slate): 

Know Where You Stand

Check out this great article, the best summary and explanation I've seen of how our country got to this deplorable place, where we are today, with the inauguration of a man who is unworthy in every way to hold the office of president.

The author goes all the way back to the Republicans' so-called Southern strategy, which spoke to the racism of white folks and was a response to the social unrest of the 1960's, which was itself a cry for justice for all people of the U.S. and defined the core values of the Democratic Party.

And then he gets to the present day, the situation we're in because those same Republicans who have supported racism and elitism and wealthy people for-almost-ever, have broken all the rules of a civil government in order to elect a lying, misogynistic, clown.

And this section, showing exactly where we stand now that this creature is in office:

Transition to the Presidency

• On December 29, 2016, US intelligence reports that Russian security services, directed by Putin, had stolen emails and other information on the computers of the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Clinton's campaign staff and equivalent Republican organizations . . . but sent only the Democratic information to WikiLeaks in order to support Donald Trump. Top Russian officials celebrate Trump's win. A related report from the Director of National Intelligence (start on p. 7 for the jaw-dropping summary) states that "Russian intelligence obtained and maintained access to elements of multiple US state or local electoral boards," and that Putin - emboldened by his success in getting his chosen candidate elected - intends to continue interfering with American elections.
   
• On the day that Obama imposes new sanctions on Russia for invading the US election, Trump's incoming National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, has five phone calls with the Russian ambassador. Trump quickly takes action to gut US intelligence gathering capacities (many aimed at Russia). He wants to break up the European Union, a strong US ally and powerful economic and political force against Russia, and he considers NATO to be "obsolete."
   
• After promising to "drain the swamp," Trump's cabinet picks are mostly billionaires or millionaires, with strong ties to Wall Street, who try to bypass standard conflict-of-interest reviews. Republican Representatives quickly strip ethics oversight from Congress but relent after public outcry. In business with many oligarchs and foreign governments, with conflicts of interest that threaten national security, Trump won't release his financial records and - as the top ethics lawyer for the Bush administration put it - won't choose between being a landlord or the President.
   
• Having received 46.1% of the vote, Trump's approval ratings drop during the transition to 40%, contrasted to Bush's 61% and Obama's 83% when they entered office. 

So, yeah, I'm marching. And calling my senators and representatives. And more. And will keep doing it. Now is not the time to stop paying attention. Sure, I didn't watch any of the inauguration stuff today, and won't. But I'm paying attention. And I hope all of you are, too.

(Thanks to Neva for sending me this link!)

Brexit and the Election of DJT

Dear Madame L,

Can you please explain what Brexit is and what it has to do with the election of Donald Trump?

Thanks in advance,

EPW


Dear Friend,

Thanks for asking --- and what a hard question to answer! I'm sure you know what Brexit is, just wondering how it happened. But let's start with this definition, from Investopedia:

"Brexit is an abbreviation for "British exit," which refers to the June 23, 2016, referendum whereby British citizens voted to exit the European Union. The referendum roiled global markets, including currencies, causing the British pound to fall to its lowest level in decades."

More from Investopedia:

"Supporters of Brexit based their opinions on a variety of factors, from the global competitiveness of British businesses to the European debt crisis to concerns about immigration. Britain had already opted out of the European Union's monetary union – meaning that it uses the pound instead of the euro –  and the Schengen Area, meaning that it does not share open borders with a number of other European nations. "Out" campaigners argued that Brussels' bureaucracy is a drag on the British economy and that European Union laws and regulations threaten British sovereignty."

If this seems biased, you may want to check out other online sources. Here's an article from CNN, "5 reasons why Americans should care about Brexit."

Briefly, the one advantage to Americans of the Brexit vote is that it will be cheaper to travel to England. Wahoo.

The other four reasons why we should be interested in the Brexit vote are that it could hurt the American economy, leave a less stable Europe, strain the "special relationship" between the U.S. and the U.K., and give Trump an excuse to "go full throttle on his immigration ideas."

And thus, we have gotten to Brexit and the 2016 electoral disaster in the U.S. And here's what Brexit had to do with the election of DJT:

The same forces behind Brexit, mainly xenophobia and economic worries, are behind the support for DJT in the 2016 election.

Xenophobia, or fear of "the other," rightly happens to be Dictionary com's word of this year. It's a form of racism. It makes people from other countries, in this context meaning refugees and others from countries with mostly brown-skinned people, dangerous.

And it's related to the supposed economic worries, because of course the xenophobes are worried that these darker-then-them strangers are going to take their jobs. And it's profoundly anti-democratic and un-American.

These racist and xenophobic ideas are cropping up all over the Western world lately, bringing Nazi and neo-Nazi candidates to the forefront in elections in France, Germany, and Italy. And of course it's behind DJT's anti-immigration rhetoric.

Maybe all of this is just the normal and to-be-expected swing of the pendulum from the liberal and progressive direction it has seemed to be headed back in the opposite direction. Even it that's "all" it is, it is deplorable.

Weird Word of the Week: Freeping

It's a great word for a deplorable tactic. I found this word in an article, "The One-Star Blitz on Megyn Kelly's Book and the Weaponization of Amazon Blurbs." 

Silly me, I thought this article would be about how wishy-washy liberal Commie pinkos were giving one-star reviews to Ms. Kelly's "Settle for More."

But in fact it's about how right-wing trolls and know-nothings are giving one-star reviews to it, with such comments as, "Wow get over yourself. Your not that good! … Your treatment of Newt and Trump was inexcusable.”

The Slate article defines "freeping" as "a sleight-of-hand that depends on brute force. It originated on the right, which makes sense given its most prominent uses so far: howling about diversity in science fiction, mutinying against lady Ghostbusters, rallying around Trump."

Retire at 30?

Sure, why not?

I found a great article at Vox/com by Pete Adeney, AKA Mr. Money Mustache, about how to retire at age 30. Of course, his case was different from many people's, since I think being a software engineer might give one a better chance of earning and saving up enough money to retire after 10 years in that career.

He says it's simple, though not easy: "...just spend much less than you earn and pour the difference into efficient index funds. When your collection of investments reaches 25 times your annual spending, you're done."

Yeah. Right.

Yet his advice in this column is interesting and, I think, generally good. So I went to his own blog and read some more, and I was even more impressed.

I especially liked reading his thoughts about why we, people in general, work. What do we get out of it? And, by the way, why is money so important to us? Check out this post, "Get Rich With the Position of Strength." It's fascinating, and I guess I like it so much because it fits in with my own thoughts on all these issues.

Turns out it's not the money itself, but the ability that money gives us to have some power or control over our own lives, the strength it gives us. Makes sense, right? And that's why, Mr. Money Mustache says,  it's so valuable to retire early---or not actually retire, because who really wants to spend their waning years plopped in front of a TV set or playing golf with a bunch of geezers? No, retirement in that old sense is out, am I right? The way to retire is to use your freed-up time, your power, to do some good for people. So, if you're LDS, you might go on a mission. (Or not. Your choice. Don't let some visiting authority or local leader tell you that's what you need to do!) 

But what I really liked about this post were the ideas about strength. For instance:

• Giving is a form of strength. When you say, “I have more than I need, and thus my desire to take should fade away as my desire to help out grows”.
• Taking is therefore a form of weakness. On the playground, Luxury maintains just a little more desire to take,  which competes with his desire to give. Meanwhile, Mr. Abundance is always working on needing less. The “taking” weakness continues to shrink, allowing him to invest more in his “giving” strength.
• Health is a form of strength. With health comes a clearer mind, more energy, a greater range of options and comfort zones, and a longer time alive to enjoy the offerings and mysteries of this planet. Life can dish you a blow, and you can get up and get back to work.
• Physical Strength is the part of health that is mostly ignored in the United States, yet it is the most useful and efficient component. Sure, aerobics and bicycling can keep the worst effects of early decay at bay, but lifting heavy old-fashioned barbells and dumbells is a much faster and more thorough way to keep all of your systems in working order and create a foundation for the rest of your life’s strength.
• Skills are a form of strength....

And so on.

Here's another blog post by Mr. Money Mustache, about nutrition and weight-loss. It's full of good, true, useful information. What do you eat for breakfast most days? Because if it's a slice of toast or a bowl of cereal, no wonder you're hungry an hour or two later! Which we all know, right? Just need to remind ourselves sometimes of these fact.  (And stop paying attention to Dr. Oz and all those idiotic women's magazine headlines.)

Anyone who follows these links, please let me know what you think.