More than 500,000 pounds of ground beef was recalled late last month after two people died and estimated 500 were sickened by an E. coli outbreak, according to The New York Times.

The tainted beef came from a meat-packer in Ashville, N.Y. that reportedly stopped testing for E. coli two years ago at the request of beef suppliers. Surprisingly, E. coli testing is not required the Department of Agriculture. It's only recommended sans any legal enforcements for not doing it.

The recall has prompted Trader Joe's to stop sourcing its meat from the affected plant. The grocer also now wants its other suppliers to test all ground beef for the deadly bacteria.

Costco Wholesale is the only large national retailer that mandates E. Coli testing. Perhaps Costco can do so because it uses its own grinding facilities.

Too often it seems like the Department of Agriculture feels its responsibility is to protect processing plants and beef suppliers, not the American consumer.

Clark is an unabashed free-marketer, but he knows that there need to be some referees in place for capitalism to work optimally. The marketplace suffers when there's no cop on the beat. Consumers need to feel confident that the feds are on the case to make sure their food is safe.

Americans are more versatile and adaptable than we're given credit for. Some of us who have been forced to get by on less have even taken to planting and gardening to grow our own food!

But what do you do if you have a bumper crop in your backyard? One option is to can your own fruits or vegetables. Dow Jones reports that sales of canning equipment are up 30 percent this year. CanningAcrossAmerica.com is one web resource for canning devotees.

Most people, however, won't make the effort to practice the dying art of canning. That's why Clark says being smarter about how we buy our groceries is important.

Buying the store brand instead of the name brand -- a practice known as brand substitution -- can really help fatten your wallet.

Changing where you shop can also be important. Aldi prides itself on offering shoppers the opportunity to save up to 40 percent on a typical grocery bill.

Beyond that, you can also use CouponMom.com to learn free coupon strategies that will help maximize your savings each time you shop.

We all know about the national health crisis caused by consuming too many calories and exercising too little. But some of the solutions local government is proposing to the dilemma are comical.

New York City has a new policy that bans bake sales at schools. Their strategy is to block sports teams, charities and civic groups from raising money on school grounds in an effort to thin out the student body. It's just plain silly, in Clark's estimation.

Meanwhile, as previously reported, Los Angeles banned fast-food restaurants in a large part of the city. Now The Los Angeles Times reports there are new proposed rules that would ban convenience stores in areas of the city that cover 500,000 residents!

Yet a Rand Corporation study has found that it wasn't the fast food that caused obesity among L.A. residents. So in the continuing search for a culprit, convenience stores have become the new pariah.

L.A. is apparently being swayed by information in the November edition of Pediatrics. The magazine cites a Philadelphia study that shows more than half of all school-age kids shop at a convenience store a minimum of once a day. A third of kids shop twice a day. And the average purchase of $1 gets you 365 empty calories.

However, nothing is being said in this whole discussion about the responsibility of parents. It's the family's job to teach a child about good nutrition. We just blame the store, the bake sale, the fast food and on and on. Where does it all end? The responsibility, ultimately, goes back to the parents.

Just yesterday, Clark told you how there are new standards for bloggers and celebrities pitching products. Now similar restrictions are being extended to the makers of weigh-loss supplements and other dietary supplements.

Historically, when you've seen an ad for a weight-loss supplement, you were probably wowed by the person on the screen telling you how much weight they lost without exercising. Yet if you looked closely, you'd also see a message stating that "results are not typical."

Therein lies the crux of the new rules; they'll now have to tell you what typical results are like. No more parading out the most unusual successes and trying to convince you that they are customary. This new rule should go into effect ahead of Christmas.

Now, where are the regulations on ads for exercise equipment? It seems every man you see looks like all he does is work out. And the women aren't exactly anatomically correct; they look more like pumped-up Barbie dolls, according to Clark!

Of course, the real answer to the whole question here is to reduce the number of calories you consume and exercise everyday. If you do that a true miracle will happen: You'll get thinner and you'll be in much better shape.

Americans are finally giving bottled water the boot after years of hearing about the product's high cost. Oddly, sales declines in the bottled water business mean you can now steal a deal on the stuff!

Bottled water can cost $1,400 annually. Tap water, however, might cost close to $1 annually at the most.

So Clark can't believe he's saying this, but now might be the time to stock up on cases of bottled water at your local warehouse club -- if that's your thing! The price on multipacks is going down, down, down.

Dow Jones reports sales of bottled water are down six percent, which is the first decline in sales since the 1990s. People who have lost their jobs or had hours cut are realizing the folly of paying big bucks for bottled water when tap water is available for nearly free.

Meanwhile, companies like Coke (Dasani) and Pepsi (Aquafina) actually source their products from municipal water supplies -- just like tap water! So why pay all the extra dough?

Try running your water through a filtered pitcher to remove impurities if you're uncomfortable drinking straight from the tap.

In the midst of the debate about healthcare, nobody is talking about what we need to do as individuals, which is to manage our own health and wellness. The late President Kennedy put a big emphasis on Americans being fit, but we haven't had that same push since his presidency.

Everything is seen as somebody else's problem. Clark thinks about moves in Congress to tax Coke and Pepsi because they're making Americans fat. But no one is forcing a soda pop down your throat, right?

In a similar way, McDonald's was getting beat up about 5 years ago over its unhealthy reputation. So the chain revamped its menu to include more healthy choices.

If you go back one generation, 4% of kids age 2-11 were overweight. Today, it's about 1 in 5! The San Francisco Chronicle reports that overweight adults cost the country nearly $150 billion last year.

With more than 100,000 obesity-related deaths annually, U.S. life expectancy may actually shorten for the first-time since the Civil War!

When is last time you worked out or got your kids out walking? How we eat and how we exercise directly impacts our health. Clark's challenge for you -- no matter where you fit in politically -- is to make sure you fit into your clothes.

Are you really getting your money's worth when you pay extra for organic food?

The Washington Post reports that food producers have been able to convince the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lessen its organic labeling standards. The result is that there are currently 245 products labeled as organic that contain non-organic ingredients.

Organics are a $23 billion business -- the fastest growing segment of the food market. Customers may pay up to twice as much for that organic label.

However, the newspaper estimates that 90% of organic baby formula is not truly organic. Other products singled out because they contain non-organic ingredients include organic cheese, beer and duck. In fact, Consumers Union reports that some supposedly organic foods contain mercury and PCBs.

When buying organic, make sure it is labeled "100% organic." Just seeing the word "organic" by itself is not enough. You should also look for an ingredient list, the name and address of the handler and the name and seal of the organic certifier.

The other hype term out in the marketplace is "natural." There is almost no definition about what this means when it comes to most foods. It is simply a marketing term used in this $13 billion food industry, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.

How would you like to save more, spend less and getting ripped off…by ditching bottled water?

Bottled water costs around $1,400/year and represents an environmental hazard when you consider its packaging and transportation.

Now Bundanoon, Australia -- a suburb of Sydney -- has banned bottled water and created a nightmare for the industry. This is the first city in the world to stop the sale of bottled water.

Consider this: Tap water costs less than a penny per gallon and gives you access to clean, safe municipal drinking water. And here's a bulletin for bottled water drinkers: Companies like Coke (Dasani) and Pepsi (Aquafina) source their products from municipal water supplies -- just like tap water!

In addition, bottled water is only checked for safety about 12 times a year, while tap water is tested throughout the day.

Still uncomfortable drinking straight from the tap? Run your water through a filtered pitcher to remove impurities. Executive producer Christa, meanwhile, is investigating a $120 reverse osmosis filter for her home that attaches under the sink.

Remember, if bottled water is awful enough to be banned in Bundanoon, you should think about banning it in your life too!

Recall alert: Refrigerated and frozen Toll House cookie dough has been recalled by Nestlé because of E. coli contamination.

To make matters worse, it has now emerged that the Danville, Va., plant responsible for the contamination had been non-compliant with FDA inspectors for five years, according to The Wall Street Journal.

For example, an inspector who found dirty equipment and live insects at the plant in September 2006 wanted to access various records as part of an investigation. But the plant would not cooperate.

In fact, Nestlé even presented a list in writing of what they wouldn't allow inspectors to see or do. That listed denied access to the plant's consumer complaint records, pest control records, environmental testing records...and it even banned photography!

The E. coli outbreak is now in 30 states, according to the CDC. This is ugly stuff. Think of the cost to Nestlé of having to recall cookie dough from all across the country. Think of the cost to individuals who have to be hospitalized after getting sick from the cookie dough.

The saddest part of all is that, under current food safety law, the plant did not have to cooperate with food safety inspectors. Wow.

In Clark's estimation, the government needs to overcome the lobbyists and pass new rules that would require food companies to give FDA inspectors access to their records. Period.

Fortunately, no one has died as a direct result from eating the cookie dough. But why should it have to come to that to get some results??

Are you getting enough sleep? The Dallas Morning News reports that only 1 in 4 of us get the recommended full 8 hours of sleep every night.

In addition, one-third of workers say that lack of sleep has affected them on more than 10 working days during the last year. Lower productivity, weight gain and higher mortality are just a few of the repercussions of losing your nightly shut-eye.

Meanwhile, the premium bedding industry and the pharmaceutical companies have both gotten rich providing supposed solutions to the sleep dilemma.

But there are some cheap ways to ensure you get a better night of rest.

• Don't drink caffeinated beverages after 2 p.m.
• Don't have more than one glass of wine, beer or other alcohol.
• Don't discuss money with your significant other just before bedtime.
• Don't place your smart phone by your bed to respond to e-mails.
• Don't watch TV before bedtime.
• Get into bed half an hour early and read a calming book.
• Exercise regularly.

Visit the American Academy of Sleep Medicine at SleepEducation.com for more tips.

Summer's here -- Think you don't need sunscreen? Think again!

New stats show that only 1 in 4 men wear sunscreen when they're exposed for 4 hours or more. With women, it's a little less than half who will wear sunscreen. The real danger, however, comes when the parents of young children don't apply sunscreen to their kids.

Sunscreen does not have to be expensive. Clark always buys his at the dollar store, though one staffer on the show spent $22 on a bottle. Another spent $7.

When buying sunscreen, be sure to select one that's at least 15 SPF. You can go as high as 30; any higher than that probably won't be any more effective.

The key is to apply tons of the stuff and reapply as needed, especially after the pool or ocean -- even if it says it is waterproof.

Meanwhile, Christa warned people about the dangers of getting too much sun exposure on their arms and face while driving around in their cars. She uses a moisturizer with a built-in SPF 15 level of sunscreen protection.

Clark has been obsessed with exercise since he was 19 years old. He exercises on a daily basis -- either running, using a stair master, an elliptical glider or lifting weights.

But a new medical study finds that exercise may not be enough if you spend your days in a sedentary job.

A Canadian study of 17,000 people that started in 1981 found that if you sit at work, you have a higher death rate from a wide variety of illnesses -- even if you exercise regularly! The results were published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

To combat the dangers of sedentary jobs, Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic has developed the Walkstation. The Walkstation allows you to walk slowly at 1.5 miles per hour on a treadmill that's equipped like an office desk.

Clark himself has long stood while doing his job. When he owned a travel agency, he held standing meetings because he believed they were more efficient. He also does his radio show on his feet because he's a jitterbug.

Scandal at the BBQ pit! Scandal at the BBQ pit! The propane outfits may be ripping you off when you refill your existing tank or get a replacement tank.

This rip-off started last year when energy prices were riding at all-time highs during the summer. As a way to cut costs, many retailers would only fill you up about three-quarters full.

Of course, you never want to fill up a propane tank all the way. You need a little safety buffer.

Today, it's not uncommon to get about 18 pounds of propane in 20 pound tank. But you'll still pay the 20 pound price! You may see a quoted price and then some little mice type about how you're actually getting less than what your tank holds.

Retailers say they're just following industry practice, but not everyone is doing it this way. Meanwhile, propane is selling for less than half of what it was a year ago at the height of the energy crunch.

Clark's wife is absolutely obsessed with cooking out. Now that he eats veggies, Clark thinks veggies on a grill taste great. But the only kind of cooking the consumer champ likes to do is putting something in a microwave for 3 minutes!

KFC unwittingly struck on a bit of great publicity by delivering customer no service!

The restaurant chain's recent joint promotion with Oprah Winfrey offered online coupons for two pieces of their new grilled chicken, two sides and a biscuit -- absolutely FREE.

KFCs were so overwhelmed with people trying to redeem the coupon that there were widespread shortages of the grilled chicken. That caused some folks to gripe online and the whole episode has since become a viral sensation.

No one would have complained if they had delivered on their initial promise, right? But now everyone in cyberspace knows about KFC's new grilled chicken!

Remember, folks, this is free food. If you were lucky enough to get a coupon, they're still valid through May 15. So why not just try back in a few days when your KFC is restocked with grilled chicken? (Editor's note: No more coupons are available for this promotion.)

This is such a statement about the change in our desire to eat healthier. Even "healthy" meals, however, can really pack on the pounds. Take salad bars as an example. You can get a healthy salad, or you can load up on bacon bits, cheese and fatty dressing and have a heart attack in a salad bowl.

The choice is yours.

Looking to stay fit and preserve your wallet at the same time? The recession has forced many people to cancel their gym memberships and seek a cheaper way to keep in shape, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Clark himself is exercise obsessed and works out on several pieces of used gym equipment in the comfort of his own home.

Other people are turning to jump ropes at home; kickboxing routines on DVD or video; and the Wii Fit.

Of course, working out at home is not for everyone. Some people need the structure and routine of going to a fitness center. Other people cherish their "gym friends" -- those people at the gym who you may never see anywhere else in your life.

The good news is that if you want a traditional gym, it's getting easier to negotiate a low price on membership. Several staffers on the show recently saw an ad for one gym near the studio offering $10/month memberships.

Clark's usual caveats apply to those seeking out a new gym:

• Do not pay a lump sum upfront. If the gym goes bust, so does your money.
• Never sign an annual contract. You want month-to-month or quarterly only.

And if you're existing member, try negotiating down your monthly charge.

Is the food we eat safe? It seems not, considering all the coverage of the recent peanut scare. Other recent recalls have included tomatoes and seafood.

What's striking every time there's a food recall is how nobody in the government knows what's going on. For example, during the tomato scare, Mexican suppliers were at first implicated as the source of contamination. Just as quickly, they were later exonerated.

Perhaps the threat of food-borne illness is so front and center in our minds because of our 24/7 news cycle. But there's no denying there's a real problem here. Recent numbers from the Center for Disease Control show a jump in the rate of food-borne illnesses over the last 5 years.

Who is most affected? Children under age 4 and adults over age 50.

The problem is that there's no cop on the beat. Clark thinks we need a federal agency whose sole mission is to oversee the food supply. It's just plain silly that we don't have such an agency in our modern society. It's a no-brainer.

Restaurateurs continue rolling out lower price points to attract more customer traffic. A recent USA TODAY survey found the following deals:

• Chili's has 10 meals for under $7
• T.G.I. Friday's has a promotion with 8 entrees at $9.99
• Applebee's offers 2 entrees and 1 appetizer for $20
• Outback is offering 15 meals under $15, plus many entrees are priced at $9.99
• Texas Roadhouse has a $7.99 early dinner special to drive early week traffic

Rest assured that you'll continue to see this trend spread across the board. Whether you're talking about fast food restaurants, the mid-priced chains, the quick serve spots or the high-end chains, they're all doing heavy promotions.

Of course, 'promotion' is a relative concept. The expense account restaurants may be offering dinner for 2 at $79…but is that really a deal? Well, yes, considering you could easily be paying $100 instead. But on the other hand, $79 for 2 is still $79 for 2!

Clark is not exactly known for his healthy eating habits, but today he wants to share a list of the healthiest (and unhealthiest) restaurant chains.

Four chains got an F -- including Applebee's, IHOP, Outback and T.G.I. Friday's, according to a report published by Men's Health magazine.

On the other end of the spectrum, the highest score (A-) went to Chick-fil-A. No chain earned an A+.

In between those 2 extremes, you'll find a variety of chains you probably have eaten at in the past. See the complete listing of the healthiest restaurants and the unhealthiest restaurants...and bon appetit!

The recession has been a real boon for supermarkets as more people having been buying store brands and eating at home instead of going out to restaurants.

But what can you do when even the supermarkets are not cheap enough for you?

In a new trend, some people have begun shopping at salvage food stores. These are the types of stores -- usually located in metro areas -- that sell dented cans and all kinds of food that is very nearly expired. To say that the prices are rock-bottom is an understatement.

Our producer Joel tried salvage stores when he was in college. He jokes that he's surprised to be disease-free after repeatedly going around 10 or 12 times. They can be that dirty in his experience!

But Joel estimates that he saved up to 75% off traditional food prices by shopping at salvage stores.

Clark is intrigued by the idea of salvage stores and has vowed to check one out. We'll let you know how it goes…

The New England Journal of Medicine recently reported that caloric intake is the only thing that matters with dieting. Your body burns a certain amount of calories on a daily basis. If you consume more than you burn, you'll gain weight. If you consume less, you'll lose weight. It is that simple.

People are always looking for an "insta-solution" -- for weight loss, or to make them rich or to make them into an entrepreneur. And that's not the way it works with your wallet or with your waistline. You have to follow the fundamentals.

Clark lost 30 pounds over the last year by modifying what he eats. That means no fries, no snacks between meals and no dessert. Those changes dropped his calorie count below his burn rate, and he's dropped about 3 pounds each month.

Slow and steady as you go is the way to approach your finances as well. The consumer champ wants you to be the tortoise and build wealth incrementally over time. That means contributing a small amount of your income each pay period to a retirement-savings plan.

Clark is one guy who's into full disclosure. He's fascinated by how the restaurant industry goes berserk over calorie count disclosures, particularly among the chain restaurants throughout New York.

At the same time, he's opposed to government playing the role of food police, such as Los Angeles did when they banned fast food.

That's not a legitimate function of government, according to the consumer champ.

In the latest development, an appellate court has upheld New York's right to require chains to post calorie counts on their menus. Clark was recently in a McDonald's near Grand Central Terminal. He actually changed his menu selection for a healthier item with less calories -- and willingly paid more! That was his personal choice.

Sometimes foods that seem healthy are not healthy at all. Clark recalls a woman going to the media at the height of the fat-free diet craze. She had decided to go on a Fig Newton diet -- a fat-free food that also happens to have a lot of calories -- and was upset because she actually gained 35 pounds!

A new study in The New England Journal of Medicine finds that people can be bribed to quit smoking.

Different groups of subjects were paid differing amounts of money by their employers -- the highest amount being $750 -- to stop smoking for 90 days. The result? Using money as an incentive makes people three times more likely to quit, and three times more likely to continue not smoking after 90 days.

Long ago when Clark was in the travel business, he used a similar tactic to help his employees give up smoking. The penny-pincher offered a warehouse club shopping spree of $200 if they could kick the habit for 90 days. That would be equivalent to $600 with inflation today.

Clark himself managed to quit smoking two packs a day back in the 1970s by using his own unique aversion strategy. Whenever he wanted a cigarette, he would smoke a giant cigar. Within a few days, he no longer had any cravings at all!

The consumer champ has now agreed to pay his HLN cameraman Jack $750 if he can stop smoking for 90 days. We'll let you know how it goes!

Have you been taking a dietary supplement for weight loss that's been advertised as herbal or all-natural? The FDA has a new warning about scores of such supplements that can be hazardous to your health because they contain traditional pharmaceutical compounds.

Supplements like Starcaps, 3x Slimming Power and 5x Imelda Perfect Slimming are among those being named. Many of these supplements were marketed heavily on websites, infomercials and as part of store displays. See the complete list on the FDA's website.

Of course, not all herbal remedies, natural remedies and dietary supplements are unsafe. But there are obviously enough rogue players and manufacturers who make honest mistakes to warrant concern.

There have been reports of people experiencing elevated blood pressure, increased seizures and bad drug interactions when taking the affected weight loss pills. The New York Times reported one man was taking a supplement that was marketed as a natural remedy but actually contained amphetamines!

A special note to the libertarians: Yes, Clark is calling for more oversight of this industry. He believes there is a legitimate role in government to ensure the safety of these supplements. Back in the mid-1990s, the makers of the herbal and all-natural dietary supplements got what amounted to a blanket exemption from any federal oversight…and now we're seeing the downside of that.

Five years ago, we were in the throes of the Supersize Me era and McDonald's was in full retreat from the food police. Today, however, the anti-McDonald's mentality seems to have lost some of its steam. The company continues to report positive earnings quarter after quarter.

Clark has modified his eating habits and usually has chicken at McDonald's instead of beef. In fact, McDonald's now sells more chicken than beef. Who would have ever thought that?!

The penny-pincher was recently at a McDonald's while a McCafé was being added on site. McCafés typically have bistro tables, a fountain and fancy coffees and pastries on the menu. One of their main selling points is that they offer Starbucks-style drinks at a McDonald's kind of price. The first U.S. experiments with McCafés took place in Raleigh, N.C., and now future rollouts are planned for more locations.

Clark still thinks McDonald's is a real value -- he orders off the dollar menu -- so get ready to post on Clark Stinks if you are anti-McDonald's!

Their food is not necessarily bad for you; it all depends on what you choose to eat off the menu. For example, Clark's daughter prefers the package of apple slices to the fries at the fast-food restaurant.

Longtime listeners may know that Clark is addicted to diet soda, particularly Coke Zero. His soft drink of choice is sweetened with acesulfame potassium and aspartame -- much to the dismay of foodies and health food types who write in to express concern that he's slowly poisoning himself with artificial sweeteners.

Soft drink makers are very aware of the image problem posed by their use of artificial sweeteners. Enter stevia -- a natural plant-derived zero-calorie sweetener that's 200 times sweeter than sugar. Stevia has now been approved by the FDA for use in food and beverages.

Coke and Pepsi are both understandably excited about this new development. Coke is planning to use stevia in Sprite, while Pepsi is rolling it out in Tropicana and other beverages.

The jury is still out on what harm if any artificial sweeteners can do to the human body. But at least now there will be an all-natural alternative on the market!

Bally Total Fitness is going bankrupt for the second time in little more than a year.

Clark has long trashed the health club over their suspect business practices. Bally's is known to use high-pressure sales to get you to buy a membership. Once they have a contract, they do what's called "moving paper."

The club sells off the contract to a finance company that will take the paper on and pay them pennies on the dollar. That creates additional incentive for the club to sign up more members -- and hope none of them ever show up and all try to workout at once!

In a recent SEC filing, Bally's disclosed that the average member visits the club one-half of one time per week. You'd be hard-pressed to find any fitness expert who recommends a workout once every 2 weeks!

There is, however, a better way for health clubs to do business. It's where you pay month-to-month or quarterly with no real contract. That creates incentive for the club to help keep you on a healthy regimen so you'll keep coming back. They win and you win!

One final thought: We as consumers fool ourselves into thinking that by signing a contract we'll be more apt to work out at a health club. But it doesn't work that way; usually within 6 weeks, the average person stops exercising altogether after joining a gym.

A new report from the American Heart Association suggests that obese and overweight children can have the arteries of a middle-aged person. That in turn can put them in danger of having heart disease or a stroke in their 20s!

There are many reasons why children are packing on the pounds. For one, the calorie count is way up for kids. But it's not just fast food that's to blame. When Clark gets a Happy Meal for his son, it comes with the option of apple slices instead of fries. Many restaurants are likewise offering healthy choices.

There's also the issue of lack of exercise. Kids used to just play all the time outside, but today it seems like they're being carted around from one structured activity to the next. It's our responsibility as parents to see that our kids are active. Clark often brings his children to a soccer field to play -- even though he's not very good at the game.

Meanwhile, in a separate health-related development, Phillips has come up with an intelligent pill. The so-called "iPill" contains a microprocessor in it that can release medication at a specific spot in the GI tract. The goal is to eliminate the "chemo phenomenon," where you make a person's whole body sick just to target illness in one part of the body.

The iPill contains a wireless transmitter that senses acidity and body temperature to determine where to pinpoint the medication. Some of its expected uses will be for colon cancer treatment and GI tract disorders -- if Phillips can convince the pharmaceutical companies to buy into the technology.

The San Francisco Chronicle has a simple English explanation of the iPill. The real shocker so far is that the cost is $1,000 per pill. Once it's in mass production, however, that price would come down to about $10 per pill. Talk about the economy of scale!

Executive producer Christa recently got a call from a water-testing company claiming she had missed her appointment to test the water quality at her home. At first, she thought it was a scam marketer. But it turns out her husband Mike had scheduled an appointment without telling Christa.

Mike is a marketer's dream. He doesn't like to say no, and once even signed up for a credit card the family already had -- because someone asked him to!

When she got home, Christa reminded Mike that back in May she bought her own water-testing kit -- the Watersafe All-In-One Test Kit. Consumer Reports also recommends this particular brand.

The complimentary water test the marketer was offering Christa likely would have involved a hard sell in the home. As Clark says, they practically convince you that if you love your children and want them to stay healthy, you must buy their product.

As a reminder, tap water is generally safer than bottled water because the supply is checked multiple times a day. The bottled water industry doesn't have such strict regulations. Tap water is also a lot cheaper at less than a dollar annually vs. up to $1,400/year for the bottled stuff.

Restaurateurs at all price points are coping with higher food costs by substituting ingredients, serving smaller portions and offering daily specials based on what's cheap that day.

McDonald's has been wrestling with what to do about the lynchpin of their dollar menu -- the double cheeseburger. Many stores were complaining that they lose money on every double cheeseburger they sell for $1.

So the company is rolling out the McDouble. It will still be two patties, but it will only have one slice of cheese -- in order to keep the price at $1. Dropping the second slice of cheese saves 6 cents per sale, according to The Chicago Tribune. Some stores are going even more extreme by doing a double hamburger -- which cuts the cost by 12 cents.

McDonald's knows it's important for customers to feel that they're getting value for a dollar. Of course, restaurateurs of all stripes must be careful not to go overboard. There is, after all, a saying that goes: It's possible to make a pizza so cheap that no one will ever want to eat it.

The trick is to give the customer a perception of value while not reducing the quality too greatly.

Clark is fine with the McDouble. But he knows a man at the studio who is so cheap that he takes cheese with him to fast-food restaurants, orders a hamburger and creates his own cheeseburger!

CLARKONOMICS: Federal data now shows that consumer spending has dropped at the greatest rate since 1974. Many adult Americans have no historical frame of reference to gauge things by when it come to that. So this will be the first true belt-tightening that some of us will have to go through.

Clark's old rule applies to today's climate: If you're pinched in the wallet, try to limit the amount of time you're in a store -- even for groceries. Go to a strict shopping-list system to avoid impulse purchases and buy your non-perishables only once a month. When it comes to perishables, you should only get them on an as-need basis.

You can save by not being in the grocery aisle. Also, try Amazon.com as a place to buy your non-perishables -- if it proves to be a cheaper option for you. Of course, any grocery industry analyst can tell you that one of the cheapest places to buy your groceries is Aldi!

In a related arena, we can expect more unemployment in the coming months. Clark always thinks it's particularly sad when someone is doing great on the job and they're still canned because of larger market forces. He's seen that happen several times over the years in the radio industry.

There's no time like the present to trim your spending, build some savings and reduce your debt!

What are you doing with your retirement savings plan? New research from Money magazine show a pretty even split down the middle, with about 50% of investors going to the sidelines and 50% staying in the game.

Clark only analyzes his holdings on a quarterly basis. He doesn't react to every movement of the Dow. After all, the Dow is only a measure of 30 stocks. If you want to look at one indicator, try the S&P 500. At least that monitors 500 publicly traded companies.

So, yes, Clark has lost money, but he's not changing anything. He has a plan and goal that he's sticking to -- instead of making an emotional decision. Historically, stocks recover before an economy does because stocks are a forward-looking indicator.

On the flip side, a nice little run-up does not mean the coast is clear. Investors talk about the "dead cat bouncing," which means that anything looks like it is on the way up if it falls from high enough. That's why Clark recommends dollar-cost averaging, which is a clever little term for putting money in steady as you go. It's like buying distressed merchandise.

Clark contributes automatically through his payroll, plus he has a separate investment account where he puts his money in on the 17th of each month. Before you go thinking 17 is the magic number, that's actually just an arbitrary day that he uses!

Human nature being what it is, we have a tendency to buy high and sell low. Try to resist that impulse when you hear the drumbeat of negative news. Half of you are with Clark and half of you are not, according to the Money stats. Think 2 or 3 times before bailing out completely.

If you're spending too much on pay television, consider firing your monopoly cable or satellite provider and joining the 1% of Americans who watch all of their TV on Internet connections. YouTube has launched feature-length programming, plus there's always Joost and Hulu. An estimated 20% of cable programming is now available through the computer.

Firing your cable or satellite provider can save you more than $1,000 annually. Two of Clark's staffers have done it and they'll never go back. What about you? Don't go cold turkey, but see if you can ease your way into it. Also, the lowest level membership in Netflix allows you to get the Roku box and have a huge library of content on-demand.

Still need another way to provide a little extra cushion in your wallet? Try cutting back on bottled water, which can save you up to $1,400 annually. You could instead be drinking tap water and paying less than a dollar for an entire year! Meanwhile, a new study from the Environmental Working Group finds that several bottled waters had an average of 8 contaminants per brand, including pharmaceuticals, arsenic, radioactive isotopes and more. Yuck!

Recently, Clark told you he was incensed by the Los Angeles ban on fast food restaurants throughout much of the city. After all, nobody puts a gun to your head and tells you to get a double Whopper or a double quarter-pounder with cheese.

Another problem with the ban was that the city couldn't even define what was fast food and what wasn't. You can go to Subway and get something that has tons of fat. Or you can eat healthy at McDonald's. For example, Kim recently went to McDonald's and had a low-fat yogurt.

Now California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has required chain restaurants throughout the state to clearly post calorie counts on their menus. Instead of an outright ban, the Governator's move encourages informed choice. New York City already has a similar law on the books.

In a related area, Clark also loves the COOL (country of origin labeling) law. This law means you can pick and choose your food at the market based on where it comes from.

The rising cost of food has prompted many people to buy freezer-only units, according to The Houston Chronicle. The idea behind this kind of purchase is that you can buy food in bulk at cheaper prices, freeze it and eat it over time at a great savings.

But Clark is not so sure about this idea. For one thing, not all food tastes good after being frozen for months. He also doesn't like salespeople pushing a freezer full of food on you. It's all smoke and mirrors because the samples you see in their freezers won't necessarily be what you get in yours.

Instead, Clark wants you to be a more careful shopper. Using a site like CouponMom.com can yield more savings in the long run than the freezer investment.

Restaurateurs are in a classic squeeze play. Their food costs are going up, while customer traffic is down. That means that eating out is getting cheaper.

When the economy was booming, Clark warned you about specials -- those du jour "deals" that were really designed to make you pay more. But that's reversed now. One thing that remains the same is that you should never order something unless you know the price.

So as eating out gets cheaper, you may see early bird specials, early week specials and couponing. You'll also see complete meal deals because people are skipping costly beverages, desserts and appetizers. The complete meal deals will be cheaper compared to buying the items individually, but they're also designed to boost the bill.

Be wary of gift cards. Clark loves the ones where you get more than what you pay for, but don't let them gather dust. Use a gift card shortly after you buy it because it may turn to dust if a restaurant goes out of business.

One final word: Don't reduce what you tip. It's not the fault of your waiter or waitress that the economy is hurting.

Organic food is something that's not relevant to Clark's life. His wife buys it for herself or the kids, but he's not into this particular food movement. Maybe that's because organic food prices are suffering from massive inflation -- even more so than non-organic grocery items. The New York Times found that while regular bread can be around $1.19, organic can be up to $3.19. Regular eggs may be $1.34-$1.50 versus $4.75-$6.39 for the organic version. Regular milk can be $1.99, while you may pay $3.99-$6.79 for organic milk.

So what can you do to dial back the price? Get your store's in-house brand of organic food instead of buying a brand name. Most retailers in the food business have private label organic food available. You can also try shopping at Wal-Mart. Clark knows the monster mega-retailer is anathema to a lot of green shoppers. But the reality is that they offer better deals on organic food than other places.

There's no doubt that organic food is gaining in popularity. Yet only 3% of food sales in the United States are organic. A whopping 97% of our food dollars still go to non-organic items. People can argue about the health value of organic vs. non-organic, but this is a dollars and cents issue. Right now the dollars you spend for organic make no sense!

Here's a special warning for parents with children who are under the age of 21. The Los Angeles Times reports that the liquor industry is targeting underage drinkers with a new line of fruity alcohol drinks in pouches.

Clark says the pouches look very similar those of Capri Sun. These fruity concoctions can have up to 17% alcohol. They are pre-mixed; ready to drink; and very easy to conceal.

One member of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry had this to say about the marketing push behind the drinks: "Combining vodka with raspberry drinks and calling it a 'party in a pouch,' who are they appealing to? This isn't the kind of thing adults drink."

So, parents, be warned. You don't want your teenager to become an alcoholic because some distillers are looking to boost their bottom line.

CLARKONOMICS: The rise in food prices is affecting everyone from consumers to business owners. In the latest twist, McDonald's is contemplating changing the double cheeseburger to a double hamburger with a single slice of cheese because the cost of cheese has skyrocketed!

Dollar stores are feeling pinched too. The 99¢ only chain doesn't know what to do as their margins get squeezed. Will they have to become the $1.29 store or the $1.99 store?

Clark recently bought orange juice for his kids and didn't notice the container went from 64 ozs. to 56 ozs. The packaging hadn't really changed, so it was more of a hidden price increase.

Everywhere we turn -- whether we're business owners or consumers -- we all have to cut corners. Christa's favorite fish sandwich now only has a half-slice of cheese.

The takeaway is that you have to work overtime to be a better shopper in this new economic climate.

Clark has news about a new hip trend in frozen treats that has entrepreneurs going crazy.

Years ago, frozen yogurt was the hottest thing. More recently, it's been Cold Stone Creamery as a franchise opportunity. But Cold Stone has proven to be a big debacle.

The latest "in" thing is tart frozen yogurt. This craze started on the West Coast and is now sweeping the East Coast. The Washington Post reports that people camp out the night before a new tart frozen yogurt store opens up. However, Christa sampled some and didn't enjoy it.

So here's a special warning to entrepreneurs about jumping into the latest "can't lose" opportunity. While early adoptees may profit, the second and third waves of people who get on board often wind up losing money. Just because it's hot, that doesn't mean it's an automatic money maker. It might just burn a hole in your pocket.

Los Angeles has outlawed fast-food restaurants throughout much of the city, following a similar ban in the Westwood neighborhood. This ban only affects future openings, not existing locations.

But such a decision raises an important question: What exactly is fast food?

After all, you can go into McDonald's and eat a healthy meal including a salad, a yogurt and a bottle of water. In fact, McDonald's now sells more chicken than burgers as people migrate away from red meat for health reasons. Yet on the other hand, you can go into Subway and get a sandwich that's loaded with mayonnaise, cheese and fatty meats.

The bottom-line is this: We are the problem, not Burger King or McDonald's or any other fast-food restaurant.

The Los Angeles move represents a ridiculous level of government interference in the free market. Contrast that approach with New York, which has required disclosure of calorie counts on menus at chain restaurants.

There's a big difference between being given the info so that you can make an informed choice versus the government actually deciding what you can and can't eat.

Meanwhile, you may have recently heard that 93% of kid's fast-food meals exceed recommended calorie counts. But that still means 1 in 10 kid's meals represents a healthy choice.

So parents have a responsibility to limit how often their kids eat these meals; or to ban them altogether; or to always insist on healthier food.

Have you seen the new square-shaped packages for fresh milk at Sam's Club, Costco and elsewhere? The new packaging is more compatible with automated equipment, which means far less handling and quicker transportation. The benefit to consumers is fresher milk at cheaper prices.

But The New York Times reports that many shoppers dislike the packaging because it has caused many spills in kitchens across America. Some retailers are offering milk-pouring classes to reverse the consumer bias.

Clark is not the world's most coordinated guy, but even he can pour the new milk cartons without spilling. His 8 year old, however, is a different story. Likewise, Christa doesn't have any problem with spills when she pours milk for her young children. She also feels like she can buy less milk because it lasts longer.

Meanwhile, ice cream maker Blue Bell has a new ad campaign that stresses how they're not reducing the size of their packaging. Many other competitors are shrinking the size yet keeping the same pricing -- so you're getting less for your money.

Starbucks has become the kind of American icon that elicits both very positive and very negative reactions. On the one hand, people hate the company because they homogenized the coffee shop experience. On the other hand, folks like Clark's sister love Starbucks and go to the same location everyday.

While Clark is not a coffee drinker, he likes Starbucks in theory because they have a reputation of treating employees better than most other fast-food chains. Yes, Starbucks is essentially a fast-food chain -- even if you don't think so!

The company's business plan has long focused on aggressive expansion. Sometimes they've opened multiple locations within close proximity in high-traffic areas. The goal has been to destroy weaker coffee shop chains and indie shops.

Unfortunately, the expansion proved a bit too extreme. Neighboring locations cannibalized each other's customers and saw a swift drop in sales when the economy contracted.

Now Starbucks is closing around 600 stores and laying off several hundred people.

Also factoring into the Starbucks squeeze is competition the chain is facing from McDonald's introduction of cheaper high-end coffees.

But Clark thinks the latest Starbucks news marks the end of an era. Previously, we as Americans didn't care about our guilty little pleasures. We just charged the plastic and didn't worry about how we'd pay for it down the road. Now we're worried.

One effect of the economic slowdown is that health clubs are faced with cancellations and fewer people joining up. They're desperate for members, so be on the lookout for special offers -- and try to negotiate them even further down from there.

Yet with opportunity, there is also hazard. Some clubs may ask you to pay for 1 or 2 years upfront. But if you do this and the club closes its doors, you're out the money. They're not required to have an escrow account to protect your money in the event of a closure.

That being said, some of the opportunities you'll see may include waiver of initiation fees, group affiliation discounts and more. The Los Angeles Times reports that some clubs are even calling up former members and offering special deals to get them back on board.

Again, the usual caveat: Never sign a long-term contract. Even with the best intentions, most of us stop working out within 6 weeks of joining a club. That's why Clark loves the no-contract clubs where you pay quarterly or monthly and can quit at will.

Clark is so excited that the bottled water assault is in retreat. The master marketers at Coke and Pepsi did a phenomenal job of converting soda drinkers to overpriced bottled waters like Dasani, Aquafina and others.

But now Americans are buying less bottled water because of the economic squeeze. Meanwhile, the green movement has been educating people about how bottled water is actually harmful for the environment -- another factor in the sales decline.

Need we remind you that bottled water can cost 1,000 times what tap water costs? Committed bottled water drinkers can spend $1,400 in a year on the stuff. Wouldn't you rather put that $1,400 back in your wallet?

Some people who want to give bottled water the boot say they're not comfortable with the taste of tap water. The compromise is to filter your tap water at home. You can get a cheap external filtration system for around $10 or $15.

Traditional bottled water sales are getting it from another side too. Water drinkers are turning to flavored waters, which opens up a whole new field for the marketers. Clark was recently on a plane and everyone around him was ordering flavored water.

Clark is one of those people who hates going to the supermarket. He's especially bored by the idea of making a grocery list every week. That's where a new device available from Ikan.net can help.

The penny-pincher recently ran out of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! while fixing a bagel for his son at home. If he had the Ikan, he could have used it to scan the barcode on the package. It would then be stored on a list that could be printed out before he went to the supermarket.

But the Ikan is capable of more than just compiling a shopping list. The real payoff comes in the Ikan's ability to electronically send your list to participating supermarket chains in about 10 states. The grocer can then either pull your order and have it ready for you, or deliver it straight to your home.

Several years back, there was a company that Clark's wife loved called Web Van. This startup in the home grocery delivery business wound up blowing through billions of dollars and eventually failed. Peapod is a likeminded company that had some level of success in the market, and they've now partnered with Ikan.

Clark often talks about money-saving grocery strategies like those found at CouponMom.com. But another way to save money is to not go to the store and subject yourself to the lure of impulse purchases. That's where Ikan helps. You might just reduce your bill and your weekly calorie count too!

The Ikan normally sells for $399, but a portion of their stock is available for $99 for a limited time. (Editor's note: Pricing accurate as of 06/20/08.)

The attorney general of the state of New York has gone after CVS and Rite-Aid for repeatedly selling expired goods on their shelves, including OTC medications. This has long been a problem in retail, but this is perhaps the first time that it has ever resulted in a lawsuit.

In 2005, Clark himself found OTC medications that were 5 years past their expiration dates on the shelf of a third chain drugstore. He was so fired up that he brought it to the manager's attention. Unfortunately, the manger was underwhelmed by Clark's complaint and didn't seem to care.

Recently while in a warehouse club, Clark discovered expired soft drinks on the shelf. He found an employee and showed them the items. But when he came back a week later, they were still there.

Clark doesn't believe there's any conspiracy to sell us spoiled food. But you must be your own police officer and check expiration dates before you make a purchase.

In fact, the penny-pinching guru describes himself as "obsessive compulsive" when it comes to checking dates. He routinely digs around on the shelves to get the latest possible date on milk and medications.

One caveat: It's difficult to tell if the date is a "marketing expiration date" or the real deal. Some drug makers put an early date on their products to get you to throw them out and buy more.

Clark had tomatoes as part of his last meal…and he's hoping it's not going to be his last meal! The salmonella scare has shaken a lot of people. It seems like food borne illnesses have become an epidemic in recent years. But Clark thinks it's not that there are necessarily more instances, it's just that there's better media coverage of them.

Business Week reports that the FDA is short of the necessary technology and manpower to do reliable inspections of food plants. In fact, they say it would take the FDA some 1,900 years to check every single food plant just once. Clark doesn't know about you, but he doesn't plan on being around that long!

Libertarians would say that the food industry should be self-regulated. But since it is not, Clark believes government should reasonably be expected to step into this role. It is sheer madness that we live in a wealthy developed nation and can't routinely ensure that our food supply is safe.

Some people say that we should just grow our own food on a household level. But that's not a practical solution for everyone. So we either need to set the challenge up to industry, or assess the industry a tax so that that FDA can hire more people and buy the right equipment to get the job done.

Clark knows people will take issue with him on this, but he wants to know that something his children or his mother eats is not going to harm them.

Clark is a devout fast-food consumer. Years ago, he even earned the nickname "The Carryout Kid" from his brother. Today, the penny-pinching guru favors the value menus at the major chains. But right now McDonald's has a civil war on its hands with franchisees upset about the dollar menu.

The franchisees are trying to pressure corporate to change the name of the dollar menu to the "McValue Menu," similar to what Wendy's did. With costs increasing, franchisees are not able to make a profit when they sell an item for a dollar. So The Wall Street Journal reports that some have already raised the prices on select dollar items. For example, they're charging $1.09 or $1.29 for a double cheeseburger.

Clark saw someone order 2 double cheeseburgers (at $1 each) and a complimentary cup of water at McDonald's -- a sure sign of inflation. Franchisees lose money every time that happens.

The dollar as a magic price point is under assault. What will the dollar stores do? Chinese goods cost more because of international inflation. They could raise prices, but the "two-dollar store" doesn't have the same ring to it!

Meanwhile, beware of hidden price increases at the dollar stores. Clark was recently shopping for shaving cream and noticed they shrunk the size but charged the same price.

The city of New York requires chain restaurants to post calorie counts by every item on their menus. Recently, it was big news when 5 restaurants were cited for not following this protocol.

This is one issue that galvanizes people to no end.

On the one hand, Clark applauds restaurateurs for having the marketing savvy to spotlight healthy choices on their menu. But if someone orders fettucini alfredo, isn't it self-evident that the meal will be a heart attack on a plate, as some cardiologists might say?

Meanwhile, there's a disturbing connection between education level and weight issues. The less education you have, the heavier you'll tend to be. Yet if you go back to the Renaissance, the wealthy (and educated) were the ones who grew fat, as we can see from portraits of the period. The poor, meanwhile, had to deal with the possibility of starvation and famine.

Today, access to food is not an issue; it's the quality of what we eat that's become the concern. Go in to any convenience store in a lower-income area and you'll see a variety of unhealthy food choices available.

This, unfortunately, is not a problem that can be addressed by putting calorie counts on menus.

After years of Clark's prodding, Christa has finally made the switch from bottled water to tap water. What finally made her cross over from the dark side? She got hold of the Watersafe All-In-One Test Kit at Whole Foods.

For just about $20, she was able to test her family's tap water for bacteria, lead, pesticides, nitrates, nitrites, chlorine, pH and hardness. Well, the water passed with flying colors, and her brood has been drinking from the tap ever since.

Bottled water will run you about $1,400/year, not to mention that it's an environmental disaster because of all the plastic. That price alone is about 1,000 times what tap water costs! Meanwhile, 1 in 3 brands are just filtered municipal water, which is essentially glorified tap water. So why pay all the extra dough? Try a home-testing kit if you're still concerned about safety.

People are constantly looking for ways to stretch their money in the wake of rising food prices. During sweeps week on TV, one of the big stories was about ways to save on groceries. Clark’s already shared ideas about couponing, brand substitution and more at the supermarket.

But people who know how to cook can save even more. Recipe websites that teach you how to make easy meals from cheap ingredients are becoming increasingly popular. Suddenly, cheap is chic!

To Clark, “cooking” simply means putting something in the microwave and changing the temperature of it. The Los Angeles Times, however, reports many recipe blogs have seen their page views more than double in a year. These are the kinds of sites that were routinely being ignored during better economic times.

Christa has long used sites like Epicurious.com and Recipe.com. But now there’s a huge network of stay-at-home moms who share their money-saving ideas on the web. See below for Clark’s guide to the cheap food preparation blogs!

Just remember that even if you can’t figure out how to make a masterpiece worthy of Julia Child, simply making food at home costs a fraction of what it takes to eat out. For those who can't cook, you can always be like Clark and buy your favorite frozen meals on sale. He recently picked up a slew for $1 a piece. They’re not anymore unhealthy than his normal fast food fare, but instead of $4 he’s just spending $1/day.

Clark and his wife like to go out and have a nice dinner every so often. Last week, they went to an extremely expensive place that offered a 3-course meal for $29. Usually, it's around $80 per person!

High-end restaurateurs are finding they're having trouble getting customers. And those customers who do come in are really picking and choosing what they order. The Dallas Morning News reports one restaurant has seen a 30% decline in desserts.

Appetizers, desserts and alcohol are what Clark calls the Bermuda Triangle of your restaurant bill. That's where most of your money disappears. By comparison, the markup on the main course is usually much smaller than on those items.

Meanwhile, the only segment of the industry that's doing well right now is fast food. So it's no wonder the high-end restaurants are experimenting with the tried-and-true "value meal combo" approach.

The Howards enjoyed their 3-course "value meal" so much that they've already lined up a different deal at another restaurant for their daughter's upcoming birthday!

Organic food is something that's not relevant to Clark's life. His wife buys it for herself or the kids, but he's not into this particular food movement. Maybe that's because organic food prices are suffering from massive inflation -- even more so than non-organic grocery items. The New York Times found that while regular bread can be around $1.19, organic can be up to $3.19. Regular eggs may be $1.34-$1.50 versus $4.75-$6.39 for the organic version. Regular milk can be $1.99, while you may pay $3.99-$6.79 for organic milk.

So what can you do to dial back the price? Get your store's in-house brand of organic food instead of buying a brand name. Most retailers in the food business have private label organic food available. You can also try shopping at Wal-Mart. Clark knows the monster mega-retailer is anathema to a lot of green shoppers. But the reality is that they offer better deals on organic food than other places.

There's no doubt that organic food is gaining in popularity. Yet only 3% of food sales in the United States are organic. A whopping 97% of our food dollars still go to non-organic items. People can argue about the health value of organic vs. non-organic, but this is a dollars and cents issue. Right now the dollars you spend for organic make no sense!

If you've been to the supermarket lately, you've probably gotten serious sticker shock. Prices are up the most they've been in 17 years; for example, staples like milk and eggs are each up 25%. So what can you do to cope with the price increases? For starters, you may want to shop at Aldi. This hard discounter does very little advertising, has small stores and a limited selection with a lot of house brands. But it's very cheap. Estimates suggest you can reduce your usual grocery costs by 40% when shopping at Aldi.

Wal-Mart comes in at a close second. The Wall Street Journal finds that Wal-Mart can be up to 30% cheaper than the traditional major supermarket chains. But beware that a major customer satisfaction index recently gave it a horrible score when it comes to the shopping experience. More customer-friendly yet cheap retailers you may want to visit include Trader Joe's and Fresh & Easy. Finally, be sure to check out CouponMom.com for access to a variety of coupons. Remember, every dollar you save at the market is an after-tax dollar that stays in your pocket.

Were you frightened by your local newscast last month trumpeting warnings about trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in your drinking water? Clark believes these reports had more to do with sweeps week in the TV world than with an actual threat. Either way, the bottled water industry must have loved the news; they just got to sit back and pick up market share. But one recent study found that 40% of bottled water is just repackaged tap water. Plus, tap water is constantly tested to ensure safety. There is no equivalent for bottled water. Clark is more worried about al-Qaeda than killer tap water.

As a 17-year veteran of TV reporting, the penny-pinching guru knows that February, May and November are the months when ad rates are set based on how that month's news stories pop. So be careful with your TV during those 3 months. The news teams are trying to excite you, titillate you and make you fearful -- anything to raise ratings and drive up ad rates. Take it all with a grain of salt and wash it down with a glass of tap water. Think about it: How many people do you know who have suffered harm from tap water?

Clark has never had cup of coffee in his life -- a real shame considering how cheap it is to brew the stuff at home. But we Americans have defeated ourselves by turning coffee into a social occasion, thereby transforming what should be cheap into a multi-dollar purchase. In the futures market, coffee prices have been steadily on the rise. Yet at the supermarket, the java you buy a bag or container of is still cheap. But try buying that same coffee while you're out and about…you could blow between $1 and $5 on every cup. So the message is, yes, prices are steadily increasing. But don't get your jitters about the cost. Keep getting your jitters from the java -- just brew it at home and forget about the negligible rising price.

Clark's executive producer Christa recently gave up soft drinks for Lent. She had been drinking about 3 or 4 beverages a day. A recent Purdue University study found that soft drinks with saccharine actually make you gain weight, not lose it. Researchers believe the saccharine alters your appetite and makes you want to eat more. When the results of this study were released, everyone on Team Clark immediately thought about Clark and his love of soft drinks. Christa will go for 40 days without a soft drink. Can Clark go for 4 days without one? How about 4 hours?? Meanwhile, an older study suggested that diet sodas trick your brain and body in a bad way. While they're sweet to your palate, they don't offer any real sugar for the body to metabolize. There's a real disconnect between what your body expects and what it actually gets. That's why some people think drinking even one diet soda a day actually increases your chances of gaining weight.

There's been so much talk about Chinese exports like clothing and toys coming into our country. But did you also know that much of our food comes from mainland China? Now Trader Joe's -- the very eclectic, discount, new-age organic supermarket -- has banned food from mainland China because they're unsure about the sourcing. Trader Joe's has a great legacy of trust with its customers, so this move makes a lot of sense. In a press release, the usually media-shy company basically said that their customers have spoken and they've listened. The communist regime in China offers no system of checks and balances to assure us that their supply is safe. Clark is not jumping on the anti-free trade bandwagon here -- he's actually a fervent believer in free trade -- yet at same time he doesn't want to feed his dog food that may be poisonous. So Clark thinks Trader Joe's made the right move.

Fast food is a subject that's near and dear to Clark's heart. The fast food chains are discounting their menus because they're hurting for customers right now. Wendy's has come out with the Stack Attack double cheeseburger for 99 cents, while McDonald's and Burger King have their own $1 double cheeseburgers. The fast food index is a leading indicator of difficulty in the economy. So you'll see value menus start to grow as disposable income continues to shrink. Fast food restaurants need their so-called "heavy eaters" -- people who are super-loyal to a particular brand and dine out about 5 or more times a week. Many heavy eaters are younger men who are price sensitive. As a bit of trivia, do you know who started the value pricing trend in fast food? If you thought McDonald's, you're incorrect. They've marketed it so well that you would immediately think of them. But Taco Bell actually started it on a national basis with their 59 cent value menu.

Clark is obsessed with exercise. He doesn't feel right unless he works out every day, which may say more about the psychological than the physical. Exercise helps him relax and relieve stress. Interestingly, he doesn't do it to be fit or in good health. The Archives of Internal Medicine has now done a long-term evaluation of 2,400 British twins. Researchers found that people who exercise routinely through life slow the aging of their bodies. Similar studies have demonstrated that exercise can reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. But this study now shows that you can actually steal back some years from the calendar. The current thinking is that by consistently exercising 4 times a week you can gain about 5 or 6 extra years of quality living. Many people have difficulty developing the habit of exercise. Clark's advice is to do it one step at a time. Start with just a walk, perhaps twice a week. You'll need a routine, so pick a time of day and stick to it. Once you're comfortable with twice a week, start walking at least 3 times a week. From a financial perspective, you'll save on medical care and missed days at work.

In the weeks leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, reporters are asked to come up with new angles for coverage of the big game and the teams. So Clark has seen stories about Tom Brady transcending his sports celebrity to become a bona fide celebrity; and the NY Giants' Lawrence Tynes lobbying for a reduction in his brother's prison sentence. But here's a new one: Beer prices are skyrocketing just in time for the game!

This is not a conspiracy or a price gouge. It's because the cost of barley and hops are up, according to MSNBC. Keep in mind the raw materials that go into beer are a tiny fraction of what you pay on the street for the finished product. Much of the budget goes into distribution, packaging and advertising. But Clark has the best plan for coping with the rise in beer prices: He doesn't drink, so it won't cost him anything! As a season ticket holder for a pro football team, he has the cheapest seats in the house located in the upper deck end zone. Yet the other spectators around him blow it twice by drinking beer after beer (at 7.50 a pop) and getting so out of it that they can't focus on the game. The environment isn't exactly a family friendly one by the 3rd quarter, so Clark isn't able to take his 8 year old out to a game.

Meanwhile, the Super Bowl seems to be the most heavily gambled sporting event in the world every year. Longtime listeners know that gambling is something that Clark does not understand. Clark was recently in a convenience store where there were ultra-modern slot machines. He marveled as he watched the gamblers. Nobody smiled as they put in dollar after dollar and watched their money disappear. What a loss!

Do you want proof that marketing and ads work -- that our brains are hardwired to believe what's suggested to them? Scientists at Cal Tech recently hooked people up to MRIs to gauge brain activity while they tasted 5 different Cabernet wines of various prices. However, the subjects were only given 3 wines with double samples of 2 of them. The funny thing is that people insisted a $90 wine tasted better when they were told it cost $90 than when they were told it cost $10! Yet when they did a blind taste test, people preferred a $5 wine to the $90 one! We as individuals fool ourselves. You can't change the way your brain works, so all you can do is try to counteract it with the actions you take.

Speaking of wine and food, the day is coming when the way you checkout at the supermarket is going to change. Microsoft and Motorola have both announced tests in supermarkets of an electronic gizmo that will register what goes into your cart and automatically check you out. Microsoft is doing tests with the ShopRite chain, while Motorola has teamed up with the Stop & Shop chain for tests.

With the economy in a slump, some very visible symbols of the slowdown are starting to show. The fast food index, which measures how often people eat the greasy stuff, is actually a good indicator of what's going on economically. The same can be said of cable subscriptions. Clark recently read that techies are canceling cable TV because they watch so much Internet programming for free.

Now comes word that Starbucks is going through a midlife crisis and have brought back their founder as CEO. A handful of stores are even selling coffee for $1 and other locations are offering free refills. Starbucks created the premium market for coffee and now they're suffering from it. People can no longer justify spending $5 on a cup o' joe. Plus, practically every financial guru boasts about how much you can save in the long run by eliminating a latte a day from your budget. So will Starbucks take a cue from the fast-food giants and debut a StarBUCKS menu with several $1 selections? There's no telling. Right now these sales ploys are only being tested at select locations. If they do build traffic, you'll soon see them everywhere.

It used to be taken as an article of faith that the wealthy would continue spending even during lean times. But the mass affluent market is suffering too. So if you do go out to treat yourself to a meal or a shopping spree, there will be more opportunities (what's called "the value proposition" in industry lingo) for you.

For those who overindulged in calories during the holidays, here's a word of warning to avoid getting eaten alive by health club salespeople. This industry basically has two business models. In the good one, you pay month-to-month or quarterly with no real contract. The sleazy business model, however, involves long-term contracts designed to give your checking account a workout. In the latter model, the downfall begins when they offer you a free tour of the facilities. The tour is done by a commissioned salesperson with the intention of getting you to sign a multi-year contract. When you sign, the salesperson gets a commission and the club sells off the contract to a finance company that will take the paper on and sell it off for pennies on the dollar. Then the club gets what's left. Clubs sell so many memberships this way that they have to hope that you don't work out -- otherwise there wouldn't be enough space for everyone!

The Feb. 2008 issue of Consumer Reports rates health clubs, with the worst rating going to Bally's Total Fitness. Bally's got bad marks in staffing, classes and equipment, plus the worst possible score for locker rooms, cleanliness and crowds. On the flip side, the best club is a chain that's in 15 states called Lifetime Fitness. In the second-best slot are on-site gyms at work and coming in third best were gyms at your local Jewish Community Center/YMCA/YWCA. Though Consumer Reports doesn't mention them, Clark also recommends checking out hospital-affiliated fitness centers. They're usually rehab-based or geared toward hospital staff. They're clean, well run and don't force stinking contracts on you. Most sell memberships to the public. One final word: Signing a contract will not get you to work out. You may have the best of intentions, but most people quit working out within weeks. So don't obligate yourself to a multi-year contract.

A recent poll in Fitness magazine revealed that 1 in 4 people would rather spend a week in jail, shave their heads or wear a bikini on TV than weigh an extra 50 pounds. One in 5 would actually give up 10 years of their life to not have the additional girth. But that's nothing compared to this next stat: Nine in 10 people said they'd take an extra toe rather than the extra weight! Around 75 percent of women currently are on (or have recently been on) a diet. Meanwhile, more than half of all women admit to having sat down and eaten a whole box of cookies or other junk food. Talk about true confessions!

Body image is such a difficult issue. On one hand, you have someone like actress Keira Knightley who has been photographed looking skeletal. On the other hand, you have people like musician/actress Queen Latifah. The Queen has a curvaceous body image and is proud of it. As we all know, there's no magic pill for weight loss. It has to happen through developing lifetime habits of watching what you eat and exercising. Clark himself is caught somewhere in the middle of it all. He admittedly has terrible eating habits, but he's also an exercise maniac.

Clark's executive producer Christa recently gave him an article from Health magazine that spoke about how plastic water bottles can leach Bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical that's toxic in lab rats. So the inevitable question arises: Can it also harm us? Clark's not buying the leaching plastics theory, but he thinks you shouldn't drink bottled water because it will drain your wallet. Most bottled water comes from the tap, including Aquafina and Dasani. Just compare the numbers for yourself: Drinking tap water will cost you 40 cents/year vs. $1,500/year for bottled water, according to one study. Then there's the environmental angle: Between transportation, packaging and disposal, bottled water is an eco-disaster. If you're still reluctant to drink from the tap, try using an affordable filter. The Brita system was recently featured on NBC's The Biggest Loser -- a show that's watched by both Christa and Clark's other producer Kim.

Clark does not drink coffee. Yet he's fascinated by people who spend a lot of money at Starbucks. Clark's wife now has their 8 year old daughter hooked on going to Starbucks for non-caffeinated Frappuccinos. But the Seattle-based java giant is for the first time ever experiencing declining sales. Why? Are they too expensive? Not really, according to Clark. This is a classic case of imitation being the sincerest and cruelest form of flattery. Starbucks is facing competition from some unusual suspects like McDonald's! Years ago, Clark went to an experimental McD's in Raleigh, N.C. The store was divided into a McCafé and a standard McD's. The McCafé had bistro tables, a fountain and fancy coffees and pastries on the menu. Clark wondered, "Is this really going to work?" Today there are about 800 McCafés across the nation. They offer vanilla lattes, Café mochas, caramel cappuccinos, iced coffees and other frou-frou drinks -- all cheaper than Starbucks. Look for national TV advertising from Starbucks to fight back against its new competitor. Starbucks had a great infancy, but they're poised for a tough adolescence.

Even Consumer Reports says McD's coffee is the best from any chain -- better than even Starbucks. But Clark's executive producer Christa still thinks coffee from Dunkin' Donuts is tops. She's been buying big packs of D&D coffee at the warehouse clubs. If you're not a member of a warehouse club, you're better off buying your bagged D&D coffee in bulk at a D&D location, not a grocery store. Meanwhile, Christa has some homework. Clark has asked her to figure out the cost per cup when you buy it in bulk at a warehouse club vs. purchasing it cup-by-cup at a store.

How would you like to go in the store and buy meat that looks good yet is actually very old? Meat producers have figured out that by injecting packaging with carbon monoxide gas, they can make meat look perfect even way past its expiration date. Supermarkets have long wrestled with the problem of meat that looks spoiled even when it's good. But now that the processors have this new method, Clark thinks this is taking things one step too far. The Washington Post reports that there's also corruption at play here. Internal memos from the big meat handlers show that this process hasn't been proven safe. This, of course, embarrasses the FDA, which seems to be failing in its mission to protect consumers. Target is one retailer that sells meat that may be packaged with carbon monoxide. Target says it's looking at adding labels to the packaging that would disclose the treatment. But Clark says this is not enough. He still bristles at the idea of using carbon monoxide to make meat look good.

There's a price war going on in the fast food world. At the center of the storm is the humble double cheeseburger. Burger King has announced plans to slash the price of its burger -- which is 30 percent larger than the one offered at McDonald's -- from $1.99 to $1. Meanwhile, McDonald's is getting ready to dump the double cheeseburger from its dollar menu altogether. McD's franchisees are complaining that they're losing money on every double cheeseburger they serve. So it will be interesting to see what happens next between the two fast-food giants. One thing is for sure: This price war is a sign that people are cutting back on discretionary expenses such as eating out now that the economy is slowing. As for Clark, his infatuation with fast food goes back to high school. It was then that his brother came home from law school and made a label for Clark that read "carry-out kit" -- the old-fashioned name for fast-food restaurants. Clark was such a fan even back then that he hung it on the headboard of his bed!

Clark loves news reports that affirm his deeply held beliefs about saving money. Right now he's gloating about the results of a Scottish study that found low-cost running shoes are just as good as more expensive ones. The only time Clark spends real money on shoes is for running. But somewhere inside he feels that inexpensive ones may harm his feet. So he picked up his current running shoes on clearance for $45, which is pretty expensive for him. He tries to get most of his other shoes for less than $15. He has a pair of loafers that cost $15, a pair of tennis shoes that he got for $12 and some dress shoes that he inherited from his father in 1989. Now the study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine has found that inexpensive shoes provided better foot support for the sole, heel, forefoot and big toe than more expensive ones. This whole issue makes Clark thinks of the Steve and Barry's chain that features Stephon Marbury's NBA quality sneakers for under $15 and Sarah Jessica Parker's clothing line for $19 or less. In fact, Steve and Barry's is the only company really doing deep discounted merchandise in the sports field.

When Clark goes to Europe, he often gets dragged into museums to look at paintings. Much of the Renaissance art he sees depicts people who are slightly chunky because that was the sign of health and wealth at that point in history. It turns out that people from that era may have been on to something. Today our culture believes that being a stick figure is healthy and having some meat on your bones means that you're unhealthy. But the latest health findings from the Centers for Disease Control show that being slightly overweight when you're under 30 doesn't raise your risk of cancer and heart disease. In fact, it can even lessen your risk of death from some illnesses. The findings of the study were revealed in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Bear in mind that some scientists think these findings are faulty, so this not a green light for you to get a little chunky. Take any health advice with a grain of salt—or salt substitute because everyone's so sodium conscious these days!

The Consumer Product Safety Commission and its current head, Nancy Nord, have emerged as villains for Clark in recent weeks. The job of a safety regulator is to ensure that safe products are on the market, right? So do you think it's a good idea for regulators to be wined and dined by the very people they're supposed to be monitoring? "No way not any day," as Clark says. But Nord has been taking all kinds of freebies from the companies she regulates. Clark issued a recent call for Nord to appear on the show and defend herself, but so far her press people haven't been receptive to the idea.

Now the White House is stepping in with new initiatives to keep kids and adults safe in the wake of some highly publicized food and product recalls. Most capitalists would not want to knowingly harm another human being through their business practices. But we still need a cop on the beat to ensure safety. Clark thinks Nord has such resentment toward government that now that she's in power she's trying to curtail government at every step. That's why Clark thinks she's been so lax in her duties. Once again, Clark wants to reiterate that he doesn't think Nord gets up in the morning and says, "How can I harm people today?" But wouldn't you want to know that toys you buy for your child are safe? Of course you would -- and the same goes for the food you give to your family. These are only reasonable expectations.

Clark recently saw healthy Halloween treats in the candy aisle at a supermarket. Who really wants to be the Scrooge who ruins the holiday for kids by handing out nutritionally smart treats? Yet there was a recent article in the The Los Angeles Times about the growing healthy Halloween candy trend. Little pretzel packs, Teddy Grahams and even packets of carrots are among the items that some people now hand out. The idea is for kids to have fun without getting rotten teeth. Clark's 8-year-old daughter is usually not able to eat her Halloween candy because she's allergic to nuts. But she gets a Starburst from her mother for every piece she gives up. If you like to give out Halloween candy, make sure you buy a type you don't like -- that way you won't eat the excess! Bring leftovers to work if you can. Clark brings candy to his workplace that he buys after Halloween for 75 percent off! Clark's executive producer Christa thinks you can save leftover candy and use it next Halloween. But even Clark says that giving out stale candy is way too cheap for him! One caller suggested that leftover candy makes a great Christmas stocking stuffer -- and it won't be stale by then either!

Clark recently trashed the U.S. Department of Agriculture for keeping mum about a known E. coli infestation at a food-processing plant. The case involved a New Jersey food supplier that churned out tainted products for weeks even though the DoA was fully aware of what was going on. There were no fatalities linked to this particular E. coli outbreak, as far as Clark knows. Now the DoA has issued a public apology and vowed to speed up the recall process and increase its number of inspections by 50 percent. We are the wealthiest country in the world -- our standards shouldn't trail behind dozens of other countries.

On a lighter note, the North American Association for the Study of Obesity recently released a study that examined fast-food eating habits. The study found that those who eat fast food five or more times a week -- such as Clark -- have more health problems and weight issues than those who don't. But Clark also believes that eating at a high-end restaurant five times a week will probably make you obese too. Meanwhile, Clark recently read that fast-food restaurants are installing robots to take your order. He's even used one at a Burger King. The funny thing is that a robot sells up so much better than a human. Customers are more likely to order huge portions from a machine than from a human -- because the robot won't guilt them in any way!

How many cups of coffee do you drink a day? Clark says his wife's day doesn't get going until she has her coffee. Clark's executive producer Christa is up to about two cups a day, while Joel -- his producer -- enjoys one cup of coffee after dinner per day. They all brew their java at home. If you're a coffee lover, you might be seeing some headlines that may scare you. Brazil -- the dominant producer of arabica beans -- is facing a drought that promises to raise the price of coffee, according to a recent report in Barron's. But the impact on those who drink at home will probably be minimal because it's so inexpensive to begin with. Instead of being four cents per cup at home, it might be six or eight cents. However, many people enjoy their coffee outside of the home at an expensive shop. So the message here is brew your beverage at home! Clark's wife converted to drinking coffee at home when she got a fancy automated electronic brewing center. Her cost is about 23 cents per cup, but there's no mess or fuss and it saves them a bundle instead of going to Starbucks.

Clark was surprised when he recently read an article written by Greg Karp that details how much you can save on groceries at Walgreens, CVS and Rite-Aid, which are the three major drugstore chains. Clark typically thinks of these places as convenience stores that happen to sell prescription drugs. He'd rarely think of buying groceries at them. But in the article, Karp challenged Coupon Mom Stephanie Nelson to see how well she could do buying groceries at drugstores. When the dust settled, Nelson bought $266 of merchandise for $5.63! It's very unlikely that anyone other than Nelson could save that much, but the article really prompted Clark to adjust his thinking. Be sure to check Coupon Mom's site for her for tips on saving at the drugstore chains.

About a year ago, Clark talked about Scott's Miracle-Gro firing employees who smoked. Employers have a direct interest in your health. Statistics tell us that smokers have higher absentee rates and medical bills than non-smokers. Clark recalls when he had a furniture delivery job in high school and the driver claimed that smoking since 12 hadn't hurt him! But today people accept it as common knowledge. Other than outright firing people, is there a way that companies can motivate people to have healthier habits? It turns out that paying workers small financial rewards to go on a fitness regimen works.

According to a new study in the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, cash incentives of as little as $7 work to get people in shape. Money is even a better motivator than having a gym at work, the study found. Here's how the study worked: Groups were either offered no incentives, seven dollars or fourteen dollars. They weren't given any advice on how to lose weight or exercise. The people who were paid fourteen dollars were more likely to lose weight than those who received no money. Fourteen dollars was an even bigger motivator than seven dollars, which Clark thinks is funny because it's not really all that much money as an incentive for three months of exercise and diet. The authors of the study now plan to do more research to find out the optimal amount of money it will take to bribe workers to health!

What if cities trying to reduce air pollution and traffic made bicycles available for free on their streets? Some European communities have been trying this out for years. There's even one car-dependent suburban Atlanta community that's had a program like this. The typical setup is simple: The bikes, which are usually painted bright yellow to deter people from stealing them, can be picked up and dropped off at various locations around town on the honor system. Now The San Francisco Chronicle reports that that city is in the process of setting up a free bike-sharing program. Other cities that have expressed interest in doing the same include Washington D.C., Portland, Ore., Chicago and New York. Clark thinks this is a really great trend that could help increase the life expectancy of our population. Our average lifespan is about 79 years, a figure that's lower than in other nations around the world because of our sedentary lifestyle. Bike-sharing programs are one way to encourage people to get moving.

Restaurants often put healthy selections on the menu and then report that no one orders them. People claim they want healthy food, but what they say and what they order are two different things. Think about the frozen yogurt craze. People took what should be a low-fat healthy meal and then piled on hot fudge, nuts and syrups to make it fattening! But now there's a supermarket chain in New England that may be proving people really do buy healthy things.

The Hannaford Bros. chain has launched a new nutrition-labeling program that aims to help make healthy shopping easy. The New York Times reports that Hannaford has gone through some 20,000 food items in its stores and labeled each of them with zero to three stars. Foods with zero stars are processed, fatty and sugary. Foods with three stars are things like vegetables, lean meats, beans, whole grain items and more. Sales of items with multiple stars have skyrocketed while those with zero stars have plummeted. Clark loves that people have access to easy-to-understand information for making better choices -- even if he still would prefer to eat foods from the zero stars group! But to his credit, Clark has gone from eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream nearly 365 days/year to about 25 days/year. He credits his doctor with helping him cut back instead of just going cold turkey and relapsing. And for those of you wondering about Clark's favorite flavor, it's Ben & Jerry's Vanilla Caramel Fudge!

Clark's wife loves drinking coffee and often makes her java at home. She uses an electronic barista that has pre-packaged coffee blends to deliver ultra-fancy, boutique-style drinks. The packets cost 25 cents each, which is about five times more expensive than it costs to make a no-frills cup of joe. So how does Clark feel about this added expense? He loves it! It's not hard to see why when you consider that the alternative is to pay upwards of three dollars a cup at a Starbucks.

The Financial Times reports that people are now making more cups of coffee at home rather than buying them out at coffeehouses and restaurants. Starbucks wants a piece of this market, and the chain plans to offer its blends at your grocery store so you can brew it yourself at home. If you're like Clark's wife and brew yours up on a fancy machine, you can take solace in the fact that the return on investment is incredible. Though it may cost a few hundred to buy the machine, you'll quickly earn that back when you cut expensive coffee runs out of your budget for a few months. Or you can just go for the less-expensive Dunkin' Donuts coffee, which Clark's executive producer Christa says is the best in the world!

In the time-honored tradition of the "What I Did on Summer Vacation" essay, Clark opened the show today by talking about how he spent the summer break. This summer found Clark and his family at their beach home in Florida quite a bit. They also took a trip to San Francisco, where Clark and his wife visited relatives and did a lot of walking. Now that his family's vacation time has winded down, reality has set in especially hard for his teenage daughter. She's off at college for the first time this year. Unfortunately, she got a $77 parking ticket during her first day on campus because she didn't have a parking pass. Talk about the school of financial hard knocks! On a related note, Clark often chides his daughter when he sees her with bottled water. There was a recent study that compared the cost of drinking bottled water to the cost of drinking tap water. Consuming tap water will run you about 49 cents for the entire year, while drinking the same amount of bottled water will burn a $1,400 hole in your wallet! Many people still prefer bottled water to tap water because of taste and/or safety issues. In fact, Clark's beach home has notoriously bad tasting tap water. His solution? Just use a relatively inexpensive filtration system to clean up your tap water and make it taste great. Clark wants everyone to consider this option -- especially as more and more brands like Aquafina and Dasani are revealed to just be tap water in a fancy bottle with a huge price markup. Who wouldn't want to save $1,400 a year?

Have you ever dropped food on the floor and picked it up to eat it? Clark sometimes thinks it’s OK for parents to let their kids do this because it builds their immune system. There's the five-second rule, which holds that anything on the floor for five seconds or less is OK for human consumption. Yet the FDA says that the five-second rule is bogus. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that if the fallen food in question tastes good -- like a cookie or piece of cake -- people will even push it to 15 seconds! But stomach aches and other intestinal distress can be associated with this practice, so be careful. The book answer is that it's not a good idea to eat food off the floor, but people probably won't be changing their ways anytime soon!

One town in Massachusetts is changing everything about how they treat weight problems. They have decided to treat the issue of child obesity very seriously. The menu at the local schools has changed dramatically, with more whole grains and fresh fruits. Their program is called “Shape Up” and also includes more exercise for the youngsters and easier ways to walk to school. The amazing thing is that the serious approach to this problem is producing results. Kids in this town weigh less than kids in nearby towns. Our society has become more sedentary with all of our amazing inventions that make our lives easier. This makes it more difficult though, to stay fit as well. It is an amazing thing that the effort of this community is making a huge change in the lives of their youth.

Two buck chuck, the cheap wine based out of California has changed the entire industry. They have now sold over 300 million bottles in 5 years. $15 used to be the price point that people would not go below to get wine; but because the Two-buck-Chuck actually tastes good, people now know that they are able to get good wine for a reasonable price. So just remember, a higher price doesn’t always mean a better product.

GlaxoSmithKline has decided to advertise one of their prescription drugs in a revolutionary way: They are planning on telling the whole truth about it. When you watch most commercials for prescription drugs they make it seem as though your world will be a rosy place after popping their particular pill, and the side effects scroll along the bottom of the screen in tiny mice type. GSK, however, has released a weight loss pill that is being marketed not as a miracle pill, but as a slow but sure way to weight loss. How impressive is it that this company is willing to buck the system and just be honest with consumers.

The workout facility Bally’s is going to be filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy but will stay in business. There are a few things you have to keep in mind when you are searching for a work out club though. Don’t sign a contract! If the club feels confident that they have a good product, why do they need to rope you in for three years? Look for good customer service. If you are new to the work out club game especially, you want to go somewhere where they have people walking the floor to help you if you have questions.

When you go to a restaurant, you want to believe you’re being treated with the best service and care, right? Well, Smart Money recently published a “10 Things” list of things a restaurant doesn’t want you to know. The first is that you don’t want to go on a restaurant on Monday nights. Word is that they use day-old food that wasn’t used over the weekend. So, it’s not terrible, but if you’re paying big bucks you may want to go later in the weekend. Secondly, if a restaurant has a stew or soup on the menu, it is likely made up of ingredients weren’t used over the weekend. Another one to avoid is the “specials” on the menu. Often, servers don’t tell you the price of the specials as a way to jack up the bill. Be sure to ask the price of an item. Also, profit margins for dessert and drinks are huge. So, avoid those if you can. Fix something yourself when you get home.

Weather is hitting us hard these days, and our crops have suffered. Many crops were wiped out by the freezes going on around the country, so demand is high. If you like fruits and vegetables, or you enjoy eating a salad every day, you’re going to pay a lot more for these. Clark wants to warn you!

You may laugh when you hear the words plug-in hybrid. But these are not just for nerds and tree huggers anymore. The Wall Street Journal reported recently that our country can become energy-independent if more people drive these cars. And there is an obvious interest in this topic. It was the most e-mailed story for days after the story came out. People are ready to listen to the ideas about plug-in hybrids.

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In other energy-related news, chicken fat and waste can be turned into fuel to operate trucks. There is a huge problem with this waste, yet someone has come up with a way to use it that will cut down on costs and help our energy production. We want to remain strong and powerful in the world and reducing our energy consumption is the way to do it.

You may have heard that New York City is banning trans fats in restaurants. There are about 20,000 restaurants in Manhattan alone, but somehow the city is going to get rid of trans fats. The ban will take place over the next 18 months and you’ll probably see fewer items on the menu. Clark gets a lot of e-mails about his terrible eating habits, so he is not pointing fingers here. But he doesn’t think government should interfere with restaurant practices. It just isn’t a legitimate role of government I his opinion. Something more appropriate would be to require restaurants to disclose which foods have trans fats. Then, people can make the decision themselves. Some people feel the same way about the cigarette ban and proposed alcohol ban. Knowledge is a good thing; prohibition is not. Tell us what you think in our recent poll.

This year, we are experiencing the greatest oversupply of wine ever. At the same time, wine is getting better. So, if you like wine, you are loving it right now! Wines are much less expensive and of much better quality these days. There is a twist you need to know about though. Vineyards that normally sell expensive, high-quality wines don’t want to lose their cache or the reputation of their good name by selling their bottles for much cheaper. But they need to make money. So, they are rebottling and relabeling these expensive wines and selling them for much less. Bottles that normally cost $100 are being repackaged and sold for $10 or $15. So, try something new these days that costs much less. It could actually be a fine wine concealed with a different label.

British companies and American companies compete all the time in the supermarket business. If you’ve traveled around Great Britain, you may have shopped at a Tesco, for example. It’s a traditionally European chain, but the company is starting operations in the States. They’ve been building stores in the West and will continue to open a few hundred a year. They offer very clean, well-organized stores and the items are in the mid-priced range. They will compete with Safeway and Kroger, but they look as good as a Whole Food. So, they gain market share very quickly. The stores, starting in California, Nevada and Arizona, will be about the size of a Walgreen’s. So, not too big and not too small. You will benefit from having Tesco in your corner, but some of the grocery stores you know may go away.

Clark has trouble sometimes in the grocery stores, especially when it comes to buying fruits and vegetables. He often asks for help from people around him but he never really learns the trick to picking fresh produce. The good news is that there may be a way around that problem. A professor from the University of Arizona has designed a sticker that will change color when the item is fresh. Clark thinks this has huge market power if it actually works.

Consumer Reports has come out with another restaurant issue and Clark wants to share the results. In the steak house category, the upscale restaurants were The Capital Grille, Ruth’s Chris and Morton’s. In the mid-price range, Longhorn got top honors. In traditional American category, Houston’s was No. 1 and J. Alexander’s was No. 2. The best Italian chain was Carrabba’s and McCormick & Schmick’s got top seafood honors. The restaurant also got the best overall score of any restaurant. In the “unusual dinner houses” category, Rainforest Café and P.F. Changs got high honors. The lowest score out of all 103 restaurants went to Friendly’s.

Whole Foods is trying to change its image. The company is incredibly successful, has great quality products and his lovely to shop in. But people think it is too expensive. Some folks are willing to spend the money and Whole Foods has been doing quite well serving that demo. But other food stores are starting to offer organic, quality foods at better prices and people aren’t as loyal to Whole Foods. As a result, Whole Foods has started a campaign called “More of the Good Stuff for Less.” The company says it is competitively priced but doesn’t do a good job of marketing it. So, Whole Foods is going to start featuring their private label and store brands. Clark thinks they company is going to have a hard time shaking its expensive image, but we’ll see.

Organic food has been a luxury many people want but can’t afford. Organic foods are much safer and healthier, but the products are just too expensive. Not anymore! Organic foods will no longer cost you an arm and a leg, according to the San Francisco Chronicle and the Wall Street Journal. Both publications are saying the organic food market is going through a breakthrough year. A number of supermarket chains are going to have private label organic foods, making the prices much more palatable. It’s happening because mass food production companies started selling organic foods. They finally realized that they couldn’t beat the organic stores and shops, so they’d join them. In Clark’s opinion, it’s great news for organic food buyers and those who have always wanted to be.

Last summer on his book tour, Clark went to Carl’s Jr. – Hardees’ parent company - and got a “monster thick burger.” It was more than 1,420 calories and he couldn’t believe he got it down. Now, Hardees is about to introduce another mega calorie burger, but the company is claiming its one of its lighter meals. Hardees has five burgers that all are more than 1,000 calories. So, the new “Philly Cheese Steak Thick Burger” is considered a diet item. It has Angus steak burger, sliced steak meat, cheese and it has just under 1,000 calories! The Center for Science in the Public Interest has weighed in on this whole topic and wants to know when it’s going to stop. So, who is at fault? Hardees for making the burgers? Or the people who buy them? Clark’s current poll, for example, asks how often people go to McDonald’s and if they think it is the company’s fault that people get fat. Check it out here.

Pizza companies and other restaurants are having to revamp their menus and hire nutritionists to make sure their food is not too high in calories. Find out why! Remember to disable your pop-up blocker by holding down your "Control" key while clicking on the link.

Personal trainers are very hot these days. But how do you know if the person who is training you is legitimate? A TV station in Boston wanted to find out so it had reporters try to get “certified.” One reporter was able to take a two-hour online test and within a week she had her certification in hand. There are only a handful of accredited organizations that legitimately certify personal trainers. They are:
• American Council on Exercise
• National Council on Strength and Fitness
• National Strength and Conditioning Association
• National Academy of Sports Medicine
• National Federation of Personal Trainers

It’s the New Year, and you’ve probably started to see the ads for weight loss miracles and wonder drugs. Health clubs also advertise heavily this time of year because everyone is trying shed those holiday pounds. The truth is that most people don’t enjoy working out. So the idea of exercise is not pleasing. There are other ways to get in shape, though. Did you know that cleaning the house burns a good bit of calories? In fact, just an hour of exercise a week reduces your risk of coronary disease by half. If it’s raining out, go to the mall and walk the perimeter a few times. Just don’t shop.

Do you have a teenager who plays video games all the time and is putting on a little weight in the process? Well, companies are now devising and developing exercise games that combine video games with exercise. Some look like elliptical machines or Nordic machines. Others are mat-type games that require people to jump around on certain spots of the pad. It’s a great way to keep teens fit while they have fun. If you have a son or daughter who is especially sedentary, consider getting one of these devices. Some are very expensive, including “The Kilowatt” which is $500. You hook it up to the television and kids jump around while interacting with the TV. If we’re going to get kids to exercise in today’s society, we have to reach kids where they are.

Clark was in a non-English speaking country recently and used a translation machine to order food at a restaurant. He enters it in English and it prints out in the language spoken in the country. In this case, it was Germany. It helps speed up the order and it comes out just right. At the time, Clark wondered why we didn’t have something like this in the States. Well, it’s now happening in certain areas of the country. According to the Dallas Morning News, fast food chains are getting ready to roll out these terminals. About a dozen restaurants are involved, with a total of 60 McDonald’s in Texas alone. The terminals show 26 different languages and will soon be all over the country.

The Archives of Internal Medicine conducted a long-term study on exercise and found that working out has clear and concrete positive effects on lifespan. People who exercise about five times a week live five years longer than those who do nothing, for example. Just walking 30 minutes a day adds an extra year and a half to your life. But vigorous exercise will get you 4 more years. Even if you’re 35 or 45 and you’ve never worked out, you can start now and still add years, results show. It’s never too late to improve your health.

Have you heard of pizzarants? These are very compact pizza restaurants. A company called Wonder Pizza USA has created a pizzarant vending machine that delivers hot pizza right in your hands. The $18,000 vending machines stock $5 pizza and have an oven built in. So when you put your money in, the pizza is cooked in the oven and delivered out to you. Apparently it’s fantastic. In fact, it’s already in Italy and has been hugely successful. So, what if you’re trying to lose weight? Which diet is the most effective? Well, according to Health magazine, only 10 percent of people on the Atkins stayed with it and were successful. Of those on the “Dean Ornish” diet, 15 percent saw successful results. And the diet called “The Way to Eat” had a 33 percent success rate. The most successful diet was Weight Watchers online. One-third of those dieters was successful and stayed on the diet 60 percent of the time. So, it’s a huge endorsement for the Weight Watchers online diet, which Christa, Clark’s executive producer, has tried. She was successful and is going to go back on the diet after she has her second child. Getting on a diet is hard enough, but staying on it is even tougher.

How much of our food dollar is spent eating out as opposed to eating at home. Would you believe almost a half? Clark and his family used to spend about 90 percent of their dollar eating out, but now they have a newborn and they spend most of their time at home. Their food bill has gone down as a result. So, where do people save the most? Wal-Mart! The low priced supermarket sells $1 out of every $5 spent on groceries, and the company is on track to sell about one of every three dollars. Research shows that people save about 20 percent when buying groceries at Wal-Mart. The strange flip side of this is that Whole Foods, the high-priced gourmet market, is also gaining customers and growing like gangbusters. As a result, traditional supermarkets in the middle of those two extremes are closing left and right. There will be no need for these traditional supermarkets as people continue to move to opposite ends of the spectrum, shopping at the warehouse clubs and Wal-Mart superstores or at fancy organic health food markets.

McDonald’s has taken a lot of heat for causing obesity among children. Clark thinks this is a bunch of bunk. McDonald’s doesn’t force people to eat its food. People choose to eat the food. But just to put customers at ease, the company is going to open its doors to the public. It’s called the “Open Doors Campaign” and it’s coming to the U.S. this fall. If a customer wants a tour, the people in the restaurant are supposed to walk him or her through the kitchen, showing how everything is cooked. The idea is to demystify how the restaurant business works and build trust with customers. Clark wonders if it’s a good idea to watch as your food is being prepared. Some really like it. Others may lose their appetite.

The most successful infomercial of all time has been exposed as a huge lie. CortaSlim made more than $200 million in about two years. And, now the execs behind the scenes have been ordered to pay big fines for the lies. They’ve also had to remove the ridiculous claims of weight loss on their Web site. However, they are not going to have to pay back the public they stole from or go to jail, which is a shame. Let’s hope they are subject to some civil suits. One of the spin off products was called CortaStress, and it claimed to cure cancer. Thank goodness it’s not on the market anymore. The sad part is that more than one million Americans and Canadians bought into the idea and bought CortaSlim. There is no such miracle drug. Getting exercise and eating right are the only healthy ways to lose weight.

how would you like to be a researcher who spends decades on a study of human beings and their behavior. One researcher in New Zealand monitored 1,000 children born in 1972 and 1973. He tracked them into adulthood, visiting them every 24 months in their homes. The subjects didn’t know why they were being studied, but the results are amazing. By age 26, about half of them were significantly overweight or obese. The key contributing factor was how much television the children watched. If they watched a lot of TV, they were almost certain to be obese. Diet and physical activity did not correlate at all. According to the International Journal of Obesity, children who watch a lot of TV tend to snack a lot and don’t get outside as much. So, by all means, don’t put TVs in your kids’ bedrooms. They’ll be more healthy because of it.

Do you get hungry late at night? There are tons of spots available for the choosing today. In fact, one in four McDonald’s are open 24 hours a day. Starbucks is experimenting with 24-hour stores. Taco Bell is another late night spot, along with other taco chains. It all started about five years ago when Wendy’s announced it would be “open late.” People’s work schedules have changed, and many people who work in the service economy now eat late at night. Just make sure you’re eating a decent amount of the “healthy” foods on the menus.

Americans spend a lot less on food than most people on the planet. We have the most competitive supermarket business in the world and we have the most efficient farming in the world. So, prices are very low. But that’s not good enough for some people. Those are the people who travel to Aldi to get a deal. The German supermarket chain is different than any other store, and people either love it or they hate it. Granted, the hours and the selection are the pits. You even have to pay to rent a shopping cart. But the prices are fantastic. There are more than 800 stores in the U.S. and that number is growing. Aldi has been in the U.S. for 30 years and it’s still an invisible entity. Also, check-out lines are usually very long and you must bag your own groceries. If you’re still interested, check out aldi.com.

Portion sizes at American restaurants are huge these days. Restaurants are serving portions that are four times the size of those served back in 1985. That’s less than a generation ago. The reason for the huge portions is, in part, because restaurateurs can charge more for meals. So, Clark’s advice is to split it with someone. It cuts the cost and the calories in half. If there is a sharing charge, pay it. It will still be a lot less and it’s great for your health.

Here’s a tip: Exercise and eat healthy food and you’ll probably live longer. It’s just common sense. But people still choose to lead very lazy lives. So, enter the latest idea in the Richard Branson “Virgin” empire. He’s decided to open health clubs with all kinds of incentives. Basically the clubs monitor your fitness and eating. And if you stick to the regimen, you get incentives from this other companies such as airline tickets and music. He’s convinced Humana to jump on board, and Clark understands why. Right now, consumers get no inventive to be healthier. But if insurance companies save money and we get freebies, it makes complete sense.

Several years ago, when the issue of commutes and sedentary lifestyles originated, Clark was excited to tell you about what Sprint was doing at its corporate campus outside Kansas City. The entire layout from landscaping to design was created to encourage exercise. There are no roads on the 240-acre campus, and employees must walk a half-mile to and from the building each day. It’s build like a big park and the design inside requires employees to take the stairs more than elevators. There is also an on-site health clinic and a three-story gym on the campus. As a result, absenteeism is down, productivity is up and employees are much healthier. What are you doing at your company to improve the health of your employees and lower health costs?

A recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed us what a “healthy lifestyle” is and how many people are leading one. Turns out only 3 percent of people are leading a healthy lifestyle. So what does that mean? You must maintain a healthy weight, not smoke, eat 5 to 6 fruits or veggies a day and exercise 30 minutes a day, five times a week. The national average shows that only 3 percent of people do all of these things and 13 percent do three out of four. About one-third of people achieve two of the four things. So, the numbers aren’t that exciting. Tell us how you do in our weekly poll.

Do you like cereal? It doesn’t matter what age you are, many people just like cereal. One company is capitalizing on that and has started a cereal café called “Cereality.” There are dozens of cereals available, with all kinds of toppings and the employees wear pajamas. Some of these cafes also have Internet access. Cereality started in Arizona and is now in Chicago and Philadelphia. Check it out. Just be sure to watch out for the high sugar cereals, which are filled with calories. Also keep your kids away from “sports drinks.” They’re marketed as healthy, but dentists are warning the public about them because the high sugar content is horrible for children’s teeth. Try to get your kids to drink more water. It’s the best thing they can drink and it’s very thirst-quenching.

Have you looked in your refrigerator or freezer and wondered whether an item was still okay to eat? It’s hard to know if something that’s been in there for a few days is going to be any good or, more importantly, won’t make you sick. Well, the Greenwich Times published a story in this subject recently. Chicken or turkey in the freezer will last up to a year in the freezer Hamburger is good for three months in a freezer. TV dinners or casseroles are good for three months. And, would you believe leftover chicken can last up to four months in the freezer? Leftovers in the fridge, however, should be eaten within three days. And, they should be kept in a Tupperware or airtight container. You can’t tell if food is okay by looking at it or smelling it. Also, refrigerators with special drawers do not keep food any fresher than other kinds. If you find some cheese in your fridge and it has some mold on it, just cut it off. It’s fine to eat. What about prescriptions? Most over-the-counter medicines and prescriptions last much longer than the expiration dates on the bottles. Pharmaceutical companies put very early dates on the labels so patients have to refill and buy more. Sometimes the medicines lose some potency over time, but it takes years.

Some employers are now offering cash to employees who track how they eat and how much they exercise. Pacificare is one of those companies. It has set up a food log on the company’s Intranet, and employees enter everything they eat each day. For keeping the logs, employees get $15 every paycheck. Tell us what you think about this trend in our weekly poll.

Clark has pretty bad eating habits, he admits. But he’s always thought that he exercises enough to make up for it. Well, according to the FDA, he doesn’t. The agency is now saying people need to work out 60 to 90 minutes every day. Very few people meet that requirement every day, including Clark. Just as long as you get regular exercise, you will be much healthier. So, what about food? The FDA has doubled the amount of fruits and vegetables, and increased the amount of whole grains people eat each day. The cities that need to work on these new guidelines the most are: (from 10 to 1) Columbus, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Arlington, Texas; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Fort Worth, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; San Antonio, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Houston, Texas, and Detroit, Michigan. The “fattest” people in the United States live in Detroit, according to WebMD. The healthiest people live in (10 to 1): Sacramento; Tucson; Portland, Oregon; Boston, Seattle, Colorado Springs, Denver, Virginia Beach, San Francisco and No. 1 is Honolulu, Hawaii.

Hardees has come out with the Monster Thick Burger, which contains 1420 calories. The burger costs $5.50. Since the burger has started selling, Hardees’ sales have been climbing steadily. Since then, other fast food chains are mimicking the Thick Burger. The L.A. Times reported Taco Mac has a Macho Burrito that contains 1170 calories. McDonalds has a Double Quarter Pounder that has 730 calories. Clark believes this is societies reaction against cant’s and don’ts. People are tired of living by healthy rules. Clark is going to try a Monster Thick Burger to see if he can consume the entire burger. In a counter trend, Nabisco is selling a line of 100 calorie items. They have made their packages much smaller, in an effort to limit consumption.

Splenda, an artificial sweetener, has given consumers the impression that it is a guilt-free, calorie-free alternative. Splenda is becoming so popular that manufacturers of food products are being put on quotas when purchasing the artificial sweetener. The popularity has grown so much that many restaurants are hiding their Splenda and only serving it upon request, because costumers are stealing large quantities the sweetener. Coke and Pepsi are starting to use Splenda in their products. Coke has created a Diet Coke with Splenda. While Splenda’s popularity continues to rise, it is currently being sued for saying it is a natural bi-product of sugar. So, just keep your consumption to a minimum.

Fast food is going high tech these days. Phone services have become so cheap that there are now “call centers” taking your order at the drive through instead of an employee in a cute hat. So, you may be talking to someone across the globe who then relays your order to the particular store where you are. Pizza Hut, Chuck-E-Cheese and Hardees are all experimenting with it right now and many more will jump on the bandwagon. It’s a way for the restaurant to save money because they don’t have to staff so heavily for certain peak times of the day. We’ll see how well it works.

Americans have been the heaviest people on earth for about 15 years now. But other countries are starting to compete with us. You may have heard about the 17-pound baby born in Brazil, for example. The New York Times recently profiled this country, which used to have a huge problem with famine and starvation. The issues of getting food to people around the globe was a big deal not so long ago. But Brazilians, who have always had a reputation of being gorgeous people, now seem to have an abundance of food. About half of the residents in Brazil are now overweight. And, it’s not just happening in Brazil. Communist China is also consuming way too much food, after years of starving. In fact, the new disease of poverty is being overweight. We now need to reign in how much we eat and spread the benefits of exercise.

When was the last time you tossed your toothbrush? If it takes a while to remember, it may be time to replace it. You should get a new toothbrush whenever you get sick and every three months if you haven’t been sick. Toothbrushes carry tons of harmful germs, including salmonella. If you’re very concerned about this, there is now a device that sterilizes your toothbrush every time you use it. It uses ultra-violet rays to clean the toothbrushes and takes about 10 minutes to do. It costs $50 and you can find out more at violight.com.

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In other health news, ABC recently covered the germ population in health clubs. With everyone back in the gym this time of year, ABC wanted to know how clean, or in this case dirty, fitness equipment is. Suffice it to say that all kinds of disgusting germs are on machines. So, clean the machine before you get on it, and wipe it down as a courtesy to others when you get off. Just remember that many people are not as sanitary or careful as you might be. If you want to read the full report, go to abcnews.com.

Clark has pretty bad eating habits, he admits. But he’s always thought that he exercises enough to make up for it. Well, according to the FDA, he doesn’t. The agency is now saying people need to work out 60 to 90 minutes every day. Very few people meet that requirement every day, including Clark. Just as long as you get regular exercise, you will be much healthier. So, what about food? The FDA has doubled the amount of fruits and vegetables, and increased the amount of whole grains people eat each day. The cities that need to work on these new guidelines the most are: (from 10 to 1) Columbus, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Arlington, Texas; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Fort Worth, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; San Antonio, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Houston, Texas, and Detroit, Michigan. The “fattest” people in the United States live in Detroit, according to WebMD. The healthiest people live in (10 to 1): Sacramento; Tucson; Portland, Oregon; Boston, Seattle, Colorado Springs, Denver, Virginia Beach, San Francisco and No. 1 is Honolulu, Hawaii.

Internet telephone companies are huge these days. Clark has had Vonage in his home for about three years, for example, and he gives it an “A” so far. Mainstream players are now starting to adopt the idea, as well. Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company, is going to offer Internet phone service for $40 a month with unlimited local and long distance calling. That is 50 percent higher than typical phone services, but Comcast will monitor your burglar alarm and will allow 911 calling, something others have trouble with. Clark doesn’t think that price will last for long, either. It will move down after a while, so keep an eye on this one.

A report from the Journal of the American Medical Association shows overwhelming evidence that the combination of eating right and exercise has an enormous effect on lifespan. Exercising alone, in older years, also puts off the start of dementia. So, what is a healthy diet? According to the AMA, a Mediterranean diet is the best for you. That includes whole-wheat grains, olive oil, vegetables, fruit and fish. The things you shouldn’t eat or should eat in moderation are dairy, meat and alcohol. Doing one part of the combination – eating healthy or working out – will help you a little. The combination will help you a lot. Also, giving up smoking is key. Smoking contributes to all kinds of diseases, so stop smoking if you do.

Kids meals at restaurants are not the healthiest these days, you may have noticed. The menu items usually include hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken fingers. And the meal always comes with french fries. So what can you do to instill better eating habits in your children? Eat at home more often! Research from the Journal of Adolescent Health found that the more meals kids eat at home each week, the better their eating habits will be. In addition, they will be less likely as teens to have eating disorders, the journal states. If you eat just 1 to 2 family meals a week, one in five girls will manifest some kind of eating disorder. When the number jumps to three meals a week, one in 10 girls are at risk. Eating at home five times a week or more result in almost no chance of an eating disorder. Of course, we need more statistics on this, but the sample was very large and the results were extreme.

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On a positive note, teens and tweens are working out a lot more these days. According to Fox News, the number of teens going to a health club is up about 25 percent in the past few years. About five million kids are working out routinely at fitness centers. That is great news. Kids not only need to work on their physical fitness, but they also simply need to blow off some steam.

America is obsessed with diets and obesity. The government has been in the midst of a debate regarding the food pyramid and whether to change it. First it was Atkins. Now it’s South Beach. What will be next? Well, there are now clothes that adjust to your size depending on whether you shrink or grow. That’s right. For men, the clothes will grow or shrink about two inches depending on the size of the person. So, that kind of clothing is not just for pregnant women anymore. The clothing market is flexing as our bodies are flexing. In the past 15 years, the average size of a woman’s dress has gone from a size 8 to size 14. In the case of men, it’s not that much – about two inches on average. So, it’s a much bigger deal for women. Fast food restaurants are flexing as well, in order to accommodate consumers’ desire for healthier foods. McDonald’s has apples that can be dipped into a caramel sauce, and Wendy’s offers orange slices instead of French fries in kids meals.

Are you into the “low carb” craze? It seems everywhere you go, people are trying to sell us low carb items. A story in the Orlando Sentinel says restaurants that never had to pay attention to low carb foods now having to. They are including more meats and veggies and fewer bread items, and many servers are now pushing low carb menu items when customers order. Clark isn’t interested in watching his carbs, but it’s huge among the public consciousness. The problem is that some restaurants are unable to cook appetizing food in this way, and they will lose out anyway. What are Italian restaurants going to do, for example?

About two-thirds of American adults and one-third of American kids are overweight today. In the rest of the world, it’s about 10 percent. Americans also eat about 235 more calories per day than we did a generation ago. This leads to lots more weight over time, a topic that newspapers are discussing about everyday. Traditionally, people had to do more physical labor at work and at home, and it kept the weight off. People also walked to where they needed to go instead of driving. So, we’re in a sedentary era, and the availability of food makes it even worse. Smart employers are starting weight loss programs in the workplace to help overweight employees. They are bringing in personal trainers and building fitness rooms in the workplace. Employers benefit financially if people lose weight and get healthier because it cuts down on sick days and expenses. The company that makes the X-box video game has created an electronic personal couch program that guides you through your workout and congratulates you when you’re done.

There is a company in Kansas that processes beef, and, in order to make sure the beef is safe, the company now wants to test every cow for Mad Cow Disease. The United States inspects the smallest amount of cattle of any developed country, and we do it as a favor to big agriculture companies and food processors. But Creekstone is offering to test these cows the way they should be tested. They have already spent $500,000 for the testing equipment and facility. Other countries are not buying our beef specifically because we don’t test our cattle thoroughly. So you’d think the industry would be ecstatic about Creekstone’s offer. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture has prohibited Creekstone from testing the food supply. Why? The DOA is worried that people may think there is a problem with the food supply. Clark would like someone from the DOA to come on the air and explain what the DOA is thinking. They’re spending our tax dollars to try and stop this. The agricultural industry is obviously more concerned with making profits than they are with whether our children live or die.

When Clark bought his home several years ago, it came with a pool. He didn’t want the pool necessarily, but his daughter went bananas over it. Pools can be very dangerous and parents often don’t want one for that very reason. It doesn’t even have to be your own child at risk. Neighborhood kids can wander into the pool area and drown. Drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related deaths among children under age 14. The No. 1 cause is car accidents. But companies continue to improve the safety devices that prevent drawings. Children are out of parents’ sight for less than five minutes on average when these drownings occur, according to kidshealth.org. And usually, one or both of the parents are home at the time. So, what can you do? There are two kinds of alarms you can get. The simplest and cheapest go on your pool gate. The alarm goes off and makes an ear piercing racket when someone opens the gate and they cost about $50. The second kind of alarm is one that tells you when the water is disturbed, and those start at $150. A third kind of alarm is used at bigger community pools and professional facilities, where an alarm goes off when someone is on the bottom of the pool These are more expensive but they are showing up more and more at public facilities because of liabilities. It’s something people forget about, but it’s very important.

Clark drinks a lot of water and a ton of soft drinks every day. And there is a move across the country to restrict access to soft drinks. In California, Texas and New York, school systems are using legislative orders to ban soft drink machines and snack machines. Every soft drink has 150 to 200 calories and a sports drink can be as much as 400 calories. Drinking water is important, but according to The National Academy of Sciences, you don’t need two liters of water a day. Most people consume the right amount of fluids because they are thirsty and they drink water. The academy also found that getting your fluids from coffee, tea and alcohol (in moderation) is just fine.

Clark really feels good when he gets a decent night’s sleep. He can be pretty grumpy when he doesn’t. But the average person is getting about six hours of sleep a night. As recently as one generation ago, it was just under eight hours. Early last century, it was up to nine hours. Why are we not sleeping as well as we used to? The main reason is because of work. The average individual works about 54 hours a week, according to the Labor Department. What about commuting? People spend 7.5 hours a week in a car on our way to and from work. One of Clark’s staffers is in the car two hours every day. He’s crazy! When we do have down time, how do we spend it? The No. 1 leisure activity is to listen to the radio, according to the Wall Street Journal. The second top activity is watching TV. The sad part is that the average American spends only three hours a week reading the newspaper. And the really surprising fact is that the average American spends less than 30 minutes a day on the Internet. Clark figured that number would be much higher. The good news is that the amount people are exercising in a 7-year period is up eight percent!

In order to have a clear head for work, Clark must exercise every day. It’s more of a mental thing than a physical one for Clark. So, when he broke his hand and the surgeon told him he couldn’t exercise for a few weeks, he nearly collapsed. Luckily, the doctor told him he could walk if he wanted, and it helped him stay sane. Clark never felt like walking was strenuous exercise, but it turns out it’s a great work out. According to a long-term study by Duke University, overweight people who didn’t diet but walked everyday did not gain weight. Half of the people walked every day. The other half continued their sedentary lifestyle. And the half that didn’t walk steadily gained weight. For most people, gaining a few pounds a year doesn’t sound like a big deal. But it can add up. Just walking will help you keep the pounds off. Granted, you have to walk briskly for about 30 minutes to maintain your current weight. And you can step it up if you’d like to. To lose weight, you must exercise vigorously six days a week and eat healthy food. But that can be a future goal.