Shaw's Helps You Shop Smarter

Shaw's Supermarkets has rolled out a new program in their New England based stores that color code thousands of items in their supermarket based on their nutritional information.  The aim of this system is to help shoppers identify healthy items faster and easier.  For example Dark Orange is for whole grains and Purple is low in calories.  I think this is a fantastic idea and I hope it gets adopted in some form or another in grocery stores across the country (hell, world!).  It can be very tedious walking around the store looking at countless nutritional labels.  This way if I see something new I might want to try, I can know before I even get to it if I should really be eating it or not.

Miss America Hopeful - A Former Heavyweight

I just read about Miss South Carolina who in the past few years has lost 110 lbs and is now on the road to a possible Miss America crown.  Inspirational?  Hell yes.  I also love that she lost her weight over a period of 3 years by simply eating well and exercising.  We aren't all 'The Biggest Loser' nor should we be.  With simple lifestyle changes and hard work and a forgiving attitude, you too could be the next Miss America!

Wisdom For Your Holiday Weekend

I thought this blog post over at Huffington Post was quite good.  It talks about the behavioral and psychological issues that can be behind humans having a difficult time losing weight.  As a tease, here is the first line of the blog...which I'm in love with right now.  Enjoy your weekends!

If you gave a test to a million people and three-quarters of them flunked, would you attribute their failure to a lack of willpower or laziness?

Can You Spot 100 Calories?

Take this fun little quiz from Women's Health and see if you can guess which serving size of each food or snack is 100 calories.  They asked which 'Healthy Snacks'...but some of the items you guess are french fries, a whopper, pizza and doughnuts.  I think they should  have stuck with which FOODS are 100 calories.

Post your scores!

New Healthier Oils Coming To You

It looks like scientists have been hard at work.  The folks over at Dow AgroSciences have just announced that they have created the first ever saturated fat free sunflower oil.  This is not only great for just us as consumers using it around the house, but it would be FANTASTIC if companies started using it in their food processes thus eliminating a lot of the saturated fat in their products.  According the the press release:

Omega-9 Sunflower Oil is all natural and can support an all natural package claim, as the oil comes from NEXERA™ seeds which were developed by Dow AgroSciences through traditional plant-breeding. And because the oil has a very high level of  stability, many formulations will not require antioxidants, TBHQ or partial hydrogenation to achieve the desired shelf life allowing for a cleaner ingredient label.

 I say good job science!  If we can start creating better ingredients in a natural and healthy way we can improve ALL of our food offerings, even if it's processed.  All I want to know is when I can find this on my grocery shelves!

Get Spark*D!

The folks over at SparkPeople have rolled out a new program just for diabetics called Spark*D.  I think this is a great addition to their already comprehensive site.  I myself use SparkPeople to track and gain support from other users.  Now maybe I can get my husband, who has diabetes, on the site as well.  If anyone has used this, let me know what you think of it!

The Complex System That Is Our Bodies

Another great article I found about how our bodies work and how to work with them in order to keep our weight and health in check.  I like that there are a few small changes you can take from the article that could potentially have a big impact on your weight.  I mostly want to show my husband the section about how the brain doesn't know the difference between walking in the mall while shopping or walking on a treadmill.  He laughed at me when I used to walk in place while watching TV.  I was still moving!

The Loopholes of Food Labeling

There is a great article I found on sparkpeople.com about the standards when it comes to labeling on food.  For instance, you can use the phrase "Made With Whole Grains" as long as there's about a pinch of whole grains somewhere in there.  We've all heard about things being misleading, but I think this is a tad ridiculous.  Read this to make healthier choices for yourself!

Choose My Plate

The new graphic replacing the USDA's pyramid has been revealed today along with a (new?) website, http://www.choosemyplate.gov/.  I really like the new look of the graphic.  It's simple to understand and visually appealing.  I browsed around the site and they also have some really useful tools like a food tracker, foodepedia and meal plans for the likes of preschoolers, moms to be and the general population.  Now, they don't give you recipes, but they do tell you how many cups/ounces/etc you should be getting of a particular food group each week.  This is based on your age, gender, height, weight and physical activity.  I will definitely be checking out the food plan for moms-to-be when I get pregnant.

New Plate Shaped Design To Replace Traditional Food Pyramid

It looks like the Obama administration will be changing out the old Food Pyramid design with one that shows your food groups and percentages on an actual dinner plate.  I think this will work much better as it will be a real life visual that people can go by.  However, I'll reserve my final decision until it's released this Thursday.  But it makes a hell of a lot more sense to me, especially as a designer.  What do you guys think?

Yet Another Weight Loss Journey Show

Who here has seen the ads for ABC's new show Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition?  I'm pretty much a sucker for watching any weight loss show (though some are much better than others) so I will definitely be watching the first episode of this.  I enjoy the concept of each episode being a journey of 1 year with each participant.  I also like that this takes place during their normal lives (as normal as having a trainer move in with you is) so that we can see people losing weight while still having jobs and families.  Who else is going to watch this?

Your One Stop Recipe Shop

I just found out about this great new recipe search engine called Foodily.  This search engine aggregates recipes from all over the web from tiny little blogs to giants like Food Network.  They then not only spit out the recipe but their own nutritional calculations based on each ingredient.  You can search by ingredient, vague food term (i.e. Mexican dish) and also refine your search with things like 'low-fat' or 'low-carb'.  I think this is fantastic.  I have so many recipes bookmarked all over the damn place that I lose track.  So you can also save favorites or even 'Like' a recipe on Facebook.  I will definitely be utilizing this new search engine, how about you?

Jenny Craig For The Win!

It looks like Consumer Reports has ranked the most popular and doctor approved weight loss programs and Jenny Craig has come out on top.  It looks like the rankings are determined by nutrition, weight loss and the dropout rate.  An astounding 92% of participants stayed with Jenny Craig for 2 years.  Of course, as they warn and I do as well...that doesn't mean it's right for you.  If you like to cook, then eating prepackaged meals isn't going to be something you will stick with.  I, however, might give it a try.  I'm very good friends with my microwave.

In case you were wondering here were the top rankings overall:

1. Jenny Craig
2. Slim Fast
3. Weight Watchers
4. The Zone Diet
5. The Ornish Diet
6. The Atkins Diet

The Soda Tax: Yay or Nay?

Obama tried to tax sodas as part of his health care reform package, but it got destroyed by lobbyists.  Now some states are debating putting a tax on soda.  Honestly, at 1 cent per ounce it's not going to break anyone's bank (an extra 12cents per can...go check your couch!), but it could bring in millions of dollars to help fund various healthy initiative programs.  I, for one, think this a great idea.  Some naysayers think this is a slippery slope, that we could start taxing bread and milk next.  But really, soda has absolutely NO nutritional value.  In the scheme of our daily nutritional needs, soda is a luxury...and not a particularly healthy one.  What do you think?

Our Eyes Deceive Us

So apparently now just seeing an overweight person can make others eat more.   Unless they see them eating and then they eat less.  I can just envision a world where are the fat people are hidden away from the rest of society and the only way to see one is behind glass while they're eating.  I jest of course.  I find the psychology of it all fascinating, but I do also hope that this doesn't cause more unfair judgement of overweight people.  It also begs the question of how helpful watching reality shows like the Biggest Loser, Shedding for the Wedding or Ruby really are to overweight people.  Do I need to change my DVR now to help me lose weight?

Baby Wants Carbs...

I was reading about a study that has been going on about finding a link to what a pregnant woman eats and the DNA outcome of their child in reference to obesity.  Apparently, they have found that women who eat a low car diet in their first trimester can actually alter their babies DNA to make them MORE prone to obesity later on.  With all the low carb hype that is going around these days, I expected the opposite.  As did my fiance, who when I started telling him about this study, said 'Yeah, you'll be eating chicken and salad...'.

I hope they eventually find out enough about a mothers nutrition while pregnant that they can give a good outline for woman to go by.  And hopefully in the next few years so I can use it!

The Soaps Are Out, The Chew Is In

ABC announced today that it will be cancelling two daytime soaps to make way for two new shows called The Chew and The Revolution.

 The Chew will be produced by Gordon Elliot (Paula Deen’s Home Cooking) and is a one-hour series that enables viewers to “get the dish” on anything and everything related to the world of food and beyond.  Hosts will include Mario Batali (Iron Chef America); entertaining expert Clinton Kelly (What Not to Wear); Carla Hall (Top Chef); Michael Symon (Iron Chef America), and nutrition expert Daphne Oz.

 The Revolution is from Executive Producer JD Roth and 3 Ball Productions (The Biggest Loser) and will be a daily show about health and lifestyle transformations. The show is hosted by a team of experts and rotating guest contributors and will feature a “unique concept,” ABC says: “Each week one woman’s five-month weight loss journey will unfold in just five days, with daily results and a final transformational reveal on Friday.

 Hooray!  More information will be out there for us to consume!  I must say I'm extremely excited about The Chew, and not just because Clinton Kelly will be a host.  I'll be on the lookout for the premiere and I will be adjusting my DVR accordingly!

Late Night Carb Loading

I had a friend send me this article about a study that shows that people who load their carb intake towards the end of the day (on a reduced calorie diet)  had better results on their diet.

After six months the experimental group that ate more carbs at dinner saw more weight loss, body fat mass reduction and lower abdominal circumference than the control group. The experimental group also had higher satiety levels during the day than did the control group.

This might be something worth trying.  And I have to say, I enjoy seeing studies like this over any studies on pills that help aid in weight loss.  You always see ads or articles on these things and it ALWAYS says 'in conjunction with diet and exercise'.  So, you have to diet and exercise anyways...why open yourself up to other health risks?  None of these pills have been tested long enough to determine long term effects on it's users.  Some will even cause you to gain the weight back if you stop taking it.  I say, do it the right way, the natural way.  We have enough health worries looming around in the world to add anymore to ourselves.

MSG Is Not Our Friend

I just read this article on MSG, Obesity and Rats and I think everyone should have a read.  Although if you'd like the quick summary, then here it goes.  Basically, MSG has been shown to create 'fat rats' when injected into them at birth.  Meanwhile, you can find MSG in probably MOST foods on the market today.  Even in weight loss products themselves!  And to boot, they can be tricky to find since companies will list MSG out in the nutritional list as almost a dozen different names.  So take a peek, and if you have the patience read some labels!

So When Do We Eat?

According to this article, studies are starting to show that eating multiple small meals through out the day might NOT be the way to go.  They're claiming that eating just 3 meals a day that are high in protein will help you feel full longer.  I particularly enjoyed this quote from the article.

Our findings turn that on its head," Campbell said. "There also seems to be a growing consensus that these other dietary habits may not be accurately reported because obese and overweight people tend to conceal how frequently and how much they eat.

Hide things?  Us?!  Never...

Except just last night I found myself hiding a second cup of Dole fruit crisps from my fiance.  He ended up catching me because I failed to rid my mouth of all the granola in time.  This happens way more than I'd like to admit.  Back to topic though, I myself have been eating several small meals during the day because well, that's what I was told to do.  I may try to go back to this 3 squares a day option.  I'll have to seriously rethink my food choices and purchases, but it's an intriguing idea.  What do you all think?