Ridgewood Girls Tennis poised to make return run at a title
September 5, 2014 Last updated: Friday, September 5, 2014, 12:31 AM
By Matthew Birchenough
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
The Ridgewood High School girls tennis team begins a new season Saturday at the September Slam Tournament in Livingston, but you can’t blame the Maroons if the venue triggers at least a few reminders of last season’s greatest triumph.
RHS usurped perennial powerhouse and playoff rival Livingston as North 1, Group 4 champion last fall, knocking off the Lancers, 3-2, in the sectional final before losing in the state semifinal to Cherry Hill East, 3-2.
“Last year was a super exciting year,” head coach Medha Kirtane said prior to the team’s practice Wednesday. “The girls did such a good job achieving benchmarks and pushing themselves beyond what they even thought was possible. It’s the first time that group had ever experienced anything like that.”
Ridgewood’s 21-5 record and its first sectional championship since 2005 helped it secure the No. 2 spot in The Record Top 15 rankings.
Football Preview: Ridgewood welcomes host of new faces
September 5, 2014 Last updated: Friday, September 5, 2014, 12:31 AM
By JIM MCCONVILLE
CORRESPONDENT
RIDGEWOOD – What a difference a year makes.
Last season, the Ridgewood High School football team was built for the now, with 31 seniors and expectations of reaching the North 1, Group 5 championship game, which it did.
This season, the Maroons are building toward an uncertain future.
Not only did the bulk of their starters graduate, but four assistant coaches elected not to return, including the offensive and defensive coordinators and the line coach. In their place are a couple of old returning faces in Jim Stroker and Mark Aramburu, plus a group of younger coaches.
“We are green as the grass,” RHS head coach Chuck Johnson said. “There are a lot of unknowns, but it has really been fun so far, and I’m excited to see where this goes.”
The first Maroon victory this season will be the 200th of Johnson’s 31-year career at Ridgewood (he has 35 more wins from his six seasons at Bogota from 1978-83), but milestones are taking a back seat to player development.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2014, 12:31 AM BY BETTY WIEST Print
All I can say is, “Wow!” Surely by now you have seen the amazing amount of bountiful blooms in Ridgewood’s Central Business District (CBD). The planters are overflowing with color; the reds, the yellows, the pinks, the greens. They are plentiful and they are beautiful. The CBD has never looked so amazing! The numerous gigantic planters, overflowing with colorful cannas and countless other plants, are striking indeed.
Project Pride, The Women Gardeners of Ridgewood, The Ridgewood Conservancy for Public Lands, Ridgewood’s Department of Parks, seven local landscape contractors and many individual businesses contributed to make our streets and vest pocket areas in Ridgewood really come alive. We should all extend a hearty “Thank you!” to all who contributed to make our village gorgeous!
It is all a matter of presence and we want our residents, visitors and those who work in the village to be proud of our appearance. This is a “feel good” story. How can you not smile at all the beautiful planters as you walk around the streets in Ridgewood this summer, not to mention many of the tree wells, the planters provided by local businesses and the tremendous efforts by volunteer groups.
Judicial Watch, the conservative group, has landed another batch of emails from the Internal Revenue Service that raise new questions about the possible extent of alleged targeting of conservative groups.
The new documents could help stoke the IRS targeting story again, as lawmakers return to Washington next week.
Perhaps the most intriguing of the new documents shows that IRS officials had some sort of “secret research project” going that related to the donor lists it had collected – inappropriately, as it turned out – from many conservative nonprofit groups.
The IRS demanded the donor lists in the course of reviewing dozens of conservative groups’ applications for tax-exempt status starting in 2010. An inspector general found in 2013 that the IRS targeted many of those conservative groups for improper scrutiny, including the demands for donor identities. Democrats say some liberal groups eventually were caught up in the net as well.
Unfortunately, it’s not at all clear yet what this “secret research project” concerned. If the project involved the IRS systematically targeting conservative donors for extra scrutiny too – as some GOP lawmakers suspect – that’s a very big deal.
Top CIA officer in Benghazi delayed response to terrorist attack, US security team members claim
Published September 05, 2014
FoxNews.com
A U.S. security team in Benghazi was held back from immediately responding to the attack on the American diplomatic mission on orders of the top CIA officer there, three of those involved told Fox News’ Bret Baier.
Their account gives a dramatic new turn to what the Obama administration and its allies would like to dismiss as an “old story” – the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attacks that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
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Speaking out publicly for the first time, the three were security operators at the secret CIA annex in Benghazi – in effect, the first-responders to any attack on the diplomatic compound. Their first-hand account will be told in a Fox News special, airing Friday night at 10 p.m. (EDT).
Based on the new book “13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi” by Mitchell Zuckoff with the Annex Security Team, the special sets aside the political spin that has freighted the Benghazi issue for the last two years, presenting a vivid, compelling narrative of events from the perspective of the men who wore the “boots on the ground.”
The security contractors — Kris (“Tanto”) Paronto, Mark (“Oz”) Geist, and John (“Tig”) Tiegen — spoke exclusively, and at length, to Fox News about what they saw and did that night. Baier, Fox News’ Chief Political Anchor, asked them about one of the most controversial questions arising from the events in Benghazi: Was help delayed?
Word of the attack on the diplomatic compound reached the CIA annex just after 9:30 p.m. Within five minutes, the security team at the annex was geared up for battle, and ready to move to the compound, a mile away.
“Five minutes, we’re ready,” said Paronto, a former Army Ranger. “It was thumbs up, thumbs up, we’re ready to go.”
But the team was held back. According to the security operators, they were delayed from responding to the attack by the top CIA officer in Benghazi, whom they refer to only as “Bob.”
NRA boss LaPierre: Americans fear their country ‘off the rails’ under Obama
Wayne LaPierre’s message targets middle class worried about U.S. direction, security, freedom
Association has unleashed a multimillion-dollar TV advertising campaign that its longtime leader says is aimed at messaging beyond gun rights and reaching middle-class mothers, minorities and other Americans “who believe our country is off the rails.”
The gun lobby’s campaign, launched in the last 10 days, uncharacteristically delves into issues far beyond the Second Amendment to explore the IRS scandal, media elitism and security vulnerabilities, with a call to return “good guys” to power.
Join the 9/11 Day Observance today. Visit https://911day.org/ and share your message or good deed tribute. Or share your message on Twitter, #911day.
Our mission is to honor the victims and survivors of 9/11 and those that rose to service in response to the attacks by encouraging all Americans and others throughout the world to pledge to voluntarily perform at least one good deed, or another service activity on 9/11 each year.
9/11 Day is the grassroots movement to observe September 11 every year as a day of charitable service and doing good deeds, and to inspire individuals to continue to help others in need whenever they can. Today more than 35 million Americans and others participate annually by taking time out on 9/11 to help others in need, in their own way! We created this observance soon after 9/11 to provide a positive way to forever remember and pay tribute to the 9/11 victims, honor those that rose in service in response to the attacks, and remind people of the importance of working more closely together to improve our world. In 2009 the U.S. Congress and President Obama joined together to officially establish 9/11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance under bi-partisan federal law.
Participating in 9/11 Day is easy. Simply dedicate time each September 11 to helping others in any fashion that you choose, like making a donation, performing a good deed, helping a friend, relative or neighbor, or volunteering your time. All we ask is that you remember by doing something positive that helps others. Be sure to share your plans or message on Twitter, using #911day, on Facebook, or by visiting our website, https://911day.org/
A few suggestions on how to help from the Ridgewood News :
Give blood. Donate books to a library or volunteer to read to children. Donate pet food to an animal rescue or shelter or volunteer to foster an animal. Donate food to a food pantry. Give clothes to a homeless shelter.
Companies, groups, municipalities and schools can also band together for special projects such as sponsoring a collection, volunteering time to help nonprofits in the area or just sprucing up public places.
For example, the Rotary Club of Ridgewood A.M. is collecting new and used shoes for donation to the Soles4Souls charity. The non-profit group monetizes used shoes and clothing to create sustainable jobs and fund direct relief efforts, including distribution of new shoes and clothing.
Drop off locations for the shoe drive include all Ridgewood public schools and the Education Center, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Chestnut Deli, Columbia Bank, Emmanuel Baptist Church, Morgan Stanley, Old Paramus Reformed Church, Ponds Reformed Church, Ridgewood Christian Reformed Church, Ridgewood Community Church, St. Elizabeth’s Church, Temple Emmanuel, Ulrich, the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, Upper Ridgewood Community Church, Village Hall, West Side Presbyterian Church.
For additional information about the shoe drive, contact Betty Wiest at 201-652-0858.
Charlotte Samuels begins her swim, which is now scheduled for 6 p.m. UK time – 1 p.m. in New Jersey
Ridgewood teen plans to swim English Channel for Triple Crown today
SEPTEMBER 6, 2014, 12:32 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014, 2:29 AM BY ALLISON PRIES STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
Charlotte Samuels, the 16-year-old Ridgewood girl who wants to be the youngest person to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, will attempt the final leg on Sunday by swimming across the English Channel, her mother, Suzanne Samuels, said today.
Originally she planned to begin the 21-mile swim from England to France at 5 a.m. London time—midnight in New Jersey. But every swimmer in the Channel must be accompanied by a guide boat, and the boat assigned to Samuels was running late, pushing her start time back approximately four hours, said Suzanne Samuels, Charlotte’s mother. Her mother later said they rescheduled the swim for 6 p.m. in the UK – 1 p.m. in New Jersey.
“Delays of this sort are not unusual,” Samuels said, adding that the wait was caused by a British athlete attempting to swim across using the breaststroke. “Charlotte is understandably disappointed, as are we. But at this point, the weather conditions seem to be favorable for her swim.”
Last month, exhausted by an arduous 20.2-mile swim from Catalina Island to the coast of California, Samuels said she would not attempt the English Channel crossing this year.
Traffic Impact Study to Continue for Garber Square
Ridgewood NJ, Chief John M. Ward updates residents on the process .As many of you are aware we undertook a traffic impact study from late May through the end of July. This study utilized specialized camera suits loaned to the police department at no cost by a community-policing partner Secure Watch 24. Additionally to avoid costs to our residents college interns working with the department as well as myself conducted the study. Staff from Secure Watch 24 also monitored the cameras during the period of June and July.
During the months of June and July no evidence of significant delays related to the new traffic patterns were observed. We realize that the study was conducted during the summer, and that traffic flow is generally lighter. However the study was dependent upon the availability of the camera units and interns. Unfortunately the company did need the loaned equipment to assist with event security elsewhere during the month of August. Secure Watch 24 has again provided two camera suits (at no cost) for our continued traffic impact study. The study is scheduled to resume within the next week. We hope to gather more data now that school is back in session.
I would like to thank Secure Watch 24 for their continued assistance as well as our interns for their hard work.
$514,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1433062
405 N Monroe St, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Lindsey Barclay, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
24
$529,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1425382
347 Franklin Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Karen Boyle, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
24
$539,900 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1432911
458 Sheffield Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath, C/C
Christine Gubb, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
22
$579,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1425480
478 Hunter Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, C/C
Elizabeth Novak, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
24
$625,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1423422
526 Farview St, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, COL
Alina Nolan, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
25
$650,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1430875
495 E Saddle River Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Michael Shetler, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.SyywpI7B.388FZhrW.dpuf
$679,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1433549
608 Morningside Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Julie Cleary, Broker
RE/MAX Properties-Saddle River
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
22
$749,600 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1432249
558 Lynn St, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
2 Half Bath, S/L
Angele Ekert, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
25
$950,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1433539
350 Graydon Ter, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Joyce Albert, Sales Associate
Terrie O’Connor Realtors/Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
18
$989,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1433245
713 Witthill Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath, COL
Eileen Krenn, Sales Associate
Vyacheslav Zborovsky, Broker Owner
RE/MAX Elite Associates
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
24
$1,095,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428644
21 Theyken Pl, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
6 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath, COL
Joseph M. Hurley, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/14
25
$1,150,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1433109
205 Manor Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Christine Aderhold, Broker Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
24
$1,195,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1432770
627 Grove St, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
7 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
2 Half Bath, COL
Patricia Zengel, Sales Associate
RE/MAX Hometowne Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
25
$1,259,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1431072
44 Fairmount Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
6 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Jennifer M. Parsekian, Broker
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
25
$1,299,999 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1424678
316 S Irving St, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
6 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
2 Half Bath, COL
Angele Ekert, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
24
$1,749,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428956
233 Highland Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
6 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath,
2 Half Bath, COL
Hedy N. Weiss, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.SyywpI7B.388FZhrW.dpuf
$2,595,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1411204
310 Heights Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 5 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Victoria Wilkinson, Sales Associate
Solutions Realty, LLC
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
25
Open Houses for Sun 9/14
$959,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1433600
721 Waverly Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
6 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Christine Gubb, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/14
24
$1,095,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1428644
21 Theyken Pl, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
6 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath, COL
Joseph M. Hurley, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/7
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 9/14
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.SyywpI7B.388FZhrW.dpuf
FBI: Cuban Intelligence Aggressively Recruiting Leftist American Academics as Spies, Influence Agents
Sexual entrapment a common tactic
An automobile drives by the Capitol in Havana, Cuba / AP
BY: Bill Gertz
September 5, 2014 5:00 am
Cuba’s communist-led intelligence services are aggressively recruiting leftist American academics and university professors as spies and influence agents, according to an internal FBI report published this week.
Cuban intelligence services “have perfected the work of placing agents, that includes aggressively targeting U.S. universities under the assumption that a percentage of students will eventually move on to positions within the U.S. government that can provide access to information of use to the [Cuban intelligence service],” the five-page unclassified FBI report says. It notes that the Cubans “devote a significant amount of resources to targeting and exploiting U.S. academia.”
“Academia has been and remains a key target of foreign intelligence services, including the [Cuban intelligence service],” the report concludes.
One recruitment method used by the Cubans is to appeal to American leftists’ ideology. “For instance, someone who is allied with communist or leftist ideology may assist the [Cuban intelligence service] because of his/her personal beliefs,” the FBI report, dated Sept. 2, said.
file photo by Boyd Loving Mayor Aronsohn Pushes a Development Agenda in Latest Mayor’s Corner
Ridgewood Mayor’s Corner: Setting up for September
September 5, 2014 Last updated: Friday, September 5, 2014, 9:45 AM
Welcome to the September edition of the Mayor’s Corner – my monthly Ridgewood News column that seeks to make village government more accessible, more transparent, more user-friendly.
Council agenda: The council will meet two more times this month – Sept. 10 and 17. On the agenda will be downtown parking, public holiday displays, Planning Board-related issues and a host of other important topics.
All of our meetings are open to the public. Residents are encouraged to attend and participate. Please visit our website – ridgewoodnj.net – for more information or to watch the meetings online.
Parking, Parking, Parking: If there is one issue that most of us agree on, it is the need for more parking spaces in the Central Business District (CBD).
With the busiest train station on NJ Transit’s “Main Line” – over 1,500 passengers per day – and with one of the busiest downtowns in all of New Jersey, Ridgewood’s need for additional parking spaces has probably never been greater. For that reason, the council has been exploring and implementing changes to our parking situation … and there is much more to come.
With respect to short-term fixes, we recently adopted two ordinances that should increase the number of available parking spots during the day and evening hours. First, we made “surface parking” a primary use in the C Zone, thus allowing more cars to park daily in places like the former Ken Smith lot. Second, we made valet parking a reality, thus providing relief for many restaurant customers as well as those who will benefit from more on-street parking at night.
Fitch downgrades NJ’s credit rating once again, citing pension shortfalls
SEPTEMBER 5, 2014, 5:12 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2014, 12:16 AM BY JOHN REITMEYER STATE HO– USE BUREAU THE RECORD
New Jersey’s credit rating has been cut in Wall Street’s first official reaction to the move by Governor Christie to scale back legally mandated payments to New Jersey’s pension fund, a move he made to balance the state budget.
Fitch Ratings announced Friday afternoon that it lowered the state’s credit rating one step to A, citing a “repudiation” of the pledged pension payments.
The downgrade announcement also cited “the absence of long-term, fiscally sustainable solutions” to close recent budget gaps, “overly optimistic revenue forecasts” and a state economy that “continues to lag that of the nation.”
The ratings action comes as public employee unions are challenging the pension payment reductions — which total $2.4 billion over two fiscal years — in state Superior Court. It also puts New Jersey’s credit rating in a tie with California’s, and above only Illinois among U.S. states.
The downgrade is the second this year from Fitch, which had already lowered the credit rating to A+ after the Christie administration announced in April that tax collections had fallen $807 million short of projections.
Two other major ratings agencies, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s, also lowered New Jersey’s credit rating around the same time.
The credit rating is an important factor in determining how cheap and easy it is to borrow money for capital projects such as schools and bridges that cannot be funded in one budget year.
The latest downgrade is also a blow for Christie, a Republican who has tried to make the case that his fiscal policies and reforms have rescued the state from years of mismanagement under Democratic leadership. And though the state’s unemployment rate has improved in recent months, the loss of roughly 5,000 jobs from the closure of two Atlantic City casinos earlier this week signals that more bad economic news could be coming.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/fitch-downgrades-nj-s-credit-rating-once-again-citing-pension-shortfalls-1.1082031#sthash.9mSK3Y9w.dpuf
Rep Scott Garrett Statement on the Obama Administration’s Decision to Spread Too-Big-To-Fail to more companies Sep 4, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, issued the following statement regarding today’s Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) decision to spread too-big-to-fail:
“Today’s irresponsible and inappropriate designation of another U.S. business as too-big-to-fail only strengthens my resolve to reform the out-of-control FSOC. First and foremost, we must ensure taxpayers are not on the hook for FSOC’s dangerous regulatory overreach. This designation flies in the face of a unanimous, bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives to postpone any additional designations.
“The FSOC makes politically motivated decisions to expand the Fed’s power with little-to-no real-world analysis. To make matters worse, the FSOC refused to even provide today’s designee with the same minimal level of review that the Council provided for asset management companies. It is obvious that the FSOC refuses to improve its operations, conduct, or decision-making processes. Accordingly, it is incumbent upon Congress to help FSOC improve itself. I look forward to having members of the FSOC come before the Committee in the near future to explain today’s actions.”
SEPTEMBER 6, 2014 LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2014, 1:21 AM BY STEVE JANOSKI STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
Drive down most highways in North Jersey, and you’re guaranteed to come across one of two things: a curbside fast food restaurant trying to lure motorists into its drive-thru with promises of salt-, sugar-, and fat-laden goodness, or a big metal sign advertising that such a place lies just off the next exit.
Their food is awful for us — we all know this — but many of us pull in anyway.
Take a lunch made up of an offering from McDonald’s dollar menu, such as the McDouble. That burger has 380 calories, 17 grams of fat, 34 grams of carbohydrates, and 840 milligrams of sodium. Add a “medium” order of fries for another 340 calories, 16 grams of fat, 44 grams of carbohydrates, and 190 milligrams of sodium, and a large Coke at 280 calories and 76 grams of carbohydrates, and you’ve got a meal packing a whopping 1,000 calories, 33 grams of fat (10.5 grams of which is saturated), 154 grams of carbohydrates, and 1,030 milligrams of sodium. That’s 58 percent of the recommended daily fat intake, 51 percent of carbs, 43 percent of sodium and about half of our recommended daily intake of calories, all in one heart-clogging, gut-busting meal.
And what’s the reward? Feelings of guilt and a waistline that never shrinks: According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 70 percent of American adults now qualify as overweight, and of those, 35 percent are considered obese.
So why do we keep eating this way?
The problem, said Dr. Diego Coira, chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), begins with one of the medical field’s favorite culprits: stress. When we’re under physical or emotional stress — not uncommon for our fast-paced lives — the body releases cortisol, a hormone that causes our appetite to increase (even if we ate a short time ago) and causes “stress eating.” And the combination of salt, sugar, and fat that’s found in many of the worst foods is, unfortunately, psychologically and physically comforting, even if it’s unhealthy.
“They’re called ‘comfort foods’ because they help when you’re stressed — they calm you down, the brain releases endorphins and dopamine after you eat them, and you’re good,” Coira said
