You Are What You Eat – Musings of A Dieter

• Plants too try to defend themselves from harm. What will vegans eat now? http://bit.ly/4YIw0A #vegetarian #newyorktimes #

I must say, it’s been almost two months since I fell off the wagon of my regular routine diet-wise and contributing to this blog. Not that I necessarily had more weight to lose, although a few more pounds would have been nice. But for the most part I was in maintenance mode since reaching the magic number of 50 pounds lost at the beginning of last summer. After a few weeks in Germany and Austria last July, which is one way of saying that I imbibed slightly higher amounts of meat and beer than normal, I managed to gain only a few pounds. However in the last three months, I managed to fall off the wagon and not visit the gym very often and allowed myself somewhat higher amounts of caloric intake that I normally allowed.

But NO MORE! Now that the holiday is close to passing, I plan on repeating my successful new year’s resolution from last year of shaving off some body fat. Last year I succeeded in losing 50 pounds, and I think it’s fair to say that losing 10 pounds should be a somewhat easier task than what I managed last year. Going to the gym today and working up a good sweat and 15 laps at the pool was a good feeling. Now that the Christmas meals are past, for the most part, it’s time to return to my 1,200 calories per day until I reach my 10 goal. Last year during my diet, I managed to lose about 9 pounds a month maintaining the 1,200 daily calorie limit. I know how it feels to lose the weight and need to force myself to get back on track as I was before, but after a hiatus of a few months, starting up a diet is like revving up the starter engine of an old 1920’s biplane that hasn’t flown in a long while. Just need to spin that propeller a few times!

this should be a surprise:

Childhood obesity experts say more American youths are becoming obese because so many are addicted to television, video games, testing and fast food.

Our study suggests that more of these young adults will have heart disease when they are 35-50 years old, resulting in more hospitalizations, medical procedures, need for chronic medications, missed work days and shortened life expectancy.

Via CNN.com

Interesting New York Times article about obese people and their role in the health care debate. Hard to know what to think about this one. Should they pay a higher rate on their premiums? No?

Ezra Klein wrote in today’s Post about how fast food chains may soon come out with ad campaigns boasting about people being able to buy more calories for less money. This seems like another twist in the ’super size me’ generation, with a well intentioned law losing it’s punch thanks to the ingenuity of mega food corporations. One example sited is Subways current ad campaign on the foot-long sandwiches and their popularity despite the high calorie amount listed in the menu.

It’s not hard to imagine Hardee’s — home of the Monster Thickburger — kicking off a campaign promising 2,000 calories for under five bucks. And if that campaign works, other fast food outlets could move in a similar direction, putting at least one or two mega-calorie options on their value menu. Fast food outlets have long asserted that they were giving you a lot of food for your money. Now they’ll be able to make that argument with numbers. Indeed, you might end up with some outlets advertising how many calories you get for your money, while others tout the lightness of their meals.

I find this rather discouraging to say the least.

Via the Washington Post.

• First results of New York City calorie law are in. http://tinyurl.com/yfvo28j #caloriecount #diet #

Perhaps the most difficult time of year for me when it comes to my diet is winter. While it may not be that time of year yet, it is the latter part of fall and the cold weather is beginning to set in. Generally speaking, summer time tends to be easier for me in controlling my food intake, especially since I enjoy doing a lot of outdoor exercise at that time of year. I know one can easily stock up on calorie-packed barbecue foods and sweets, but I have generally been able to overcome these desires and it hasn’t generally been that big of a deal since I got through the difficult first part of my diet. But now that winter is looming, the urge to stock up on warm food and drink to combat the colder temperatures is all too alluring.

For example, I am a chocoholic and one thing that I absolutely love is a cup of hot chocolate. On a cold day, nothing beats a cup of hot chocolate when visiting Peet’s Coffee with my office mates to start off the day. During the summer I always bought a cup of sugarless iced-tea, which certainly helped in my daily caloric intake. But a cup of hot chocolate can certainly pack a number of calories unless one is careful in how they order it.

What I do is I order a small hot chocolate with no whipped cream. According to the data I have been able to find, a small cup of hot chocolate is 200 calories.  On a 1,200 daily calorie diet, that leaves me with 1,000 calories left to consume for the day. If I decide to order a small hot chocolate, I am sure to add a fast paced walk during my work day, a route that is just over 1 mile in distance and takes just under 15 minutes to walk, a nice 4 mph walking speed. And according to my diet/exercise database of calorie numbers, a 15 minute walk at 4 mph is 76 calories. If I do this twice in my work day, that adds up to just over 150 calories, leaving just 50 calories of that hot chocolate drink.

Adding in exercise routines to counterbalance calories that I have eaten or drank during the day is what I do on a regular basis to try an end up at the daily 1,200 calorie mark. And just to be sure, I add an additional workout at the gym in the evening.

A study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on the New York City law requiring chain restaurants to include calorie counts on menu labels has delivered its first set of results. It would seem that the number of calories consumed/purchased has not decreased among lower-income residents.

Nearly 28 percent of purchasers reported seeing the calorie labeling information, and almost 90 percent of this group reported that they purchased fewer calories as a result. However, the researchers found that the number of calories purchased in New York City actually increased slightly, from a mean of 825 calories to 846 calories. The authors concluded that calorie labeling increased the percentage of consumers from lower-income, minority communities who reported seeing calorie labels, and subsequently the number of consumers who reported that the information influenced their food choices.

My guess is that this New York City law that requires calorie counts to appear next to menu items largely helps those that are already focused on dieting and losing weight, while those that are not dieting and perhaps don’t care so much about the number of calories in their meals simply ignore or are not even aware of the information they are looking at.

However the law needs more time to evolve and create a greater awareness before any study has results that are truly helpful and realistic, as this study may have started too soon after the initial implementation of the law.

Via Marc Ambinder.

• Calorie intake comparison between 1977 and 1994. I wonder when today's stats will be available. http://tinyurl.com/yhnsn8k #calories #

First Lady Michelle Obama yesterday gave out a few healthy food tips while speaking at the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Switching from soda to water,’’ said the first lady, who also suggested more exercise and walking instead of driving, whenever possible. “Adding a vegetable or fruit to a dinner plate.”

Via the New York Times