Most of us might gain a few pounds over the holidays. Here are a few tips on how to avoid overeating during the holidays.
Archive for December, 2010
How to Avoid Holiday Overeating
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010Dr Phil, 12 Pounds, and the 17 Day Diet
Tuesday, December 21st, 2010The good news/bad news about holiday weight gain.
School Lunches–From Bad to Worse?
Thursday, December 16th, 2010You think what they eat on Survivor is gross? You should see what they feed some American kids. It’s no wonder kids love fast food. Compared to the crap the government feeds them, fast food is practically Michelin star.
If you want an idea of how bad it is, check out the blog, Fed Up With School Lunch, written by the mysterious Mrs Q, (she’s not exactly mysterious, but she doesn’t use her real name because she wants to keep her day job).
Mrs. Q. works in the public school system somewhere in Chicago. One day she forgets her lunch so she buys it from the school cafeteria. It’s so bad, she gets a great idea: chronicle the crap for a year–pictures and everything. All in all, it comes to 160 BAD elementary-school lunches. (Is it just me or is that a short school year?)
Talk about brave. I mean, look at the pictures first, and then talk about brave.
The Diet Joke salutes Mrs. Q. And Jaime Oliver. And everybody else who wants to expose how bad school lunches are. But come on, this is something new? When I was in sixth grade, I worked the lunch crew, and believe me, it was bad then too.
I volunteered for the lunch crew because it meant one week every month I got out of class 20 minutes early. I sold milk, regular or chocolate, which cost 6 cents. A few paces away from me, two other kid members of the lunch crew sold ice-cream bars and Oreo cookies, which both cost a dime (talk about an easy job, you don’t even have to make change).
The final member of the student crew worked the cash register for the hot lunch line. I don’t how much the hot lunch cost because I never ate it–ever–because it was bad.
It’s always been bad.
Has it gotten worse? Probably. But it’s always been bad.
Maybe things will improve. A few days ago, President Obama signed The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act which is supposed to help, but if you read it here, it’s hard to see how. The Act is mostly about who qualifies for what and who’s gonna foot the bill. 220 pages and nowhere in there is there anything about making better-tasting food. And if it ain’t in there…
This is a directive to establish a pilot program that offers grants to schools that use organic foods. How long it will take for any improvements to trickle down to where Mrs. Q. work remains to be seen. I hope she keeps us posted.
Biggest Loser Wrap-Up
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010Well, I admit I was impressed with The Biggest Loser finale. Although I didn’t stick to my plan, which was to watch the entire season, I got the gist of it, I think.
The gist of it, I think, is that all of us can make enormous changes in our lives, as long as we commit to those changes. I agree with that wholeheartedly. And if The Biggest Loser inspires that in Americans, that’s terrific.
My concern is, still, that many overweight or obese Americans watch The Biggest Loser and expect the same kind of rapid progress. Losing over 100 pounds in 7 months is dramatic, yes, but beyond what most doctors recommend.
Most doctors recommend a weight loss of between 1-2 pounds a week. 7 months is 28 weeks. If you lost what most doctors recommend, say 2 pounds a week, at the end of 28 weeks, you’ve lost 56 pounds. That’s terrific and commendable, but is it great TV? Probably not.
So now we’ve taken a commendable weight-loss achievement and compared it to a TV weight-loss-show-for-money achievement. My guess is that the average home viewer might get disappointed and give up altogether, unless they can win a coveted spot on the ranch.
I think that’s been my problem with The Biggest Loser from the get-go. Yes, all of us can be inspired from the dramatic weight loss numbers these contestants, who are competing for big bucks, achieve. But are they realistic numbers for the rest of us? Most medical professionals would say they’re not.
So, here it is, the end, and the question I wanted to answer in the beginning–what’s the appeal of The Biggest Loser–is evident.
These contestants succeed in achieving what all of us want to achieve in every aspect of our lives: dramatic results in record times. The problem is, sans TV agendas, these results usually take more time.
The takeaway is, and has always been, that what happens on TV for the sake of ratings, rarely represents real life. The hope of those who produce these money-making shows is that we’ll be inspired to be just like the people on TV and shell out big bucks for their products (Biggest Loser videos, Biggest Loser meal plans, Biggest Loser memberships, etc.).
And just in case you didn’t sign up for those products today, the next Biggest Loser season is just three weeks away.
It’s a Dirty Dirty Dirty Dirty World
Monday, December 13th, 2010It’s a dirty world out there. And I’m not just talking about politics. In my last blog, I addressed the importance of making sure your doctor and everyone else in your healthcare facility washes his or her hands ALL THE TIME, but that’s not even half the problem.
Turns out germs are everywhere. In other words, if you go outside, wash your hands. And when you come back in, wash them again.
What are some of the germiest things you might touch today?
The restroom soap dispenser, the elevator button, and the ATM keypad, just to name a few.
Easy to see why. Lots of other hands are using the exact same things. And who knows where those hands have been?
Actually, we do. They’ve been in the restroom. And in the elevator. And at the ATM. It goes something like this. Average Joe takes a break from work, stops to use the restroom, then takes the elevator down to the ATM in the lobby. He grabs some quick cash and then takes the elevator back up to his floor. Maybe he even stops at the drinking fountain for some water. Now, what if Joe didn’t wash his hands after the restroom?
In fact, raise your hand if you’ve ever seen someone come out of a restroom stall and NOT wash his or her hands. I’ve got both of mine in the air. And when there are only hand dryers in the restroom, and no paper towels…now I’ve got both feet in the air.
Maybe Joe did wash his hands, but the guy before him didn’t. The point is, we don’t know where anybody’s hands have been.
And it’s not just the office. The gym is dirty too. All those people. All that nose-wiping. All those mats. And hotels? Don’t even get me started. Let’s just say it’s not a bad idea to pack some disinfecting wipes and wipe down a few things, like the TV remote control and the telephone.
And we all know that grocery store cart is filthy, but did you know those fresh fruits and vegetables can be germy too. Think of all those hands touching all that food. Just last week, I saw a woman place her basket–you know, the one you grab when you just need a couple of items, the one they store on the floor–on top of the broccoli so she could free both her hands to touch something else. She just passed floor germs onto the fresh broccoli!
I hate to say people are pigs, and I’m certainly not a germaphobe. But come on, people. Practice some basic hygiene. And some common courtesy. Please.
Meanwhile, the rest of us need to wash our hands, and wash them often. And rinsing your fruits and vegetables before you eat them isn’t a bad idea either.
Our Health, Healthcare-Associated Infections and Hand-Washing
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010We at The Diet Joke want to see all Americans living active lives. Unfortunately, there are a lot of germs out there that also want to live active lives. And their active lives can wreck havoc on our health. Ironically, the place we go to get better might actually make us sicker. It’s sort of like going to the mechanic to get your radiator fixed, and you leave with a broken transmission.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Healthcare-Associated Infections or HAI’s, infections we pick up at a healthcare facility while being treated for something else, are one of the top ten leading causes of death in the United States. And according to the World Health Organization, more than 1 million people worldwide suffer, at any given time, from an infection they got at a healthcare facility.
Maybe that’s why most people hate to go to the doctor.
Check out this List of Infectious Diseases that might get transmitted at your favorite healthcare facility.
So what can we do to prevent this? Would you believe it’s something as simple as washing our hands, and making sure that everyone around us washes theirs? Sure, asking our doctor to wash his or her hands is a little more awkward than telling our 4-year-old to wash his, especially since the doctor is the expert. But our health is more important than a brief moment of embarrassment. Either way, we still get the bill.
Here’s an educational video for us, courtesy of the CDC. Watch it so you’re prepared next time you or a loved one visit a healthcare facility.
If you’re a healthcare provider and want to know what you can do to stop HAIs, visit “Not on My Watch,” a new website, courtesy of Kimberly Clark, which provides tools and information to help facilities eliminate HAIs.
