MORE FOOD LABELING BULLSH*T

I've touched on food labeling practices in a few prior posts (here and here), but there's a new one that is hitting supermarket shelves all over the country:

Smart Choices Program

"Helping Guide Smart Food and Beverage Choices"

The whole purpose of this label (according to the website) is to give consumers a quick way to identify whether or not a food product is healthy.  If the product has this label, well then it must be healthy (I want to emphasize my use of the phrase "food product" since fruits and vegetables do not have packaging or labels and therefore cannot display this label).  To qualify for this label, foods must meet a comprehensive set of criteria ranging from total calories and fat content to vitamin and mineral content.  To summarize, they have three categories (quoted directly from their website):

Nutrients to Limit - These are nutrients that Americans need to eat less of in their diet for better health (total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, added sugars, sodium).

Nutrients to Encourage - These are the “nutrients of concern,” that is nutrients lacking in the diet, as identified by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Calcium, Potassium, Fiber, Magnesium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E).

Food Groups to Encourage - These are groups of foods, rather than individual nutrients, that are recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Fruits, Vegetables, Whole Grains, Fat-Free/Low-Fat Milk Products).

Generally speaking, those categories seem to be a step in the right direction.  They even make exceptions in the "Total Fat" category for items like nuts, seeds, avocados, and fatty fish since they contain high amounts of healthy fats.  That's good, right?

Now if you've read my other blog posts about food labels or my thoughts on the food industry in general, you're probably sitting there just waiting for me to tell you how much I hate this new labeling system...well WAIT NO LONGER!!

As I mentioned earlier, the first strike against this program is that it can't apply to whole food items like fruits and vegetables since those items do not include any packaging in the first place.

Strike Two is the following:

Froot Loops qualified for this "Smart Choices" label??  ARE YOU KIDDING ME??  Froot Loops are nothing more than sugar circles in milk.

Strike Three will involve a quote from their website:

"The Smart Choices Program encourages balanced eating by evaluating foods across every aisle and section of the supermarket."

By eating "across every aisle," that simply encourages people to buy food products and not whole food items (which are located on the store periphery, not on the aisles).  Buying food products is fantastic for the manufacturers, but pretty much terrible for the consumer.

A few more sample products that apparently meet healthy criteria:

FUDGSICLES, MAYONNAISE, AND REGULAR PEANUT BUTTER!!  It's probably best that I can't tell what the product is behind the Fudgsicles because I would probably just get really pissed off.  Also, please note that Natural Peanut Butter (made only from peanuts) is a great food choice.  Regular Peanut Butter (made with sugar and partially hydrogenated oils) is NOT a great food choice.

There's also more B.S. on the horizon...foods will soon be marketed as "Better for You" foods.  It is important to note that the industry is not calling them "Good for You," and there's a reason for that.  3 slices of double-fudge brownie cake is definitely "Better for You" than 4 slices of it.

UPDATE TO ORGANIC POST

If you read an earlier post I wrote about Organic Foods, then you may have wondered whether or not Organic is even more nutritious than Conventional.  If it is, that's great...if it's not, why should you spend the extra cash to buy Organic?

If you didn't read it...then get after it!  Click here!  I'll wait...

So my response to the question of which is more nutritious is actually "it doesn't matter."  My reasoning is pretty simple...

There have been numerous studies conducted that tested which method of farming produced the greatest nutrient content, and the results have been all over the board.  Some studies showed that Organic and Conventional were equal, while others showed that Organic beat out Conventional (in some cases by a narrow margin, while in other cases by a wide margin).  One thing that those studies never showed, though, was that Conventional was superior to Organic.  At best, Conventional is equal to Organic.

One other important thing to note, as Jonny Bowden recently wrote in an article of his:

"We don't really eat organic food simply because it has more nutrients, though that's very possible and hotly debated. We eat it because of what it doesn't have: poison." 

Jonny Bowden's articles are great, and I also love his books!  In particular, his book The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth should be a must-read for anyone that is passionate about health, nutrition, and wholesome cooking (although it is not a cookbook):

There are definitely a couple of surprises in the book...foods that I had never heard of.  I think the best part about the book is that he doesn't just tell you which foods are the best, but he tells you why and backs it up with scientific data.  By doing so, he also highlights the importance of variety!  While some foods are potent cancer fighters, others may stimulate optimal brain function or promote recovery from training and/or illnesses.  You get the idea.

RECOVERY - DAY 7

I know, I skipped a few days of the Recovery, but there wasn't really much to report.  I have been getting some training in, but you've pretty much seen it all if you looked at my last post.

Another "milestone" today, though (if you would call it a milestone).  I scheduled my first Physical Therapy session!!  Monday November 2nd at 2 pm.  I actually scheduled my first week of PT, but the first is the most important.  That same morning I go to see the doctor for my post-op appointment.  I'm pretty sure he'll just take the stitches out of my leg and ask me how I'm doing, but I gotta go anyway.

Today will technically be an "off-day" from any training, although I'm gonna try to work in some little stuff...flexibility work (upper-body only), grip work, Airdyne conditioning.

WHAT I HAD FOR DINNER LAST NIGHT

Last night Lauren and I cooked a ridiculously good dinner!  I hobbled my way out the back door into a chair next to our grill to set up shop.  Lauren brought everything out to me and I was responsible for grilling.

Grilled Salmon w/ portobella mushrooms, bell peppers, and Brussels sprouts!

I cut and steamed the Brussels sprouts while Lauren was on her way home from work.  This part isn't necessary, but B. sprouts are so thick/dense that it is difficult to cook them all the way through either on the grill or in the oven without pre-steaming.  It doesn't take long, so it's no big deal.

We had a teriyaki marinade for the salmon, some balsamic vinegar on the portobellas, and various seasonings on the B. sprouts.

Throw everything on the grill...flip the salmon, bell peppers, and portobellas every 4 minutes hitting each side twice, and just sort of stir around the B. sprouts to make sure every angle gets a little attention from the flame.  Not difficult at all, but incredibly delicious!

Tonight??  I'll give you one guess.  Here's a clue.

RECOVERY - DAY 4

A couple of milestones today...

First and most importantly, I got my first post-surgery workout in!!  It felt good to move and sweat again, although I feel like my "fitness" has digressed so much already.  I wasn't able to do much, but it looked like this:

POWER

A1  Med ball throws (lying horizontally, throwing vertically) - 4 x 4

A2  Side-lying external rotations - 3 x 10 (shoulder prehab stuff)

STRENGTH

B1  Dips (using a 20 lb. weight vest) - 4 x 15

B2  Chest-supported rows - 4 x 10

CONDITIONING

Airdyne intervals 10 x 15 sec (15 sec rest)...arms only!

That was it.  It didn't take very long, and although it felt good, I was left wanting more.  Oh well, in time I guess.

As for the chest-supported row, that's the latest addition to the SHOP (see pic below).  I obviously knew that I would be off of my feet for a while, so this provided a great option for some back work.  Plus, Craigslist is a freakin' goldmine!  One man's junk is another man's treasure.  I got a sweet deal.

The second milestone was less important, but a milestone nonetheless.  After my shower, I took my bandages off...for good.  Now there's just 3 stitches, 1 for each porthole.  Those are coming out a week from tomorrow.

I haven't figured out what I'm gonna do tomorrow for a workout, but it will most likely include some more Airdyne intervals.

RECOVERY - DAY 3

I took my first shower today!  I was definitely due for one.  I'm still not in any real pain, just general stiffness in my hip, and of course I'm not doing anything to test it either.

Here is the next picture in my beard and hair documentary.  You'll have to excuse "the do" as I was fresh out of my first shower and my hair just dried that way.  After looking at my Physical Therapy Prescription, it calls for 24 weeks of rehab, so that is how long my hair and beard will have to grow!

Beard - Day 3

I spent a good chunk of the morning and afternoon reading (The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand) out in the front yard again.  I think I've actually been getting more natural light than I otherwise would on a normal day at the office.

I also just finished another ridiculous dinner...spaghetti squash with chicken, spinach, bell peppers, onions, garlic, and baby portabella mushrooms in a tomato basil sauce.  Yes, it was as good as it sounds.  As my Italian friend Anthony would say...eatta pasta runna fasta!!

While Lauren was out and about running errands today, she stopped in at CVS to scan the images that the doctor took with the scope-cam.  Be sure to click on each one and it will bring up the full-size image.  OK, now I'm going to try to describe these to you using my own numbering system...I'll number them 1-24, moving from left to right and top to bottom.  Oh, and in case anyone cares to know, the technical name for my operation is "Hip Arthroscopy with Labral Repair and Osteochondroplasty."

If you look closely at pictures 2, 3, and 4 you'll see some frayed cartilage...that's my labrum.  It was pretty messed up, but thankfully Dr. Muller is the man!

This whole next set (pictures 9 - 16) show a bunch of different progressions where he is cleaning up and suturing the labrum.

Look at the last four pictures here (21 - 24) and you can see a hole in my bone.  That's the cyst that I mentioned here.  I actually thought that the cyst was a fluid-filled sac on the surface of the bone, but it actually was in the bone.  When Dr. Muller was shaving down the bone to reshape the femoral head/neck, the cyst was exposed and he drained it.  That's the hole I just mentioned.  It is supposed to fill in with bone over time.  I sure hope so.

I'll detail my Physical Therapy Prescription tomorrow...but it looks really good and I'm anxious to get started!

MOVIE REVIEW - TYSON

I've been wanting to watch Tyson for a long time now.  I love watching his training highlights on YouTube, and he is one of the most quotable (and hilarious) athletes of all time!

This documentary was awesome.  It starts when Tyson was bout 12 years old, before he got introduced to boxing.  He was a thug, as you'd probably expect, and was in and out of juvenile hall on about a weekly basis.  The movie talks about how he first was introduced to the sport and eventually met Cus D'Amato, who became a father figure to him in addition to being his trainer.  They showed a lot of his early training footage from when he was as young as 14 leading up to the Junior Olympics.

His rise through the amateurs and into the professional ranks all the way to heavyweight champion (at the age of 20, the youngest ever) was nothing short of INSANE.  My favorite part of the whole movie was when he talks about what's going through his mind as he enters the ring...he stares at his opponent, and he can't take his eyes off of him.  He's waiting for the moment when his opponent breaks that eye contact, because at that moment he knows he broken him down mentally.  His opponent has already lost the fight, he just doesn't know it yet.  They're actually showing footage of this pre-fight routine and you can see when the guy looks away from Tyson and down at the canvas and then Tyson just says "I got you."

The last part of the movie was actually kinda sad...it started with his rape conviction and then took you through everything that has happened to him since then all the way through his last professional fight.

This movie was awesome and I highly recommend it to anyone, whether you're a boxing fan or not.

As I mentioned before, Tyson is one of the most, if not THE MOST, quotable athletes or celebrities of all time.  Here's proof: