USDA Finally Catches with New Guidelines!

Well a day late and a dollar short, the USDA finally reveals it's 2010 dietary guidelines.

They are good guidelines.  Actually helpful.  And simpler than in the past.  Could they simplify them more?  Yes, of course.  But all the common sense things we know from Spark or almost any reasonable plan out there, are just now coming into focus in the guidelines.  Okay -- it's never too late, right?

Here are the highlights and following, a link so you can watch the long boring stuff yourself.

Have half a plate of vegetables and fruit and eat a variety.
Limit your fatty acids (they give guidelines no one will understand)
Have under 300 mg of Cholesterol
Reduce your sodium to 2300 mg for most, 1500 for high risk groups.
Limit refined grains, sugar and solid fats.
Alcohol limits to one drink a day for us girls, two for men
Drink water and not sugary drinks.

There is more but that's what stood out to me.  I think it is a big improvement because these guidelines are taught in schools, followed by dietitians and recommended by doctors.  Thank goodness the USDA is finally catching up to the science!
This is the link in case you want to see it for yourself!

Makeover Day

Sometimes a picture truly is worth a thousand words.

Here's a link to a silly video  I made during the photo shoot.

And for something completely different, a couple of seconds of Bennie saying Cock-a-doodle-do.

Jello cups and other interesting tidbits

Sometimes an idea is so weirdly cool, it just might make it to market.  Take Jello Cups, for instance.  I am not as environmentally conscious as I think I "should" be, but even so, I have a once-a-year limit on those disposable plastic cups.  They are so ridiculously unfriendly to the ecosystem.  Now a design team in New York has come up with a solution -- jello cups.  They are just what they sound like:  disposable, biodegradable and edible.  Weird and wonderful.

Now in the "common sense" department, why is fiber such a big deal?  Simple.  Because we don't eat enough whole foods, especially whole grains, vegetables (not necessarily raw) and legumes.  If you choose whole grains most--or even much--of the time, you will eat plenty of fiber.  It's a double-edged sword and I mean that in a useful, swashbuckling way.  (If I'm yeilding a sword, I'll take it double-edged, please).  If you concentrate on eating more fiber, you will also be getting in a good dose of whole grains, fruits and veggies and legumes.  But in case you don't believe me, here's a little scientific evidence for you!

Finally, here is some "food for thought" I've been noodling for a while:  Is obesity endemic in our society?  And, if so, should we then be treating the entire population?  I'd love to hear what you think about this topic, as it is sure to be political fodder at some point. 

Now a little update on me.  I actually gained a little weight over the holidays, so I have made a gut-wrenching (pardon the pun) decision to buckle down in a serious way and truly commit to getting off the last half of my excess weight.  More to come.