Earlier this month, a new study showed fewer schools are selling snacks and drinks like candy and soda. Now, a panel recommends the government make healthy changes to school meals, even though it will increase costs. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) says as obesity continues to rise, breakfast and lunch at schools should be lower in calories, and have more fruits, vegetables and whole grains to help kids adapt better eating habits. The IOM says the changes could increase the cost of breakfast by as much as 25 percent and lunch by 9 percent.

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Here’s a great way a produce truck is Making a Healthy Difference in a Detroit community. According to the story on MSNBC, the neighborhood has 26 liquor stores but only one grocery store, so a community group is peddling fresh fruits and vegetables like ice cream. Five days a week, the Peaches & Greens truck goes up and down the streets, bringing affordable produce to those who can’t make it to grocery chains in the suburbs. Great idea, huh?

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This summer, I tried yellow tomatoes for the first time. What new fruits and/or veggies have you tried lately?

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Need new ideas on how to fight fat? Want to share your tips and tricks with others? Stop by the FatFighterTV Video Forum – all the details here.
This week’s featured video from the forum is from the inspirational, Roni, from Roni’s Weigh and Green Lite Bites. She lost 70 pounds and has kept it off for three years now (see how she did it here). And check out her video featuring one of the ways she keeps active – adorable!

Want to join in the fun? It’s easy! All you have to do is make a short video (like 30 seconds or less) that answers the question, How do YOU fight fat? Show us one healthy thing you do to lose/maintain your weight – no fads, no quick fixes, nothing illegal. But you can make it funny if you want – even adding a punch or a kick is cool, since it is about fighting and all!

Just upload the video over here. I will approve it and let you know when you will be featured.

Let’s all help each other fight fat… and have fun!

Oh, and you can put the widget below on your website, Facebook page, or wherever else you may hang. Just click on “Steal this!

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• How do YOU fight fat?

Need new ideas on how to fight fat? Want to share your tips and tricks with others? Stop by the FatFighterTV Video Forum – all the details here.

This week’s featured video from the forum is from the lovely and oh-so-talented, MizFit. She’s got the right idea – she turns WORKouts into PLAYouts. Check out her video here. And get new ideas on how to get moving at her blog here.

Want to join in the fun? It’s easy! All you have to do is make a short video (like 30 seconds or less) that answers the question, How do YOU fight fat? Show us one healthy thing you do to lose/maintain your weight – no fads, no quick fixes, nothing illegal. But you can make it funny if you want – even adding a punch or a kick is cool, since it is about fighting and all!

Just upload the video over here. I will approve it and let you know when you will be featured.

Let’s all help each other fight fat… and have fun!

Oh, and you can put the widget below on your website, Facebook page, or wherever else you may hang. Just click on “Steal this!”

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• How do YOU fight fat? (Starring workout mommy)
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• How do YOU fight fat?

You’ve probably heard how a Mediterranean-style diet can be good for your heart. Now a new report in the Archives of Neurology finds eating a diet filled with vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, and fish – foods common in the Mediterranean-style diet – is also good for the brain and may help prevent dementia.

Want more News Nuggets? Follow me on Twitter!

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Need new ideas on how to fight fat? Want to share your tips and tricks with others? Stop by the FatFighterTV Video Forum – all the details here.

Every week, we feature a different video from the forum. This week, it’s all about my fellow fitness blogging pal, workout mommy. She just happens to have the same problem I have – the dreaded sweet tooth! But since she’s getting in shape for a trip to Florida (I’m so jealous!) she is trying to fight it! Check out her video here. And get motivated to move it at her blog here.

Want to join in the fun? It’s easy! All you have to do is make a short video (like 30 seconds or less) that answers the question, How do YOU fight fat? Show us one healthy thing you do to lose/maintain your weight – no fads, no quick fixes, nothing illegal. But you can make it funny if you want – even adding a punch or a kick is cool, since it is about fighting and all!

Just upload the video over here. I will approve it and let you know when you will be featured.

Let’s all help each other fight fat… and have fun!

Oh, and you can put the widget below on your website, Facebook page, or wherever else you may hang. Just click on “Steal this!”

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*Note to self* – eat more vegetables, nuts, and fish. And now is a good time to do it. A new report says if you stick closely to a Mediterranean-style diet, it dramatically reduces your risk of cancer, heart disease, and other major chronic illnesses.

The diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, grains, and healthy fats like olive oil and it’s low in red meat, dairy products and alcohol. It also includes, nuts, beans, and seeds.

Scientists analyzed the results of 12 major studies that looked at more than 1.5 million people. They found the chance of developing all types of cancer was six percent lower in those who followed the Mediterranean diet, being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease went down 13-percent, and the likelihood of dying overall dropped nine percent.

The study is published on bmj.com

I tend to eat a lot of the foods in the Mediterranean diet, but I often have chicken and turkey too… and of course, the “occasional” gourmet chocolate. How about you – what’s your eating style?

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She’s so dedicated to changing food in our schools that she got the leading role in a movie about the actions she’s taking.

Meet Dr. Susan Rubin. As a parent, she got involved with traditional programs in public schools to try to bring in healthier food options. Years later, she says all she got was frustrated by all the bureaucracy. So she started the nonprofit group, Better School Food (BSF). Here’s how the program is Making a Healthy Difference.

It started with candy wrappers
Yes, candy wrappers were making their way home from school with one of Susan Rubin’s daughters. Rubin was a dentist at the time, and was immediately concerned.

“I was really shocked to find out the stuff was coming out of the cafeteria,” Rubin recalls.

But it wasn’t just about cavities. Rubin was worried about the overall health of her children because of the food schools offered. She wanted to do something about it, so she left dentistry to become a holistic nutritionist. Now she and BSF are reaching out to schools across the country to try to stem childhood obesity.

“Every school has a bureaucratic system and you have to play by those rules,” says Rubin. “So I decided to form this organization outside of the schools because then there were no rules.”

Better School Food’s mission
Like the name says, it’s about better school food – specifically, BSF wants every school-age child to have access to whole foods and fresh fruits and vegetables. Its goal is to also get rid of unhealthy ingredients, like trans fats, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and potentially harmful preservatives, from schools and from kids’ daily diets.

BSF is made up of health professionals, educators, and concerned parents. The group supports pretty much anyone across the country who wants better food in schools – from the cafeterias to the food sold for fundraisers.

“We’re just kind of creating an army of advocates,” Rubin explains. “It’s not just K-12. I really believe we’ve got to hit it earlier in child care centers, pre-schools, and after school programs.”

Back in time
To move forward, Rubin says we have to go back to how things used to be. We went from growing our own foods long ago to buying processed foods, and now there’s a push to eat organic, whole foods again.

Rubin believes a way out of the obesity epidemic is for students to go back to eating foods they’ve grown themselves in school gardens. This lets kids learn about fruits and vegetables by doing, instead of just reading about them in textbooks. She says because they would actually see where their food comes from, they’d be more likely to connect with and want to eat fruits and vegetables they have planted and nurtured themselves.

No More Sweets?
Don’t worry – she’s not saying sweets should be banned. But when you have them, why not have the good stuff made with all natural ingredients?

“My kids eat cookies,” says Rubin. “They make chocolate chip cookies from scratch with the best ingredients. So I’m not saying, never do this. I’m saying, bump up the quality and have less.”

Movement turns into movie
Rubin’s passion caught the attention of filmmaker and mom, Amy Kalafa, who featured BSF in the documentary, Two Angry Moms. Rubin and Kalafa became two angry moms when they saw the poor diets their kids were eating in schools and how it affected their health, behavior, and learning.

“It’s a real story about school food and the challenges and the successes that are out there. So we always joke that Two Angry Moms is the movie and Better School Food is the movement.”

More on Two Angry Moms right here.

How you can get involved
Want to make a difference in your community’s schools? Find out more about what you can do and how BSF can help you along the way.

Making a Healthy Difference
With grim news about the obesity epidemic constantly making headlines, it’s refreshing to know there are people out there working hard to try to reverse the trend. Thanks, Better School Food for Making a Healthy Difference!

Check out all of FFTV’s Making a Healthy Difference honorees here.

If you know of someone you think we should profile, we want to hear from you. Just send us an email at sahar [at] fatfightertv [dot]com

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