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When is the last time you ate at a chain restaurant? There are some that are better than others. I have been pretty impressed with the efforts of fast food joints such as Chipotle that uses meat never given antibiotics or added hormones, local/organic produce, and dairy not treated with rBGH and Baja Fresh that uses no freezers, can openers or microwaves. A similar kind of progressive thinking is what’s behind the new laws for menu labeling in some states.

Menu labeling is hot right now. Starting in New York, and spreading to cities in PA, WA, OR, and the state of California, there’s a move to educate diners who, until now, have been ‘forced’ to eat foods they knew nothing about. The final act will close when the newly-passed health care bill will ‘force’ all restaurant chains with more than 20 locations to post food calorie counts on their menus.

What’s really going on here? Who’s forcing whom? Do chain restaurants other than Chipotle or Baja Fresh even care about the health of our country at all? Do American restaurant-goers even want to be educated? Take a look at what some diners said in a New York Times interview inside a McDonalds that had already posted calorie counts on their big menu boards.

“It’s just cheap, so I buy it. I’m looking for the cheapest meal I can.”

“I don’t really care too much, I know I shouldn’t, ’cause I’m too big already (though).”

“Life is short,” (I used to be a light eater.) “I started eating everything now that I’m pregnant.”

I can’t really speak for restaurants; some of them are opposed to the financial and logistical burden to come in the 3-4 years it’ll take for the FDA to enforce the law. However, since my mission is to ‘put holistic health in America’s hands,’ I can say:

• Being food-smart is DIFFICULT!
• Some people truly don’t want to be educated on these matters.
• Some people do want to learn more and do better, but even when the information is available, it is too confusing.

Fox news writer, Radley Balko points out, “We’ve been labeling packaged foods for decades now, and we’re still getting fatter.”

• Yes, it is true that labels are of no use if we can’t first interpret them, then have enough energy to change old habits.
• But, being food-smart is DIFFICULT! Sometimes it’s like a full-time job!

Where do you see yourself in these issues? Consider these questions:

1. Shouldn’t everyone be in favor of more progressive approaches to food like meat without antibiotics or added hormones, local/organic produce, dairy not treated with rBGH, and no freezers, can openers or microwaves? (actually, I like to put my leftovers in my freezer sometimes, but you get the idea)
2. Has your city or state already made menu label changes?
3. Do labels on packaged goods and/or fast food menu boards make sense and help you make choices?

Holistic Health In Your Own Hands. Take these steps:

Those of us who don’t have the time to devote to making sense of tiny, confusing labels and piles of conflicting health claims should:

• Start small and only seek out health advice that makes sense to you.
• Beware of health advice offered in conjunction with the advertisement of any product.
• Find someone you know that is already living the kind of healthy life you desire.
• Post a comment. Tell us where you see yourself in these issues now and where you’d like to be in the near future. Tell us what you plan to do to get there so that we can all get some good ideas.

How many of you like eating? Think about how many times in this past week you ate a meal that you fully focused on, with a full round of chewing on each bite – just like our parents used to tell us to do. It is astounding how many people are able to eat every one of their meals barely even chewing their food at all.

Today our culture has become accustomed to what I call entertainment eating.

Enjoyment

Enjoyment is like a tune that you just can’t get out of your head, but you don’t care because of how much you like it. You’re glad it’s stuck in there because of how it brightens your day and makes each task you have to do seem easier. Like the saying, ‘whistle while you work.’ Enjoyment is active. Any act that is able to add joy to your spirit is enjoyable.

Entertainment

Entertainment is like hearing that same song sung in a musical on broadway. Entertainment is passive. There is nothing wrong with entertainment, but it is fleeting. Beyond the performance and without an audience, that musical doesn’t exist. . . Unless, of course the passive audience takes the tune with them so they can actively enjoy it at work or at home, right? I guess that’s what’s so great about enjoyment, entertainment, and especially music: it is perfect whether you’re “chewing on it” yourself or whether it’s “being fed” to you!

Unfortunately, entertainment eating is a whole different story.

Enjoying Your Food

Food is here so that we can enjoy it. The trees know that we like our apple sweet. The ancient cooks knew that our meat tastes better cooked over a fragrant fire. Today, there is nothing wrong with being passionate about good food. What I picture when I think about the type of person who really enjoys food is an older gentleman or lady who, first of all, fully enjoys life. He, or she, is sitting down to a meal either at a small table outside near the trees or a large table with family. He breathes deeply and is thankful for the hard work he did that day and finally, chews his food to savor it. A person could really live a long, happy life like that, right?

Entertainment Eating

If I can eat my meal and barely even have to chew, let alone pay attention to it or enjoy it, I am eating passively.

Everybody knows that when we are too busy at work, we are forced to rush through lunch as fast as possible. But have you ever though about it the other way around? Since we have the convenience of fast food, we have the burden of being overworked in our careers. I believe that each statement is just as powerfully true as the other. If one statement does hit you harder, it should be the second one because of the perspective it gives.

There will never be a shortage of pre-packaged food ‘being fed’ to us in America. The reason pre-packaged, convenience, or fast foods are entertainment foods is because they can be eaten passively which means:

• It requires no active attention to purchase it. (The advertisements on t.v. & the obnoxious packaging have already ‘told’ us which items to buy.)
• It requires no active attention to prepare it. (Either in the microwave or simply squeezing the ketchup packet.)
• It requires no active attention to taste it. (We can pay attention to anything else around us like work or television and still be bombarded with the latest extreme taste.)
• It requires no active attention to eat it. (Minimal chewing is needed.)
• And, it requires no knowledge of where it came from or who assembled it. (Quite the opposite of the love that your mom packed in your lunchbox.)

Other than the money you spent on your last quick meal, you had almost no part to play.

Until you have educated yourself and risen above the standard-American-diet, or S.A.D., your taste buds will be unwitting audience members at every quick meal.

The Secret to a Long and Happy Life

First, slow down enough to check in with your gut. You should be able to “speak the same language” as your gut in order to answer some questions. Do you feel nourished by what you eat? Are there things you could do to feel more nourished? If you are having trouble interpreting the signs your body is sending you at first, that’s o.k. Many people are no longer in tune with their bodies.

On the other hand, there are many of us that have tuned out the distractions that bombard us every day in order to get in tune with what our bodies really need.

Whether you are just starting, or you are fluent in the language of your gut, tell your secret to a long and happy life here in the comment section.

How do you tune out the distractions that come from food advertisements, grocery store tactics, the drive-thru, and convenience snacks?

What ways have you found to truly make your meals an enjoyable and nourishing experience?

If you are just starting out, tell us something that you can start doing this week. What is one, simple thing that you can change when you eat that will help you enjoy your meal more?

Who will win? Adults or Kids

My favorite type of news to read is health news. I’m sure you probably could’ve guessed that  But, simply keeping up on the current health happenings can be complicated and overwhelming.

When I was catching up on some fast food & obesity studies that were showcased in the New York Times, I came up with a great idea for a little health competition. Read on . . .

In June of this year the New York Times published some statistics on health trends. One article focused on children’s health trends. The other article focused on adults’ health trends.

But before you take a look at the following comparison I put together, see if you can make any predictions. Let’s make this a family affair. Go get your kids from the other room. I’ll wait . . . and see if your children can try to make some better predictions than you.

Parents & Children, Welcome to the Face Off!

Who is Healthier & Smarter?

Make your predictions first:

1.) Who has been getting more fruits and veggies into their diet? Adults? or Kids?

2.) Who has been slacking because they have been eating less fruits and veggies than they used to? Adults? or Kids?

3.) Who has been making healthier beverage choices this past year than they have ever made before? Adults? or Kids?

4.) Who has been consuming more before & after-dinner-drinks than in previous years? (I guess this one is a ‘give-away’ because we aren’t gonna even touch the topic of underage drinking here.)

5.) Who have been seen to take steps to fight obesity? (One example is by choosing the healthier options on fast food menus) Adults? or Kids?

6.) Who has seen an overall rise in obesity? (One reason is a decrease in exercise) Adults? or Kids?

Let's See Who Wins!

O.k. – No Cheating!

Only read on after answering all 6 questions!

The NY Times article on adults highlights data gathered over the past 20 years on 40-74 year olds by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. So, one big difference between this study and the children’s study is that heart disease research was the purpose for the adult study.

The NY Times article on children highlights data gathered by Chicago based NPD Group over many years from 500 teenagers and 3,500 households.  Another difference between the studies is that the purpose for the children’s study was to research consumer trends.

Nonetheless, take a look at how the Adults stack up next to the Kids:

1.) Kids are still going to fast food restaurants, but when they do, they have been getting more fruits and veggies into their diet. Here’s how much. The amount of fruit has gone up 6%; carrots has gone up 9%; yogurt has gone up 21%; grilled chicken sandwiches have gone up 26%; and soup has gone up 29%. If kids order the healthier menu items, that means the unhealthy items haven’t been purchased as much. Hot dogs were purchased 6% less; french fries 7% less; chicken nuggets & strips 8% less; and colas were purchased 10% less.

2.) Adults: over the last 20 years, the share of Americans age 40-74 who eat five fruits and vegetables a day has dropped to 26% from 42%.

3.) Kids: in the past year, like I said, fast food restaurants saw a drop in cola consumption. Instead, kids have been making more healthy choices with milk.

4.) Adults: the NHLBI study found that moderate drinking – roughly one drink a day for women, two for  men – increased to 51% from 40%, even as the number of abstainers went down, to 40% from 51%.

5.) The NPD Group came to a possible conclusion that children’s healthier choices were spurred by the current recession. Take these examples. Orders for kids’ meals that included a toy were down 11% last year while “value menu” orders were up 9%. The fact that children’s orders for cold-cut sandwiches are up 11% could be due to Subway’s “thrifty” $5 footlong promotion. And, after more than three years of growth, restaurant birthday parties for children dropped 5% this year compared to last year. Nonetheless, it is the kids who are winning by making healthier choices to ward off obesity.

6.) For adults, the obesity rate increased to 36% from 28%. And 43% of Americans said they worked out at least 30 minutes three times a week, which is an amount that is down by half, compared to previous years.

Thanks for competing in the Nutrition Face Off!

Kids, it sounds like there’s a lot you can show the adults, so keep up the good work! I am sure there’s a lot you can tell the adults too, and you can feel free to do it here. Make some comments & tell the world what You are doing right now to make yourself healthier!

Adults, even if we might be a little bit behind in our health, wherever we are is a great place to start! It is more difficult to try to fit new habits into a full-time working schedule now than it was when we were younger, so we need to make sure to reach out and get the support we need. Post your comments here about your struggles and your results.

Is there any rhyme or reason to the ways & techniques you choose to spend your down time?

I know I’ve found myself at the end of a day thinking, “Where did all my time go?”

Are there any reasons to reconsider the way we do our rest & relaxation?

There are pro’s and con’s for any activity. Some people might choose meditation as a way to refresh their spirits. Others prefer watching their favorite show on television. But no matter what you do, make sure you have made a conscious choice. Only when you are happy with your reasons for doing something will you be at peace with yourself. Only then will your spirits truly feel refreshed.

The videos I’ve included at the top of this page are some that I hope you will enjoy. They are intended for you to watch and feel like your brain was enriched instead of zapped.

Here are some more reasons why it is in our best interest to be conscious of what we do for rest & relaxation:

• After so many hours with the t.v., we can become desensitized to the commercial messages, thereby adopting the beliefs of the ad agency (without even knowing it) as our own.
• If you are not conscious of what you are doing, you might be cheating yourself out of the optimum level of enjoyment associated with the activity. Have you seen the movie “Click”? It gives a great example of how this can happen.
• Some methods of relaxation, especially our vices, can actually invite more stress into our lives. For example, some people just munch on snack foods when they are bored or “relaxing” after work or school. A body bogged down with processed foods cannot handle stressors as well as a healthy body.
• We should spend our downtime more healthily otherwise we may inadvertently influence family and friends to take up our unhealthy habits. On the other hand, if you’d like to start eating less junk food or waste less time in front of a screen, the best way to change is to find friends or a support person who can influence you in a better direction of your choosing!

Since people so multi-faceted, I’m sure we can all share examples of our fun hobbies as well as our big time wasters!

I’ll go first: I love cooking and if I can add an extra half hour to my cooking time, just for the fun of it, I can get pretty excited about whipping up a new creation or invent a new recipe. But, the times that I find myself feeling like I have just wasted a half-hour (or more) are the times that I play word games either online or on my phone. What’s worse is when I zone out in front of Solitaire for games on end!

Use the comment section on this page to chime in & let us know if we have something in common. Whatever you do, be non-judgmental & share openly  so that others can too!

With all the craziness surrounding health care, prevention is the best way to go for those of us who are worried about insurance and health care costs.

40% of American households polled by Reuters at the beginning of the summer planned on skipping any routine doctor visits because of the recession. Time Magazine reported this as a health care disaster waiting to happen, but I think more people than ever are realizing the value of getting in control of their own health in a holistic way!

Lets start our own informal poll here. We can get ideas from each other on ways to take steps toward taking control of our own health care.

What do you do to make sure you will need less medical attention this year and in the long run?

What’s Fo’ Suppa’? Change Yo’ Name?

Have you ever experienced a thought so funny that it tickled your funny bone the whole day? In my experience, those things that make me giggle the most are completely lost to others around me.

There was a new Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Sapa, near our home in Phoenix, AZ that my husband and I wanted to try out. I had driven by it on numerous occasions without paying much attention. This time, as we pulled into the parking lot and as I saw the name in large letters across the front of the building, I came down with an incurable case of the giggles.

Do you know much about Vietnamese food? I don’t know about it too much, other than that my favorite dish is Pho. Pho is the word that means noodle soup. I’ve had it with beef, with just vegetables, or just like chicken noodle soup. I love it! I’ve even made it at home! Also, in my limited knowledge I’d have to say that everyone in Vietnam probably eats it regularly.

Like I said, most things that make me giggle are lost on others. My husband and I were opening the door when I told him what I thought was so funny. I was really hoping he wouldn’t leave me to be alone in the joke, but unfortunately, he didn’t get it. Maybe he wasn’t in a good mood. Maybe he didn’t know what I knew about Pho. Maybe I didn’t tell it right. In any case, I just wanted to feel understood. If he couldn’t humor me, I’d have to tell the waitress . . . What would her reaction be like?

The staff in the restaurant didn’t look like me, I’d have to assume they were of Vietnamese decent (not that wait-staff must always descend from the same country as the food, it was just my best guess at the time). The name of the restaurant indicated that they served a regional cuisine from the north west corner of Vietnam near the Chinese border, called Sapa. No matter where it was from though, I knew the soup would be exquisite.

When the waitress came to our table, before we ordered, I was so excited to let her in on my little inside joke! I could just imagine that her reaction of laughter and enjoyment would satisfy my need to be seen as comically clever. Unfortunately, I forgot to factor in the possible language gap. (Oh, why hadn’t my husband just humored me?)

“Hello,” I began, “I like the name of your restaurant because I really love Pho.”

She was with me so far. “But do you want to hear something funny?” I said. She wasn’t too committed to listening, but allowed me to continue by nodding.

“It’s the perfect name for a restaurant also because when you say the name, ‘Pho Sapa,’ and butcher it with an American accent, it sounds like ‘For Supper.’” …Silence.

I had to go on, “You know, it’s great because if somebody is hungry, they’ll remember to come to your restaurant for dinner whenever they ask themselves, ‘What’s fo’ suppa’?”

I thought that was the most comically clever name of a restaurant. And, I felt pretty special to be, apparently, the first person to ever point out the most marketable similarity to an English phrase the Vietnamese food industry has ever seen! Right!?! Well, as it turns out, maybe not.The waitress did not seem to join in my excitement. Neither did the owner/manager who, by then, had also come to see what my story was all about.

The worst part of the story is when about a month later I was driving down the same street, I saw a brand new sign with a brand new name. Pho Dalat. I guess I won’t be telling anybody if I think it sounds like “Fold A Lot,” and it might be bad for business to start franchising in Las Vegas.