Are Beauty Products Making Us Fat?

According to doctors at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, yes.  They claim that 70% of cosmetics and household cleaners contain a chemical known as phthalates.  This chemical is absorbed by the body and proceeds to disrupt our glands and hormone regulation, thus leading to obesity.  This is news to me, but if this turns out to be true it will throw the beauty and cleaning industries on their heads!


Read the full article here.

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!

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?

Too Much Sitting, Not Enough Movement

I don't know if any of you have heard about the articles going around about how even if you exercise regularly, if you have a job where you sit all day, it might not be enough.  This has sparked talk of standing desk and the like.  This article not only explains the health issues of sitting all day, but also offers advice on how to insert a little more movement into your day.  Apparently just standing up a few times a day will help a great deal.  I'm particularly fond of the animation of the man disco dancing at his desk.  Because that wouldn't garner any odd looks...

I personally like to keep things moving a bit by listening to music on my iPod and tapping my feet around. What do some of you do to keep moving throughout the day?

Shame On You Doctor

Has anyone else heard about the weight loss doctor who has been charged with indecent assault on his patients?  He apparently told them that having an orgasm would burn calories and help them lose weight.  You can read the full article here.  This is completely shameful.  While I don't want to blame the women, because it is not their fault...it does go to show that you should always do your own research and be knowledgeable about your condition.  Although if just having an orgasm was enough to burn calories I can tell you that I would be bringing a tiny little friend with me wherever i went!

Fat Weight Loss Experts Get No Respect

There is an article on abcnews.go.com about how workers in the health field do not get the respect they deserve because they are fat.  It seems their biggest critics are other health care professionals!  They feel that being fat almost disqualifies you from being a good doctor or nutritionist or what have you.  If we were to honestly not use any doctors that had unhealthy habits, there wouldn't be too many to choose from.  I'm sure they all have their vices that they're dealing with...smoking, drinking and drugs to name a few.  The only difference from being overweight is that you can immediately tell if someone is overweight making it that much easier to make a snap judgement.  I'm putting up a poll to go with this post to see if you guys would use an overweight healthcare professional.  Hit it up!

The 17 Day Diet - Good or Bad?

I've been reading a lot about this new 17 day diet.  You can read about the program and even read the first chapter of the book here.  The very basic premise here is that you cut your calories to 1,200 a day eating natural, unprocessed foods.  They have cycles of 17 days so that your body doesn't get used to one diet and some cycles introduce new foods to spice things up.  When you get to your goal weight, the maintenance plan is to stay on the diet during the week and go buck wild on the weekends.  Although buck wild probably isn't really the right phrase.  You could ruin your progress if you binge.  According to the write up on WebMD it is actually a pretty good plan.  Of course they suggest adding more fruit and a multi-vitamin.  So all in all this seems like it could be a viable option for people.  But as always with any diet, read all the material and follow the plan accordingly.  

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?

Science Don't Fail Me Now...

I wanted to share this article from Medical News Today about food addiction and substance dependency having very similar brain activity.  Although I think I should start off by saying that this does not necessarily mean that we ALL have an addiction to food.  In fact the article states that this new testing helps tell the food addicts from the over eaters.  I feel I have to say that because I too am guilty of hearing of some new explanation for being overweight and jumping all over it  like a dog in heat.  That being said, I think that it is great news that some people are in fact addicted to food.  I hope that these findings can help spur advancements in treatment for these patients and maybe in the way we approach weight loss in general.  I know that for me at least, my weight loss plan not only includes healthy eating and a good exercise regimen, but also a good look at the mental portion...at least it should.  I personally work out 4-5 days a week and try to eat healthy, but like all humans, I slip.  I've been maintaining my weight for months now, but I really would like to lose more.  There is something going on in my head that lends itself to self-sabotage and I need to address it.  Sadly, even if you were to find out that you are a food addict, there's no quick fix in the world of weight loss.