Last week, I forgot to mention discovering a new flavor of ice cream called Spiced Pumpkin Pecan (by Blue Bell). It contains real pumpkin, which contributes to it containing 25% of the Daily Value for Vitamin A. I personally think they made this flavor a little too rich in sugar, though. The pecans are coated with sugar, and there is a generously incorporated ribbon of “rich cinnamon honey praline sauce.” I wanted to email Blue Bell and share my thoughts on that, but there does not seem to be a way to email them. Apparently, they only accept snail mail. My thought is that a spiced pumpkin ice cream would be a good year round flavor, with perhaps the incorporation of some graham cracker crust crumbs or pecans that are not as heavily coated with sugar. Publix has a key lime pie flavor light ice cream that incorporates graham crackers, and I think it’s fabulous! (Publix also has a tiramisu flavor of ice cream that is too tasty for me to keep in my house!)

Remember my thoughts about how the omega 3 fat in walnuts might be easing my knee stiffness some? I still think that might be the case, because it seems like my knees get stiffer when I don’t eat those nuts. Just to make it easier to get that alpha linolenic acid, though, I decided this week to buy some flaxseed oil gelcaps. Flaxseed is probably the most well-known source of alpha-linolenic acid. So, if there are days when I don’t eat my walnuts, I’ll have the flaxseed oil as a backup source.

I have not made much progress this week with imposing structure on myself, but I will keep working on that. I did buy an inspirational calendar this week, though, and I’d like to share some of the quotes from there with you.

“Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is.”
- Szasz

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”  - George Bernard Shaw

“One kind word can warm three winter months.”  - Japanese proverb

“Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”  - Eleanor Roosevelt

So, with those quotes in mind, I wish you all a week of serenity, kindness, no regrets, and no feelings of inferiority!

My interest in nutrition developed from the weight issues I had in my youth. My sister and I always tended to be heavier than other kids, and we were teased about it, so naturally I wanted to "fix" myself by dieting. That worked pretty well in my teenage years, but adulthood was much more challenging. I started out as a dietitian who advocated dieting, but due to my own experience with my weight and dieting, as well as my extensive study of the subject of weight management, I have become an advocate of Health at Every Size. The first fellow professional who influenced my "conversion" was Ellyn Satter, who is also a dietitian. I got my Bachelor's Degree in Dietetics in 1975, (LSU) followed by a Master's in 1981(Univ of TN), and a PhD in 1997 (Univ of TN). I have worked in longterm care, public health, and one hospital. For the last 8 years, I have been teaching at the college level. I am the proud mother of a 24 year old son, and have been single since my divorce in 1993. That is when I moved to Atlanta from Cookeville, Tennessee. I moved around a lot in my childhood due to my father's job, but my parents grew up in Texas, and that is where my roots are. I lived in Brazil for 3 years as a teenager, and one of my sisters still lives there.