Edgy Mama

My new priority list is as follows: family first, friends second, work third, home construction fourth, exercise sixth, bloggie seventh, everything else eighth.

So the blog has been pushed down the priority list by home construction and exercise. Because, OMG, I’ll be at the beach in three weeks.

So, for the next three weeks I’ll be upping the workouts and taking on Dr. Manny Alvarez’ Hot Latin Diet: the Fast-Track Plan to a Bombshell Body.

When Manny’s publicist e-mailed to ask if I wanted an ARC of the book, I said, “Well, who doesn’t want a bombshell body? Send it to me, baby.”

I’m perusing the book, though I have yet to commit to Manny’s suggested pantry restocking.

The book’s full of good nutritional and exercise advice, but the primary thing that differentiates it, as far as I can tell, from other diet plans, is the identification of the seven Latin power foods. These are tomatillos, garbanzo beans, avocado, garlic, cinnamon, chiles, and cilantro.

I love Latin food, and I already eat quite a bit of these power foods–but usually accompanied by cheese and tortilla chips. Of course, the seven power foods aren’t the only foods you’re supposed to eat on this diet, but if you concentrate on the food groups that these foods fall into, and try to ignore the chips and dairy accoutrements, you’ll probably drop some fatty deposits.

Cervaza, sadly, is not a Latin power food.

Dr. Manny mostly writes aboutcutting out processed and fast foods, which I rarely eat anyway, and making lifestyle changes that I’ve already made, so this book is not particularly helpful for me. But there are some good recipes that I’d love to try, such as  ginger-spiced chicken with some vegetable I’ve never heard of and pan-seared red snapper with grapefruit-avocado salsa. Yum!
Focusing on Latin power foods while avoiding the sour cream might help me lose a few pounds, but, in truth, it’s nearly impossible for me to develop a hot Latin bombshell body.  One, I’m too old now for  bombshell. Bombshells typically haven’t birthed and nursed two kids and dealt with forty-four years of gravity. Two, my gene pool springs from tallish pasty Northern Europeans. I could do lunges for two hours a day and only eat garbanzo beans, and my heinie still wouldn’t resemble J. Lo’s.

In my experience, Latin women are sexy because they think they’re sexy, not because their bodies are perfect. In fact, a bit of extra chub lends to more curves and thus, more bombshell. They do seem healthy though. Which is what we all really want. I just want 8 less pounds healthy. And a lot of spicy. Which is why Dr. Manny’s plan might help me out.