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 Dan | Nov 26, 2017 | Exercise, Family, Food, Holidays, Motivation, Weather, Wellness/Health
Thanksgiving! A time to spend with family, eat good food, watch football on TV…and exercise! “If you want to eat, you gotta move your feet”. The annual Turkey Day DASH took place on Thursday, a 5k run, and 2 mile walk. 360 people participated in this event. It is a great way to start out the holiday, and get your activity in, and then eat and enjoy the rest of the day as you want.
We had absolutely perfect weather for this as well. Ended up being at race time in the low 40’s, and then got into the mid 50’s by the middle of the afternoon. Great time to go for a walk to work off some of that noon meal as well. Nick came home from college, and brought my mom up with him, so we got to spend some great family time together as well. Sarah’s family made it up for the day as well. Great food, and great company.
The Turkey day DASH is becoming a family tradition for us now as well. You are out exercising with hundreds of other people, and then work up an appetite to eat, and not feel as guilty later because you already worked out. Thanksgiving is one of those times when we all indulge a little, and that is ok…but still good to keep within reason. And, there is no excuse to not exercise that day as well. There is always some time, you just have to figure out when is that time.
Here was my plate when we sat down. Turkey with stuffing, gravy, corn, a bun, and my moms famous noodle salad with grapes! Delicious!
It was a good time spending with family. We all had more than enough to eat. We then watched the Vikings win in football, and then the weather was so nice out, we went out for a walk, and just spent time outside and enjoyed the warm weather. We have had days where the temperature has been -25 degrees, so this was great!
They were taking pictures of everybody coming across the finish line at the race. After we crossed, I reached my hand out to Sarah to high five her…we came across together…and she was not looking at me right then. So I turned towards her more, and then she saw me and high fived back, but the angle of the camera looks like I am smacking her in the face! Truly, it is just the angle of the camera!
But it was a great way to start the day. Many of the run club members…friends…were there as well. This, too, is becoming a tradition as well.
There is always time to take care of yourself, stay in shape, and spend time with friends. You have to figure out how you are going to do this, and how you are going to make time for it. Is this always easy to do? No! It takes some effort to figure out when this will get worked into your day. You have to plan…you have to learn to make accommodations…you have to make an effort. When all is said and done, you will be happy you did it. Learn to make adjustments. Invest in you. Are you not worth it? The days go by fast. Don’t waste the time we do have. Take advantage of it, and enjoy life to its fullest. Strive to survive! Spend the holidays with family, and make them special. Those same people will not always be in your life. Make life count! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3714
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 Dan | Nov 19, 2017 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Weather, Wellness/Health, Winter
It may be getting colder out, but you can still jump for excitement! We still have the ability to get outside and exercise, where a lot of people still cannot choose. Does it get tough to get motivated to get out there when you see how cold it is, and how strong the wind is? Absolutely! But, by the time all is said and done, you still feel better when you get done…just that right now when it is cold, you feel even better now when you get done.
First, we can get excited that the majority of the trails are still open, and not icy, and snow covered. We will take this as long as we can. Just like any sport, you have to have the right equipment for it. You dress in layers, and you can take layers off as you need. Your pockets often times are packed with a mask, extra gloves, etc, but if you are prepared, then the run, or walk outside, is much more enjoyable. And, no matter what, it is still much better than being stuck inside on a treadmill!
Here are many of us in the run club, after we got done with our run. We all have the right equipment on, layers on, to handle the cold. That does not mean I don’t want it to get warm out. It is still more enjoyable in the Summer, but you can make if more enjoyable by being prepared for it. You just have to remember one important point:
That is why you have to keep moving! If you stay moving, you stay warm. It helps keep you motivated to keep going, and then you get done faster! We had just gotten done with a run club run last year, and we had just gotten some new light snow during the run. Our tracks were present yet on the way back.
It helps to know where you have been, but it is much more important to know where you want to go! Keep looking forward. Tough conditions make you stronger. Don’t think…just get out and move! You can do this by yourself, but there is no question it is much easier to do when you have friends/training partners with you. This way, if it is windy, you can help take turns blocking the wind. That is what Sarah and I did on our run yesterday. You work together. You motivate each other. The cold is just a temperature…don’t let it decide whether you will exercise or not. If it gets bad enough, it may change where you exercise, or how far or how much you exercise, but don’t let it stop you! You will amaze even yourself at what you may be capable of doing. Enjoy it! When people drive by and look at us outside running, they all think we are crazy! Some days, maybe we are…but we are not going to let is stop us from what we enjoy doing! Keep moving everybody, and remember, you may just have to dress warmer!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3707
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
