Combat ‘Doritos Addiction’ with Thriving Flavors

Originally published in 2013. (pdf)

Have you heard of “the bliss point?” If you haven’t, you’re not alone. But chances are, if you’ve recently eaten any Frito Lay snack chips, you’ve experienced the bliss point.

According to a Feb. 2013 New York Times article, “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food,” the bliss point is a combination of flavors that will create the greatest amount of crave — in other words, food designed so that people will eat or drink it every day in large quantities without getting tired of it.

How can we combat this? I like chips. I like snack food. When I make a salad or a vegetable dish, often enough they are less interesting than the chips engineered for “craveability.”

The question becomes, how can we make our healthy home-cooked meals have a greater craveability than Doritos? Or a home-cooked meal NOT based upon cream, butter, and salt achieve the bliss point?

We know that when someone is used to eating healthy food, they feel better in mind and body, but we also know what it’s like to get home late, tired from working, and just wanting to relax — not to spend an hour cooking dinner.

Healthy Cravability?

Now it’s true that we may not agree with the obesity-generating snack food industry as they engineer their way to the largest bottom line possible. However, one of the things we can do is learn from their successes. When they want someone to eat more of something, they combine more flavors so there isn’t one overwhelming flavor for that item. Applying that lesson, if I want my family to eat more vegetables, if I work my herbs and spice rack, maybe even combining different vegetables into one dish, my food may achieve greater “craveability.”

I suppose conversely, to extrapolate, if the opposite of cravability is being satisfied by eating one flavor to reach fullness, instead of having a full-blown brownie-banana-split-ice-cream-fudge-sauce-whipped-cream-nuts-chocolate-sprinkles-oreo-cookie-crumbles-Sunday-with-a-cherry-on-top, limiting ourselves to one plain flavor of ice cream with few or no toppings might help us eat less ice cream. Of course, the success of this theory may also depend upon whether you are using generic ice cream or Ben and Jerry’s….

The way the snack-food industry creates “craveability” is by combing lots of flavors so that one flavor doesn’t overpower the food. When our taste buds can’t decide what the flavor is, our brain signals us to eat more so we can figure out what it is that we are eating. When we cook our own meals at home, we can up our food’s cravability factor by adding different flavors. Here are some basics on using herbs and spices.

Cooking with herbs and spices

• An herb is usually considered to be a green-leafy plant — using the leaves, fresh flowers, and sometimes stems. Some common herbs are basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley, bay leaves, chives, green onions, and sage. Garlic is not considered an herb, but it can help boost your flavor punch all the same.
• Fresh herbs and dried herbs taste differently. If you normally use a dried variety, try the fresh version and see how the flavors change.
• Rub leafy herbs in the palms of your hands to release the flavors and aromas before adding to your food.
• A spice is usually defined as the dried form of seeds or pods (caraway, cardamom), flower or flower heads and stigmas (saffron), buds (cloves), aromatic berries (peppercorns), fruits (paprika), roots (ginger), stems or bark (cinnamon) and other parts of a plant.
• Spices are embedded with oils that contain flavor “essence.” Try toasting them up a bit in a skillet to help release these flavors. Don’t use too high a heat or toast them for too long or they may burn. You can also help the flavors bloom by adding some oil in the pan.
• If the herbs and spices in your pantry are old, the flavors are likely old and faded as well. The fresher the herb or spice, the more flavor they have to impart to your food.
• As cooking times lengthen, herb and spice flavors mix with one another and the food and may become muted. To brighten the flavors, add some of your herbs or spice in again toward the end of cooking or just before serving.

Taste of Summer

Originally published in 2011. (pdf)

Picnic Days

The smell of freshly mowed lawn, the sounds of children splashing in a fountain, the joy of throwing a tennis ball for dog to chase, soaking up the warm sun, walking through a garden or park, or just taking the time to enjoy friends and family. Summer. Somehow when the sun is shining and the days are long and warm the TV and computer lose their pull and it becomes almost impossible to stay indoors. Summer is the time of outdoors, ice tea, lemonade, picnics and barbecues.

Anytime, Anyplace

Growing up in a large family, we didn’t spend a lot of money eating out. Why would we when we could pack our own food and have a picnic? When we went to a park, the beach, a museum, or took a drive in the country, our outings would inevitably culminate in a picnic. If we were in a hurry or it was toward the end of the month when money was tighter, we’d make peanut butter sandwiches to have with our celery sticks and oranges. With a little more prep time, we might bring fried chicken, ‘everything’ potato salad, iced tea and fresh summer fruit from our garden. Sometimes when we just started driving with no clear destination in mind except exploring, we’d stop at a store along the way, grab some luncheon meat, mustard and French bread and make our sandwiches in situ.

Make Time

In summer, every nice day, every errand, every outing is an opportunity to bring together family, friends and food with a picnic. I polled my friends and workmates, and here are some of their favorite picnic ideas and memories:

I make picnic coupons for my husband, redeemable at any time. I make up a basket with his favorite food, a nice bottle of wine and a big blanket. And real wine glasses. You can skimp on paper plates and plastic forks, but having a real glass makes a difference. Then I hire a sitter for the kids and drive him up into the hills where we have our picnic — just the two of us.

— Anonymous, Oakland, Calif.

During the summer we grill almost all our meals and eat outside on our deck and enjoy our great bay views. As for picnics, my favorite thing to do is to get sandwiches from Genoa Deli in Oakland (easily the best deli ever) and take the ferry to Angel Island, hike to the very top and eat lunch. The best part is you almost burn off the calories from that sandwich.

— Noel Van Nyhuis, Oakland, Calif.

My FAVORITE picnics are the ones I have with friends when we head up to Sonoma (Calif.). We always stop at a little deli on the way to wine country for sandwiches and sides, and then at the first winery we find, we get a glass of whatever tastes best and enjoy our picnic on their grounds … overlooking rows of vines, grazing cows, blue skies, and rolling hills. Ahhh …

— Shannon Stairhime, San Francisco

I was backpacking through Europe when I was younger and we didn’t have much money. We’d get baguettes in the morning and some salad and cheese. Then we’d hollow out the bread and put the cheese and salad in the middle. When we got hungry, we’d stop wherever we were and have lunch. That was a great time and those were some great sandwiches!

— Laura LeHew, Eugene, Ore.

Tastes and smells can trigger nostalgic memories. What tastes like summer to you?

Playing for Fun

Originally published in 2011. (pdf)

Do You Want To Play?

Remember what it was like as a kid to go to a new playground? You’d meet some other kids and within five minutes everyone would be running around playing tag, new best friends. The easy give-and-take, negotiating rules for the game, the instant friendships and the exhilaration and joy of play all make up some great memories of childhood.

As we get older and inevitability take on more responsibilities, playtime often recedes into memory. Our work/life balance may skew heavily towards work as we struggle to support our families and develop our careers. Yet what we gained through play as children has lasted and helped us throughout our lives. Could continued play help us as adults as well?

Benefits of Play

The great thing about play as adults is that we can practice new behaviors without the same risk of failure that we may feel at work. Who cares if the water bottle rocket didn’t work quite right first time around? It’s very failure encourages us to figure out what went wrong and try something different to see if we can do better. Plus rockets are totally cool and fun. Or figuring out that flip video camera at home with your buddies and making a fun YouTube video can help you be confident and come up with ideas (such as a 30 second video) when you need something extra for a work PowerPoint presentation.

Here are just a few benefits of play:

Creativity and problem solving

Inventing, building things, exploring, making up games, figuring out how to work with others, all these activities work to expand our ideas of what is possible. Want to learn to “think outside the box?” Play can help you develop the mental skills that can make this possible.

Concentration and focus

Play, especially outdoor play, increases our ability to focus and concentrate. In part just getting away from our desks or couches and being in completely different surroundings allows us to change mental gears. The physicality of walking, team sports, yoga, meditation all can help give our minds a quick “vacation” so that when we return to work, we can be more effective.

Confidence and leadership skills

By taking risks and “practicing” new behaviors and stretching ourselves during play, we can gain confidence that caries over to other aspects of our lives.

Relaxation

When was the last time you flew a kite? Play can allow us to let go of our everyday worries for a short period of time and focus totally on something good. This break can help relieve levels of stress and anxiety. High levels of constant stress can lead to general exhaustion and even depression. By taking relaxation breaks, you can allow your body and mind to recover and get off of the stress “fight or flight” roller coaster.

Physical health

Whether we garden, walk around our neighborhoods, play soccer, are on a dragon boat team, or even go to museums, this physical part of play can help not only our mental health, but our physical health as well. Our blood pressure and weight can go down and our physical fitness and health can go up.

Laughter and feelings of joy

My coworkers and I joke around and laugh a lot — we like to play. It makes our day go quickly and helps us work better as a team. What’s going on? Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones and increases endorphins. It increases the number of antibody-producing cells and raises the effectiveness of T-cells. Laughing provides a physical and emotional release to stress, anger, and sadness. It can help make difficult situations seem not so hard, and it can be a gift to the people you care about.

So take some time out of your day to play. Play with your kids, with your pets, with your spouse. Call up your brother or sister or friend and share a joke. It will make your lives better.

Getting Enough Good Sleep

By Trish Henry

Originally published in 2011. (pdf)

There was a time I could stay up all night studying (or having fun!), attend classes during the day and evening, and then work part-time around my school schedule with no ill effects. In fact, getting two or three or five hours of sleep a night every night was fun and invigorating!

Unfortunately for me, that day is long past. However, I still tend toward being a night owl just to have enough quiet time to do the things I want to do. The problem is, there are only so many hours in a day and as the years pass, I find myself choosing to spend more and more of those hours on personal projects and less on sleep. Big mistake.

With a sleep-deprivation schedule like that, I sometimes feel a bit tired and groggy, grumpy and hungry, unfocused, and not able to think at the level I’m used to. And it’s no wonder. Take a quick look at the HHS National Institutes of Health’s Guide to Healthy Sleep (pdf) and you’ll see what I mean. There are consequences to cutting down on sleep and amazing benefits for those who follow their body’s needs in getting enough good sleep.

Sleep — what’s it good for?

Both quantity and quality of sleep are important. How much do we need? Studies show that we need 7–8 hours of sleep a night for adults and at least 10 hours for school-aged children and adolescents. Quality of sleep means getting enough uninterrupted deep sleep and REM sleep. Without those types of sleep, it’s likely you’ll wake up wanting to go right back to sleep.

• Avoid getting sick. A well-rested body naturally fights infections better and is less likely to succumb to infections in the first place. If you do find yourself sleeping more in the short term, it could be a sign that your body if fighting an infection.
• Remember more, have a longer attention span and be smarter. Getting enough sleep allows your brain to function better; so when presented with new tasks after enough sleep, you are better able to pay attention and understand what you are learning. Or who you are meeting. If, after you learn something new, get a good night’s sleep, you will retain what you learned the previous day at a higher rate. Lack of sleep can lead to faulty decision making and more risk-taking as well as slower reaction time.
• Be happier. People who don’t get enough sleep are often irritable and in a bad mood. Chronic lack of sleep can lead to depression.
• Lose or maintain weight! When you sleep, your body naturally produces an appetite suppressor, and when you’re awake, your body produces an appetite stimulant. When you’re tired, eating can help fight sleepiness, so it’s easy to eat to gain energy to keep going. Unfortunately, the types of food we are more likely to choose at those times are not healthy choices like apples, but rather high-calorie snacks like chips or cookies.
• Better heart health. Sleep is good for heart health and lowers your blood pressure. When we sleep deeply, our heart rate and blood pressure lowers and rises over the course of our sleep. Studies have shown that this phenomenon leads to better overall heart health. Lack of sleep stresses your body and can lead to heart disease and an increased risk of stroke.

Sleep myths

A common myth is that as we age, we need less sleep. This is not true. What really happens is that older adults may be getting poor-quality sleep due to ill health, sleep-blocking medications, or other sleep disorders. To be at our best, all adults need 7–8 hours of good sleep a night.

Another common misconception is that we can make up for what sleep we missed during the week by sleeping extra on the weekends. The problem is that if you have lost too much sleep, or have too much of a “sleep debt,” sleeping in on a weekend does not completely erase your sleep debt. It can take several days to recover from even one day of insufficient sleep, and the longer you go, the longer it takes to make it up.

Can’t fall asleep? Here are some tips

• Avoid caffeine and other stimulants like nicotine. It can take as long as 6–8 hours for the effects of caffeine to wear off completely, so if you want to go to sleep at 10 p.m., cut your caffeine off at 2 p.m. Alcohol can prevent deep sleep and REM sleep, which can lead to poor-quality sleep that will leave you tired in the morning.
• Avoid large meals or vigorous exercise just before bedtime; both can make it harder to fall asleep.
• Remove distractions from your bedroom. Do NOT have your cell phone at your bedside. Make your room dark and calm.
• Do use your bed for sleeping — not as an office. If you do, your body will know that when you climb into bed it’s supposed to sleep there, not stay awake thinking.
• Build-in “winding down” time into your getting ready for bed schedule. Try to think of calm relaxing things, meditate, turn off loud energetic music and switch to something calm and soothing. Taking a hot bath is not only relaxing but afterward, the body’s temperature drops in a way that mimics sleep.
• Stick to a sleep schedule. If your body gets used to going to bed, falling asleep, and waking up at the same time each day, it will be far easier to relax into sleep.
• If you still can’t sleep after 20 minutes, get up and do something relaxing until you begin to feel sleepy.

Getting off the Couch: Summer Sports are not Just for TV

When you can’t make the game, or your team is playing out of town, it’s nice to catch the broadcast on TV. However, too much TV can leave you feeling like a couch potato. The solution? Trade your remote for some outdoor fun.

Summer is the time for many sports: Major League Baseball, the PGA Tour and British Open, the Tour de France, America’s Cup, even the X-Games are all great events to enjoy from a nice comfy couch, remote in one hand and a delicious refreshment in the other.

But it is summer — at long last, the weather is nice, and it’s a perfect time to get outside. So don’t let your summertime sports experience begin and end in front of a screen. Get outside, and thrive!

After enjoying the MLB All-Star game, why not grab your kids or some friends and have an all-star game of your own? And while it may be fun to watch Tiger Woods play in the PGA, it’s a lot more fun to get out and have a round of golf of your own with some buddies. Like to ride your bicycle? When you take your next long ride, bring along some friends and present a yellow leader jersey to the person who finishes first.

Looking for ideas?

• The Tour de France finishes on Sunday, July 21. Between now and then, have a mini-race every day with family, neighbors, or coworkers; it can be as short as to the end of the block and back. The winner of that day’s race gets to wear the special yellow shirt the next day. If cycling is not your thing, consider a “racewalking” or roller-skating event instead.
• The PGA tour and the British Open showcase the best golfers in the world. Channel your own inner golfer by hitting the course and, to increase your exercise, don’t use a golf cart. Or, if you have a lawn near you, have a Wiffle golf or Frisbee tournament instead.
• The USA Women’s Softball team just took the silver medal in the Softball World Cup. Organize your own world cup for softball, soccer, even kickball.
• Are you a Harry Potter fan? Why not try your hand at Quidditch? The International Quidditch Association has rules and guidebooks on how to form a team and hold an event.
• Looking for something even more unusual? Consider training for an obstacle-course event with a twist: the Zombie Run for Your Lives 5k Run. There are events all year long in different locations throughout the U.S. Or organize your own “Zombie” obstacle course as the main event for a family picnic, neighborhood block party, or a teen day at the park.

Don’t let summer pass you by without going out and having some sports fun of your own.

Published in 2013 on an internal-facing website.

Showing We Care

With the winter holidays behind us, returning to everyday life can be bittersweet. Few will miss the added stress, drain on the pocketbook, or crazy crowds. Yet the best part of any holiday — getting together with family and friends to share stories, laughter, food, and affection — can’t come again too soon.

Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to relegate best part of the holidays to just a few times of the year or during certain life events, such as birthdays, graduations, or weddings. Connecting with those we love and showing one another that we care can easily get lost in the trials and schedules of everyday life.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. By taking the best of what we do during holidays and life events — showing one another that we care — and practicing it every day, we can create better lives for ourselves and for those around us.

For some, this is easy — sharing a hug, a smile, a quick email or card expressing thanks or friendship, or complimenting a coworker on a job well done. For others, showing that they care can be very difficult and leave a feeling of discomfort and vulnerability. Yet taking the effort can improve lives by making family, friends, coworkers and members feel better about themselves and about you.

To my father, who grew up in the depression, working hard and bringing home a paycheck was a strong demonstration of the love he felt for his family. Hugging, or as he humorously termed it, “all that touchy-feely stuff,” was not his thing. However, providing food, shelter, clothing, and a good education to his children made him feel rich and gave him great satisfaction. Helping with homework, doing laundry, and cleaning up after dinner were also great ways he showed care and concern for our lives.

Demonstrations of kindness and respect can pull the same treatment out of others and promote a positive outlook and help the healing process. The more we create an atmosphere of geniality and caring wherever we go, the happier we, and those around us, will be.

Here are some ways we can show others we care:

• Smile — a cheerful smile can engender the same in others.
• Be a good listener — show interest in what others have to say
• Compliment and praise others on a job well done, or even for a new hair cut
• Share knowledge — take the time to show someone how to do something new that they don’t know about
• Acknowledge mistakes and apologize
• Thank others for their help
• Share a meal — it’s said that no food tastes as good as that which someone else has made. Be that person who makes a meal to share!

Published 2013 on an internal-facing website.

Walking — Getting Real with George

It’s never too late to start walking. The health benefits of walking are multiple — and it’s easy and free to do. Here CEO George C. Halvorson discusses the many benefits we can reap just by walking 30 minutes a day.

Humans have walked for thousands of years. We have walked across continents, migrated across ice bridges, herded animals across the Mongolian Steppes, walked the Appian Way from Rome to out to the provinces, and walked east out of Europe on the spice routes with Marco Polo. Walking is part of how we evolved to be who and what we are today, and walking can help us Thrive.

After all those millennia of walking, it’s no wonder we’ve gotten into trouble in the short decades when we suddenly stopped. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other avoidable major health problems are some of the things that have happened and will continue to happen in ever-growing rates to humans when they stop doing what they’ve spent thousands of years doing every day.

This is part of the reason why George Halvorson is so passionate about walking. It’s not just because we should all walk, which we should. But because he genuinely cares that we can live better lives. Just walking a bit every day can make us happier, healthier, and grant us a better quality of life.

Here’s a new Every Body Walk! video featuring George sharing the benefits and gifts of walking. Please share it with your colleagues, friends, family, and neighbors. It could change their lives for the better, mind, body, and spirit.

Embracing the Hidden Treasures All Around Us

I’ve driven by the entrance to Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, California dozens of times on my way to the grocery store, hardly giving it a glance. However, a couple of weeks ago, I turned left instead of right and found myself surrounded by tall trees next to a creek. I got out of my car and decided to take a walk.

Best decision of 2015 so far.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the stress of everyday life — work, kids, school, bills, and crazy scheduling. As I walked along the creek, looking at moss-covered trees and listening to birds in thickets, all my worries fell away. Here was a treasure that offered renewal just 10 minutes from my house that I’d never taken the time to explore.

The following week, leaving work at night I noticed the holiday lights decorating trees in the plaza next to my building hadn’t been taken down yet. I went and walked among the lights and let their magic switch me out of work mode. It was lovely. The experience made me realize that here was another space I had ignored since the lights went up last November. They had waited all this time for me to take a few minutes to stop and enjoy.

It’s these small moments of relaxation and wonder that can make such a difference in our emotional lives. Like one-minute meditation sessions, taking some time to reset can enhance our quality of life and in turn the quality of life of those around us. When we are able to approach what is before us calmly and with focus, we can spread that calm.

It makes me wonder what other treasures I’m traveling past every day without a thought. All these opportunities to enhance my life that I’m missing because I’m too caught up with what’s going on in my head to stop and take a look at the hidden treasures around me.

 

Originally published in 2015 on an internal-facing corporate website.

Weaving Mini Tapestries on My ‘Funky li’l loom’

I saw a neat Kickstarter project and thought I’d try it out. It’s totally fun! It does take more time than I expected, but it’s very friendly and easy to figure out once I watched the demonstration video from the designer of the loom.

April 9:

Starting my first weaving on the “Funky Li’l Loom!”

Got my “Funky li’l loom” from Kickstarter and then I went out and got some yarn! I think the long way yarn was too thick for this, but I’m learning. Also learning how tight to pull the yarn when I reach the end of each row. Too tight and it throws everything off. Too loose and it looks dumb and uneven. Cool loom! #ActionWeaver

April 14:

Here’s the start of the eye. Instead of weaving straight across, I went in a circle.

Making progress. A lot of patience needed. I guess the pucker is because I packed the yarn in too tightly. Oh well. It’ll make the eyeball stick out some, and that’s not a bad thing.

Later that same day…

I need one of those larger metal needles with a big eye for yarn.

Trying to find the zen place for this process. It’s maybe while I watch TV or something. Documentaries. I set up NOVA on Amazon Prime to just play on my phone while I sit in bed and that seems to work. Can’t say I’m really absorbing the content of the various NOVA episodes, but it’s something soothing and interesting in the background.

April 16:

Finished! I like the bulging eye.

Finished! Woo-hoo!! Or nearly so. I took it off the loom and there was a bunch of empty space on the top and bottom that I needed to backfill with more weaving. I added some sticks as part of the hanging, but I have to look at it and see if I’m happy with that. Maybe I should go get some twigs from nature. I may also go into the eyeball and tweak a few spots where the circle part was vertical and so looks like there are slashes or something. Maybe also some beads or fringe or ???

Here’s the back. A little messy.

You know what would be funny? The eyeball puckers a lot. What if I enclose the back and add some stuffing and put a little motor in it that moves a bit so it looks like the eyeball is moving. That would be hilarious. Motion detector or something. Probably won’t. But it’s funny to think about and stick my hand back there and see what it would look like. Hee!

I really like the bulging eye.

April 28:

Here’s what I’m working on next. It was meant to be a tentacle, but it seemed too wide so I added an eyeball at the top. Need to decide on a contrasting background color (yellow? magenta?) and go get some yarn.

Cyclops Tentacle Monster!

Cyclops Tentacle Monster with hair!!

Godzilla at FogCon!

Had a great time this weekend at FogCon in Walnut Creek. Some great panels, hanging out with friends and also friends I only tend to see at cons. Making awesome new friends!

Here’s what I worked on while we chatted at the bar and others were writing. Not anywhere near done yet, but it makes me laugh. Sort of relearning what I can do with watercolor. The fingers and eyes remember some things that my brain has forgotten or stumbles with. But it’s fun and has the bonus of immediate gratification. I can see right off if it’s garbage and try to fix what I can. And there comes a point when you just can’t work it anymore (paper starts to disintegrates) so whether you’re satisfied with it or not, you have to move on. Fun!