Blog Posts by FatFighterTV

From ice cream to chocolate, bacon is adding sizzle to some surprising foods. FatFighterTV has a look at this story and other diet and fitness headlines making news this week.

What's up with the bacon craze???
Have you noticed that bacon is popping up in more foods lately? It's in chocolate (weird), ice cream (weirder), and the new KFC Double Down sandwich (gross!), just to name a few. This article from MSNBC says the tough economy might have something to do with it - bacon is cheaper to add to foods, and unfortunately, to our arteries.

Americans drinking fewer soft drinks
For the fifth year in a row, soft drink sales are down in the U.S. A report in Beverage Digest shows the carbonated soft-drink market slipped 2.1 percent in 2009. The two big brands both fell - Coca-Cola went down 4 percent and Pepsi dropped 5.5 percent. Soft drink sales are also way down in schools.

Simple carbs raise women's heart disease risk
Okay ladies, do you eat a lot of white bread, white rice, and other

From Rachael Ray to Paula Deen, celebrity chefs are cooking up healthier meals. Could their star power help reverse the obesity epidemic? FatFighterTV has a look at this story and other diet and fitness headlines making news this week.

Celebrity chefs put healthy eating on the menu
Could celebrity chefs be the recipe to healthier eating in this country? Paula Deen is teaching kids how to cook healthy foods, Rachael Ray is working to reform school lunch, and Jamie Oliver is using fresh fruits and veggies to help students in West Virginia eat healthier. Could their star power help us eat our way out of the obesity epidemic?

FDA cracks down on fat-melting injections
So... about those "fat-dissolving" treatments. The Food and Drug Administration says they do not get rid of fat and the companies that offer them should stop saying that they do. The procedures go by names like lipodissolve, mesotherapy, lipozap, lipotherapy, or injection lipolysis. The FDA says they all use unproven

If you don't already exercise, this is the perfect time to start. Tomorrow (April 7) is the American Heart Association's (AHA) National Start! Walking Day - a day to pledge to Start! walking and to become active and heart healthy, especially at work since jobs are becoming more sedentary. Did you know Americans are working 164 more hours a year than we did 20 years ago. Boo! What's up with that???

Tomorrow, the AHA encourages you to wear sneakers to work and take at least 30 minutes out of your day to get up and walk. The goal is to raise awareness of the Start! movement and to give your coworkers a friendly push toward a healthier life. Sign up for a free, download-able National Start! Walking Day Tool Kit here for much more information.

Why walk?

Personally, I LOVE to walk - it's one of my favorite ways to exercise. My BFFF loves it, too. Crazy! ;)

Did you know walking has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity? Probably because it is so easy to do. And research shows

Are some restaurant portions actually getting smaller? It could be a healthy side effect of the down economy. FatFighterTV has a look at this story and other diet and fitness headlines making news this week.

Popular restaurants serving up smaller bites
Could smaller servings at restaurants become the next popular purchase during this recession? A report in USA Today says some casual-dining chains are rolling out tapas-like small plates that are usually cheaper than their appetizers by one to three dollars. Restaurants like Houlihan's, Cheesecake Factory, and California Pizza Kitchen are doing it to try to boost business in this tough economy. Could an unintended side effect be that we will eat less?

A small dose of chocolate could protect your heart
Just in time for the Easter bunny's delivery… a new study finds chocolate can control blood pressure, and in turn, lower your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Researchers say the cocoa-rich dark chocolate has the greatest

What's the secret to getting kids to eat their veggies? It may be easier than you think. FatFighterTV has a look at this story and other diet and fitness headlines making news this week.

Keep it simple to get kids to eat their veggies
Want to know the secret to getting your kids to eat their vegetables? Dutch researchers may have the answer. They cooked carrots and French beans in six different ways - mashed, steamed, boiled, stir-fried, grilled and deep-fried - and served them up to children to find out which they preferred. The result? Most of the kids liked the steamed or boiled vegetables the best.

Older women need one-hour workouts to avoid extra pounds
I guess I need to up my workouts a bit. New research shows it's going to take at least an hour a day of moderate exercise for women to keep off the creep of extra pounds as we age. That comes to 420 minutes a week - nearly three times the 150 minutes recommended by U.S. health officials.

Health care bill requires calories on

This post was just going to be a little News Nugget to let you know that PepsiCo, the maker of brands like Doritos and Pepsi, announced it wants to triple its sales of healthier products in the next decade. But as I kept reading about some of the plans the company has to make its products "healthier," it kind of creeped me out.

I like that PepsiCo's plans include cutting the sodium, sugar, and saturated fat in its products. But then I saw that science may come into play. This is the line that got to me - "PepsiCo is investing in science to improve nutrition, including developing a new salt and more lower-calorie or zero-calorie sweeteners."

Apparently, the new salt dissolves more quickly in your mouth so you don't have to eat as much to get the same effect. Personally, I would rather just cut back on salt than eat something made with this lab-ified new salt. But that's just me.

I'm not picking on PepsiCo. I understand it and other food and beverage companies want to make money and

As Pepsi announces it will remove its sugary beverages from schools worldwide, Will other soft drink makers follow? FatFighterTV has a look at this story and other diet and fitness headlines making news this week.

Pepsi cuts sugary drinks from schools around the world
Are the efforts of grassroots groups like this one to get junk foods out of schools finally paying off? Pepsi just announced it will remove its full-calorie, sugary drinks from schools around the world over the next two years. The World Heart Federation has been talking with soft drink makers about removing sugary drinks from schools to help fight the rise in childhood obesity.

Kraft to cut sodium from its products
Just one day after Pepsi announced it was cutting sugary drinks from schools around the world, Kraft Foods also addresses health concerns. The largest food maker in North America says it plans to cut sodium by about 10 percent from its products over the next two years.

Head of Sony Pictures wants theaters to

Are contestants on "The Biggest Loser" pushed too hard, too soon? A new report on LiveScience says some physicians and nutritionists think so. They worry that the show's focus on competitive weight loss could be dangerous, and that losing so much weight so quickly can be risky. In the article, the show's producers say contestants are under medical supervision and that the extreme nature of the competition is inspirational for viewers.

What do you think?

Also see:
Ali Vincent: Before, during, and after The Biggest Loser
Weight loss success stories - see how they did it
Obesity per state - where does yours rank?