Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

If you are looking for a way to surprise your loved one tomorrow, here is an idea for a Valentine’s Breakfast in Bed.

• About.com – Breakfast in Bed on Valentine’s Day

I’ve never been one to spend much time in bed. There are some people who have fantasies about lying in bed all day just reading or eating food. The only times I’ve done that was when I was sick. So sick I couldn’t really get out of bed. I don’t entertain fantasies like that. If you want to charm me, feeding me heart shaped pancakes might do it, but let me get up pee first.

It was a huge study that spanned over eight years. 20,000 overweight, post-menopausal women participated in a study that researchers are reluctant to call a failure, even though they know little more than eight years ago.

• CNN.com – Low-fat study leaves little to chew on – Feb 8, 2006

After eight years, they have found that there was little difference in the rates of breast cancer, colorectal cancer and heart disease for the participants on a low fat diet versus those who didn’t change their diet at all.

“[The results] are somewhat disappointing. We would have liked this dietary intervention to have a major impact on health,” said Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a co-author of the study.

There are many reasons suggested why they might have found these results, many of which blame the participants of the study. Such as, the diet was not designed for weight reduction, and many of the women stayed overweight, which is considered a risk factor for cancer. Additionally, there was no distinction made between so-called “good” fats and “bad” fats. All fats were cut indiscriminately. They might have seen different results if “good” fats were allowed in the diet.

This just goes to show that we don’t know what is healthy and what is not yet. Researchers are still trying to find out what the optimal diet for human beings is. I suspect that in the end, they will find out that there is no one optimal diet and there are a wide variety of diets that will work for people to both keep them fit and healthy. Until then, we’re on our own.

An advocacy group tested the french fries from 14 of the hospitals rated among the best in U.S. News and World Report. They were testing for trans-fat and shockingly, many of the hospitals are still using it.

• Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/07/2006 | Want fatty fries? Go to a hospital

I’ve talked about the dangers of trans-fat before:

• Starling Fitness » What Every Consumer Should Know About Trans Fatty Acids

It’s amazing that hospitals are still frying their food in it. A quote from the Philadelphia Inquirer article puts it plainly:

“Partially hydrogenated oil has as much place in hospital cafeterias as ashtrays have in the operating rooms,” said Michael F. Jacobson, who runs the Center for Science.

If you are stuck in a hospital and need to eat at their cafeteria, stick to fresh fruits and vegetables and steer clear of their french fries for now.

Via: Treatment Online – Eating Healthy a Challenge at Many Hospitals

This commercial for Slimfast aired during the Superbowl this year. In some respects, I like it because it shows normal sized woman being vibrant and dancing happily. In others, it just makes me want to throw up my hands.

The commercial brags that Slimfast now has more protein to keep you full for four hours. At 180 calories and 5 grams of fat, I could keep myself full for eight hours if I ate real food. Plus, I get to crunch real apples and vegetables.

Here are some suggestions of what to eat instead of a Slim Fast Shake:

Apple: 65 calories, 0g fat, 3g fiber
Cheddar Cheese 1 oz.: 114 calories, 9g fat, 0g fiber
Total: 179 calories, 9g fat, 3g fiber

Celery Sticks 2 medium stalks: 12 calories, 0g fat, 2g fiber
Reduced Fat Peanut Butter 2 Tbsp: 147 calories, 10g fat, 1g fiber
Total: 159 calories, 10g fat, 3g fiber

You can even have a frozen dinner from Lean Cuisine for a similar count of calories:

STOUFFER’S LEAN CUISINE Homestyle Stuffed Cabbage with Meat in Tomato Sauce and Whipped Potatoes: 199 calories, 6g fat, 6g fiber
Total: 199 calories, 6g fat, 6g fiber

There are so many options out there that gulping down a Slim Fast shake seems pointless to me unless you find yourself craving them.

All nutrition facts provided by NutritionData’s Nutrition Facts Calorie Counter.

When I first saw this collection of recipe cards and her hilarious accompanying descriptions, I laughed at every single one. This time, I was seriously looking at them thinking, “Hmm, maybe there are some good ideas here.”

• Weight Watchers recipe cards, circa 1974

After looking at them all again, sadly, there are no good ideas here. All of these recipes are an atrocity to food. Luckily, Weight Watchers doesn’t promote these recipes anymore. I wonder how many Points the Snappy Mackerel Casserole is.

This article talks about recent studies trying to find out why humans might eat too much. It’s not strictly about eating to survive. It’s not even about pleasure.

• Anxiety, Addiction and Depression Treatments – Food Preferences

After tracking the correlation between obesity, depression and bipolar disorder, it seems like a strange conundrum:

“So what does all this mean? Perhaps, in the simplest terms, it’s that the tendency for unhealthy eating habits is less about eating to feel good, and more about eating in an attempt to not feel bad.”

I can say that is true for me. Whenever I’m tempted by bingeing, it is because I am trying to smother a negative emotion with food. Sadly, most of the time it doesn’t work and I end up with a binge AND the negative emotion.

These two articles from USA Today talk about a pilot program that Weight Watchers has been testing for two and a half years down in Florida. It’s a program for children.

• USATODAY.com – Good health starts at home

• USATODAY.com – Kids embrace better habits

The hair on the back of my neck started to rise and I could feel the anger when I heard about this. After reading the articles, however, it looks like Weight Watchers has a feasible plan that isn’t going to send children into bingeing like my grandmother did to me. Here are the basics:

• Parent attend several sessions a week, whereas, the children attend one session a week. The classes are meant to affect the parent’s behavior more than the children.

“Parents model (kids’) attitudes, values and beliefs about food and eating. For example, if parents believe a wholesome breakfast is important and eat one every day, we’ve seen that kids will, too.”

• The Parent sessions are like a normal Weight Watcher class, but the children’s sessions focus on portion control.

“The concept is that parents are the biggest influencers on their children’s behavior, and by educating, motivating and providing group support to them, they can make changes at home.”

• There are no weigh-ins for the children.

“Our goal is to have the children maintain or improve their percentile on weight charts as they grow.”

• The sessions for the children are taught by a specially trained coach who has specialized in child weight issues. This is important because children are different than adults. They have less control over their environment and there is the potential to wound them in ways that may take years to recover from.

On the whole, it sounds like a good program that might help more children than it will hurt. Weight Watchers can’t control what the parents do in their lives, but they can give the parents good options. It reminds me of the advice I gave about Childhood Obesity a while back.

• Starling Fitness » Childhood Obesity

Via: food museum blog: Weight Watchers Weighs in with Kids

I still can’t imagine the marketing, even though I’ve read a transcript:

“Since NutriSystem, my sex life is excellent.”

He lost 62 pounds and now, sex is great. Quite frankly, I’m offended.

• CNN.com – NutriSystem lures men with pizza, sex – Jan 30, 2006

I don’t know which offends me more, the idea that fat people can’t have fulfilling and enjoyable sex lives or that women are so fickle that they would only have sex with men who are buff.

Quite honestly, I’m not their target market. After years of eating frozen dinners microwaved to soggy perfection, I reached a point where I couldn’t eat them anymore. I’ll never forget that lunch. I had microwaved my Lean Cuisine. It was lunchtime and I was starving, but I did not want to eat that microwaved lunch. I took a bite and the feeling strengthened. My stomach growled, but the smell of the processed food made me throw it away. I don’t think I’ve eaten a frozen dinner since.

A program like Nutrisystem would just cost me a lot of money and I would just throw their food away. I ate low calorie microwaved food for so long that I just can’t stomach it anymore, even if it’ll make my sex life better.

This website has a homemade recipe that will make even the most severe prunophobe enjoy the dried fruit.

• The Food Section: Converting the Prunophobe

Based on his ingredients, I believe the serving shown would be approximately four WW Points (depending on the marscapone to prune ratio). If you have been eating on the bland side, this dessert might be the exotic taste you’re looking for.

Mary has a nice entry about an article in More Magazine about two women.

• Mary’s fitness blog: a tale of two women

The way the article is presented, you either have to accept your size 12 body and eat treats or live a rigid and food-measuring lifestyle to enjoy a size 6.

Mary added that it’s not an either/or proposition. It’s possible to be at a size 6 AND occasionally enjoy treats. She quotes the findings of the National Weight Control Registry that stated that those who are able to keep the weight off use portion control, exercise and healthy food choices rather than a regime of strictly measured food.