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Just when you thought it was safe to eat processed meat... (OK, you probably didn't think that...) Check out this freaky chart over on ProPublica:

"Lean finely textured beef," aka "pink slime," sparked an uproar when the USDA bought 7 million pounds of the stuff for school lunches. The agency maintains it's safe and healthy; critics say it's not fit to eat. But the burger filler isn't new, nor is it the only way that meat packers maximize production. Here's how it stacks up against two other mechanical processes.

And You Thought It Was Just ‘Pink’ Slime

Sunday, 4.01.12

Weight
N/A

Menu
RM: (Restaurant) omelet w/bacon, bell pepper, cheese, ham, & mushrooms, potatoes w/ketchup
CM: (Restaurant) Chinese barbecue ribs, green beans

Carbs: ketchup, potatoes
Protein: bacon, cheese, eggs, ham
Veg/Fiber: bell pepper, green beans, mushrooms
Beverages: water

Exercise
Active, but no formal exercise!

Not wheat and gluten free due to the soy sauce in the barbecue marinade!

A lot has changed since I began my new low carbohydrate way of eating four years ago. I was 48 years old and after fighting my weight my entire adult life, I became so disgusted with myself that I became desperate once again. I needed to find a program I could follow where I did not have to give up anything and I remembered a book I followed several years earlier called The Carbohydrate Addict's LifeSpan Program also referred to as CALP. I knew that once I got started I could follow it because the first time I tried it, I was successful. The only reason I stopped was due to my impatience with the speed of my weight loss efforts. I began following Atkins and did not realize the restrictions I would have to make by giving up CALP and found that I could not continue to follow this particular low carbohydrate weight loss program. Instead of going back to CALP, I resumed my old way of eating and watched my weight creep back up.

I don't know my actual weight when I began four years ago, but I do know that I was close to the highest weight I have ever seen on my scale because I could not fit into my clothes. I am one of those stubborn people that refuses to buy jeans in a size larger than an 18W and the one pair that I owned were too small. My wardrobe consisted of stretch pants and men's XXL t-shirts before I finally figured out what program I could adapt to my life. Click here to continue reading, or leave a comment »

Here are a couple of must-read items for today:

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On March 3, 2008, I began limiting my consumption of carbohydrates. Since I began taking my health seriously, I have learned how to enjoy a balanced diet, making sure to include real foods. The meals I enjoy every single day include protein and vegetables, with my carbohydrates limited to once a day. I made the decision to become wheat free because of the information I have been reading, so finding substitutions for flour became important to me. In my opinion, coconut seems to be the best substitution for the wheat and gluten we used to include in our diets, and we are enjoying the recipes we have tried from the cookbook Cooking with Coconut Flour: A Delicious Low-Carb, Gluten-Free Alternative to Wheat .

My weight loss journey has been more successful than I ever thought possible. By following the guidelines of CALP, I never had to give up any of the foods that I loved and soon discovered that my measurements were getting smaller. I was eating chocolate and losing weight, which was my dream come true. Of course, back then I did not realize it was probably my addiction to flour that fed my carbohydrate addiction, and it now appears that my desire for chocolate, sugar, and nuts, had limited wheat and gluten in my diet these last few years.

I have been maintaining my weight, 140 lbs., watching it bounce up and down since July. The lowest weight I have seen on any scale during the last thirty years is 136 lbs., which I am happy to say, was less than a month ago. I have been wheat free for the last six weeks and I am very happy with my new diet.