Introducing Buck for a Bike!

I'm proud to help announce the newest, coolest campaign by Turning Wheels, the VMC Foundation program that provides brand-new bikes to underprivileged kids. The benefits are so many: The sense of independence and responsibility, the freedom of movement, and the health aspects of riding a bike vs. sitting inside. What's not to love?

Now, it's even easier with Buck for a Bike! The idea is so simple: If everyone in Santa Clara County gave just a dollar, we could buy a bike for pretty much any child that needs one. And if you gave $10, or maybe $100...now we're talking program expansion, bike build clinics - the sky is the limit.

Visit www.buckforabike.org to see some really fun videos, and make your own! The website also makes it easy to share with friends, and to donate what you can.

Oh yeah...when I say I'm proud to HELP announce, that's because local media beat me to it. Take a look here, and support Buck for a Bike!

Giving up your DIET soda...can it make you thinner?

The avid reader of this blog remembers that I gave up my beloved diet sodas a year ago. Today I learned my dear friend Kathleen King has joined me...and she loved her Diet Coke more than I did!

But I hear you: "Sure diet soda isn't GOOD for me, but c'mon...it's not BAD for me, is it?" Well, maybe.

A recent study highlighted in the San Jose Mercury News confirms that diet soda drinkers have much larger waistlines than those that say no to diet (and all) soda.

Reasons given: Some people splurge on calories in their food because they're saving on calories in their drinks. Think Big Mac and super-sized fries with a Diet Coke.

Another factor [the researcher] says plays a role in expanding waistlines is "taste dysfunction." Because artificial sweeteners taste hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than regular sugar, our bodies come to expect sugary foods to be extremely sweet. So we start to seek out more sugar-laden options.

A third explanation is that our bodies are smarter than we think. When we suck down sweet things, our bodies register the sugary taste and wait for the accompanying calories, said Lillian Castillo, a public health dietitian with the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.

Click here to read the full article, which I think misses another key point: Maybe - just maybe - people who drink diet sodas (which clearly aren't good for you) are not as averse to eating other things that - whaddaya know - aren't good for you? Seems logical to me, and I know I am 100% guilty.

But I'm working on it. How about you? Join me in making it a truly soda-free summer!