Calorie Disclosure, Drinkable Veggies, and Cigarettes Suck

Restaurants reveal the numbers, drinking veggies for a slimmer physique, and kicking the bad smoking habit.

Seriously, How Many Calories?
Here at FBG headquarters, we’re big fans of restaurants that let diners in on the calorie counts on menus. Sure, there’s a margin of error depending on the person making the meal, and sure, we sometimes find that a salad has as many cals as a burger, but we love having this information in front of us to help us make difficult dining decisions easier.

Now, under proposed nutrition-labeling legislation, restaurants with 20 or more locations would have to disclose calorie counts on the menu or menu board and have information available upon request, including details such as cholesterol, fat, sodium content and fiber. While this information probably won’t stop folks from ordering a high-cal dish, with this nationwide law at least they’d know where their calorie count stands for the meal.

Mo’ info, mo’ better.

Viva Vegetables!
Although right now I have an unexplainable addiction to grapefruit juice, I go on kicks when V8 juice is my best friend. Looks like that addiction may be good for my waistline. In a new study, it appears that drinking at least one glass of low-sodium vegetable juice daily may help overweight dieters lose more weight. Participants in the study who drank at least 8 ounces of vegetable juice as part of a calorie-controlled heart-healthy diet lost 4 pounds over 12 weeks, while those who followed the same diet but did not drink the veggie juice lost only 1 pound. But even if you’re not trying to lose weight, vegetable juice is a great way to make sure you’re hitting your recommended daily veggie intake. Just watch that sodium!

Keep your diet straight.

Naughty Nicotine
Hard to believe and weird to admit, but this Fit Bottomed Girl used to be a smoker. Cough, cough. Although it’s now been yeeeaars—and it was only a year when I was still a teenager—I still remember how tough it was to quit cold turkey.

I apparently beat incredible odds because reportedly only 2 to 5 percent of those who quit on their own are successful after 12 months. Of that small percentage, it takes an average of three to six attempts to kick the habit. I don’t want to get preachy here or anything, but I’m sure there are some FBGs out there who just need a little push to drop-kick the habit for good. Well, PUSH! Check out some of these quitting tips from the pros for help on your journey to smoke-free lungs. And non-smokers: These tips work very well for any bad habit you’re looking to kick to the curb!

Kick butt to be a Fit Bottomed Girl.

—Erin

Photos grabbed from jenny downing, yomi955 and Mykl Roventine at Flickr.

Thorn in My Side, Er, Foot

Meet the Honey Locust*, my friends. This bad boy recently taught me a fitness—and life—lesson. Namely, to slow down, appreciate the small things and don't take your feet for granted.

See, a few weeks ago I went on a benign camping trip. As someone who grew up camping, I was excited for the trip and felt prepared. We had our tent, our s'mores supplies, our beer and our sunscreen (note that we were at a lake only about an hour and 15 minutes from my house and 30 minutes from civilization). Because the park had no hiking trails, I didn't see the need to wear my heavy duty hiking boots. Instead, I wore Crocs (please don't tell the fashion police). This was my first mistake. My second mistake was playing bean-bag toss in a wooded area populated by the pictured tree. I'm sure you can see where this is going...

Without going into the gory details (although, if you're squeamish, you might want to skip the next paragraph), I stepped on a three-inch thorn. It went through my Croc and into the ball of my foot. Ouch. I pulled it out immediately. OUCH. And then my husband tried to get small pieces of the thorn out of my foot as apparently these types of thorns are notorious for leaving behind bark when they're pulled out. OUCH! Then I sanitized it with hand sanitizer, as it's all we had on hand. HOLY MOTHER OF OUCH! Two days later, after realizing that there were still pieces left in my foot, I went—and by "went" I mean "gimped" because I could barely walk—to my doctor who numbed my foot and removed the remaining pieces. Again, I won't go into the icky details, but when I left the doctor, I had a much larger hole in my foot, a prescription for codeine and a bad reputation for cursing like a sailor at the physician's office. Oh, and a much worsened gimp.

FitLinks: Week of June 29, 2009

Once you're done celebrating the last day of this sparkler-filled holiday weekend, pull up a seat, grab some healthy barbecue leftovers, and let these great links continue to light you up.

Free workouts! We love free! —ExerciseTV

Need new running shoes but aren't sure what to buy? Check out this guru who's here to do the "leg work" for you. Har har. —Running Shoes Guru

Heart disease is the number one killer of women. Lower your odds with exercise (and great tips from this website)! —Sister to Sister

Going bald for a cause. Rock it, girl. Rock it. —Daily Dose

Yoga is not just for bendy sticks. Check out this workout DVD that suits all shapes and sizes. —Daily Spark

Can't decide between coffee or espresso to get your day going? Here's the final word on which has more caffeine. —FitSugar

A Year Ago on FBG

Happy 4th of July!

Today we celebrate the birth of the good ol' U.S. of A. And besides running through the sprinkler and noshing on watermelon, we thought we'd take this day of firework greatness to give our brains a workout, too. Below is some great 4th of July party trivia that will amaze your friends, family, neighbors and really anyone you come into contact with. Read on to become the coolest and most knowledgeable chick or dude at the holiday BBQ!

Gobble Gobble. Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national animal but was outvoted when John Adams and Thomas Jefferson chose the bald eagle. We love turkey, but are glad Franklin lost this one.

Hot-Diggity, Hot-Doggity. More than an estimated 150 million hot dogs will be eaten today. That's roughly one dog for every two people in the U.S. When you think of it that way: Sick.

Live It. Thirty cities nationwide have "liberty" in their name. Liberty, Missouri, boasts the highest population of all of them. Iowa has more of these places than any other state with Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.

Blow It Up. More than $211 million has been spent on imported fireworks from China.

Here's the Irony. The majority of the nation's flags and patriotic paraphernalia in relation to the 4th of July is produced in China. Nearly $349 million dollars are used each year to import in flags, banners, decorations and emblems.

I Want You! The origin of Uncle Sam probably began in 1812, when Samuel Wilson was a meat packer who provided meat to the U.S. Army. The meat shipments were stamped with the initials "U.S." Someone joked that the initials stood for "Uncle Sam." This joke eventually led to the idea of Uncle Sam symbolizing the United States government.

Late Start. The 4th of July was not declared a national holiday until 1941. Wonder what the hold up was? Fourth of July parties are the best!

Grab a Beer. The U.S. national anthem is actually set to the tune of an old English drinking song called "The Anacreontic Song." Anacreontic was a Greek poet. (I know 'cause I Wikipedia-ed it.)

How Will You Spend the 3rd?

Today may just be July 3, but since the 4th falls on a Saturday this year, the observed day is today. So happy no work day! Today I plan on cleaning the house and getting a long run in before the big holiday barbecues tomorrow, but tell us what you're up to on this 4th of July eve.



Feel free to elaborate about your holiday plans in the comments below! —Jenn

Can't see the poll? Click here.

Photo grabbed from stephen.moore on Flickr.