From "before" to "after" pic. In 5 hrs.

This is trippy. It needs no introduction really. Just another testament not to believe every silver bullet you see online. Some weight loss programs/products/fads may work. Others are scams. As this video shows, it's easy to have your own "before" and "after" weight loss success story, with the accompanying pics to allegedly prove it, .... in 5 hours.



With weight loss, slow and steady wins the race. I know no one wants to hear that, but a gradual loss of 1-2 lbs is healthy and sustainable. If you're losing more than that, it's probably water weight, or worse, lean tissue.

Read More

Are WhoNu cookies really healthy?

With nutrition comparisons like the ones above, WhoNu manufacturers promote their cookies as a sensible addition to any healthy lifestyle. Think a cookie that's actually healthy sounds too good to be true? It is.

The Bigger Picture
One selling point is that their products look and taste like old family favorites, while packing 20 essential vitamins and minerals. Compared to other brands, their cookie does deliver a higher percentage of the needed daily value of vitamins. But add the information for a multivitamin alongside, and their numbers no longer seem so rousing.

Savvy MarketingThe nutrition comparisons they vaunt do hold up in a fact check. They could never blatantly lie on a nationally sold product. But while their comparisons are technically true, closer inspection reveals little weight. For instance, "As much vitamin E as two cups of carrot juice." Carrots are BURSTING with vitamin A. But their vitamin E content? Fairly low. The marketers focus on a food item we associate with health, carrots, and pair a vitamin that shows up in modest amounts in that food, to their cookie. Same goes for the claim, "As much Iron as a cup of spinach." If you're looking for iron, spinach is not your best bet.

"As much fiber as a bowl of oatmeal" is deceptively laudable as well. The cookies have 3 g of fiber per serving, which matches the fiber amount in Instant Oatmeal. But the 3 gram/serving fiber amount of instant oatmeal pales in comparison to the 8 gram/serving fiber amount in slow-cooked oatmeal made with real rolled oats. When people refer to the health pros of oatmeal, they are talking slow-cooked. Not instant. But it's the less nutritionally sound instant variety the marketers used for comparison.

The Flip SideBlogger Nick Evans turned the table with some nutritional comparisons of his own:

"A serving of WhoNu? Cookies has:

• The same Sodium content as two slices of bacon.
• More sugar than a Jolly Rancher candy.
• More calories than a 12 ounce can of Coca-Cola.
• More fat than a Twinkie."

Oh what's in a name?
Compare the nutrition labels of these allegedly healthy Oreo look-a-likes with, well, Oreos. The chart to the right is per 3 cookie serving size for both brands. With the exception of 2g more fiber, the WhoNu cookie has essentially the EXACT SAME AMOUNTS of calories, fat, carbs, protein, sugar, and sodium as Oreo. No wonder the cookies taste just as good as other leading brands. WhoNu cookies are just your generic store cookie, injected with vitamins.

Ingredients: The way the cookie crumbles
A healthy cookie presumably would contain whole grains, oats, low sugar. Let's check the WhoNu chocolate sandwich cookie’s ingredient list. Per FDA requirements, a product’s ingredients must be “listed in order of predominance, with the ingredients used in the greatest amount first, followed in descending order by those in smaller amounts.” The first ingredient listed is sugar. Oh boy, not off to a good start. Next up we have wheat flour (aka refined flour that lost all its minerals, vitamins, fiber in processing). I’m seeing some hydrogenated oils (which is code for heart-killing trans fat). Artificial flavors (these are basically a russian roulette of cancer-causing chemicals). Polydextrose (another form of sugar).

Btw, the ingredient list is not on their website. If they are so proud of their product, why hide the ingredient list? Oreos doesn't hide theirs. Fret not, to sleuth out the details, I bought a box o’ WhoNu cookies - clearly for research purposes, you understand. And then I ate the box, again, research.
Taste test
They tasted exactly like any other delicious cookie because, as we've seen, it is the exact same recipe. Just vitamin-infused. You are better off eating a real dessert, and then popping a multivitamin.

I hereby knight you, Royal Douche Bag Poser
WhoNu banks on marketing ploys to mislead the public. Grocery aisles are confusing enough, without having to look out for trickster products. Parents are thinking they are doing good by their kids when they are actually giving them highly processed food, writes blogger Karen Banan. "All those parents are probably playing up the vitamin angle when giving them to their kids, who will then learn to equate cookies with healthy food."

The occasional indulgence is fine. But we deserve clarity: Knowing the difference between a healthy and an unhealthy snack. WhoNu blurs the lines. Don't fall for the hype. Say HellNo to WhoNu!

Read More

Research-backed tip to Rev up your Metabolism

Cardio - The calorie torching boost that lasts all day!

A 2011 study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that a solid cardio session spurs your body to continue burning calories long AFTER you stop sweating. Ten male cyclists had their metabolic rates measured on a day when they had pedaled as hard as they could on a stationary bike for 45 minutes. Then these same cyclists had their metabolic rates measured on a day without exercise. The finding? They burned an average of 519 calories per cycling session. No surprise there. What IS surprising is that they burned 190 more calories in the 14 hours following their workout, than they would have otherwise on a couch potato day. Talk about getting bang for your buck. Cardio's the gift that keeps on giving. Er, burning.

Study author Dr. David Nieman, a professor of exercise science at Appalachian State University, suggests "if you do just two to three vigorous bouts of exercise (sweat-inducing) per week for 45 minutes, you could lose a pound of fat every two weeks from the combination of calories expended during exercise plus what you burn afterward." Cooool. Well, actually, hot. Cuz y'know, you have to sweat. That was a lame joke. I'm gonna go now.

Read More