A few weeks ago, I wrote, in jest, about the concept of taking diet drinks to a whole new level - the negative calorie level. I wrote in the way of farce and complete lack of seriousness that I normally do (A very odd sense of humor, that is. If you even think I have this sense at all). Alas... apparently I was onto something...
Meet Jana (tm) Skinny Water. It's a fairly new product that claims it's "a no-calorie water, enhanced with a unique combination of ingredients to help people lose and maintain their weight." The web site claims it can help curb appetite, burn fat and help reduce weight. Is this for real? And there are other companies (Fuze, Celsius and supposedly even a Coke company partner) who are getting into the mix.
I understand that ingredients in a drink could help increase someone's metabolism... but really help with weight loss? This sounds like it has the capability to make people even lazier or less responsible for their health than they currently are. "I don't need to work out... I had a few negative calorie drinks today."
If people rely on food, drinks or drugs as magic bullets for weight loss, obesity will continue to stick around like last week's doughnut to my hips. I mean, I'm all for innovation and getting whatever help we can get. But at some point shouldn't we just head out for exercise in pursuit of health, rather than heading to the fridge?
Friday, August 12, 2005
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Ode to Free Time
Pepsi announced they plan to open 3 mall lounges in the near future.
Oh to be of the age where free time ran rampant, when lounging didn't need to be scheduled! When it seemed perfectly ok to frivolously spend all of said free time at the mall! What is free time? And where did it go?
More importantly, if these teens had any idea what life will be like for them in 5-10 years, I wonder if they'd actually spend it lounging in a mall...
Oh to be of the age where free time ran rampant, when lounging didn't need to be scheduled! When it seemed perfectly ok to frivolously spend all of said free time at the mall! What is free time? And where did it go?
More importantly, if these teens had any idea what life will be like for them in 5-10 years, I wonder if they'd actually spend it lounging in a mall...
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Has Low-Carb Officially Fizzled?
News from yesterday's USA Today proclaimed the official downfall of Atkins Nutritionals, as the former diet god filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Can it be true? Has the low-carb craze officially passed us by? Will I again be able to order pasta at a restaurant without a look of disgust from the server? Can I once again serve loaves of french bread at meals without my guests feigning feelings of fullness as they ask me to pass the meatballs? Can it be true?!
As one AP reporter notes, "Low-carb might be waning, but no one should write its obituary just yet. About 2 percent of adults remain on a low-carb regimen. And The New York Times best seller list still includes The South Beach Diet."
But although low-carb may be losing its seat at the popular kids' table, that only means it makes way for other, equally as ridiculous fad diets to take over mainstream attention. The 3-hr diet and the French Women Don't Get Fat diet are already patiently waiting in the wings.
But what can I say... I have an extreme bias (as well as complete lack of tolerance) when it comes to fad diets. More power to you if it works... heavens knows these diets can be like Godsends for certain lucky individuals. However I feel like it gives more false hope than anything else. Eat healthy. Exercise. There's no way around it.
Oh yeah... and don't be afraid to indulge in a little diet can of joy every now and then. It's good for the soul. :o)
As one AP reporter notes, "Low-carb might be waning, but no one should write its obituary just yet. About 2 percent of adults remain on a low-carb regimen. And The New York Times best seller list still includes The South Beach Diet."
But although low-carb may be losing its seat at the popular kids' table, that only means it makes way for other, equally as ridiculous fad diets to take over mainstream attention. The 3-hr diet and the French Women Don't Get Fat diet are already patiently waiting in the wings.
But what can I say... I have an extreme bias (as well as complete lack of tolerance) when it comes to fad diets. More power to you if it works... heavens knows these diets can be like Godsends for certain lucky individuals. However I feel like it gives more false hope than anything else. Eat healthy. Exercise. There's no way around it.
Oh yeah... and don't be afraid to indulge in a little diet can of joy every now and then. It's good for the soul. :o)
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Facts, Figures and Life’s Toughest Questions
Did you know?
“According to the research firm Productscan Online, the food industry introduced 2,225 sugarless or sugar-reduced products in the United States last year. This is more than double the amount of two years ago and represents 11 percent of all new products introduced in 2004.”
- Melanie Warner / The New York Times - May 2005
Do you know?
With so many “diet” products out there, why haven’t they come up with a low-calorie chocolate bar yet? Where are the good for you gummi bears? Who overlooked my zero-cal French fries? With all the innovation we are capable of these days, why are we focusing on making watermelons seedless and peppermints calorie-free? Do those foods even matter?!
Did you know?
Women generally have smaller stomachs and slower metabolisms than men of similar sizes.
Do you know?
How it’s possible that (hormonal excuses aside) I can eat an entire half-gallon of ice cream, yet my boyfriend can’t?
Did you know?
That birds eat quantities of food that are multiple times their body weight every day. Using energy at the rate of a hummingbird, a human would have to eat 340 pounds of potatoes every day.
Do you know?
How I can become a bird?
“According to the research firm Productscan Online, the food industry introduced 2,225 sugarless or sugar-reduced products in the United States last year. This is more than double the amount of two years ago and represents 11 percent of all new products introduced in 2004.”
- Melanie Warner / The New York Times - May 2005
Do you know?
With so many “diet” products out there, why haven’t they come up with a low-calorie chocolate bar yet? Where are the good for you gummi bears? Who overlooked my zero-cal French fries? With all the innovation we are capable of these days, why are we focusing on making watermelons seedless and peppermints calorie-free? Do those foods even matter?!
Did you know?
Women generally have smaller stomachs and slower metabolisms than men of similar sizes.
Do you know?
How it’s possible that (hormonal excuses aside) I can eat an entire half-gallon of ice cream, yet my boyfriend can’t?
Did you know?
That birds eat quantities of food that are multiple times their body weight every day. Using energy at the rate of a hummingbird, a human would have to eat 340 pounds of potatoes every day.
Do you know?
How I can become a bird?
Monday, July 25, 2005
The Titanic of Soft Drinks
Learned some interesting info today during a Web search. Joel Achenbach of Washington Post fame explains how a can of Diet Coke floats in water, while a can of regular Coke sinks.
Wha-what?! Am I living in the Stone Age here? I never knew this. The wonders of diet soda never seem to cease…
So how does this seemingly miraculous event occur? Why I’m glad you asked! Allow me to share in Achenbach’s words:
“Not since Galileo dropped weights off the Leaning Tower of Pisa has an experiment proven so brilliant. Yes, the Diet Coke bobs right to the surface. Definitely the more buoyant of the two. We must note, though, that the Classic didn't exactly sink. It seemed to have trouble making up its mind whether it could float. (No doubt both cans were buoyed by the air pocket inside).
“The explanation from Coca-Cola: Diet Coke contains aspartame, which is less dense than sugar and also much sweeter, so less is needed. We would imagine that the second half of that is what really matters here. Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar; if it takes 9 teaspoons of sugar (sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup) to sweeten a Coke, then it takes less than a 20th of a teaspoon of aspartame. Check out the ingredient label: There's less sweetener in a Diet Coke than there is caramel coloring. So the dissolved sugar make Classic denser than either water or Diet Coke. But if you drop both cans off a building simultaneously, they hit the ground at the same time. We'll take Galileo's word for it."
I’m going straight home and whipping out the old chemistry set and doing an experiment of my own! And by chemistry set, I mean a diet soft drink. And by “experiment,” I mean I’ll drink it. I just love science!
Wha-what?! Am I living in the Stone Age here? I never knew this. The wonders of diet soda never seem to cease…
So how does this seemingly miraculous event occur? Why I’m glad you asked! Allow me to share in Achenbach’s words:
“Not since Galileo dropped weights off the Leaning Tower of Pisa has an experiment proven so brilliant. Yes, the Diet Coke bobs right to the surface. Definitely the more buoyant of the two. We must note, though, that the Classic didn't exactly sink. It seemed to have trouble making up its mind whether it could float. (No doubt both cans were buoyed by the air pocket inside).
“The explanation from Coca-Cola: Diet Coke contains aspartame, which is less dense than sugar and also much sweeter, so less is needed. We would imagine that the second half of that is what really matters here. Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar; if it takes 9 teaspoons of sugar (sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup) to sweeten a Coke, then it takes less than a 20th of a teaspoon of aspartame. Check out the ingredient label: There's less sweetener in a Diet Coke than there is caramel coloring. So the dissolved sugar make Classic denser than either water or Diet Coke. But if you drop both cans off a building simultaneously, they hit the ground at the same time. We'll take Galileo's word for it."
I’m going straight home and whipping out the old chemistry set and doing an experiment of my own! And by chemistry set, I mean a diet soft drink. And by “experiment,” I mean I’ll drink it. I just love science!
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Lipo in a Can – Who Knew?!
Today’s inspiration comes from a Star Tribune (Minneapolis) writer named James Lileks. I’m impressed, because not only is he on to something, he’s not afraid to make people laugh while reading a (semi) major U.S. Daily.
We’re all familiar with diet soft drinks. It began with one-calorie varieties. But then someone decided, oooh… sorry just not diet enough! They eventually gave way to “zero” calorie options. As the author notes:
“You thought you were so cool, with your one-calorie drink, but little did you know that [someone] had managed to eliminate even the final, stubborn calorie, the one that always hung on the side of the can and wouldn't let go. You can almost imagine the moment they perfected the formula, and the lone calorie squirted out of the test tube like a watermelon seed…”
I mean, what can be less than zero? Before you go fact checking with your pre-Calculus teacher on the absolute values of calories in your diet sidekick (there’s a rumor I have mine on speed-dial), consider the future. The uncharted frontier! Forget curing cancer and solving the world’s energy crisis, this is what needs our devoted and immediate attention…
Are you ready for this?
Diet Minus-Forty. That’s right – the new era of diet soft drinks are not just “no-calorie” they are negative calorie -- “liposuction in a can.” Better than a trip to the gym, because you could get rid of 200 calories just by drinking 5 cans! And hey – that can be done at the office, while driving, even while sleeping if you’re lucky enough to have access to IV equipment.
I won’t be sharing the news with my current diet drinks that they may one day be replaced. I wouldn’t want them to become upset and leave me. But I’ll certainly continue holding on to a thin sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, my future holds a soul mate that is more diet drink than anything I have known before. To cola infinity and beyond!
We’re all familiar with diet soft drinks. It began with one-calorie varieties. But then someone decided, oooh… sorry just not diet enough! They eventually gave way to “zero” calorie options. As the author notes:
“You thought you were so cool, with your one-calorie drink, but little did you know that [someone] had managed to eliminate even the final, stubborn calorie, the one that always hung on the side of the can and wouldn't let go. You can almost imagine the moment they perfected the formula, and the lone calorie squirted out of the test tube like a watermelon seed…”
I mean, what can be less than zero? Before you go fact checking with your pre-Calculus teacher on the absolute values of calories in your diet sidekick (there’s a rumor I have mine on speed-dial), consider the future. The uncharted frontier! Forget curing cancer and solving the world’s energy crisis, this is what needs our devoted and immediate attention…
Are you ready for this?
Diet Minus-Forty. That’s right – the new era of diet soft drinks are not just “no-calorie” they are negative calorie -- “liposuction in a can.” Better than a trip to the gym, because you could get rid of 200 calories just by drinking 5 cans! And hey – that can be done at the office, while driving, even while sleeping if you’re lucky enough to have access to IV equipment.
I won’t be sharing the news with my current diet drinks that they may one day be replaced. I wouldn’t want them to become upset and leave me. But I’ll certainly continue holding on to a thin sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, my future holds a soul mate that is more diet drink than anything I have known before. To cola infinity and beyond!
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Hail to the Blue
So you think I’m a step behind the times just because I like the blue…
Well listen here buddy -- I’ll have you know that to me, blue is refreshing. It tastes better than the “other colors.” I may be a lot of things, but I am NOT old… yet. So I live alone, taking companionship from a cat. So what if I choose to wear the same brand of hairpins that my grandmother does. And who cares that I consider the Music Man a fine piece of musical theatre?
According to you I’m no rebel, nor am I trendy. But I’ll be damned if I’ll sit here and let you call me “behind the times.”
What am I ranting about you may ask? Apparently a Mr. De La Cruz that works with the Sun-Sentinel (in the retirement state of Florida of all places) thinks which sweetener people use says something about them: “You see, in my sugar-overcoated mind, I swear each sweetener has its own personality. Pink is old school. Blue used to be cool. But now yellow is the rule,” says De La Cruz.
Then he goes on to say: “For example, when I go into a restaurant and all they're offering are little pink Sweet 'N Low packets, I immediately recognize I'm dealing with a rebel establishment. A restaurant or coffee shop that's either too cheap, or too stubborn, to change. Either way, a rebel. Go into a bistro that offers only blue and you know you're dealing with a place that's a step behind the times. Yellow means they're actively trying to stay trendy.”
Yes I may begin a lot of stories with, “Back in my day…” but blue just tastes better in my coffee! It’s crisp and clean in my Starbucks dark roast. It’s refreshing in my southern sweet tea. And who are you to imply that I am uncool for not using Splenda? Ok fine… I admit it – I like aspartame! It tastes better in my drinks. And just because I don’t want to be like everyone else racing through the local coffee shop every morning, doesn’t mean I’m stuck thinking big bangs, stonewashed jeans and mullets are hip items.
However he did state one piece of truth in the entire article – “It's like anything else that's such an integral part of our lives. We take our pastel packets personally.”
You got that right buddy. Hail to the blue.
Well listen here buddy -- I’ll have you know that to me, blue is refreshing. It tastes better than the “other colors.” I may be a lot of things, but I am NOT old… yet. So I live alone, taking companionship from a cat. So what if I choose to wear the same brand of hairpins that my grandmother does. And who cares that I consider the Music Man a fine piece of musical theatre?
According to you I’m no rebel, nor am I trendy. But I’ll be damned if I’ll sit here and let you call me “behind the times.”
What am I ranting about you may ask? Apparently a Mr. De La Cruz that works with the Sun-Sentinel (in the retirement state of Florida of all places) thinks which sweetener people use says something about them: “You see, in my sugar-overcoated mind, I swear each sweetener has its own personality. Pink is old school. Blue used to be cool. But now yellow is the rule,” says De La Cruz.
Then he goes on to say: “For example, when I go into a restaurant and all they're offering are little pink Sweet 'N Low packets, I immediately recognize I'm dealing with a rebel establishment. A restaurant or coffee shop that's either too cheap, or too stubborn, to change. Either way, a rebel. Go into a bistro that offers only blue and you know you're dealing with a place that's a step behind the times. Yellow means they're actively trying to stay trendy.”
Yes I may begin a lot of stories with, “Back in my day…” but blue just tastes better in my coffee! It’s crisp and clean in my Starbucks dark roast. It’s refreshing in my southern sweet tea. And who are you to imply that I am uncool for not using Splenda? Ok fine… I admit it – I like aspartame! It tastes better in my drinks. And just because I don’t want to be like everyone else racing through the local coffee shop every morning, doesn’t mean I’m stuck thinking big bangs, stonewashed jeans and mullets are hip items.
However he did state one piece of truth in the entire article – “It's like anything else that's such an integral part of our lives. We take our pastel packets personally.”
You got that right buddy. Hail to the blue.
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