by kelsey | Nov 29, 2017 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Holidays, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
“Want to have a healthier holiday season this year? Take this quiz to test your knowledge of calories and fat in traditional holiday foods.
- Which appetizer contains the least amount of fat?
- 1 ounce (oz) of brie cheese
- 1 oz of mixed nuts
- 1 tablespoon of hummus
- Which cookie has the most calories?
- 2″ lemon square
- One medium chocolate chip cookie
- Five commercial gingerbread cookies
- Which cocktail has the least calories?
- A rum and Coke®
- A martini
- A whiskey sour
- Which candy has the least fat?
- 2″ square cube of chocolate fudge
- One medium piece of peanut brittle
- One medium piece of homemade toffee
- Which meat has the most fat?
- 3 oz of boneless ham (lean and fat eaten)
- 3 oz of boneless duck (skin eaten)
- 3 oz of boneless cooked chicken leg (skin eaten)
- Which food has the most sodium?
- ½ cup (C) of homemade bread stuffing
- ½ C of homemade mashed potatoes
- One dinner roll
- Which warm beverage has the fewest calories?
- 1 C of hot chocolate made with whole milk
- 1 C of apple cider
- 1 C of eggnog made with whole milk
- Which of the following contains the most sugar?
- 2″ square brownie
- One piece of fruit cake
- 10 chocolate-covered peanuts
Answers
- c. 1 tablespoon of hummus
The hummus contains 1.3 grams (g) of fat, the brie contains 8 g, and the nuts contain 15 g.
- c. Five commercial gingerbread cookies
The gingerbread cookies contain 147 calories, the lemon square contains 140 calories, and the chocolate chip cookie contains 50 calories.
- b. A martini
The martini contains 135 calories, the whiskey sour contains 158 calories, and the rum and Coke contains 211 calories.
- c. One medium piece of homemade toffee
The toffee contains 4 g of fat, the peanut brittle contains 5 g, and the fudge contains 6 g.
- b. 3 oz of boneless duck (skin eaten)
The duck contains 9 g of fat, the ham contains 3 g, and the chicken leg contains 8 g.
- a.½ C of homemade bread stuffing
The stuffing contains 479 milligrams (mg) of sodium, the mashed potatoes 119 mg, and the dinner roll 117 mg.
- b. 1 C of apple cider
The apple cider has 104 calories, the hot chocolate 192 calories, and the eggnog contains 244 calories.
- a. 2″ square brownie
The brownie contains 21 g of sugar, the chocolate-covered peanuts 15 g, and the fruit cake 13″ https://www.consultant360.com/n411/content/holiday-party-quiz-prepare-healthier-holiday
by kelsey | Nov 28, 2017 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Holiday parties are starting up now and will go for the next month or so, which poses a challenge to your efforts of healthy eating. You can always bring your own dish to share and use substitutions to lighten your recipes, but if you can’t bring your own dish to share, you may consider using these behavior strategies to help you enjoy the parties in a healthy way!
- “If you plan on treating yourself later, start your day with a small meal that includes whole grains, fruit, low-fat or fat-free dairy and protein, such as eggs, ham or peanut butter.
- Don’t starve yourself beforehand. Rather, eat a small, lower-calorie meal or snack including fruit or a bagel so you aren’t tempted to overdo your calorie intake for the day.
- Choose carefully between foods you definitely will eat, those you will sample and those you will skip.
- Don’t rush to eat. Socialize and settle into the festivities before you eat.
- Move your socializing away from the buffet or appetizer trays. This will minimize the unconscious nibbling.” http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=11644
The holidays are a great time for celebrating with friends and family and food is always involved. Allow yourself to enjoy, but in moderation. You can keep the extra holiday pounds off, while still enjoying the holidays and festivities in a healthy way with these tips!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Nov 21, 2017 | Cooking Tips, Diabetes, Diet, Food, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Happy Thanksgiving to you! The Thanksgiving holiday is always a fun one enjoyed by all as we stuff ourselves and then resort to the couch to watch football or the start of the holiday tv shows. Here are some tips for you to get through the holiday without putting on all those undesired extra pounds.
- Survey the entire table before you take any food. Decide what foods are worth eating and what can be ignored, and then stick to that decision. Why waste calories on foods that don’t bring you pleasure?
- Eat a snack before you leave home. If you arrive at a party starving, you’ll be more likely to overindulge.
- Eat your calories instead of drinking them. Stick to lower calorie or calorie-free drinks (diet sodas, water, light beer, or wine spritzer) instead of punches, eggnogs, and mixed drinks that can have up to 500 calories per cup.
- Sip a large glass of water between every alcoholic drink or non-alcoholic punch or eggnog. This will help keep you hydrated and you’ll drink fewer calories by the end of the night.
- When you are the host or hostess, include nutritious and lower-calorie foods like fruits, vegetables, and lean meats on the menu. When you are a guest, bring along a lower-calorie dish to share.
- Try not to hang out near the food. Find a comfortable spot across the room and focus on people instead of eating.
- Watch your portion sizes. Don’t cover your plate completely with food. In most cases, especially when it comes to holiday sweets and alcoholic beverages, less is better. Use a smaller plate or bowl and have just a sliver of pie like the picture shows.
- Drop out of the “clean plate club”. Leave a few bites behind every time you eat, especially if you are eating something you don’t really care for.
- Enjoy your favorite holiday treats but take a small portion, eat slowly, and savor the taste and texture of the wonderful foods of the season.
- Skip the pie crust and go for the filling.
- Choose light meat over dark meat.
- Use home-made cranberry sauce over canned cranberries that are jam packed with added sugars.
- In soups, sauces, puddings, and desserts: Replace whole milk or cream with low-fat milk, evaporated fat-free milk, or nonfat dry milk.
Lighten up your recipes:
- To make dips and toppings: Use low-fat or nonfat cottage cheese or sour cream, or non-fat Greek yogurt.
- To make salad dressings: Use nonfat Greek yogurt or low-fat buttermilk.
- In place of 1 whole egg in recipes: Use 2 egg whites or 1/4 cup egg substitute.
- In place of regular cheese: Use fat-free or reduced-fat cheese.
- In place of full sugar: replace half with Splenda or reduce half completely.
- In place of fats: use unsweetened applesauce or oil (1-1 replacement), or prune puree (1 cup of fat=1/2 cup puree).
More importantly is ENJOY your family and friends and all that have to the THANKful for!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Nov 16, 2017 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Holidays, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
I always overeat at holiday functions. Can you give me some tips to help keep me on track?
There are many ways to keep your calorie intake under control during the festivities. Try these tips and see which ones work for you:
• Survey the entire table before you take any food. Decide what foods are worth eating and what can be ignored, and then stick to that decision. Why waste calories on foods that don’t bring you pleasure?
• Eat a snack before you leave home. If you arrive at a party starving, you’ll be more likely to overindulge.
• Eat your calories instead of drinking them. Stick to lower calorie or calorie-free drinks (diet sodas, water, light beer, or wine spritzer) instead of punches, eggnogs, and mixed drinks that can have up to 500 calories per cup.
• Sip a large glass of water between every alcoholic drink or non-alcoholic punch or eggnog. This will help keep you hydrated and you’ll drink fewer calories by the end of the night.
• When you are the host or hostess, include nutritious and lower-calorie foods like fruits, vegetables, and lean meats on the menu. When you are a guest, bring along a lower-calorie dish to share.
• Try not to hang out near the food. Find a comfortable spot across the room and focus on people instead of eating.
• Watch your portion sizes. Don’t cover your plate completely with food. In most cases, especially when it comes to holiday sweets and alcoholic beverages, less is better. Use a smaller plate or bowl.
• Drop out of the “clean plate club”. Leave a few bites behind every time you eat, especially if you are eating something you don’t really care for.
• Enjoy your favorite holiday treats but take a small portion, eat slowly, and savor the taste and texture of the wonderful foods of the season.
• Skip the pie crust and go for the filling.
• Choose light meat over dark meat.
• Use home-made cranberry sauce over canned cranberries that are jam packed with added sugars.
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Nov 15, 2017 | Cooking Tips, Diet, Food, Holidays, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
Holiday time is quickly approaching and this is not normally the best time to adhere to a strict diet. The typical meals with turkey, dressing, rolls, potatoes with butter and whipped cream pie can contain a whopping 2,200 calories or more. For most of us, that is our typical daily caloric intake. If you are concerned about your weight, try some smart choices and substitutions to curb that caloric excess without the sacrificing the fulfillment of Christmas dinners with some dessert too. Here are some smart choices during the holiday season:
Choose white meat. A 6-ounce portion (about the size of a deck of cards or size of your palm) of white meat turkey without skin has 230 calories, while a mixed portion of white and dark meat with skin has about 345 calories.
Limit rolls and butter. An average roll has 80-85 calories but when you add the butter that number jumps to 120 calories instead.
Eat steamed rather than buttered vegetables. Buttered vegetables have about twice as many calories per cup as steamed vegetables. Even cutting back on the amount of butter you use on vegetables can be significant. Remember that every tablespoon of butter adds about 100 calories to a dish. Lemon juice or low-fat salad dressings are alternative ways to top vegetables if you’re craving a sauce.
Avoid eggnog. A cup of eggnog at 340 calories is a calorically dense aperitif. Try a glass of white wine or champagne (about 160 calories) instead and save calorie consumption for the main meal.
If you’re having appetizers, offer vegetables with low-fat dip instead of cheeses and crackers. With the rich meal to follow, you won’t feel deprived.
If you’re preparing the stuffing, omit some of the fat. A rich, buttery stuffing with sausage can top out at 500 calories per cup. Some suggestions for fat reduction include omitting sausage or meats and replacing that butter or oil with low-fat products. A cup of low-fat stuffing contains only 125 calories, well below that 500 calorie range.
Finally, enjoy that pumpkin pie. A piece of pumpkin pie has about 175 calories compared to a slice of pecan pie, which has 495 calories.
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Nov 2, 2017 | Diabetes, Diet, Food, Weight Management, Wellness/Health
There’s a lot of buzz about carbohydrates….are they good? Are they bad? How much should you have? , etc etc etc. In celebration of National Diabetes Month, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the main (and best) source of energy for your brain and central nervous system. Carbohydrates are essential for energy; however they raise your blood sugar levels higher and faster than any other kind of food. Carbohydrates are essential for your body to be able to sustain energy, so just like a car needs the right type of fuel (gas) to run, you need the right kind of fuel (food) to function and be healthy. To sustain energy, your body needs adequate carbohydrates: 50% of your total calories should come from carbohydrates. Cutting out all carbs can be very detrimental to our body, especially our brain, central nervous system, liver, kidneys, and heart. Because they are an excellent source of energy, but they do raise blood sugars, it’s important to recognize the types of carbohydrates and how to count them in efforts of controlling your blood sugars while still maintaining good health and adequate energy..
Carbohydrates are found in the following:
Starches: found in grains, some vegetables, and beans.
- Grains: bread, pasta, cereal, tortillas, rice
- Starchy Vegetables: potatoes, peas, corn, yams, squash
- Beans: kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, and lentils
- **The best and recommended sources of starches are whole grains…choose them over the white, refined grains!
Sugars: found naturally in foods or added to foods.
- Natural Sugars: fruits, fruit juices, dairy products, honey, and molasses.
- Added Sugars: desserts, processed foods, candy, regular soda, and fruit drinks.
- **Natural sugars are better than added sugars, but large quantities of them can still raise your blood sugars…we recommend getting at 2-3 fruits and 3 servings of veggies/day. Anytime you can limit or eliminate the added sugars, do so!
To aid in ideal blood sugar control, we recommend a moderate intake of carbohydrates which means about 45-60g/meal and 15-30g/snack with several small meals and snacks throughout the day. I visit with patients daily about finding the right balance in their intake. If you would like help managing your blood sugars, to learn more about diabetes self care, or a personalized nutrition plan, be sure to contact me for further help!
-Kelsey
