I've never heard of the chain of restaurants named Max, probably because I live here in the U.S. The Swedish chain is one of the vital ingredients in the mission taken on by a guy named Johan, who has lost a lot of weight eating food from the chain (and exercising!) and is trying to lose even more (there's a few days left in his 90 day experiment to lose 20 kg - I have no idea how much 20 kg is. Readers?).

The blog's name is MinimizeMe, a takeoff on Morgan Spurlock's SuperSize Me movie, where he ate nothing but McDonald's food for a month and ruined his health (though I have serious problems with the way he did it). Max Restaurants are actually known for trying to get people to eat healthier.

[via The Grinder]

That's the word from Fox News Channel Chief White House Correpsondent Bret Baier, who talks about his quest to get back into shape in the new issue of Men's Health.

Some might already be aware of the blog that Baier has been keeping for the past few months. In the Men's Health piece, Baier's battle is chronicled, but there are a ton of tips and tricks in there too for people who want to get into shape, especially busy travelers like Baier. Some of the "tips from the road:" Forget about the menu (decide what you want before you see all the options), invite a new client to dinner (studies show we eat less in front of strangers), and make sure you check out your hotel and the area to see where the best gyms are.

He says it's hard to eat well when the food on Air Force One is so good, but he's had success. He lost 20 pounds in 8 weeks.

We've heard this for years about all kinds of black and green teas - not just Oolong - but now there seems to be even more medical evidence that it's true: drinking tea can help you lose weight.

Not to get all technical, but it seems that the polyphenol compound in tea enhances the function of fat metabolism, which helps you lose weight. Researchers in China have been studying this for five years, paying special attention to how it affects kids. And Oolong seems to work the best.

I wonder if the obesity-fighting is hurt if you add a lot of milk and sugar?

I've done an extensive survey of all of the information about weight loss that you can find on the shelves of Border's and Barnes & Noble, and here are the results.

It seems as if the best way to lose weight and get in shape is a combo of the following: eating a lot of carbs, eating a lot of fat, cutting carbs out completely, drinking a lot of water, not eating any "white" foods at night like bread, rice, and pasta, eating just grapefruit, eating your meals in a mixed-up fashion (lunch for dinner, breakfast for lunch, etc), not eating after 8pm, eating a lot of soups, cutting out all candy, cakes, and processed foods, avoiding diet drinks, eating a Subway sub a couple of times a week, eating foods according to your blood type, eating foods according to color, eating a lot of fiber, training your brain to think like a thin person, eating like they do in France, eating like they do in China, not counting calories, making sure you count calories, taking vitamins and supplements, become a vegan, eating more meat, eat a lot of apples, eating only raw foods, and joining one of the weight loss organizations such as Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig.

If you follow the above rules, you should get in shape very quickly. You're welcome.

So, it's the first week of January and you're still feeling a little bloated from all the egg nog, stuffing, and booze you had over the holidays. I hear ya. And you made your New Year's resolution to "really eat better this year!" and "I'm gonna get in shape!" Maybe whole grains can help you.

The Boston Globe has the scoop on how brown rice, bulgur, and quinoa can help you get your waistline back (not to mention giving you a nice base to center a meal around). You can simmer the brown rice for 45 minutes if you have the time, and maybe have a casserole of winter veggies cooking at the same time. The bulger isn't as easy, since you have to toast it a little in oil, then add chicken or vegetable stock. (The authors of the piece serves it with a cauliflower in a curried tomato-onion sauce dish, but I'm not going near cauliflower). 

The quinoa? Doesn't taste like anything unless you toast it like the bulgur, and serve it with something saucy.  

The secret to weight loss? Grapefruits. Eliminating white sugar. Raw foods. Try again: how about counting calories?

The oldest and tired-est of all weight loss programs, the trusty calorie counter, is the way to go, says nutritionist LouAnn Frisch, interviewed in yesterday's Oregonian. "I don't care what the diet says; weight loss comes down to counting calories. If you want to lose a pound a week, subtract 500 calories from what it takes to maintain your current weight." Multiply your weight, in pounds, by 13, and you'll get the maintenance number.

Good thing I don't want to lose weight - I'd be only eating 1,100 calories a day. That's five slices of Milton's Whole Grain Bread, four eggs, and a bowl of low-fat split pea soup (according to Frisch's recommendations). I wouldn't even have room for milk in my coffee.