I think most people eating at this cafeteria are well aware that green beans are healthier than french fries.

My mother teaches nutrition in med school. It's helped me adjust my expectations (severely) downwards.

Now, it sure doesn't look like that labelling is much use, though.

I conceded her point so that the conversation could stop before I stabbed her hand with a pencil.

I worked with a guy who whined (yes, literally) at me "But how do I lose weight?"

I pointed at the six pack of doughnuts he was having for breakfast and said "You can start by eating something healthier than those for breakfast."

He said "Really? Do I have to?"

Apparently not. And then he went on to have liposuction at age 20. And gain the weight back.

So, you know, other people and their weight goals. Let me stay away.

He said "Really? Do I have to?"

Wow. That's some aggressive ignorance of basic facts.

It stopped raining and the sun is out. I feel better about today already.

I conceded her point so that the conversation could stop before I stabbed her hand with a pencil.

This is the same co-worker who, when she later got pregnant, said she wasn't getting the flu vaccine because she didn't want to give her baby autism.

I didn't even know where to start with that one, including the fact that we're a HEALTHCARE PUBLISHER. I was going to tell her she got the vaccine (and recipient) wrong, but then I didn't want to give her the impression that there was a "right" vaccine to avoid.

I think I ended that conversation with a cheery "Well, hope you don't get the flu! Some people die from it!"

I'm a fan of at least a 3-level labeling system for cafeterias. Something like green/yellow/red, so that french fries aren't in the same category as brown rice.

I think I ended that conversation with a cheery "Well, hope you don't get the flu! Some people die from it!"

I wish I weren't so nice, so I could do this sort of thing more often.

I think I ended that conversation with a cheery "Well, hope you don't get the flu! Some people die from it!"

Please tell me you named Jim Henson? It sounds as if a Muppets cautionary tale might have gotten through to her.

I once worked with a woman who, on being told she needed to lose weight and cut her sodium intake, went out and bought "diet" everything ... and was then appalled to discover that the canned and frozen prepared foods she'd bought were loaded with sodium.

I have to stop reading this nutrition thing-- I just realized that fried rice is healthy and brown rice is not? I do not understand.

Not nutritious: A history of cakes in the US.

I just realized that fried rice is healthy and brown rice is not? I do not understand.

That seems... counter-intuitive.

Is it overkill to quote Michael Pollan at this point? "Eat food: mostly plants. Not too much."

I get regular reinforcement of my diet-and-exercise regimen by reading health blogs, especially the ones about Alzheimer's. There are some pretty clear correlations between exercise and retaining one's mental acuity, even quite late in life. Which, I suspect, means that at 82 I'll be doing three miles on a holographic treadmill while watching reruns of the inevitable Farscape remake, in which none of the characters are played by human actors...