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Healthy Eating |
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Keep Track of What You Eat With These Helpful Online Calorie Counters :
www.sparkpeople.com
www.EverydayHealth.com/calorie-counter
www.caloriecount.about.com
www.my-calorie-counter.com
www.calorieking.com
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Eat More Fruits & Vegetables! |
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This is a great tool from the CDC to help you set personal goals on how much fruit and vegetables you should add to your daily diet.
Fruits and Vegetables and Weight Management
The CDC recommends; “Substituting fruits and vegetables for higher-calorie foods can be part of your weight loss strategy.” Besides being lower in calories, vegetables and fruits contain lots of great nutrients, vitamins and this is a great time of year for the freshest and best tasting!”
Here’s another great tool from the CDC called “analyze my plate” that helps you analyze your meals for calorie, fat, veggie and fruit content.
Other tips from the CDC; add cooked dry beans, green beans, chopped apples, pears, or raisins to your salad and have a healthy bowl of vegetable soup with your meal. Or try making a low-calorie fruit smoothie in the morning for breakfast to get your daily fruit. There are a lot of ways to incorporate fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. They’ll fill you up and give you great vitamins and lots of fiber!
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The Biggest Loser 7-Day Diet Plan
Just because you're not a contestant on the show doesn't mean you can't win your own weight-loss battle at home. To help you get started, we asked The Biggest Loser nutritionist Cheryl Forberg, RD, to design this seven-day meal plan, which is just like the one that helps the competitors slim down.
Click here for the 7-day Diet Plan
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Lighten Up 4 Life Recommendations |
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For those of you looking for a healthy diet plan. Lighten Up 4 Life recommends:
The Mayo Clinic Diet – A new diet book from the Mayo Clinic.
WeightWatchers.com - Weight Watchers is online too! If you can’t make meetings you can use their online tools. |
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Healthy Diets – What Experts Recommend
Weight Watchers
A tried and true weight-loss program that has been around for many years. Many people find its “points” system easy to follow and this program teaches good portion-control habits that can help you maintain your weight-loss. Its meetings-based system harnesses the power of group support and keeping up with times has added an online version. Weight Watcher’s meal plans, sensible eating, weight-loss pace has earned it praise from many experts.
The EatingWell Diet
This diet combines 28-day mix-and-match menus, encourages good exercise habits and includes a Diet Food Diary with a calorie-count chart.
It also stresses slow and steady weight-loss which most experts agree will give you a better chance of maintaining your weight-loss.
The Best Life Diet
The Best Life Diet, created by Bob Greene, Oprah’s trainer has three phases that encourages each dieter to take at their own pace, and teaches nutritional eating and increased physical activity. Bob Greene’s emphasizes healthy foods in reasonable portions.
You: On a Diet
Dr Mehmet C. Oz and Michael F. Roizen's diet book offers a lot of education and menu plans and good exercise recommendations such as adding 30 minutes of daily walking along with recommendations for stretching, metabolism boosting, muscle building, and strength training.
The Sonoma Diet
This diet is based on delicious recipes using staples of Mediterranean eating: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, fish, and nuts. The diet starts with a strident 10-day phase called "Wave One," which is calorie-restrictive but is supposed to help you lose your craving for eating sugar and highly processed foods. The diet does contain creative recipes and menus.
Websites with Calorie Counters:
www.sparkpeople.com
www.EverydayHealth.com/calorie-counter
www.caloriecount.about.com
www.my-calorie-counter.com
www.calorieking.com |
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Mindful Eating for the Winter and Holiday Season
Cheryl G. Tuttle MHS, RD, CSO, LDN
During the winter months it is easy to turn to comfort foods that may not be the best for our health or waistline. Excessive fat and sugar can sneak its way in into your diet from the candies, baked goods, and other winter holiday foods that are so commonly available at home and in the workplace during the season. Those extra calories can eventually add up to undesired weight gain. For someone wanting to lose weight, that weight gain can be detrimental to feeling successful with weight loss goals. However, it is not too late to consider a few general tips that might help you make it through the Holidays without regrets.
1. Be cautious of buffets and appetizers, remember every bite counts.
2. Be mindful of liquid calories, they count too.
3. Watch the portions, stick to small plates and one helping.
4. Do not skip meals, going hungry does not help.
5. Search out fruits and vegetables, for example: berries, apples, pears, citrus, greens.
6. Stay hydrated with simple water.
7. Plan ahead and pre-pack healthy foods while on the go.
8. Eat breakfast.
9. Find ways to stay active.
10. Do not set yourself up for failure, stick to a goal to maintain weight and allow for some treats in your daily meal planning.
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Personal Diet Evaluator |
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Food and Fitness Planner |
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We know that certain "superfoods," such as blueberries, spinach and broccoli, are loaded with nutrients. But there may be other delicious superfoods that are as good for you, or even better, that you may not eat because you haven’t heard of them or don’t know how to use them. Here, what to do with the superfoods that you don’t know what to do with...
SEA VEGETABLES
Better known as "seaweed," sea vegetables are among the most nutrient-rich foods on the planet. Many Americans now are familiar with nori(used to prepare sushi rolls) and wakame (added to miso soup).
There are many other types of sea vegetables, including arame, which is high in iodine, iron and calcium. It helps to lower blood pressure, strengthens bones and teeth, and is beneficial for the thyroid.
Many varieties of sea vegetables are sold in dried sheets, which can be used as wraps or sliced and added to salads, soups and stews.
Arame rice: Toast one-half cup of pine nuts in a dry skillet until evenly browned. Set aside. Soak one-quarter cup of dried arame in water for 10 minutes. Drain, then cover with water and simmer in a small saucepan for 10 minutes. Drain again.
In a large bowl, combine the arame with three cups of cooked brown rice, one cup of cooked wild rice, two green onions (minced), one-half cup of fresh parsley (minced), one-half cup of fresh mint (minced) and one teaspoon of fresh thyme.
In a separate bowl, whisk together three tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil with two tablespoons of red wine vinegar and one teaspoon of ume plum vinegar. Add the dressing and pine nuts to the arame mixture. Toss well.
QUINOA
Quinoa (pronounced "keen-wah") has more protein and iron, and fewer carbohydrates, than any other grain. It’s rich in lysine, an amino acid that aids in tissue growth and repair (and helps prevent and treat cold sores from the herpes virus). Quinoa also is rich in magnesium, a mineral that reduces the risk for heart attack and stroke.
Bonus: Quinoa doesn’t contain gluten, so it can be eaten by those who can’t eat wheat or other gluten-containing grains.
Cook quinoa the same as you do rice. Add one cup of quinoa to two cups of water or broth, bring to a boil, then simmer with a cover until all the water is absorbed -- about 15 to 20 minutes. It’s more flavorful than white rice, with a light, nutty taste.
Garlic quinoa: Chop half an onion, and add it to the quinoa cooking water. Cook quinoa, covered, until all the water is absorbed. In a small skillet, sauté six cloves of garlic (chopped) in a little olive oil. When the quinoa is done (and the garlic is just crisp), combine the quinoa with the garlic oil and toss well.
PARSLEY
Parsley often is used by traditional healers as a diuretic to reduce water retention. It has a higher vitamin C content than citrus fruits, and it contains oils that can block the effects of some carcinogens, including those produced when grilling meats. The chlorophyll in parsley is a natural breath freshener that is particularly effective at countering the odor of garlic.
Curly leaf parsley has a milder taste than flat leaf. Chefs often keep a bunch of parsley with its stem tips in a jar of water on the counter. They snip it with scissors, which is easier than chopping. Parsley with the stems in water will last about two to three days at room temperature or a few days longer in the fridge.
Tabbouleh: Combine four cups of cooked quinoa with one cup of minced parsley, three green onions (chopped) and one cup of seeded, chopped plum tomatoes. In a small bowl, whisk one minced garlic clove with one-quarter cup of olive oil, the juice of one lemon and sea salt to taste. Add the dressing to the quinoa mixture, and toss well.
CANNED SALMON
Canned salmon is more convenient than cooking fresh fish, and the nutrient content usually is comparable. The oils in salmon and other fatty fish have been shown to lower triglycerides (a type of blood fat), blood pressure and levels of homocysteine, an amino acid in the blood that has been linked to heart disease and stroke.
A fish-rich diet also can relieve the inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune conditions.
Some canned salmon contains pieces of skin as well as bone. They don’t affect the flavor, but some people prefer to remove them. I leave them in because the skin provides extra omega-3s, and the bones are high in calcium.
Salmon salad: Make a salmon salad just as you would a tuna salad, by adding mayonnaise, onion and celery. Or you can toss the salmon with pasta, olive oil (in which you have sautéed some chopped garlic), fresh tomatoes and basil. I also like to add salmon to a green salad for a protein-rich light meal.
KALE
Kale is a slightly bitter, tough, leafy green vegetable that requires cooking. It is high in organosulfur compounds, such as sulforaphane. Studies have shown that these compounds inhibit tumor growth and may prevent colon cancer and other cancers. Kale also is high in calcium.
Sautéed kale: Wash and drain the kale, use a sharp knife to remove the stems, then add the leaves to a half-inch of water in a large skillet. Cover, bring to a simmer and cook until tender, usually six to seven minutes. Drain water and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking. (the cooking water is high in vitamins and can be used for soups or drink it once it cools) Sauté some chopped garlic in olive oil, add the cooked kale and toss.
Or serve kale as a side dish seasoned with a dab of olive oil, a splash of malted vinegar then sea salt and pepper to taste.
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Fun Size Candies....Not So Fun For Weight Management!!! |
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October signals the start of candy season, a roughly 6-month long period during which special candy is produced for one holiday after another. With Halloween just around the corner, I’m sure you have started seeing the massive increase of candy "triggers" in your day to day life. You will start to see this candy in places that may have been considered "safe" before. Friends, family members, neighbors may all be placing the candy jar or basket next to the door full of "Fun Size" candies in anticipation of this ghost, goblin, and goodies driven holiday. So, how do you get through this day (and the weeks after when the candy is so cheap in the stores that they are practically begging you to buy it) with out it having a negative effect on your efforts to lose weight, maintain a weight loss, or to just live a healthy lifestyle. When I am trying to make the sometimes tough decisions on a day to day basis of what to have and what not to have when it comes to food, it helps me to know all the facts. Here are a few facts about “fun size” candies and other “Treats” you may come across in the new future: |
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Chocolate Bars and Kisses (Mostly Chocolate)
- Dove Milk Chocolate Promises or wrapped squares (8 g) - 42 calories
- Hershey Kisses - 26 calories each kiss
- Hershey Kisses with Almonds - 23 calories each kiss
- Hershey Kisses filled with Caramel - 21 calories each kiss
- Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars - Fun size (14 g) - 67 calories
- Hershey's Miniature Bars (mixed) - average of 42 calories each bar
- M&Ms, plain, Fun size (18 g) - 88 calories
- M&Ms, peanut
- Fun size (18 g) - 93 calories
- 1/4 cup candy - 220 calories a
- Miniature Bars (Milky Way, Snickers, Twix, 3 Musketeers) - average 38 calories each bar
- Mr. Goodbar Snack size (17 g) - 90 calories
- Nestlé’s Crunch Bars Fun size (10 g) 50 calories
- Nestlé’s Crunch Caramel Bars - Fun size - 70 calories
- Three Musketeers bar
- Fun size (15 g) - 64 calories
- Mint, Fun size (15g) - 64 calories
- Tootsie Rolls
- Small bar - 50 calories
- Midgee - 23 calories
- Mini-Midgees - 11 calories
Peanut and Peanut Butter Candies
- Pay Day - Snack size (19 g) - 90 calories
- Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
- Miniature (about 9 grams each) - 44 calories
- Snack size (17 g) - 88 calories
- Snack size (21 g) - 100 calories
- Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins (34 g) - 180 calories
- Reese's Crispy Crunchy Bar, Snack size (17 g) - 95 calories
- Reese's Nutrageous Bars, Snack size (17 g) - 88 calories
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Mixed Candy Bars
- 100 Grand Bars
- Fun size (11 g) - 50 calories
- Fun size (21 g) - 95 calories
- Almond Joy Snack size (15 g) - 80 calories
- Baby Ruth Bar, Fun size (18 g each) - 85 calories
- Butterfinger Bar, Fun size (18 g each) - 85 calories
- Butterfinger Crisp Bar, Snack size (20 g) - 100 calories
- Heath Bar, Snack size (13 g) - 74 calories
- Kit Kat, Fun size (14 g) - 73 calories
- Milky Way bar, Fun size (17 g) - 75 calories
- Mounds bars, Snack size (17 g) - 83 calories
- Rocky Road, Snack size (10 g) - 45 calories
- Snickers Bars, Fun size (17 g) - 80 calories
- Snickers Almond Bars, Fun size (17 g) - 80 calories
- Snickers Crème Pumpkin (1 oz) - 150 calories
- Twix, Snack size (10 g) - 50 calories
Taffy and Caramel
AbbaZabba, small (12 g) 50 calories
Charleston Chew bar, Fun size (10 g) - 45 calories
Laffy Taffy, Chocolate, small bars (8 g each) - 32 calories
Milk Duds Snack size (12 g) - 54 calories
Milk Maid Caramels, Brach's - 40 calories per piece
Fruity and Gummy Candies
- Jujyfruits - 9 pieces - 60 calories
- Lifesavers Gummies (2 rolls per ounce) - 52 calories per roll
- Mini Dots (2 small boxes per ounce) 70 calories per box
- Skittles
- Original Fruit, Fun size (20 g) - 80 calories
- Chocolate Assortment, Fun size (20 g) - 80 calories
- Starburst, Fun size (2 pieces per stick) - 40 calories
- Twizzlers
- Strawberry Twists, Short (9 g) - 32 calories
- Cherry Pull-N-Peel (12 g) - 40 calories
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Hard Candies and Pops
- Blow Pop, Junior - 50 calories
- Jolly Rancher
- Hard Candy (6 g) - 23 calories
- Lollipops (17 g) - 60 calories
- Hard Candy Sticks, Small (11g) - 43 calories
- Double Blasts (4 g) - 13 calories
- Tootsie Pops - 60 calories
- Tootsie Caramel Apple Pops - 60 calories
- Wonka Nerds - small box (13 g) - 50 calories
Other Candies
- Candy Corn, Brach's - 11 pieces - 70 calories
- Hot Tamales - small pkg (14 g) - 50 calories
- Jr. Mints, Fun size (10 g) - 50 calories
- Mike and Ike small box (14 g) - 50 calories
- Raisinettes, Fun size (16 g - about 16 pieces) - 56 calories
- Smarties Candy, Roll - 25 calories
- Whoppers
- 1 small tube - 30 calories
- 1 small pouch (21 g) - 100 calories
- York Peppermint Patties
- Regular small patty (14 g) - 53 calories
- Pink Peppermint Patties, small (14 g) - 53 calories
- Peppermint Patty Pumpkins (14 g) - 50 calories
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Good luck making healthy choices this Halloween!
Elizabeth Williams, MS, RD, LDN
Registered Dietitian/Clinical Nutritionist Educator
Mission Weight Management Center
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Raisins improve digestion, Lower blood pressure, Keep blood healthy
Raisins may not be much to look at, but they do have quite a history. Prehistoric cave dwellers attributed religious powers to them. They made raisin necklaces and decorations and drew pictures of raisins on cave walls. As early as 1000 B.C., the Israelites used them to pay taxes!
These days raisins occupy a much humbler place in society, but they just as useful as ever. Backpackers and hikers appreciate raisins for being high-energy, low-fat, very convenient snack. They fit easily in a lunch box, they almost never go bad, even if they’re in a pantry for a long time.
Raisins offer more than just convenience. Recent studies suggest that they can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol and even play a role in keeping digestion and blood healthy.
If you have high blood pressure – or even if you don’t, but you want to make sure your pressure stays in a healthy range- raisins are one of the best snacks you can buy. They are good source of potassium, a mineral that has been shown to lower high blood pressure.
In one study, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical Institution in Baltimore gave men either potassium supplements or blank pills. Those who were given potassium saw their systolic pressure (the higher number) drop 7 points, while their diastolic pressure went down 3 points. Just ¼ cup of raisins contains 272 milligrams of potassium, 10% of the Daily Value. The researchers concluded that people, especially over the age of 40, ought to be consuming a fair amount of foods, such as raisins that contain high levels of potassium.
When we think of iron-rich foods, things such as red meat and liver usually come to mind. But raisins may be a better source of iron, particularly for people who eat little or no meat. Iron is essential for the creation of hemoglobin in red blood cells, which the body uses to transport oxygen. A quarter-cup of raisins has 0.8 milligram of iron, which is more than 8% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for men and 5% of the RDA for women.
Like other dried fruits, raisins also a good source of dietary fiber, with nearly 2 grams of fiber in ¼ cup. Not only does fiber play role in helping to prevent everyday problems such as constipation but its also lowers cholesterol and risk of heart disease.
Few years ago, researchers at the Health Research and Studies Centre in Los Altos, California, asked people with high cholesterol levels to eat 3 ounces of raisins (a little more than a half-cup) a day as part of a high-fiber, low-fat diet. After a month, the participant’s total cholesterol dropped an average of more than 8 percent, while their harmful low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels dropped 15%.
There is very little nutritional difference between black and golden raisins. The black variety has more thiamin, while the golden seedless type has a bit more vitamin B6. The main difference between them is the way they are dried.
Black, or sun-dried raisins are actually dried in the sun. This is what gives them their dark, shriveled look.
Golden seedless raisins are dried by exposing them to the fumes of burning sulfur in a closed chamber, which gives them their golden hue. In mid-1980’s researchers discovered that some people are sensitive to sulfites compounds and can get an allergic-type reactions when exposed to them If you are sulfite-sensitive, you should stay clear of golden seedless raisins and favor sun-dried varieties.
Raisins contain a type of iron called nonheme iron, which is harder for the body to absorb than the heme iron found in meats. Eating raisins along with foods high in vitamin C, however, will help improve absorption of nonheme iron.
To get the most raisins in your diet, it is often recommended buying snack-size packs. Due to their small size and the fact that raisins almost never go bad, they’re perfect for keeping them in your purse, glove compartment, or desk drawer and eating whenever you are in the mood for a quick snack.
http://foodsthatheal.blogspot.com/
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Free recipes and diet tips. And online diet plan and exercise videos.
- Meal plans
- Calorie counter
- Weight tracker
- Recipe calculator
Pardee's Food Journal
Hungry Girl: Daily Tips & Tricks to Healthy Eating
Watch NBC Today Show's "Lose Weight Spend Less" video that discusses ways to slim down your calories and your costs at the same time.
For free recipes and diet information visit SparkPeople.com where you will find:
- Meal plans
- Calorie counter
- Weight tracker
- Recipe calculator
Read about the benefits of eating organic foods titled World's Healthiest Foods Are Whole Foods
Review Guidlines for Healthy Food at Meetings
Visit the North Carolina Cooperative Extension's website for more information on Health & Nutrition.
Eat Smart Move More Recipes from the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services
Informative videos on healthy eating, portions and strategies to lose weight from Discovery Health
Learn more about correct portion sizes from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Enhance your child’s activities and nutrition with We Can! Program from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Healthy Recipes recommended by the American Heart Association.
Weight Control resources from the USDA Food & Nutrition Center.
The American Heart Association offers these tips for healthy eating:
- Eat only as many calories as you burn.
- Eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods.
- Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit.
- Choose whole grains.
- Eat fish twice a week.
- Avoid nutrient-poor foods.
- Limit the amount of cholesterol, saturated fat and trans fat you eat.
- Choose lean means and poultry without the skin; prepare them without added saturated and trans fats.
- Select fat-free or low-fat dairy products.
- Eat fewer foods containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
- Eat fewer foods high in dietary cholesterol.
- Cut back on beverages with added sugars.
- Choose and prepare foods with little or no salt.
- Drink only in moderation.
- Choose low-fat, low-salt meals when dining out.
- Read the nutrition labels and ingredient lists before buying your food.
Fruits & Veggies Tip Sheets
Brought to you by NC Fruits & Veggies Nutrition Coalition, NC Dept. of Health and Human Services | NC Division of Public Health
5 Points to Remember
Five points about eating five servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
Can I Cook Nutrients Away?
The method of cooking can affect the nutritional value of food…but it depends on which nutrients you are talking about.
A Fast Way to 5 A Day
Tips for eating healthy when you eat out at fast food restaurants.
Shopping Smarts
Tips on purchasing a variety of fruits and vegetables.
Color Me Healthy Deluxe Cookbook!
Complete Recipes brought to you by NC Division of Public Health.
Weight Watchers Cookbooks can be purchased here. |
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