FitSugar

NYC Installing Treadmills in Subways

FitSugar — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 04:30:00 -0700

New York City is steadily becoming a healthier place to live for many reasons. Smoking was banned in most indoor work places and restaurants in 2003. Fast food chains and local restaurants ditched trans fat last year. They also have fruit and vegetable stands in both wealthy and low-income areas so folks can buy a healthy snack on the street instead of a hot dog. In 2007, eateries were also required to list calorie counts on their menu boards. To prevent the spread of HIV and other STIs, New York also gives away free condoms in public bathrooms. So it's no surprise that this hip city is doing more to keep its New Yorkers healthy by installing treadmills in subway stations. All that waiting around for the L Train can be time spent burning calories. It's a brilliant idea, really. To hear more about when you should start seeing them, read more.

April Fools! Ha! It is a great idea though, isn't it? I guess if you want to exercise while waiting for the subway, you can always jog in place. Since it's New York City, people won't think you're crazy!

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NYC Trans Fat Ban in Full Effect Today

FitSugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:00:00 -0700

If you live in the Big Apple or plan to visit there in the near future, you'll be happy to know that the trans fat ban will be in full effect by today, July 1. Exactly a year ago, all restaurants were required to eliminate trans fat from their cooking oils, margarines, and shortenings. This second deadline states that all prepared foods from restaurants, bakeries, cafeterias, salad bars, and food carts must contain less than .5 grams of trans fat per serving. Yep, by some FDA loophole, foods containing .5 grams can be labeled trans fat free. These various eateries do have a three-month grace period to comply with the trans fat ban; after that they can expect some hefty fines. Unfortunately, prepackaged foods sold in the manufacturer's original packaging at these restaurants, bakeries, etc. (like outsourced prepackaged salad dressing) are exempt from the ban. If so you'll still need to check labels on those foods.

If you frequent a fast food joint, here's what you can expect:

Dunkin' Donuts: Switched to a blend of palm, soybean, and cottonseed oil.
McDonald's: Eliminated cooking in trans fat oil last year. Now their cookies and apple pies are trans fat free too.
Burger King: In NYC chains, their fries, apple pies, and biscuits are trans fat free.

What can you expect from other chains? To find out read more.

KFC: Ditched trans fat and recently removed it from their pot pie and biscuits.
Pizza Hut: Removed trans fat from the one style on pizza that contained it.
Boston Market: In NYC, they're testing a trans fat free version of their chicken pot pie.

I'm really psyched for NYC (actually jealous), that this ban has taken into effect, but I wish these chains would ditch trans fat in other cities as well. Don't you?

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The Big Apple Gets Fruity and Pirates Can Eat All They Want

FitSugar — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:00:00 -0800

Two east coast food stories caught my eye and the juxtaposition of them is downright comical. The two stories seem to encapsulate the tensions of trying to live the healthy life in this modern age.

First the good news: New York City will be issuing new permits for mobile fruit and vegetable stands – 1,000 of them in fact. This is the Big Apple's latest attempt to combat obesity and bring fresh produce to low income neighborhoods where fruit and veggies are scarce. There are currently about 4,000 permits for produce stands in wealthy Manhattan, so the neighborhoods like the South Bronx and Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn will have access to these "green" carts too.

To see what the Pirates are up to in Pittsburgh just read more.

On the flip side comes a new tactic to get baseball fans into the stadium to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates play. Following a trend found in other stadiums, PNC Park, Pittsburgh's baseball stadium, will be offering an All-You-Can-Eat seating section during specific games for the 2008 season. For $35, you can watch the game and without ever leaving your seat eat all you want of the following concessions: hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, salads, popcorn, peanuts, ice cream and soda. Where are the Cracker Jacks from the lyrics of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." It seems to me the only real physical activity a person can get while watching a game is climbing the stairs after buying concessions.

Which trend sounds more appealing to you? Me, I am for mobile veggie carts.

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More Photoshop Issues: Wendy's Menu?

FitSugar — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 04:00:00 -0700

Photoshop gets a lot of people into trouble these days. Typically we see images being photoshopped in magazines like the Faith Hill cover of Redbook, however this is a photoshop problem of something different: A Wendy's menu.

The battle goes on whether New York City can force certain restaurants to post calorie content on their menu boards. In the midst of it all, it is being reported that the Center for Science in the Public Interest created a fake Wendy’s menu (above, click image to zoom) and sent it to the court to display that it is actually possible to include the caloric information without totally confusing the customer, which was Wendy's reasoning for not displaying the calorie info in the first place.

Personally, I think Wendy's has been being sneaky about the whole thing since the beginning. To Wendy's I say: Thanks for thinking we, the consumer, are so utterly clueless that we won't be able to decipher such a complicated menu that has prices and calories, but let me be the judge of what I can and can't handle. When people start asking if the regular burger is 280 dollars or calories, then you may have a valid case argument.

What do you guys think - Was the CSPI playing dirty or proving a good point? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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NYC is Preventing HIV

FitSugar — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:45:00 -0700

I am loving New York City right now. Not only are they ditching trans fat (wahoo), but when I took a trip there last weekend, I found these in their public bathrooms. Free latex condoms!

When I checked out the NYC Condom website, I discovered that New York City is the first city to brand its very own condom. Isn't that awesome?

They are being distributed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. You can pick them up at participating locations for FREE. The campaign began on Valentine's Day this year, but as you can see, it's still going strong.

I love that NYC is doing its part to stop the spread of STIs like HIV. Maybe some other cities will follow suit.

Go Ahead Drink the Tap Water NYC

FitSugar — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:45:00 -0700

Bottled water is getting a bad rap, have you noticed? Well not necessarily the water, but the bottle itself. Those plastic bottles are filling up our landfills. Since bottled water is a convenience beverage that we drink on the go, the bottles are rarely recycled. In fact Americans go through nearly 100 million plastic bottles every day and recycle roughly 25 percent of them. Yikes!!!! A lot of energy is expended making those bottles we only use once and then toss them.

In an effort to make the big apple greener, the city government is urging residents of NYC to drink tap water. The water in NYC is famous for making the best bagels and the best pizza dough, but the New Yorkers are taking some convincing - especially during summer. While the city water might be great, old pipes in old buildings still make residents wary of drinking out of the tap. Look for the "Get Your Fill" ad campaign and free plastic, blue refillable water bottles being handed out around New York this summer.

It looks like "the tap" is making a comeback.

Do you drink tap water? Do you filter it first? Or are you a bottled water only kind of gal? Let me know in the comments section below.

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NYC Ditching Trans Fat - You Should Too!

FitSugar — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 10:15:00 -0700

Remember a while back I told you that New York City's restaurants had to get rid of all trans fat and post calorie counts (not that all the fast food joints are complying with this requirement) by July 1, 2007? Well, many fast food chains have already made the switch to healthier oils, which is awesome news for us health-conscious eaters. Restaurants won't be fined for violating this ban until October 1, 2007, but at least it's in the future.

Why are trans fats so bad? These are chemically altered fats and are NOT required nor beneficial to our health. Eating foods with trans fat (like partially hydrogenated soybean oil) can raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and increase your chances of getting coronary heart disease.

Why do companies use trans fat? It's cheap and can increase the shelf-life of their products. Watch out for cookies, crackers, candies, margarine, dips, fast foods like French fries, and frozen foods - these processed foods almost always contain trans fat.

It's great that NYC is ditching trans fat from their menus. Hopefully it will jumpstart other cities and companies to do the same.

Fit's Tips: If a food contains less than .5 grams of trans fat, they don't have to tell you on the package. So be sure to read the list of ingredients - if you see hydrogenated oil in the list, put it back!!

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McDonald's: Not Posting Calorie Counts on NYC Menu Boards

FitSugar — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:15:00 -0700

July 1st, 2007 marks the day that restaurants in New York City are required to begin posting calorie counts on menus in type that is at least as large as the price. Some restaurants, however, are not having it.

Word has it that Burger King, McDonald’s and Wendy’s are among the chains planning to defy New York City’s new rule (Taco Bell and KFC aren’t commenting on the matter), while waiting on a lawsuit in federal court they hope will get the new regulation thrown out. The restaurants say that the new regulation makes for a massive eye sore on a menu board in their NYC eateries, but a healthy advocacy group says that the restaurants are just afraid that when people see these eye-popping calorie numbers, they might switch to a smaller size and lose revenue.

In the end the city won’t fine anyone for violating the rule until October 2007, so I think it's going to be an ugly battle until then.

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Congratulations NYC: Smoking Down 19%

FitSugar — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 02:30:00 -0700

Quitting smoking is something I can wholeheartedly support, and if you can break the habit in the big apple you can break it anywhere. My clumsy changes to the classic lyrics really don't do justice to the excitement I feel about the drop in the amount of smokers living in NYC.

Maybe it seems a little weird to get so excited over this but a 19% decrease in adult smokers is huge. It means there are 240,000 less smokers living in NYC. If you project the numbers a little further you come up with this statistic - since a third of all smokers die from smoking related illnesses, 80,000 lives have been saved.

Increase in taxes on cigarettes on both the state and city level made the price of cigarettes very expensive and smoking was banned in virtually all indoor workplaces, including restaurants and bars in 2003. The one, two punch of exorbitant price and nowhere to light up really helped some folks stamp out a bad habit. It took a while but the measures really paid off.

If you are contemplating quitting smoking set a "quit date" and read these posts about reasons to quit and ways to stop the nicotine cravings.

The Skinny On: Natural Trans Fats

FitSugar — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 02:30:00 -0700

Fat. It keeps us full. It flavors our food. It gives us energy. It also clogs our arteries and raises our cholesterol levels. While some fats are better than others, others are just plain bad for you - like trans fats.

Trans fats are generally formed when liquid vegetable oils go through a chemical process called hydrogenation. Hydrogen is added to oils to make them more solid and food processors love to use them to extend the shelf life of food, as well as to better taste and texture. Not all trans fats are manufactured though, some do occur naturally, in small amounts. They can be found in some meat, a quarter pound of ground beef has 1.33 grams of trans fat, and one cup of milk has .24 grams.

Fear not New Yorkers, the city is only banning artificial trans fats, so you will still be able to eat cheeseburgers in the Big Apple. The truth is, the majority of Americans eat more artificial trans fat than the naturally occurring kind,

The FDA, however, has a different take, and they group all trans fats, be they artificially or naturally occurring, all the same. In 2006, the FDA began requiring manufacturers to list on their products if they contain a half a gram or more of trans fat per serving. The amount must be included on the food label and the food can’t be called trans fat-free, even if butter (naturally occurring) is the only fat. Another reason to read ingredients carefully.

Want to know about trans fat and Starbucks? Then read more

Interestingly enough, the FDA label rule does not apply to foods overseen by the US Department of Agriculture, namely meat and poultry. That is why you will not see the amount of trans fat listed on the ground beef you pick up at the grocery.

Starbucks is taking a slightly different route than NYC and asking all their bakers to remove all but .5 grams of trans fat, artificial or otherwise, from their baked goods. The company feels that "trans fat free" reads better than "artificial trans fat free" - guess they think we consumers can only handle three word descriptions of our food. Bakers are reworking recipes that use butter to ensure their pastries have under a half a gram of trans fat to satisfy the new requirement. Many large scale bakeries are on the hunt for trans fat free margarine.