MAPMYRUN.COM

I just took a look at www.mapmyrun.com which is a site I use quite a lot when I'm at home. Imagine my surprise tonight when I discovered that it works in Australia too and I could map the run I have been taking most mornings since I got here last week.

I had estimated the distance at 4.5 to 5 miles and now know it is 4.86 miles.

Tomorrow will be my last run, as we leave for the good old USA on Thursday morning, but on future trips overseas I'll remember to check in with manpmyrun.com earlier.

THE LANGUAGE OF COFFEE

I remember the day when you went into a coffee shop and ordered your coffee in the simplest of fashions. You approached the counter and said - Coffee please.

But of course that is way too simple for the 21st Century. Nowadays you have to master a whole new language and if you don't get the words grande non-fat latte in the right order a barrista will most certainly correct your inadequacies.

Coming to Australia, I discovered that there is a whole new coffee language going on down here, to accompany the well know southern hemisphere vocabulary, comprising words like G'day, mate and sheilas.

Lattes seem to be very popular and if you don't want a latte, the common form of daily caffeine seems to be ordering a flat white coffee, or in my case a skinny flat white coffee. The problem for me was that still consists mainly of milk.

So one day I bravely inquired how one gets a simple cup of coffee and was delighted to learn that I just need to ask for a long black coffee with skinny milk on the side.

Makes me long for the days of Coffee please!

VISITING OZ

I'm in Australia just now, spending a few days over here with family, preparing for my niece's wedding on Saturday. People often ask we how I keep focused on a healthy lifestyle while I'm traveling, so here's what I'm doing on this trip.

+ I brought my running gear and am making a point of running every morning, which is not difficult as I'm awake very early as I readjust to the 15 hours time difference. Worked out a 5 miles route that works pretty well for me.

+ I allowed myself one total treat. I was told that the beer battered flathead fish is outrageous, so I had it the first night here, with fries. I doubt if there's a lot that will tempt me because it's not all that different from what we get at home. Menus seem pretty Americanized to me. Allowing yourself an indulgence is a real approach.

+ We went shopping as soon as we arrived and bought some essentials - skim milk, oatmeal, whole grain bread.

+ Where there isn't too much choice, I simply watch the size of the portions. Last night we ate dinner in a restaurant with a limited menu, none of which looked really helpful. So I made the wisest possible choice and ate till I was satisfied.

+ I remember that a trip is not all about food. It's about meeting up with family, celebrating a very special event and seeing a country I have never been in before.

+ I remember the scale will await me when I get home!

SMART BALANCE - DEUX

Here's the reply I got from the company when I challenged their false marketing -

Smart Balance Milk is fat free, the fat is as a result of the added ingredients of fish oil and vitamin E. We are currently investigating ways in which we may make this clear on the packaging. Please understand that we
are not, in any way, attempting to be deceptive.

They lie with a straight face!

IS THIS LYING LEGAL

The other day my wife bought a half gallon of Smart Balance Fat Free Milk. They've got quite the advertising campaign going on just now and she had a generous coupon too, so she figured we'd try it instead of our usual Skim Plus or Over The Moon.

Out of habit, I took a look at the nutrition information and discovered that this "fat free" milk actually contains 1.5g of fat per 1 Cup serving!

For those of us accustomed to the WW scale of things, this makes 1 Cup of this stuff 3 Points instead of 2 Points for the brands it is unsuccessfully trying to mimic.

One wonders whether it's legal to promote a product with a significant fat content as fat free.

Buyer Beware!

FATTY BELTBUCKLES

There's no question that eating out can be tempting and challenging too. A few weeks ago I got a great coupon on www.restaurant.com that cost me $20 and saved me $100 off the bill at Fatty Beltbuckles in Rocky Point.

So I used it tonight when I went out to eat with a bunch of guys from the church that I wanted to thank for their ongoing help.

The trouble is the name of the place itself suggests anyone wanting to eat healthy could be in serious difficulty and that was certainly the case.

It's a barbecue joint with outstanding food and huge portions, yet I think I escaped relatively unscathed.

We ordered a couple of assorted appetizer platters for the table and I avoided all of that except for a couple of small slices of fried pickles that were just begging to be tasted. Ordering an entree was not too difficult as I had already checked out the menu online and decided on the Tequila Lime Tilapia.

I was told the fish was broiled, so I asked for that to be done with very little butter and promised the waitress I would not complain if it seemed on the dry side. Unfortunately it was served swimming in sauce, but I managed to carefully extricate the tilapia from it as I ate it with a side salad.

It was a good evening. We talked a lot, laughed a lot and I came away fairly satisfied with my choices in an environment where it would have been very easy to self-destruct,