I know that the scientific literature (if we distill it and perhaps oversimplify it a bit) seems to suggest that there may be a short-term advantage to high-protein diets in terms of weight loss, but that this advantage fades after a year. Yet almost every trainer and athlete I’ve encountered keeps telling me that the only way to get “really lean” is to eat unimaginable amounts of protein, avoid refined carbs, dramatically limit the complex carbs, and dial down the fat intake. Essentially, I must be reduced to swilling test tubes of orange-soy “albumin.”

When I strenuously protested the diet plan presented to me by my trainer, she simply said, “If you care what food tastes like then you’re not serious about losing fat.”

“Well how long do I need to consume 50% of my calories as protein?” I asked meekly, assuming that there would be an end point in sight.

“As long as you can,” my trainer said matter-of-factly.

“So… For the rest of my life?!” I said, gasping with eyes wide open, visions of my beloved oatmeal, bran cereal, and whole wheat bread being permanently barred from my pantry.

“Maybe.”

OK folks.

Head on over to the original blog post and please leave your insights for Dr. Val Jones.

She seems to be struggling a bit. Sound to me like this diet is more of a personal choice to better her fitness level than for health concerns.

Can you give her any additional thoughts on this diet that seems to be a fast-track to failure-ville for her?

A lot of us grew up with Mom’s tuna noodle casserole or brown bag tuna salad sandwiches for school lunch. Some would say canned tuna is as American as apple pie, but the first tuna fish was actually canned as a replacement for the more popular sardine during a shortage in 1903. What started as a temporary substitution has become a national habit; Americans consume almost 1 billion pounds of the stuff per year. If you follow the news, you probably know that canned tuna has become problematic over the past few years because of overfishing concerns and rising mercury levels. But a can of tuna remains a pantry staple in most American homes and provides for a number of quick meal options. So this week, the BA staff blindly tasted nine different brands of canned tuna, including albacore, yellowfin, and tongol varieties packed in both water and oil, and we picked our favorites. At the same time, nutritionist Marissa Lippert broke down the ingredient information, deciding on which brands are best for you.

“#2 StarKist Chunk Light Tuna in Water

Nutrition: One serving (2 oz) = 80 calories, 0.5g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 35mg cholesterol, 300mg sodium, 1g carbs, 0g sugars, 18g protein.

Ingredients: Light Tuna, Water, Vegetable Broth, Salt.

Cost: $2.99 from Fairway market in New York City.

Blind Tasting Notes: “Fresh tasting”; “Good, not too salty”; “Kind of fishy”; “Pretty good”.”

I buy this brand weekly. Pretty cool it came in #2 on the taste test.

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts today about the legendary Lucille Ball. Today she would have turned 100!

I had to share this clip.. it was one of my favorites.

‘Operation: Iron Snare’ lures wanted deadbeats with Alabama-Auburn tickets. Seriously.

By Matt Hinton

Regulars to this space know I am rarely at a loss for words. But honestly, there’s not much to say here except that this video, chronicling the Opelika, Ala., police department’s efforts to lure suspects wanted for unpaid child support into custody with the promise of free Alabama-Auburn football tickets, goes from mildly humorous to mildly disturbing — and then to very disturbing — with unprecedented speed:

http://vp.mgnetwork.net/viewer.swf?u=d3e405780b85102fb207001ec92a4a0d&z=OAN&embed_player=1

OK, the ruse I get: Rare is the opportunity for authorities to have a wanted suspect walk right into their office. I even kind of get the presence of the local news cameras, in a documentary sense — see “COPS” or “To Catch a Predator” or any of those other cheap thrill shows where the cameras are just along for the ride. Voyeurism, I understand.

But why on earth did the local news actually agree to participate in the ruse? “A police sting involving routine, nonviolent offenders? Yeah, our reporting team really wants to play an integral role in making that happen.” Really? The next time Channel 3 sticks its microphone in some random citizen’s face, forgive him if he spends the entire interview looking over his shoulder for black vans.

As quick and dirty entertainment, though … well, there it is. “Nearly a dozen” people were arrested in this fashion last Friday, according to the Opelika-Auburn News, which doesn’t have much else to add to the story, either. What else is there? Alleged deadbeats love the Iron Bowl, too, and they’re paying dearly for it.

- – -

Aside from the disturbing nature of this video… the concept seemed quite familiar?
I believe I saw this very concept depicted in an episode of the new ‘Hawaii-five-o’.

….

For some reason my Facebook news feed is littered the the “You know you were born/grew up in (insert city/town)…” posts from just about every walk of life.
Apparently this new ‘where you grew up’ theme has become popular and everyone is monopolizing on it.
Thanks to this Firefox extension this and countless other annoyances disappear with the greatest of ease.

Ahh…

HAH!

Too funny.

A healthy diet is expensive and could make it difficult for Americans to meet new U.S. nutritional guidelines, according to a study published Thursday that says the government should do more to help consumers eat healthier.

An update of what used to be known as a food pyramid in 2010 had called on Americans to eat more foods containing potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin D and calcium. But if they did that, the study authors said, they would add hundreds more dollars to their annual grocery bill.

OK. So now this will be the latest excuse as to why America is fatter, sicker, and more obese?
“It costs too much to eat healthy”…..

Really??!!

*sigh*

I may not have the research to prove it, but I’m willing to believe that the money you spend on that ‘expensive’ healthier choiced food is A WHOLE LOT LESS EXPENSIVE than the amount of money you cost the system every time you have to purchase a prescription medication, schedule a doctor’s appointment, have a diagnostic exam performed (blood work, X-ray, CT, MRI, Echocardiogram, etc.), take scheduled time off of work, and the numerous days you may call off for every debilitating disease you acquired and will eventually acquire as a result of not taking care of yourself (Diabetes, Hypertension, Hypercholesterolemia, etc)

Any questions?