So listen, I know some people may be freaking out about the World Health Organization study that came out this week linking processed meats to death and mayhem, but really, how much bacon are you eating? Let's keep things in perspective. 

This processed meat-gruesome death connection is nothing new -- the (sausage) link (ha!) has been around for quite a few years. Just treat things like BLTs and ham sammies as a once-in-awhile treat, not the foundation of your diet.

The increased risk was shown to be the equivalent of two slices of bacon a day ... EVERY DAY. Do you eat bacon every day? Really? You need to vary your diet, hun. 

I can't remember where exactly I heard this but the upshot is:

Treat a treat like a TREAT.

Bacon is a treat. It's meat candy. Do you eat candy every day? Really? Well, there's a depressing study for you, too, champ. 

This one on sugar being a monster.

Yeah, sugar will kill you, too, so definitely don't make THIS recipe:

That would be Paula Deen's Brown Sugar Bacon, which is basically bacon slathered in sugar.

Ooooh, super scary! 

Or maybe make it and serve it for Halloween, like a "Fear Factor" sorta thing.

What's my point? Well, actually, I just wanted an excuse to run my Halloween costume idea but, sure, I'll come up with an upshot: Bacon and candy aren't health food, so don't eat them all the time.

Once again, I go back to Michael Pollan's credo:

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

If you think you're too old to learn anything from Sesame Street, think again, friend! A couple of friends had posted this video on Facebook last week, and I knew it had to be this week's Tunes for Tuesday song. This video really does a great job of explaining self regulation, self control and even executive function.

Wyman's sent me a coupon to purchase berries for this post. No other compensation was given.

I think I've made it abundantly clear that I LOVE smoothies -- I love making them, drinking them, dreaming up new flavor combinations. So when Wyman's wanted to know if I could come up with a recipe using their frozen berries, I said "of course!" I buy a bag of Wyman's blueberries pretty much every week. The big difference with their frozen blueberries is that they're wild berries, so they're much smaller and sweeter than other frozen blueberries. Bottom line -- they just taste better.

They're also easy to find. Publix carries the smaller bags of blueberries, and you can find bigger bags at Whole Foods, and even bigger bags at Costco.

I wanted to show off the blueberries so for this recipe I didn't mess around. Everything is blueberry -- from the yogurt to the liquid to, well, the blueberries. If I could have found blueberry protein powder I would have used that as well.

Many fruity smoothies are just a big load of sugary carbs but not this one. There's 12 grams of protein from the Greek yogurt and another 20 or so from the protein powder, so it's a substantial meal replacement. All that awesomeness and only 300 calories!

Deep Purple Blueberry Smoothie

• 1 cup Wyman's frozen wild blueberries
• 1/2 cup Bai5 Brasilia Blueberry beverage
• 1 5 ounce container blueberry nonfat Greek yogurt (I used Trader Joe's)
• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (I used Twinlab Cleanseries whey)

Add all ingredients to a single-serve blender container and blend. 

Done!

A lot of times, I get my Tunes for Tuesday picks from the overhead music at the gym, but lately the playlist has been D-list dance music (what's up with that, Planet Fitness?). So I'm stepping into the Wayback Machine and pulling out the first hit single from one of my favorite bands of my youth, Simply Red.

Well, the proof is in the pudding, and my pudding is nearly 3 pounds lighter than last week.

I didn't radically change what I was eating -- I just changed how I was eating.

It was simple, really -- three meals and two snacks. One of those meals is a smoothie, and the snacks are from a well-prepped short list.

Like I mentioned last week, I've been prepping my snacks and most of my meals. Mealtime isn't my problem -- it's the snacks, so that's what I've been focusing on. I make sure they're protein rich and have some sort of fruit or vegetable. 

I haven't seen the scale go down in quite awhile, and I love that I did it so stress free.

Wednesday night, I joined in on a Google Hangout with some great peeps who had an amazing conversation during this past FitBloggin'. It wasn't a scheduled session or keynote speech -- it was merely a late-night lobby chat that got real and emotional and cathartic. We promised each other that we'd try and keep the conversation going, and some of us did that last night.

I mentioned that after I get done cleaning up the dishes and getting myself something to drink and maybe an apple or a cheese stick, I will actually, out loud, say "Goodnight, kitchen!" and turn off the light.

Which got me to brainstorming, and to writing my version of "Goodnight Moon."

GOODNIGHT FOOD

In the great big room

There was a fridge

And a broom

And a picture of edible flowers

And almond butter with magical powers

And a bowl of pears

And four kitchen chairs

And a mushroom brush and a box full of mush (well, steel-cut oats, which are not really mushy unless you cook them too long, but I digress…)

And a middle-aged lady whispering hush (to her growling stomach).

Goodnight kitchen.

Goodnight fridge

Goodnight broom

Goodnight flowers and almond butter with magical powers.

Goodnight peanut butter

Goodnight pumpkin butter

Goodnight grass-fed butter

(What’s with all the butter?)

Goodnight pears

Goodnight chairs

Goodnight muffins drawing my stares

Goodnight food

Goodnight moon

And goodnight growling stomach noises everywhere.

Here's a brand-spanking new song -- the video makes me want to take a kickboxing class.