Just finished recording the second edition of the Kole Hard Facts show for Indiana Talks. It will probably air on Wednesday, as the first is still in a rotation.
Topics? Gun control, Piers Morgan deportation petition, importing Coca-Cola from Mexico, the fiscal cliff, the Colts make the playoffs, holiday sports TV viewing, sports gambling, NHL's cancelled Winter Classic, and holiday traditions.
A lot for one hour? You bet. It's chock full!
Showing posts with label Coca-Cola. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coca-Cola. Show all posts
Monday, December 24, 2012
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Kole Austerity Program
This is my boring mid-life crisis. No hot cars or wild young blondes for me. Nope- just a plan to lose weight, get fit, and figure out a way to have some fun on the cheap.
Hey, if Italy and Greece can pretend to curtail their irresponsible management of their nations, I can reign in my bad habits for real, me being smaller than a nation. At least so long as I don't look at my waistline.
I'm at 195 lbs, and want to get back to 180. I figure that will be good for at least 2, maybe 3 inches off my waist. I can get there by the first week of January if I limit myself to about 1,650 calories per day. I'm using an online program to monitor progress. If I have to look at the numbers, I'll do a better job of keeping on track than if I wing it.
So, the first thing to go is drinking my calories. I had done a good job of managing this for several years, having been beaten up by Lyme Disease, which got me away from drinking alcohol, and then kidney stones, which got me away from my old friend Coca-Cola. Having not had a major flare-up of Lyme symptoms in better than three years, and not a major stone (some very small ones) in more than five years, I slid off the bandwagon and started first drinking Diet Coke, then regular Coke.
Understand that when I was in my early 20s, and my metabolism was still very high, I used to drink 4 liters of Coke every day. That was good for about 1,600 calories every day. Crap calories, but oh, I loved Coca-Cola so. This time around, nothing nearly so extreme, just three cans a day. Still- an extra 450 or so calories every day at 43 is good for gaining a pound a week without a tradeoff.
So, goodbye Coke. It's been three days without one. The first two days, I thought about it endlessly. It's a silly thing to think about endlessly, really. But I think it's starting to pass.
The other item that needs to be reduced is eating out. Work can be tough in this regard, because I frequently work on the road. It's one thing if you work on the road at one location for 4 or 5 days. You can get a room with a mini-kitchen, go grocery shopping, and make decent food. If you're in a different location day to day, it's way easier to eat out. I can eat a 2,000 calorie meal every meal on the road, easily. That doesn't square too well with the 1,650 calorie-per-day plan.
Eating out and drinking calories is expensive. Knocking off 3 Cokes/day is about a case week, or $7 week. If I make meals at home, I can do it for $2/serving easily, whereas eating out I'm going to average $15/serving. Add the rest of the family to those numbers?
It just comes down to a prior lack of discipline. Laziness. The benefits of changing ways on these two items is obvious. It just means more prep time, and careful selection when eating out. No buffets.
If Italy and Greece can pretend to suck it up and impose discipline, certainly I can do it for real. Nothing to lose but extra weight.
Hey, if Italy and Greece can pretend to curtail their irresponsible management of their nations, I can reign in my bad habits for real, me being smaller than a nation. At least so long as I don't look at my waistline.
I'm at 195 lbs, and want to get back to 180. I figure that will be good for at least 2, maybe 3 inches off my waist. I can get there by the first week of January if I limit myself to about 1,650 calories per day. I'm using an online program to monitor progress. If I have to look at the numbers, I'll do a better job of keeping on track than if I wing it.
So, the first thing to go is drinking my calories. I had done a good job of managing this for several years, having been beaten up by Lyme Disease, which got me away from drinking alcohol, and then kidney stones, which got me away from my old friend Coca-Cola. Having not had a major flare-up of Lyme symptoms in better than three years, and not a major stone (some very small ones) in more than five years, I slid off the bandwagon and started first drinking Diet Coke, then regular Coke.
Understand that when I was in my early 20s, and my metabolism was still very high, I used to drink 4 liters of Coke every day. That was good for about 1,600 calories every day. Crap calories, but oh, I loved Coca-Cola so. This time around, nothing nearly so extreme, just three cans a day. Still- an extra 450 or so calories every day at 43 is good for gaining a pound a week without a tradeoff.
So, goodbye Coke. It's been three days without one. The first two days, I thought about it endlessly. It's a silly thing to think about endlessly, really. But I think it's starting to pass.
The other item that needs to be reduced is eating out. Work can be tough in this regard, because I frequently work on the road. It's one thing if you work on the road at one location for 4 or 5 days. You can get a room with a mini-kitchen, go grocery shopping, and make decent food. If you're in a different location day to day, it's way easier to eat out. I can eat a 2,000 calorie meal every meal on the road, easily. That doesn't square too well with the 1,650 calorie-per-day plan.
Eating out and drinking calories is expensive. Knocking off 3 Cokes/day is about a case week, or $7 week. If I make meals at home, I can do it for $2/serving easily, whereas eating out I'm going to average $15/serving. Add the rest of the family to those numbers?
It just comes down to a prior lack of discipline. Laziness. The benefits of changing ways on these two items is obvious. It just means more prep time, and careful selection when eating out. No buffets.
If Italy and Greece can pretend to suck it up and impose discipline, certainly I can do it for real. Nothing to lose but extra weight.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Hooray, Pepsi!
I've never been a big fan of Pepsi, as I was raised in a Coke household. I like Coke better because it's not as sweet as Pepsi. I'm sweet enough already, thank you.
So, this post may seem ironic, because I'm celebrating PepsiCo's "new" product line, their Throwbacks: Pepsi & Mountain Dew. Throwback? They're made with sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. From an AgWeek report:
I've never been a big fan of Pepsi, as I was raised in a Coke household. I like Coke better because it's not as sweet as Pepsi. I'm sweet enough already, thank you.
So, this post may seem ironic, because I'm celebrating PepsiCo's "new" product line, their Throwbacks: Pepsi & Mountain Dew. Throwback? They're made with sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. From an AgWeek report:
FARGO, N.D. - A trial marketing campaign with sugar-containing soda pop manufacturer Pepsi called Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback.
That’s good news for the sugar industry, says David Berg, president and chief executive officer of American Crystal Sugar Co.
“We’ve known this is coming for some time, but the brands are on store shelves now,” Berg says. The product is available in Fargo in single 20-ounce bottles and Berg’s sources tell him 12-packs of 12-ounce cans will be on local shelves by May 1. The campaign is being supported by radio advertising.
Bert says trade publications say the campaign is an eight-week trial.
No need to wait! I bought a 12-pack of Pepsi Throwback at the Target store in Fishers. If it's here, it's probably at your grocer too.
I go out of my way for sodas made with sugar. I sometimes get a Coke at the Mexican grocer, because they make it with sugar in Mexico. Passover is a good time to get Coke, because the sugar version is Kosher. I know the stores that have A&W root beer in the bottle, made with sugar (For instance, there is a Marathon off Exit 36 on I-65, that has A&W and Sunkist. When in Cleveland, I go to the Marc's stores. Etc.). So, having a sugar Pepsi in mass production, even if only for eight weeks, is sweet news indeed.
I go out of my way for sodas made with sugar. I sometimes get a Coke at the Mexican grocer, because they make it with sugar in Mexico. Passover is a good time to get Coke, because the sugar version is Kosher. I know the stores that have A&W root beer in the bottle, made with sugar (For instance, there is a Marathon off Exit 36 on I-65, that has A&W and Sunkist. When in Cleveland, I go to the Marc's stores. Etc.). So, having a sugar Pepsi in mass production, even if only for eight weeks, is sweet news indeed.
Sodas I savor. They have sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.
The sweetening of drinks in the US is a result of politics. Sugar flat out tastes better than HFCS, but because there are tariffs on imported sugar making it artifically more expensive than it could be, HFCS is generally used instead, because its' price is artificially lower thanks to corn subsidies.
This Wikipedia link is a good springboard for sugar/HFCS reading.
For those who wonder what the fuss is in terms of drinking the stuff, here's your chance to find out. Line up a regular Pepsi with a Throwback and taste test them. The sugar sweetness is far less sticky in the mouth, and leaves me less thirsty than when I started. Drinking an HFCS drink leaves me thirstier than before drinking!
Hey Coca-Cola? You paying attention?
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