By Marilu Henner
WebMD Live Events Transcript

Join actress Marilu Henner, star of stage and screen, for a four-week special WEBCAST series based on her popular book, 'The 30-Day Total Health Makeover.'

Event Date: 03/21/2000

The opinions expressed herein are the guests' alone and have not been reviewed by a WebMD physician. If you have questions about your health, you should consult your personal physician. This event is meant for informational purposes only.

Moderator: Welcome to WebMD Live. Today we are proud to present Total Health Makeover, with Marilu Henner. This week is the third in a four-part series based on Marilu Henner's immensely popular Total Health Makeover. In this installment, known as "The Green Week," Marilu discusses how you can get out there and socialize now that you're exercising regularly!

Marilu Henner has starred on stage, in several hit TV series, film, commercials, television movies and variety specials. She has also co-starred with some of Hollywood's leading men and worked with some of the best directors in Hollywood and on Broadway. She believes that with good health one can do it all. Now her secret is out. The knowledge and discipline which this actress, author and full-time mom has gathered to maintain her demanding schedule is available at bookstores, in the form of Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover. The book addresses her years of being overweight and stifled by bad health, and takes the reader through a journey of discovery. It is a story of trial and error, noting the connections made and compulsions untangled through knowledge, observation and understanding. It is a discussion, which reevaluates our ideas of fitness and demystifies the instant quick-fix regime, replacing it with a more ... of experience, and it is all based on a personal quest to combat unnecessary health risks and adapt an overall "sense" of our body's needs.

Blaine_Moderator: Morning Web MD users, this is Blaine Baird and my co-host Fay Greene! And, Marilu Henner!

Henner: Good morning! I feel like I'm part of the family now.

Moderator: The auditorium has been "hushed," which means you will be unable to see or communicate with other WebMD members during the duration of the event. To ask Marilu a question, please type /ask followed by your question (e.g. "/ask How are you?")

Blaine_Moderator: We've been talking for the past 2 weeks about her Total Health Makeover book and this week we're on Green, last week we were on Purple. Marilu, can you review for us?

Henner: I always think that the stages a person goes through in terms of discipline, they go through the colors of the rainbow. They decide to be disciplined and they go through purple mode, and that's very strict so that's when we have boot camp. The food is about reconditioning your palate, and getting rid of meat, sugar, dairy... but really pulling yourself in and looking at your life from a different angle.

Blaine_Moderator: I might interrupt, Fay and I have been through Purple week and Boot Camp and we're still alive!

Fay_Moderator: (laughs!)

Blaine_Moderator: (Laughs!)

Henner: Blue week, you get a little more relaxed and add some more food, and now you're starting to taste things a little differently, so your palate has become a bit more sensitive rather than desensitized with only the extreme flavors. And now we're moving into Green week, definitely more relaxed with more flavors and more foods, and we're still organizing. The whole theory of my book is that health isn't just what you eat, but a whole picture.

Fay_Moderator: Right.

Henner: We've been doing things like organizing our sock drawer, exercises, using things around our house to give us spa treatments.

Blaine_Moderator: Mm hmm ... I have one complaint though. Whenever I'm at a stoplight and do those exercises, the people behind me are always honking!

Henner: You don't have to do 25 repetitions!

Blaine_Moderator: Okay, cut down my reps! We're going to start the Green Week with the motivational tips. What's Plan B?

Fay_Moderator: I love that!

Henner: This is my #1 theory of my life. Plan B... is where you plan for Plan A, get organized, decide how you're going to spend your day, and then life comes up and smacks you between your eyes and say you're going to go this way instead. There's either disappointment, or something happens to you constantly that thwarts Plan A, so it's your adjustment to Plan B that really makes your life.

Fay_Moderator: Right.

Henner: Sometimes Plan B can be so much better. What I'm asking people to do is instead of getting very upset and not being very resilient, is to say "what's this opportunity around the corner that Plan B is presenting me?" And it's people that can pick themselves up from disappointment that are usually the healthiest people. It's about being ready to go on with your life. You've got to be ready to roll with the punches.

Fay_Moderator: It's like growing up in England, you always have to have Plan B cause it's always raining on Plan A! (laughs!) The weather always spoils everything! Someone said here .... Do you have a "plan C"?

Henner: Oh sure!

Fay_Moderator: (laughs!)

Blaine_Moderator: (laughs!)

Henner: Did you ever read the Hat in the Cat? And the little cat at the bottom?

Fay_Moderator: Right, right ....yes.

Henner: Sometimes it takes all those to find out what you really want to do. Plan B can be on an extremely profound level too -- where there's a disappointment, death, or anything in your life that shakes it up and forces you to see things differently.

Fay_Moderator: Plan B worked, right. How does it relate to eating? One of the things we're talking about is how am I changing my eating? And, then they've got this strict plan for themselves and sure enough, they fall off the wagon ...

Henner: We're always a work in progress, and we're always learning something new. It's our ability to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off from yesterday, know we made a couple mistakes, and move on from there.

Fay_Moderator: Okay. Right.

Henner: Because we're people, we're human, and we make mistakes. Save perfection for when you're dead. You'll be perfectly dead. So learn from those mistakes and move on.

Blaine_Moderator: Keep moving forward .... Marilu, you have a question here .... How do your "plan A" and "plan B" goals typically differ?

Henner: I'm always trying different things. Earlier in my career, I thought I'd live in New York and work on Broadway my entire life. And when I came out here, I didn't like it, but I learned to love L.A. The biggest Plan A and Plan B in my life is that I expected to have my parents my entire life, but they died so young. So the only way to deal with it was to find out what it was that killed them, and study the human body, and try to help my brothers and sisters.

Blaine_Moderator: So, this was really the keystone to changing your life?

Henner: Losing my parents has probably informed my life more than anything else.

Fay_Moderator: Yeah, because they died of specific heart health issues? This is really Plan B ... look how huge Plan B is, you know!

Henner: This is Plan B. No question about it.

Blaine_Moderator: What a terrific Plan B! You talk about Amnesty Day .. what is that?

Henner: In Chicago, January 2nd was called Amnesty Day, and it was the one day that the public library said "we know you have a bunch of books out there", so January 2nd, we'd take those books back to the library, free of charge.

Fay_Moderator: (laughs!) Return them!! That is too cute!

Blaine_Moderator: And, you had an armful, right?

Henner: So what I'm saying is that we all have things in our home that belong to our neighbors, friends, brothers and sisters... go through your house, and it's amazing how much clutter you'll get rid of because it belongs to someone else.

Fay_Moderator: Uh huh. (agrees)

Blaine_Moderator: You want me to give my neighbor's tools back! (laughs!)

Fay_Moderator: Right.

Henner: Go through your house, get the things that belong to someone else, put them in a laundry basket, and give them back.

Fay_Moderator: What benefits does Amnesty Day have?

Henner: I can't remember how many times I've said "where's that sweater". And someone else has it, and I feel bad calling them back about it.

Blaine_Moderator: Right! We can take this a step farther and use it as a day of forgiving our enemies, too.

Henner: Definitely.

Fay_Moderator: yeah, might be a day to call some people up and invite them over for dinner or ...

Henner: Invite them over for a healthy dinner!

Fay_Moderator: Invite them over for a healthy dinner, I'm on this new kick and you're going to be a part of it whether you like it or not! (laughs!)

Henner: All food can be placed on this number line, from extremely salty to sweet. And they've learned from studying children that centered food makes centered children. And you start losing those extreme feelings of anger and resentment, not only for yourself but for other people.Henner: And one of the tips this week or next week is exercise for forgiveness.

Blaine_Moderator: Marilu, while we're talking about food tips, you have 7 Essentials for being Gourmet Ready, what are those?

Henner: If you have those 7 things, cilantro, beets, basil, grated carrots, lime, dill... I talked to this wonderful chef I know, and she said that as long as she has those things in her cupboard, she can take any dish and turn it into something.

Fay_Moderator: Beets, grated carrots ....

Blaine_Moderator: Lime, Dill ...

Henner: Because not only will it add flavor but also color. As soon as somebody comes over, you might want to put something colorful like beets or carrots on your plate. They're easy to have in your refrigerator and they last a long time as well. They have good vitamins as well.

Blaine_Moderator: So, you're saying get these things ... get them in your fridge and have them ready for special occasions ....

Henner: And not even special occasions, do it for yourself. You can add zest and flavor to any dish you're preparing.

Blaine_Moderator: Great idea!

jacquelinef_WebMD What do you recommend for women on THM when they get pregnant re: changes?

Henner: I want to say hi to all the women who've been on my website, because it's become such a good community for people -- www.marilu.com. And I've been on this website last week, having so much fun... After my kids go to bed, I'm on that website.

Fay_Moderator: Right! (laughs!)

Blaine_Moderator: (laughs!)

Henner: One of the books I'm writing now is Total Health Makeover for Children. I've gone through 2 pregnancies, had both of my children after I turned forty, and I stayed on that program the whole time. I thought I was getting ready for the Olympics. I saw myself as someone hosting a child, and if anything, I wanted to eat better than I ever did, rather than use it as an excuse to fall apart.

Blaine_Moderator: (laughs!)

Henner: I might not have food combined as much, because I went through so many times without eating. I was working on Evening Shade when I was pregnant with my first son, so there'd be periods... You can eat this way on the program; my doctor endorsed it. I gained 28 pounds with each child, lost 28 of it within the first few weeks. And my second child like flew out of me; the resident was there with a catcher's mitt.

Fay_Moderator: Oh, right. (laughs!) Wow!

Blaine_Moderator: (laughs!)

Henner: They were strong healthy boys, good weights. No problems. So I know this program works when you're pregnant.

Blaine_Moderator: While we're talking about children, you've written a book about child rearing ... what is that about?

Henner: It's called I Refuse to Raise a Brat, and it's really the parenting teacher of this brilliant psychoanalyst, and she and I wrote this book together, and its all her theories and I tell my stories from the front line of motherhood.

Blaine_Moderator: We'll have to have you back sometime to talk about raising children.

Henner: Great.

Blaine_Moderator: Your tip ... Throw a Pity Party ... what is that?

Henner: I hate people feeling sorry for themselves, I want to say "shake it off". Depression is anger turned inward. And that's why people get depressed, because they have anger and they turn it inward.

Fay_Moderator: Tell me about that, where does the anger go if not inward, I just experienced that over this weekend, I was angry over a certain situation, did not show it and then felt it going inward ....

Henner: I think what you have to do is talk it out.

Fay_Moderator: This was not a person, it was circumstances ... So ... (laughs!)

Blaine_Moderator: (laughs!)

Henner: I think one of the best things to do is exercise, no question about it. That's amazing how it release those endorphins, and you feel so much better after you exercise.

Fay_Moderator: Exercise, okay.

Henner: Break a sweat for at least ten minutes everday.

Fay_Moderator: Okay.

Blaine_Moderator: It goes back to what you've always told us, break a sweat everyday ...

Henner: That's why I designed boot camp a certain day; I made a countdown 4 days to get your body adjusted, and then boot camp was 5 days because people would be in the groove. But you don't feel sorry for yourself. You have to be resilient. That's the #1 sign of emotional health, and the way to do that is to do something nice for somebody else. It's amazing when you look around you, there's always someone who needs something from you. Maybe you have something in terms of encouragement, and if you do something nice for somebody, it's going to make you feel better.

Blaine_Moderator: Give us an example from your life.

Henner: My mother, the summer before she died, I'd gone away in vacation and bought this bag I liked. She saw it and made hints that she liked it. To this day, I'm so sad... I can't believe I didn't give my mother that bag.

Fay_Moderator: (laughs!) You didn't give it to her !! ... Right.

Blaine_Moderator: (laughs!)

Henner: That hangs in my closet to remind me never to be selfish. I see that bag and I remember her face.

Blaine_Moderator: Great story .. we've got some questions from our users ... What do you do to keep your spirits so high?

Henner: I come from a very strong family, and having lost our parents early, my brothers and sisters are very close. My husband is fantastic, so I feel I'm very blessed with a good system. For a lot of people, you don't have that, and it's their biggest blessing as well.

Fay_Moderator: Don't you think you also create that, Marilu? Some people say, well I don't have a family. But you are the person who creates that mood, and that spirit, you've got to!

Henner: There's a tip maybe for next week, but its called "Give me a G". You try being the cheerleader for a change; so many people are walking around waiting for someone to tell them that it's okay to be the person they know they're meant to be. But it should come from them, and if you start that chain reaction and the first person to be that cheerleader, it's amazing how their attention units start to go out to people as well.

Blaine_Moderator: Mm hmm. What are these things that you do to cheer up other people?

Henner: I'm big on the phone.

Fay_Moderator: Just dropping someone an email ..

Henner: Right.

Fay_Moderator: I'm sure your community on your website feels good when you're responding to them.

Henner: They might think "oh, she's watching us", and it's not like that... it's like I'm one of them.

Fay_Moderator: 'She's watching this!' Sure.

Henner: I think we have to pay attention to one another, and there's so many people that are like those sitting at the dance. Go ask that person to dance. There are so many people who are good dancers, and they're waiting for someone to ask them out to the floor. I use dancing as a metaphor for everything.

Blaine_Moderator: I love to dance! I've got a question from a WebMD user ... I have been really burned out at the end of the day. What are some ways I can find some pep, especially when coming home and having to deal with the kids?

Henner: What you can do is spend a half hour regrouping, or find a half hour before you get home. And people ask about the rest of their family, how they can get this person on the program or that? And you know how when you're on a airplane, and they say that when the oxygen mask comes down, you have to put it on yourself first? I say that you have to strengthen yourself first. If you're coming home at night, and you're so drained from your day... well, you might need a day to regroup before you can walk in. A guilty parent makes the worst parent, Dr. Strom says. Meditate, exercise... read something. Something to clear your mind so you're at square one again.

Fay_Moderator: Right, oh! I don't want to tell you what I tell them when I'm feeling ...

Blaine_Moderator: Exercise or meditate or something ... Right.

Fay_Moderator: Everything Old is New Again!

Henner: We talked about hamper last week. Something always being off in your life.

Fay_Moderator: Spa on a Budget!

Henner: Nothing can make you look more together than a new pair of shoes, bag, whatever. But a lot of us can't afford it; I'm saying go to your closet, take out every pair of shoes that you know can use a bit of work, and take it to your shoe repair place. Take that bag you bought in orange, and you can have that dyed. Get more use out of the things you have by just doing a little repair work.

Fay_Moderator: Right! Yes, yes. Red. You did that with your shoes, didn't you?

Blaine_Moderator: I did!

Henner: Did you?

Blaine_Moderator: I've been moving and found all these old shoes and took them to the shoe repair shop and said dye them and re-sole them and got them back the next day ... they didn't cost that much! They look great and I'm wearing them! It was your tip!

Henner: I love shoes, and I have this theory -- I think people who have ever had a weight problem have a good shoe collection and wear too much blush.

Fay_Moderator: Shoe collection and getting your nails done! (laughs!)

Henner: That's great, whatever's going to make you feel better. I still love shoes and everything else, but I have terrible feet... from years of dancing.

Fay_Moderator: Is that from dancing? Right.

Henner: I have to be really careful -- I'm always wearing comfortable shoes unless I'm sitting down.

Fay_Moderator: That's a great question, cause we call this Spa on a Budget and you talk about not necessarily having to splash out the money for expensive spas for the rich and the famous ... so ....

Moderator: What are some fast ways to get out of a slump or depression when dieting?

Henner: Another one of my theories, is to do something small to make yourself feel better. And it becomes my mantra, and when I was first putting this program together, and I thought what is it when I wake up and feel so tired or whatever... But when I was a single girl, I'd think what can I do to make myself feel better? And it's amazing how those little tasks help you with the big picture. And whether it's exercise you do or an organization thing you do, or listening to great music... I think music can put you in a better mood than anything else. I think music is a great way to go; it's a quick fix. And one of the things I say to do, is when you call somebody to put you in a better mood and get involved in a conversation with them.

Blaine_Moderator: (laughs!) I'm so over that now!

Fay_Moderator: Yeah that's good.

Moderator: Are there ways to change things that we consider a job into a pleasure?

Henner: This is one of our tips, coming up! The more you're excited about doing something, the less you'll call it work. Within what they might not like to do, and within every job, there's something they can do to excite them, something in a task that will always be the thing to get them going. If you have passion for something, you have so much energy for it. It's like that old Tom Sawyer syndrome. He starts to do it, and everybody else started to do it.

Blaine_Moderator: Like painting the fence ..

Henner: And if you can find that little thing in your task that you have a good time doing, you'll get it done so much faster. And this includes playing music if you have a job. Or make it a challenge. When I have my boys and think when I have to make my boys clean their room, we'll turn it into a game. I might stick a big wastebasket, and it'll become a big basketball game.

Blaine_Moderator: Uh huh.

Fay_Moderator: Right, okay.

Blaine_Moderator: I'll remember that one.

Henner: It's the old Mary Poppins adage.

Fay_Moderator: Every job that has to be done!

Fay_Moderator: This is the ....

Henner: I wanted to put this tip in the book --

Fay_Moderator: You can't hear it unless you play it backwards! Paul is dead and here's the motivational tip!

Henner: And my friends said "no".

Fay_Moderator: (laughs!)

Blaine_Moderator: (laughs!)

Henner: But this is what I'll do, I'll come home and see my bathroom is such a mess... and I can size up the room and say I can clean it in 26 moves. I'll size something up, and say I can clean this kitchen in 22 moves. And I'll see if I can beat the record. It's like a game.

Fay_Moderator: (laughs!)

Blaine_Moderator: What happens when you go over?

Fay_Moderator: How do people stop being defeated when I know a lot of people who start these things and never finish them. I'm going to do my closet ... I think you work for closets.com by the way! I think that's really your website!

Henner: My brother said that I wrote the Blue Book, and it's really an organization book disguised as a diet book.

Fay_Moderator: It's the closet page you see on the back of Vogue, that's really your company! (laughs!) But you start and then it lays on the floor and now you're climbing to get over it

Henner: No no no. If you know you're the kind that isn't going to finish, you have to do something small to make yourself feel better.

Fay_Moderator: Okay, alright, take it in portions ....

Blaine_Moderator: Right. Mm hmm.

Henner: There are people who can dump everything in the middle and know they'll get the job done. But most of us don't have the time to do it all in one sitting. So it's better to do things in sections, a little bit at a time. I'm always looking for people to do something small and feel better.

Fay_Moderator: As opposed to being defeated with everything on the floor.

Moderator: How can I get my children involved with cleaning the house?

Henner: I make teams, and I came from a big family... and I used to babysit for the 4 young ones. What we'd do is have teams, and my family was very competitive... What we do is if you make a game, a sports game out of it... and each kid who has a different room, maybe they can pick the music that time, or go into the room and size it up. Maybe because my kids are little, I can do these things and they think it's fun. And especially with little kids, if you get them to think that only the adults can do it, then they want to do it.

Fay_Moderator: Yeah, how many calories are we burning doing this kind of work? I've heard it said that you're not burning calories until you're breaking a sweat. Then I read Cosmo and things that say 'ironing is burning calories.' Which is it?

Henner: You're moving... you're breathing, doing things... and it's better than sitting and watching television.

Fay_Moderator: So, all of this is burning up calories for you?

Henner: And it's also helping your mind. I feel like, here's your head, and here's all the problems in your head. So you have to get your head over to this area where there is no problem. We've all got complicated lives, and we're all busy with nothing every perfect. We're lucky to get 65% out of everything, but you have to constantly function and move.

Blaine_Moderator: So, that's the Plan B ... you talked about Spa on a Budget tips .. there's Massage Buddies!

Fay_Moderator: Organize my Closet and Fix up my shoes! (laughs)

Blaine_Moderator: (laughs!)

Henner: I think if you learn to give each other a massage, it's amazing how you don't have to require a masseuse. And there are some great oils, or you can give yourself a great massage. Just your feet, with some great foot cream. And it's amazing how your feet will relax your entire body.

Fay_Moderator: Instant reflexology.

Blaine_Moderator: Right.

Henner: You can do it to yourself, and once you get your feet going, you'll see how you're walking different with better posture.

Blaine_Moderator: That would be a great tip for the woman who wrote in earlier about unwinding when she walks in the door ... have her husband give her a massage.

Henner: You have to be able to communicate with your partner too, because there's nothing worse than a bad massage.

Fay_Moderator: right. So what are some of the ways ....?

Moderator: What are some ways to learn massage and what different types of massage are there?

Henner: Get some videos or whatever. You have to be able to listen to your body and natural appetite.

Fay_Moderator: Mmm... your intuition. We were talking to a woman about "Awakening your Intuition" the other day ...

Blaine_Moderator: Yes.

Henner: We get so clouded, and we can't hear ourselves. We can't taste things, because we've been eating the extremes or listening to the extremes. One of the big questions I'm going to ask people in the Green Book is when was the last time you felt healthy. And one of my friends didn't even know what healthy felt like, it had been so long. And now she's doing the program and knows.

Fay_Moderator: Right.

Henner: There's something so intuitive about massage, and you can practice on yourself what's going to feel good. So when you're working on someone else's neck or foot, you can feel empathetic. So it's really a question of listening.

Fay_Moderator: Okay.

Blaine_Moderator: Marilu, we've talked a lot about exercise, I want to talk about your TV exercise ...

Henner: I had so much fun doing this. My brother and sister-in-law are in there with me. We had such a good time doing this, and I really wanted to do something for people who are the last people on the dance floor in a wedding.

Fay_Moderator: (laughs!)

Blaine_Moderator: (laughs!)

Henner: So I wanted to do this as a dancing tape...

Blaine_Moderator: Cause the tip for this week is "The Must See TV Workout" .. what's that about?

Henner: Sometimes people sit in front of the television set and said they blew off 2 hours watching TV.

Blaine_Moderator: You were on one last night, by the way! We'll talk about that in a minute. Go ahead ...

Henner: I'm always saying, how about during commercials... you do a little bit of a workout?

Fay_Moderator: Right! (laughs)

Blaine_Moderator: Fortunately, WebMD doesn't have commercials ... so ...

Henner: You can do the ones from the traffic light, or you can just do arm flexes or things like that.

Blaine_Moderator: That's when they start honking at me! (laughs)

Henner: If you get one of those big rubber band things, you can do these stretches. Or put them behind your arms. Just squeeze your buttocks muscles, or suck in your stomach...

Fay_Moderator: It's kind of like the Pilates thing you do, right?

Henner: I wore this green shirt, very St. Patrick's day.

Blaine_Moderator: You're following up on St. Patrick's Day.

Fay_Moderator: (laughs!)

Henner: What you do is to make sure you can't back a piece of paper between your back and the floor. So put your legs up, and bring your knees this way, head donw, and bring your arms up this way, and now your stomach is tucked in, and you're going to do 100.

Fay_Moderator: (watches Marilu demonstrate ab exercises)

Henner: Not everybody will be able to do this, but doing that 100 is an amazing thing. So many different things you can do.

Blaine_Moderator: It's tough to drink beer and eat popcorn while you're doing that! (laughs)

Fay_Moderator: Right! (laughs)

Henner: So let's say you want to do anything, you're going to be... anything you can do where you're going to move.

Fay_Moderator: So, any kind of stretching too, really. Uh huh.

Henner: Any kind of stretching, but you can bring your legs up like this. Another good stretch is where you bring your leg up, and do this. Any light stretch that'll make you feel better. You'll get a little glow going and you'll feel better.

Blaine_Moderator: That's the end of the commercial and you're ready to watch the show again ... Well, we're going to talk about hangers in a minute, but you were on TV last night ... What was that? Tell us about it ...

Henner: I was on a movie called Tale of Two Bunnies. But I couldn't believe how many women had been bunnies, and it was a great opportunity for younger girls, 18 to 25, to make a thousand dollars a week. And it wasn't about servicing anybody. These girls weren't allowed to touch, date... and it was just a wonderful opportunity.

Fay_Moderator: Oh I saw that! Even for me in London in the 70's being a Bunny was not looked down upon, it was seen as quite the high job and a step away from being a Geisha girl or something. Yep. Very much. So, I enjoyed it.

Henner: Thank you.

Fay_Moderator: Are we going to go cooking? Yep? Okay. Good.

Blaine_Moderator: Marilu's going to show us ...

Henner: One of the things we can do earlier in the program is Joey's French Toast, and now we're going to add syrup to it.

Blaine_Moderator: Who is Joey? Tell us about Joey ....

Henner: Joey is ... Joey. He's my four year old... looks like a Leprechaun.

Fay_Moderator: (laughs!) Oh adorable! So, he demands French toast.

Henner: Nicky likes oatmeal, and Joey loves French toast. And Joey loves to cook.

Blaine_Moderator: Wow! Okay. All right, now what do we need for this French toast? And, our users should be able to see this up on their screen.

Fay_Moderator: Do we have napkins? Here they are. Right. Okay.

Henner: We're going to separate an egg, use one egg white. The real protein of the egg is in the yolk.

Blaine_Moderator: The concept of combining the carbohydrate with the protein ....

Henner: Rocks paper scissors of eating. I know that this works for me, and makes my body work more efficiently. I can really eat when I go out, have a great time with people, and the next day it goes right through me and it feels great. Food combining you want to eat within 3 hours.

Fay_Moderator: Constantly going through. Okay. Should we be grazers? Is grazing good for us? I'm grazing! I tell everyone ... it's two hours later! (laughs)

Henner: You don't want to overload yourself, and make sure there's enough coal to get the furnace going. You don't want to do so little. The biggest mistake is that people eat too little.

Fay_Moderator: Breaks down ... right.

Blaine_Moderator: mm hmm. While you're cooking there, I've got a question from one of the users ..

suez9_WebMD I have terrible cravings for sugar the week before and during my period ... any suggestions?

Henner: What you're doing is going through hormonal fluctuations, and you're going through that sweet, salty, etc... don't give into that first one because it's going to make you crazy.

Fay_Moderator: Right, right. That'll set you off, okay.

Henner: Eat the more centered foods.Centered foods create centered behavior. Have a nice bowl of pasta with light tomato sauce as opposed to a really salty meal. Don't have Chinese food because that'll be too salty.

Fay_Moderator: Mm hmm...

Blaine_Moderator: In your book The 30 Day Health Makeover, you talk about the PMS ...

Henner: I used to have terrible PMS, and my boyfriend at the time would talk about the 3 faces of Eve.

Blaine_Moderator: Marilu, while you're soaking that bread, I'm going to throw another question at you ...

suez9_WebMD I am not necessarliy overweight, how soon could I expect to see some weight loss on the program?

Henner: It depends how polluted you are. It's about getting your body to work efficiently, and your food to go through you. What you want to do ... people notice inches, and others notice a huge weight loss. Men do so well on this program. It depends on your situation, and also depends on what kind of hoarder you are.

Fay_Moderator: And how polluted! (laughs)

Henner: If you're somebody walking through life rigid, every cell is going to start hoarding. The way a cell works, and I don't even want to call this biology, but here's this cell, something goes in gets processed and comes out. But if you're under stress, something will go in and just stay there.

Fay_Moderator: It's just going to stay there, right.

Henner: So you have to just relax.

Blaine_Moderator: Okay, what are you doing with this French Toast here, Marilu?

Henner: I've been soaking this bread, with one egg white. And if you get a really good strong, hearty bread... and this is all ready to cook.

Blaine_Moderator: I know that's flourless bread. But, they pop that in the frying pan and ....

Henner: And what you can do after is just drizzle some maple syrup on it. A lot of women on the program, I've learned from the websites, love the food. Its about re-educating your palate and teaching yourself to taste things differently.

Fay_Moderator: Right. Okay.

Blaine_Moderator: Talk about sugar for a minute, you're putting maple syrup on it ...

Henner: But it'll still do the flavors. We think we have to drown things...

Fay_Moderator: Right, that's a good point.

Henner: Sugar to me is kiddie cocaine. Maple syrup is a natural product, date sugar is fabulous. In my new book out July, I take you through the whole conversions. And I tell you how to convert a cup of sugar.

Fay_Moderator: Oh great! And, the measurements .. cause everything has a different amount of ...

jacquelinef_WebMD How do you resist sugar and what legal sugar do you eat?

Henner: The legal sugars are things like barley malt, maple sugar, syrup... as long as it's not through that process where 98% of the nutrients have been taken out. And I swear it won't have the same reaction that it will on refined sugar. I can smell refined sugar in things, and I can see the difference in my kids. It's amazing how children... It's kiddie cocaine. After kids have sugar, the place is wild.

Fay_Moderator: Yeah!

Blaine_Moderator: We're going to the East/West Salad, right?

Fay_Moderator: Yeah, I chose this one! I really wanted to know what this was all about!

Henner: So you steam the tofu over some hot water. And then chop it up.

Fay_Moderator: You have to take me from buying my big white block ...

Henner: And then you have two egg whites, hard-boiled.

Fay_Moderator: That's it? Oh! I love this!

Henner: And then we've got a half cup of bok choy.

Fay_Moderator: Bok choy, alright.

Henner: And mix it all together. And this is seaweed.

Fay_Moderator: Okay.

Blaine_Moderator: Why seaweed?

Henner: Seaweed is so good.

Fay_Moderator: Mm hmm. Is this just ... you kind of shredded it ...? Go to some great Japanese stores and ...

Henner: And now you have a bit of soy sauce for flavor, and then you're going to add... mayonnaise.

Fay_Moderator: You really only use tiny portions .... soy sauce and ...

Henner: That's Layonnaise. It's a soy product.

Blaine_Moderator: It's a soy product, right?

Fay_Moderator: Nayonaise?

Henner: I've been screaming about soy for 21 years, and now everyone is on the bandwagon and I'm so happy.

Fay_Moderator: Right.

Fay_Moderator: Chili peppers?

Henner: And you can add a little bit of chile if you like things spicy.

Fay_Moderator: One thing I noticed, too, very easy to go to Starbucks and Coffee Bean and order everything in Soy. I've got my order down, my chai tea with soy ... It's very difficult to order there .... But, (laughs!) I feel SO different!

Henner: And you'll feel cleaner in your face. And if you give up dairy, its amazing how much you start to feel in terms of your breathing.

Fay_Moderator: Mm hmm .... everything!

Blaine_Moderator: Marilu, while you're talking about soy and chai tea and everything ....

suez9_WebMD I would like to have more information today about soy/rice beverages. I enjoy soy chai tea and am wondering how/where that fits in the food combining.

Henner: Soy is one of those things that fits in with everything, but you have to try it. I think its the most perfect food ever, and there are people who can eat it with fruit or protein. A lot of people don't understand this about food combining, but you are going to put starches and soy together, make sure you have a legume to link them.

Blaine_Moderator: Now, what do you consider this salad?

Fay_Moderator: Protein, right? Cause you've got the egg whites ....

Henner: It's a legume protein, so you can actually serve it with toast.

Fay_Moderator: Ahh ... okay.

Blaine_Moderator: So, you can put that on toast points.

Fay_Moderator: This is smelling good, too.

Henner: What you do is put a bed of spinach, and put this on it.

Fay_Moderator: Now how much is this for?

Fay_Moderator: For 4 people ... this is the other thing, is portions.

Henner: What's incredible is that if you take care of the quality... the quanttiy takes care of itself.

Fay_Moderator: Yes, there you go. Uh huh, okay.

Henner: Because you start to feel like that there are so many people overeating, but there's actually starving so much.

Fay_Moderator: (Helps Marilu prepare the salad)

Henner: It's because they're eating 3 to 5 thousand calories a day, but there are no nutrients in what they eat.

Blaine_Moderator: They're eating and eating and trying to get their nutrients.

Henner: Their intestines can't even grab the nutrients, because they have such a flabby system going on inside. The twists and turns of the colon probably has so many pockets of old food and dry matter.

So this should be on top of a salad.

Blaine_Moderator: We will! (taste the salad) .... She arranges that so nicely! Wow.

Henner: This is like an appetizer for 4 people, or lunch for 2.

Fay_Moderator: Look at that! It's wonderful!

Blaine_Moderator: There's a question about the soy beans you cooked last week ...

jacquelinef_WebMD When and how often do you eat edame?

Henner: I eat them everyday.

Blaine_Moderator: I'm going to make Blaine taste this ..

Fay_Moderator: I'm going to eat some, too .... I'd love to have some water chestnuts, too.

Blaine_Moderator: It's the hanger lady! (laughs!) Actually, it's marilu.com! It's delicious, I love this flavor.

Fay_Moderator: Yes! Mm ...

Henner: I think that the key to an organized closet, is that you have to make sure you have to hang all the light things together, the suits, pants, all of it together.

Fay_Moderator: Yep.

Blaine_Moderator: Uh huh.

Henner: And then it's not expensive, and it's going to help you save time if you get all the same hangers.

Fay_Moderator: Sure.

Henner: Buy them in bulk, and they're cheaper than if you buy them individually.

Fay_Moderator: Right.

Blaine_Moderator: This is exceptional.

Henner: Then hang it all up, and you can slide it ... and things look so organized.

Fay_Moderator: This comes from a very old-fashioned way of living. Okay, so where does it come from for you?

Henner: It's more important for you to be organized and find things, and have clothes you don't have to steam or iron.

Blaine_Moderator: Marilu, we're out of time again! And, I know if users get your book, they can get more detail on how to organize their closet!

Fay_Moderator: This is the 30 Day closet makeover! (laughs)

Blaine_Moderator: (laughs)

Henner: That's great, because it's really about giving me 30 days to change your life. You might not do the things all the time, but it'll put you in a different mindset.

Blaine_Moderator: I haven't had the time to read you all the responses here, but several people say they've been doing it and they've seen fantastic results and they've loved it!

Henner: Yellow is fun because we're going to do deserts.

Blaine_Moderator: Oh boy! One more week, what's coming up next? Oh good!

Henner: And most people live in yellow during their lives, back and forth between green and yellow.

Fay_Moderator: I've got to find a yellow something to wear ...

Blaine_Moderator: Marilu, we're out of time, say goodbye to WebMD users!

Henner: Bye!

Blaine_Moderator: And, WebMD join us next week on the Family Wellness channel and be sure to stay healthy! Thank you and have a nice day!

Fay_Moderator: Bye! (waves)

Blaine_Moderator: (waves)

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