"The List"

I have a question for all Nutrinutters, do you make a list before grocery shopping for the week?? No?

Creating a list is a great way to make your trips more objective and guarantees that you have everything for the week! 

Creating "the list"...

-Plan your menus when you are hungry. 

What a strange tip! Or not...this will enable you to have more interesting and creative ideas. Based on the menus, add the missing ingredients to the list.

**Don't forget the tips from previous post (My plate, your plate, our plate) when planning ;)

-Shop when you are not hungry...

hunger in the supermarket is a death sentence to healthy snacking! (huuuummm...pastries....focus nutrinut!)

-Use coupons only in foods you usually buy to avoid unnecessary purchases.

Yes, I will survive without the 50% off on the quadruple chocolate cookies ;)

-Check cupboards, refrigerator and freezer before, to avoid duplicating purchases.

-Know your store well and remember its layout, that way, you can plan accordingly to avoid forgetting items. Grouping foods is also a good idea! (ex. dairy, meats, cereals, produce..)

Here's a good example of what your list can look like!

Fill your grocery cart the right way!

-Breads, cereals, rice and pasta: Make sure the first grain on the ingredient list is a whole grain (whole wheat, oats, millet). For cereals, think of 2 things: High fiber and low sugar.

-Fruits and vegetables (produce): For best buy and flavor, purchase the fruits and vegetables while they’re in season. Be careful with dried fruits, sugar might have been added to them.

-Dairy: This group has precious bone-building sources. Choose low-fat or fat-free when it comes to milk and yogurt as well as cottage cheese.

-Meat, poultry, fish, eggs: Some lean cuts of beef are flank, sirloin and tenderloin. Chicken and ground turkey can contain skin, be careful! these contain more calories from fat. Be sure to remove the skin before eating. Buy water-packed tuna instead of oil-packed.

-Sweets: These foods add calories without contributing much with nutrients…known as the empty calories...I personally think of them as the full calories or even better, blasting with calories...use these rarely.

So how useful was this from 1-10?? (1- least, 10 most)

- The Nutrinut -

My plate, your plate, our plate...

Guten tag little Nutrinutters!! (German for good day ;)  )

Have you ever stopped to analyze what your plate looks like?

After we learned about mindful eating in last week's post, the next step would be knowing how to choose a healthier plate.

Let's play a game...
Out of these 2 options, which one would you go for?

                                

 I picked an attractive burger pic because I wanted to make this a toughie for you guys...such a trickster!




So option 2 might seem more appealing to your senses but the rest of your body is screaming for help!
"Are these nutrition people just out to get us all???" you might be wondering...

The truth is your body runs on a variety of nutrients. Each one you need in just the right dose! Option 2 might have been your choice, but option 1 has the better nutrients.

Going back to the food pyramid....

Remember that? The idea behind it was to organize foods in categories, depending on the nutrients they offer, placing them in a pyramid shape according to your body's needs of each. Next to each category, you could see how many cups of each you should be having per day. I don't know about you, but before I started nutrition school, the questions in my mind were "What on earth is a cup of bananas?? Am I supposed to fill a cup with these foods??"

After enlightening years of studying I learned that if you look at your closed fist (yep! you know you are looking at it right now) that equals 1 cup.

Luckily, this matter was taken care of, the pyramid was replaced with my plate and life makes sense again! For food at least...

What is my plate???

Great question!

This is just a different way to organize how much of each nutrient you should be having per meal. The beauty of this is because it's in the shape of a plate! This makes it a lot easier to visualize instead of thinking about shoving foods in cups, like I thought about doing, to see if you have it right.

This is how your plate should look like for every meal:

If you look carefully...

•  1/2 of your plate should consist of fruits and vegetables...now when I say vegetables, try adding variety...REMEMBER: the more colorful your plate, the more nutrients you are getting!
• Grains should consist a little over 1/4 of your plate...make at least half of your grains whole...this is because of its fiber content (importance of fiber is coming soon!). 
• Less than 1/4 of your plate should be of protein. This portion includes meat, seafood, poultry, beans, peas and eggs mainly.

And we can't forget dairy! The daily recommended is 3 cups (1 cup = 8 ounces in fluids). Milk, yogurt, soymilk and cheese counts as these.

To get more details on this, check out  http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/

Now that you learned about my plate, do you see how the proportions of the nutrients are completely off in the burger option??

You might be wondering "so this means I have to eat salads every day????" That is correct! Just kidding :)
The good news is you just have to get these proportions right...here's another example:

So tip number 2 for you is make "my plate" your plate  ;)

Let me know how you guys did with mindful eating...I'm a curious girl!

-The Nutrinut-

Calories - little creatures sewing our clothes together at night?? Maybe not...

Hey there Nutrinutters!

This is not post of the week just yet, it is just a little tease :)

Here's just a brief explanation of what calories are, how to calorie count aaaand an easy way to calculate your energy needs for the day!

The 411 on CALORIES

What are calories?

A simple way to measure energy in food and the energy released in the body.

Where do they come from?

1 gram of

            Protein provides 4 calories

            Carbohydrate provides 4 calories

            Fat provides 9 calories  

Although not a nutrient, each gram of alcohol contains 7 calories (that's crazy, right??)

Nutrients that do not provide calories: water, minerals and vitamins.

Let’s do the math!

A sweet and salty nut granola bar contains 4 grams of protein, 19 grams of carbohydrate, 9 grams of fat:

4 grams protein X 4 calories/gram      =         16 calories

19 grams carbohydrate X 4 calories/gram  =   76 calories                +

9 grams fat X 9 calories/gram          =            81 calories

                                                ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­__________________________

Total calories                                          173 calories

How are foods categorized?

Most foods are made up of more than one nutrient; however they are classified by their predominant nutrient. An example of this is bread, although it is known as a carbohydrate food, it also contains protein and fat, therefore not all of its calories come from carbohydrate.

Good strategies to keep track of calories!

Phone Apps: each phone has different Apps, some even free! My Fitness Pal is one.

Food journal: In a small notebook write down everything you eat.
       Include:

•   Everything you eat and drink. Don’t forget that many beverages have calories!
•   Amounts and portion sizes
•   Different types of preparations (baked, fried, grilled, sautéed, stir-fry)
•   Dressing in salads (olive oil included)
•   Sugar/ creamer in beverages.

Determining Calorie Needs

Factors that influence caloric needs:

• Age - Your calorie needs are the highest at the age of 25 declining 2% every 10 years.
•  Weight/Height - Bigger bodies need more energy to sustain muscle and bones than smaller ones.
• Gender - Men have about 10-20 percent more muscle than women. Muscle burns more calories than fat explaining why men generally have higher caloric needs than women.
• Activity Level - Being active burns calories. When one burns more calories than they eat, it results in weight loss.
• Genes - The number of calories your body needs to function is inherited from your family.

Steps for estimating your energy needs to MAINTAIN weight:

1-       Estimate Basal Metabolic Rate (minimum number of calories body needs to maintain basic functions)

-         Women: __________(current weight in pounds) X 10 = Basal Metabolic Rate

-          Men: ___________(current weight in pounds) X 11 = Basal Metabolic Rate

2-       Determine activity factor

-          Very Light (sitting or standing, driving, lab work, reading, typing) – 1.2

-          Light (house cleaning, caring for children, light exercise- walking for less than 2 miles) – 1.3

-          Moderate (Heavy house work, cycling, very little sitting) – 1.4

-          Heavy (Heavy manual labor, playing sports) – 1.5

*Even if one works out a couple of times a week but spends the majority of the day sitting down (studying, office work) then your activity factor will still fall under very light or light.

3-       Multiply Basal Metabolic Rate by activity factor

Let’s do the math!

 150 pound female - full time student, does not work or play sports.

150 X 10 = 1500 (Basal Metabolic Rate)

1500 X 1.2 = 1800 (Total Calorie needs)

To lose weight…

Cut daily calorie intake by 500 to lose 1 pound per week.

Mindful Eating…eating with my mind? How Harry Potter of me!

Ciao nutrinutters!

Did everyone get a chance to read a little about body image? What shape are you? After giving some thought to the shapes, I’ve reached the conclusion that I’m somewhere between a pear and hourglass thanks to my swimmer’s shoulders…swimmers, you get me right? ;)

Today I wanted to discuss something that we are all guilty of, mindless eating. What does this mean? Since I like to keep things in a positive light, I’ll explain mindful eating which is what we should be aiming to do.

Mindful eating is being aware of the Why?  When? What? How? and Where? of the entire eating process.

Why and when we eat may help in exploring and identifying triggers…is it actual physical hunger? Are we eating because of stress or needing comfort? Or is it more of a “I’m extremely bored, let’s eat!” So next time you are picking something up to eat think of “H.A.L.T.!!!”…am I eating because I am Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired?  

What I eat? Am I choosing foods because of taste, convenience, nutrition? Understanding why these choices are being made will help in making better ones. If it is taste, find healthy delicious options to eat. You don’t have to force yourself to eat cucumbers if you strongly dislike them because they are good for you (-clears throat- mom)…there are numerous options of fruits and vegetables and different preparations that you might just enjoy more. If your choices on the other hand are being made based on convenience...understanding and knowing how to read food labels will be your greatest weapon in this battle...and don’t worry, I’ve got ya! I’ll be teaching you guys how to read one and what to look for  ;)

Here’s another big one: How do I eat and how much? Come on, ain’t nobody got time to sit down to just eat…well, I say this FIND THE TIME! Here’s an exercise for us all…I want everyone to think of how many meals they have per day….got it? Now think of how many you actually eat sitting down without doing any other activities at the same time. How about this week we make a pact to have at least one meal per day sitting down and focusing only on eating…challenge yourself…give it a go! When you are having this meal I want you to focus on the food and only this….think on how everything tastes...smells…looks…try a little sensual eating! Eat with your senses. This is an amazing exercise! Not only will you enjoy your food more, but you will notice that recognizing the signs your body sends you on fullness will be a lot easier.

Lastly, where does the energy go? Food is meant to nourish our bodies to help us perform our daily activities…is eating leading to feelings of guilt, shame or are we eating to give our bodies nutrients? The relationship we have with food should be like any other relationship…a happy and healthy one.

So tip number one for not only those that are trying to lose weight but improving health is this: Mindful eating!

-The NUTRINUT-

Apples, rectangles and pears, oh my!

Hi Nutrinutters!!

First I’d like to thank you all for the amazing support in taking your time to read what I have to say. Also, thank you for all the great suggestions on future posts! Keep them coming ;)

 Since a topic that frequently comes up is “how to lose those extra pounds” followed by “how do I gain weight to look like that guy”, I thought we could start this section with body image...how we perceive ourselves…am I really the person I see in the mirror? Oh gosh! Say it ain’t so!

Body image is the representation we create in our minds of what we believe we look like. Whether it is in fact how others see us, may or may not be accurate. Body image distortion used to be a topic that was mostly associated with women; however, we see that it extends to the men as well.

It seems like people are rarely satisfied with their bodies. How could we when all we see is the “perfection” of models and actors? It happens to all of us. A while ago as I flipped through a Victoria’s Secret catalog, was I looking at the clothes they sell? (Yes boys, Victoria’s Secret sells clothes) No I was not…the only thoughts going through my mind were “tomorrow I am biking all day long” followed closely by “fruit and salad diet starting ASAP!!” and I’m a nutrition major! Whether it’s trying to look thinner or gain extra pounds to “fit in” better with what society standards consider perfection, we must stop and reflect.

For starters, everyone has a different body shape….there is no superior or inferior shape…we are all unique. Here are some shapes..find yours and embrace it ;)

So how do we know if we are suffering from body image distortion? For starters, you may always ask friends and family where you stand in the following picture, see if it matches how you rated yourself. Also, an excellent option that I strongly recommend is seeing a nutrition counselor. These professionals focus on helping people see themselves realistically as well as helping make changes if necessary in order for you to be healthier and love your body.

Now that we understand better what body image is, we can move on to losing weight in a healthy way. We must keep in mind that our goal should always be directed towards improving our health. In the next few posts I’ll be discussing this along with why we try infinite diets that initially work but never get us where we need to be.

I’ll be posting some healthy recipes during the week to try at home…so stay tuned for more!  ;)

-The Nutrinut-