Sun & Shower

Only two years removed from the most amazing and most heartbreaking season in Illinois basketball history, I discovered I wasn’t ready to relive the National Championship game. For those not in the know, Illinois lost to North Carolina 75-70 to finish the season 37-2 and the “runner-up”.

John Feinstein’s Last Dance goes behind the scenes to describe the pinnacle of the NCAA men’s college basketball season. The first and last chapters describe pieces of the National Championship game in detail, making it difficult to read. And, being an Illini fan, reading it from the point of view of North Carolina did not help. Despite the dust in the room for those two chapters, everything in between describes what makes the Final Four one of the premier sporting events in the country.

The good… Feinstein did his homework, interviewing the legends of coaching from John Wooden to Dean Smith to Mike Krzyzewski. He also tracked down players and officials to capture every angle the casual fan doesn’t get to see. The book recounts stories of Final Fours past but not in the usual chronological order. Feinstein uses themes for each chapter, such as the different people involved in the Final Four and what happens each day of the Final Four. Although games are only played on Saturday and Monday, the fun actually starts that Thursday.

The bad… The book is very ACC-centric. Krzyzewski wrote the Introduction and the running theme throughout the book is Roy Williams’ and North Carolina’s journey to the promised land. The other thing I didn’t like is that many of the stories are recounted multiple times. The book is 400 pages and could have easily been 300 if each story was only told once. It even felt as though Feinstein just copied and pasted the text into two different chapters, as if the reader wouldn’t notice.

The recommendation… For a Final Four geek like me, this book is a must read. I also recommend it for the casual fan. However, there are two groups that should avoid it: Illini fans (it’s just too soon) and Duke/Carolina/ACC haters.

Today is my 5th anniversary of being a vegetarian.

In honor of celebrating five years without meat and with my fiance embarking upon 30 days of meat-free living, I present to you my lessons learned about how to go veg.

• Your body will need time to adjust to having less protein.  If you feel weak or light-headed, eat a spoonful of peanut butter.
• Take your vitamins!  The bare minimum I recommend is:
  • Multivitamin with iron.  The iron is especially important if you’re used to a diet full of red meat.
  • B-complex.  Vitamin B12 is typically found in meat so vegetarians need to take a supplement.
  • Calcium citrate with magnesium and vitamin D.  Combining the three will help ensure good bone health.
  • Flax. Omega-3s are abundant in fish, particularly salmon, if you choose to eat fish.  Otherwise some form of flax seed, flax oil or flax supplement will get you the important essential fatty acids your body needs.
• Don’t be afraid to order off the menu.  Even at a steak restaurant, vegetarians can find something to eat.  Some places will have a vegetarian option on the menu.  At some places, you’ll need to request a plate of grilled vegetables.  You’re not the first vegetarian to eat at a steak restaurant so the chef will have no problem obliging your request.
• Veggie burgers won’t taste the same as hamburgers but if you add the right toppings, you’ll hardly notice.
• Boca Ground can replace ground beef in any recipe – hamburger helper, tacos, etc.
• If you don’t love vegetables, you will learn to love them.  Start by steaming them and adding melted butter or cheese.  You can also add mixed vegetables to pasta dishes, pizza and eggs.  Mix them in with whatever you’re having and you’ll forget you’re eating something healthy.
• Keep bags of frozen vegetables in your freezer and you’ll always have them on hand to add to the main dish.
• If there is a food you really miss, there is probably a vegetarian alternative for it.  Go ahead and try them but keep in mind that many are loaded with salt and preservatives.
• A serviceable option for buffalo wings is Trader Joe’s Soy Nuggets with your favorite hot wing sauce.  I also like to add hot wing sauce to pizza.
• Tofu has a weird texture and takes some getting used to.  The best way to get used to it is in a stir fry with a strong flavored sauce and lots of vegetables.  Order it in a restaurant before trying to cook it at home.

Congratulations on making the decision to go meat-free!  It won’t be easy at first but you will adjust in time.  And no matter how long you remain a vegetarian, you will always continue learning how to eat.  It’s been five years for me so far and I learn something new about vegetarianism every day.

If you’re like me, Diet Coke is a staple in your diet. Well, it used to be for me. I used to drink up to 100 oz. of Diet Coke per day! I’d get a “big pop” for breakfast, lunch and the ride home from work. Each one was a 44 oz. cup filled with about 2/3 ice and the rest Diet Coke. Some days I’d even chug down a few additional cans of soda.

Then one day, in December of 2004, I was sitting at my desk and my heart started racing. Next thing I knew, I was cold and sweaty. I could barely breathe. I really thought I was having a heart attack! I had read that you should cough so that’s what I did, along with some focused breathing I had learned in yoga class. Pretty soon, I returned to normal.

Scared out of my mind, I immediately scheduled an appointment with my doctor. He said I wasn’t having a heart attack. I was having a panic attack. I had two choices – go on medicine or cut out caffeine. As someone who doesn’t think a pill will fix all problems, I didn’t want to go on medicine for the rest of my life. My doctor and I agreed I should cut out caffeine.

And that was it. I switched to Caffeine-Free Diet Coke and Sprite Zero, and I never looked back.

So that took care of the caffeine but isn’t soda in all forms bad for you? The answer, it appears, is yes. Not only does soda put avoidable toxins in your body, but it also leeches calcium out of your bones. As a woman with a family history of osteoporosis, this discovery was alarming! I thought, “If I don’t drink soda, what will I drink? Water?” The answer, of course, is yes.

Quitting caffeine proved to be easier than quitting soda for me. With caffeine, I was able to trick my brain into thinking I was still getting caffeine by drinking nearly the same tasting sodas. That wasn’t going to work for giving it up all together though. In the spring of 2006, I decided to give up soda for Lent. It was brutal! I craved the sweet, fake, sugary goodness of a Caffeine-Free Diet Coke.

Over the course of the 40 days, I never gave in. And on the 41st day, with a fresh soda in hand, I realized I didn’t want it. By flushing out the toxins and letting my body heal, I was able to discover how great I felt without soda in my life.

So what do I drink now?

• Water – 64 oz. minimum per day.
• Cranberry juice -fill a large glass with ice, add 1/2 juice and fill the rest with water. It cuts down on the sugar but still adds a natural flavor to the water. I learned this trick recently from Mariel Hemingway.
• Iced Tea – I particularly like Unsweetened Nestea out of a soda fountain because it’s cold and watered-down. It adds a different flavor to water when you want a break from sweet. I should note: iced tea does have some caffeine in it.
• Hot Tea – This is especially great for recovering coffee drinkers. It’s hot, tasty and some teas have caffeine. Plus, many herbal teas have additional health benefits.

I would have never guessed it a few years ago but it’s true. There really is life after Diet Coke.