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So Long, Farewell
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tara Gidus, MS, RD, CSSD, LD/N
It brings me sadness to write this post, but there comes a time when all good things come to an end. This is my last blog post for The Diet Dish on Healthline in it's current state.
The good news is that Healthline is making major improvements and is getting a facelift and complete makeover. They are reorganizing the site and the current health expert blog section is going away.
Don't fret, though--I am not going anywhere! I will be writing articles and assisting with nutrition and healthy lifestyle content on Healthline. They are still working out how they will have blogs and input from health experts, so hopefully I will be back to writing regular blog posts in no time.
In the meantime, visit Healthline.com often to see the new content and articles and the improvements they are making over the next few weeks to months.
Thank you so much for reading my posts over the past 3 years! It has been a pleasure sharing my passion for eating nutritious and tasty food while improving health and performance. I look forward to new ways to continue to connect with you!
Subway is known for a quick and healthy (easy on the sauces) option for lunch or dinner, but they have just launched a breakfast menu that is equally healthy and fresh.
One of the things that I personally love about Subway is the ability to customize your sandwich. I am fairly specific (rather than calling myself picky) with what I want on my sandwich. I love that they have spinach, tomatoes, and peppers that can significantly boost the nutritional value of my lunch.
The breakfast options they have developed are great. Most people don't get enough protein at breakfast and find that they are hungry too soon mid-morning. Eggs are an excellent way to get high quality protein, and pairing the egg with the light english muffin helps to control calories. You can get it on a flatbread or sub roll, but the light muffin is by far the lower calorie option.
If you are watching your cholesterol, you can get any of the sandwiches made with egg whites only. You can top your egg sandwich with veggies or sauces to make it just how you like it. Add apple slices or yogurt, and enjoy a cup of coffee or cup of milk or orange juice and you are set!
Nutritional breakdown: Egg White and Cheese Muffin Melt: 140 calories, 3.5 g fat, 12 g protein, 18 g carb (5 g fiber) Egg and Cheese Muffin Melt: 170 calories, 6 g fat, 13 g protein, 18 g carb (5 g fiber)
Western Egg White Muffin Melt: 160 calories, 4 g fat, 15 g protein, 19 g carb (6 g fiber) Western Muffin Melt: 180 calories, 7 g fat, 15 g protein, 19 g carb (6 g fiber)
They also have other varieties and you can customize! YEA for a fast food breakfast sandwich with less than 200 calories! CMP.ly/2
When you watch a diver or figure skater compete, you comment on what good form they have. The slide into the water or across with ice with grace and fluidity. Lifting weights requires you to have proper form to prevent injury.
Have you ever thought about your eating form? I saw an article in the Seattle Times recently that made me really think about how we eat can affect our digestion and our ultimately our waistline.
My 5 Tips for Eating With Good Form
Location, location, location. Eat at the kitchen or dining room table only. When we eat at our desks, in the car, in front of the tube, or walking around the house, we are not being fully conscious and aware of the food going in to our mouths.
Slow down. If you gulp down your calories in a matter of seconds, your body doesn't have time to signal to your brain that it is full and you end up overeating. You may also be gulping more air when you eat quickly which can lead to digestive dilemmas like gas. Slowing down also allows you to chew your food well. Drink water throughout the meal to aid in digestion.
Enjoy the scenery. Engage with others at the table in conversation. Talk about your plans for the day at breakfast time or the best parts of your day at the dinner table. Eating should be enjoyable and relaxing, and part of that is socializing with family and friends.
Take small bites and small portions. Eating from smaller plates leads to eating less at the meal. Taking smaller bites allows you to enjoy fewer calories at one time but still get the flavor of the food.
Bridge your hunger. Have small snacks between meals so that you are not ravenously hungry when you get to your meals which leads to eating too much and too quickly.
Earth Day is already in it's 40th year! It is so great that we have a day commemorated to celebration our beautiful and precious planet.
What can you do to eat well to protect the earth?
Get some good tips in my two favorite "green" books: Go Green Get Lean by Kate Geagan, RD This book is an awesome resource with actionable tips for how to reduce your carbon footprint with your food choices.
Big Green Cookbook by Jackie Newgent, RD Tasty recipes--all of which take less than 20 minutes to prepare! The book contains hundreds of clever, environmentally friendly cooking tips along with the recipes.
Environmentally friendly cookware: ScanPan is eco-friendly cookware that cooks like stainless steel but is nonstick. It is made from 100% recycled aluminum and is 100% PFOA free (common toxin found in nonstick pans). You can find them at Sur La Table stores or on Amazon or scanpancookware.com
Reduce consumption of meat: Switching from meat to vegetarian 1 day per week saves the equivalent of driving 1,160 miles per year. If every American did that, 1.7 billion gallons of gasoline would be saved (stats courtesy of Go Green Get Lean). Become a flexitarian if you aren't ready to go vegetarian.
Support companies with "green" practices: Healthy Choice All Natural line has no preservatives, artificial colors or flavors. The trays they use are made with post-consumer recycled plastic. Con Agra will eliminate about 8 Million pounds of plastic from going into landfills by using these recycled trays (equivalent to 128 Million water bottles).
Commit to reduce your own waste: Use a glass for water when at work or home instead of water bottles. Purchase a reusable water bottle when on the go. Jackie Newgent, RD, author of Big Green Cookbook, told me that she limits herself to 2 plastic water bottles per year. She saves her purchase of them for emergency situations when she really needs water and has no other option. Imagine if we all made the same pledge to ourselves...the money we would save and waste we would prevent!
Check out my segment from this morning's episode of The Daily Buzz:
Salt is everywhere in our food. Even foods you don't realize contain salt have a bunch added to it. In fact, according to research published by the American College of Nutrition, most (77%) of the sodium in our diets comes from salt in processed foods. Only 12% is naturally occurring in food and a very small amount is added at the table (6%) or during cooking (5%).
The obvious answer to lowering sodium intake in this country is to go after the processed food. And the FDA is going to do just that. The FDA is going to work with food companies and health experts to gradually cut sodium out of the American diet over the next few years. The exact details as to how much is yet to be determined, but it appears as if they are going to set a limit on the amount of salt allowed in processed food.
I am curious to see how food companies respond to the challenge and how their food scientists and chefs will rise up to meet it with reduced sodium food that still tastes great! Our palates are so used to high sodium that this indeed is a huge undertaking.
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