Dean
Dean
Now you know how I feel about foods that make health claims, so let me make this disclaimer: There is NOTHING you eat that is a miracle or can be eaten without consideration of total caloric intake NOR do I endorse all the marketing tactics of this product. You can’t eat these noodles with a pound of sausage on them and expect to lose weight! However this product IS a very good choice when your are avoiding a lot of pasta and grains.
Earlier this week in class we talked about choosing carbs, particular grain products, that have more than 3 grams of fiber and less than 10 grams of sugar. If there is any “magic” it is the ability of fiber to keep you feeling full, your blood sugar stabilized and insulin at bay. This is why cruciferous green vegetables should be eaten often.
Without further adieu, let me introduce you to the Shirataki Noodle. This Asian noodle is easy to prepare, has the fiber and nutrient profile we are looking for, and works great in a ton of recipes that call for noodles or pasta.
You can ignore the “miracle” hyperbole, but check out the video as highlighted on the news, as well as a page from Men’s Health:
Here’s a tasty and health recipe from Nancy so you can put your new found noodle (k)nowledge to good use! 🙂
Pasta with Mushroom Marinara Sauce
2 (8 oz.) packages of Shirataki Noodle or Shirataki Fettuccine Shape
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. chopped garlic
2 1/2 cups (6 oz.) fresh sliced mushrooms
2 cups prepared marinara sauce
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Prepare noodles according to package directions below. Cut into 3 to 4-inch lengths. In non-stick skillet, toss noodles over medium-high heat until dry. Set aside. Heat oil in skillet, add garlic and mushrooms. Cook over high heat, stirrin continuously until mushrooms are golden. Add marinara sauce. Bring to a simmer, cook 3 minutes. Stir in noodles, cook 3 minutes. Garnish with basil. Serve with cheese (optional).
For more info on the shirataki noodle, visit http://www.miraclenoodle.com
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Shopping, in particular grocery shopping is one chore I actually look forward to every other week. I enjoy taking my kids out for a few hours to choose the foods we will be eating. They actually like to go to. With three pre-schoolers in tow, here are a few helpful, healthful tips to keep in mind.
1. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. This is where you will find the fruits, veggies, meats, seafood, and dairy sections. These are the healthiest choices while the inside of the store contains those items that are less perishable in boxes, cans, jars, and bags. Think of if this way, chose items that will perish in days or weeks instead of years. It is scary to think of how long you can keep some items on your pantry shelf.
2. When choosing fruits and veggies, make a wide range of color selection. Think of eating all the colors in the rainbow. You can chose yellow summer squash, red tomatoes, purple cabbage, orange sweet peppers, blue berries, and green beans. Many grocery stores stock a wide range of fruits and veggies. Make it a habit to try one new variety each week. Often stores have a recipe card section to encourage shoppers to try something they offer.
3. Meats are my next stop around the store. The USDA now requires meats to list their fat content on the packaging. This makes choosing lean meats easier. But check out the difference for yourself. Pick up a package of hamburger containing 75% lean meat and one containing 90% lean meat. Turn the package over and notice how many calories you will be saving by using the 90% instead of the 75% per serving. It is huge. Do the same thing with ground turkey and ground turkey breast. This will shock some of you. But ground turkey is white, dark, skin, and other parts of the turkey ground up while ground turkey breast is only the white lean breast part of the turkey. Do I have to tell you which one has the fewer fat calories?
4. The Seafood department is another one of those unexplored areas of the store for most people. Eating seafood provides you with some very beneficial vitamins and minerals as well as some fantastic fatty acids our body’s crave. Deep Cold water seafood like Salmon, Flounder, Herring, and Tuna.
“The biggest problem in this country is that we eat too little fish, not too much, and overall everyone would benefit from increasing their fish consumption,” says Joyce Nettleton, an expert on omega-3 fatty acids. “We don’t have anything in the marketplace that has the potential to benefit health the way fatty fish do.”
5. Now, this is not to say that I never buy food in the aisles. I do, but I try to keep with the healthiest choices if possible – whole grain items, frozen vegetables without sauces, canned tuna and salmon, etc. While we are on the subject of whole grain, be very careful of labels that read whole grain on the front. Always, always turn the package over to read the nutrition label. Only on the nutrition label will you see the truth. Choose items that are higher than 3 grams of fiber and less than 10 grams of sugar. Higher fiber and less sugar is the rule to keep in mind. There are better choices than others so don’t be fooled. Choosing the healthiest bread or cereal for your family will take some doing the first time out but after that you can avoid all the choices and just pick the ones you have already found to be high fiber and low sugar options.
There are so many options in a super market. It can be an overwhelming chore to make the healthiest choices for you and your family. Stick to these rules and you’ll be on your way to easier healthy eating.
Don’t make it a chore – Make It Fun!
Nancy
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Do you remember playing this game when you were a kid?
If so, you are oooooold…like me! 🙂
Actually all three of those categories are vital in a balanced diet, but I want to talk about vegetables in particular.
We all have heard time and time again that’s it important to eat your fruits and vegetables, but how many of us actually do it on a daily basis?
The National Cancer Institutes “5 to 9 a Day” program encouraged us to eat at least 2 to 4 servings of fruit and 3 to 5 servings of vegetables a day. (Since updated to a personalized program – check it out here: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/)
The goal is to eat:
What’s a serving size? Not all that much, really…
Vegetables:
Fruits:
The reason I bring the number of daily servings up is because we get asked a lot – Fresh, frozen, canned, organic – which should I eat?
To which are answer is “All of the above!”
You see it doesn’t really matter which of those choices you make if you aren’t eating enough.
For instance we get asked a lot about buying organic – it’s a hot topic right now, and it seems everything is organic. Even Prograde Cravers are organic!
Organic is great, but what matters more is that you are getting enough fruits and veggies first, then worry about super high quality.
I also understand that fruits and vegetables can be expensive, and there is nothing wrong with choosing economical options. Personally my preference would be fresh (organic or not), frozen, and then canned. With canned fruits you need to be cautious about added sugar, and canned veggies can have a lot of sodium. A cold water rinse before you cook them can help get rid of some of that excess salt without affecting the quality.
You know what may be even more important than organic? Buying your produce locally. A vegetable picked from the farm down the road is going to be tastier and healthier than organic produce shipped halfway across the globe.
Pretty soon Farmers Markets are going to start popping up here in NH, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) are also gaining in popularity. A CSA is where you buy a share of a local farm and get a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly delivery of the farms crops, depending on the agreement.
I mentioned Milk and Honey Farm a couple weeks ago, which is the CSA Nancy and I purchases a share in. We went to visit the farm last Saturday, and are excited to report the first pickup is only about a month away!
Seriously, would you rather have vegetables shipped from who knows where, handled about 20 times by 20 different people, sitting on the shelves for an undetermined amount of time OR fresh picked produce with all the nutrients intact from a local farmer at an affordable price? Hmmmm…..
There is still time to buy a share, so if you are interested click the link above.
Milk and Honey isn’t the only CSA around. I went to http://www.localharvest.org/csa/ and did a search for CSA’s in the Concord area, and it came up with 12 results, so you have options.
Look, I am not trying to tell you it is easy to integrate more vegetables and fruits into your eating plan, if it was easy we would all do it all the time! What I am saying is it is worth the effort. The health and disease prevention benefits are well documented and reliable.
So do what mom said – “Eat Your Vegetables” – she knew what she was talking about!
Make It Happen!
Dean
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Failing to plan is planning to fail, especially on the weekends!
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Lisa continues her hold on the top, and earns the $25 rollover check from last week – well done!
I want to give special recognition to Gretchen this week, who worked her butt off to achieve a perfect score. She set out to achieve her goal, and she did it!
I also want to give Gretchen kudos for her excellent notes and being completely honest with herself. You see, you can score a perfect 72 points in the contest, yet still sabotage your efforts by making poor choices and “adding” to the plan. Gretchen realizes that while she scored perfect this week, there are other areas that need work, and she has embraced taking responsibility for her current progress. She has not fooled herself into thinking that making a mark on the sheet is going to mean anything without working the whole program.
Eating 5 or 6 protein/vegetable meals is excellent, but adding a “brownie meal” and a couple drinks after work is going to be counterproductive for fat loss. Your food log (kept completely honestly) will let you know when you are prone to these challenges and allow you to plan better around those times. I am not saying you can never have any particular food or drink, but if you really want to achieve your goals (a whole ‘nother subject) you are going to have to embrace a little delayed gratification.
Keep up the great work, Gretchen!
Alright, on to this weeks results…
Make It Happen!
6 Pack 6 Results
Week 11 Top Ten
| Lisa A. |
72 Points |
| Gretchen W. |
72 Points |
| Chrissy S. |
71 Points |
| Robin S. |
71 Points |
| Judy S. |
69 Points |
| Greg S. |
65 Points |
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Donna K. |
65 Points |
| Julie D. |
63 Points |
| Angela D. |
63 Points |
| Evelyn P. |
52 Points |
Overall Top Ten
| Lisa A. |
786 Points |
| Chrissy S. |
784 Points |
| Judy S. |
738 Points |
| Robin S. |
714 Points |
| Julie D. |
681 Points |
| Greg S. |
679 Points |
| Evelyn P. |
678 Points |
| Karyn M. |
631 Points |
| Donna K |
617 Points |
| Angela D. |
611 Points |