11 Apr
Large lady doesn’t need to be reminded of it by others.
Let’s leave that as a true statement.
Then let’s turn it around. When people look at you, what is their first impression? Is it, big mama? Huge guy? Or is it, now there’s someone I could ask about nutrition and health and they would know not just from education but from experience.
10 Apr
Organic food is getting a bit of a makeover. Retail giant Walmart is joining forces with a one-time organic food powerhouse to offer the increasingly popular fare at more affordable prices for consumers.Starting this month Walmart and Wild Oats are teaming up to sell a new line of organic food that is at least 25% cheaper than national organic brands, the Associated Press reports.“We are removing the premium associated with organic groceries,” Jack Sinclair, Wal-Mart’s executive vice president of grocery, tells the AP.And that appears to be the case when looking at Walmart-provided comparisons of the new Wild Oats product offerings versus national brands. Wild Oats’ 6-ounce can of tomato paste is priced at $.58, compared to a national brand organic version priced at $.98. A 32-ounce can of Wild Oats’ chicken broth sells for $1.98, while a national organic brand sells their product at $3.47.
via Walmart Enters The Organic Food Fight With New Affordable Product Line – Consumerist.
This looks like a GREAT THING. Be watching. Would you use organic if it cost almost the same as conventional? Wow.
And it’s a great sign that there’s extreme Walmart customer interest in organic. That’s heartland sentiment, not Whole Foods shoppers.
9 Apr
The Fitbit Force is a digital bracelet that measures your physical activity and sleep patterns, but it left some consumers with scars.
Now the company may end up in court.
via Digital Bracelet Company May End Up In Court After Rash Reports « CBS Minnesota.
Sort of confusing …. they’ve already done a voluntary recall for refund … and it’s not certain what percentage of users were affected. We’re also mystified as to how one nurse at one medical practice actually saw 30 Fitbit Force users come in with the issue. That’s surprisingly more people than you’d expect to have this device in the first place.
8 Apr
VERY OCCASIONALLY we give you something to eat when you’re having one of those Intentionally Off Plan meals.
This is one of those.
Two sweet waffles imported from Belgium.
Fried chicken breast.
Chicken gravy.
Bacon.
It is indescribably good. It’s 490 calories and available 24×7 so it would count as a DINNER item if it’s all you eat. Actually not too bad there.
8 Apr
Who’s to blame for the drastic increase in bacon prices? You are. You with your triple bacon cheeseburger. You with your bacon sundae.
via Bacon is the next lobster – You won’t be able to afford it | Savings.com.
Actually the things the writer totally missed are:
(1) The cost of producing meat continues to climb — the retail price continues to spiral upward — but the profit to the farmer continues to fall to make it not financially viable to produce meat — so the cost increases more.
(2) As long as we keep dumping so much of our production into corn for ethanol to add to gas, the cost of corn for livestock feed will continue to go up and up.
5 Apr
It shocks me how many people will pop over-the-counter pills blindly without safety even crossing their minds. It’s a common belief that if something makes it onto a health food store shelf or is natural, it must be safe, but in fact, this is part of the naturalistic fallacy. Plants and other naturally-occurring substances can be poisonous. They can also be beneficial or neutral in low doses but harmful in a high dose. Individual tolerance may vary as well, as some people have allergies, take meds or have medical conditions.
Fair and balanced viewpoint on miracle diet pills here.
Stick with intake control and output maximization.
4 Apr
Junk Food Guy got hold of some, taking pictures to prove that they’re real and tasting them so the rest of us don’t have to. His verdict? The fruit punch flavor is powerful, sometimes veering into “cherry cough syrup territory.”
Like fruit punch, the creme is based on high fructose corn syrup, “natural and artificial flavors,” citric acid, and red food dye. We do not know whether those “natural flavors” include any fruit, but it seems unlikely.
via Fruit Punch Oreos Exist, Are Available At Walmart – Consumerist.
Erm … gross.
3 Apr
This Is Not About Body Image. It Is About Money And Ratings. – The Anti-Jared.
Update on the Biggest Loser winner who did what she had to do to win a contest with only very basic rules.
Lose the largest percentage of your body weight.
That’s the main rule.
What we’d propose? First, food log showing at least a minimally safe intake each day. If they cheat that, not much you can do, they’re a cheater.
Then, the first one down to a weight the show doc sets for them, wins.
2 Apr
Nothing at all wrong for most people with a cup or two of coffee — but don’t guzzle it to clear your head and keep alert. Instead, go for a short walk, especially if you can climb a flight of stairs or do something else that requires some strength.
You WILL feel better, for longer afterwards, than coffee, and it WON’T keep you up at night (which just makes you want to guzzle more coffee tomorrow).
1 Apr
If you really need to get moving in the morning, try the new seasonal offering from Dunkin’ Donuts: flower-shaped donuts with a layer of colorful frosting, topped with a marshmallow Peep.
via Dunkin’ Donuts Sticks Marshmallow Peeps On Donuts, Calls It Breakfast – Consumerist.
Actually I’m more fascinated not by the idea of a sugar bar topped with a sugar lump — I’m shaking my head in amazement that Dunkin’ Donuts has an executive chef.
1 Apr
New York Magazine’s Daily Intelligencer obtained vaccination records from the New York State Department of Health and found that “245 New York City private schools fell short of the 95 percent vaccination rate which experts say prevents measles from spreading.”
Furthermore, Clint Rainey wrote:
125 [schools] had rates below 90 percent, and 37 fell below 70 percent. The nine private schools with the lowest rates — between 41.5 percent and 18.4 percent — were so underimmunized that if any one of them somehow seceded and became a Sealand-style micro-nation, it would literally have had the worst measles vaccination rate in the world, according to WHO numbers.
via Vaccination Rates At NYC Private Schools – Business Insider.
This is being blamed on vaccine refusals — parents believing the vaccine causes other issues. Get over it, get your kids vaccinated.
30 Mar
People eat more breakfast cereal, by weight, when flake size is reduced, according to Penn State researchers, who showed that when flakes are reduced by crushing, people pour a smaller volume of cereal into their bowls, but still take a greater amount by weight and calories.
“People have a really hard time judging appropriate portions,” said Barbara Rolls, professor of nutritional sciences and Helen A. Guthrie Chair in Nutrition. “On top of that you have these huge variations in volume that are due to the physical characteristics of foods, such as the size of individual pieces, aeration and how things pile up in a bowl. That adds another dimension to the difficulty of knowing how much to take and eat.”
via Cereal flake size influences calorie intake | Penn State University.
Pretty good idea. Cereal is hard to measure by volume. You can weigh it instead and compare to the serving size on the package.
You’ll notice that for similar reasons, European recipes are frequently given by weight instead of by cup volume. It’s more controlled, and if you have a food scale, it’s actually easier to measure that way.
28 Mar
Researchers might have found the Holy Grail in the war against cancer, a miracle drug that has killed every kind of cancer tumor it has come in contact with.
We’re going to give you our usual line here — this is a mouse study. Mouse and rat study finings are notorious for not carrying over to humans. But this one is a bit different, as it’s rats with human tumors attached. So, maybe.
It’s definitely worth watching closely.
27 Mar
Foodini is a 3D printer for foodstuffs. Its Florida-based makers are hoping their time-saving device becomes as ubiquitous on kitchen countertops as the microwave oven has become.
But instead of forcing people to rely on highly processed convenience food that’s larded with additives and unhealthy levels of salt, as microwave meals generally are, they want Foodini to get more people cooking with fresh ingredients, rather than reaching for that pre-processed packet.
via Foodini Is A 3D Printer That Lets You Print Dishes With Fresh Ingredients | TechCrunch.
Some day, producing OK food at home will be no harder than producing OK coffee — slip some pods of this and than into a machine and out comes — ravioli. Or peanut butter. Or something.
Do yourself a favor. Google up Learn To Cook and try, first, some small things. If you can scramble an egg, look up Omelette. If you can grill a burger, look up grilled asparagus. Expand just slightly each time, and you’ll never have a need for the food pod machine.
26 Mar
Is this the banana your grandchildren will eat? – Boing Boing.
We’ve blogged on this subject before — every banana us North Americans eat is genetically the same, since they’re produced from existing bananas. That’s just the least expensive way to do it — the seeds themselves are tiny and next to impossible to do anything with.
You may not know that your grandparents ate a different variety of banana, and your grandkids may eat a yet different variety.
If you have an ethnic produce store or a particularly great produce store nearby, there are other varieties of bananas to try. Even regular grocery stores often now have the very pleasant little red ones. Give them a try!
The Not Big Anymore, Formerly Fat Guy 
You must be logged in to post a comment.