Diet and Nutrition

Southwest Airlines Tells Another Passenger She is Too Fat to Fly

During an Easter Sunday layover in Dallas, a woman was told by an employee of Southwest Airlines that she was “too fat to fly.” Kenlie Tiggeman, a blogger and political strategist, has already lost 120 pounds, but still didn’t meet the requirements under Southwest’s “Customers of Size” policy. The airline does not allow passengers to board who can’t fit between the 17-inch armrests, unless they buy a second seat.

While the airline says that it’s their policy to speak to overweight passengers in a discrete manner, Tiggeman says she was confronted in front of about 100 people.

“I know that I have a lot of weight to lose but I am definitely not too fat to fly,” says Tiggeman. “I do it all the time, domestically and internationally, and I have never had anyone approach me and particularly in the way that they did. I was embarrassed, humiliated.”


Don’t miss our interview with Kenlie:

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Posted on May 20, 2024 by Jason

Health Advocates Want Ronald McDonald Axed

image: babble.com

The red and yellow-clad clown is in the crosshairs of health advocates again. As you may recall, concerned citizens have called for McDonald’s and other fast foods to stop including toys with their child menu items. Many critics would like to see all marketing of fast food items to kids be done with for good. That includes one Ronald McDonald.

I’m certainly an advocate for reasonable legislation in the fight against obesity. However, this is where parents need to step up to the plate and be parents. I’m a parent of two young children myself, and while we will occasionally partake in drive-through meals, I’ve never felt that Happy Meals or any other kids-based food marketing ploy rendered me helpless in making the right decision.

Leading the push to put Ronald six feet under is a group called Corporate Accountability International.

“Through this initiative, the public health community is rallying behind a simple message to McDonald’s: stop making the next generation sick – retire Ronald and the rest of your junk food marketing to kids,” said Steven Rothschild, a professor at Rush Medical College and a backer of the resolution. (more…)

Posted on May 20, 2024 by Jason

We Love Gatorade G Series Pro

The elite athlete has different nutritional needs than the weekend warrior. We can all agree on that, yes?

Professional athletes train for hours every day and their dietary needs far surpass those of the typical exerciser. They have higher protein needs and require carb levels that will give them both short bursts of energy and long levels for endurance.

Gatorade, the company most well known for hydration beverages, has created a line of product for professional athletes called Gatorade G Series Pro. This line was created with elite athletes in mind, those who train for hours and face different nutritional hurdles than the rest of us. This line has different nutritional standards than the other lines Gatorade offers, the traditional Gatorade often referred to as G or G2 (the lower sugar version), the G Series Fit and the G Series Natural. G Series Pro is offered in the same three step line as the G Series Fit, with Prime, Perform and Recover. Prime was created for use an hour before training, Perform during and Recover for use within two hours after a workout.

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Posted on May 19, 2024 by Carmen

Foodily.com Calculates Nutrition Information for Homemade Recipes

I love cooking my own meals. There are many benefits to cooking at home: it’s cheaper than eating out, you can alter ingredients to suit your tastes and dietary needs, and you can control your portion sizes more easily.

However, there is a downside: it can be difficult to know the nutrition information for the meals that you are cooking. You could spend hours searching for the nutrition information for every ingredient you use to cook with, combining the totals for each ingredient in each recipe, and then dividing the totals by portions. Honestly, that sounds like a lot of work to me. So, you can imagine how excited I was to discover Foodily.com.

Foodily.com is a cool new recipe search website that offers recipes from popular websites such as All Recipes, The Pioneer Woman, Martha Stewart, and many more. Users can search the entire database for recipes that they want to cook based on ingredients, keywords, and even ingredients that they do not want to cook with. You can also filter your results by recipes that originally appeared on a blog, ones that contain high levels of fiber, are low in fat, or are considered to be low carb. Now, you can search many Internet recipe website at one location to find one that meets your dietary needs or satisfy that late night craving. Think of it as the Google for recipes.

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Posted on May 19, 2024 by Health Buzz

Doctors Turning Away Obese Pregnant Women

According to the Sun Sentinel in South Florida, 15 obstetrics-gynecology practices out of 105 that the newspaper polled make it a practice to turn away pregnant patients who exceed a predetermined weight limit.

As disturbing as this may sound, doing so is not illegal. Some doctors say that their main motivation is that their tables can’t handle obese patients, but considering the fact that some of those polled have said their starting weight limit is 200 pounds, that reasoning doesn’t hold much water.

When it comes down to it, the real reason for refusing obese patients is fear of legal action due to the potential medical complications associated with obesity. According to the Sun Sentinel, at least six doctors have said this is their reason for avoiding obese patients. (more…)

Posted on May 19, 2024 by Jason

The Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition Diet

We had an opportunity to speak with dietitian Paulette Lambert, RD, CDE from the California Health and Longevity Institute about ABC’s new show Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. She’s the dietitian behind the scenes working with the eight individuals whose journeys will be featured on the show.

The eight participants are considered super obese, a classification for those who are more than 200 pounds overweight. Lambert explains this level of obesity, and how it affects more than 10 percent of the U.S. population.

She also explains what the diet looks like for the participants – a low-calorie, balanced diet made of lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

Click here to see our interview.

Posted on May 19, 2024 by Health Buzz

I’ve Reached My Weight Loss Goal. Now What?

On Diets in Review, we talk a lot about weight loss. But what happens when you’ve reached your weight loss goal? Sure, you’re happy and proud of yourself and your new body, but chances are, you probably feel a little lost as to what to do and what to eat now that you don’t have that goal weight to focus on, right? Well, no worries. We have your five step guide to keeping you at your healthy weight and totally motivated!

5 Tips to Keep the Weight Off — And You Motivated

1. Splurge a little more (but be mindful). Now that you’re at your goal weight, you can be a little more lax with your diet, but remember that extra calories add up quickly (and that it’s a lot easier to eat calories than it is to burn them off). A good rule of thumb is to eat a diet that is 80/20, meaning that 80 percent of what you eat is nutritious and healthy, and 20 percent is the other maybe not-so-healthy food that you’re craving. If you ever start to put the pounds back on (and you should know if you do — see tip No. 5), switch your eating to 90/10 until you’re back at your happy weight. Also remember to keep portion sizes down and to savor every bite, being totally mindful of what you’re eating!

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Posted on May 18, 2024 by Jennipher

We Love Gatorade Naturals

Gatorade is a well known beverage, served at sports events everywhere, from preschool sports games to professional events. It’s arguably the most served beverage at sporting events, but many parents are not fans of it. The traditional G Series is often thought to be high in sugar, and in answer to this, Gatorade created a lower sugar version, called G2. This beverage wasn’t a perfect fit for many families, however, in that it’s sweetened with sucralose. Many families desire natural foods and beverages and Gatorade has created a new line of performance beverages to please the most discerning of athletes.

Called G Series Natural, the beverage is part of the Perform level, designed to be enjoyed while exercising. G Series Natural replenishes lost fluids and electrolytes exactly the same as traditional Gatorade. Containing only sea salt, natural flavors and natural sweeteners, this beverage meets the needs of athletes who don’t want artificial colors or sweeteners. G Series Natural is sweetened with sucrose and dextrose and has 50 calories per serving. For a lower calorie, yet still natural choice, G2 Natural is sweetened with Stevia, and has 20 calories per serving. Each bottle contains 2 servings. (Always read the label!)

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Posted on May 18, 2024 by Carmen

New Added Sugar Recommendations are Finally Created

By Emily Fonnesbeck RD, CD, nutritionist for the Biggest Loser Resort.

The American Heart Association has released new recommendations for added sugar consumption. This is actually the first time a recommendation has been given, and just in time. Sugar intake in this country is at an all time high and the over consumption is being linked with increased risk for obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia (high cholesterol, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and/or high LDL cholesterol).

This is interesting since in the past, fat has been the macronutrient that has been villainized. But looking at the data over the past few decades, intakes of protein and fat have either stayed the same or gone down. So all these extra calories are coming from carbohydrates; not whole grains unfortunately, but refined sugary foods.

The average American consumes about 300-350 extra calories per day in added sugars. This is equivalent to 79 grams or 22 tsp of sugar (1 tsp is equivalent to 4 grams of sugar). The new recommendations are 100 calories, 24 grams or 6 tsp for women and 150 calories, 36 grams or 9 tsp for men. To give you some perspective, one 12-oz can of soda has 33 grams of sugar.

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Posted on May 18, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Master Switch for Obesity Gene Found by Scientists

British scientists say they have found a “master switch” that may be responsible for controlling genes associated with body fat. In fact, they think their findings may help develop a treatment for obesity-related diseases.

Upon publishing the study in the Journal “Nature Genetics,” the British researchers believe that since fat is linked to people’s susceptibility to metabolic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, this regulating gene may be targeted in future drugs.

“This is the first major study that shows how small changes in one master regulator gene can cause a cascade of other metabolic effects in other genes,” said the study’s lead author Tim Spector of King’s College London. (more…)

Posted on May 17, 2024 by Jason

Belly Fat Cure Launches New iPhone and iPad App

Belly Fat Cure iPhone App Screen ShotJorge Cruise’s popular diet, The Belly Fat Cure, just got a little easier to follow with the launch of a new iPhone and iPad app. The Belly Fat Cure Sugar and Carb Counter is the latest incarnation of the diet, which promises to banish belly fat and help you lose 9 pounds in just one week. As the title would suggest, the diet hinges on the idea of limiting sugars and carbs, and the companion app makes keeping track of these nutrients easy.

I took the app for a little test run this afternoon, and found it to be intuitive and easy to use. The diet is clearly explained in the app, although you will benefit from also reading the book. Like almost any food-journaling app, The Belly Fat Cure Sugar and Carb Counter allows you to track all the food you eat during a day by selecting items from a database. However, this app keeps a constant reminder of how many servings of carbs and grams of sugar you eat in a day.

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Posted on May 17, 2024 by Margaret