The difference between "beef" & "taco meat filling"

If you haven't caught wind of this yet, those of you who like to pull into Taco Bell from time-to-time for a quick, inexpensive, nutritious (cough, cough) meal - really ought to click and follow this link:

http://gizmodo.com/5742413/this-is-what-really-hides-in-taco-bells-beef?skyline=true&s=i

Seems one of these great United States is suing Taco Bell over its use of the word "beef" concerning the stuff it actually puts into its "food".

Some years ago I recorded a CD series on nutrition & the fast food industry. In that recording I can remember making the following statements, "A pound of ground beef is about $3.99 in the grocery store - depending on how lean it is it can be more....how much do you think the ground beef buyer for the Taco Bell chain pays per pound?" That was 2004. Well today we're finding out. My guess is they pay around 50 cents. Why?" Seems non-beef beef is reasonably priced.

I worked my way through highschool in a Kentucky Fried Chicken. I have a friend who worked in a Taco Bell. Today he added this little tidbit of information, "I used to work there when I was 16. I was always surprised by the fact that nothing is cooked at Taco Bell. The ground beef came in a big 5lb plastic bag and you just heat it up by dunking it in a pot of boiling water."

Now THAT sounds about as appetizing as the way we used to make the gravy that went on the "mashed potatoes" at KFC.

Just say no, folks. Just say no.

In the beginning....

In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth. And the Earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

And Satan said, "It doesn't get any better than this."

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit," and God saw that it was good.

And Satan said, "There goes the neighborhood."

And God said, "Let us make Man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle, and over all the Earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the Earth." So God created Man in His own image; male and female created He them.

And God looked upon Man and Woman and saw that they were lean and fit. And God created the healthful yogurt, that woman might keep her figure that man found so fair.

And Satan brought forth chocolate. And Woman gained 5 lbs.

And God said, "Try my crispy fresh salad."

And Satan brought forth Ben & Jerry's. And Woman gained 10 lbs.

And God said, "I have sent thee heart-healthy vegetables and olive oil with which to cook them."

And Satan brought forth chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained 10 lbs. and his bad cholesterol went through the roof.

And God brought forth running shoes and Man resolved to lose those extra pounds.

And Satan brought forth cable TV with remote control so Man would not have to toil to change channels between ESPN and ESPN2.

And Man gained another 20 pounds.

And God said, "You're running up the score, Devil."

So then God brought forth the potato, a vegetable naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition.

And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fat fried them. And he created sour cream dip also. Man clutched his remote control and ate the potato chips swaddled in cholesterol.

And God populated the earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.

And Satan created McDonald's. McDonald's brought forth the $.99 double cheeseburger. And Satan said to Man, "You want fries with that?" And Man said, "Supersize them." And Man gained 5 pounds.

And Satan saw and said, "It is good." And Man went into cardiac arrest.

God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.

And then Satan created HMOs.

Eat some COLOR!

Needless to say, as a fitness professional I get asked a lot of questions about diet and nutrition. What I usually tell most people is that you do not need to "go on a diet". I don't like the whole idea. If for no other reason than the very term "going on a diet" implies that sooner or later you "come off a diet". And what happens then? What you need is a change of lifestyle and habits in the area of consumption.

I tend to prescribe the common sense diet. I personally believe that just about everyone knows. Know what I mean? Everyone knows which foods are fundamentally bad for you and which are fundamentally good. You don't need a fitness professional to tell you that if you're filling up on Burger King Whoppers, large order of fries, and a (diet) cola three days a week - you aren't giving your body foods that are rich in life-sustaining nutrients and you certainly aren't going to be losing any weight. NOBODY needs to be told this.

"Ok, so I know what I should not be eating - what SHOULD I be eating?" One of the ways that I'm fond of answering this question is to say - FOCUS ON KEEPING COLOR IN YOUR DIET. Especially foods that are dark green, red, orange and burgundy. Bell peppers come in a variety of colors (yellow, green, red), beets are a nice rich dark burgundy color as are cranberries. pomegranites and cherries, oranges, apricots and canteloupes = orange, raspberries, leeks, lemons are yellow. You get the idea. Generally speaking foods that are white/lacking color tend to be low in nutritional value. Breads, pastas, (refined) sugar, pasta, potatoes, etc.

Of course there are exceptions to every rule, there are some white foods that are very good for you (onions), and this isn't addressing meats and nuts, but generally speaking the more color you manage to add to your diet - the better!

New Year, New Results

Do you or someone you know have fitness goals for the new year? Approx. 80% of "New Year's Resolutions" are health & fitness related. And of those, 90% have been abandoned within 6 weeks! Want to know why? Two reasons: 1) Lack of specific, measurable goals. 2) Lack of motivation and accountability.

Lack of specific, measurable goals

Many people's resolutions sound something like this, "This year I'want to get back in shape". Or, "to lose some weight." Those aren't goals. Those are prayers - without the necessary faith to launch them. If the goal is to "lose some weight", how do you know when you've attained it? Losing 6 ounces is "losing some weight", but its an accomplishment I wouldn't be boasting all around town about.

How about this for a resolution: "My goal for 2011 is to lose 30 pounds, reduce my overall percentage of bodyfat by 10% and reduce my resting heart rate by 15 beats per minute." How about them apples? Specific + easily measurable.

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Think about that final goal for a second. "Reducing my resting heart rate by 15 beats per minute". The heart is a muscle. And just like any other muscle, it has a limited life expectancy. BY FAR the vast majority of us will die b/c our hearts fail. Morbid, perhaps, but it's just statistics. Heart failure will do us most in. Imagine if you were to reduce your resting heart rate by just 15 beats a minute. (Which isn't very hard to do, by the way.) That's 15 beats a minute; 60 minutes to an hour; 24 hours to a day; 7 days to a week; 4 weeks to a month; 12 months to a year; 10 years to a decade; (approx.) 8 decades to a lifetime. Just consider know how many YEARS you'd be adding to the backend of your life by investing a mere 2 hours a week now. Years to enjoy grand children, travel the world, gaze into the eyes of your loved one. Yet most people will not invest the time. Its a mystery I'll never understand.
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Lack of motivation and accountability

Where accountability lacks, so do results. Its true in all walks of life, not just fitness. For most people; if a report is due 10am on Tuesday, it gets done and turned in b/c there's someone (a boss, a teacher) in a position of authority with the ability to inflict consequences for non-performance.

When it comes to conditioning the body,...no such person. Its tough getting out of bed at 5am and hitting the gym. It takes a level of motivation most don't possess. Its tough getting off that comfortable sofa, turning the game off, and putting in a mile + 50 pushups + 50 crunches.

They key is to GET STARTED. Its a funny thing with exercise - once you've stopped, its hard to start; but once you've started, its hard to stop. I've found this true over the years, and so have you. Its the initial motivation to just get going that's the hard part. If you can muscle through that first handful of weeks, keeping it going is relatively easy.

Its the theory of "the big Mo" (can you name that book??) Mo = momentum. Pastor of our church, Mark Cowart (www.churchforallnations.com), has an amazing saying: When setting still, a freight train can be held in place by a one-inch square block of cement. But. Once up to speed that same train will go through a similar block of cement ten-feet square.

And nothing motivates like success. Once you've dropped a pant size, once you look in the mirror and notice chin #14 is gone, once your honey starts making comments about your backside that you haven't heard in a decade,...then keeping up with the workouts is easy. But those things don't happen right away. They come with time. I know many if not most of our clients say they would not be working out at all were it not for the motivation and accountability of having a trainer or belonging to one of our small-group classes.

If you've made a resolution. Or if you didn't b/c you've tried and failed in years past. Get in touch with your local Achieve Fitness USA and set up an interview. This can be done, it can be affordable, its really not that hard. You'll look better, feel better, have more energy and stamina, libido comes to life and you'll fit in clothes that have been hanging in the back of the closet for 5 years. Plus -whether they're here yet or not- you owe it to your grandchildren.