They're Baaack!

I’m so happy I could jump for joy. Actually I would if the beverage vending machines at my office weren’t out of order. Folks, that means no Diet Coke, no Diet Pepsi and definitely no Diet Dr. Pepper for me today. My daily dose of Diet Dr. Pepper (say that 5 times) gets me though the toughest part of the day – the afternoon. Around 2:30 my eyelids start to drop and it’s hard to keep my head up. Literally the only thing that keeps me awake is a Diet Dr. Pepper and now I can’t have it. Wah! Anyways, I digress…

I could jump for joy because Coke is coming out with glass bottles of Coke, Diet Coke and Coke Zero. I don’t know about you but diet soda tastes even better in a bottle to me! What is it about the glass bottle that makes the drink taste so great? Even Coke acknowledges that many people agree with this sentiment and prefer to sip soda out of a glass bottle.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Coke will roll out the glass bottles as a test product in Chicago, Phoenix and Atlanta. For those of you that have to wait – I’m sorry. Lucky for me, I live in Atlanta, which just happens to be the home of Coca-Cola. After work today I plan to check out every grocery store necessary until I find these glass bottles. I’m so excited about this return to the traditional Coca-Cola we all know and love. Happy sippin’!

Diet Soda Chicken

I love chicken and I LOVE diet soda so I thought this would be the perfect recipe to have on hand. It's simple and delicious - two requirements for anything I make.

Diet Soda Chicken
l 16oz can of diet soda
several chicken strips
1 cup ketchup

Put all the above into an iron skillet and let the chicken cook then cut up in small pieces. Take the chicken pieces out and boil the sauce until thick. Then pour over the chicken and serve.

The Eating Habits of Men

I just read about a recent study that made me crack up. Apparently men are even predictable in their eating habits. A new study tracked the eating habits of 740 men for 16 years and recorded changes in their nutrition and heart disease risk. According to MSNBC, men fall into one of five groups of eating patterns: Empty Calories, Lower Variety, Higher Starch, Average Male and Transition to Heart Healthy.

Empty Calorie Group: These men tended to prefer high-calorie desserts and refined grains. They also had the highest consumption of calories and saturated fat. Researchers of the study advise men who fit into this group to start choosing lower-fat meats and dairy and reducing the amount of saturated fat in the diet.

Lower Variety Group: This group comprises about 1/3 of all men. They ate the least number of veggies, fruits and whole grains of all five groups. They also had the lowest consumption of fiber and nutrients. This group doesn’t sound too healthy to me :(

Higher Starch: Like the 2nd group, these men ate fewer fruits and veggies but also consume a lot of refined grains. “By the end of the study, their calorie consumption had increased to be the highest of all groups,” according to Karen Collins, R.D.

Average Male Group: This was the worst group out of all five! These men had the highest blood pressure and cholesterol levels due to their low activity levels and high incidence of overweight. Additionally, their saturated fat consumption exceeded current recommendations.

Transition to Heart Healthy: If I were a guy (which I am definitely not), I would want to be part of this group. These men ate the most fruits, veggies, whole grains and fish. Their risk for heart disease was still too high for good health but it was the lowest of the five groups.

Which group would you fit into?

U.S. Soldiers Have Very Good Taste in Beverages

According to Greater Milwaukee Today, Harry Wehr is a hero in his own right. Having recently returned from Iraq, Wehr has spent the last year manning the military store in the Al-Judal region of Iraq. These stores are usually the first to be targeted by enemy soldiers in hopes of ruining the morale of the opposing country. In the article, Wehr discusses the conditions the soldiers must endure as well as the pastimes they enjoy. “Any type of diet soda was a big hit – any kind of chocolate candy was also popular. They loved tortilla chips and cheese dip…” Wehr said. These guys are my kind of guys!

My perfect lunch would be an ice-cold diet soda, tortilla chips and cheese dip from my favorite Mexican restaurant and a king-size candy bar to top it off. In all seriousness, I’ve got to tip my hat to the soldiers fighting over there. No matter how hard the times seem to get, these guys keep the morale high. Wehr says that the game of ping pong is very popular – that’s so Forrest Gumpish! “They just loved to play ping pong. I couldn’t tell you why that was the game he choice,” Wehr said.

Give Me Some Stale Popcorn

If you put it in front of me I will eat it…apparently so will everyone else. A new study suggests that it’s not really the taste that matters so much when it comes to eating, it’s the portion size. Research at Penn State has repeatedly found that the amount of food a person eats is largely dependent on the portion size. In one study people were given varying amounts of movie popcorn. Additionally, some people were given stale popcorn and some were given fresh popcorn. The people with old popcorn described it as “stale” and “terrible.” But that still didn’t stop them from eating it! Participants with large containers of stale popcorn ate 34 percent more than those with medium containers. Even worse were the participants with the large buckets of fresh popcorn – they ate 45 percent more than those with medium buckets of fresh popcorn.

It really worries me when people will eat a lot of something they describe as “stale” and “terrible.” Actually I have no room to talk. I’m constantly eating food when I’m not hungry simply because I’m bored and it’s sitting in front of my face. All this talk of popcorn is making hungry…

Diet Strawberry Pie

Here's another recipe featuring my favorite ingredient, diet soda. I must admit I have not tried this recipe yet but I plan to this weekend. I'll let you know how it tastes but I must warn you, my cooking skills are not exactly up to par.

Diet Strawberry Pie

1 graham cracker pie crust
1 pkg. low-cal strawberry Jello
6 c. fresh strawberries1 c. diet strawberry soda
1 tsp. cornstarch

Mix soda, Jello and cornstarch in saucepan and heat until it begins to boil. Remove from heat and chill until slightly thick. Mix strawberries into chilled Jello mixture. Pour into pie crust. Top with low-cal topping (Cool Whip). Makes 6 servings.

P.S. This recipe came from Jell-O

Health is a Funny Thing...

We had our annual Health Fair at work today. As I walked into the office this morning some people were looking unusually nervous and jumpy. Doctors came to test everything from blood pressure to cholesterol to hearing to lung capacity.

All in all I would have to give myself an A+. My cholesterol is very good and I have high levels the good cholesterol, HDL. My hearing was compared to that of a dog’s – a comparison I’m not quite comfortable with but what can you do?

Other people in my office weren’t as lucky. People who are not obese were told they were, and people who I generally consider healthier than me were told they had bad cholesterol. Health is a funny thing…

Diet Soda Fits Into Lifestyle Changes

I’m so very proud of my hometown paper, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, for including an article about weight lose during the New Year. Even more pleasing is the fact that they including diet soda as a tool for losing weight. The article provides readers with 25 tips for losing weight in 2006. The tips range from eating breakfast to finding support and all of them are really about lifestyle changes instead of quick-fix gimmicks.

For the past week or so I’ve been incorporating my own lifestyle changes into my daily routine. I’ve started making breakfast a priority, controlling my portions and writing down everything that I eat in a food diary. The food diary has been especially revealing – I have been grossly underestimating the number of calories I consume everyday! Keeping detailed notes about food has made me more accountable as well. Only I am responsible for the foods I put into my body.

Back to the article, I am particularly fond of tip #11: “If you drink soda, drink diet soda and save 100 calories. In my opinion drinking diet soda in place of regular soda will save more like 110-150 calories but hey I’m no expert.
Happy Monday everyone!

Diet Soda May Reduce Risk for Esophagus Cancer

An article from Medical News Today indicates that drinking diet soda may actually reduce your risk for esophagus cancer. Researchers previously hypothesized that soda, due to its acidic contents and carbonation might increase a person’s chance for esophagus cancer. “We found that contrary to the hypothesis put forth by other researchers, carbonated soft drink consumption was inversely associated with esophageal adenocarcinoma risk, mainly attributable to diet soda, and that high intake did not increase risk of any esophageal or gastric cancer subtype in men or women,” notes lead researcher Susan Mayne, professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale School of Medicine and associate director of the Yale Cancer Center.

So basically I can drink diet soda and know that I’m actually reducing my risk for esophagus cancer? Excellent! Not only does diet taste great, it’s good for as well!

Lately I’ve really been relying on diet soda to help get me thought the day. It’s always hard to return to work after a long holiday break. Every night before I go to bed I put a diet soda in the refrigerator so that’s it’s nice and cold for me when I wake up in the morning. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t be able to get out of bed without it :)

Companies Reward Weight Loss

Apparently more and more companies are implementing programs to help employees lose weight. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), obesity costs American companies $56 billion in lost productivity caused by disability, illness and death. That’s a lot of money!

Companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Financial One have created programs that encourage employees to lose weight through rewards such as cash bonuses, paid vacations time and even an all-expenses-paid vacation! If incentives such as these don’t make you want to lose weight than nothing will.

I think more companies should implement corporate wellness programs. Employees that are healthy will take less sick days and come to work with a greater focus and more energy. The happier the employee, the more productive the company.