General Motors Diet : lose 7+ pounds in a week without starving

An Aryans' teammate of mine just went through this diet program losing 7 pounds in a week which has inpired me to take it up (I do not know when) ..... read on .... if it does not involve spending money to lose weight, it certainly is worth a try for me ;)

General Motors: Weight Loss Diet Program

The following diet and health program was developed for employees and dependents of General Motors, Inc. and is intended for their exclusive use. This program was developed in conjunction with a grant from U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. It was field tested at the Johns Hopkins Research Centre and was approved for distribution by the Board of Directors, General Motors Corp. at a general meeting on August 15, 1985. General Motors Corp. wholly endorses this program and is making it available to all employees and families. This program will be available at all General Motors Food Service Facilities. It is management's intention to facilitate a wellness and fitness program for everyone.

This program is designed for a target weight loss of 10-17 lbs per week. It will also improve your attitudes and emotions because of its cleansing systematic effects.

The effectiveness of this seven day plan is that the food eaten burn more calories than they give to the body in caloric value.

This plan can be used as often as you like without any fear of complications. It is designed to flush your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well being. After seven days you will begin to feel lighter because you will be lighter by at least 10 lbs. You will have an abundance of energy and an improved disposition.

During the first seven days you must abstain from all alcohol

You must drink 10 glasses of water each day

Day One : All fruits except bananas. Your first day will consist of all the fruits you want. It is strongly suggested that you consume lots of melons the first day. Especially watermelon and a loupe. If you limit your fruit consumption to melons, your chances of losing three lbs. on first day are very good.

Day Two : All vegetables. You are encouraged to eat until you are stuffed with all the raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. There is no limit on the amount or type. For your complex carbohydrate, you will start day two with a large baked potato for breakfast. You may top the potato with one pat of butter.

Day Three : A mixture of fruits and vegetables of your choice. Any amount, any quantity. No bananas yet. No potatoes today.

Day Four : Bananas and milk. Today you will eat as many as eight bananas and drink three glasses of milk. This will be combined with the special soup which may be eaten in limited quantities.

Day Five : Today is feast day. You will eat sprouts (for protein ... non vegetarians can substitute it with chicken/lamb - 2 x 10 oz portions) and tomatoes. Combine this with six whole tomatoes. On day five you must increase your water intake by one quart. This is to cleanse your system of the uric acid you will be producing.

Day Six : Sprouts/Chicken/Lamb and vegetables. Today you may eat an unlimited amount of Sprouts/Chicken/Lamb and vegetables. Eat to your hearts content.

Day Seven : Today your food intake will consist of brown rice, fruit juices and all the vegetables you care to consume.

Tomorrow morning you will be 10-17 lbs. lighter than one week ago. If you desire further weight loss, repeat the program again. You may repeat this program as often as you like, however, it is suggested that you are allowed two glasses of white wine in addition to the instructions on the program. You may substitute champagne for white wine. Under no circumstances are you to drink any other alcoholic beverages with the exception of beer which is allowed. Any liquor (bourbon,vodka, rum) is forbidden. Cream drinks are especially forbidden. You may have an occasional cordial such as creme de menthe or schnapps, but you must always limit yourself to two drinks. If you wine, drink only wine that day. If you have beer, drink only beer that day, etc. Alcohol adds empty calories to your diet. However, after the first week it will help your digestion and settle your stomach

G.M.'S Wonder Soup
The following soup is intended as a supplement to your diet. It can be eaten any time of the day in virtually unlimited quantities. You are encouraged to consume large quantities of this soup.

28 oz, Water, 6 Large Onions, 2 Green Peppers, Whole Tomatoes (fresh or canned), 1 Head Cabbage, 1 Bunch Celery, 4 Envelopes Lipton Onion Soup Mix, Herbs and Flavouring as desired.

Additional Comments

Vegetables as may be taken in the form of a salad if desired. No dressing except malt, white or wine vinegar, squeezed lemon, garlic, herbs. No more than one tea spoon of oil.

You have been given a recipe for the WONDER SOUP which can be eaten in unlimited quantities. This soup is a supplement while you are on the program and it should be a pleasure to eat. Not everyone likes cabbage, green peppers, calory etc. This recipe is not inflexible. You may substitute vegetables according to your taste. You may add any vegetables you like: asparagus, peas, corn, turnips, green beans, cauliflower, etc. Try to stay away from beans (lima, pinto, kidney, etc.), however, because they tend to be high in calories even though they are very good for you.

Beverages you may consume while on the program :

Water (flavoured with lemon/lime if desired).
Club Soda is OK.
Black Coffee. No cream or cream substitute. No sugar or sweetness.
Black Tea = Herb or Leaf.
Absolutely nothing else except the fruit juices which are part of day seven. No fruit juices before day seven.
How and Why It Works

Day One you are preparing your system for the upcoming programme. Your only source of nutrition is fresh or canned fruits. Fruits are nature's perfect food. They provide everything you could possibly want to sustain life except total balance and variety.

Day Two starts with a fix of complex carbo-hydrates coupled with an oil dose. This is taken in the morning for energy and balance. The rest of day two consists of vegetables which are virtually calorie free and provide essential nutrients and fibre.

Day Three eliminates the potato because you get your carbohydrates from the fruits. You system is now prepared to start burning excess pounds. You will still have cravings which should start to diminish by day four.

Day Four, bananas, milk and soup sound the strangest and least desirable. You're in for a surprise. You probably will not eat all the bananas allowed. But they are there for the potassium you have lost and the sodium you may have missed the past three days. You will notice a definite loss of desire for sweets. You will be surprised how easy this day will go.

Day Five, Beef and tomatoes. The beef is for iron and proteins, the tomatoes are for digestion and fibre. Lots and lots of water purifies your system. You should notice colourless urine today. Your allowance calls for the equivalent of five "quarter ponders". Do not feel you have to eat all this beef. You must eat the six tomatoes.

Day Six is similar to day five, Iron and proteins from beef, Vitamins and fibre from vegetables. By now your system is in a total weight loss inclination. There should be a noticeable difference in the way you look today, compared to day one.

Day Seven finished off the program like a good cigar used to finish off Victorian meals, except much healthier. You have your system under control and it should thank you for the flushing and cleaning you just gave it.

Time for spring cleaning!

Its that time of the year again...time to spring clean the house! Doesn't sound too enticing, does it? But it is definitely better to get it done before the first month of the new year ends, lest you end up with lots of unnecessary stuff piled up in the house pretty soon!

Here's some tips on how to go about it -

• Paperwork/Files -
  Sort all paperwork from last year - old letters, bills, store receipts et al. Decide which ones are to be filed away and which ones are to be shredded. Ideally, store only the bank/credit card statements, health/home/auto insurance papers and all major purchase receipts.
  
• Newspapers/Magazines et al -
  Throw away old newspapers, magazines, expired coupons, flyers and advertisements.
  
• Kitchen/Pantry -
  Dispose off expired and unused food stuff, condiments and seasonings. Get rid of worn out pots and pans(especially the non-stick ones if they are no longer 'non-stick' !) Trash the old plastic bottles and containers or better still recycle them at a recycling center.
  
• Closet -
  Scan your closets for old and unused stuff. Do away with worn out undergarments, donate old faded clothes and dispose old footwear which you no longer use either because its out of fashion or because you've stopped liking it for some reason:).
  
• Medicine Box -
  Sort your medicine/first-aid box by discarding the expired OTC and Rx medications.
  
• Bathroom -
  Throw away empty bottles of body washes, shampoos perfumes and lotions. Dispose off any expired cosmetics and toiletries. Replace hand/face/bath towels if you have to. Also, its time to change the worn out rugs on the bathroom floor!
  
• General household stuff -
  Look around for any useless stuff in the house. If something is simply taking up space without serving any purpose, get rid of it by either trashing it or putting it up for sale.
  
• Coins -
  If you have accumulated a lot of coins and don't particularly use them for public transport or someplace else, get the coins exchanged for cash(this will however take off a small percentage of the amount) or for gift cards of popular stores for the equivalent amount of money. This can be done at the CoinStar machines which are installed in most/all Lucky(formerly Albertson's) stores in the bay area.

Rule of the thumb : If there's anything that hasn't been used in a year or two, you are far from using it in the future as well. So you are better off without it! However, use your own discretion when disposing off something that came with a big price tag:)

Remember, living in a clean and uncluttered space helps draw positive energy into your home and into you life. So let's flag off the new year with a clean and fresh beginning!

Food Alert - Filthy, pesticide & Salmonella contaminated groceries from India.

You'll be surprised to find many food items that we regularly buy from Indian grocery in the FDA's list of Import Refusal Report and Detention Without Physical Examination List. Check out the list before you go shopping next time.

The contamination ranges from being filthy and unfit for consumption to banned ingredients, pesticides, salmonella etc.

What is in the list? .... everything you can think of from unbranded spices, rice, sweets, sauce many of which are from the likes of Britannia, Haldiram, Priya, Kohinoor etc.

Refusal Actions by FDA as Recorded in OASIS for India:
Introduction - www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/ora_oasis_ref_intro.html
Dec 2007 - www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/12/ora_oasis_c_in.html
Monthly updates by country - www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/ora_oasis_ref.html

Detention Without Physical Examination of Processed Products For Pesticides:
www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia9908.html

What is DETENTION WITHOUT PHYSICAL EXAMINATION?
In some instances a product may be detained as soon as it is offered for entry into the United States. This procedure is the administrative act of detaining a product without physical examination and is based on past history and/or other information indicating the product may be violative. A product may be subject to a detention without physical examination (DWPE) recommendation until the shipper or importer proves that the product meets FDA guidelines or standards.
Occasionally, FDA identifies products from an entire country or geographic region for DWPE when the violative conditions appear to be geographically widespread. Detention recommendations of this breadth are rare and are initiated only after other avenues for resolving the problem have been exhausted. (See FDA Regulatory Procedures Manual (RPM), Chapter 9-25-00 for details on Detention Without Physical Examination - formerly known as Automatic Detention).

What is IMPORT REFUSAL REPORT (IRR)?
The IRR reports on those products for which the that determination was to refuse admission to the product. The IRR is generated from data collected by FDA's Operational and Administrative System for Import Support (OASIS) and is updated monthly. Each month, the IRR is available sorted by country and by product based on the industry code which is the first two characters of FDA's product code (e.g., all fishery/seafood products will be coded 16...).

Where to find good CD rates.

With numerous interest rate cuts by the fed in the last couple of months, its hard to find good returns on CDs (Certificate Of Deposits) offered by Banks. Finding 6% APY returns on CDs was easy until recently; but not anymore. These days its hard to find any CDs that offers anything close to 5% APY.

While CD rates offered by banks may be disappointing, the next best option would be to go with CD's offered by local Credit Unions. Credit Unions, often, offer much higher interest rates than Banks. While your money in most FDIC insured banks is safe upto $100,000 per individual, the money at Credit Union is also safe as long as the Credit Union is insured by NCUA. This is a US Government Agency which, just like FDIC, insures deposits upto $100,000 per individual. So as long as your Bank or Credit Union is insured by FDIC or NCUA your deposits are well protected.

Fortunately for us, in the bay area, we have tons of Credit Unions around here which are NCUA insured. Most recently Patelco moved from being privately insured over to NCUA. Patelco is historically known to offer very high interest rates. So watch out Patelco, if you are in the market for CDs. Their 5.45%, 9 month CD just closed last Saturday. I am glad that I made it to Patelco, just a couple of hours before the offer closed on Saturday. Also keep a watch on offers by San Mateo CU and Tech CU.

One other advantage of going with CUs is that they don't compel you to open or maintain a Checking or Savings a/c with them. Even if they do, they generally have a very low minimum balance requirement from 1$ to 50$. In some cases they would fund those accounts with their money.

One might ask, will it not hurt my credit score if I open CD accounts with many Credit Unions? Well, it seems for CDs, most CUs only do a soft enquiry against your credit history. This is done using, what is called, Chex System. So the enquiry never appears or impacts your credit report or score. (For that matter, some smaller Banks too have now stopped performing hard enquiries for new CD accounts).

ING Direct which was once well known for its high CD rates has sharply cut down its CD rates. Same is the case with CitiBank. World Savings bank, which was one other front runner in CD rates, has been bought by Wachovia and as expected those CD rates are now .... history. Countrywide and Indymac Bank still seem to offer CDs with 5+% APY. You probably know why. Certain brokerage houses like ETrade and Ameritrade also are known for decent CD rates. However beware that some brokered CDs may not be fully insured. Read any fine prints and enquire before you go for a brokered CD. Well, that's about CDs. Will be back with more financial write-ups soon.

More Amchigle Gyadi (Konkani Proverbs/Sayings)

1> Pittali bhair palli (One's true nature became evident)
2> Vaasru ghalle (Broke down)
3> Thappil budle (Things didn't go well)
4> Ghoodu ghallo (Broke down, died)
5> Nanka Kappusu dovornu vairi pallo (Barely made it)
6> Dhar pakdo kelle (Cheated)
7> Divali jalle (Went bankrupt)
8> Dhendo ghallo (Moved in, generally against the hosts wish)
9> Patlam ghevnu ailo (Came with a lot of unwanted guests)
10> Chano khavnu haathu dhulle vari (Did a neat job, no mess)
11> Sukkhale sungata she (Very thin, shriveled up)
12> Kaddi paihlvan (Thin but strong fellow)
13> Kuvvale katthorche (Boasting)
14> Kotwal khanu she karta (Behaves haughtily)
15> Rayyana appalali chedu rambhe jattha (A woman's status in life depends upon who notices her)
16> O mahleri tow gothna (Does'nt know a damn thing)
17> Thonda kodu kelle (Expressed disgust)
18> Jibbe ka lagamu na (Talks incessantly)
19> Thote marche (Looking at women hungrily)

Credits: Written by my uncle Bob Kamath.

Amchigle Gyadi (Konkani Proverbs/Sayings)

1. Khellelek asha chadi, nahllalek chiccol chadu - The more you have the more you want
2. Goo khatthalek meeshi dhartalo - An accomplice in an evil act
3. Goo nai, bhattu haaggilo - The same thing said in a different way
4. Muttha gala ghalche - Indulging in fruitless activity
5. Duddu deevnu nainthu pouncha vocche - Paying for something which should have been free anyway
6. Valleka phala jud way? - He is not heavy father, he is my brother
7. God thukkoche - Feeling sleepy
8. Raathri palaile banyenthu divasache podche she - Getting into trouble knowingly
9. Vatteri watthale vaga makka yevnu khaga - Inviting unnecessary trouble
10. Maattheri booth basla - Obsessed
11. Kimsa maasa khavnu jathi bhadche - Losing respect by indulging in some minor vice
12. Ghoder baisunu sooru pilleri matthe laggana - You can''t get drunk if you are riding a horse!
13. Thonda theelu thimbana - Can''t keep a secret
14. Haaggu jatthana gaddo sodduche - Waiting till the last minute
15. Kansena kurdeka vaata dakkoche she - Like a half witted person guiding an idiot
16. Katt katta visha - Poisonous character
17. Toppi dovorche - Deceiving.
18. Kappani kalle - Ripped off
    
    Credits: Written by my uncle Dr Bob Kamath

Mint Pulav

Ingredients:
2 to 2.5 cups Basmati rice - washed and kept aside
1 medium size onion - slit lengthwise into small pieces
1 medium size tomato - cut into small pieces
1 small bunch mint leaves - finely/coarsely chopped
1 small bunch cilantro - finely/coarsely chopped
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2-3 small green chillies
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
4-5 bay leaves
1 inch cinnamon stick
4-5 cloves
3-4 cardamom
2 tsp cumin seeds
8-10 whole black pepper
2-3 badi elaichi
Salt to taste

Preparation Method:
1) Pour ghee/oil (preferably ghee) in a vessel.
2) Add the cumin seeds, bay leaves, cloves, black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom and badi elaichi.
3) Add chopped onion and saute for some time till the onion turns translucent brown.
4) Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for some more time.
5) Add the chopped tomato and slit green chillies, turmeric powder and saute till the tomato blends with the onion.
6) Add the chopped mint leaves and cilantro and mix thoroughly. Saute for 5 mins.
7) Add the washed rice and salt to taste, mix thoroughly, saute for 5 mins.
8) Finally add water (1: 1.5 ratio) and cover the vessel with a tight lid. Cook until rice is done (around 15-20 mins on a low/medium setting)

Credits: Smita Kamath