welcome to elaney!

Do you take a daily vitamin?  We do.  Sporadically.  Typically for the first 2 weeks after new years, our birthday, or any other self improvement exercise.  However, it’s pretty easy to slack off and forget.  For your next go at it, why not try a prenatal vitamin (even if you are not with child)?  According to Dr. McCutchen (elaney’s Dr. Oz and future resident at the Mayo clinic), they make your hair silky and your nails strong.  You get the iron, calcium, and folic acid that women need and normal vitamins don’t have enough of.  And typically when things appeal to our vanity, it’s easier to get them into our routine.

Dear elaney,  As part of streamlining in ’09 my workout routine, I am trying to decide between yoga and pilates.  Which do you recommend?  With Love, Complicated in Columbus, GA

Dear Complicated, 

We commend you for deciding to streamline.  Let us start by saying, both have great qualities.  But we’re guessing (just assuming you’re the same as every girl we’ve ever met ever), you’re looking for which one is going to whip you into bathing suit season, and that is probably pilates.

Detailed info from Pilates Insight:

• The Pilates method is a complicated system of effective but gentle, whole-body conditioning and corrective exercises. It was first practiced by dancers and gained mass attention in recent years because of its largely aesthetic body sculpting effects. Yoga is a lifestyle, rather then simply an exercise. Its known as the path to both physical and mental well-being. It includes everything from physical postures and healthy diet to breathing, relaxation and meditation skills.
• Pilates mainly concentrates on cultivating core strength in the body and lengthening the spine. Also, Pilates is a valuable tool for increasing strength, definition and proper posture. Yoga aims to work the body equally and unite the body with mind and spirit. Yoga is often considered therapeutic, when compared to Pilates, as it helps people find harmony and release stress.
• Yoga has many different styles, but all are generally performed in a group setting on a yoga mat with the aid of a yoga instructor. Pilates has a full complement of mat work, but it also incorporates work on Pilates machines which help build a longer, leaner, dancer-like physique.

Bottom Line:

• Yoga can be therapeutic, will increase flexibility, and will elongate and lengthen the muscles.  Pilates can lead to that uber-toned dancer like body everyone wants.

Soggy cereal got you down?  Tip from the elaney kitchen: we keep frozen blueberries in the freezer and sprinkle them on our cereal every morning.  Why do we recommend?  1. Frozen blueberries never go bad.  2.  Blueberries freshen up the taste of cereal.  3.  The frozen-ness makes your milk really cold and delicious.    4.  Blueberries are super healthy.  They are rich in Vitamins A, C, E, beta-carotene, potassium, manganese, and magnesium. They are high in fiber and low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. Plus, blueberries provide the most health-protecting antioxidants, which prevent cancer-causing cell damage and help you age well!

Plus, they are berry good (sorry).

1 Quart Water

1 Cup Splenda

1 Cup Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

We love Chikfila Diet Lemonade and are surprised to see how easy it is to make.  We suspect it would not be as good if we made it, as “fresh squeezed lemon juice” requires an unattainable level of patience for us.  Nevertheless, it is a great healthy afternoon summer treat.  25 calories in a small and 40 calories in a large.

Soy what’s all this about Soy Milk?  We know we shouldn’t drink too much diet coke, coffee, and wine (which we would never do ), but we always thought skim milk was fine!  Then all of a sudden, everyone is a milk snob.  Scene: coffee shop.  Main Character:  Jada with cool glasses.  Jada:  ”Um, do you have soy?  No? Nevermind then.”  We are really confused, so we decided to figure out was was soy great about soy milk.  

Soy milk is basically like cow’s milk, though most soy milk is enriched with added vitamins such as vitamin B12. It has about the same amount of protein as cow milk. Unlike cow’s milk it has little saturated fat and no cholesterol, which is apparently the main benefit.  Um, correct us if we’re wrong, but skim milk is pretty legit no?  No fat there?  Um, anyway.  What we did discover is that soy milk is linked to cognitive damage in rats!!!  Um, skim for me please.  Take that Jada.  

Six months after giving birth to baby #2 Taylor Thomas, Elisabeth Hasselbeck (31) is beach ready.  An avid runner (former marathoner), she works out six days a week.  She eats a wheat free diet (she has celiac disease) and mostly eats protein and veggies.