Diet & Fitness Blog

Friday, August 31, 2007

By Joanne Eglash
eDiets Healthy Lifestyle Columnist

The Deal of the Day: the Homemade 100-Calorie Pack
At the grocery store last night, I noticed how those 100-calorie pre-portioned products have expanded into every aisle. In the vegetable aisle, I could choose from 100-calorie packages of carrot sticks and dip. The snack aisle offered a bewildering assortment of 100-calorie packages of mini popcorn cakes, 100-calorie packets of potato chips, 100-calorie packages of cheese-flavored corn chips, and other 100-calorie-preportioned goodies. Passing by the cookies, crackers, and candy aisle, I noted 100-calorie packets of chocolate chip cookies, shortbread, and granola bars nestled next to 100-calorie packets of chocolate candy. Onward to the ice cream counter, where 100-calorie cup size portions of chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream, fudge ice cream, and strawberry ice cream awaited me. With relief, I reached my final destination: the cat food section. No one has yet created 100-calorie cans of cat food (shhhh!).

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) recently conducted a survey on the cost of those little goodies. They may be light when it comes to calories – but the result on your bank account definitely is heavy. On average, 100-calorie packets cost two-and-a-half times as much per ounce as similar products in larger packages.

I like the portion control when it comes to dieting. But I also enjoy getting a bargain when I'm shopping. My solution: I make my own appetite-control packages when I get home from the store. Last night, for example, I purchased a box of whole wheat low-sodium crackers. Yes, they're good for me - but they're not so great if I eat half the box seated in front of the TV. Because I know my control is on low when I'm viewing TV, I took little plastic baggies, measured out 80-calorie portions of the crackers, and bagged them up. They're now in my cupboard, safely encased in a cracker bin. Tonight before my favorite TV shows come on, I'll take one of them and a bottle of water with me. Result: I save money AND my diet!

Feeling Stressed and Ready to Succumb to a Doughnut? Put It Down (It'll Make Things Worse!)
For those of us who associate food with comfort, it's ever-so-tempting to relieve stress with junk food. Candy, cookies, ice cream, doughnuts, French fries: all those goodies call to us like the sirens in Greek mythology who lured the sailors to shipwreck.

According to new research, those junk foods combined with stress act like a double-whammy: the extra calories, carbohydrates, and fat acquire extra power when you're stressed. The scientists who conducted the study figured out the biochemistry causing this effect, which has to do with a brain chemical called neuropeptide-Y (NPY). In high levels, NPY can make you hungrier and thus be a cause of weight gain.

The study involved subjecting mice to psychologically stressful situations while providing them with a high-calorie diet. The little mice gained weight, primarily around their stomach and waists, and had problems such as high blood pressure and impaired glucose tolerance, which is a pre-diabetic condition. Published in the journal "Nature Medicine," the study was conducted by scientists from the United States, Australia, and Slovakia.

It Pays to Lose Weight - Especially in This Italian Town
And in the category of "see, it really does pay off if you lose weight": The Mayor of an Italian town has announced that citizens who lose a certain amount of weight will receive monetary rewards. If you're a man living in Varallo, you can earn $70 by losing nine pounds in a month. And this mayor is taking into account the theory that it's harder for a woman to lose weight: women receive $70 if they lose seven pounds in a month. Keep that weight off for an additional five months, and you get $280.

The Mayor has included himself in the program, who admits to be being more than ten pounds overweight. He’s hoping that a group diet - combined with money as a motivator - will help the town's general health.

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