That's Fit

What's on your top 10 list of I know I shouldn't have it but I want it so badly foods? For me, movie popcorn ranks pretty highly on the roster. It's difficult to go to a show without getting a big bag of salty goodness, the more buttery the better. It's expensive and it probably has a million calories, but once I smell that popcorn smell, I feel like I have to have it, sometimes even when I'm not hungry.

But we know that kind of buttery indulgence is going to cost us in the calories department -- well, if we get butter anyway. Popcorn itself is considered a whole grain, and whole grains are good, right? So, theoretically, if we don't pile on the calories by adding butter, we should be ok. Right?

Butter contains saturated fat, which can raise bad (LDL) cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease. Margarine, specifically the stuff that comes in a stick, contains trans fats, which increase LDL cholesterol and lower healthy (HDL) cholesterol. So what's better -- butter or margarine?

It's best to abandon both options in their pure forms. Choose a soft-tub of vegetable spread instead. Look for trans-fat-free labels, which usually indicate that the product is low in saturated fat too. And if you're looking to cut calories, opt for a tub advertised as reduced fat or light.

We all indulge in 'bad' foods from time to time, but what are the chances that most of us are indulging in bad things most of the time? Pretty high if you live in Britain. Recent studies out of the UK showed that in every region of the country, people were eating more than their recommended daily intake of saturated fat on a regular basis. In more urbanized parts of the country, the average person consumed 20% more saturated fat than they should have, while in more rural parts of the country, they were eating double the amount they should. Yikes.

Why should we care about what they're eating in England? I have a very good feeling that we North Americans aren't far off. Eating too much saturated fat can raise your cholesterol, up your chance of heart disease and shorten your lifespan, among other things.

You should be getting no more than 20 g - 30g of saturated fat a day. Lower your average intake by cutting out processed meats like bacon and sausages and cutting down on how much butter you consume.

Carbs are my weakness, so when I'm at an outdoor event or just walking through a sea of food vendors, I'm drawn to the ones that emit the soft, mouth watering scent of warm bread. A pretzel stand will do nicely. Especially if I can get it with some butter. I know, I know. It's a bad habit, picking up carb-loaded junk food from street vendors. But on the other hand, is a pretzel really that bad? It's not deep-fried, as far as I know. And without butter, it's just some bread with a little salt.

What do you think? Is a pretzel a calorie disaster? Or is it a fairly harmless way to curb cravings?

There was a long-standing regulation in the Canadian province of Quebec prohibiting dairy manufacturers from adding yellow food coloring to margarine, meaning the butter-like spread came in it's natural form -- a so-called unappealing white substance. That is, until a few weeks ago. The regulation was recently lifted and Quebecois are now free to enjoy artificial coloring in their margarine, according to the National Post.

Is this a good thing? On one hand, their margarine looks like margarine does everywhere else in the world -- like butter. But I don't know how I feel about artificial colouring -- I think I'd prefer to see how my food really looks than have chemicals added to make it look good.

What do you think? Is artificial colouring in foods a yay or a nay?

This morning, my kids asked for cinnamon toast. So I made it for them. I used whole wheat bread, light butter with Canola oil, and a few sprinkles of McCormick's cinnamon sugar. My kids gobbled it down, which makes me happy for whole wheat purposes. My husband tends to think the rest of the equation -- the butter and cinnamon sugar -- is crap. I argued with him a bit, not trying to convince him butter and cinnamon sugar are good for our kids, just to let him know that our kids eat pretty darn healthy most days and there are far worse foods they could have ingested, with far more crap packed into them. Then I questioned myself. Then I did some research.

Hungry Girl says in one of her Chew the Right Thing posts that cinnamon sugar is something we ought to fight, not bite. Now she's speaking mostly to us grown-up calorie-counting folks and not to the kids of the world, but here's what she says: "McCormick's Cinnamon Sugar has only 15 calories per teaspoon. So why are we telling you to 'fight it!'? Well, we just don't see why anyone should waste any calories at all on this sweet spice when there is a just-as-good no-cal version available. After all, when you're watching your weight, every single calorie counts. Fifteen calories here, 30 there, another 40 here ... it can all add up." HG doesn't mention sugar in her opinion but clearly, there's sugar in cinnamon sugar.

So what does the Hungry Girl suggest? San Sucre Cinnamon Sugar. It uses Splenda and makes a great sugarless cinnamon sugar blend, she says. No calories in this goodie either. HG's final piece of advice: "Cinnamon helps keep blood sugar levels low, so sprinkle away!"

Got tangles in your favorite necklace? Use a little butter and a needle and see if you can get them out. Probably not, according to this MSNBC video. After this oddball food remedy was tested, the tangles did come out, but it took 20 minutes -- probably not that much easier than using a needle alone.

Food is apparently not for consumption alone. It also works for some of life's little annoyances -- like removing crayon marks from walls and furniture. Just rub on a glob of mayonnaise, let sit for 10 minutes, and wipe off. Hey, it works. This also works: Use a piece of bread and dab it on small pieces of broken glass -- it will pick them up with ease.

How about egg yolk for super shiny hair? Nope. Stick with your usual conditioner. Does milk work for ink stains on shirts? No. How about salt for grease stains? No again.

Two out of six. Not so great in my book. I say save your food for fuel and forget the shot-in-the-dark frustration fixes.

The other day, while hosting over a dozen of my children's playgroup friends here at my house for some outdoor fun....I created a frozen treat guaranteed to fill their little tummies up in a completely nutritious and fun way. Bapaloneo (a weird word my three and five year old children made up) Pops served the purpose I had intended and energized the group for several hours of insanity. Try them this summer.

Fitz's Bapaloneo Pops:

• Cut bananas in half length-wise, and stick a popsicle stick in the flat end.
• Coat the banana with creamy peanut butter.
• Roll the peanut butter coated banana in a bowl of regular cheerios.
• Place pops on a pan covered with freezer paper and then put them in the freezer for an hour or so.

Peanut allergies have become pretty popular. And what causes them remains a bit confusing.

When my now almost three-year-old daughter was a baby, our pediatrician told us the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended peanut consumption be delayed until age three because the allergy was believed to be developed due to repeated exposure at a very young age. But new studies suggest no relation between allergies to peanuts and when a child began eating them. This is what AAP had to say. Since the cause is still clear as mud, study authors recommend more research on the cause of early allergic reactions to peanuts, as well as successful prevention efforts.

Meanwhile, we're still eating sunflower seed butter in our house. This web page touts its similarity to peanut butter in consistency, taste and price and offers a nutritional breakdown (it does contain a bit more sugar than some peanut butters). We started when the pediatrician gave us the nitty gritty on nut allergies and we have no plans to stop. It's really tasty. I like it better than peanut butter. We pick up a couple jars every time we go to Trader Joe's. But it's also available in other local markets.

So until researchers come up with some more news on peanuts, consider sunflower seed butter as a tasty alternative that you don't have to worry about.

Want an easy way to cut a good chunk of calories from your meal when you eat out? Here it is: skip the bread basket. Dinner rolls can have between 100 and 270 calories, and that's not including the butter. Have two or even three of these before your get your entree? You've got a whole meal's worth of calories before dinner. Yikes!

So it should go without saying that if you're trying to cut calories, you should nix the bread. It's easy -- just ask your server not to bring it. Can't live without some pre-meal carbs? Ask for half the bread basket, or better yet, just one or two rolls. And ask that he or she bring you only whole wheat dinner rolls.

Want some tips on how to have your bread (basket) and eat it too? Check out this post from Noshtopia.

I like peanut butter. I like it on crackers, on celery, on apples, anything that takes just a dab of the stuff that I know isn't entirely healthy for me.

I've had many a recommendation that I ditch my usual Jif peanut butter and replace it with something natural in order to make my snacking more health-conscious. Until recently, I hadn't taken any action on these recommendations. But something caused me to pass by my trusty Jif the other day at the grocery store. Something took me right for the natural stuff. And I bought it.

It took some getting used to, my new peanut butter. The consistency, the texture, the taste, the liquid on top, the stirring, the required refrigeration. It's so different my kids knew right away that something was different when I tried to sneak it on their toast one morning. I didn't hook them. But I will. Because my new peanut butter is good. Really good.

If you want to make a snack switch like me -- peanut butter is a good snack because it contributes to fullness and makes you less likely to munch on other foods -- Family Circle magazine recommends these three picks.

• Smucker's Organic Peanut Butter: Available in creamy or crunchy, with no added salt and a bit of honey.

• Santa Cruz Organic: Made with rich Spanish peanuts and available in creamy or crunchy and light or dark roast.

• MaraNatha's Organic No-Stir: There's no messy top oil layer in this one. Easy to spread and very nutty and tasty.

No bones about it: Losing weight is hard work. You're going to have to make some major changes and you're going to have to stick to them. But changing too much too fast is a recipe for disaster, so our advice is to take it slow and start off with some smaller changes.

Diet Blog recently put together a list of easy food swaps you can make that will cut 100 calories from your daily intake. Some examples?

• On your toast, have honey instead of jam and butter.
• On your sandwich, trade mayo for a little bit of light cream cheese.
  
• Instead of having a beer after work, have a glass of wine.
  
• Instead of ordering a cheeseburger, order a plain hamburger.
  

They have plenty of other great swaps -- click here for more info.

I hear it from my kids all the time: "I'm telling!" And now I'm here to tell on one of your maybe favorite treats: Buttery microwave popcorn. I'm sorry to be the one to do it but I must inform you of a potentially harmful chemical found in the artificial butter. It's called Diacetyl.

When tested on rats, Diacetyl -- also used in other snack foods, cheese, and bakery products to enhance aroma and taste -- caused significant damage in airway passages. When officials at Orville Redenbacher were asked about Diacetyl, they reported that the issue centers around workplace exposure, not consumer consumption. They were confident their processes were safe. But one employee in one plant was awarded $20 million for injuries caused by the chemical.

It seems popcorn workers can develop what's called "popcorn workers lung." And while government agencies claim microwave popcorn poses no risk to humans, the FDA has yet to conduct a study on the issue that may be remedied by proper plant ventilation.

If this topic causes you any concern, try opening your bags of popcorn under a vent to release fumes. Or go the old fashioned route and cook your corn over the stove and then add butter. Or forgo the butter altogether. It'll save on chemicals -- and calories too.

Fitzness Fiends is a section devoted to you, the reader! We all have learned so much on our path to becoming more fit, and now it's time to learn from and inspire each other! Fitzness Fiends are constantly working to better themselves. Some are perfect, some are not. All have health on the mind. Please send Fitz your answers to these questions with a photo of yourself. Time for you to be the motivator!

Name: Elizabeth Lienhart

Age: 23

Occupation: Mechanical Engineer

How often do you exercise? Five to seven days a week.

What type of exercise do you do? Spinning, running, kickboxing, weight training, dancing around the house.

What gets you to workout, even when you're feeling lazy? Two piece swim suits and skinny jeans!