J. Foster

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• Posted What 3 Steps Reduce Childhood Obesity by 40%? to Diet Blog
  New research in Pediatrics reveals some useful take-home messages for parents of preschoolers. Q. How can you easily lower the odds of your child becoming obese? A. There are 3 simple steps you can take. What are they?...
• Commented on When the Gym Becomes Dangerous
  I've sent the benchpress go pear-shaped a number of times. Usually someone runs to quickly spot the poor guy buried under his overloaded bar... but occasionally the weights go crashing to the ground, which followed by a moment of silence...
• Commented on When the Scales Lie: "Normal Weight Obesity"
  I recently went walking with a friend who is quite lean. Surprisingly he had real troubles and we ended up stopping and turning back. Size and shape is not an indicator of fitness, and shows how we need to accept...
• Commented on Poll: Taco Bell Drive-thru Diet
  I went with a "no"... after being mocked for once ordering a salad at McDonald's: "people don't come here for that -- they come for burgers and fries"....
• Commented on Can a Beer Company Tell Us How to Get Healthy?
  >There are people that are health conscious that still enjoy drinking. Absolutely there are - but why advertise a beer and imply that it is a staple part of a healthy diet. You could grab any old food and do...
• Commented on What If Advertisers Couldn't Lie?
  About the eggs, the orange yoke is a always a good sign of a varied diet - that typically comes from free range eggs......
• Commented on What If Advertisers Couldn't Lie?
  Very good... why the ab devices are still allowed to be marketed in such a devious and fraudulent way is beyond me.......
• Commented on Stress Hormones May Fuel Alcohol Addiction
  The moment you begin to self-medicate in order to alter your mood you're walking down a road that will probably end up with more pain......
• Commented on Weight Issues Around the World
  The Indian response is fascinating, but does lead one to question survey methods, and who the survey respondents were. Perhaps it was the noveau-rich in India? There is such enormous variety there, and massive differences between various classes in society,...
• Posted Can a Beer Company Tell Us How to Get Healthy? to Diet Blog
  In environmental speak, it's called greenwashing - taking an existing product and spinning its environmentally-friendly virtues - even if there are none. In the food world we often get marketers claiming unsubstantiated health benefits, or taking a food product and wrapping it up with a get fit message that seems incongruous with the product. Last week I was sent a...
• Posted 3 Goofy Fitness Gadgets Every Woman Needs? to Diet Blog
  I admire entrepreneurs, yet at the same time I grimace at some of the intriguing products that come to market. Fitness and weight loss attract more than their fair share of gimmicks. Here are three fitness products that gave me a chuckle over the last few months....
• Posted Which 5 Foods Bring Back Childhood Memories? to Diet Blog
  CC: flickr / soapylivedeb I will take a bet and guess that it wasn't broad beans and broccoli. Research by FoodTrends has ranked 270 food, snack, and beverage brands according to the following statement: "Brings Back Childhood Memories". What were the top 5?...
• Posted Marriage + Baby = Weight Gain to Diet Blog
  A 10 year longitudinal study of women has shown that "weight gain appeared to start when they married, then worsened when they had their first child," [...] "There was no effect on the rate of weight gain of having a second baby." What's interesting about the research is that everyone is gaining weight - whether single or not....
• Commented on Kids Who Choose Their Veggies Won't Necessarily Eat More
  These discussions always make me laugh. My child has had broccoli sitting on her plate for the last 5 years or so. Does she choose to eat it? No. If I want her to eat it I have to tell...
• Commented on Calories on Menus Really Do Help People Eat Less
  It's sad in a way. Eating with others is just as much an enjoyable social experience, but nowadays its also about energy intake. I know for me staring at the number of calories would be a turn-off, and would probably...
• Commented on Brits Urged to Grow Their Own Food
  Is it possible to grow food in snow?...
• Commented on The Top 10 Diets That Work
  It's also worth noting that the review from Consumer Reports in 2007 (using pretty much the same source material) ranked them in this order (best to worst) Volumetrics, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Slim-Fast, eDiets, The Zone Diet, Ornish Diet and,...
• Posted The Top 10 Diets That Work to Diet Blog
  The folks at The Daily Beast have had a go at ranking commercial diets. They've searched through clinical studies and attempted to rank the diets according to amount of weight lost over 6-12 months, and retention rate. This is a difficult exercise to do as cherry-picked trials never give a whole picture, and is it really possible to rank diets?...
• Commented on I'm Looking For Sensible Encouraging Diet Buddies
  Yep this is a scam that points to colon cleansing and acai berry supplements.......
• Commented on Most Annoying Weight Loss Scams of 2009?
  I was very surprised when I came across the Jillian Michaels Supplements. I guess the endorsement money was very tempting....
• Posted Most Annoying Weight Loss Scams of 2009? to Diet Blog
  Every few months some new weight loss gimmick comes along. It gets marketed like crazy across the Internet, then in another year or so, everyone forgets about it. Thousands of desperate punters shell out serious money hoping for the miracle solution, but... no authentic success stories are forthcoming. So here's my two picks for the most annoying hard-sells of the...
• Commented on Your 15 Top Tips for Avoiding Weight Gain in 2010
  These are a great set of tips. So remind me why we need another slew of diet books on the shelves?...
• Commented on Is Play Just As Good For Your Child's Physical Fitness?
  Great comments. Times have changed and there ain't no way our kids would wander down the street like we used to as kids. THis is sad because play is as much about social interaction and learning to work and share...
• Posted The Spark Diet to Diet Blog
  The Spark is a new book from the Chris Downie, the creator of SparkPeople.com Sparkpeople is nothing less than a phenomenon. Many years ago I communicated with Chris Downie, when SparkPeople was in its infancy. He had set some big goals, and I'm sure he has now far surpassed them. SparkPeople is a free weight loss program (with apparently...
• Posted Jillian Michaels Weight Loss Supplements? to Diet Blog
  I'm not sure what to make of this, but for a number of months now, Jillian Michaels has been pushing her own line of weight loss supplements. She has been riding a wave of success since being the Biggest Loser trainer - which led to her own weight loss program and a series of books and DVDs. Supplements are...
• Commented on The Eat Clean Diet Recharged
  Thanks for your comments and thoughtful discussion. As to the question of "Imagine a part of your body (and I don’t think I need to specify a certain part) deflated after a certain number of years and surgery was the...
• Commented on The Eat Clean Diet Recharged
  It's easy to invest your self-worth in bodily appendages - yet in the end: Gravity always wins... I think it would be better to grow wiser and not have your happiness determined by the petulant beauty standards of the day....
• Commented on The Eat Clean Diet Recharged
  "I am critical of those that advocate it alongside messages of positive body image." The quote I listed was pulled directly from the book, but I'm not sure if she was advocating necessarily... more like polite encouragement?...
• Posted The Eat Clean Diet Recharged to Diet Blog
  Author Tosca Reno is set to release a follow up to the Eat Clean Diet. The Eat Clean Diet is all about eating un-processed, whole foods and eschewing pre-packaged and processed sugar and fat-laden foods. The diet has reportedly been quite popular among the celebrity set, and Reno herself is a well known as an Oxygen magazine columnist. So...
• Posted Retouched Models: Because Real is Never Good Enough to Diet Blog
  Just a few years ago, photoshopped images were something of a novelty. We published a list of sites where you could gaze at the multitude of ways that models were altered. The practice has now become so commonplace that there are websites devoted to pointing out all the mistakes made in the industry. Beyond the hilarity, I believe the practice...