Food Fight

This is an amazing video. The foods of nations fighting against each other from 1939 to present. Does anyone else find this to be a profound work of art?

25 Extreme Diets

RNCentral has compiled a list of the 25 most ridiculous and ineffective popular diets.

Though I agree most of these are not good for long term weight loss, I think the South Beach Diet and the Macrobiotic Diet shouldn't be on this list. If most people ate as prescribed in these diets, their daily choice of snacks and meals would be much healthier than the average persons daily food consumption.

Check out their list of the top extreme diets.

The macrobiotic meal above consists of brown rice, kale and brocolli.

Salt, Soda and Obesity

Salty snacks equal soda-guzzling, heavier kidsStudy suggests cutting back on salt, even a pinch, could curb obesityThe Associated Pressupdated 3:12 p.m. MT, Wed., Feb. 20, 2008DALLAS - Kids who load up on salty meals and snacks get thirsty, and too often they turn to calorie-filled sodas. So maybe cutting back on the salt is a good way to cut the calories.That is the idea coming from a British

Ok, not much to report, but here it is...

Breakfast:
Nothing

Lunch:
Spaghetti (140g cooked) and 3 meatballs

Snack:
1 glass of orange juice

Dinner:
Cottage Pie and peas

Total cals today 545.

Thats todays breakdown. Nothing happened of interest today. Got up, taught DS, went to work, came home and am now off to bed.

Feeling cold :o(

Today I have been mostly feeling cold. I don't know if its because I am burning fat or what, but I am chilly all the time. Even in Bed. No one else is.

DS was running around all morning in his pants. He said he was too warm to put clothes on. By the way, who feels that I should worried about my 9 year old son not liking clothes...? Anyone? Seriously, the boy prefers to be in the nude or as nude as possible. He has absolutely no hang ups whatsoever and even once fully dressed, usually by the end of the day he has managed to lose the jumper, socks, t shirt, and trousers at odd places around the house.

I was also really annoyed yesterday. I left a HUGE pile of clothes, all folded, on his bed for him to out away. When I went up to check on him and give him a kiss, because I got back from work after he was in bed, I saw him sleeping WITH said pile. I couldn't believe it. He had just got into bed and laid on top of them all. What is wrong with him? There are toys in that bed, books, pens, crayons, cups, wrappers, PlayStation games and biscuit crumbs and it must be SO uncomfortable, but he says he likes it. I have given up bothering to tidy it up because it simply doesn't work. He likes living in a sty.

Anyway, I am freezing right now too, and am about to go to bed with a tracksuit on.
Foodwise:
Breakfast: nothing but pills.
Snack: 1 Banana
Lunch: 100g Nasi Goreng (a chicken and rice dish from Eismann)
Dinner: 100g Lasagne and peas.

Total cals today are 454.

Wicked!

Losing It with Valerie Bertinelli

Valerie Bertinelli became the new spokesperson for Jenny Craig last year. She's successfully lost her excess weight and has written a book about it. At her peak she weighed 170 pounds. She was able to get down to 132 pounds. Her height is 5'2" and she'll be 48 years old in a couple of months.

In her book Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Timeshe talks about how depression fed her weight gain. She would try to alleviate her depression with junk food.

See her heartfelt story here.

See more about the link between depression and diet here.

Reducing Belly Fat with Whole Grains

There's an interesting article on CBS News today about eating whole grains to reduce your belly fat. A study found that of two groups who were put on reduced calories, those who ate whole grains versus refined grains lost more fat and significantly more fat around their belly area.

Now what are whole grains? I know that white rice and white bread are not whole grains.

But if you asked me if breads labeled with the words "multi-grain," "stone-ground," "100% wheat," "cracked wheat," "seven-grain," or "bran" were whole grain foods, I would have said yes before I read this article!

Whole grains include brown rice, oatmeal and whole wheat. (But many more too, see their list).

The article recommends you look at the ingredients for the fiber content. If the bread shows a high daily value percentage of fiber content (%DV) then it's much more likely the bread contains whole grains. Color by itself is not an indicator of whole grains. Breads are dyed brown with molasses or other added ingredients.

See more about belly fat and the benefits of whole grains here.