The Skinny Jeans are ON AND ZIPPED!

Just for a moment, will my girlfriends please rejoice with me? I can’t actually wear these jeans in public…they are T.I.G.H.T. but they are on and they are zipped and I’m wearing them as I type this to you.

This is such a miracle to me!

Huge thanks to my wellness team…my support system: LA Fitness in Centerville, Dr. Goffe Chiropractic and Robin Gentry at Just Great Foods. Love you guys!

Today I am REALLY hungry. My meals today:

1 piece Ezikiel toast w/tiny bit raw almond butter and scant amount of agave
amaranthe w/blueberries
1 green drink with green powder & raw kale, blueberries & that vegan protein powder you had me buy (millet, quinoa and amaranthe in it I think) in a base of unsweetened rice milk (it was less expensive than the other options)
1 organic fuji apple and about 1/8 cp raw almonds
1 piece Eziekiel bread w/vegan may & 1/2 avodado
2 thin slices of applegate farms herbed turkey breast (from trader joe’s)

Any ideas on a good dinner? I have some hoppin john made..maybe serve it with quinoa and some freshly juiced carrots?
A salad? (bleh)?

Purged Items

1. Artificially flavored microwave popcorn

Organic, old-fashioned. Do it the old-fashioned way on your stovetop or buy an air popper. Beware aluminum poppers! Use coconut oil (approximately one TB per cup popcorn) Experiment for yourself to find ratio that works for you. Toss w/ granulated garlic & curry and a bit of EVOO…or sprinkle w/nutritional yeast or a bit of Celtic sea salt.

2. Flavored (sugar) coffee

Organic beans. Get a pure organic extract from HFS and put a drop (almond, hazelnut, or flavored agave). If you must cream your coffee: there are choices…hemp milk, almond milk, organic cow milk, goat milk, etc. (Note from Carole: Beware the FF half & half, it is loaded w/sugar.)

3. Instant Hot Cocoa

Use raw cacao (powered) or carob powder. Sweeten with honey or agave with hemp/almond/or organic cow’s milk.

4. Salad dressing with artificial color and sugar

Make your own! Robin’s fav is vinegarette made with raw apple cider or balsamic vinegar, EVOO, fresh garlic, pepper, Celtic sea salt.
Variations:
add herbs
add fresh raspberries for raspberry vinegarette
add rice vinegar, tamari, sesame oil & garlic for Asian

5. Canned tropical fruit

Organic, seasonal, local when possible. If not possible, buy organic in jar (never canned).

6. Canned tomatoes

Don’t buy em! Eat local / seasonal / organic when possible. If tomatoes do not grow year round where you live, buy from farmers’ market or grow your own and can (in glass) or freeze.

7. Bagged sugared coconut

Raw, organic coconut (flaked in bag is okay, just check bag to make sure no added sugar).

8. Pancake Mix (marketed as “extra fiber”)

Buy organic pancake mix. No sugar added. Or make your own. Make a couple batches at time and keep in freezer. (for added fiber, add ground flax or sprinkle w/hemp seeds)

9. Regular iodized salt

Celtic or Himalayan sea salt

10. Fake butter flavor – powdered

Nutritional yeast.

11. Steak seasoning

Create your own from dried organic herbs purchased in bulk from your HFS or they sell pre-made seasoned salt. just be sure to check label EVEN AT THE HFS! Note: We eat way too much salt. If you choose to eat meat, try a good marinade and dump the salt!

12. Baking powder

Aluminum-free baking powder (at HFS or gourmet markets)

13. Bread crumbs

Make your own in quantity and put in airtight container or freeze it. Organic sprouted whole-grain bread (i.e., Ezekiel) – place slices on cookie sheet and put in oven at 300 degrees and bake until dry about 20 minutes flipping half way thru. Cool. Put slices in food processor and whack.

14. Cooking Spray

Use water sauté method, especially for weight loss.
To maximize nutrient intake from food, use organic, cold pressed, unrefined, unfiltered oils and cook your meals using low to medium heat—never high heat.

15. Sugar and Brown Sugar

DEPENDING ON GOALS AND INDIVIDUAL CONDITIONS
Brown rice, maple, green stevia, honey, agave

16. White flour, ½ whole and ½ white flour

AGAIN DEPENDING INDIVIDUAL CONDITION SUCH AS GLUTEN CELIAC CROHNS, ETC…YOU MAY WANT TO CONSULT YOUR PROFESSIONAL.

Buy Whole grain, organic flour

17. Crystal Light Lemonade drink

Sparkling water, fresh lemon (you don’t need sweetener in everything! Stay tuned for Robin’s A$$-kicking ginger lemonade organic)

18. Honey Grahams

Organic, naturally sweetened…purchase at HFS or gourmet market

19. Food coloring

Purchase a vegetable based coloring at HFS store.

20. Seafood spices in can

Fresh herbs, citrus

21. Emergen-C packets

Vitamin C powder, unsweetened…or eat an orange and other vitamin C foods in your diet

22. Spirutein powder (protein powder)

Peaceful Planet quinoa, millet and amaranthe powder drink (Robin says best way to get protein is from your food)

23. Marshmallows

There is nothing like a poofy, sugar-laden marshmallow. Go without.

24. Crackers (made w/white flour & sugar)

Mary’s gone crackers, organic gluten-free crackers or Dr. Krackers…they are great…or other nice whole-grain (READ labels and watch out for hydrogenated oils and sugar)

25. WW smoothie drink mix (see protein powder above)

26. Sour cream

Tofu sour cream or cashew sour cream (google a recipe while you’re waiting for Robin’s book to be published. make sure it’s organic, VEGAN SC) If weight loss is your goal, just stay away from even these!

27. Whipped topping in tub (see sour cream note above)

28. Cream cheese (see sour cream note above)

If you’ve been with me on this journey the last year or so, you’ve seen me get fit (or fitter), lose weight, gain it back, discover breast cancer, go through two lumpectomies and become quiet in this stream for quite some time. I don’t know why I was so embarrassed to talk about how the cancer and surgery affected me. I guess I didn’t want my personal brand to become “that cancer girl”. Whatever. I’ll save psycho-analyzing for another day.

Fast forward to today. I AM SO BLESSED. The surgery is behind me and I’ve packed on a few pounds. But I have an entirely new chapter to begin and I’ve alive and HEALTHY! This morning I went to a yoga class AND a spinning class with my dear friend and whole foods nutrition coach, Robin Gentry McGee. She is working with me to get my house in order — physically — inside and out. I’m learning all about raw foods and vegan cooking and how to stock a healthy kitchen.

I love the journey I’m on. Things are only getting better from here. Stay tuned and join me!

P.S. I weigh 155 today. How’s THAT for transparency.

December 2009 -- 155 pounds

GORDONSVILLE, VA., December  2 , 2009—PBM Products, LLC, a leading infant formula company that supplies store-brand infant formulas to Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Kroger, Walgreens, and other retailers, has received a favorable jury verdict and a $13.5 million damages award in its false advertising lawsuit against Mead Johnson & Co., the operating subsidiary of   Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE: MJN) (“Mead Johnson”), the makers of the national-brand Enfamil® LIPIL® Infant Formula.  Mead Johnson is 83 percent-owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb.

PBM’s lawsuit claimed that Mead Johnson engaged in false and misleading campaigns against PBM’s competing store-brand of infant formulas, suggesting they do not provide the same nutrition as Mead Johnson’s brands.  PBM’s store-brand infant formulas cost up to 50 percent less than Enfamil® LIPIL®.  The $13.5 million in damages awarded by the jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is one of the largest damages awards ever for a false advertising case.

“This decision by a jury of the people confirms that Mead Johnson’s ads have been false in suggesting that there is a nutritional difference between our store-brand formula products and their products, when in fact the only major difference is price,” said PBM CEO Paul B. Manning.  “Despite Mead Johnson’s scare tactics, parents are assured that PBM’s formula products are as high quality and nutritious as Mead Johnson’s.”

U.S. District Court Judge James R. Spencer issued his written rulings yesterday following the November 10^th jury verdict. Judge Spencer’s written rulings permanently enjoined Mead Johnson from making any false statements concerning PBM’s infant formula, including the claims Mead Johnson previously made in Enfamil advertising that "It may be tempting to try a less expensive store brand, but only Enfamil LIPIL is clinically proven to improve brain and eye development," and "there are plenty of other ways to save on baby expenses without cutting back on nutrition."  The Court also ordered Mead Johnson to retrieve from the public domain all advertising or promotional materials containing these or any other false claims about PBM’s store brand infant formula.  

The details of the decision and the complaint are posted online in full at:

·      http://www.pbmproducts.com/docs/Order_Laches.pdf

·      http://www.pbmproducts.com/docs/PBM_Complaint_MJ_III_LIPIL.pdf

The nutritional supplements under examination in the case are two fats, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and ARA (arachidonic acid), which Mead Johnson calls “LIPIL®” solely for marketing purposes and touts as promoting infant brain and eye development. PBM’s claim focused on Mead Johnson’s direct mailing to more than 1.6 million parents of an alarming blurry picture of a child’s cartoon duck next to a clear picture of the same image which suggested that anything other than the Enfamil LIPIL® blend of ingredients is inferior and will result in poor eye and brain development.  Other parts of the false advertising campaign consist of statements that only Enfamil LIPIL has been proven to confer visual and mental benefits on infants, and store-brand formulas are a “cut-back in nutrition” compared to Enfamil. 

PBM successfully argued that these advertisements were false and misleading especially since PBM store- brand infant formulas have the same nutrients at the same levels as Enfamil.  PBM infant formulas are formulated to contain DHA and ARA, and are sourced from the same supplier in amounts which equal or exceed the DHA and ARA in Mead Johnson’s Enfamil LIPIL®. 

This decision marks the third time PBM Products has sued Mead Johnson for false advertising claims. On the prior occasions Mead Johnson admitted that it made false claims about PBM’s products.  It is also the first false advertising case to focus on the issue of DHA and ARA nutritional ingredients in formula, which were introduced into the market in 2003 and have become a staple in recent years by many brands as key components for infant development.

“This jury verdict should send a significant and clear message to Mead Johnson about the way it conducts marketing and advertising for its brands,” said Manning.  “This lawsuit also demonstrates our complete commitment to defending our products and the valuable brands of our retail partners.”

“As a parent and supporter of children’s medical research, I take a personal responsibility in assuring our customers that the products we produce are healthy and nutritionally equivalent to brand names like Enfamil® LIPIL®.  It is important, especially now, for parents to know that there are lower priced yet highly nutritious store-brand formulas that will provide the same benefit to their children as any national brand name formula product,” Manning added.   

The U.S. infant formula market is estimated at $3.4 billion and the global market is estimated at $7.9 billion.

All of PBM’s formulas, and for that matter all of U.S. infant formulas, are subject to the exacting standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), pursuant to the Infant Formula Act of 1980.  This legislation vested FDA with the authority to ensure that all infant formula products sold in the United States provide the necessary levels of identified nutrients required for the growth of healthy babies. For more information, visit this FDA link.

PBM Products was represented by the law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.  Partners from the firm’s advertising practice, Harold P. Weinberger and Jonathan M. Wagner in New York, led the team.  

About PBM

PBM is privately owned and based in Gordonsville, VA.  PBM companies specialize in manufacturing, distributing, and marketing consumer food, nutritional, and pharmaceutical products. For more information, visit www.pbmproducts.com.

Enfamil® LIPIL® are registered trademarks of Mead Johnson & Co.

Girls, I’ll be straight with you. I’m at my highest weight in over a year. I blame the stress of starting my own business and finding out I have breast cancer (no worries it’s in early stage). Anyhoo, time to get busy and get fit! (Note to self: must check out their tata tamer sports bra!)

The good news: It is stage 0 and is non-evasive. But it is cancer. They want to go in AGAIN and remove more tissue to “narrow the margins” whatever that means. Luckily, I’ll be put under and won’t feel a thing. Then I have to go through one week of radiation therapy, daily.

Poo. I’d rather have a facial and a tummy tuck.