France has announced that it will be adding an extra tax to sugary soft drinks in an effort to combat childhood obesity. The childhood obesity cover story is a sham, as this tax is just an attempt to raise revenue for a government that has spent itself into insolvency. Using the childhood obesity epidemic as a ruse to raise money is cynical, perverse and twisted.

French officials are patting themselves on the backs as they announce that this tax will raise 100 million Euros annually for the government coffers and also be used to lower social security charges on farm workers. So how is this going to fight childhood obesity? Here’s a statement from a great example of a full-of-baloney public official, French MP Gilles Carrez, “This project will have both health benefits as children turn away from sugary drinks, and revenue benefits for our core agricultural workforce.” This is the worst kind of political bullshit.

If anything, Monsieur Carrez and the French government now have a vested interest in their kids, and all citizens, drinking as much soda as possible so that they can raise money for stuff and for France’s agricultural workforce. Meanwhile, governments, so-called public health officials and citizen suckers all around the globe will applaud this maneuver. After all, it’s for the kids! If the government really cared about les enfants they would ban the drinks that are causing so much harm, or charge the fat kids and parents and adults more for consuming them. If the French had any intention of helping their citizens they would put the revenues from the sugar/fat tax into a fund that would be used for health related purposes. Yea, right.

The worst case scenario for these French phonies would be for people to truly turn away from soda and, as a result, not collect the anticipated revenue from this tax. This is as oxymoronic as you can get. Think about how foolish Monsieur Carrez’s position is. Institute a punitive tax on an “undesirable” consumable as a way to raise needed revenue, but hope that the tax dissuades people from buying the allegedly unhealthy consumable, thus not raising the needed revenue! How thrilled would the French experts be to find out that their tax really did keep people from buying regular soda?

And there’s more. Do you think the soda companies will stand to see their market share deteriorate over a couple of pennies tax? Of course not, so they will lower their price so that people don’t stop buying their product. These companies are experts at Value Engineering (lowering prices while raising profits) and will wind up making themselves, and the French government, plenty of money.

Don’t kid yourself; these fat taxes are not about health and are nothing more than a governmental money grab.

Since everyone is either obese, fat, getting fatter or going to be fat I have some suggestions as to how we can stave off and alleviate this catastrophic pandemic. This is Part 1 of my essay entitled, “A Modest Proposal Regarding the Obesity Epidemic. After the complete essay is posted I will continue to make entries using this title, as the obesity epidemic requires us to be flexible in our approach and tactics.

First and foremost, since it is clear that individuals are incapable of feeding themselves, it’s obvious that we need to put the government in charge of food and beverage consumption and exercise enforcement. Since we need a worldwide solution to this epidemic of unprecedented proportions, perhaps the United Nations can oversee and coordinate the efforts of nations around the world.

Can anyone imagine a more potent and effective combination than the joining of the UN with various governments? For example, the efficiency the US government has displayed in running the postal service and social security program – among other well-run and profitable operations such as Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac – will be a fantastic compliment to the proven efficacy of the UN.

And one more thing; let’s stop using the euphemism “Western Diet,” when referring to the reason for this universal fatness when we all know that it’s America’s fault. It isn’t Canada’s fault or Mexico’s misconduct, Great Britain’s food stinks, the French aren’t fat and don’t export fast food culture, nobody has ever seen a fat Spaniard, and the Mediterranean Diet is perfect. So let’s be open and honest and blame America for expanding waist lines and the other fat-related maladies. We cannot be fooled by America’s dominance in many sports and by the fact that America leads the way when it comes to promoting exercise and nutritional causes at almost every level of society through a variety of governmental and quasi-governmental agencies. The Western Diet is America’s Diet, and America’s Diet is making the world fat and killing people.

As a matter of fact, America has even made other countries’ cuisines fattening and unhealthy. Mexican food is a prime example of how America can ruin a country’s food and make people overeat by the simple act of embracing the food of other cultures. Chinese food, as well.

The statistics tell us that obesity has been on the rise since 1980 – the year Ronald Reagan took office – so it’s just as clear that the Reagan/Bush administrations are to blame for America exporting obesity around the world and created a huge mess for others to deal with. Let’s not quibble over the fact that the definition of what constitutes obesity was changed in 1998, which immediately created 30% more obese people, without these people even eating a single Whopper or chugging a Big Gulp. Just as obvious, is that there were 30% more people out there who had a problem and didn’t realize it; it took a change in a calculation to get people to take notice.

And for the good of all citizens of the world, especially the children, let’s avoid the unseemly act of pointing out the serious flaws with the Body Mass Index (BMI). Bangladesh, a country known for its healthy ways, sports a national BMI reading of approximately (and enviably) 20, which is smack dab in the middle of the normal weight category. We shouldn’t dwell on the fact that Bangladesh life expectancy is 66 years (what it was in America almost 100 years ago) versus America’s 78 years. Americans are fat and diseased and living longer because of pharmaceutical intervention, while spreading this disease around the globe. It’s obviously better to weigh less, so let’s stop arguing and work together to make people lose weight and force them to conform to a healthy lifestyle. Plus, Western Cultural Bias is clearly responsible for the negative impression people hold regarding the Bangladeshi lifestyle.

The government has helped us avoid a major economic downturn, high unemployment, eroding home prices and a catastrophic loss of consumer confidence, and will help protect us from ourselves and our inevitable fatness. The various government agencies that developed the Food Pyramid, and it’s various iterations, obviously have it right.

But back to solutions….I’ll get to these solutions in Part 2 of my Modest Proposal Regarding the Obesity Epidemic.

I have a whole stack of fitness stuff that’s been piling up in my in-box that I have been meaning to share.

Study Finds Caloric Info on Menu Doesn’t Alter Ordering Habits. What is amazing is that someone had to actually take the time to conduct a study on this, and not the findings that people won’t change their ordering habits as a result of being told how many calories are in their food. This study and the comments made by the researchers reveal just how little these academics know about the people they study, how little they get about human nature.

This isn’t the first study to reach this conclusion, as other studies have shown putting calorie counts on menus has little, if any affect on people’s ordering habits. This whole endeavor is a huge waste of time and resources and the Food Police should move on to other issues. Surely, they will continue to try to legislate our behavior, for if they cannot incite people to change habits of their own volition, they will eventually use force. As matter of fact conflicting and/or overlapping state and federal legislation is sure to make this a government-led comedy of errors.

Makers of Power Balance Energy Wristbands Admit There’s No Science Behind Their Product. Really? Here’s another story that shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone; there isn’t scientific proof that holographic images, just like the ones found on a credit card, have no powers to improve, “balance, strength and energy.” What’s next, the makers of the Shake Weight admit that holding a huge vibrator isn’t better than doing few repetitions of lifting weights? I know, let’s not get crazy here…

The company that makes this “product” has already been punished and forced to pay a huge fine in Australia, has had to fess up to a lack of real evidence to back-up the claims made for their wristbands, and pled guilty to violations of Australia’s Trade Practices Act. They also had to refund the Australian suckers who fell for the scam. Two and a half million bracelets (at $30 a pop) were sold down under. How long before the advertisements for Power Balance Energy Wristbands contain a disclaimer? Oh, and people will still buy them. Maybe the Power Balance people can strike a deal with the makers of the Shake Weight.

A History of Diet Failures is on Display at the Library of Congress. There is a new exhibit at the Library of Congress that features advertisements for some of the ridiculous diet programs that have been pushed on people over the years. If you read about some of these diets in the USA Today account of this exhibit you might – actually, you should – think to yourself, “Hmm, these diets don’t sound that much worse than the crap us enlightened folks in the 21st Century fall for.”

What’s more ridiculous, a diet that tells you it’s safe, easy and effective to lose weight by eating cookies or smoothies or one that promotes the consumption of a special kind of bean or using an electric device that “shakes” the weight off? Seriously, is the Bile Bean Diet that much worse than the diet nonsense that we are bombarded with these days? Is the claim of weight loss from taking a bath that much more outrageous than the claim that you can lose weight while sleeping?

Rather than using this exhibit as a way to promote the meddling ways of our so-called “public health officials,” this should be an occasion to point out the futility of dieting, and get people to move away from the misguided and unhealthy practice of following diets. However, since the diet industry sucks billions of dollars per year out of our pockets we can look forward to a future exhibit featuring advertisements of failed diets from this era.

Don’t Go Gluten-Free Unless You Have a Gluten Allergy. One of the recent diet fads is to remove gluten from the diet as a way to lose weight and improve health. Well, there’s no indication that going gluten-free will help you lose weight and, more importantly, there’s no indication there are any health benefits from avoiding gluten. However, this won’t stop the gluten-free train from leaving the station. There will be celebrity gluten-free diet books (there already are, but there will no doubt be more) and maybe even a gluten-free workout program. Hey, why not?

The American Dietetic Association says that there is no reason to avoid gluten unless you have a gluten sensitivity. But their voice, and the voice of others who try to get the message out that gluten-free isn’t effective, will be drowned out by those who have something to sell. Have you noticed that people who promote diets always have something to sell? That should tell you something.

During this time of year ridiculous holiday eating guidelines are published in just about every magazine and newspaper in the land and are featured on web sites and television news and information shows. My advice; totally ignore them.

The Thanksgiving/Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year holidays are a time when you should enjoy all the special food and drink that make their annual appearance starting today. This is not the time to start a diet – there’s never a good time to diet – to stress about food or attempt to make major changes to your lifestyle. Rather than worry about what you’re going to eat at parties and family gatherings and fret over missing workouts, embrace the pumpkin pie, egg nog, stuffing and whatever food and drink you love and forget about the gym.

To be honest, if you’ve been lazy all year don’t compound your mistake and try to compensate by avoiding foods, dieting or starting an exercise program now.

Who wants to low-fat, low-sugar pumpkin pie? I eat about 6 pieces of pumpkin pie a year and I’m not going to waste time eating the ersatz stuff. If anyone tries to tell you that eating 4 or 5 pieces of pie – or any of the food you love – over a couple of day period is going to result in weight gain or have a negative effect on your health, tell them to shut the heck up. Also, ignore people who like to talk about how “good” they eat and have tips and rules about how to avoid eating “bad” foods.

There’s no such thing as bad food. People, on the other hand, now that’s a different story.

And about the gym. I’ll tell you, I cannot wait to take a break from working out and blow off the gym for a couple of extra days. We are like batteries. We need to be recharged regularly. When a battery runs low on juice you don’t keep using it, you replace it or recharge it. We can’t replace our batteries, so we have to recharge. The holiday season is a great time to back off from the gym and recharge. Take it from me, I’m a professional.

So when faced with the opportunity to spoon a pile of mashed potatoes and gravy on your plate, take it. If you have to choose between your aunt’s old school real sugar, butter and milk pumpkin pie and some no-fun relative’s “healthy” option, make your aunt happy and eat 2 pieces.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and start the holiday season on the right foot.

That’s a harsh headline, but it does grab attention. And I think I’ve already used, “Diets Don’t Work.” But really, it’s true, diets suck and they don’t work. The problem is the Dieting Industrial Complex has created a massive $50 billion a year market for diets by promoting and selling the message that people are incapable of feeding themselves. The major “eating problem” people have is that they don’t know how to eat and have lost touch with the innate ability for demand feeding. Thanks to the diet industry.

Demand feeding is one of those concepts that people – even those who haven’t been ruined by dieting – have a hard time coming to grips with. Demand feeding is simply eating when you are hungry, not when the clock says, not when a diet plan says, not when your family says, but when your stomach says. If demand feeding seems like a foreign concept, you’ve been tainted by the Dieting Industrial Complex.

The diet hucksters have done a great job of screwing up the psyche of the American public because the idea of eating when you are hungry – and not eating when you are not hungry – is considered to be wrong and or not possible. How many times have you eaten because other people were eating and NOT because you were hungry?

The tenets of dieting have worked their way into our culture and people who never “diet” have had their eating habits affected. If you eat because you think you have to or because it’s time to eat, but aren’t hungry, the Dieting Industrial Complex has gotten to you.

Listen to your biological clock, not the time clock or some diet guru, and you will find your unique hunger pattern. I have had clients and friends show me with elaborate diets designed by all kinds of holistic, organic nutritional “experts.” These diets were supposed represent the pinnacle of health, when in reality they were doing more damage and preventing people from doing something that is as natural as breathing; eating what you want when you are hungry. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.

To paraphrase Browning, “Diets, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways…”

I have seen a lot of bad diets over the years, but hCG Diet sets the new standard for irresponsibility. If you thought 1000-1200 calories a day was tough to handle, your head will spin – and your stomach will growl – if you try to follow this 500 calorie a day torture test.

The 500 calorie intake is supplemented by daily hCG hormone injections over the 26-40 day period of the diet. hCG is a hormone produced by the placenta and feeds the fetus during pregnancy by tapping into stored fat if the mother isn’t eating enough. The twisted thinking behind the hCG diet is that the body is “tricked” into thinking it’s pregnant by the combination of the hCG and the starvation diet so that the body taps into its fat stores for energy and nutrition. Paging Dr. Mengele…

Here is the hCG diet protocol, which is advertised to help lose 1-2 pounds per day, “the healthy way.”

• Breakfast – Tea or coffee in any quantity without sugar and only one tablespoonful of milk allowed in 24-hours. Saccharin or Stevia may be used.
• Lunch - 100 grams of veal, beef, chicken breast, fresh white fish, lobster, crab or shrimp. All visible fat must be trimmed off before cooking and e meat must be weighed raw. It must be boiled or grilled without any additional fat. Salmon, eel, tuna, herring, dried or pickled fish are not allowed. The chicken breast must be removed from the bird.
• One type of vegetable only to be chosen from the following: spinach, chard, chicory, beet greens, green salad, tomatoes, celery, fennel, onions, red radishes, cucumbers, asparagus, cabbage.
• One breadstick or one Melba toast.
• An apple, orange or a handful of strawberries or one-half grapefruit.
• Dinner – The same choices as lunch.

Doesn’t this sound like fun?!? Just a scant few calories more than are contained in your morning bowl of Cheerios and milk is supposed to be enough for a full day.

What’s the difference between Water Boarding and the hCG Diet? Water Boarding is a more enjoyable experience. Seriously, Amnesty International should get on board with issue, because this is a clearcut example of torture and the violation of human rights, especially towards women who clearly are the target of this rubbish.

There are some other hCG Diet guidelines worth mentioning. Read these with a Nazi accent for extra impact.

• The 500 calorie limit must always be maintained.
• 2 small apples are not an acceptable exchange for “1 apple.”
• Very occasionally we allow egg – boiled, poached or raw – to patients who develop an aversion to meat, but in this case they must add the white of three eggs to the one they eat whole.
• Cottage cheese made from skimmed milk is available 100 grams may occasionally be used instead of the meat.

And if you weren’t miserable enough, here is the final indignation.

• We do permit the use of lipstick, powder and such lotions as are entirely free of fatty substances.
• We also allow brilliantine to be used on the hair but it must not be rubbed into the scalp.
• Obviously sun-tan oil is prohibited. (MY NOTE: Obviously? Do they think we’re going to chug-a-lug it?)
• Aspirin and birth control are allowed.
• No massage of any kind.

The fact that this diet is enjoying any kind of success and has garnered a following serves as proof that people have totally lost their way when it comes to feeding themselves. This is a barbaric, crude, savage, and inhuman diet. There are no good reason to abide by this nonsense. Stay away from it.

It kind of amazes me that some people get so freaked out by a tiny teaspoon of sugar.  Fifteen calories has never gotten such a bad rap. In the rush to place blame for the so-called obesity epidemic, this basic carbohydrate that every body needs for fuel, has become a scapegoat.

Nobody has ever gained weight because they put a teaspoon of sugar in their two cups of coffee every morning.  And despite what the Food Police will have you believe, there is no reliable science that indicates that sugar causes obesity or has some extra-caloric superpower that causes people to gain weight.

But some people still don’t get that it’s a simple formula of “calories in, calories out,” and if you eat more calories than you need for energy you will gain weight, and those calories can be in the form of carbohydrates, protein, fat or a combination of all three.  A person can eat the “healthiest” foods imaginable, but if they eat more than they need they will gain weight.  And for the record, one gram of sugar provides 4 calories, one gram of protein and one gram of fat provides 9 calories each.

The one gram of sugar provides the same 4 calories any other form of carbohydrate provides.  The difference between sugar and the other calories is that sugar is immediately converted into fuel that the body uses right away.  If you are active eating carbs and sugars are a necessary part of your diet.  And if you exercise carbs and sugars are a vital part of your fueling and recovery regimens.

If you enjoy sugar, use sugar. Natural sugar.  I’m of the belief that it’s better to use natural sugar – or use nothing – than to use an artificial or chemically altered substance.  And some believe that the taste of real sugar can help to control hunger, and as a result help people to manage their weight.

I don’t believe in counting calories in order to restrict caloric intake. Rather I promote caloric awareness in the effort to get people to realize that they usually don’t eat enough food, not that they eat too much.

Calculating your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is quite simple.  Here’s the formula.

• Convert weight in pounds to kilograms by dividing by 2.2.
• Convert height in inches to centimeters by multiplying by 2.54.
• Plug in kilograms and centimeters where appropriate in the following formulas.  The numbers that result the calculations are the calories that you need in a day to maintain current body weight with little or no exercise.
• Daily Resting Energy Expenditure Formula for Males
• 66 + (13.7 X kilograms) + (5.0 X centimeters) – (6.8 X years)
• Daily Resting Energy Expenditure Formula for Females
• 665 + (9.6 X kilograms) + (1.85 X centimeters) – (4.7 X years)

Let’s use the example of a 38-year old woman who stands 5’ 3” and weighs 125-pounds. Here are the calculations.

• 665 + 559 + 296 =1520
• 1520 – 179 = 1341 needed per day just to maintain without any additional energy expenditure.

Note the emphasis that 1341 calories are need just to maintain the status quo if this woman were just to sit around doing nothing during her waking hours.  To approximate the true daily caloric requirement taking into account activity level we can use the Harris-Benedict Formula, which applies a factor to the BMR.  Here are the factors according to activity level.

• Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
• Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
• Moderately active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
• Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
• Extra active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)

Using the above example, apply the Moderately Active factor to the BMR of this working mother of three children who trains at least as hard as specified in this category.

• 1341 x 1.55 = 2078

I can guarantee that 99% of the women who fit the description of the example do not get anywhere near 2100 calories per day.  I’ll also wager that of these women, most are engaged in a regular struggle to lose 5-10-pounds, and do so by restricting rather than adding calories.  And keep in mind that these calculations under estimate the requirements for people are either very fit or very fat.

So calculate your BMR and gain an appreciation for how many calories are needed in a day to fuel your body.

When presented with nutritional information regarding calories contained in food in New York City’s fast food restaurants – as required by law – 85% of consumers ignored it.  According to a study released by researchers from New York University and Yale medical professors only 56% of consumers saw the information and a paltry 15% of fast food customers used the nutritional information to make their decision.

This law is a spectacular failure on the basis of these statistics alone. However, the researchers also found that fast-food consumers actually have purchased higher calorie foods after the law when into effect than they did before the law went into effect.  This proves, once again, that the government cannot legislate behavior and that this kind of “lawmaking” is counter-productive and a waste of time.

People eat fast food because they like how it tastes and because it gives them a good value for their money.  They also like how it tastes – that’s why it’s incredibly popular – and don’t really care if it fits someone else’s definition of, “good food.”  Also, people who visit fast food joints really aren’t going there to buy grilled chicken over salad

Legislators must think everyone thinks like they do and/or think people want to be told what they should eat.  Some things never change, like people who love fast food and elected officials who think that they exist to micromanage people’s lives. In the current economic climate where so many people have to watch every penny they spend, a $2 double cheeseburger makes a lot more sense than any item that may cost twice as much, or more. Although given the track our government is on, perhaps the government will subsidize “healthy food choices.”

With all of the major problems our country is facing, on the local, national and international front, you would think our elected officials would have more important things to worry about.  This kind of Nanny State legislation illustrates how tone deaf elected officials can be.