Recently we eliminated fried foods here at SVMC. This is a direction that many other hospitals are moving in and we decided to take the ‘plunge’ last week.

Many people are angry about the loss of fried foods and many are exceptionally happy about it.

I figured that I would be the one at blame since most people consider the RD the “food police”. However, this was a mutual decision between administration and the foodservice departments.

Think about it. You can get fried foods anywhere. Why do we, as a healthcare organization, need to be serving these foods? I would love to continue to see our options for healthy food choices continue to grow. You will notice that everything in the cafe isn’t “healthy”. You can still get your hot dog or cheeseburger. There just won’t be fries with it.

The goal here is not to take away your choices, but to offer more choices of healthier foods. (since we are a healthcare organiztion)

I wrote about the Wii fit over a month ago.  Right after that, I hemmed and hawed about buying one.  They are very expensive, and honestly, if I am going to be exercising, it certainly won’t be in front of a video game.  However, I decided to get one after talking with a bunch of people here at the hospital.  I couldn’t believe the number of people who have the Wii.  In addition, I didn’t hear one person say that it was a waste of money or they wished they hadn’t bought it.

Well, one month later, we are still playing.  I can’t believe how fun it is.  It’s not the best workout in the world, but it is still better than sitting on the couch.  Our rule at our house is that we will only buy games that require you to get off the couch.  So far so good…..

When I first heard about Nintendo’s Wii, I heard about nursing homes that were using it to improve the residents physical activity levels.  Since then, I have talked to so many people who have the Wii Fit program and use it to get their daily exercise. 

At first, I thought, how much exercise could this actually give you?  I have only tried it once using the downhill skiing game.  Of course, it took some practice, but I couldn’t honestly say that I was sweating or my legs hurt after a day on the slopes. 

Since I tried it, I have heard of more and more people buying the Wii Fit to help them get into shape and lose weight.

A recent study was released (which Nintendo did fund) that showed how effective the Wii Fit exercises are.  It seems that boxing was one of the higher intensity games and the exercises like yoga used less energy.

This is good news for those who don’t enjoy exercise or havent exercised in their life.   Usually video games are ‘impulse buys’ and tend to lose the novelty after a while.  However, I’m thinking that this may be one to stay.  I hope that starting with  a Wii Fit will help people get the exercise “bug” and expand their horizons to do something more.  If not, it’s still better than sitting on the sofa.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the “Smart Choices” program.  Right after that, the program ‘voluntarily’ postponed operations.  Use of the logo on food packaging is not going to be expanded by any  new or current users. 

The FDA is going to be working with this program to get some standarized criteria for food packaging. 

Unfortunately, when people see something that says ’smart choice’, they immediately think it’s healthy.  It may be a little bit of a better choice than something else on the shelf, but it doesn’t mean it’s a healthy choice.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

I just saw an AP article regarding what companies are calling “smart choices” when it comes to various foods. One such example that doesn’t make much sense to me is the cereal aisle.

How can a cereal where most of the calories are coming from sugar be considered a ’smart choice’?? The way that these companies are getting away with this type of labeling is by saying that it meets the guidelines from the “dietary guidelines for Americans”. Well, a sugar cereal in which we’ve used the ‘whole grain’ and has most of the calories from sugar as well as only 1 gram of fiber doesn’t sound like a healthy choice to me.

I am really looking forward to seeing what transpires with all of these labeling regulations on foods. There are way to many claims on foods these days, and these claims just make people more confused than they already were in the first place!

On Sept 29, 2009, a report called “State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables, 2009” was released by the CDC. 

This survey showed that there was not even ONE state who met the goals of  Healthy People 2010 objectives.  These objectives aim for at least 75% of Americans to eat 2 or more servings of fruits and at least 50% of Americans to eat 3 or more daily servings of vegetables. 

This survey demonstrated that only 33% of adults eat the 2 servings or more of fruit and only 27% eat the recommended servings of veggies. 

What’s even worse is that high school students fruit and vegetable consumption was even lower than that of adults! 

There definitely needs to be more policies and environmental work on this topic.  Three key areas that are being addressed include; more availability of  fruits and vegetables in schools, especially through programs such as farm to school programs, healthier foods in retail markets, and food system support to help farmers and get more fresh produce in markets. 

It will be interesting to see next years results of this survey.  Will our fruit and vegetable conumption increase?  I sure hope so!

The Coca-Cola company has recently announced that they will be labeling all cans of soda with calorie information on the FRONT of the cans.  The beverages that will not be included in this are going to be their bottled waters and fountain drinks.  Keep in mind these are going to be labeled “per serving”.  This means that a 12 ounce can will have 1.5 servings.

It seems that soda companies, not just Coca Cola are really trying to improve their rapport with the American public.  We know that soft drinks aren’t solely responsible for the obesity epidemic; however, excess consumption of these products certainly contribute to excessive calorie intake.  This in turn, does lead to weight gain.

I’ve been noticing how many companies are now starting to market in another direction.  This direction is toward health and wellness.  Certainly, we can’t say that regular soda is good for us, but they are definitely trying to market their foods in a different way than ever before.

This marketing is really an interesting trend.  Now, a trip to the supermarket can be an educational experience.  Many companies are trying to market their ‘healthier’ choices and show that they have healthy choices.

The bottom line, however, is:  even if something is ”healthy,”  it doesn’t make it unlimited.  Healthy foods still have calories and can still contribute to weight gain if eaten in excess.

For the first time, the American Heart Association has published guidelines on sugar consumption. 

I am often asked how much sugar should someone have.  My answer is usally very vague because there are no guidelines and the sugar listed on food labels includes added sugars as well as natural sugars.  This is a very hard thing to measure. 

I usually tell people to keep any added sugars to a minimum.   Try to eliminate regular sodas, limit using sugar in coffee and watch intake of sweets.  Now, there are definitive guidelines on this.

The guidelines that the AHA have just released are:

Added Sugars Statement highlights

• An upper limit for added sugars should be no more than half your discretionary calories.
• Most American women should consume no more than 100 calories of added sugars per day; most men, no more than 150 calories. That’s about 6 teaspoons of added sugars a day for women and 9 for men. The 2001-2004 NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) database showed the average intake of added sugars for all Americans was 22.2 teaspoons per day or about 355 calories.
• Added sugars and solid fats in food, as well as alcoholic beverages are categorized as “discretionary calories” and should be eaten sparingly.
• Soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are the No. 1 source of added sugars in the American diet. A 12-ounce can of regular soda contains about 130 calories and 8 teaspoons of sugar.

For more information see the AHA website.

One day I was talking with Dr. Whateley who mentioned a movie that she was going to see called Food Inc.  I had never heard of this movie, but it really sounded like something that I needed to see.

Monday night, I went to Brattleboro to see Food Inc.  It was playing at Latchis Theater which is one of the coolest theaters around. (If you’ve never seen a movie there, I really recommend it. )

I had a feeling that this movie would be one of those ’shocking’ documentaries which had a sole purpose of scaring people.   However, I couldn’t believe some of the things they showed.  I was absolutely shocked at the way our food is grown in this country.  If you go into any supermarket, you’ll see the marketing on the packages saying that the foods are ‘farm fresh’ or ‘fresh’ or ‘hormone free’.  Most often, these claims couldn’t be farther from the truth.

One thing to remember is that we as consumers have rights and if we demand that our food is processed or grown in better ways, the companies are going to have to oblige.  We really should know where our food comes from.

This year, I have been talking about joing a CSA.  This movie is a prime example of why CSA’s are so fantastic. Not only do you help out the local economy, but you also know where your food comes from.  There’s nothing better than being able to go down to Mighty Food Farm in Pownal and pick my own veggies!  Now, I’m even considering raising my own chickens!

Bottom line, if it costs a little more to buy locally, it’s worth it!

I signed up for the 70.3 (1/2 ironman) early on in the season.  Little did I know, it would take tons of time to train for it, and I would have to give up many activities that I enjoy doing, jut to train.  It sounds so good on paper.  I thought “I can ride my bike at least 100 miles at a time, and I’ve done two 1/2 marathons this year, how hard can it be, all I’ll have to do is add some swimming, and I”ll be fine”.  (famous last words)

About 1 month ago, I started having second thoughts, but the Green Mountain Girls triathlon club was so encouraging.  Everyone told me “you can do it” and I started to believe it.  I was about to drop out and started to think about who I could “sucker” into doing a relay team with me instead. I’m sure happy that I didn’t drop out.  Honestly, the thing that kept me committed was the fact that it cost me more than 100 bucks to enter the event.

Well, the day came.  Yesterday, I woke up sick to my stomach because I was so nervous about swimming.  I couldn’t think past the swimming portion, hoping I wasn’t going to drown, and hoping I wasn’t going to have to ask a kayaker for help.  1.2 miles is a long way to swim.  I couldn’t eat anything, so I tried to stuff as much gatorade down as I could.  My friend Nicole had to deal with me.  At one point I looked at her and she just said “stop it!”.  

I’ve always told athletes when counseling them on nutrition to never do anything new on race day.  This is true for nutrition, but also for everything else.  Boy, you would think I would listen to my own words.  I decided to ride my old bike because I’ve been having problems with my new bike’s chain coming off.  I didn’t ride my old bike before, so my seat was the wrong height.  I didn’t want to stop to raise my seat because I didn’t want to lose time.  However, I was slow as it was, and if my seat were the right height, I would have been using the right muscles that I’m accustomed to and probably wouldn’t have been sore.  Not only that, I wasn’t concerned about my time, so I was riding pretty slow just so I would have enough energy for the run.  I even stopped to help another girl with a flat tire. 

So, here I am riding a bike I haven’t ridden in a year with tires that were all dried up. I could have gotten a flat any minute, but I didn’t!  My husband even looked over my tires and left a new tire hanging around my seatpost before I left, just in case. 

After the bike came the run.  I bought new sneakers the other day.  I only tried them out for a 3 mile run.  All in all, they were great, but I did get some beautiful blisters on my toes from them.  Remember, I said I was saving my legs for the run.  Well, if you want to call what I did ‘running’, you’d probably laugh.  I ran 6 miles and then decided that I’ll walk a little.  Once I start walking, it’s really hard to start running again.  So, the rest of the 1/2 marathon was a combination between walking up the hills and running (if you want to call it that) down them.   At one point, one of the course volunteers stopped in her car to ask if I’m ok.  I said yes, and she said, ‘well, you’re doing a lot better than the two guys limping back there’. 

Once I got to mile 10, I thought to myself “holy cow, I’m at mile 10″. I couldn’t believe I had gone 10 miles already.  The whole first part of the run was a blur. 

Well, I came through the finish with a big smile on my face.  My husband even said I looked great, considering I didn’t puke and I didn’t collapse.

As I’ve said in the past, I”m not fast, but I can do anything I set my mind to.  Maybe one day the speed will increase.  Until then, I’m having fun doing these races for pure enjoyment and recreation.

Now I can say I’m a finisher of a 70.3 distance triathlon!  And the most exciting thing-I received a 70.3 sticker to put on my car today from Dr. Dahl and Dr. Salem.  I purposely didn’t buy one because I thought it may be bad luck.  So, today I will proudly put my sticker on my car knowing that I finished!