Classy
Come on, Wednesday! Hurry up! Is today dragging for anyone else? Meh.
Like breakfast, lunch was also a repeat: A salad with grape tomatoes, broccoli, and Sweet Potato Risotto, same as last night.
Lunch also included half of a pita, but this time with TJ’s pumpkin butter inside.
The last part of lunch was eaten about an hour or so later. I had packed yogurt for lunch as well, but after eating my salad and pumpkin butter-filled pita, I wasn’t hungry for it. A little while later though, I didn’t feel as satisfied from lunch as I usually do (probably because lunch was a little low on protein), so I dug into my yogurt, to which I added a spoonful of peanut butter and Kashi cereal.
The protein-packed yogurt and PB did the trick! I am all-around satisfied now! 
I finished lunch so late in the day, I don’t think I will want an afternoon snack. However, I am craving hot tea right now! I think a mug is in my near future!
Social Media for the Web 2.0
So, guys, in my perfect world, my job would be blogging full-time (and owning a pug and Boston terrier). Unfortunately, CNC isn’t paying the bills anytime soon, but I have decided to take a course at the Harvard Extension School called Social Media for the Web 2.0 to increase my knowledge in the field. I hope that the class will give me a broad understanding of social media and the social web, so, perhaps one day, I will be able to incorporate some of these ideas and concepts into my blog. Course description below…
The Internet is the fastest-growing medium across the globe and Web 2.0 applications are the fastest-growing aspect of the Internet. Applications include blogs, social networks, wikis, and other interactive and collaborative innovations. People of all ages in all walks of life use social media and young people are using them to the virtual exclusion of traditional mass media. Many uses are personal in nature, but businesses and non-profits are using them for both internal and external communications and marketers are eager to understand how to integrate them into marketing communications programs. The social media are particularly relevant in situations where marketers want to reach audiences quickly and directly.
My first class isn’t until the end of January, but I will be sure to let you guys know how it goes.
While ordering the required materials for the class, I stumbled upon this book. It cracked me up considering the content of my blog! 
More Holiday Healthy Eating Tips
I know, I know… you’ve heard them all before, but these are really good tips! Real Simple gives you the tried-and-true healthy eating strategies, but then adds even more tips! It’s worth a look!
How to Eat Healthy During the Holidays
High-Frutcose Corn Syrup
Interesting article…
New data: High-fructose corn syrup no worse than sugar
Have you guys also seen the commericals on TV about HFCS? What do you think?
Posted by: Tina 34 comments
Posted in: Uncategorized
Tags: broccoli, peanut butter, pumpkin butter, risotto, sweet potato
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I have seen those commercials about High Fructose Corn Syrup and although they crack me up, they raise a valid point. Sugar is Sugar, and in moderation, is it really that bad?
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Ha! The title of that book cracked me up. Sounds like a cool class. Good luck with it!
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
for some reason my day is FLYING—and not in a good way
too much to do.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Today is dragging….I want my work week to be OVER already….come on weeekend geeze oh man!
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Good for you for taking that class! I think you are going to learn a lot of great new things
The internet is amazing….. can you believe we didn’t even have it just a short (ok, maybe not ’short’, but you know) while ago??? Craziness. How did the world function way back when? haha.
Today is definitely dragging. I don’t usually drink coffee, but I had to hit up the coffee joint. Ugh. Eh, at least it’s halfway through the week!
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Those commercials are so silly! I first saw it at the gym and I actually started laughing on the treadmill… I don’t even know what to think about the HFCS anymore, so I try to avoid it when possible. It’s kind of obnoxious when it’s randomly in things it DEFINITELY doesn’t need to be in, like Yoplait yogurt. Just why?
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I think the deal with HFCS isn’t how your body processes it, it’s that is more engineered than sugar cane sugar? I guess when it comes down to it,I don’t know how much processing goes into making table sugar…..guess I can’t really make an educated statement.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Yes today is dragging! The rain outside isn’t helping matters. That course sounds like a great idea!!
http://www.missymaintains.blogspot.com
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I try to stay away from HFCS. If I don’t know for sure how it is going to affect my body short term and long term I think we should avoid it. Seriously, does whole wheat bread need HFCS – nope! I buy another kind when I come across it like that.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Great tips!!
I despise those commercials.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Your salads always look so great! I LoOoVe Real Simple, Its so perfectly organized and reader friendly! Easy on the eyes, ya know? Those HFCS commercials crack me up, they do have a point, but again who in this day and age has mastered the fine art of BALANCE!
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Love the title of the book! I would love to learn more about social networking as it applies to blogging!
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Yes, today is dragging on big time! I think the next hour is going to be an eternity! That book title is hilarious, I need to add that to my “to read” list, haha.
I generally try to avoid HFCS but I have also become more conscious of added sugars in general because really, too much of anything is not a good thing. But it’s still an interesting topic. I like those commercials almost as much as I like the Splenda + Fiber ones, ew!
Have a good night.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Yogurt always does the trick! Congrats on the new class. Very exciting.
As for HFCS..I would rather eat that than Splenda!
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
what’s that cereal? kashi? I’ve never seen them before? Look so crunchy delicious!!!
And so interesting your new course! Looking forward to read more about it.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
salad looks so yummy!
TJ has pumpkin butter? INTERESTING!
Yes, do let us know about your course
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
What kind of Kashi cereal is that?! It looks SO GOOD!
Thanks for the links – I always find something new in those articles!
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
years ago there was a great documentary (i think on abc) about corn and corn syrup and all the rest, it was EYE opening, how farmers/the economy depends on corn and things made with corn….i wish i recorded it.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Im an avid reader of your blog, but unfortunately i don’t post comments. I’m going to change that! This post really caught my interest. I just finished an online course for grad school, “Laptops in the classroom.” Our last topic was actually the Web 2.0. It is so fascinating and i thoroughly enjoyed the class. Here is a video link that is insightful into the internet (its only 5 minutes and very creative)
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Your class sounds like it would be interesting, I hope it is!
Those HFCS commercials are really annoying, at least I think so.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
haha when I read ‘Wednesday Hurry up’ I read Wednesday Hump day!! Ive got it on the mind
I am glad that it is a few mins from being over (work that is!!)
Hope you have a great night! 2 days til Friday!
Angela
http://www.ohsheglows.com
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
oh heres the link…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g&feature=channel
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
ahh i miss healthy food like nuts and yogurt and wholemeal breadS!
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Hey, Tina!
Thanks for the comment on my blog–your’s is great, too!
I especially like the running tips you included on your last post! I’m a relatively new runner, so I found those quite helpful!
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
HI tina
I read alot but dont comment too often. BUT I tried your Christmas cake recipe and it is so good!
I used the Nestle holiday swirl chips and it is melty thru with red and green! Extra Christmas cake!
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I’m not crazy about those commercials. They make it sound like it’s from a nice farm-fresh ear of corn, but it’s from an inedible variety! Misleading! Such is advertising.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
This week has been the slowest ever… thanks for all the links!
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
I used to live in a town where there’s a plant that makes HFCS. It smelled the whole town up! As one of my friends says, why eat something that smells that bad?!
I’m a newer reader and I love reading what you had for lunch (and breakfast and dinner, too)!
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
I’m 1 year away from my Ph.D. in Biochemistry, and while I don’t study HFCS, I have developed an opinion about it…
The way your body processes sugars is different for the types of sugars you ingest. The ideal sugar for your body is glucose because it is required for brain function and energy (glucose must be sent to the brain seperately from the glucose that your liver and muscles break down into energy). The pathway for the breakdown of glucose is well studied and the body highly regulates its use via insulin and epinepherine. These hormones are molecules that regulate how glucose is broken down or stored. They also trigger the ‘I’m full’ response by insulin interacting with leptin and the ‘panicy starvation’ response via epinepherine signalling. When you ingest HFCS, it is degraded in a completely different way than glucose. It actually takes energy from your body to make fructose into a degradable form (Fructose-2,6-Bisphosphate or Fructose-1,6-Bisphosphate) which requires more energy that it never gets back (whereas glucose must also be phosphorylated via energy, but the body gets back 2x the amount of energy it puts out to do this). This takes time and energy, so the body response to the glucose or energy it creates is much slower. Furthermore, HFCS doesn’t trigger the insulin response that glucose does when it enters your body and then your leptin doesn’t sense that you have been satiated. You still think that you are hungry, even though you have consumed many calories. I think that this is reason enough to avoid HFCS or at least avoid adding it to foods that do not need to taste sugary.
I would like to add that this doesn’t diminish from the fact that Americans need to take more responsibility for what they put in their mouths. HFCS would be just fine if everyone monitored their calorie intake. I think that people would choose not to eat it because they would find they would still feel hungry afterwards. That said, they could easily burn off calories from HFCS if they were monitoring their dietary intake.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Thanks for your response, frannie! That was interesting.
on Dec 11th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
HAHA “No one cares what you had for lunch”. Clearly you have disproved the entire premise of that book.
on Dec 11th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
So fun that you’re taking an extension course!!! Now that I’ve been out of school for 7 months I’m itching to check out classes at my local community college (they are a bit more affordable than the harvard extensions courses…i checked!) You’ve got me totally inspired!
on Dec 11th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Andrea,
As a Harvard employee, I take classes at the Extension School for $40! It’s a pretty awesome perk of working here!
on Dec 18th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
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