Posted by Ed Levine, May 9, 2008 at 8:45 AM
As some serious eaters may have noticed, I have started writing a weekly restaurant review. I'm looking forward to my reviewing stint, but I am wondering about its effect on my diet and life. Two more restaurant meals a week, piled on top of all the other food I eat in the name of the work and life I love, will put even more pressure on my "all things in moderation" regimen.
So I decided that I have to increase the frequency of my exercise regimen. Other restaurant critics, like Frank Bruni of the New York Times and Michael Bauer of the San Francisco Chronicle, have told me that what I would describe as fanatical, maniacal, obsessive exercise regimens have helped keep them trim. The question, serious eaters, is whether doubling down on my exercise regimen will do the trick and enable me to eat more and weigh less.
I actually tried it this week.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, January 12, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Going on the 81st year of cookie sales, the Girl Scouts and their rainbow-colored boxes don’t need much explainin’.
Except this year, when the pigtail-wearing munchkins—who started pre-orders last Thursday—decided you should ease up on the Thin Mints. Yes, you. Because, they don’t make you thin, it turns out. For the first time, girl scouts are selling 100-calorie packs in a flavor they've baptized Cinna-Spins.
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Posted by Alaina Browne, October 23, 2007 at 7:00 PM
- Fast food eaters fatter than others: Is this really news? A study finds that people who eat several fast-food meals a week are significantly heavier than those who don't eat fast food very often. [USA Today]
- Declining sales for causal dining restaurants: "Fifty-four percent of Americans said they would eat out at restaurants less over the next three months, according to a survey of 1,000 people by RBC Capital Markets. And if they do, many will try cheaper options such as McDonald’s." [Detroit Free Press]
- Suppressing thoughts about your food cravings may make you eat more: In a recent study, women who tried to stop thinking about chocolate ate 50 percent more than those who were encouraged to talk about their cravings. Lead researcher Dr. James Erskine said, "There is a lot of research into the idea that when you suppress a thought you end up thinking about it more. However, this the first concrete evidence of how this works in relation to food choices." [BBC News]
- U.S.D.A to test more beef more frequently: In response to the Topp's Meat Co. recall, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service will tighten enforcement of food safety rules. Measures include testing plants that handle a larger volume of beef more frequently. Sounds like a small step in the right direction. [Reuters]
Slate magazine compares the environmental effects of vegetarianism and omnivorism. Eating some meat may make better use of environmental resources than eschewing meat all together, but overall people are eating more meat than what nature can efficiently supply.
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 9, 2007 at 6:30 PM
- And then they came for the pot pies: ConAgra plant in Missouri shuts down after possible link to 139 salmonella cases in 30 states. Check your freezers, folks. ConAgra advises against eating "Banquet brand turkey and chicken pot pies as well as generic-store brand pot-pie products bearing the number 'P-9' on the side of the package." [The Canadian Press]
- U.S. considering food aid to North Korea: "Pyongyang has positively responded to a U.S. plan to send monitors to ensure the food reaches the neediest, [newspaper Chosun Ilbo] said, adding that Washington was considering other aid such as generators for hospitals." [Agence France-Presse]
- Alice Waters appears on Today. With video. [MSNBC]
- An act of Congress: In a look at food-stamp funding in light of the pending farm bill, some U.S. reps recount their summer experiments living on $21 a week for food. You can't eat heathily on it, they find. Gee, who woulda thunkit? [San Jose Mercury News]
- Is fat the lesser evil?: In his new book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, Gary Taubes argues that low-fat diet recommendations were scientifically unjustified and may well have harmed Americans by encouraging them to switch to carbohydrates, which he believes cause obesity and disease. [New York Times]
- Campbell Soup gives $250,000 to sustainable ag: The University of California–Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute has received $250,000 from the Campbell Soup Company to support sustainable agriculture research, education, and outreach. [Central Valley Business Times]
Posted by Ed Levine, July 9, 2007 at 7:19 AM
The New York Times piece on the burgeoning popularity of 100 calorie snack food packages stated the obvious in its headline and sub-head: "Fewer Bites. Fewer Calories. Lot More Profit," and "Snacks in Small Single-Serving Packs Aren't Economical, but People Buy Them."
Of course snack-food manufacturers make more money selling six packs of 100 calorie bags of everything from Goldfish to Oreo Thins. And yes, if I could find the wherewithal to just buy a big bag of Goldfish and divide them neatly into 100 calorie portions using plastic bags and ties, I would save lots of money. But the reality of the situation is if I bought the big bag of Goldfish I would polish them off in a couple of forays to the kitchen between innings of a televised Yankee game. I don't have the self-discipline to divide the big bag in order to practice portion control, and furthermore, I doubt that most other people struggling with their weight do either.
In fact I have a radical notion that might just solve my weight problem.
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Posted by Ed Levine, April 23, 2007 at 8:45 AM
Some nutrition coaches charge people as much as $500 an hour to help them lose weight, according to the New York Times. As someone who's struggled with weight issues my whole life, those folks sound like a surefire way to lighten your wallet without shrinking your gut. I guess it falls into the category of "whatever works."
