LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
CAMP Fitness:Food Glorious Food |
by Rick Moore |
We Americans are really an impatient bunch. Many of us have very short attention spans, and we're not willing to wait for anything. Have you ever stood in front of the microwave while heating a cup of water, and yelled at the thing to hurry up? Or lost interest in a book after a couple of pages and nodded off to sleep? I've found that the longer articles about a single subject sometimes bore us to tears, while articles about a bunch of short, informative topics appeal to a greater audience. So I've decided to offer a variety in my articles. We all love trivia. Anything to do with health, fitness, nutrition, food, and exercise will grab my attention. Hopefully, you'll find something in my articles that will grab you, educate you, or give you a chuckle once in a while. Breakfast Cereals Many of us eat our favorite cereals in the morning that are part of a balanced breakfastat least I hope you do. Like my client Kay, who eats her All Bran (the stuff that tastes like the cardboard box it was wrapped in), or Mike, who every morning eats his Irish Oatmeal (that stuff is tough and chewy, a truly man's-man cereal.) I occasionally like a bowl of Golden Grahams or even Raisin Bran. The raisins are the best part. I'm still looking for a cereal with mostly raisins and very little bran. The latest news from the cereal front is the introduction of many new fruit-added cereals. They're hot right now. The cereal industry had to do something, because sales were way down. Kellogg's was first out of the gate with its Special K with Red Berries. It was so successful that it bumped General Mills out of first place in the U.S. cold cereal market. Sales for the Special K Red Berries were so strong that retailers were told not to promote it because Kellogg's could not fill orders fast enough. We're not talking "Frankenberries," which are imitation fruit flavored marshmallows, but real freeze-dried berries. The idea came from Kellogg's European division. It seemed that the French told the company that they craved fruit on their flakes. It was tried in France and Great Britain, first with dried fruit that included strawberries, raspberries and cherries. It was a huge success over there and they decided to give it a try in the U.S. The rest is cereal history. It was a quick way to have fruit on your cereal without the trouble of washing and cutting it up. Healthy, quick and convenient were the buzzwords. And now look around you. Even the old stand-by, Cheerios, has its own berry flavor. And most all of these new cereals boast 110 calories per cup, and are fat-free. How could you go wrong with that? Ice Cream With ice cream sales being flat, manufacturers had to come up with a new idea. They'd already tried the "buy one, get one free" promotion. For those of you who do the shopping, you know that almost every manufacturer and supermarket chain offers some special on ice cream every week of the year. So what are some ice cream chains doing to lure you into their shops? Well how about 31 flavors in a single cone, or how about Cap'n Crunch, cotton candy, grape jam, and turquoise colored, butterfat-loaded premium ice cream in a bowl? Yes, ice cream is now going to a higher level. It's called the Smush, and it's going national. The customer picks out an ice cream for the base flavor of his sundae or cone. It's plopped onto a cold stone, and the employee adds fruits, pies, snack cakes, chocolate, candies or whatever they have on hand, and mixes this up before putting it into a bowl, cup or cone. The sky's the limit on what you can add. And it isn't cheap, typically running $6.00 per serving. It's a dietician's nightmare. The calorie count can quickly climb to 1,000 or more. They've begun promoting this dessert for home preparation, for families, guests, or even for yourself. The actual targets for these weird concoctions are kids. Now I ask you, do our kids really need these extra 1,000 calories added to their diets? I hope this is a food trend that quickly dies out. Salads It looks like we have trouble brewing on the horizon for the fast-food salad. Those tasty sounding items are offered by the fast food chains, which claim they're healthy alternatives to the fat-loaded burger. But it looks like a Mickey D's salad could have more fat in it than a big Mac. Fast food companies have targeted women as the group most likely to purchase one of their new upscale offerings. Gone now is the plain everyday lettuce. The new salads include upscale grape tomatoes, mandarin oranges, and fancy greens. Prices are much higher, up to $4.00 per serving. Many men complain that these fast food salads aren't enough to satisfy their hunger so they may order a burger or two alongside, to fill them up. Who's complaining about salads? An unlikely groupthe nutritionists. They compared McDonald's Crispy Chicken Bacon salad with a Big Mac. The salad lost. With its dressing, the salad had more fat (51 g), more calories (661), and even more cholesterol than the Big Mac, which came in at 34 g fat and 590 calories. So buyer beware. Fast food spokespeople said they could cut the fat content by using low-fat dressings instead of the usual high fat dressings. Many nutritionists hailed this as a step in the right direction. See you at the beach as we celebrate a great summer season. Rick Moore is a personal trainer certified by the American Fitness Professionals & Associates. Visit him at www.ricksfitness.net, or call 302-684-0316. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 13, No. 6, May 30, 2003. |