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

If trans-fat can make you stupid, it looks like veggies can keep you from losing your mind. This article states that a study shows that people who regularly drink fruit and vegetable juice were less likely to develop dementia.

• Fruit, vegetable juices may stall Alzheimer’s disease

I was unable to tell who sponsored this study. It may turn out that Ocean Spray or V-8 were behind it, so take it with a grain of salt until it is replicated. Until then, enjoy those carrot smoothies at the health food bar.

Via: The Daily Vegetable – Get a Juicer!

This holiday is full of fun and fire and food. I used to feel left out whenever I heard that our family was having a BBQ. I didn’t know how to survive the meal without feeling left out or sacrificing my eating habits. It took me a couple of years to learn how to go to a BBQ, have fun and food without giving up on my healthy eating for the day.

• Bring Your Own Food – If you’re not in charge of the BBQ, you’re probably bringing a side dish of some sort, so that is one thing that you can KNOW will be healthy. I usually bring a fresh veggie platter. I also bring my own food to go on the grill. I’ve found that everyone is very grateful when I bring extra food. I was so scared that they would be insulted, but instead, they are excited to see what you are going to put on the grill.

• What to Bring – I like to bring fat free hot dogs that are about 50 calories apiece. Several brands make them. Find your favorite. I also bring my own hot dog buns. I don’t want to waste 250 calories when I know that I can have a bun for 100 calories. Don’t leave yourself at the mercy of what your host bought. I also bring some veggies for grilling. My favorites are: spaghetti squash, zucchini, yellow squash, onions and tomatoes. They all taste great after being grilled, especially with a little garlic on them.

• What to Avoid – I avoid anything with mayonnaise. This is because I don’t want to get food poisoning (once is enough), but it has the added benefit of keeping my calories low. I also steer clear of the potato chip bags. It’s too easy to reach in and pull out one after another.

• What to Eat – The fruit and fresh vegetables are safe as long as you don’t eat the dip. Stick with your fat free hot dogs and grilled vegetables and you’ll feel full and satisfied. As always enjoy the watermelon!

Don’t lie to yourself! There is a small voice in the back of your head saying, “It’s just one day. I don’t want to miss out on the fun. I deserve to celebrate.” If you hear those voices, refer to my entry on how to Have a Healthy Valentine’s Day. It will tell you why those are lies.

You can survive this holiday and enjoy the fun, fire and HEALTHY food!

I’ve talked many times about excising caffeine from my diet (see links below), so I’m sure you know where I stand on these super-caffeinated beverages. I view caffeine as a drug. Sometimes, I need caffeine, just like I need an aspirin or some allergy medicine. I don’t drink caffeine every day, so none of this huge surplus of sugar-free energy drinks appeals to me. The $3 price tag makes me shy from them even more. Do you know how many tablets of No-Doz you can buy for three bucks?!

If you want to hear someone gush about this wave of sugar-free caffeinated beverages, here is a link to Hungry Girl’s review:

• Hungry Girl – Chew & Tell Review: Sugar Free Energy Drinks!

My advice: wash down a No-Doz or Vivarin with your favorite soda or water. You’ll get just as much of a buzz and won’t have to gulp down drinks that are heavily flavored to hide the bitter taste of caffeine.

• 02-02-04: Caffeine Withdrawal
• 03-12-04: How To Quit Soda
• 06-30-04: Diet Mountain Dew
• 09-23-04: Carbonation, Soda, Aspartame and Caffeine Withdrawal
• 03-18-05: Caffeine Dependence
• 05-13-05: Strength Radio: Caffeine / Ken Gibson

The PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) has attacked the idea that dairy products help people lose weight.

• PCRM – Dr. Phil, Get Real: Milk Does NOT Cause Weight Loss

Based on PCRM’s affiliated websites, they seem to be animal rights activists. They promote a vegan diet and decry disection of animals for medical training. They have their own agenda just as the American Dairy Association does.

That said, the studies that they link to are very real:

• NAASO – What’s New in Weight Loss: Programs That Work – and Some That Don’t Work (As Well As You Thought)

• NCBI – Dairy products do not lead to alterations in body weight or fat mass in young women in a 1-y intervention.

• Washingtonpost.com – Study: More Milk Means More Weight Gain – by Rob Stein

Whether you want dairy products in your diet is a personal choice, just like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or broccoli. There was one study that showed that the addition of dairy to your diet may help you lose weight, but that study has not been replicated, which is a requirement when using the scientific method.

The plan is simple. Eat an apple before every meal and you will magically lose weight. When I first heard about the plan a couple of years ago, my first instinct was to wonder when the apple farmers of America had united and pitched in enough money to advertise this idea. My instincts weren’t far from the mark. The 3-Apple-A-Day Plan is sponsored by Get Fit Foods, whose major backer is the Washington Apple Growers Association (among others).

Eat more apples. It will make you healthy… really it will. I’m not just saying that because I have an apple orchard or anything…

• 3-Apple-a-Day

• Get Fit Foods “Partners”

If you aren’t eating any fruits and vegetables, then adding an apple before each meal gets a few extra nutrients into your body and provides you with a sense of fullness. More importantly, eating lots of fruits and vegetables is the best option, rather than sticking to one fruit. After a week of three apples a day, I’d be mighty sick of apples. It might actually make me eat LESS apples in the long run.

Watch out. Even the seemingly healthy ideas are backed by people trying to take your money. Choose a diet that is balanced and that you can live with. Adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet is a good option, but any plan that tries to convince you that one certain food is THE answer is just trying to take your money.

Same goes for you dairy folk… 3-a-Day

… and don’t even get me started talking about cabbage soup.

I’ve mentioned this website in passing once, but I didn’t give her enough credit.

• Dotti’s Weight Loss Zone (DWLZ)

Dotti has one of those stories that everyone likes to hear. In 1998, she lost 95 pounds using the Weight Watcher’s Points program. It’s the kind of dramatic weight loss that inspires people to start their own journey on the path to health.

The most beneficial section of DWLZ is the restaurants section, where she and many others have compiled the points of restaurant food from all over the nation. They use the nutrition facts supplied by the restaurant chains and the Weight Watcher Points Slider to calculate the points and Dottie has been nice enough to sponsor the website to maintain all of it.

The restaurant section is really helpful even if you’re not using the Weight Watcher system. Many of the collections have the nutrition facts that were originally supplied by the restaurant chains. It’s the perfect centralized location for all the information you need to make healthy choices next time you eat out.

I’ve been looking at a blank page trying to think of something to draw that represents this week’s topic for Illustration Friday, “Nourishment.” I guess I’ll just have to paint with words.

Sometimes I eat when I’m not hungry. I eat because it’s the prescribed meal time. I eat because I’m scared of getting too hungry. I eat because I’m sad or happy or some other emotion that is wholly disconnected from hunger. It makes me think that the food that I’m eating is feeding something other than my body. How can I feed it without abusing my body?

Sure, I keep an eye on nutrition to deflect the damage, but almost every bit of food that passes my lips is feeding something other than my body. What is it? Is there something else I can give it instead of food?

I don’t want to believe it is a demon inside of me. It doesn’t feel like a demon that needs to be fought or a dragon that needs to be slain. I think it’s something closer to a wounded animal that always eats everything you give it because it knows that tomorrow there may be no food.

I was starved every summer by my grandmother. Could it be that this thing inside of me screaming to be fed is my inner child? She was told she was fat so many times that she believed it. Fat people eat all the time, don’t they? Fat people eat whatever they want whenever they want, right?

Well, no… When I was fat, I was always on a diet. I was either on a diet or a post-diet binge. I never just ate whatever I felt like. I ate according to “The Rules” or I ate against “The Rules.” Worse still, “The Rules” changed for each diet, but they were always basically the same. Even now, I’m eating according to “The Rules.” I’ve just figured out how to keep that little girl inside me full.

So, what’s the answer? How do I eat for nourishment instead of eating for this damaged child? What else could I give her that would heal her? What does she need?

Just a funny link to an entry about mistranslated menu items:

• Food Museum Blog: Menu English: We serve pork with fresh garbage!

After reading these entries, I think I would walk out of the restaurant lighter than I went in. I don’t even think I could drink the water…

My favorite: Horse-rubbish sauce

I enjoyed listening to this Strength Radio podcast last week and I thought that I would share it with you.

• Strength Radio – Cynthia Stadd Live! – Sugar Blues

She talks about how to recognize hidden sugar in processed food and the symptoms of too much sugar in your life. The thing I like best about these podcasts is that they are like a regular motivational boost. Sometimes they don’t do much for me, but then other times, I really enjoy them.

Do you think of food as a comfort, a reward, or the main event of a celebration or vacation? You’re not alone, if this thread at Ask Metafilter is any indication:

• How to stop notions of comfort food

The responses to the question include the obvious diet fads that always have their proponents (don’t drink soda! Low carb! Count calories! Whole fruits!) but there are also some good suggestions for different ways to reward yourself. A couple of the suggestions I liked best:

1. Use a small quantities of really good or really expensive food as a reward.
2. Put the cost of each food you manage to avoid eating in a savings account (or a box) and spend it on non-food rewards.

The whole thread is worth a read, if only to realize that so many people have dealt with the same problem.