Exercise is useless for weight loss

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My experience and millions of other experiences have now been verified by researchers.

Exercise will not help you lose weight.

Nobody wants to hear that. They want to know that a 20-minute walk will take off those five extra pounds (or those 20 extra pounds) we all carry.

Well, that ain't going to happen.

The ONLY (I'm shouting) way to lose weight is to eat smaller portions.

The problem of obesity can be solved by rightsizing our meals.

Weighing the Evidence on Exercise - NYTimes.com:

“In general, exercise by itself is pretty useless for weight loss,” says Eric Ravussin, a professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., and an expert on weight loss. It’s especially useless because people often end up consuming more calories when they exercise. The mathematics of weight loss is, in fact, quite simple, involving only subtraction. “Take in fewer calories than you burn, put yourself in negative energy balance, lose weight,” says Braun, who has been studying exercise and weight loss for years.

But in the exercising group, the dose of exercise required was nearly an hour a day of moderate-intensity activity, what the federal government currently recommends for weight loss but “a lot more than what many people would be able or willing to do,” Ravussin says.

Exercise for many women (and for some men) increases the desire to eat. Read more...

16 Ways To Change Your Child’s Diet

Image by Paull Young via Flickr

Sometimes we just don't know what to do.

With obesity reaching epidemic proportions, there's very little a parent can do, except start in your own home.

Here's 16 tips to change your child's diet (and your own).

16 Ways To Change Your Child’s Diet From Habit To Healthy | Health Reform

Obesity goes shaking along

USA Today.com reports today milkshakes are going chic.

Now there are fancier and fatter ways to get brain freeze.

The report show milkshakes getting bigger and bigger and with more and more calories. One shake has all the calories a 6-foot man needs for the entire day. That's right, the entire day.

These shakes are the ultimate in indulgence and gluttony. We don't need them that big. Why can't a treat be small and delicious? Why does it have to have heart attack written across it?

We know why. It makes more money for restaurants; a lot more than healthy foods.

Don't buy these obesity shakers.

Even as sales of fruit smoothies keep growing, a counter-move is afoot in the restaurant industry to give the old-fashioned milkshake extra buzz by taking it upscale.

It's working: Sales of milkshakes, malts and floats rose 11% in 2006, says NPD Group, an industry research specialist. They're picking up steam at odd hours, too: Nearly 1-in-10 of the dairy drinks is sold at breakfast and 3-in-10 are sold as late-night snacks. The drivers: nostalgia for the customer and profits for the restaurant.

For restaurants, milkshakes are easy money. "They're enormously profitable," Muller says. The average price of a restaurant shake in 2006 was about $3.38, reports Technomic, a market research firm.

About 75% of that is profit, Muller says.

•Twinkie shakes. For $5 to $7, 5-month-old BLT Burger in New York serves a Twinkie Boy shake — made with a Hostess Twinkie, vanilla ice cream and caramel syrup. "We sell a lot of those," says Tim Murphy, manager.

•Hand-scooped. Since launching hand-scooped shakes nearly two years ago, shake sales at Hardee's and Carl's Jr. have tripled — even though the price jumped nearly a buck to $2.99, says Brad Haley, marketing chief. Coming to the chains in May: Orange Cream (Creamsicle-like) shakes.

•Bottled shakes. Ben & Jerry's has taken three of its most popular ice cream flavors — Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey and Chocolate Fudge Brownie — and put them into $1.99 bottled shakes that are sold mostly through convenience stores.

But most shakes, particularly candy-filled shakes, are full of calories and fat, warns Amy Lanou, nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina.

A large Health Bar shake weighs in at 2,160 calories, she says. "That's the total calories many adults need for a day."

How often do you equate healthy and fast food?

The Wall St. Journal asked its readers: How often do you purchase the healthy offerings at fast-food restaurants? (read all the comments)

The results, above, are not surprising. Almost 35% of people who eat at fast-food restaurant have never ordered a healthy meal. Could it be that WSJ readers are not fooled by any fast-food restaurant that panders to critics by calling a pile of iceberg lettuce, healthy?

Here's one sample comment from the poll:

Hmmm. Last November, on the way to Las Vegas, I stopped at a McDonald's, used the restroom, then sat outside and ate my own packed lunch. On the way back, I stopped at a Wendy's and had a (small) hamburger and a green salad. I was shocked at how big the dressing packet was!! I just use enough to taste, not to drown.

Typical of Wendy's and McDonald's. Even when trying to fool the public with "healthy" options, they can't help themselves with appropriate portions.

Eating no trans fats may be bad for you

There's only one healthy way: the RightSize.

I have been telling everyone for a while now, that away-from-home eateries MUST start serving the RightSize of calories, fats, carbs, salt...everything. Or else we will be a completely obese nation.

Just changing one bad ingredient for maybe a little less bad ingredient is not going to save America.

But that's how politicians are attacking the problem. Instead of facing up to restaurants, they simply dictated that the fast food chains remove "trans fats". What's going to replace them? And will a supersized order of french fries suddenly be healthy for you. You know the answer.

Here's a story from CNN that lays out the problem with eliminating "trans fats": the substitute fat may be just as bad for you.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A major change in the national diet is under way: Heart-damaging trans fat is rapidly disappearing from grocery aisles and restaurant food, too. But are its replacements really healthier?

It's a tricky time for consumers, because the answer depends on the food -- and some are losing trans fat only to have another artery clogger take its place, that old nemesis saturated fat. more...

Nutrition is an orphan at Wendy's

The critics are starting to cause changes in America's restaurants.

Unfortunately, Wendy's is responding by confusing, if not deceiving, its customers.

Last year, the chain did away with its "biggie" and "great biggie" portion names.

But that doesn't mean sizes are getting smaller. The Biggie portion size — the equivalent of almost three 12-ounce cans of soda for the drinks — is called a medium. It didn't get smaller, just a name change. Who in their right minds calls three cans of Coke, medium? When you go into 7-Eleven and ask for a medium Pepsi, do they give you three cans of soda? Of course not.

A "medium" drink is 32 ounces and the "large" drink overflows its banks with 42 ounces. Wendy's calls it a "river of icy-cold refreshment." Critics say it's a setback in the battle against obesity.

NYU professor Lisa Young, who wrote the book The Portion Teller, warns that Wendy's subtle name change may encourage customers to eat and drink more than they should.

Wendy’s International Inc. research shows demand for big drinks, but people were confused by the designation of Biggie and Great Biggie, the former extra-large size, spokesman Denny Lynch said. Switching to a more straightforward small, medium and large sizes made sense, he said.

"When something is called 'biggie,' you know that it's big and maybe you shouldn't finish it," Young said. "That's a quart of soda for one person. My worry is that calling it 'medium' gives people the illusion they can drink without guilt."

Even a "small" soft drink at Wendy's is now 20 ounces. That's 25 percent bigger than before the name change.

As for the new 42-ounce soda, with up to 100 more calories than the old '"biggie," Lynch says it's not really intended to be drunk in a single sitting, but rather consumed throughout the day.

Again, who do they think they are fooling? How many people do you know, sip a Wendy's drink "throughout the day"?

That was last year. This year, Wendy's decided to totally confuse its customers in New York City. You cannot find out how many calories are in those "medium" fries. Not in the store. Not even on the website.

They stopped providing calorie information on their website for New York City residents. Because the Dept. of Health requires restaurants -- with info on its website -- to post product calories on its menu boards. And surprise, surprise. Wendy's doesn't have "enough room" to put that information on its menu.

Straight from Columbus, Ohio hypocrisy headquarters:

We fully support the intent of this regulation; however, since most of our food is made-to-order, there isn't enough room on our existing menu boards to comply with the regulation. We have for years provided complete nutritional information on posters inside the restaurant and on our website. To continue to provide caloric information to residents and customers of our New York City restaurants on our website and on our nutritional posters would subject us to this regulation. As a result, we will no longer provide caloric information to residents and customers of our New York City restaurants.

Ironically, nutrition is now an orphan at Wendy's.

Obese people have their own restaurant site

If you are overweight and still hungry, then we've got the perfect website for you.

It's called RoadFood.com. This is a place where they have combined just about everything wrong with food in America.

It's got big, big portions (more later). It's cheap. It's "on the road". It's poor quality pictures of big portions. It's nutritionally poor. And did I mention it's got big portions.

What is RoadFood?

Great regional meals along highways, in small towns and in city neighborhoods. It is sleeves-up food made by cooks, bakers, pitmasters, and sandwich-makers who are America’s culinary folk artists. Roadfood is almost always informal and inexpensive; and the best Roadfood restaurants are colorful places enjoyed by locals (and savvy travelers) for their character as well as their menu.

If you can't find fried food in your town. This is your website.

If you can't find:

• 16-inch sausage sandwiches
• fried chicken
• cinnamon rolls with your fried chicken
• fried lamb (featured restaurant this week)
• fried dill pickle (Blue and White Restaurant)
• chicken-fried steak
• fried clams
• cracklins (fried pig skin)
• pan-fried pickerel (in Ontario) or catfish (Mississippi) or perch (N. Carolina)
  
• Fritos pie (fried corn chips in a pie)
• fried oysters
• fried green tomatoes
• fried eggplant with crawfish etouffee
• deep fried pickles (W. Virginia)
• fried pie (skip the Fritos all together at Arizona's Cotham's Mercantile)
• fried grit cakes (South Carolina)
• fried perogies (Pittsburgh)
• fried hot tamales (Mississippi, again)
• fried kreplach
• fried okra
• and my favorite from Amherst, New York, fried bologna and onions

then you will love RoadFood.com. This site proves that all bad food doesn't come from the fanchised fast-food places. It proves that mom-and-pop, medium-fast food can be bad for you.

Only in America can we take any seafood, any vegetable, any fruit, anything and turn it into the worst food for you, then put it on bun, throw some red-colored corn syrup on it (ketchup), and call it "good eats".

Today's favorite restaurant happens to be in Connecticut, proving, even in the healthy states, we can't help ourselves.

Doogie's - Newington, CT

Doogie's 16-inch hot dog is nothing short of astounding. While one of them, in its long, long bun, looks like a hero sandwich fit for four, especially if it is loaded with sauerkraut, chili, onions, bacon, cheese, etc., you will see some big boys walking into Doogie’s at lunch time and ingesting a pair of them (that’s over two feet of frankfurter!) with a large soda and an order of jumbo French fries with cheese sauce on the side

It's a killer sandwich. In more ways than one.

Sooner than later: Oklahoma City is now the heaviest user of fast foods

Oklahoma City residents are the "heaviest" users of fast foods in America.

CNNmoney.com reports,

While Greenville, North Carolina earned the dubious honor as the No. 1 market for heavy users in 2006, with 59 percent of its fast-food patrons grabbing burgers and fries 12 or more times a month - versus a national average of 42 percent - only Oklahoma City made the top ten list in the years 1999, 2003 and 2006. (Heavy users, usually young men, are defined as those who visit a fast-food restaurant at least 12 times a month.)

Over the past several years, Oklahoma City has consistently been home to more so-called "heavy users" of fast food than any other American city, according to data compiled by Sandelman & Associates, a San Clemente, Calif.-based market research firm that tracks consumer trends for the $537 billion restaurant industry.

"We're always excited to be in the top ten of things, but not this," says Christine Berney, a spokeswoman for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.

Last year, well over half (55 percent) of Oklahoma City fast-food patrons dined in establishments like McDonald's or Wendy's a dozen times or more per month, placing it tied for No. 3 with Memphis and Charleston/Huntington, West Virginia. A similar percentage of Oklahoma City residents earned "heavy user" status in 2003, while in 1999 that figure was 47 percent, still well above the national average of 38 percent at the time.

When ranked by the number of trips, fast-food users in McAllen, Texas, led the nation last year with 25 monthly visits per person, on average - yes, that's almost once every day - but Oklahoma City was right behind with 21. Three other Texas cities - El Paso, San Antonio and Dallas - also made the top ten. None of the leading fast-food gobbling cities is north of the Mason-Dixon line, Sandelman reported.

There's other places where these states lead the nation: in obesity. West Virginia residents are the 3rd fattiest state in the nation. Oklahoma residents are the 13th. Texas is the 11th. North Carolina is 17th and Tennessee is 8th.

Do you think there's a correlation between heaviest fast food usage and heaviest people? I do.

The 30 minute meal (just a half donut)

Sometimes two stories just naturally come together.

Here's a joke. What does a 1/2 donut and Rachael Ray have in common? 30 minutes.

Dunkin' Donuts announced that it will be working with best-selling author, Rachael Ray. As its new brand representative, Ray will appear in a multi-platform marketing campaign for Dunkin' Donuts. Ray will also lend her perspective to the Dunkin' Donuts culinary team in the development of new, "better for you" food and beverage options. In recent years, the company has introduced several new products, including Smoothies, Latte Lite and the reduced carb bagel; in addition, the company has been working since 2004 to remove trans-fats from all of its menu offerings.

Adored by millions for her originality and down-to-earth style, Ray is best known for her "30-Minute Meals," recipes that answer the needs of busy Americans - great tasting, easy-to-make meals with inexpensive ingredients.

"Everyone always asks me how I manage my schedule, and the answer is coffee," said Ray. "Having grown up in the Northeast, I have a long-standing and deep appreciation for Dunkin' Donuts' coffee. In addition, I am excited to work with Dunkin' Donuts' team of chefs as they expand their menu to include new items for customers looking for more health-conscious options."

Now Ray has had "trouble" in the past with her weight. How's she going to keep it off eating all those donuts?

Well, Brian Wansink of Mindless Eating has an answer.

Consider the Four Mile Donut. If we were to walk as fast as we could for an hour, we’d cover a breathless, heart pounding 3-4 miles. If we then decided to celebrate our workout with coffee and a donut, we would eat more calories in a minute than we burned off in an hour.

People who often start exercise programs claim to gain weight in the first couple weeks. My Food and Brand Lab has started investigating what we call Calorie Compensation. We’re finding that almost all of us believe that we burn more calories exercising than we actually do. The problem is that after we excerise we often try to reward ourselves with that pint of Ben and Jerry’s, and that’s where things go wrong. If we pat ourselves on the back, we should also pat ourselves on the stomach because that’s where all those calories are going.

Exercising is an important part of our life and of good health other than just our weight. But for most of us, it will probably be easier to eat one less donut today than to walk four more miles.

Rachael's goin' have to use a little less EVOO, and after all those Dunkin' commercial she's need be walkin' a lot more miles.