Wow. What’s next? Matt McClellan posted some pretty impressive numbers eating a healthy slice of pizza every 3 hours and nothing else but water. Read on for video and details.

In just thirty days here were Matt’s results;

• Weight- 203 pounds to 179 pounds
• Bloood Pressure- 140/90 to 118/80
• Cholesterol- 243 to 157
• Biceps- 15 inches to 14 inches
• Chest- 42 inches to 43 inches
• Waist- 38 inches to 33 1?2 inches
• Hips- 42 inches to 39 inches
• Body Fat -19 percent to 9 percent
• BMI- 26.9 percent to 23.6 percent

Pizza Diet Essentials

Matt ate nothing but pizza for 30 days which consisted of 8 slices consumed over a 12 hour period. His first slice was at 9am and his last slice was at 9pm for a total of 2500 Calories from the pizza.

The pizza that he ate was made with skim milk cheese and included healthy toppings such as chicken, broccoli, avocado, pineapple, onions, peppers, and mushrooms. Sorry, meat lovers wasn’t on the menu.

Matt also increased his exercise level to 60 minutes a day alternating between cardio and weight training. Also, Matt didn’t change his habit of having some soda, energy drinks, or alcohol each day because he wanted to prove that pizza alone could be the healthy factor not cutting out unhealthy beverages.

Summary

With the pizza diet Matt proved that pizza can be part of a healthy diet if moderation and wise topping choices are selected. He believes that the key to any diet is portion control and that’s basically what his pizza diet is, a way to enjoy a great food, but not eat the whole pie in one go.

I suspect even greater health benefits could be achieved by cutting out the soda or energy drinks and making the pizza with whole wheat crust.

You can read about his whole journey at Tourdepizza.com

They’re baack…Those  mad scientists at EepyBird who shocked the world with those majestic Coca-Cola and Mentos fountains are at it again. They’ve moved on to much more functional projects, namely a Coke Zero & Mentos Rocket Car. Check the video after the jump.

This has been around for some time but I just was introduced to it today. From HuffPo:

In the late 1960s, psychologist Walter Mischel performed a series of tests on preschoolers referred to as The Marshmallow Tests. Mischel would give a child a single marshmallow, then leave him or her alone in the room with it. Before he departed, he’d make each kid an offer: if they wanted to, they could eat it immediately — but if they waited for him to return, they’d get two marshmallows. The tests were designed to examine willpower and the mental processes behind delayed gratification. Watching kids go through the experiment can be poignant… and adorable. See the video below.

Remember those guys who a couple years ago paired Mentos with various versions of Coca-Cola to create some beautiful geysers? They’re at it again. Check out the trailer video below.

Heidi Kenney’s downloadable Dirty Dozen Cheat Sheet gives a quick at-a-glance look at whether or not to buy organic. There are some fruits and vegetables that have higher treatments with pesticides and this cheat shet will help you decide what is worth/not worth spending the extra $ on.

From her site:

We have been trying to buy as many organic fruits and vegetables as we can, but the area we live in sometimes makes it a bit of a challenge. Our local grocery store has just started to carry a few organic items like strawberries and potatoes, so I almost always drive the 15-20 miles outside our town to get groceries elsewhere. Please keep in mind I do try and limit this trip to every other week, run other errands that are in the same area etc. It is not as if I say “oh we need organic strawberries, let me drive 15 miles for them”

That being said I wanted a handy way to remember the “dirty dozen” (or foods with the highest pesticide residue which was measured after washing and or peeling) and the “clean fifteen” (or foods with the lowest or no pesticide residue) Because sometimes I can’t find something organically and need to decide if I am still going to buy an onion or not You can find lots of info on the tests etc by googling “dirty dozen organic”.

I know this won’t pertain to everyone, but personally it is something I really care about when I am going to buy produce. So I made this handy little card to keep in my wallet. It is about the size of a business card. I just printed it out, cut the card out of the gray area, folded it in half, and had it laminated. I also realize that organic foods can be more expensive, but some times they are not, or its a small amount like .25 You can look for sales, etc. Plus with this list you can maybe just focus on the produce with higher pesticide residue All in all I just hope this little card can be handy for some of my readers too. And just another thought too is to try and find/support a local organic CSA.

You can download the printable file here. Please remember this is for personal use only

Edited to add: Hey guys I have some great links from Amy
Heidi, that’s a super cute interpretation of our guide. I’m from Environmental Working Group — the organization that makes the original Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists — and just wanted to give the link to the original version (www.foodnews.org) where you can see the full list (we rank 47 different types of produce) and get answered any questions you might have. And we do have an iphone app, which you can download there. Cheers, Amy

My super sister Emily had her company, I Heart Pies, featured on NBC Los Angeles’ Food Blog.

Way to go Emily!

Feel comforted knowing that there is a National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. Really. From their site:

The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council is a project of the American Meat Institute and is funded by contributions from hot dog and sausage manufacturers and those who supply them with equipment, ingredients and services.

Established in 1994, the Council conducts scientific research to benefit hot dog and sausage manufacturers. The Council also serves as an information resource to consumers and media on questions related to quality, safety, nutrition and preparation of hot dogs and sausages.

Kishu Binchotan

Interesting, healthy and cheaper (and way more environmentally friendly) than Brita replacement filters. Sort of Coal produces (imports?) this product and you can get it through Design Within Reach.

From their site:

While this Coal Water Purifier (2006) appears black, it’s actually white charcoal, made from Japanese oak. The complex process for making white charcoal results in a hard glass-like material that’s clean to the touch (a small amount of residue is normal before its been washed) and naturally purifies water. Used in Asia for generations, Kishu Binchotan white charcoal absorbs chlorine, unpleasant tastes and odors while also infusing the water with natural minerals. Made in Japan.

* Kishu Binchotan is the best grade of white charcoal for purifying water.
* CO2 friendly: at the end of its useful life (approx 3 months), crush this charcoal and mix it with soil so plants can benefit from it.
* Purifies water without the use of chemicals.

THIS was delicious. Made it the other night. No pictures…yet. I even got a great camera to take pictures with (courtesy Liz and Doug) and can’t even think of how I totally forgot to take a few snaps.