Thanksgiving Healthy Tips

I am looking forward to eating all of my favorite foods at my Mother-in-law's house tomorrow. As is tradition when we eat at her house, I will not be allowed anywhere near the kitchen. It is the one time of the year (we handle all other holidays differently), that no one in my extended family wants to think about healthier versions or portion control or moderation. So, I have to keep my mouth shut. Her cooking methods are very different than mine. She cooks what we in Texas call "down-home" meals. She still uses an iron skillet and Crisco. Although, I do not think she saves the left-over grease anymore - I do need to state that her food is absolutely amazing. Okay, fine, I can work with that, I have a plan (for those of you who are facing the same situation, maybe my plan will work for you).
--wake up and work out before the feasting begins,
-- eat low-fat healthy foods all day, such as fruit and oatmeal in the morning, broth-based soup and salad with lots of veggies at lunch about 3 hours before our Thanksgiving meal (do not make the mistake of starving yourself),
-- and after the meal, I will make sure everyone goes outside and throws the football.
For those of you who have the opportunity to make some healthier substitutions, here are some of my favorite tips for the typical Thanksgiving fare,
- leave the skins on and use skim milk in the mashed potatoes, oh and add pressed garlic,
- eat your sweet potatoes, they are full of nutrition. Make a maple syrup sauce separately and let everyone drizzle on their own potato,
- use spray butter on your rolls,
- eat lots of greens in a salad and add a lot of color with fresh veggies and fruit,
- make your own cranberry relish rather than eating cranberry sauce -- it will have less sugar and whole, fresh cranberries,
- for dessert, just pick two with a portion size equal one serving combined,
- if you drink alcoholic beverages, alternate with water in between.
We hope you have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving

Best 100% Juices

I just ran across an interesting study about 100% fruit juices. The researchers looked at the nutrient density (amount of nutrients or good stuff per calorie) of popular 100% fruit juices. Nutrient density is a good way to make sure your calories count. For example, a prune and a piece of hard candy may have the same number of calories but the prune will be healthier because of the nutrients found in the prune. Out of the seven juices tested, which included apple, grape, pink and white grapefruit, orange, prune and pineapple, two were found to have the most nutrients. Orange juice and pink grapefruit juice were the winners in terms of more good stuff/calorie. Click here to read more about the study.

Fresh, Whole Foods Challenge Menu

OK, I did it. I really had to focus on the foods that I ate and at times had to stop myself and reach for something "fresh." I definitely had to pay attention and think about what I was eating, beyond what I normally think (given my love of food and health, I think about what I eat all the time in terms of balancing foods and what I and my family may be missing). But, yesterday I had a different focus and I ended up eating very healthy. Here are the foods I ate and the nutrition results for the Fresh, Whole Foods Challenge from yesterday's blog --
Breakfast

• oats and skim milk -fresh
• orange juice
• egg - fresh
• grapes - fresh

Snack

• raw almonds (fresh) and dark chocolate chips

Lunch

• light tuna in water and two pieces whole wheat bread
• spinach salad (fresh) with feta, onions (fresh), pressed garlic (fresh), oil and vinegar

Snack

• apple (fresh)

Dinner

• lentils with stewed tomatoes and pressed garlic (fresh)
• chicken breast, all natural (fresh) made with onions (fresh) olive oil and basil (fresh)
• steamed brown rice (fresh)
• skim milk

Out of 23 foods and beverages (I did not count oils/dressings), I ate 16 fresh, whole foods (based on the definition from yesterday's blog). So, about 70% of my food intake was fresh. Here is the analysis of what I ate --2150 calories, 44% carbs, 20% protein, 35% fat (44% of it was monounsaturated fat - the healthy kind), fiber 34 g (the recommended intake is 25 g). All in all, I did really well. Also, my analysis shows that I met or exceeded most nutrients. There were a few that fell below the recommended value but that is OK, because I will make up for those nutrients throughout the week.

Now, challenge yourself and see how you do -- remember, strive for at least half of your food intake to be fresh.

Anti-aging and Dr. Oz on Oprah

Did you happen to catch Oprah today? I happend to hit the gym at 4pm today and caught Dr. Oz on Oprah talking about staying young -- that is a topic of interest as I am starting to look very tired in the mornings, even with a good night's sleep. He just put out a new book and was detailing some of his strategies for staying young -- I loved the recommendations for keeping your house free of toxins. I can't wait to tell my husband that I am not crazy when I ask him to take his drycleaning out of the plastic bags right away and drive with the windows down to air them out. He also had recommendations on diet, he recommended vit D supplements, and high antioxidant foods. The vit D supplements may make sense given that new research finds that there is vit D deficiency in many of the elderly who live in the North -- for those of you in sunnier states, direct sunlight for 15 minutes a day takes care of your vit D needs. Also, eating high antioxidant, fresh foods is a great way to take care of yourself -- luckily, Mother Nature loves antioxidants and if you eat your 5-10 veggies a day, you are probably getting a good amount of antioxidants. Great antioxidant foods include -- berries, citrus fruits, grapes, nuts and seeds, dark green veggies, onions, garlic, whole grains, and yes, cocoa and chocolate. Dr. Oz also talks about calorie restriction as a way to slow aging, although there is some research on this subject, we do not know all the possible effects of essentially starving your body. For most moms not eating enough food can have a detrimental impact on your mood, energy level, and ability to think clearly, as well as modeling good eating behaviors for your kids. Also, most people when cutting down on calories, may cut out several important foods needed for long-term health. If you determine that calorie restriction is something you want to try -- talk to your physician and get a referral to a dietitian so they can help you do it in a healthy way.
My advice on staying young, aside from not smoking, using sunblock and exercising, is to eat a healthy, balanced diet everyday with --
- 10 servings of fruits and veggies,
- only whole grain carbs,
- at least one serving of beans and nuts a day,
- only low fat meats and low fat dairy,
- and very important --- leave lots of room for laughter and play time with your family and friends.
If you want to read more about Dr. Oz's recommendations or take his stay young quiz, click here.

Tips for eating Halloween candy

Here are some tips to cut down on eating too much candy --
-- Dump the candy on the floor with the kids and create a pile of your favorites (both you and your children).
-- Throw away (or donate to your child's daycare treasure box or good manners award chest) all candy that does not make it into your favorite piles.
-- Keep 5 pieces of your favorites for yourself -- again, either throw away or donate the rest of your pile.
-- For the kids, give each 5 Ziploc bags and let them put three pieces in each bag (this assumes the candies are snack size - if they are full size, then just one per bag).
-- Each day (for a total of 5 days, they do not have to be consecutive days) they can enjoy a bag -- Make sure they balance the treat with something healthy like nuts or fruit (that also goes for mom).

Don't Supersize Me!

We need to change "value for money" from size and amount of food to nutrition value of food -- this needs to be our new thinking. As restaurants "super size" their food, we "super size" our bodies. Make sure you know what constitutes a serving and stick to it -- portion distortion is real and it affects all of us. Most people to do not realize that their bottle of soda contains 2.5 servings (8 oz is a serving for most beverages, but 4 oz is a serving of 100% juice). Read the nutrition label and look at the serving size, you will start to notice that packages that appear to be a single serving actually contain several servings. Repeat after me, "it is OK to leave food on my plate, in the bag, in the wrapper and not drink the full bottle or glass." Save the leftovers for tomorrow or when you are thirsty later in the day. Also, teach your kids what a serving of food really looks like. Here are some helpful hints from the book, The Portion Teller --
— 3 ounces of meat = 1 deck of cards
— 1 cup of cereal = a baseball
— 2 tablespoons salad dressing = a small shot glass
— ¼ cup nuts = a golf ball
Source: The Portion Teller Plan: The No-Diet Reality Guide to Eating, Cheating, and Losing Weight Permanently -- check out this book for more information. I saw the author speak, she is very visual with her examples and provides compelling information concerning how our food portions have changed. Also, a recent report on MSNBC reveals how many restaurants are serving crazy portions of food, one example are sandwiches from Hardee's, Wendy's and Burger King that include two days worth of meat (click here to read the MSNBC article).

What should you and your kids drink?

I get a lot of questions on what and how much juice and milk children should drink as well as what is the best drinks for moms. OK, let's start with the obvious, for daily living, not including high endurance sports, water, water, water to quench thirst without adding unnecessary calories and sugar. Now that we have that out of the way, what about those children and adults who do not like water -- try flavoring the water with lemon, orange or tangerine juice and a little sugar (before adding it, melt the sugar by boiling it in some water in the microwave). Water should make up the majority of your beverage choices, especially in hotter and humid climates where kids and adults are constantly in need of a refreshing beverage. Now, beyond water, what should your choices be --

For Kids (age 4 years and up)

-- in general no more than two 8-ounce 100% fruit juice beverages

-- and at least 2 cups of low fat or fat free milk.

Given the recent beverage guidelines, such as the School Beverage Guidelines and the Guidelines for Adults, food and beverage manufacturers are trying to make healthier beverage options available. I just came across this interesting drink called Bot Flavored Water soon to be available in Whole Foods. It is made for kids as a healthier alternative to juice -- lower sugar (9 g vs over 20 g found in juice), nothing artificial, providing mostly water. I would prefer that kids just drink water and enjoy juice no more than two times a day, but for those who do not like water this may be a good option.

For Adults

--just drink water or flavor it with natural juices (or if you must a low cal powder like Crystal Light).
--Also make sure that you are getting your dairy, two glasses of skim milk, in addition to one cup of yogurt (a bowl of cereal can count as one glass of milk).

By the way, I really liked the opinions shared in the following article (click here) on the New Beverage Guidelines -- read for yourself and tell us what you think.

New product at The American Dietetic Assoc. meeting

I just came back from the American Dietetic Association Annual Conference in Philli, PA where over 10,000 dietitians from around the U.S. came together to hear the latest science in nutrition and health as well as see the new healthier products that are hitting the grocery store shelves. My favorite pick were the new PopTarts -- they taste great.

Whole wheat PopTarts -- it is about time. Kids and parents love PopTarts and they are so easy in the morning, the only problem is, they are unhealthy. I do not remember the ingredient list entirely as there were so many ingredient and nutrition facts panels that I reviewed while I was there (my head is still buzzing), but I believe they did not have high fructose corn syrup and that the fiber content was pretty good (I am waiting on Kellogg to answer my nutrition and ingredient questions about this new product, but they are slow). We will have to keep an eye out to make sure that the product is, indeed, healthier. According to the reps, the product should start hitting grocery store shelves now.
As soon as I get my notes together, I will share some additional product information and nutrition and health outcomes that were discussed during the scientific sessions.

Eating Like My Kids: I did it!

I did it! I ate like my kids all week. I recommend all moms try this -- I fed them healthier and I ate healthier. I actually had much more energy than normal -- I was eating about every 3-4 hours and trying to stay away from processed foods. Also, I realized that they eat much more fruit than I do. I make sure every snack includes a fruit - since I do not typically snack often, I was not getting as much fruit as my kids. So, last week I ate about 5 servings of fruits a day -- if everyone did this, based on population studies, we would have a lot less heart disease and other chronic illnesses. There are several good habits from last week that I will continue --
-- Eating breakfast sitting with the kids instead of in the car while driving them to school
-- Snacking on fruits, nuts and seeds in the morning and afternoon
-- Eating my meals at the same time everyday
-- Eating at least 5 fruits a day (I typically do hit 5 fruits and veggies a day but this takes me to a whole new level)
Looking at my list, I realize that these are recommendation that I typically give to my clients -- as much as I try to practice what I preach, as you can see, there is always room for improvement.
So, here is your challenge -- eat like your kids for a week and let us know what stuck. I already know of one mom considering the "Eat Like My Kids" Challenge -- a fellow blogger from mom-for-ma-tion.

Eating like my kids results

Here is the result of Monday's trying to eat like my kids. First as a reminder, here are the foods we ate --
B-fast - oatmeal, drinking yogurt
Snacks - sunflower seeds, mandarin orange cup, banana
Lunch - sunflower butter and all natural jelly on whole wheat bread, raw almonds, natural fruit leather, skim milk
Snack - baked Cheetos, grapes, skim milk
Dinner - Cooking light recipe, Sept. issue, p. 172 Chicken Pot Pie and Skim milk
Here are the results (I have also included the percentage of hitting my recommended intakes based on my gender, age, and activity level).
-- 2176 calories which is 97% of my recommended amount of 2245 calories
-- my macronutrient breakdown was -- 51% carb, 21% protein, 29% fat (all within the optimal
ranges of 45-65% carb, 10-35% protein, 20-35% fat)
-- my omega 3's intake was very low at only 20% of the recommended 1.1 grams
-- my fiber was 100% at 25 grams
-- cholesterol was 45% of the ok amount of 300 mg at 135 mg
-- my folate and iron were low
This is not bad for one day. We typically do not evaluate a diet on just one day of eating but instead look at the entire week. So, if you have a bad day it is ok, because you can make up for it. To improve my eating this week, I will increase my omega-3 intake by eating salmon, walnuts and flaxseed bread over the next few days. Also, I will add orange juice to breakfast to help increase my folate intake as well as a serving of beans with dinner to help increase my iron (and folate intake).
I said I would do this the whole week, so I am still eating like my kids. So far, I have really enjoyed taking the time to sit down and eat breakfast with them.

Eating like my kids

This week I am going to eat just like I usually try to feed my kids (I am not perfect). So, today at 6:45am I actually sat with my children and ate oatmeal and a drinkable yogurt for breakfast. I then sent my daughter to school with snacks, sunflower seeds, mandarin orange cup, banana and water, which I also ate throughout the morning before lunch. For breakfast, I normally would have eaten an energy bar and drinkable yogurt (one without high fructose corn syrup) in the car while driving the kids to school and would not have eaten again until 1pm because of my work. For lunch, I ate at the same time as my children did at school, 11:30 am, and had a sunflower seed butter and natural jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread, raw almonds, an all natural fruit leather (FruitaBu) and milk (I had skim, they had 1%). At the end of the day, I will run a nutrition analysis on how we ate and will report back.

Most Women Feel Fat

I have friends and lead weight loss groups of women that are not happy with their bodies. Most are moms that just never lost the baby fat or they lost the fat but are not back to their pre-baby shape. And now, with their hectic lives directed by their children, are finding it hard to fit in a healthier diet, not to mention exercise. Well, they are not alone, in a new survey of 2000 women sponsored by SlimFast, 78% of women said they are larger than they want to be, with more than half wanting to be a size 8 or smaller -- today the average size is 12. Ok moms -- we need to slow down and figure out a way to take care of ourselves. Our negative body image can be passed onto our children. For their sake, let's eat healthier and feel good about ourselves!!! Read my post on August 14th for some quick tips. Click here to read more about the survey.

Pregnancy diet impacts baby's heart health, too

On the heels of the study showing that eating too much junk during pregnancy may make a difference in the baby becoming a junk-food junkie too, is a study looking at how diet during pregnancy impacts the baby's heart health into adulthood. The research is just getting underway, but the lead author suspects that it will show that not only does the mom's diet affect the baby's long term heart health, but the heart health of her grandchildren as well. Wow, that's a lot of responsibility! Bottom line: eat your fruits and veggies during pregnancy, future generations are counting on you.