Holiday Fun

From: Barbie
c/o Mattel, Inc.
El Segundo, CA 90245

To: Santa Claus
North Pole, North Pole
December 23, 1996

Dear Santa:

Listen you ugly little troll, I've been helping you out every year, playing at being the perfect Christmas Present, wearing skimpy bathing suits in frigid weather, and drowning in fake tea from one too many tea parties, and I hate to break it to ya Santa, but IT'S DEFINITELY PAYBACK TIME!

There had better be some changes around here this Christmas, or I'm gonna call for a nationwide meltdown (and trust me, you won't wanna be around to smell it). So, here's my holiday wish list for this year:

1. A nice, comfy pair of sweat pants and a frumpy, oversized sweatshirt. I'm sick of looking like a hooker.
How much smaller are these bathing suits gonna get? Do you have any idea what it feels
like to have nylon and velcro crawling up your butt?

2. Real underwear that can be pulled on and off. Preferably white. What bonehead at Mattel decided to
cheap out and MOLD imitation underwear to my skin?!? It looks like cellulite!

3. A REAL man...maybe GI Joe. Hell, I'd take Tickle-Me Elmo over that wimped-out excuse for a boytoy Ken. And what's with that earring anyway? If I'm gonna have to suffer with him, at least make him (and me) anatomically correct.

4. Arms that actually bend so I can push the aforementioned Ken-wimp away once he is anatomically correct.

5. Breast reduction surgery. I don't care whose arm you have to twist, get it done.

6. A jogbra. To wear until I get the surgery.

7. A new career. Pet doctor and school teacher just don't cut it. How about a systems analyst? Or better yet,
a public relations senior account exec!

8. A new, more 90s persona. Maybe "PMS Barbie", complete with a miniature container of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and a bag of chips; "Animal Rights Barbie", with my very own paint gun,
outfitted with a fake fur coat, bottle of spray on blood and handcuffs; or "Stop Smoking Barbie," sporting a removable Nicotrol patch and equipped with several packs of gum.

9. No more McDonald's endorsements. The grease is wrecking my vinyl.

10. Mattel stock options. It's been 37 years--I think I deserve it.
Ok, Santa, that's it. Considering my valuable contribution to society, I don't think these requests are out of line.

If you disagree, then you can find yourself a new bitch for next Christmas.
It's that simple.

Yours truly,
Barbie

Comments Turned Off For The Holidays

Tony Horton Eats Up To 60 Percent of His Food From Good Carbohydrates.














Now tell me he's wrong because he's fat and sick.

As a gift to myself I’ve disabled commenting on this blog until the new year.

I’ve had quite a few people – namely low carbohydrate dieters / carbohydrate phobics – comment on some of my posts on my views that moderate carbohydrate intake is the way to go if you’re engaging in intense workouts, particularly resistance training. Seems I’m not too popular because of this stance despite many reliable sources to back it up. See 'How Many Carbs Does A Bodybuilder Really Need' by Expert Chris Aceto. And apparently several of these carbohydrate phobics don’t actually read the whole of anything I post before deciding to snap at me because of their skewed or misinformed views.

A low carbohydrate diet (20 to 150 grams depending on the program) may be appropriate for people who are overweight, obese, diabetic, sedentary, bodybuilders in the 'get ripped' stage, or moderately active people (yeah, youse guys on the exercise bike and elliptical machine! Try a few sessions of Power 90X, ya sissies!)

But healthy people of normal weight who are seeking to build muscle mass through intense resistance training (like ME busting ass on Power 90X) need more carbohydrates to support muscle growth, glycogen stores, increased fuel needs, maintaining energy for performance, and because we earned it with the ass busting workout. ;)




















I’ve had comment moderating on so I’ve been able to reject most or all of the offensive comments. Lately I find myself rejecting all comments from known low carbers to try to discourage them. Unfortunately they find their way here because of my address and the fact most people who link here haven’t changed the name of the blog from Kudos For Low Carb. I’m seriously considering a move to another address after the holidays.















And for goodness sake, it is the holiday season. Why these people are so mean spirited and ill tempered this close to the Lord’s birthday is beyond me. Perhaps they’re missing out on some vital nutrients from foregoing carbohydrates for so long.

Maybe that's why they're mad at me, I'm actually getting around 80 to 150 grams of unrefined and refined carbs a day (with appropriate nutrient timing) and have loads of energy to perform Power 90X extreme workouts and do all the other things I need to - like shop all day on Saturday.

That can't sit well with somebody passing on every seasonal treat except turkey, ham, nuts, and celery sticks. But sedentary and moderately active low carbers who insist on coming here are going to have to come to terms with the fact that the pursuit of serious athletics and bodybuilding - both amateur and pro - requires a different fuel mix than the rest of you. I'm not backing down from what I know is fact. Anabolic nutrient timing is a scientifically proven method.

If you want to eat a low or no carbohydrate diet for whatever reason that's fine with me. Frankly I don't give a fig what you do or do not do or why. It's your life, it's your right to do as you see fit. And it's my right to do the very same and write about it without suffering idiots and fools who don't even bother to do the research
on bodybuilding nutrition. Spouting off on a totally unrelated subject - namely dieting for weight loss - has nothing to do with what I am doing and writing about now - namely building muscle mass and not persuing fat loss. Maybe next year I'll decide to nudge down my body fat percentage. Maybe I'll cut a few carbs to do it and write about it.

But right now I'd be doing myself a grave disservice to cut way back on good fuel sources sanctioned on the Power 90X nutrition plan like apples, pears, grapes, brown rice, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, whole wheat bread, beans, and more.

Yum, Yum!


















So as a gift to myself I’ve disabled commenting for now. Who needs that kind of annoying behavior? I’ve got a lot going on in my life right now and don’t have time for this nonsense and negativity. Unfortunately the civil and clear thinking folks will be left out too. Sometimes a few bad apples do spoil it for everyone.




















After the holidays I’ll decide whether to stay put and chance the nuttiness from those people deep into carbohydrate withdrawal (or just lacking a life or a know how for engaging in polite exchange) or move my blog altogether. Yes, they could follow me to the new site but they won’t be stumbling onto me from old links.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL! And have a Blessed New Year!

(Even the ill tempered and argumentative. Maybe it’s time to add a bit of liquid cheer to your low carb hot cocoa and chill out).

Now pardon me, I have gifts to wrap and a hot buttered rum to sip.

5 Top Fitness & Nutrition Articles and 5 Top Fitness & Nutrition Websites

We all know dieting alone is rarely successful in the long run. Just peruse the myriad of dieters blogs – including both low carbohydrate and low fat - to witness how many never reach goal nor manage to stay at goal. Even casual exercise is not always enough to help some maintain. After all it’s very easy in one meal alone to out eat the meager calorie deficit created by a single aerobics session.

If you take a different approach and seek out those who are successful at weight management and achieving their physique goals you’ll find a very different story. Success is not achieved through dieting alone nor is casual exercise the answer. The answer is a diligent resistance training program that includes aerobics and careful nutrition.

Below are five articles and five websites that demonstrate the path to success in your fitness and physique goals is a balanced approach that encompassed resistance training, informed nutrition, and aerobics.

Best Recent Articles:

Build and Burn – Cycling caloric surplus and deficit.

Debunking Nutrition Myths – Carbs are evil? Low fat diets are good? Debunking common nutrition myths.


Too Much of a Good Thing – The Drawbacks of Overtraining

6 Bodybuilding Diet Mistakes


Best Sites:

T-Nation

Bodybuilding.com

Dave Draper’s Iron Online

Lee LaBrada


The Elite Physique

This is by no means a comprehensive list. It's just a few I recently read and wanted to share.

Remember you get what you put into something and this is doubly true of fitness and nutrition. Avoid simplistic or incomplete approaches like dieting alone or having an affair with the elliptical machine while ignoring the weight room so long it cries itself to sleep. Finding balance is a worthy goal that will get you better results than half-arsed approaches.

Low carb diets may stress body too much, studies find

Low carb diets may stress body too much, studies find

Thursday, December 6, 2007

MESA, Ariz. — For most of the past decade, there was much hubbub about the Atkins and Zone diets. Both focus on quick, effective ways to lose weight through high protein and low carbohydrate foods. Today, many still swear by them.

However, research on these diets has been limited if nonexistent, until now. Arizona State University scientists from the departments of Nutrition and Exercise and Wellness along with other colleagues have been studying the diets since 2005, and find many biomarkers being negatively impacted by the severely low carbohydrate intake.

The ASU researchers Carol Johnston and Pamela Swan, along with collaborators Sherrie Tjonn and Andrea White, both registered dieticians, and Barry Sears, of the Inflammation Research Foundation and creator of the Zone diet, have published three papers during the last two years, appearing in Osteoporosis International, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and most recently in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

The biggest difference in these types of diets is the amount of carbohydrate prescribed. The Atkins diet entails very low carbohydrate, less than 20 grams daily, whereas the Zone promotes a more moderate intake of carbohydrates, up to 180 grams daily.

“The downside of severely low carbohydrate intake is that dieters go in to what’s called ketosis or the inefficiency of the body to oxidize fat,” said Johnston, chair and professor in the Department of Nutrition, School of Applied Arts and Sciences.

The term used to describe diets that produce this biological effect is ketogenic; hence, Atkins is a ketogenic, low carbohydrate (KLC) diet and the Zone diet is considered a nonketogenic low carbohydrate (NLC) diet.

With these studies, their research uncovered that the ketogenic diet may increase bone loss because of an increase in acid in the body and not enough intake of alkalizing minerals like potassium to neutralize this effect. In addition, a higher percentage of calcium was found in the urine of those on the KLC diet, leading the researchers to believe that the bones are “leaching” calcium.

“The public should realize that these diets have differing effects on biomarkers,” said Johnston. “Diets that severely restrict carbohydrates, particularly potassium-rich fruits and vegetables, may have deleterious effects on bones.”
Read More.

Snow Day!

We enjoyed a snow day although Bruno still made it to school. Our area (Northern Nevada and close to the Sierra ski resorts) is well prepared for snow so the school buses were running on time. But before he left to catch the bus at 7:45 am we enjoyed almost an hour of fun playing in the snow after feeding the horse. I'm sure Junior the dog and Fury the horse thought we were crazy. "Silly humans out playing in the cold!"

Click To Enlarge Any Photo

Bardelli Family Christmas Video 2007

We decided to make a Christmas video this year instead of writing a Christmas letter. And as always with the Bardelli Family things got out of hand at the end. We pretty much kept it PG but some kissing happened between consenting married adults. And this was after we lectured Bruno that there would be no cussing or potty mouth talk allowed. Oh well.

Happy Holidays!

Integrity In Blogging Award

Lady Rose at Incredible Shrinking Ladies wrote: "Thank you Honi for this very prestigious award.

All the ladies here at Incredible Shrinking Ladies, please feel free to post this awesome award on your blogs as well since you all contribute awesome writing here.

You can read all about this award and pick up your award badge at Shameless Lions Writing Circle. (Badge comes in three colors.)"

And I get to post the award here because I'm a 'Shrinking Ladies' contributor.

Yeah! A blog award!

Yippee I Oh Ki Ay!