hungry poodle

Does anyone relate to this cartoon? Anyone? Anyone?

During my 10 years as a Weight Watcher leader, the single most alluring and bedeviling food that almost no dieter could resist was M & M’s.

How could so festively colored and seemingly benign a tidbit cause anything other than bliss?

M & M’s. For those of us of a certain age, the little brown bag filled with colorful candies that promised to “melt-in-your-mouth-not-in-your-hand” was the answer to a bad day at school. a scraped knee, a toothache (let’s not get into the chicken-or-the-egg analogy here).

And they were the perfect movie treat, sure to last throughout the entire picture if you sucked on them before crunching down on the sugary coating.

Do I sound nostalgic?  Sigh.

You bet I am.

Today was my 12th day of consecutive Jazzercise class. Sally, our Jazzercise instructor, has challenged us to attend daily for 21 days. At first I thought it would be unfeasible to work out every single day. After all, sports experts tell us to rest our muscles for at least 24 hours so that they can repair and then build.

I have to admit, I had been using this as an excuse for the last few years. If I went to class on a Tuesday, I told myself I couldn’t go on Wednesday because my muscles needed to rest. While my friend Joyce was attending at least five times a week, I was down to twice a week. And sometimes I didn’t even get there that often!

Well, now I know, and I’m going to tell you something you may not want to hear: you can be active every day so long as you implement certain precautions.

For one, I don’t do high impact every day; I vary between hopping and just stepping on alternate days. And I only use the heavier weights on alternate days as well. Result? After 12 days I feel great: no soreness, no fatigue, just a realization that I can no longer make excuses. And it actually feels good to get out of the house and do something physical every day.

Here’s a brief video that gives an example of a Jazzercise class. I have found that whatever you do, it has to be fun. Otherwise, you’ll drop it at the first opportunity. (Dentist appointment, haircut, you-know-what-I-mean.)

What are you doing to burn calories?

Paula Deen, the Food Network star and doyenne of Southern cooking, has finally ended all the internet and gossip-column speculation and admitted that she has had Type 2 diabetes for the last three years.

Apparently, she waited to make the announcement until she had garnered a paid endorsement deal with major drug company Novo Nordis for their injectable diabetes medication, Victoza.

Paula appeared on the Today Show on Tuesday and completely side-stepped the role of unhealthy eating during her interview with Al Roker, suggesting that diabetes is caused by a multitude of factors, including genetics, age, lifestyle and stress.

Although age may be one factor in the cause of diabetes–the disease was formerly called adult-onset diabetes–they’ve had to change the name to Type 2 diabetes because of the explosion in the last two decades of cases diagnosed in children.

Here’s the deal: being overweight or obese, along with a lack of physical activity, is the most common cause of Type 2 Diabetes and is responsible for nearly 95% of the cases diagnosed in the US. It is not age, it is not stress, it is too much food and not enough exercise. Why doesn’t Paula just say so?

The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine has named her cookbook, “Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible,” one of the five unhealthiest cookbooks of 2011; the term low-fat appears only once in her book of over 450 pages while butter appears 300 times.

The Lady's Brunch Burger, a la Paula Deen

Just take a look at one of her recipes that appeared on the Food Network. It’s called the Lady’s Brunch Burger and it consists of ground beef, fried bacon and an egg sandwiched between TWO GLAZED DONUTS.

Look, I love Paula’s perky, sunny persona as much as the next foodie (although I own none of her cookbooks and I almost never use multiple sticks of butter in one recipe), but I am disappointed that she has decided to endorse a diabetes drug for lots of money instead of standing up and screaming at the top of her lungs, “Don’t do what I did! Don’t eat like me!”

Really. I think it’s that clear-cut. Please let me know if you think I’m being unfair. It won’t change my opinion, but perhaps it will make you feel better, in which case you may want to try the recipe above, which you  can find here!

Don’t thank me. Thank Paula. And then get on a first-name basis with your doctor.

NEWS FLASH: Yesterday Anthony Bourdain tweeted: ”Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later.”