In my world, it seems as though everyone is on the 100 Day Challenge. Everyone except me. I figured if so many people are taking it seriously then local restaurants must be noticing. In the upscale a la carte Bermuda, being very specific on what you want and how you want it prepared is not difficult. Staff at the Lobster Pot didn't blink an eyelid when I asked for a plate of steamed vegetables. They simply gave me a plate of steamed vegetables and charged an appropriate amount.

But what happens in the busy cafés and diners around Hamilton?

Ashton Peters, manager of The Green Lantern, said he's not noticed any change in people's orders since the 100 Day Challenge began. "I haven't had anybody ask me about it all," he said. "We deal with a lot of working class people who are doing heavy manual work. We get a lot of construction workers.

"Our biggest sellers are still hamburgers with fries and fishcakes on a bun," he added.

Mr. Ashton said most items on Green Lantern's menu are deep fried although he said a low fat option is grilled chicken or fried fish without the batter. The diner offers a daily special but has made no attempt to tailor it for the 100 Day Challengers. Mr. Peters said low fat and low carbohydrates are not really a feature of Green Lantern's fare. "People that come here want macaroni and cheese," he said. "We offer it four days a week. It's not available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but people still want it then."

In the centre of Hamilton, café and deli workers across the board reported an increase in the number of salads.

"It's so unusual for this time of year," said Dennis Cocklin of Bistro 12. "People normally eat a lot of salads in the summer but we are seeing them doing that now. Our regular customers know that they can request a salad and we'll make it with whatever they want in it. It doesn't have to be on the menu. As long as we have the ingredients we will make it for them. They know that and they have been ordering that way."

Anthony Fernandes at Café Paradiso said: "Many of our regular customers who normally have heavy breads with lots of mayo are now asking for salads. I am smiling a lot these days and asking a lot of people 'Are you on the 100 Day Challenge?'"

Around the corner at Delicious deli, Deanna Fox said since the start of the challenge they have noticed a switch from white bread to whole wheat and multigrain. "We've had to change our orders and get in more multigrain and whole wheat breads," she said. "I've also seen people stop using French and Thousand Island dressings. They are now going more for Italian and balsamic vinegar. There's been a big increase in the number of fruit cup sales. They are flying off the shelf. We've also had to increase our yoghurt orders. We used to order it every couple of days and now we have to order it every day."

In H2O, food is laid out buffet style but server Monica Webb said although she's not had any different requests, she has noticed that fruit cups now go quickly.

"I used to have a large bowl of fruit on ice in the buffet and it wasn't very popular," she said. "I've now been putting it in plastic cups and they go so fast," she said. "We have healthy options here and because people pick what they want, they can choose a low fat healthy option. They can choose sushi, sandwiches, salads or hot food."

At take-away food bar Soul Food Express, assistant manager Ilario Pepi said he's noticed people ordering extra vegetables, less red meat and more salad. "People will leave out the carbohydrate and ask for more veg or more salad," he said. "And we're selling less cake, normally all these would be gone. (There were eight slices of cake left at 3.15 p.m. on Wednesday.) But I think these things happen in waves. Soon they'll forget about the challenge and go back to eating all the cake again."

Terry Falkenberry, one of the organisers of the 100 Day Challenge, is not so pessimistic. "This programme is not a diet," he said. "It is aimed at having people make a real lifestyle changes."

Learning of these responses, he was very excited. "This news is very encouraging," he said. "If this keeps up it certainly means that we will have met one of our goals."

In 100 days I'll talk with these establishments again and we'll see if the trend took hold.