Guess What Today Is

Oh, yes it is:

National Donut Day 2015

So here, here's some help:

Where to get free donuts on National Doughnut Day

And while you're munching:

Happy National Doughnut Day! Check out these 

cool stats

You're welcome.

Enjoy your Friday and weekend.

Our future?

One of the best things about the next, upcoming generations is that they're so open-minded and inclusive and can't even imagine, for the most part, discriminating against a person for their race or sexual preference or whatever.

If there's a bad thing it's that, if we're ever invaded by a foreign nation, I expect and fear they'll be so distracted by the latest technology and also highly likely, chewing on Cheetohs and/or KFC and too preoccupied in too many ways to notice.

To borrow a quote from another local blogger:  "YOU KIDS GET OF MY LAWN!!"

Another reason America is fat

Pringles.

Yep.

No, not just the fact that we have them but, for one, the fact that we have this one more snack---among a long, long list of snacks--that we also happen to eat between our too-large, fat-laden meals.

Here's what I found last evening on these things.

Pringles at Wal-Mart--the regular ones--are $1.50 per can.

No big deal, right?

Far less expensive than regular potato chip bags, I have to point out.

But the low-fat Pringles?

They're a whopping $2.58 per can.

And get this.

The can is smaller, to boot.

I ask you, who's going to buy those?

Who's going to purchase the low-fat can of Pringles, in an effort to either lose weight or keep it off?

It just doesn't make sense.

Great news, Kansas City!

We aren't on the list of the top 10 "America's Fattest Cities" as measured by the Gallup Polling Organization! Topeka, Kansas is, but not us! Yeehaw! Check it out (link at bottom). Yahoo! It must be all that overtime we're working. Link: http://www.gallup.com/poll/153143/Obese-Nearly-Metro-Areas.aspx?utm_source=tagrss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=syndication; http://www.cnbc.com/id/46869403?__source=tumblr&par=tumblr

On those Valentine's Day treats

From Men's Health Magazine and Yahoo! Health: Best and Worst Valentine's Day CandyAnd check it out--our own Russell Stover Milk Chocolate Almonds are on the list: http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/best-worst-valentine-candy. Happy Valentine's Day, y'all.

For tomorrow's big game: the best and worst Super Bowl Foods

From Men's Health Magazine and Yahoo! Health: http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/best-and-worst-super-bowl-foods

Go read this article

Just do it:

How Western Diets Are Making The World Sick

In an essay published last November in Canada's Maisonneuve journal, physician Kevin Patterson described his experiences working as an internist-intensivist at the Canadian Combat Surgical Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

One detail he noticed: The Afghan soldiers, police and civilians he treated in Kandahar had radically different bodies from those of the Canadians he took care of back home.

"Typical Afghan civilians and soldiers would have been 140 pounds or so as adults. And when we operated on them, what we were aware of was the absence of any fat or any adipose tissue underneath the skin," Patterson says. "Of course, when we operated on Canadians or Americans or Europeans, what was normal was to have most of the organs encased in fat. It had a visceral potency to it when you could see it directly there."

"Type 2 diabetes historically didn't exist, only 70 or 80 years ago," says Patterson. "And what's driven it, of course, is this rise in obesity, especially the accumulation of abdominal fat."

Go.  Read it.  It isn't that long.  You'll learn things.

More vegetables, folks, more vegetables.  It's not that complicated.

Link:  http://www.npr.org/2011/03/24/132745785/how-western-diets-are-making-the-world-sick?ps=cprs

Kansas and Missouri, No.'s 3 and 4 on "States with the Deadliest Eating Habits"?

Yikes.

Mississippi, on this list, I guessed.  I thought sure neither Missouri nor Kansas would be on it but there we are:

10 States With the Deadliest Eating Habits

4. Kansas

Grocery Stores Per 1,000 Residents: 0.35 (7th)
Amount Spent on Fast Food Per Capita: $610 (19th least)
Gallons of Soft Drinks Purchased Per Capita: 64 (23rd most)
Pounds of Sweet Snacks Purchased Per Capita: 121 (12th most)

Kansas has some of the easiest access (seventh-best) to stores where cheap and healthy food is available. It is clear, however, that most residents do not take advantage of this, as the state has one of the worst diets in the country. Residents consume the 12th-most sweet snacks per person as well as the 12th-most solid fats -- more than 20 pounds per person. The state ranks 28th in adult diabetes and 31st in obesity -- 28% of the state's adults are considered overweight.

3. Missouri

Grocery Stores Per 1,000 Residents: 0.26 (22nd)
Amount Spent on Fast Food Per Capita: $623 (21st least)
Gallons of Soft Drinks Purchased Per Capita: 65 (18th highest)
Pounds of Sweet Snacks Purchased Per Capita: 121 (17th most)

Missouri does not rank especially poor in any of the metrics considered, however it does rank badly in about almost every one. It has the 11th-lowest rates of adults eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, the eighth-greatest rate of food insecurity, and relatively high rates of soft drink, sweet snack and solid fats consumption. Missouri has the ninth-worst rate of obesity among adults, with 30% having a body mass index greater than 30.

And only Alabama (at no. 2) and Mississippi are worse, for pity's sake.  I can hardly believe this. 

Additionally, so you know it's not some bogus, trumped-up Forbes Magazine article that's putting this out, it's from the "Recent data reported in medical journal Lancet" and it "showed that BMI (Body Mass Index), a recognized measurement of obesity, is higher on average in America than in any other nation."

Note, too, that it's not just an obesity ranking, it's the "deadliest eating habits" And from a medical journal.  Yow.

Not a good list to be one, by a long shot, eh, folks?

Pass the popcorn.

...and butter, while you're at it.

Link to original post:  http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112083/10-states-with-the-deadliest-eating-habits

Thoughts on keeping weight off--and feeling good, if not great

It's January, right? At least at the beginning of the year and month, people are supposed to be working on ideas to lose weight or get in shape.

Well, I've noticed a few good ideas (rules?) for living, day to day, I think, that help keep off weight and excess pounds.

Herewith are a few of them:

1) Don't keep cookies in the house. Ever. Unless they're for a specific party or something, they too frequently get people in trouble. Too many people don't eat just one, I think. They just march right through the bag. Bad idea. Bad habit;

2) Same with potato chips. Don't ever buy and keep chips--of any kind--in the house. Face it--they're not good for us. They are horribly empty calories, for one. They're loaded with fat. And oil--the bad oils. And sodium/salt, which is awful for blood pressure, at minimum. The same goes for these--chances are, we just march right through the bag, instead of eating just a few. Making matters worse, as bad as these things are for us, they don't fill us up quickly, either, so we keep downing more and more of these destructive buggers. Really. Think about it. Keep all those chips out of the house for all but parties. Get low-fat, tasty, low-salt crackers, instead;

3) The same, here, for candy. Just don't even keep it around--unless you've got terrific willpower and/or candy's not an issue for you. If you can ration yourself a little bit and be done with it for the day, good for you. Then keep it around. If, however, you are like most people and can't begin a bag without, for the most part, if not completely, wiping out the entire container, then keep it out of the house completely. You'll be much better for it. Then, have it at special occasions, preferably family or social gatherings where you'll be in front of other people and (hopefully) won't go overboard on it and have way too much;

4) Soda pop. Don't. Ever. See numbers 1, 2 and 3, above. They're not worth it. There is nothing redeeming to or about them. There's nothing good in them. Again, don't;

5) Eat more fruits. Eat lots of fruits. Eat your favorites. Discover new ones. Then, always eat them plain. Don't add sugar or anything else bad, to them. Have them be your desserts. Enjoy;

6) Eat more vegetables. Seriously. We've heard it before. It's true. Do it. They are vital to our good health. If they fill you up, it's with good calories and vitamins and nutrients, to boot. And the fact is,they won't "fill you up" like the fatty stuff will. You'll feel better after you eat. That gross, really full, "heavy" feeling you sometimes get after some meals? It's not good for you. It means you've eaten wrong. It means you either eaten too much or that you've eaten the wrong stuff. Or worse, it means you've done both. More on this in the next note, too:

7) That "full" feeling we used to (or, God forbid, still do) associate with a "good meal"? It's bad for you. That is not a good sign--or way to live. Stop it. Quit associating that full feeling with a good meal. It means (see no. 4, above) that you've either eaten too much or you've eaten badly, with gross, fattening, fatty, salt-laden foods--or, as I said above, in the worst case, it means you've done both. Eat like that and it's no wonder we'd get fat. And unhealthy. And heart attacks;

8) If you drink beer, keep it to a minimum. One a day, at most. On a special night or occasion? Maybe 2? Just don't over do. They're loaded with calories, as you likely know. (I know, I know--you love 'em. Well, just keep it down. In moderation. To repeat--don't overdo. Beside, it will keep you from getting drunk and that's a good thing, too. Just ask your wife, partner, family or friends. Or that cop on the street, waiting for you to drive by;

9) Don't eat that much red meat. You can still have it, just keep it to about 3 to 4 ounces per meal, at most, if that. It's fatty, usually always and too much really is bad for us;

10) Season your food. Do it healthily. Do it a lot. Explore. Discover. Rosemary isn't just the name of an old girlfriend. Thyme? Sure. There are loads of these natural flavors and couple things come from them. First, they make the food taste better, period. Second, they keep the food interesting. Keep this in mind---EATING HEALTHY DOES NOT/SHOULD NOT BE BORING. Far from it. Want an example? Put your favorite green vegetable(s) (broccoli, asparagus, brussels sprouts, whatever) on some aluminum foil, sprinkly lightly with olive oil--don't drench it--then sprinkle on your favorite hopefully-fresh seasoning. Wrap it up in the foil then put it in the oven (or on the grill, without the foil, if you can and/or want to) at 350 degrees on each side for 10 minutes. Voila'. Easy, tasty, delicious vegetables that you'll love and that are good for you. It just isn't that tough;

11) Walk. Walk daily. Or do some not-that-difficult-an-excercise daily. This isn't tough, either. Walk the dog. Walk yourself--whatever. Walk. Do some exercise. And get this, too--IT DOES NOT--in fact, should not--HAVE TO HURT. The whole notion that if you're not hurting, you're not helping your body is only true for weightlifters that are trying to literally build muscles. Most of us on the planet are not trying to do that and that's more than okay. But we need to move. We need to stretch ourselves--and our muscles. Do it. The kicker is, you'll feel better, even if you just do this. But if you combine it wth good food, good eating and drinking habits and common sense, you'll feel a great deal better in short order;

12) Don't over do. Don't overeat. Don't over exercise. Don't drink too much. Modration really is a great thing. If you're questioning that next bite of food, it's probably too much (unless you're anorexic but that's a whole other set of problems);

13) The next one is an important one. Here it is: YOU DON'T NEED PROBABLY THREE QUARTERS OF THE THINGS THAT ARE IN THE GROCERY STORE. Deal with it. Here's what we really need there: the produce section (for fruits and vegetables, obviously), maybe, maybe the meats department, if you're not a vegetarian, the canned beans that are there and seasoning, though if you can get these fresh (which usually means somewhere other than the grocery store), fresh is far, far better. That's it. That's all we need at the grocery store. And a rule to keep in mind to make it easy for shopping is this: IF IT'S PACKAGED, IT'S LIKELY NOT GOOD FOR YOU (with the exception of some canned vegetables but, again, I'd go for fresh there, at virtually all time, if and when possible which, really , with modern distribution, is nearly all the time;

14) Someone in your household needs to cook, at least a bit. And this, too, is not that tough. We don't have to be chefs, either. Keep it simple. The old idea of having one meat portion (remember, 3 to 4 ounces per meal, maximum), a starch (potato--don't load it with too much butter and use very little sour cream, if at all--rice, noodle, coucous or some such) and a vegetable, and you're done. Dessert, if any, would be, again, some fruit. Then, mix these up. Keep it fresh. It's like sex--don't do the same things again and again so it doesn't get stale. Or dull;

15) In the summer, if you can, when it's hot, eat lots of salads with fresh greens and vegetables. Load it with things you like. These also happen to be very good for you, of course, they don't require a lot of preparation time and, again, you can mix them up a lot so they're never the same twice unless you want them to be. It won't get dull this way. Just again, don't overdo quantity. Moderation;

16) And in winter at least, eat a lot of soups. Same things here--you can do all kinds of different ones and use only the favorite things you like. Also, do them with broth, not cream-based. Use chicken or beef broth, use tomato-based soups, this kind. The cream-based ones will get you in trouble as they're loaded with fats. An additional, organizational benefit is that you can make a big, favorite pot on the weekend and serve it a few--maybe even several--times through the following week. It helps with busy schedules. If you eat canned soups--and they're still good for you, though likely not as good as homemade soups--make sure you don't get the ones that have 800 to 900 milligrams of sodium (salt) in them. Your blood pressure will go off the charts;

17) Finally, don't eat dinner after 8 pm, as much as possible. Don't sleep on your food--it will digest much better and you'll feel much better, too.

I think that does it.

It's not that long a list and it's fairly simple and straightforward.

The fact is, folks, we're all "bodybuiders". We're all shaping the kind of body we have. It's just that a tiny minority of us--the ones we usually label "bodybuilders"--are doing it positively and with a great deal of thought and discipline. If we follow the above ideas, we'll be building our own good body.

And feeling and maybe even looking great, in the meantime.