Energy Crisis

Seasonal Drops:

Do you ever notice your energy slipping away as the cool winds start to blow in? Summer tends to boost our energy because the days stay lighter later and we tend to be energized by the sun and beautiful weather. As Fall nears, I start to think about my energy levels and how each year they slowly decline until I find myself in the depths of Winter struggling to keep my eyes open on the train ride home. Here are a few tips:

• Get your ZZZ's. When you lack sleep you energy level obviously takes a nose dive. They have connected lack of sleep with increased weight gain as well. Getting enough ZZZ's can help to keep your energy level consistent. Try for 7-8 hours per night. Also, try to keep your routine fairly consistent during the weekend as well. If you bounce around between 8 hours during the week and only 5 hours on the weekend, your body is likely to have more trouble getting into a sleep routine. You will deplete the energy that you gain from the week and find it hard to "catch up".


• Take your vitamin. Although, I never recommend that people fall back on their multivitamin in lieu of an adequate diet, they can certainly help to fill in the gaps of a diet missing a few essentials like B's for example. You don't necessarily have to go spending tons of money on fancy vitamins. Consumer labs had issued a report that showed that generic brands were just as potent as more expensive brands. I even like Flintstones myself.


• Drink plenty of fluids. Water too boring for you? Throw some lemon or lime slice in. You can also dilute 100% fruit juices down so that you avoid the calories and sugar, but get the flavor. You can also make your very own Juice Cubes to pop right into your water bottle for a dash of flavor!This works particularly well for kids because you can get cute ice cube trays and give them 1 or who cute shapes in their water glass.


• Strike up a comfort food Balance your plate. Don't fall prey to hunkering down and only eating "comfort foods" during the Fall and Winter. Balance your plate and your weekly meals between typical high calorie, higher fat comfort foods such as chili and cream based soups, macaroni n' cheese, and heavier meat based dishes with healthier comfort foods such as minestrone soup or vegetable based soups, veggie filled casseroles, warm fruit desserts and tarts and vegetable and fruit breads.
• Move! This sometimes gets more difficult to do as the weather cools down. It can be hard to leave the warmth of your cozy apartment or house to get to the gym or yoga studio, but exercise is just what the doctor ordered for lagging energy. Mark your calendar with the days you will make it to the gym that week. After each workout write down a few words about how the workout made you feel. Whenever you feel like backing out of a workout look at that calendar on the fridge and read the motivating words you wrote to yourself. Also, keep your workout clothes right in your car and drive straight to the gym. It is much harder to come home and leave than it is to just get yourself there.

Daily Drops:

It is natural for energy levels to wax and wane throughout the day, but 3-5 pm is an actual documented energy lag time for our natural body clock. Fight the clock with a few important steps.

• Drink water. Avoid the caffeine trap here. The caffeine will give you a quick boost, but may actually make your lethargy worse in the long run. Water will sufficiently hydrate you without the calories and caffeine to boot.


• Get up! Move around your office, take a walk down the hall or walk up and down a few flights of stairs. It gets the blood moving and rejuvenates you to continue on with your day.


• Close your eyes and do 8 solid deep breathes. Breathing helps to boost our oxygen uptake within our cells. Your spirit will feel rejuvenated and you will also feel a nice stress relief as well.
• Eat a piece of fruit. You get the added benefit of the natural sugar boost, but you also get additional fiber and vitamins that you wouldn't get from a Milky Way.

7-Day Nutrition Goals: Note when you start to feel an energy drop throughout the day. Take one action step today or this weekend to stay energized!

Stoking the Metabolic Fire

Have you ever connected the frequency of your meals to your hunger levels? Most of us, if we looked back would see that when we went too long without eating, we inevitably ate more than we wanted to. A recent study conducted by the USDA outlined the 3 main factors that keep people from staying on track with their structured, healthy eating plan.
1. Long gaps between meals
2. Eating away from home more often
3. Working longer hours (stress)

The researches also pointed to a new trend in "hunger management" vs. "dieting". Industry is taking note of this shift and starting to formulate new products that increase our feelings and delay our onset of hunger. You can do this already by eating more fiber and water (i.e. the volumetrics strategies we talked about earlier).

This study was able to tease out how many extra calories were consumed in relation to how many additional hours the eaters went between eating occasions. If one was to go 5 hours instead of 4 hours between meals they would take in an additional 52 calories. If one was to go 6 hours instead of 4 hours, they would take in an additional 91 calories. Not only would the person consume more calories, but the quality of the foods taken in would decline as well.

So how long should you go between eating occasions? Our general guidelines are to encourage people to consume food every 3-4 hours in order to stoke the metabolic fire or keep the "engine running". When you go too long between meals your body starts to slow it's engine down and works to conserve energy, not burn it. You want to be just the opposite, a burning machine!
By the time you realize you are hungry, symptoms like headaches, stomach growling, fatigue have already manifested. You want to stay one step ahead of your hunger and become a "hunger management" expert.

• Set your outlook calendar or watch to chime when 3-4 hours has gone by.
• Plan to have a set schedule that connects with things you do daily. Before the shower, eat breakfast. After the daily meeting, eat lunch. After picking up the kids from school, have a snack.
• Set your snacks out on the kitchen table or your work desk. If they are tucked away, you lose out on the reminder to eat them.
• Use "hunger management" strategies we have talked about in the past--add volume to your food choices: fiber, water content add volume (choose grapes over raisins for example, or whole grains vs. processed grains).

7-Day Goals: Don't know how long you go between meals? Keep a little journal of the times you eat for 3 days (2 weekday and 1 weekend). Notice any trends?

FYI: Link to snack pack article

Here is a link to an article on snack packs that just came through the wire today. I had posted about this last week.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26396295/

Make time for you!

A friend who has recently transformed her life through diet, exercise and increased mindfulness, recently told me a little story that gave me quite a chuckle at first, but then got my little wheels turning. She was standing with her neighbor when another neighbor walked by on her daily, fast paced power walk. After the woman walked by, my friend's neighbor said "I see her walking all the time. She must have some sort of condition that her doctor told her to walk for"......my friend and I thought "yeah, like the condition of LIVING"....or "being healthy".
The comment made me think how adults often need a major life altering or life threatening issue to force them into taking better care of themselves. Children adapt easily to new situations and games and "exercise" just for fun. Adults, on the other hand, frequently udder the words "I hate exercise".
What if you saw it as a way to manage your condition of "living" instead though?
Ever think about how much time in your day or week that you carve out to take care of yourself or put yourself first? Many of us have a huge priority list and we fall somewhere down near the end. We forget that the best way to be our best selves and tackle our long to-do list is to start by putting ourselves first! Putting ourselves low on our priority list is very common, so do not feel bad if you are nodding your head right now!
Now if putting yourself "first" feels too selfish, how about just thinking about treating yourself as good as how you treat those around you! Sounds like a no brainer, right?
Sit down and design a "dream priority list" for your "friend" who has come to you for advice. Create 3 columns.
In the first column, ask her some questions and jot down some of the areas that the friend needs to improve or already feels good about. Here are a few examples:
-Sleep-How many hours does she get? Do you think she needs more?
-Exercise-Does she do this at all? Is she getting bored with her routine? Does she lose motivation have way through? Does she have a buddy?
-Eating-Does she feel like she eats a balanced diet? What would she like to eat more of or less of? What types of foods does she think that she would like to learn more about? What areas of her diet does she feel good about?
-Stress and happiness-Does she feel burdened in any one area of her life (home, work, school)? Does she have anyone that she can talk to? Does she take time out for herself to do "fun activities"? Does she treat herself to 'me time'?
-Negative talk-Is she too hard on herself? What things does she come down on herself about that aren't warranted?
-Miscellaneous category: work, school, beauty
Voila! A list of areas that your friend "in a dream world" would work on and perfect or already feels good about....but this is a dream list like I said because it is the list that works flawlessly only on the moon! Here in the real world your "friend" has kids, work, school, friends that tend to get in the way of all of the "me time".
Here is where column 2 comes into play. In the second column, next to each priority area, write down the barriers that may be keeping her from attending to the priority.
In the 3rd column, brainstorm ways that she can circumvent the barriers and find deeper happiness, even if it is just some of the time.
Take for example:
-column 1-Feels like exercise isn't worth it if it isn't daily, so currently not exercising, but wants to try for 30 minutes every day after work".
-column 2-Barrier: Two days a week (Thurs and Tues), the kids need to be picked up from school after work and brought to soccer.
-column 3-Compromise: M, W, F drive straight from work to gym for exercise. Tuesday and Thursday forgo gym, but walk around the park while kids play.
Ahhh, compromise!!

Sometimes just sitting down and raising the bar for yourself gives you just the boost you needed! Remember, treat yourself today like you would treat your very best friend!
7-Day Goals: Got 5 minutes today? Would you carve out time for someone you cared about today to help her prioritize her time to lead a happier life? How about yourself!!

Navigating the Eating Maze at a Wedding/Event

Weddings and events are special days full of fun, laughter, sometimes tears and lots of delicious food! It can be really tricky to navigate for those that are trying to stick to a healthy eating plan. I have a little road map for you that may help. Here are some ideas and strategies that I have used at some events this summer.....I say "some events" because inevitably sometimes I fell prey to my sweet tooth or worse, my puffed pastry tooth, but overall looking back, I feel these strategies made sense and kept me on track.

Passed Appetizers:
If you are anything like me, you really love bite size passed horde avers with little names like "mini phyllo triangles filled with fig and marscapone cheese" or "baby bella stuffed mushrooms" or even worse, "pint size piggies in a blanket"...ooohh. It can be difficult to just take 1 and then even more tricky to say no when they make their way around a second and third time. Remember though, this is just the first course of the night, take it slow!

• Take a peak at what is being passed and choose your favorite 2. Then enjoy those two like they are the last puffed pastries on the planet. After enjoying them, make your way over to the veggies or fruits to fill up on volume without breaking the bank. This strategy leaves you feeling satisfied.

Buffets:
Ever gotten to the end of the buffet and realized that your favorite food is at the very end and now there is no more room on your plate? What happens next is you find yourself plotting how you can make your way up to the buffet for a second trip. I am convinced they know this and this is why all the best things are at the end of the buffet.

• Take a trip around the buffet before you grab your plate. Plan it out.
• Pile your plate with veggies first (remember volume), then protein (satisfying), then starch. Imagine your plate as a divided picnic plate. The biggest section is full of veggies, the next biggest is protein, smallest is carbs.
• If you must go back for seconds practice this strategy, fill your seconds plate with 80% of the plate still clearly visible.

Plated Meals: Chicken or beef? This is usually the scope of the decision making when it comes to plated meals at these events. Generally the plate is filled as described above ~veggie, protein, carb.

• Don't fall prey to "no crumb left behind" thinking! It is okay to leave a little behind. Envision your plate as four quadrants. Leave one quadrant behind.
• Eat slowly. It takes 20 minutes for your stomach to clue your mind in that you should stop eating before you need to loosen the belt or god forbid, loosen and unbutton. Anyways, slow down. Enjoy the music, conversations, people watching. Whatever you need to do slow down.

Desserts: My favorite part of the night. I was at a wedding last weekend and everyone was saying how full they were. Then the cake came out and everyone said "oh no, I don't think I have room". One of my husband's cousins wife said, "it's okay, it's a different compartment"...I loved that! There is always, always, always room for a little dessert in your life. Notice, "little", because yes, portion control is the key!

• Four bite rule! I love this and it works. Imagine back to a time when you were last eating a decadent dessert. Imagine the first bite...you savor it and enjoy all of the flavors. Bites 2,3 and 4 are pretty good too. Do you notice anything though after those bites? Yup, it is true. Your taste buds get a little bit less interested in the flavors with each consecutive bite. After about 4, the flavors fizzle a little and you are simply on auto-pilot eating. Try enjoying, savoring and being mindful for those first 4 bites, then pushing away or sharing with a friend. Again, it is all about preventing feelings of deprivation, which often lead people to over consume in the long run. Enjoy yourself, just be more mindful to consume in moderation.

Exercise minutes: Going to a function later in the day? Start the day off right with exercise or make a plan the next day to build some minutes into your day. Build you goal to get 30 minutes of exercise (can be accumulated) per day or 175 minutes or more per week. Some people have pedometers and count steps. Aim for 10,000 steps per day.

7-Day Goals: Focus on being mindful today. Think about those first four bites. Enjoy the flavors of your foods.
~K

Figs-Food of Olympians

Figs aren't just in cookies, I mean fruited cakes these days. Figs are my new favorite food! I was at a wedding this weekend that served fig with mascarpone cheese, wrapped in a phyllo dough and I nearly ate the whole tray. I literally almost borrowed a trick out of the old lady handbook when I nearly wrapped a few in a napkin and put them in my purse. They were so delicious.
Figs were first brought to the United States by the Spanish in 1759. They were planted in San Diego Mission. Figs history began way before that point however and in fact are the most mentioned fruit in the Bible. Fig trees were held sacred in all countries in Southwest Asia, Egypt, Greece and Italy. Michael Phelps dines on plates full of waffles, sausages, and omelettes and maybe even figs, which were once used as Olympic fuel over in Greece. The winners of the first Olympics were even presented with laurels of figs as the first "medals".

There are hundreds of varieties of figs. California is home to about a half dozen of these varieties.

• Black Mission: blackish-purple skin and pink colored flesh


• Kadota: green skin and purplish flesh


• Calimyrna: greenish-yellow skin and amber flesh


• Brown Turkey: purple skin and red flesh


• Adriatic: the variety most often used to make fig bars, which has a light green skin and pink-tan flesh
  

Figs have the highest fiber content when compared to other fruits. One serving (1/4 c) or 4-5 Mission Figs contains 20% of your total recommended fiber intake for the day (~140 calories). One small serving of 1 1/2 dried figs is equivalent to 1 fruit serving. They are also known for their high potassium content, an important mineral in maintaining blood pressure control.

There are so many ways to use figs as well! One of my favorite things to do is to use a fig spread on top of goat cheese and tiny toasts. Here is the link to my favorite fig spread, Dalmatia fig spread: http://www.dalmatiaimports.com/Default.aspx?tabid=30

You can also dip dried figs into chocolate or yogurt (vanilla and lemon are two good choices). One idea that I just found was to chop and combine with olive oil, rosemary, basil and garlic, then spread on a focaccia bread and bake....yum!
I found these great ideas on the California Fig site:
http://www.recipe-serve.com/californiafigs/recipes/index.html

Figs are extremely perishable and should be eaten within 2-3 days of purchasing. They should be kept in the fridge and they should have a sweet, fragrant scent, not sour. They should be slightly soft to the touch, but not mushy. If you have a bag of dried figs, make sure to keep them tightly sealed to prevent insects from being attracted to their sweet scent and to prevent them from getting to tough and hard.

7-Day Goals: Ask yourself if your palate has gone bland. Do you find yourself eating the same 3 fruits? Venture out today.

Snack Packs

I recently saw an interesting advertisement in a magazine I was thumbing through. At first I thought it was an article about healthy eating. It showed a family and they were unloading their groceries and it described how busy their lives were. I noticed the "article" kept coming back to how they were so glad to be healthy and include chips in their diet. I thought it was a little strange until I realized it was a clever advertisement by a chip company promoting their new chip-snack-packs. The message encouraging eating chips was so hidden within the dialogue about how healthy this family was that it completely caught me off guard.

Essentially chip companies have found a creative way to anchor themselves within the typical American diet simply by repackaging their high calorie, high fat snack option into little baggies. Most people know that chips wouldn't be the healthiest snack in the bunch, but this advertisement went ahead and put chips on the list with apples, bananas and oranges. How confusing for most, right?

Not so fast. While it is an extremely clever way for makers of higher calorie, higher fat snack items to sustain themselves amongst the ranks of most utilized snack options, it isn't the answer to healthy snacking.
I see snacking as a tiered system, similar to the Stop Light Diet concept. Red-stop, rarely consume these foods, Yellow-better, but still limit frequency and amount, Green-go full speed ahead. Many packaged snacks actually fall into the red and yellow categories. In fact looking at some of the labels you will see that although they contain 100 calories in each baggie, they also bring with it 3-5 grams of fat, most of which comes from artery clogging saturated fat. Also, the list of ingredients go on and on and include things that are unrecognizable and even difficult to pronounce. Most seem to be glorified candy, repackaged for "healthy snacking".

The only pros that I can see with these 100 calorie snack packs is that they are pre-portioned, so as long as you do not go back for 2 or 3, you don't have to guess how many calories have been deducted from your daily calorie bank. They also may help people avoid feelings of restriction by enabling them to splurge on something that they normally wouldn't be able to control the portion of, like cookies. When you restrict yourself or your children, there tends to be a backlash effect that leads to eventually over consuming the restricted foods. Children of parents who are never allowed to partake in "kid foods" are actually more like to crave and overeat the restricted foods when they are on their own away from parental influence. The snack packs at least serve as a teachable moment for children because they show what a proper portion looks like.

My suggestions would be to use these processed snack packs infrequently. Situations that call for the use of these snack packs may be:

• They are the best choice in the bunch at the time! This might be if you are on a road trip for example and did not pack snacks ahead of time. You find a convenience store and you have the option of the big bag of chips or the 100-calorie-snack-pack...grab the snack pack!
• You are craving a cookie, ASAP-You think you can't control having a whole bag of regular size cookies in the house because you will undoubtedly eat way more than 100 calories worth...again, grab the snack pack!
• You have a child-I suggest that you create a snack box with your child to eliminate the ever frequent question of "what can I have for a snack now....how about now.....what now?". If you have the snack box for the week that they fill on Sunday night, you can make sure that they put in mostly fruits and homemade snack packs (examples below), but you can throw a few "treats" in there that are still within calorie limits. This means the child will not feel restricted and will also learn about moderation.
• Add fruit or veggie slices. Every time you eat one, pair it with a fruit or veggie. At least then you get some added fiber and nutrients and you get on serving closer to your 5-9/day!

Make your own snack packs with foods that pack more of a nutritional punch. While this takes a little bit more effort, it is truly worth it. Here are some combinations that are equal to about 100 calories. (100 calories isn't a magic number, it is just easy to remember by the way).

• Babybell cheese (light) + fruit
• 17 pretzels
• 2 tsp of nutella or peanut butter + rice cake or fruit slices or graham cracker sheet
• pudding
• 3/4 cup Honey Nut Cheerios
• Oatmeal packet (~160 cals)
• 4 oz cottage cheese (skim) + jam or simply a 4 oz 2% cottage cheese
• 1 slice deli meat + fruit or veggie slices
• 1 hardboiled egg + fruit or veggie slices
• 10 Kashi TLC cracker
• 8 wheat thins
• 1/2 cup Kashi Crunch
• Popcorn-100 calorie mini bag
• 1 frozen waffle with a little pb or jam
• applesauce
• 2 tbsp hummus + veggies, tortilla chips

7-Day Goals: Ready for the weekend? Here it is again. Think back on last weekend. Was it a blowout or did you make some positive strides in your healthy eating plan? If not, try again this week. Don't give up!

~K

Spice up Boring Salads

Summer is the season of salads. Salads are considered a high volume food because they provide a lot of nutrients without a lot of calories. Barbara Rolls, PhD, has published many journal articles and books related to the study of hunger and obesity. Her book Volumetric Eating Plan focuses on tips and techniques for feeling fuller on fewer calories. Eating salads before a meal is one such way to do this. In 2004 she published a study that showed that women who had eaten a low-energy dense salad (high volume of food, but low in calories) ate 7-12% fewer calories at the meal that followed. Not all salads are created equal however. They also tested high-energy-dense salads that had a higher calorie/fat dressing, more of the dressing and more cheese. Women who ate those salads increased their intake by 8-17%! Using smart strategies when making salads is therefore highly important if you are watching your waistline.



With all that said, I can still hear a few of you out there saying "salads get boring". I hear ya! Spicing up a salad can be a simple as adding one or two new ingredients each week or adding a little bit more texture here and there. Here are a few things to think about when looking to make a low-energy-dense salad that isn't boring!



-Start with a base of a few different lettuce varieties. There is crisp head lettuce like iceberg or bibb that provides a little crunch. Then you have your romaine, deep green leaves full of nutrients like vitamin A, K and C. Don't forget to add a little red leaf lettuce in there because, the more color the better. Remember that different colors bring different phyotonutrients to your plate.

-Add tons of veggies! Top your base of lettuce with as many different color veggies as you can. Get tired of the same combo each week? Mix it up. Sometimes put on red tomatoes for your red, other days put on red peppers or instead of white onion, add zip with red onion.

-Let there be fruit. If you haven't started yet, today is the day to try adding fruit to your salad bowl. There are no real rules for what works and what doesn't. Try fresh or even canned if you don't have any fresh on hand. I personally like strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges, pear and apple the best, but you can get creative and add fruits like kiwi, cantaloupe, grapes, whatever your heart desires. Just go for color and flavor and you can't go wrong. If you decide to add dried fruits like cranberries, raisins or apricots, make sure to keep your portions in check. Those are a food that fall into the high-energy-dense category (water has been extracted so you get to eat less of them than the original version)

-Limit high calorie extras-You don't have to avoid these add on's because they are part of the way to jazz up a salad and prevent boredom, but do try to limit them because they are just the type of ingredients that lead to 700-900 calorie salads!

• Dried fruits
• Feta cheese-1 oz = 75 calories, 6 grams of fat
• Olives - 5 olives (kalamata pitted-my fav) 45 calories, 4.5 grams of fat
• blue cheese-1 oz = 100 calories, 8.2 grams of fat
• Walnut pieces- 1 oz = 190, 18 grams of fat
• Sunflower seeds - 2 tbsp = 103 calories, 9 grams fat
• Croutons - 130 calories, 5 grams of fat

Here is a link to Whole Foods which has some great salad ideas:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/list_salad.html

7-Day Goals: Try measuring out a few of your salad ingredients. A dash of walnuts here may have turned into way more than 1 oz worth or your little bit of blue cheese may have morphed into a much bigger calorie punch than you intended. Get creative with your salad today!

~K

Using Your Garden

Our garden is flourishing! Our tomatoes are just starting to ripen on the vine which gets our creative cooking juices going. Gardening can be fulfilling for so many reasons and it can also help save some money on vegetables from the store. A new article this week by the AP highlights the hidden dangers that may sneak up on the novice gardener. It stemmed from a mix up by a celebrity chef who mistakenly recommended a toxic herb that had a similar name as a non-toxic herb. Not his finest recipe! The beauty of herbs is that many do in fact have medicinal qualities. Likewise, they may also contain toxic substances as well, especially if eaten in large quantities or if combined with certain medications. Here are a few examples they cited:

• Garden Pea is non-toxic, but the sweet pea planted for it's beautiful scent is toxic if consumed.


• Potatoes have toxic glycoalkalaoids throughout their stems and in the tuber itself. Ever leave a potato on the windowsill in the sun for a while? You will notice that it turns green. This is a concentration of those toxins and a warning that they potato is no longer edible. Fried green potatoes should not be on the menu. Throw away a potato if it is green.


• Leaves of the tomato plan, avocado, horse radish and rhubarb are toxic, so do not attempt to get creative with these greens.


• Nutmeg in large quantities can lead to nausea, vomiting and even hallucinations according to this article. I now understand where my banana bread went horribly wrong one year.

So if you are thinking of producing your own vegetable garden, do it, but make sure you know what you are planting and how to use them. This link has a lot of different useful tips: http://www.gardenguides.com/

Below are some pictures of the foods from our garden that we recently used in a Friday night Italian feast! In white are the foods that came right from the garden.

Appetizers: Jalapenos, cheddar (50% light Cabot-my favorite), cucumbers and dill, tomatoes and basil drizzled with olive oil.

Main Course: Chicken Parmesan with homemade tomato sauce, oregano, basil, parsley. Dipping sauce of olive oil, garlic, garden spices.

Handy tip: Here is a link to a neat article in fine cooking for Cutting a Chiffonade of Basil. You will look like a pro and it saves time. http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/articles/cutting-chiffonade-basil.aspx

They also have a great link to facts about growing basil. Basil is one of my favorite herbs. It adds so much flavor to so many meals. http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/dtSearch/searchResultsPlantGuide.aspx?searchfor=basil&channel=plantguide&page=1

Cutting calories in the dish below: we used low-fat cheese and portion control on this meal! Our plates were filled with 3 oz of chicken (looks like the palm of your hand or a deck of cards) and 1/2 cup-1 cup pasta. The rest of our plates were filled with veggies in the form of a salad.

7-Day Goals: Try to find a way to use fresh vegetables this week. If you do not have your own garden, try to find a farmstand or simply get them from your local grocer. Use your imagination and try to find a creative way to fill 1/2 your plate with veggies.

~K

Perfect Portions

Nutrition experts often have varied opinions on which "diet" is best. One thing that we can all agree on however, is that which ever "diet", whether it be high protein/low-carb, Mediterranean, vegetarian, western or prudent, portions matter.

Over the years our portions have been distorted. Today portions are bigger than ever which has a direct correlation with widening waistlines. A few examples are listed below. Take a guess and then scroll down to the end of today's message and see if you are an ace at deciphering proper portions:

• Bagel-20 years ago the average bagel was 3 inches in diameter and 140 calories. Today the average bagel is _________ and ________calories.
• Spaghetti and meatballs-20 yrs ago it was 1 cup spaghetti and 3 small meatballs for 500 calories. Today it is _______and_______calories.
• Muffins-20 years ago the average muffin was 1.5 oz and 210 calories. Today the average muffin is _______and________calories.
• Caesar Salads-20 years ago it was 1 1/2 cups and 390 calories. Today the average Caesar salad is ________and_________calories.

Check out the National Heart Lung and Blood Institutes "Portion Distortion" quizzes for more examples.

So how can you guesstimate proper portions? You can use your hands as a visual aid or visualize common objects.

• 1.5 oz of cheese = 4 stacked dice
• 1 slice of bread = cassette tape
• 3 oz of meat = deck of cards or the palm of your hand
• 1 cup pasta = a baseball or your fist
• 1 pancake = a DVD
• 1/4 cup of raisins = size of a hard boiled egg
• 1 medium fruit = size of your fist
• 2 tbsp peanut butter = ping pong ball size

A few of my new favorite gadgets to help with portions are the Fit n' Fresh containers found at http://www.fit-fresh.com/. You can get them at Target. They have little removable ice packs and the little plastic containers have measurements on the side so that you can keep your snacks in proper portions during your preparation and packing. They fit together neatly so you can just pack it up and go. I have the salad container and the breakfast container.

Answers to the portion distortion questions above:

• Bagel- today it is 6 inches and 350 calories
• Spaghetti and meatballs-today it is 2 cups and 3 large meatballs (that is still probably underestimating based on what some restaurants serve), but on average this brings it to 1,025 calories. That is 525 calories more than 20 years ago.
• Muffins-today 5 oz, 500 calories, an additional 310 calories.
• Caesar salads-3 cups, 790 calories, an additional 400 calories.

7-Day Goals: Take a peak at your portions? How do they rate? Is there a way that you can cut back in a few places here and there? Based on the info above you can see that it really can add up.

~K

Most Popular Lunch Item

So a few posts ago we talked about lunches. What is the most popular bagged lunch you ask? PB&J! Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches still top the charts for favorite lunch item, even into adulthood. Oh but peanut butter is so fattening you say, but I say, not so if you make sure to eat it in moderation. Everything in moderation! 1 tbsp will do.
There is still room for this food in our diet and now there are so many delectable nut butter choices, you can't help but dabble in them.

The most popular side dish in bagged lunches? Fruit

What about a combination of the two? The same old peanut butter and jelly can get really old really fast. Here are some ways to tempt your palate and boost the nutritional content of this old stand by as well:

• 100% fruit spreads-make sure that you aren't choosing a highly processed jam or jelly. Look for an option that contains 100% fruit or says "all fruit spread". Make sure you flip it over and read the ingredients however because sometimes front labeling on foods can be quite deceptive. If you look at the first few ingredients you should NOT see things like sugar, high fructose corn syrup, juice syrup. I like Polaner All Fruit myself and St. Dalfour is good as well. Others I know swear by Trader Joes.
• Vary your fruit spread flavors-I really like the Apricot flavor fruit spread from Polaner. Other flavors, beyond grape like you most likely stuck with as a kid, include orange marmalade, black cherry, peach and boysenberry. Give a few a whirl!
• Step away from the peanut-Why not try some almond butter instead? At Whole Foods you can actually use the grinder machine to pour in fresh almonds and grind them right there in the store. It doesn't get any fresher than that! No added ingredients or preservatives. It comes out delicious. Not near a whole foods? Try one of the natural nut butters like "Teddy's". These natural nut butters take a little getting used to, but they do not contain added hydrogenated oils, so they are in fact worth it.
• Fruit it up-Add some fruit right into the sandwich for an extra daily serving. Banana slices or even mashed banana work really well and you boost the potassium content of the sandwich. Apple slices or applesauce work as well. Also think outside the box by adding raisins, dried cranberries or pear slices.
• Honey-A little drizzle of honey turns the average pb&j into a delectable little treat.
• Add some fiber-sprinkle a little ground flax seed to add a little fiber, omega-3 and flavor.
• Drop the white bread-Start with a nice wheat bread or even use a pita or whole wheat wrap instead.
• Add some heat-Toasting or grilling your pb&j is also another way to enhance the flavor.
• Nutella-For the off chance that you maybe just need a little pick me up because you are feeling blue, a light spread of Nutella over your layer of pb or almond butter works wonders. I speak from experience. For those of you that do not know, Nutella is a hazelnut spread. It isn't what I would call a "health food" or something I would recommend you eat daily, but a light spread of it here and there is like a little treat!

Just a few ideas to get you started on being more creative with America's favorite sandwich.

7-Day Goals: Ask yourself "how can I reinvent some of my "favorite meals" or snacks by trying new flavors?

~K

Envirosax-Reusable Grocery Bags

I have just purchased some reusable grocery bags that I am excited about! I will report back on their quality after I get them and start using them. They are so cute though, so I figured I would pass along the link:

http://www.envirosax.com/



~K

Berry Treat

I love quick little desserts because, I admit it, I have a sweet tooth! We recently went berry picking. We were able to pick raspberries right off the vine. It was great. Upon first glance it appeared that there weren't too many left that were in good enough condition to pick and fill a whole pint with, but after a little searching we soon found a technique that left our basket overflowing with deliciousness! If you crouched down low enough, practically under the bush, you would find the berries that were easily overlooked. We filled our basket and headed back to the Big Apple barn where we also purchased blueberries that looked too perfect to pass up!

What to do with all of these berries I wondered? Then I remembered a fun little recipe I had seen on Robin Miller's show on Food Network that involved probably 10 minutes time total from start to finish....my kind of recipe! The recipe calls for wonton wrappers which you wouldn't necessarily picture as a dessert, but once baked and sprinkled with confectionery sugar, there traditional uses all but fade from your memory!

Here is the recipe:

Berry Napoleons with Sugared Wonton Wrappers 2006, Robin Miller

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

12 wonton wrappers

2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup whipped topping or whipped cream (or nondairy topping)

1 cup raspberries, blackberries or sliced strawberries, or any berry combination

1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

Mint to garnish, if desired

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

Arrange wonton wrappers on prepared baking sheet and spray the surface with cooking spray. Sprinkle sugar over wontons.

Bake 5 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove wontons from oven and arrange 4 on a serving platter (or individual dessert dishes). Top each wonton with 2 tablespoons whipped topping and then 2 tablespoons berries.

Top with second wonton wrapper.

Repeat layers (whipped topping, berries, wonton wrapper). S

ift confectioners' sugar over top layer. Serve immediately.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robin-miller/berry-napoleons-with-sugared-wonton-wrappers-recipe/index.html

~Now a little about some of the ingredients.

Wonton Wrappers: You usually find these in the produce area in the grocery store (unless you are at a specialty store). Look near the fresh spices or near the lettuce heads..if all else fails ask for help! Here is an example of a brand that you may find at your local store: Nasoya, 8 wrappers = 160 calories, 0.5 grams of fat! Wowza.

Raspberries: These are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin K, magnesium, fiber and manganese.

Blueberries: These are a good source of vitamin K, vitamin C, fiber and manganese.

These are such a nice little summer treat. Next time I will take a picture, because they look so beautiful. You most likely could do a variety of modifications of this recipe. I will have to try a few and report back, but in my mind I see this also being something you could swap out puddings for the one layer of the whipped topping. I could also see making a little lemon meringue and layering that as well. Umm!

7-Day Goals:

Add sweetness to your day today using fruit! Ask yourself, "is there a way today that I could try to include fruit at all three meals today or at least at 2 meals and one snack?" Try replacing a dessert this week with fresh fruit instead.

~K