Tag Archives: food

Health

How to stop food rewards for fitness motivation

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Positive reinforcement, such as rewarding yourself with a treat, plays an important role in maintaining motivation and perseverance when it comes to reaching your ultimate goals. These small wins can help you stay on track, research has shown. By dividing one large goal into various smaller ones, each step becomes an achievement.

However, it’s easy to go overboard with rewards that can undermine our goals. Let’s face it, we all want to give into our junk food cravings, and what better a time to indulge than after you’ve just accomplished something healthy? You don’t have to cut out junk food entirely, but knowing how to reward yourself in a way that aligns with your health goals can completely change your approach.

There are plenty of nonfood rewards that will get you pumped about achieving that next step in your plan. So the next time you find yourself leaning toward sugary or salty cravings, consider celebrating with these healthy rewards instead.

When was the last time you’ve set aside time for a quick power nap? Because it can be tricky prioritizing a nap in a busy schedule, try making this a reward for your next achievement.

Brief naps have been shown to improve cognitive performance in some cases. So by giving in to sleep, you may actually be benefiting your work life. Allowing yourself to feel refreshed and energized after a workout aligns with health-related goals, unlike giving into sugary or fatty foods.

Buy a piece of workout gear

Have you been eyeing a certain pair of workout leggings? How about a new workout-style fanny pack? Set an attainable goal for yourself and preselect an affordable piece of gear, and once you reach your target, hit the internet to shop.

Having that new item on your mind while working out may help you stay motivated longer.

Looking good for your next workout also can help you feel better about yourself as you work toward your ultimate goal. Knowing that you’ve earned that piece of clothing or equipment that you’re using will only help you strive for more, taking you one step closer to your next milestone. This reward is a win-win.

Light a candle and read a book

Lighting a candle is a simple act, yet it can be super relaxing and rewarding. After a long day of work and exercise, letting yourself simply sit down with a book and a candle by your side could be just what you need to unwind.

“Me time” usually isn’t prioritized, but it’s a great way to reenergize our minds and bodies.

Mindfulness, which is usually improved during times of relaxation, has been shown to reduce stress and improve quality of life. As part of this reward, try ridding yourself of any negative thoughts and focus only on relaxing. You’ve earned it. (Just be sure to fully extinguish the candle when you’re done.)

Give yourself a free pass to say no

Put yourself first. Is there a chore, errand or social engagement that you’ve been dreading? Allow yourself to say no if you’re truly not feeling up to it. So many of us end up giving into plans due to guilt rather than actual desire. Instead, commit to using this time to exercise.

Get some bath salts and relax

What better way to reward a healthy accomplishment than with a relaxing bath?

There is a strong link between physical and mental health, studies have suggested. Physical activity produces those feel-good chemicals in our brains called endorphins that in turn could help you develop a positive mindset. Regular workouts strengthen that mind-body connection. So by promoting one, it’s likely that you’re promoting the other.

Mental health rewards can motivate you to get in a workout because you’ll be able to relax afterward — which is well needed after a strenuous workout. Rest is essential in helping your body recover from strength training and cardiovascular exercises and can even help future performance.

Incorporating these five rewards can help you ease away from a food-based reward system. Allowing yourself to indulge in too many processed foods can hurt your progress, leaving you more unmotivated than before.

Instead, celebrate your wins with rewards that help strengthen your mind, body or both.

Stephanie Mansour, host of “Step It Up With Steph” on PBS, is a health and wellness journalist and a consultant and weight loss coach for women.

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World

Hundreds of Iowans donate to father in need of heart transplant

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Hundreds — if not thousands — of people lined up in their cars outside Tumea & Sons Sunday afternoon for a pasta dinner and to support a Des Moines father of three in heart failure.Some said they waited an hour and a half in the line that stretch down Indianola Avenue. “A couple hours but it’s for a good cause, so it’s the least we can do,” said Brendin Himan, a friend of Bachman, as he sat in his parked car at the intersection of Indianola Avenue and Gray Street. “It almost feels like I’m already winning! I’m on like victory lane right now,” Bachman said, knowing the finish line is much further down the road.His doctors can only guarantee him 3 more weeks, and the earliest he can be put on a transplant list is May. But Bachman, along with everyone else in line, is more than determined to see him then.”Now I’m being told I have weeks left, and in my heart, as bad as it is, I feel like I’m going to be here,” he said.”Him knowing he has this big army of people behind him… that’s a big help! I think that gives everybody hope especially Dustin,” Bachman’s sister, Mandi Bidwell said. As his friends and family continued to serve out the delicious pasta dinners, they choose to see the good that can come out of a horrible situation.They choose to see hope — not just for Bachman — but for anyone going through a crisis who has the support of a community like Des Moines’ Southside.”I still feel like I’m the blessed one… I know that probably doesn’t make any sense but… this right here truly is a great day. It makes my heart complete.”For information about how to donate to Bachman’s family, click here.

DES MOINES, Iowa —

Hundreds — if not thousands — of people lined up in their cars outside Tumea & Sons Sunday afternoon for a pasta dinner and to support a Des Moines father of three in heart failure.

Some said they waited an hour and a half in the line that stretch down Indianola Avenue.

“A couple hours but it’s for a good cause, so it’s the least we can do,” said Brendin Himan, a friend of Bachman, as he sat in his parked car at the intersection of Indianola Avenue and Gray Street.

“It almost feels like I’m already winning! I’m on like victory lane right now,” Bachman said, knowing the finish line is much further down the road.

His doctors can only guarantee him 3 more weeks, and the earliest he can be put on a transplant list is May. But Bachman, along with everyone else in line, is more than determined to see him then.

“Now I’m being told I have weeks left, and in my heart, as bad as it is, I feel like I’m going to be here,” he said.

“Him knowing he has this big army of people behind him… that’s a big help! I think that gives everybody hope especially Dustin,” Bachman’s sister, Mandi Bidwell said.

As his friends and family continued to serve out the delicious pasta dinners, they choose to see the good that can come out of a horrible situation.

They choose to see hope — not just for Bachman — but for anyone going through a crisis who has the support of a community like Des Moines’ Southside.

“I still feel like I’m the blessed one… I know that probably doesn’t make any sense but… this right here truly is a great day. It makes my heart complete.”

For information about how to donate to Bachman’s family, click here.

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Business

Starbucks, Chipotle and Chick-fil-A: Here’s what’s new in fast food

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Some chains tried their best to slim down, while others did the exact opposite. The flurry of chicken sandwich additions are notable because several chains have eliminated a number of items over the past year to shed complexity and costs.
However, with a new year kicking off and sales on the rise once again, restaurants are doing all they can to sustain the growth after a bleak 2020.

As if there weren’t enough options for a basic fried chicken sandwich, Boston Market is here to up the ante.

The Nashville Hot Crispy Chicken Sandwich is now being sold for a limited time, with a confident company saying that the “chicken sandwich wars are over.” It gets its spiciness from a hot sauce that “perfectly blends cayenne pepper and chili powder with sugar, garlic and a handful of secret spices.”

Chick-fil-A

The creator of the fried chicken sandwich is changing things up with a grilled version. The Grilled Spicy Chicken Deluxe Sandwich is its first new chicken sandwich in nearly two years and has its own specially created Cilantro Lime Sauce.

“We know guests are looking to add more variety to their meals, especially after a year where new food experiences were limited,” said Leslie Neslage, director of menu and packaging at Chick-fil-A, in an acknowledgment that last year’s start of the pandemic complicated menu debuts.

Chipotle

Chipotle (CMG) added cauliflower rice to its menu as customers’ tastes keep shifting toward healthier options, including low-carb or more plant-based alternatives. The rice alternative, which costs $2 extra, was tested last summer before making its nationwide debut earlier this month.

Starbucks

Despite the frigid temperatures, cold drinks continue to be a success for the coffee chain. Starbucks (SBUX) said sales of the icy concoctions have grown 45% over the past four years, which has prompted it to unveil another cold drink.

This month, the Honey Almondmilk Cold Brew, was added to menus — a new drink that also capitalizes on the growth of non-dairy milks.

Pizza Hut

The pizza chain added two new items this month: A crusty ring of cheese-stuffed dough called the Nothing But Stuffed Crust and a Detroit-style pizza.

Competition among big chains has been fierce during the pandemic, which has fueled a surge in pizza demand from Americans who are spending more time at home and avoiding dine-in restaurants. Pizza Hut hopes the new menu items sustain last year’s growth, a trend that’s likely to continue.

“What we saw in 2020 was that many of these pizza delivery guys had a big boom in their sales because there was nowhere else to go,” Peter Saleh, a restaurant analyst with research firm BTIG, previously told CNN Business. He predicts pizza sales will remain healthy in 2021 as the “environment for dining continues to be challenged.”

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US

Six victims identified after deadly nitrogen leak at Georgia food processing plant

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Authorities on Friday released the names of the six people who were killed after liquid nitrogen leaked at a Georgia food processing plant Thursday.

The dead, all employees of Foundation Food Group in Gainesville, were identified as Jose DeJesus Elias-Cabrera, 45; Corey Alan Murphy, 35; Nelly Perez-Rafael, 28; Saulo Suarez-Bernal, 41; Victor Vellez, 38; and Edgar Vera-Garcia, 28, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office announced.

Four of the victims lived in Gainesville, while Murphy and Suarez-Bernal were from the nearby towns of Clermont and Dawsonville, respectively. Perez-Rafael was the only woman among the victims.

There was no immediate cause of death listed for the six, pending autopsies performed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the sheriff said.

The cause of Thursday’s deadly workplace incident, about 60 miles northeast of Atlanta, is being investigated by the sheriff’s office, the fire department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, officials said.

Five of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene, according to authorities. The sixth victim, one of 12 people rushed to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, died at the hospital.

Four people were still there by midday Friday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Three were in critical condition and one was listed as fair, according to the official.

While Foundation Food Group Vice President Nicholas Ancrum declined to discuss the cause of the accident in detail on Thursday, he said “preliminary indications are that a nitrogen line ruptured inside the facility.”

Poultry plants use refrigeration systems that often include liquid nitrogen, which vaporizes into an odorless gas capable of displacing oxygen when leaked.

Since 2017, OSHA has inspected or investigated complaints involving the Gainesville plant, which has been operated by Foundation Food Group and Prime Pak Foods Inc., records showed.

  • OSHA opened a Dec. 10, 2020, safety probe that remains active and available records don’t detail the issues at hand.
  • A May 26 referral, involving a potential amputation threat, was closed on Nov. 20 with no apparent penalties, records showed.
  • Prime Pak agreed to pay $3,750 on Oct. 17, 2019, for failure to provide proper eye and face protection to workers.
  • The company in 2018 agreed to settle with OSHA for $12,548 over a July 6, 2017, incident in which an employee lost a pinky and ring fingers when he “removed the guard from the cuber to clear a jam and had his left hand pulled into it,” according to OSHA records.
  • Prime Pak was originally fined $25,097 but ultimately didn’t have to pay OSHA for an April 6, 2017, incident when an employee lost at least three fingers in a meat-mixer accident, records showed.

A Foundation Food Group spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.

Newly elected U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who courted Latino voters in his upset victory earlier this month, pledged to “help the workers, their families, and the Gainesville community heal.”

“My prayers and sympathies are with the families of those who lost loved ones and the people who were harmed today in this awful incident,” he said in a statement Thursday night.

David K. Li

David K. Li is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.

Suzanne Gamboa contributed.



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Business

PepsiCo and Beyond Meat launch poorly named joint venture for new plant-based food and drinks – TechCrunch

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PepsiCo, the planetary purveyor of sugary drinks, greasy chips, and (weirdly) oatmeal, hummus, and gazpacho(?) is partnering with Beyond Meat, the publicly traded plant-based protein provider, on a poorly named joint venture to hawk new plant-based food and beverages to consumers.

The PLANeT Partnership (which was clearly branded by the same genius behind the comic sans font), will combine Beyond Meat’s skills with protein prestidigitation and PepsiCo’s marketing and manufacturing savvy to flood the global market with new snacks and drinks, the two companies said.

Neither company disclosed any financial terms and other pesky details around who, what, where, and when, except to say that the the joint venture operations will be managed through the newly created PLANeT Partnership.

(If the companies put as much effort into running the business as they did with naming and branding it, Impossible Foods shouldn’t have much to worry about…. The capitalization and branding of this thing is an affront to the English language is all I’m saying.)

“Plant-based proteins represent an exciting growth opportunity for us, a new frontier in our efforts to build a more sustainable food system and be a positive force for people and the planet, while meeting consumer demand for an expanded portfolio of more nutritious products,” said Ram Krishnan, PepsiCo Global Chief Commercial Officer, in a statement.

In the announcement touting the new JV, PepsiCo referred to its storied history of snack innovation including baked LAY’S chips, Sabra Snack Cups, Alvalle ready-to-drink gazpacho, Quaker Breakfast flats and Gatorade Juiced.

The company has also acquired BFY Brands, which makes PopCorners; SodaStream, which makes… well… SodaStreams… and BareSnacks, which makes baked fruit and vegetable chips.

The deal is the latest really really big partnership for Beyond Meat and follows an oddly botched announcement with McDonald’s that the two companies would be collaborating on new menu items.

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Entertainment

Food Network’s ‘Worst Cooks in America’ season cut after winner charged with child murder

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The Food Network appeared to cut the latest season of its culinary competition series “Worst Cooks In America” after the winner was charged with homicide and child abuse.

South Carolina woman Ariel Robinson, 29, a former teacher, and her husband, Jerry Robinson, 34, were charged in the death of their adopted 3-year-old daughter and are facing charges of homicide by child abuse, according to FOX Carolina.

South Carolina woman Ariel Robinson, 29, has been charged in the death of her adopted 3-year-old daughter.
((Simpsonville Police))

Police responded last Thursday to a home in Simpsonville, S.C., after getting a call about an unresponsive child who was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital, the outlet reported.

The child was identified by the Greenville County Coroner’s office as 3-year-old Victoria Rose Smith and died as a result of blunt force injuries, according to a medical examination.

FOOD NETWORK PULLS EPISODES OF INVOLVING CHEF  FOLLOWING ACCUSATIONS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE 

Robinson, who appeared on the 20th season of “Worst Cooks in America,” had won $25,000 upon winning the competition, which pits amateur cooks against each other in a series of cooking challenges overseen by celebrity chefs, Deadline reported. Episodes of her season are no longer available to stream on Food Network’s online platforms, including Discovery+, Hulu and YouTube.

The reality competition, now in its 21st season, is hosted by chef and Food Network personality Anne Burrel. Fellow chef and restaurateur Alex Guarnaschelli co-hosted the 20th season. Carla Hall acts as co-host of the current season.

Carla Hall and Anne Burrell host the current season of “Worst Cooks in America.”
(Food Network)

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The Food Network did not immediately return a Fox News request for comment. The child’s death is still under investigation.

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US

Biden to sign 2 executive orders aimed at pandemic-related food assistance, worker needs

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President Biden will sign a pair of executive orders on Friday aimed at helping American families and small businesses experiencing financial struggles during the coronavirus pandemic.

The first executive order will attempt to maximize the federal government’s existing resources to support families, with an emphasis on providing food assistance to low-income families.

Biden will ask the Department of Agriculture to increase current pandemic-related electronic benefit transfers (EBTs) by 15% and streamline the process through which Americans claim benefits. Additionally, Biden will ask the USDA to increase its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) allotments for low-income families.

BIDEN SIGNS 17 EXECUTIVE ORDERS REVERSING TRUMP POLICIES, RESTORING OBAMA-ERA PROGRAMS

The first order clarifies that Americans have the right to retain their food assistance benefits if they refuse a job opportunity that carries a risk to their health. It contains additional assistance measures aimed at military veterans and calls for the establishment of an interagency structure to coordinate benefit programs for Americans in need.

The second executive order will seek to provide improved protections and benefits for federal workers during the pandemic.

Biden will direct his administration to begin work on his pledge to deliver a $15 minimum wage and emergency paid leave to federal workers within his first 100 days in office. The work will include a review of which agencies currently pay less than $15 per hour and make recommendations about how best to implement the wage hike.

The order will strengthen collective bargaining power for federal workers, among other initiatives meant to ensure they receive proper benefits, the new administration claimed.

Biden officials said the orders are meant to serve as placeholders until Congress passes another coronavirus stimulus package.

“These actions are not a substitute for comprehensive legislative relief of the form that is in the American rescue plan, but they will provide a critical lifeline to millions of American families,” National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said during a news briefing. “And that’s why the President is going to act quickly on these steps.”

Earlier this month, Biden outlined a $1.9 trillion relief package for consideration in Congress, where the Democrats hold effective majorities in both chambers. The package includes $1,400 direct payments to Americans, enhanced unemployment benefits and federal aid to state and local governments, among other measures.

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Republicans leaders have pushed for “targeted” relief focused on providing aid to small businesses and shielding workplaces from liability during the pandemic. Meanwhile, progressive Democrats have argued Biden’s proposal doesn’t go far enough to address the country’s economic needs and should include $2,000 payments.

The executive orders were the latest in a sweeping slate of actions Biden has taken since entering the Oval Office on Wednesday. The president signed 17 orders on his first day in office and another 10 on Thursday that focused on the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic.

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