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Jul
14
Pictures of 300 Calorie Servings
Filed Under Eating Healthy, Nutrition | 2 Comments
I usually try to use my weekend roundups to link to other sites with useful articles. Sometimes though, I find something that I’m so impressed with that I just want to give it a bit more spotlight. Today is such a case.
I forget how I stumbled onto this site. In fact, I think I did use Stumble Upon to get to it. Quick plug - If you like any 60 in 3 articles, don’t forget to Stumble them! 
Anyway, I found it quite randomly but I was amazingly impressed by what I saw. It’s such a simple idea and yet very powerful. What the author has done is take picture of 300 calorie servings of various foods, from fruits and vegetables to meat and dairy.
Why So Impressed?
Because it’s great to talk about portion control and serving sizes but it really doesn’t sink in until you see it visually. For example, the difference between 300 calories of apples and 300 calories of bacon is easy to understand but seeing it in pictures really drives home the difference in what you’re eating. Even better, these pictures can take differences that are a bit less obvious and make them clearer. For example, compare the 300 calories of grapes to 300 calories of raisins. It’s hard for many people to see the difference between eating grapes and eating raisins, and this sort of visual aid really makes a difference.
But Wait, There’s More!
Not only did the author include all the weight measurements used for these pictures, she also included the prices. Now some of these might not be accurate for your neighborhood, but it’s still useful information. For example, it’s easy to see why so many people eat too much meat, it’s cheap, something you can chalk up to our government’s misguided farm policies. 300 calories of beef cost less than 300 calories of tomatoes, which is just crazy. I should probably get off this topic before I go into a full political rant!
How To Use This Information
This isn’t meant to be a reference guide. I don’t think you should come to this site and check out the pictures every time you’re going to eat. Just take a good look through this link. Spend some time and get to know your typical food serving. Come back a few days from now and do it again. Basically, I want you to educate yourself so that, when faced with real food, you know how much is too much and how much is just right.
Without Further Ado…
Here’s the link:
And a similar link only this time to 200 calories servings:
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Jun
20
5 Tips For A Healthy Salad Bar
Filed Under Eating Healthy, Nutrition | 4 Comments
For some strange reason, people assume that vegetarian means eating a lot of salads. It’s not true folks, there are plenty of good non meat dishes that don’t involve meat. However, I’m quite often asked about salads as soon as I tell people that I don’t usually eat meat. Well, ok, I give up! Yes, I do occasionally eat salads, and when I do, I’m still pretty careful to make sure that they’re healthy. So follow along for a quick five tips on what to do at the salad bar.
Salad = Vegetables
The first and most common sense tip is to focus on vegetables. You wouldn’t think this would be a necessary tip until you see some of the salads people get. Tuna salad which is mostly pasta and tune with maybe a cherry tomato. Potato salad that’s mostly potatoes and mayo. Chicken salad which is mostly chicken, lettuce and dressing. Taco salad which is mostly chips, beans, salsa, sour cream and that ever present lettuce. These things are not healthy folks, even if they do include the word salad in their name.
You want salad? It better be 90% or more fresh vegetables!
Go For Color
An easy way to make sure you have a good load of nutrients is to pick vegetables with different colors. Sounds silly but it works. Go for plenty of green with things like spinach and broccoli. Add some reds with tomatoes and peppers. Now toss in the yellows with zucchinis or bell peppers, mix in some orange carrots and top it off with a bit of white, gray and brown mushrooms.
Easy On The Toppings
Grabbing a healthy salad and then adding half a chicken to it is not healthy. Want to add some protein? That’s great, but in moderation. A little blue cheese, some hardboiled egg, maybe even a chicken strip or two. Maybe try some kidney or garbanzo beans.
Ditch The Dressing
A good salad doesn’t need dressing. It tastes fine just the way it is.
Fruits Are Not Vegetables
Yep, there’s no doubt that fruit are good for you. However, they also contain many more calories than vegetables. So feel free to munch on some apples, oranges and other fruit, but filling your whole bowl with them might be a mistake (unless of course you were about to fill your whole bowl with a Philly cheese steak, in which case fruit are definitely a healthier alternative.)
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Salad does not necessarily mean healthy. Many fast food places will lure you in with salads that have more calories than your average big mac.
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May
28
Rule #3 of Healthy Eating, The 1/2, 1/4, 1/4 Rule
Filed Under Eating Healthy, Healthy Habits, Nutrition | Leave a Comment
Last Monday, I started talking about the five rules I use for eating healthy food. I use these relatively simple rules because It’s just too difficult to keep up with all the guidelines, recommendations and plans for eating the perfectly balanced diet. You can drive yourself crazy and still not be 100% perfect.
Today we look at rule #3, which I like to call, the 1/2, 1/4, 1/4 rule. This particular rule was inspired by a podcast I downloaded off of iTunes a while back. I believe it was Fitnessrocks but I might be mistaken. Either way, my thanks to the authors for a brilliant idea.
By the way, you may have noted that I’m not exactly following a sequential order in discussing these rules; I started with rule #2, followed by #4 and now I’m jumping to rule #3. That’s for two reasons, one because I want to emphasize that none of these rules is more important than the other. Also, I picked each rule because it was appropriate to the day I was writing it. Today is Wednesday and I am working from home while trying to get over a cold. So when I prepare my meal today, this rule will come in handy.
What Is The 1/2, 1/4, 1/4 Rule?
One of the first things I did when I started eating healthy was attempt to eat a balanced diet. You know the one I’m referring to. It’s where you eat 5 servings of vegetables and fruits, 3 servings of grain, 2 of dairy and 1 of meat. Wait, is that right? I think it might actually be 4 servings of vegetables and 4 servings of grain. No wait, that sounds wrong too.
As you can see, my memory isn’t the best and I was never able to remember just how much of anything I should be eating. Even worse, I could never figure out what a “serving” was. Was a serving one vegetable like a tomato? What about spinach? How much spinach is a serving? And what is a serving of dairy products? Is it one slice of cheese or one cup of milk or…
Yah, it didn’t go well. So that’s when I heard of the 1/2, 1/4, 1/4 rule. It’s pretty simple. When you put food on your plate, it should go in the following proportions:
- 1/2 should be fiber rich, water rich vegetables. These are things like leafy greens such as spinach or green onions but they can also be things like tomatoes, carrot, cucumbers and other water rich plants. These are NOT fried vegetables like tempura or very starchy vegetables like potatoes.
- 1/4 is starchy, more energy rich plants like potatoes, squashes, grains or legumes.
- 1/4 is protein like lean meat, tofu or dairy products.
That’s it. Make your food in those proportions and you’ll usually have a relatively balanced meal.
Advanced Applications
This rule also applies to meals that aren’t served on a plate. For example, when you’re making a sandwich, if the bread is half your meal, you aren’t following the 1/2, 1/4, 1/4 rule.
Sauces, especially creamy ones, will break the rule. You can fill half your plate with fiber and water rich vegetables but if you cover them in creamy ranch you may as well not eat them. The whole point of the rule is to make sure a good portion of your food is energy poor material like vegetables.
Clarifications to the 1/2, 1/4, 1/4 Rule
Can you balance your food intake this way over a whole day? Sure. For example, for lunch your food is all water rich, fiber rich vegetables while for dinner you eat more protein. It’s not as healthy, mainly because it’s harder to keep track of, but it’s certainly possible.
Why Use the 1/2, 1/4, 1/4 Rule Rule?
Because it’s a quick and easy way to get a balanced meal.
But I Don’t Like Vegetables!
That’s probably because you were raised on the classic American diet where vegetables mean some steamed broccoli that you were forced to eat as a child or a green salad made up of nothing but lettuce. Vegetables can actually be extremely tasty. Try a steamed zucchini as an add on to your dinner, or how about a finely chopped salad of onions, bell peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers? There are a ton of healthy and tasty vegetable recipes out there. Why not give them a try?
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I have no desire to spend my meal times figuring out how much I need to eat of every specific food group. It’s frustrating, overly complex and almost impossible to follow. I would much rather follow something simple like this 1/2, 1/4, 1/4 rule. It’s easy, quick and over time, leads to a very balanced diet.
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May
26
Rule #4 of Healthy Eating, the 20 Minute Rule
Filed Under Eating Healthy, Healthy Habits, Nutrition | 1 Comment
Last Monday, I started talking about the five rules I use for eating healthy food. I use these relatively simple rules because It’s just too difficult to keep up with all the guidelines, recommendations and plans for eating the perfectly balanced diet. You can drive yourself crazy and still not be 100% perfect.
Today we look at rule #4, which I like to call, the 20 minute rule which is based in large part on my own experience.
By the way, you may have noted that I’m not exactly following a sequential order in discussing these rules; I started with rule #2 and now I’m jumping to rule #4. That’s for two reasons, one because I want to emphasize that none of these rules is more important than the other. Also, I picked each rule because it was appropriate to the day I was writing it. Today is memorial day in the US, a day when many of us BBQ and eat enormous quantities of food. So I thought that taking a moment to appreciate that food would be good.
What Is The 20 Minute Rule?
When I was growing up, I always ate my food as fast as I could. I did because I always had other things I wanted to do and so eating fast saved time. I also did it because I liked eating and eating fast allowed me to eat more. Finally, I did it because my dad did it and I looked up to him and wanted to be like him. That habit stayed with me into adulthood. I would eat fast enough to finish my food before everyone at the table had even been served. In fact, my friends still repeat a rather amusing story where the waitress for our table almost brought me out an unintended second helping because I had finished my food and had the dishes removed before she had brought everyone’s food out.
Then came my little health meltdown. A lot of research later, I found out that eating fast is one of the worst mistakes you can make. It’s right up there with not getting enough sleep or not eating a healthy breakfast. So now I follow a different rule. I try to eat a bit of food and make it last at least 20 minutes. If it didn’t last 20 minutes then I make myself wait until the whole 20 minutes are up before I even think about taking seconds. I also eat slower, trying to savor the sensation and the flavors a bit more.
Advanced Applications
Do you typically wolf down your sandwich in less than 4 bites? Do you ever find yourself eating without chewing? Yep, that was me a few years ago, and while I still occasionally backslide, I am actively trying to avoid those habits. Take small bites of your food and chew them thoroughly. Savor the sensation of eating by eating 1 sandwich over 20 minutes instead of 2 sandwiches over 10 minutes.
How many of you use chopsticks? If you’re a fast eater like I used to be, you probably don’t. Chopsticks are not the most efficient way of eating, especially if you’re not used to them. Which is a perfect reason to use them. Next time you’re at an Asian restaurant, use the chop sticks. They’ll slow you down and make you focus on your food. I know that this has been an effective way for me to eat less.
Do you go to a buffet and fill up a huge plate? Yep, that’s exactly what I used to do because I wanted to get back to table and eat up all that food without any interruptions. Well, start thinking smaller. Take a small plate, fill it up just a little and then go back to your table. Eat that food, take a small break and then see if you’re still hungry enough to go back. That break between small plates is a great way to slow down. By the way, that’s a great tip for those of you BBQing today. Don’t fill up your plate with those three hamburgers, two hot dogs and a pile of chips. Take ONE of those things, have a seat, eat it slowly and then see if you’re still hungry enough to another run at the BBQ.
Bring a friend and talk during the meal. Talking forces us to stop eating (unless you like to talk with your mouth full which is just wrong!) So bring someone with you to meals and carry on a conversation while you eat. You’ll find yourself taking a much longer time to eat and eating far less.
Clarifications to the 20 Minute Rule
Is it always 20 minutes? What if I’m eating a steak vs. a small amount of peanuts? Should both last 20 minutes? No, of course not. The amount you eat will determine the time it takes. However, 20 minutes is a good basic guideline because that’s how long it takes for your brain to notice that you’re eating and full. So waiting 20 minutes between portions is a good way for you to ask your brain “hey, have you caught up yet? Are we still hungry and should get a bit more or are we full and done?” If you want to make it 60 minutes, go for it.
Why Use the 20 Minute Rule?
Because eating too fast leads to eating too much. The two are very closely linked.
But I Don’t Have Time To Eat Slow!
Yes you do. You’ll be spending the same amount of time you are now, you just won’t eat as much. Trust me, I looked at my eating habits and I still spend the same amount of time that I did when I ate faster, I just eat less. And hey, if you’re a real efficiency devotee, maybe you can do some work between those small portions. It’s a better use of your time than scarfing down more food as fast as you can manage it.
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I love food and yet I would eat it so fat that I never really savored or enjoyed it. Stop rushing yourself and enjoy your mealtimes. You’ll end up spending just as much time but you’ll eat less and yet enjoy the food more.
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May
21
Rule #2 of Healthy Eating, The 100 Year Test
Filed Under Editorial, Healthy Habits, Nutrition | 1 Comment
On Monday, I started talking about the five rules I use for eating healthy food. I use these relatively simple rules because It’s just too difficult to keep up with all the guidelines, recommendations and plans for eating the perfectly balanced diet. You can drive yourself crazy and still not be 100% perfect.
Today we look at rule #2, which I like to call, the 100 year rule. This is based in large part on one of Michael Pollan’s recommendation which I’ve taken and modified slightly.
What Is the 100 Year Rule?
If you were to take the food you’re about to eat and show it to someone who lived in the 19th century, would they recognize it? Would they believe you when you said it was food or would they look at you like a crazy person? If what you’re about to eat makes a 19th century person quiver in fear, run away screaming or shake his or her head in disbelief, you probably shouldn’t be eating it.
Advanced Applications
Does the food seem like something that would have been eaten in the 19th century but was prepared in some really odd way? For example, Twinkies seem like sponge cake which would probably seem normal to someone from a 100 years ago. However, if you ever watched how twinkies are made, I think you would agree with me that they simply aren’t food.
Does the food contain ingredients you don’t recognize? Take a look at that ingredient list. Are there more than five chemicals in there that have long scientific names? Is there at least one ingredient in the top five that’s nothing more than a long chemical formula? Perhaps you should put that food down then.
Was it raised in a completely unnatural way? No cow was born to live in a 6′ by 3′ pen, pumped with antibiotics every day and fed corn, grain and pieces of other cows. Sorry, that’s just not natural. You may want to remember that the next time you think about ordering a steak. Feel free to eat meat but try to make sure it was raised the way meat should be raised and not the way some factory finds it most efficient to raise.
Clarifications to the 100 Year Rule
Is it a 100 years from when I was born? I suppose. Mainly you’re trying to answer the question of “would someone who lived in a time before massive food processing and chemical engineering have recognized this food?” To me, that’s the 19th century and about 100 years ago. Your time line may vary.
Do I need to base it on the country I was born in? Not really. For example, if I showed sushi to someone who was born in my homeland 100 years ago, they would think I was crazy for eating raw fish. However, people in Japan would think I was fine. As long as someone from a preindustrial society somewhere would agree with you that this is food, you’re probably fine.
Why Use the 100 Year Rule?
Because processed food sucks. We put too many chemicals into our food, too much crap that really belongs nowhere near our bodies.
Are You Saying This Because You’re Some Kind of Anti Technology, Anti Progress Fanatic?
Not at all. At no point in my life did I wish I could live back in the days before modern medicine, modern standards of living, modern rule of law and modern technology. Heck, this blog should be sufficient evidence that I like modern technology. However, I do think we’ve gone overboard in the things we do to our food. I love that I can fly around the world. I love that I can instantly communicate with people thousands of miles away. I love that we no longer lose 1 out of every three children to disease or starvation. I don’t love the fact that my food contains more chemicals than a toxic waste dump, more antibiotics than a hospital ward and was prepared using the same process that’s reserved for refining gasoline.
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There are some things that technology does well and some things it does not. Technology can give us better food, I firmly believe that. I also believe that mass production, industrial processing and chemical cocktails are meant to give the food companies a better profit margin and have nothing to do with quality of food.
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May
19
The Five Rules Of Eating Healthy
Filed Under Eating Healthy, Nutrition | 1 Comment
When I first started turning my life around, I read quite a bit about eating healthy. I looked through magazines, books, blogs and any other source of information I could find. While there was a lot of good advice out there, I felt a little overwhelmed. There was so much information out there, so many tips, so many things to do and so many things not to do. I felt like I needed to analyze every single bite I ate down to the smallest component, total up everything hour by hour and then make careful adjustments meal by meal.
Did I have enough protein today? Better increase that measure of Tofu for dinner by 5grams! Did I have enough vitamin D? How about carbs? Did I eat enough or too many? Wait, I just ate an orange. Oh no, now my vitamin intake is all out of whack! It just felt like there was no way to achieve that perfect diet and if my diet wasn’t perfect then I was in danger of backsliding.
Well, after a year of driving myself a little crazy, I started relaxing. I started trusting my own judgment when it came to food. I started understanding that I don’t need to have the perfect balance of protein, fat and carbs every single day, things will balance out over a few days or a week and that’s just fine. Rather than diving into the minutiae of my diet, I started looking at the overall picture. Over the next two or three years, I developed a few basic rules by which I eat. I find these easy to follow and easy to remember.
Before I list my rules of eating, I would like to give credit where credit is due. One, some or all of these rules were inspired by YOU: The Owner’s Manual: An Insider’s Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger
Please note that over the next week I plan to review each of these in more detail, so I hope you don’t mind the quick treatment they each get in this post. I want to provide people with a quick summary of the rules in general before moving on to detailed discussions.
1. Eat a variety of foods
Most foods are not balanced nutritionally and there are very few if any “super” foods that contain everything you need to consume in the proper amounts. So rather than worry about which amino acid you’re missing out on today, just eat a variety of foods from a variety of cuisines. Don’t restrict your diet too much or stick to only one type of food.
2. If they wouldn’t recognize it in the 19th century, you probably shouldn’t be eating it today
This is a paraphrasing of Pollan’s rule “if your grandmother wouldn’t recognize it, you shouldn’t be eating it.” Well, my grandmother is still alive thankfully and she’d recognize quite a bit of crappy food. So I modified this a bit. Essentially, this is a rule meant to protect you from all the overly processed junk available today. If you showed what you’re about to eat to someone from a hundred years ago, would they recognize it as food or what they wonder what they hell you were thinking about for putting this crap in your mouth? This also applies to heavily processed versions of old fashioned food. For example, pasta is fine, highly processed pasta that went through three factories and two refining processes before ending up on your plate is not.
3. The 1/2, 1/4, 1/4 rule of balanced meals
I’m really sick of trying to measure serving sizes. What the heck is the right serving size for meats? Is a tomato one vegetable serving? What about a large tomato? How can a cup of milk be the same serving size of dairy as a slice of cheese?!? Rather than worry about all this, I just balance my plate. 1/2 leafy or crunchy vegetables like spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers and so on. 1/4 starchy vegetables like potatoes, squashes, beans and others. Then finish it off with 1/4 protein like meat, tofu, dairy or legumes. Will this always be the perfect balanced meal? Not always, but things will balance out over time and at least you won’t drive yourself crazy doing portion control.
4. Eat slowly and enjoy your food.
When you eat fast you eat too much. Eat slow, savor your meal, enjoy the flavors and the food. This was one of the hardest rules for me and one I still struggle with. If you’ve seen me eat, you know I eat fast, but believe me, I eat a lot slower than I used to.
5. Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re not
The three meals a day plan is for people who’s bodies operate on some abnormal mechanical clock. Stop listening to how society tells you to eat and start listening to your body. If you’re hungry, eat. When you’re not hungry stop eating. If that means eating at 2pm instead of lunch time, that’s fine. If it means not finishing your restaurant portion, that’s fine too.
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That’s it, 5 easy rules to live by that don’t require much in the way of scientific analysis. On Wednesday, we start talking about the first one and what exactly it means.
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Apr
28
Do You Know What’s In Your Food?
Filed Under Eating Healthy, Nutrition, Research | 2 Comments
There’s a new poll out from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The poll asked 500 people about the calorie contents of their food. Care to guess the result? If you guessed that most people don’t know what’s in their food, you’d be right. You can find the article on the CSPI site here.
Don’t Eat What You Don’t Know
I don’t go to restaurants unless I know what I’m eating. For local restaurants, that means asking them what they put in their food and how they prepare it. For chain restaurants, it means not eating there unless they publish their nutritional content on their premises. On premises means right there where you eat the food, not on the website. Website nutritional info is great mostly for regretting what you just ate and doesn’t really help you make an informed decision when you order.
Let Your Voice Be Heard
If there’s a restaurant that does not publish nutriotional information then tell them you won’t be eating there anymore and then tell them why. Enough of these opinions will make a difference.
Make Your Vote Count
I’m not a fan of big government. I don’t think government should tell us what to do or how to behave. I do however believe that governments have a role to play in making sure we have enough information to make an informed decision. So I support government efforts to force restaurants to display nutritional information. Let you congress man or woman know that you’d appreciate this sort of information and that your health is more important than lobbyist dollars.
Read Those Labels
Once you have the information, don’t forget to use it. Information is useless if it’s not used. Read it and then base your food decision on it. If enough of us make healthy food choices, maybe restaurants will offer more healthy options.
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I know people who will spend hours researching the best shampoo for their pet or the best school for their kids. Why not spend a little of that time researching what you’re eating? The results may surprise you.
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