REVISITED: NY Times Reporter's File on Obesity

In April, a tip from a loyal reader lead me to check out the NY Times Reporter's File on Obesity (because apparently the Times needs to be the authority on EVERYTHING).

In my response which you can find here, I discussed the issue of diet as presented by the Reporter's File. The File proposed that the rise in obesity was more due to the increasingly sedentary lifestyle of Americans than a deteriorating diet. I disagreed with the statement about diet, citing the gargantuan proportions of burgers, fries and soda that McDonald's currently serves in a typical combo meal, as opposed to the seemingly dainty single-patty burger of yesteryear.

If that example of growing portions didn't convince you, maybe you'll find this interactive quiz from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute more enjoyable: Portion Distortion!

I'm not entirely sure how accurate the calorie counts are for all the foods, but if nothing else, it's interesting to note how much HUGER things like bagels and meatballs have become. (Meatballs? Really?)



















Note: I took this quiz with Jared and we both failed. It is truly challenging.

Fitness Links in Honor of the Fairfield Half this weekend!

Ah, yes. The time has come to run great distances, sweat profusely and hopefully avoid injury along the way. Wooohhoooyeaahhhh! The 29th Annual Fairfield Half Marathon is on Sunday, and I have a feeling it's going to be AWESOME.

In the spirit of this athletic event, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for articles that might make running thirteen miles marginally easier. Here are two gems from my files:

To Sit Up or Not To Sit Up (thanks Simone)
How many different sit-up philosophies have you heard in your life? Maybe 5, 10? "Don't sit all the way up" vs. "only flex your abs"; "feet on the floor" vs. "legs in the air," etc. Shoot! I personally adhere to the "crunch" ideology and occasionally I use the exercise balls to do my ab-work.

However, here's another to add to the list! A recent blog post at Newsweek claims that sit ups don't work at all. More specifically -- they hurt more than help.

“We stopped teaching people to do crunches a long, long time ago,” says Dr. Richard Guyer, president of the Texas Back Institute. That’s because the “full flex” movement—the actual “crunch” part of crunches – puts an unhealthy strain on your back at its weakest point. The section with the most nerves (and most potential for nerve damage) is in the back of the spine, which is the very part that bends and strains during a sit-up.

Interesting. I have heard that the best way to do sit-ups/crunches is on the exercise ball with your lower back supported. The article says nothing about whether this is a "safe" way to exercise your abs, but instead they offer this old fave as an alternative:

Consider the pushup. Not usually thought of as a great ab move, the pushup forces you to work several muscles at once: it forces your core muscles to stabilize your trunk as your arms and back work to move the body up and down. “Do you see how a pushup is a full body challenge?” says McGill. “It challenges abdominals, front of your legs, your arms and your back. That is how you use those muscles in real life.”

Woah. The pushup seems to be typically thought of as an arm-only workout, but actually it is one of those amazing exercises where you use ALL THE MUSCLES IN YOUR BODY. I presume that is why pushups are so hard, and not only because my arm muscles are puny. (I don't care what you saw on FB, Laura, they are puny.)

The article also recommends planks, which I have always loved because they are so damn hard.

So if you have back issues (particularly lower back), try laying off the sit ups/crunches for awhile and increase the number of pushups in your workout. Then, report back and tell me your conclusions. Please.

Sleep Loading, something like Carb Loading
Based on a very small study of Division 1 female tennis players, some researchers recently presented findings that suggests sleep has a more significant effect on athletic performance than previously thought.

Then the players were told to extend their sleep to 10 hours a night for five to six weeks. After increasing sleep, the athletes performed better on all the drills. Sprinting drill times dropped on average to 17.56 seconds from 19.12 seconds. Hitting accuracy, measured by valid serves, improved to 15.61 serves, up from 12.6 serves, and a hitting depth drill improved to 15.45 hits, up from 10.85 hits.

When the tennis players cracked down on their sleep debt, they performed significantly better than before... when they were *technically* sleep deprived. Um, awesome? Let's go take a nap!

Furthermore, in this article at Medical News Today, the study's lead author, Cherie Mah, M.S., suggests that it's impossible to physically perform at your best without proper sleep:

"Traditionally, elite athletes dedicate numerous hours to daily practice, strength training, and conditioning as well as work closely with nutritionists in hopes of optimizing their athletic performance," said Mah. "However, very little, if any, attention is focused on an athlete's sleeping patterns and habits. While most athletes and coaching staff may believe that sleep is an important contributing factor in sports, many do not realize that optimal or peak performance can only occur when an athlete's sleep and sleep habits are optimal."

Seriously. Notice that she qualifies her opinion by only including "elite athletes," but I'm just going to go ahead and include those of us who once practiced or played five to six days a week as well. How much better would I have played in college if I'd been able to sleep more than 5-6 hours a night?! Between class, homework, work study, and practice/games/other team crap, there were just not enough hours in the day to get everything done and also get adequate rest.

Now, if only this study had been published about 2.5 years ago... I would have had fantastic support for my one-man campaign against lifting at 6AM three times a week. Ugh, and I'm still mad about it!

Your Workout Forecast

This is cool: The Weather Channel's Fitness Forecast.

Enter your zip code and you'll get the hourly forecast for your area accompanied by a "Fitness Comfort Index". They even tell you how many hours of daylight you have left (so get off your ass soon) and what to wear! Maybe this seems silly--just look out your window, fool --but it's also reassuring.

Similarly, you can search for parks in your area... although they don't tell you WHERE they are, just that they exist.

And, last thing: check out the Hydration Needs Calculator to figure out approximately how much water you should be drinking every day. It only asks your zip code, your weight and how much time you spend working out so it's not going to be totally accurate, but it's funny to see how much water you should be drinking. When I plugged in my info and put 1 minute for duration, it suggested I drink 57 oz. When I put 60 minutes for duration, it suggested 59 oz. Huh.

Organic Alcohol and You: An Introduction

Whilst perusing Gourmet.com for new things to cook, I came across a drink recipe for The Brad Pitt:

2 wedges of organic lime
2 thin slices fresh organic cucumber
Sprig of organic mint
2 oz (1/4 cup) Crop Organic cucumber vodka
3 to 4 oz seltzer

Because only an "organic" adult beverage created in your honor can ease the searing pain caused by six screaming children, while simultaneously offsetting the fact that your family goes through enough diapers every 3 days to fill a dumpster. It's all about the carbon footprint, brother.

So--Organic alcohol, huh? It's an interesting concept, albeit one that has not entirely convinced me.

I attempted to Google "organic alcohol facts" but of course, like any good organic product, the most thorough and convincing statistics and "facts" are right there in the caption of the stock photos of the dazzling organic spirits.

TRU Vodka has the best arsenal of information answering the question, "Whats the point?" According to the post Is organic liquor more pure or just pure hype? from the TRU blog, "In 2008, the U.S. consumed more than 184 million cases or 2.2 billion bottles of distilled spirits. That took more than 1.1 million acres of farmland to produce, which is slightly smaller than the state of Delaware." They go on to detail the amount of fertilizer, pesticides and water it takes to conventionally farm this area, which is to say A LOT. By cultivating the crop organically, they eliminate chemical fertilizers and pesticides from the equation. Additionally, TRU uses special recyclable bottles and soy-based ink for the labeling and oh, by the way-- they also plant a tree in South America for every bottle they produce. (So, are they actually turning a profit?)

More telling, perhaps, is an FAQ for the Advertising, Labeling and Formulation Division of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. As we get more obsessed with living "greenly", companies obviously realize that if they're able to advertise with some sort of organic claim, they're likely to see an increase in profit. Here are the four basic National Organic Program Categories for alcoholic beverages:

1. “100% Organic” has all organic ingredients with no chemically added sulfites.
2. “Organic” has at least 95% organic ingredients with no chemically added sulfites.
3. “Made with Organic [Ingredients]” has at least 70% organic ingredients and may contain chemically added sulfites.
4. Products containing less than 70% organic ingredients and products that are not processed by a certified organic handling operation may only disclose organic content in a non-conspicuous “Ingredients Statement”.

Good to know, huh? You never realize that to be labeled an "organic" product you don't even need to have purely organic ingredients. I often wonder why the code is necessary, though--couldn't you just write "95% organic ingredients"? God forbid we use the package label to accurately disclose what the product contains. One time in high school, I got into a heated argument with a classmate about the nature of marketing and how it is evil and misleading. I may have suggested that grocery stores simply print the name of the food item on the package and nothing more. Example:
Simple, tasteful, uncluttered by health claims. Looking back, I may have been *bit* unreasonable in my Stalin-esque need for simplicity and uniformity. Still, should we have to decipher 1,000 different carefully worded claims to health? What's the point of having such specific labeling regulations if the average consumer has no idea what the hell anything means?!

Whoa. Sorry. Moving on.

So far I've only mentioned organic liquors, but the organic wines and brews are probably more popular. The Organic Consumer's Association offers a bit more information on organic wine, and specifically about sulfites, which are used as a preservative. Interestingly, Real Green encourages consumers to drink organic beer, wine and spirits not only because it's good for the environment blah blah blah, but also because it tastes better. Hmm. This is a claim I cannot personally confirm or deny, but I'd like to volunteer to participate in the taste tests.

As with any organic product, health claims also arise. A NY Daily News article from last summer suggests that the reason you should ingest organic alcohol has less to do with your carbon footprint and more to do with your sorry ass the morning after a bender. Writer/drinker Sean Evans conducted a "scientific experiment" where he drank a lot of organic alcohol one night and then two days later drank a lot of regular alcohol.

The morning after the organic binge:

And it wasn’t that bad. There was no headache, and at first everything felt groggy. But despite being slightly slow, after a quick shower nearly all symptoms had dissipated. There was no nausea, no stomach pain; no normal hangover feelings.

The morning after the regular alcohol binge was a bit rougher, to say the least. However, a post at Fermentarium responding to this so-called experiment points out some important facts about hangovers:

Hangovers are caused by dehydration, the breakdown of ethanol, and natural by-products from the fermentation of the beverage... Ethanol dehydrates your body. When you drink a lot, you tend to urinate a lot. The removal of water from your system causes headaches, nausea, and makes you tired. The only possible way organic alcohol could have less of a dehydrating effect would be if it had less ethanol. The author claimed he matched the alcohol content for his drinks in his experiment, so there should be no difference in the effect.

Touche. Despite how the grain or grapes or whatever is cultivated (conventionally or organically), alcohol is produced by the same biological process. It seems unlikely that organically grown fruit or grain would have a huge effect on the impact of alcohol on the body. More likely, the Fermentarium points out, Evans just wanted the NY Daily News to pay for two nights of drinking and he had to come to SOME conclusion.

Lastly, let's talk about price. How does the organic wine, beer and spirits compare cost-wise? According to a quick Google, the organic varieties compare pretty favorably. No, you're not going to be able to pick up a handle of organic vodka for $7.99, but there appear to be some brands in the $20 range. Also, one brand appeared on the website of my favorite Boston-area liquor store chain, Blanchard's, so hopefully it's something I can pick up in the store if I feel so moved. (Which I probably won't, but the chances are higher if I can actually see and touch the bottle. Because let's be honest: what self-respecting 24-year-old would buy alcohol off the internet?! The S&H fees alone could pay for like 2 meals.)

So that's the 411. I'd like to try some of this organic booze, but cost and availability are big issues. Does anyone have any experience they'd like to share?

P.S. Speak of the devil-- The North American Organic Brewers Festival is taking place in 2 weeks in my lovely hometown of Portland, Oregon: June 26-28. Follow the link for more information and tell me how delicious the beer was if you make it!

Are you there Blog? It's me, Chloe.

Oh heeeeeyyyyyy.

It's been awhile. I bet you forgot what it looked like when I updated.

Me too.

There are a lot of things to talk about, but in order to get off the ground and running in the great month of June 2009, let's not write a novel. Let's start with a little something more modest... a paragraph on metabolism? And a list of books for you to read.

Paragraph on metabolism:

I've had this lying around in my Google Notebook and I thought now would be a good time to bust it out. A few months ago I came across The Female Athlete's Body Book by Gloria Beim, MD and Ruth Winter, MS (links to Google Preview! Exciting!) at my local library and geeked out a little. The book offers a whole lot of useful information that is specific to the female athlete, as the title implies. It breaks down typical injuries and concerns by sport and has a great section on nutrition. I'll post the nutrition stuff another time, because it's lengthy and all I promised was ONE paragraph.

On metabolism, Dr. Beim and Ms. Winter write:

Men metabolize energy differently than women. Metabolism is the way you process food into tissue elements and into energy for use in the growth, repair and general function of your body. A women's resting metabolic rate (RMR) is 5-10 percent lower than a man's. If you have developed your muscles through sports, however, your RMR will burn increased calories while you are at rest. If you don't exercise and are on a weight-loss diet, you will deprive your muscles of protein and conditioning, decrease the size of your muscles, and lessen your RMR. So commit yourself to regular exercise. It will increase your metabolism and assist you in maintaining a healthy weight.

Here's some more evidence that it's allllll connected. More developed muscles will increase your metabolism making you burn calories more quickly and easily, and exercise not only burns calories, but increases muscle mass. Coolio.

I'd also like to note the language of the last sentence: "... and assist you in maintaining a healthy weight." Not losing weight, but maintaining it. It's an important distinction to make, because this is not a weight-loss advice book, Couch Potato. It is a tool to learn about the magical wonders of your body, Female Athlete.

And a list of books for you to read:

If you're interested in learning more about food issues (not diet foods that will make you skinny and leotarded), I recently came across this list on a listserve to which I subscribe.

To get started:
- Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
- The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (Read it! Awesome.)

To continue the education:
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (see my review @Goodreads)
- Appetite for Profit by Michele Simon
- Closing the Food Gap by Mark Winne (see my review @Goodreads)
- Diet for a Dead Planet by Christopher Cook
- Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe
- Food Politics by Marion Nestle
- Grub by Anna Lappe and Bryant Terry
- Holistic Management by Allan Savory
- Hope's Edge by Frances Moore Lappe
- Mad Cow USA by John Stauber
- Mad Sheep by Linda Faillace
- Safe Food by Marion Nestle
- Seeds of Deception by Jeffrey M. Smith
- Teaming With Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels, Wayne Lewis and Elaine Ingham
- What To Eat by Marion Nestle

I've only read three of the books, but I've been meaning to read the Nestle books for awhile. Anyway, they're all getting added to the ol' summer reading list. Ha! My eyes are always bigger than my stomach (or reading stomach).

Be sure to give your 2 cents about any of the books on the reading list--I'd love to hear any/all comments! Ok! Back next week.