As a Simpson’s affectionado, I bet he immediately realized that I just quoted the Simpson’s in the title for this post.

And while watching the Simpson’s family form a Conga line and sing this song to mock Lisa for becoming a vegetarian was entertaining, salads are no laughing matter.

Most salads are wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Let me explain..

Almost every big restaurant chain makes the nutritional profile of their meals available on the internet.

I highly recommend you do some surfing and check out the calorie content of some of the salads that are available at your favorite restaurants…of course, do it on your lunch break if you are at work…no slacking

You will probably be surprised when you find that most salad entres have just as much IF NOT MORE calories than many of the traditional entres (the main meals salads, not the appetizers).

My favorite Salad at Boston Pizza has over 1,000 Calories! The salad I like at Kelsey’s has over 800!

The bottom line is that a lot foods get a halo around them because they are ‘healthy’. When you hear people complaining that they “eat like a bird” but still can’t lose weight…typically this is because they are assuming some foods are healthy and low calorie, when in fact they are not.

Quick quiz, if you were to order a snack at Starbucks, which of these options has the least amount of calories

a) The blueberry Oat Bar
b) The Banana Loaf
c) The Espresso Brownie
d) The Multi-Grain Bagel

The answer is C) The Espresso Brownie.

Watch for wolves in sheep’s clothing when you are eating at restaurants and fast food places. These days the ‘healthy’ option isn’t always the best option.

BP

PS – Here is a great email that I received form Denise…

I just wanted to let you know that I’ve had real success with Eat Stop Eat in just a short time. I’ve lost 10 pounds since April by fasting 1-2 days a week. On top of that i’ve increased weights in my deadlifts and kettlebell training as well as increased in pullups. I plan on continuing the Eat Stop Eat program forever. -Denise

I love the fact that she is losing weight AND getting stronger! Keep up the great work Denise!

The minute the hot weather hits, coffee gets iced, blended, mixed, topped and garnished. It ends up being a Frankenstein liquefied version of a coffee cake.

Now, here is how I differ from most nutrition critics – I don’t think there is anything wrong with this.

It is OK to drink a sugar, fat and coffee concoction as long as you realize that this is no longer your 100 Calorie morning cup of Java. It is now dessert. And it must be treated like dessert.

If you consume 300 Kcals and 50 grams of sugar from your coffee drink (which by the way isn’t much worse than drinking 500 ml of chocolate milk) then you simply need to cut back on your calorie and sugar intake at some other point during the day.

A wide variety of foods can all be fit into a healthy diet, as long as by the end of the day, everything has balanced out to include a wide variety of foods and a reasonable total calorie intake.

BP

Of course, the conversation eventually turned to Nutrition, and I learnt an eye-opening fact about some disturbing trends in Japan.

According to my friend, Starbucks is making a push to get a foot-hold in the Japanese market. Kind of like Godzilla, only without the death and destruction.

While this shouldn’t be shocking to any of us (after all, while visiting China I saw a Starbucks INSIDE the forbidden city!), what is shocking is the effect that Starbucks is having on some of the Japanese nutrition customs.

In Japan it is a centuries-old tradition that you don’t drink while walking.

And this poses a huge dilemma for the Starbucks crowd.

Since space is very hard to come by in Japan, many of the Starbucks shops are walk-up “express” versions with little to no seating. Basically, if you want your Starbucks, you are going to have to walk with it.

And guess what – People are walking with their Starbucks. Starbucks is single-handedly destroying centuries of Japanese tradition.

This is a perfect example of a soon-to-be extinct custom that once prevented people from eating while they are distracted. And it fits perfectly with the stories I have been telling you from the book,”Mindless Eating”.

In this incredible book there are examples of many other mindless eating methods that have replaced our own nutrition customs. (i.e. If you read it you’ll find out what eating in front of the TeeVee has done to us, rather than eating around the dinner table).

So not only are these eating customs “sacred”, but they also serve a purpose. In fact, I believe that the disappearance of traditional eating customs is one of the largest factors in our current obesity problem.

If you don’t already have your own set of “nutrition customs” perhaps it’s time you thought about adopting some.

Here is an easy one for all of you commuters out there. For the rest of this week, do not eat in your car. You can drink, just no food. This rule will help you keep your car clean AND save you from some mindless distracted eating.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

BP

PS- Summer is here so…

…strength coach John Barban is back running his summer conditioning camp. You can read about the first day of camp HERE.

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training