Healthy on the Go Options

Written by Brianna Callaghan
Part of National Nutrition Month 2013

We all have those busy days where we don’t get around to cooking and our healthy eating streak goes right out the window. A good way to handle this type of situation is to choose the most health conscious option available to you and not to view it as a set back.

Out of convenience and price fast food is sometimes the most readily available option. But instead of automatically choosing the salad at your favorite fast food chain, you may want to consider how many calories that is actually saving you. Try picking a protein option such as a grilled chicken sandwich and asking for a wheat bun or no bun at all. Asking them to hold the condiments will also save you some calories from fat.

Wendy's Apple Pecan Chicken Salad

 For example, Wendy’s Apple Pecan Chicken Salad contains a whopping 570 calories, 27 grams of fat, and 1340 mg of sodium. When selecting this item the name sounds appetizing and healthy so the actual nutrition content is startling. On the other hand the name of Wendy’s Ultimate Chicken Grill Sandwich doesn’t exactly imply that it is one of the healthier items on the menu. In reality, it contains 400 calories, 10 grams of fat, and 800 mg of sodium including the bun and mustard.  

               

The iPhone has several apps that can be purchased for free in the App Store that make looking up nutrition facts like these quick and easy. My personal favorite is MyFitnessPal, but there are others like Lose It! and the LIVESTRONG app, it is all about your personal preference. 

References

Wendy’s. (2011). Nutrition facts.  Retrieved from http://www.wendys.com/food/Nutrition.jsp.  

Wendy’s.  (2011).  Wendy’s apple pecan chicken salad [Photograph].  Retrieved from http://www.wendys.com/images/product_thumbs/399.png

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Making Time for Healthy Eating

Written by Mallory Foster
Part of National Nutrition Month 2013

There always seems to be one thing that we never have enough of: time. We all live such busy lives and it can be difficult to find the time to prepare and eat healthy meals. However, the key lies in planning ahead!

Picture by Mallory Foster

Take one or two hours each weekend to plan what you will eat for the entire week; include breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for each day. This set aside time allows you to think through exactly what you will be eating the following week, and will help you avoid having to make unhealthy food choices on the go. Also, if you’re having difficulty deciding what to prepare and eat, this will give you a good opportunity to look-up new recipes and meal ideas.

When planning your meals for the week, think about preparation time. Choose recipes that will be quick and easy to prepare. Also, consider making items such as casseroles and soups that can easily be refrigerated and reheated later in the week.

Picture by Mallory Foster

Pack your lunch! Lunch time is always one of the busiest times of the day, and a lot of people find themselves buying their lunch at a fast-food restaurant or grab-n-go line. Plan each day’s lunch at the beginning of the week, and then consider packing your lunch the night before. This way the quality of your meal won’t be compromised by the morning rush, and you will be sure to have a healthy, well-balanced lunch.

After planning your meals for the week, go to the grocery store! Have fun, be creative, and make healthy choices!

References

United States Department of Agriculture. (2011). Eating on a budget: The 3P’s. Retrieved from http://www.choosemyplate.gov/healthy-eating-on-budget.html 

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Blogging National Nutrition Month 2013!

We're over halfway through March, also known as National Nutrition Month to many of you!  In order to celebrate, eatright.org hosts a blogging festival, among other activities, to help focus attention on making informed food choices and developing healthy physical activity habits.  As we have done for the past two years, we (me and my fabulous blog contributors) will be publishing posts related to this year's theme:  Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day!

 It's official--check out the widget in the upper right hand corner of this blog.

Throughout the month of March, posts from students in HNFE 3224:  Communicating with Food will be published to this blog.  All posts will be tagged with National Nutrition Month and Eat Right Your Way Every Day, along with two other tags that the students suggested based on the content of their post.  Additionally, eatright.org will put this blog on their NNM blogroll!

Finally, be sure to follow the relevant hashtags on Twitter to see these posts, and more, as they are discussed in the Twitterverse:

#NNM
#eatright

For more information about National Nutrition Month, visit:  http://www.eatright.org/nnm/.  And stay tuned for lots of exciting posts throughout the rest of the month of March.

Dear Diary...

Written by Grace Wilburn
Part of National Nutrition Month 2012

                  Dear Diary,

Today, for breakfast, I had a medium banana, ¾ cup of oatmeal, and 12 ounces of coffee.

If you’re like me, then at some point in your life you wrote in a diary. However, also like me, it probably wasn’t a list of the food you ate that day along with their portion sizes. This semester for one of my classes, I had to record everything I ate for a whole month. At first, the prospect of having to take time out of my busy schedule just to write down my food choices seemed a little tedious. However, I soon came to realize that making a note of what I was eating was worth that extra ten minutes or so a day! Not only did my food “diary” help me practice estimating and identifying portion sizes, but it also helped me to be more aware of what I was putting on my plate. Knowing that I had to record what I ate really made me think: Am I eating enough fruits and vegetables? Approximately how many of calories are coming from drinks like coffee or tea? Does my plate of food match MyPlate.gov recommendations?

This March, for National Nutrition Month, try recording your own food diary for a week. Pay attention to how many fruits and veggies, whole grains, and low-fat dairy options that you consume. Then, take a look back and compare your record to MyPlate.gov recommendations. Ask yourself, “Is my plate in shape?”

References

Untitled photograph of food record. [Photograph]. Retrieved February 22, 2012 from:                    http://www.everydayhealth.com

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Shape Up Your Plate for a Healthier You!

Written by Grace McConville
Part of National Nutrition Month 2012

We’ve all heard it before- more fruits and vegetables, less carbohydrates and starchy foods.  But where do we even begin to start?

First, try swapping half of your regular grains for whole grains.  This will add fiber to your diet and make you feel fuller longer.  Secondly, vary your protein choices by adding leaner meats such as chicken and turkey, along with nuts, beans, and eggs.  Most importantly, to ensure that your meal is the healthiest it can be- eat a variety of vegetables including dark green, red, yellow, orange. 

         

Adding more vegetables to your diet can be difficult especially for those with young kids who are completely against eating anything that isn’t fried or starchy, so try these tips and tricks!

Tips:

-          --Make homemade pizza crust out of cauliflower!

-         -- Instead of regular pasta trying making spaghetti squash and covering it with marinara sauce

-          --Try adding cut up bananas or strawberries to your cereal or yogurt in the morning

-          --Substitute chips for cut up celery and carrots

The more fruits and vegetables you add to your diet the better you will feel!  It has been shown that the more vegetables there are in the diet – the lower risk there is for some types of cancers.

Do yourself and your family a favor by adding a more delicious variety of vegetables to your diet today! 

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  How to use Fruits and Vegetables to Manage your weight. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/healthy_eating/fruits_vegetables.html

Cauliflower crust pizza [Photograph]. (2010).  Retrieved from http://www.eat-drink-smile.com/2011/04/cauliflower-crust-pizza.html 

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Taste the Rainbow

Written by Shelbi Ratliff
Part of National Nutrition Month 2012

Variety is key! Fruits and veggies are extremely valuable to our health because they are natural whole foods. In order to consume all of the vital nutrients needed for our body we must eat all of the colorful fruits and vegetables provided for us. We all know that no single food contains all of the nutrients that are needed in sufficient amounts. Each vegetable and fruit contains various vitamins, minerals, and sources of fiber.  For example, the red family like tomatoes and watermelons contain lycopene, which aids in preventing cancer. The yellow-orange family has a significant amount of Vitamin C levels, which help strengthen our immune systems. Many people focus on having a good amount of green on their plate, but as you can see here adding a wide variety of color to your meal is crucial. A good rule of thumb when trying to balance your plate with a variety of foods is the more color the better. The more color that is seen on the plate is a good indicator that you will be eating an assortment of all the different food groups.

Suggestions:

Red: Red peppers, tomatoes, watermelon, strawberries

Yellow/Orange: Cantaloupe, carrots, yellow peppers, pineapples

Green: Avocados, broccoli, cucumbers, spinach

Blue/Purple: Blueberries, grapes, plums, raisins

References

Paige. (2011August 22). Eating colorful foods [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://healthyhitsthespot.com/2011/08/22/guest-post-eating-colorful-foods/

Tan, E. (2010, July 2). Colorful food is important for our health. Retrieved from http://healthmad.com/nutrition/colorful-food-is-important-for-our-health/

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