Let's cut gym class!

Time magazine has a story this week by John Cloud about new studies which refute the widely-held belief that kids who take physical education classes in school are more fit than kids who don't.

Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in the United Kingdom presented their findings last week in Amsterdam at the European Congress on Obesity. After "a painstaking study of physical activity in 206 children ages 7 to 11 from three schools in and around Plymouth, on the southern coast of England," the researchers discovered that "no matter how much P.E. they got during school hours, by the end of the day, the kids from the three schools had moved around about the same amount, at about the same intensity."

It turns out that the kids who had been required to take an average of 9.2 hours a week of gym class didn't run around much after school, while the kids who were in physical education class for just two or three hours a week were much more likely to engage in physical activities after 3:00 p.m.

In the final analysis, all the kids got about the same amount of exercise.

"The findings are remarkable," Time magazine declared.

In another study, published in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, researchers at the University of Exeter tracked 47 boys, ages 8 to 10, and found that kids in structured exercise programs were no more fit than kids who just did the normal things kids do. The researchers said kids should be told to go out and play, but there was no advantage to pushing them into organized P.E. programs or sports teams.

The studies are a pretty strong argument for using the valuable school hours to teach kids things they won't figure out on their own, like reading and math.

As you know if you've read "How to Make Money and Lose Weight," reading is the only skill you need to make money, and math is the only skill you need to lose weight.

Then again, I'll always treasure the memories of P.E. class.

That was sarcastic, if you couldn't tell.

Mango Tilapia

Here's another great recipe for a healthy, low-calorie dinner that takes ten minutes from the freezer to the table. (If you've never cut up a mango before, see below for tips.)

Mango Tilapia

Ingredients:
2 frozen Tilapia filets, about 4 oz. each
1 fresh mango, peeled and sliced thinly
2 Tablespoons white wine
2 teaspoons brown sugar
Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Place the frozen fish filets in a single layer in a shallow, microwave-safe baking dish or pie plate. Pour the wine over them and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cover the filets with a layer of mango slices and sprinkle with brown sugar.

Cover the baking dish loosely with wax paper and microwave for 4 minutes on high. Then check the fish for doneness. It should be white and cooked through, not pink and raw. If needed, cook it for an additional 30 seconds at a time until it's just done. (Overcooking will dry it out.)

Makes two servings of about 183 calories each, or one serving of 366 calories.

If you missed the Tilapia with Fresh Salsa recipe last week, click here to get it.

How to cut up a mango

This is a mango:



Inside, there's a pit that's roughly the size and shape of a deck of playing cards. Stand the mango up on end and cut the sides off, like this:



Then use a vegetable peeler to take the peel off the pieces, place the pieces flat side down on a cutting board, and cut them into thin slices.

Don't peel the mango before you cut it away from the pit. It will be too slippery to handle and you might cut yourself instead of the fruit.

Copyright 2009

Kirstie Alley's yo-yo diet

You have to feel for Kirstie Alley. She worked so hard to lose 75 pounds as a Jenny Craig spokesperson, and now she has admitted to People magazine that she put it all back, and more.

"For seven months I was a vegetarian, and I can't tell you how much weight I gained being a vegetarian!" she said.

Eighty-three pounds.



The actress blamed it on eating too much bread and too many cheese enchiladas, but actually, the yo-yo diet phenomenon is real and there's a reason it's so aggravatingly easy to gain weight after you lose it.

The less you weigh, the fewer calories your body burns. At your old weight, an hour on the treadmill burned a lot more calories than it does at your new, lighter weight. So even if you eat the same diet that kept your weight stable before, at your new, lighter weight it's going to make you gain weight.

Every week. Like clockwork.

So, if it's any consolation, it's not all your fault.

You can read more about the miserable phenomenon of the yo-yo diet in Part 2, Chapter 12 ("Why You Yo-Yo") of "How to Make Money and Lose Weight."

Elaine Garzarelli makes a call

CNBC's Steve Liesman reported today that he got an e-mail from financial analyst Elaine Garzarelli this morning saying "The bear market is over." Liesman said Garzarelli sees stocks going 40 percent higher from here.

Ah, that does bring back memories.

Not just memories of stocks being 40 percent higher, but of watching "Wall Street Week" with Louis Rukeyser and seeing Elaine Garzarelli interviewed after she correctly foresaw in 1987 that the market was overvalued, selling about half of the stocks in her fund one week before "Black Monday."

Nobody can really predict the market, even though in hindsight there are always clear indicators of what was about to happen. At the time you're looking forward, there are always clear indicators pointing in both directions.

Still, Elaine Garzarelli is always interesting and it's nice to hear somebody say the bear market is over. It sure beats turning on the business news and watching analysts turn green and retch on-camera.

So the question for small investors is this: What do we do now?

Come out from under the bed, where the cash in your mattress is losing value every day, and think about a cautious strategy of tip-toeing into the market with dollar-cost averaging. Read more about it in this excerpt from "How to Make Money and Lose Weight: A simple guide for everyone."

Margaritas for Cinco de Mayo

If you're counting calories and you'd like some low-calorie margarita recipes, you'll love these from Hungry Girl:

Rockin' Razzy Rita
HG's Fruitylicious Margarita
HG's Magical Low-Calorie Margarita

Tequila, just so you know, has 64 calories per ounce, but it is more cost-effective than an online dating service.

As Hungry Girl's recipes illustrate, most of the calories in a margarita come from the sweet, syrupy mixer. That's not a problem for readers of Babe-Lincoln.net, where the focus is on how to make money as well as lose weight. Chances are, if you've got any money invested in stocks or real estate, you've already given up mixer.

If you'd like a calmer way to invest, consider dollar-cost averaging into a no-load index fund. Read more about it in "How to Make Money and Lose Weight: A simple guide for everyone," or just sneak a peek at the key chapters right here.

Fast from the Fabulous Freezer - Tilapia with Fresh Salsa

As the author of a book on how to make money and lose weight, I'm always on the lookout for good deals on healthy food. Anybody can lose weight if they want to spend all day (and a fortune) on fresh produce (who's picking these crops, Alex Rodriguez?) and anybody can save money on food if they make Jack-in-the-Box one of the four major food groups. But it takes some skill to save time and money on really good food that's not going to make you gain weight.

Good thing you're here!

The next time you're at the supermarket, pick up a package of frozen tilapia filets. Tilapia, if you're not familiar with it, is a fish. It's high in protein, low in fat, mild in flavor, and 8 ounces of it is only about 180 calories.

Can't beat that.

Tilapia filets can sit in your freezer and wait patiently, unlike fresh fish at the grocery store, which is going to make you sorry if you don't get it home immediately, put it on ice in the refrigerator and cook it without delay. Who has time for that? Who needs food with a temper?

Another great thing about tilapia, and all fish, is that you can cook it successfully in a microwave in just a few minutes.

Here's a recipe for tilapia that you can make in literally ten minutes, freezer to table. This recipe is for one generous serving. If you're cooking for more than one, multiply the portions or cook it in batches. Look for fresh salsa in your grocery store's refrigerator case. You don't have to make it yourself!

Tilapia with Fresh Salsa

2 frozen tilapia filets, about 8 ounces total
2 Tablespoons white wine (or water)
2 Tablespoons fresh salsa (or bottled salsa)
Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Place the frozen tilapia filets in a single layer (thaw them under cold running water if they're stuck together) in a microwave-safe baking dish or pie plate. Add the wine and season with salt, fresh-ground pepper, and garlic powder. Spoon the salsa on top of each filet. Cover the dish loosely with wax paper and microwave on high power for three minutes, then check it. You want the fish to be white and cooked through, not pink and raw. You may want to move the filets around in the dish to make sure they cook evenly. Continue cooking on high power, 30 seconds at a time, until the fish is done, or nearly done. It can actually finish cooking on your countertop when you take it out of the microwave, just from the residual heat.

You can serve this with a few tortilla chips on the side (a dozen chips is about 150 calories) or with rice, if you feel like making it (half a cup of cooked white rice is about 100 calories), and/or with a vegetable.

1 8-oz serving
Calories: 220
Protein: 42g
Fat: 2g
Saturated Fat: 1g

Enjoy!

©2009 Babe Lincoln

FDA warns on Hydroxycut

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that the dietary supplement Hydroxycut has been linked to twenty-three reports of serious liver damage and one death. If you have any of this stuff on your shelf, Iovate Health Sciences, the company that makes it, says you can bring the product back to the store where you bought it for a full refund.

According to the FDA, at least nine million packages of Hydroxycut were sold last year in retail outlets including grocery stores and pharmacies.

Hydroxycut was advertised as made from "natural" ingredients, but that doesn't prove it's good for you. Arsenic is a natural ingredient but it's not something you should sprinkle on your breakfast cereal.

You ought to know, if you don't already, that dietary supplements are not fully regulated by the FDA and don't have to be certified as "safe and effective" before they can be sold to consumers.

Buyer beware.

Here's a link to the FDA's press release: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2009/NEW02006.html

And here's a list of the products being recalled by Iovate Health Sciences:

Hydroxycut Regular Rapid Release Caplets
Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Rapid Release Caplets
Hydroxycut Hardcore Liquid Caplets
Hydroxycut Max Liquid Caplets
Hydroxycut Regular Drink Packets
Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Drink Packets
Hydroxycut Hardcore Drink Packets (Ignition Stix)
Hydroxycut Max Drink Packets
Hydroxycut Liquid Shots
Hydroxycut Hardcore RTDs (Ready-to-Drink)
Hydroxycut Max Aqua Shed
Hydroxycut 24
Hydroxycut Carb Control
Hydroxycut Natural

As tempting as it is to buy a wonder-product that will melt those pounds away, there's really nothing that beats the simple magic of calorie counting. It's healthy, it's easy, and it's free. And according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, it works better than any other diet strategy.

Welcome aboard!

Thanks for stopping by. I'm Babe Lincoln, author of "How to Make Money and Lose Weight: A simple guide for everyone," just published by ExtremeInk Books.

It's an entertaining book of easy-to-follow and seriously good advice on how to use simple math and your own brain to invest your money without getting ripped off, and how to lose weight by finding out how many calories your body burns in your normal daily life, without changing your routine or killing yourself with exercise.

You can read excerpts of the book online at this link. And you can buy it at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, many other online booksellers, or at any local bookstore. Just ask for "How to Make Money and Lose Weight" by Babe Lincoln. They'll get it for you!

This blog will keep you up-to-date with news about money and weight loss, and may even include the occasional recipe. I love to cook, and I love to find low-calorie versions of my favorites.

A special welcome to everybody who has clicked over from another ExtremeInk.com blog, AmericaWantsToKnow. If you haven't seen it, take a look! It's always interesting and entertaining.

Thanks! See you soon.