They look good and what's more they taste good, too. A sure sign that they will derail your diet and mess up your metabolism. It's hard enough to stay motivated without more danger zones to that set up roadblocks to success.
Marie Callender. Sounds like a sweet grandmotherly type name, but what is she hiding? Let's take a look. Marie Callender's (16.5 oz) Chicken Pot Pie has 520 calories, 11 grams of saturated fat, and 800 mg. of sodium. Not the best totals but nothing to be too alarmed about, right? But look again. Those numbers are for only half a pie. Eat the entire pie, as most people probably do, and you're talking 1,040 calories, 22 grams of saturated fat (more than a day's worth), and 1,600 mg. of sodium (an entire day's worth).
Can't decide what to pick from a restaurant menu? No worries. Now you can order not just one entree, but two or three...all at once. Olive Garden's (already a bad choice) Tour of Italy - Homemade Lasagna, Lightly Breaded Chicken Parmigiana, and Cream Fettuccine Alfredo- comes with 1,450 calories, 33 grams of saturated fat, and 3,830 milligrams of sodium. Add a bread stick (150 calories) and 400 mg. of sodium) and a plate of Garden fresh salad with dressing (350 calories and 1,930 mg. of sodium) and you'll consume 2,000 calories (an entire day's worth) and 6,160 mg. of sodium (4 days worth) in a single meal!
We all know about canned soup, right? On average, a cup of Campbell's Condensed soup has 850 mg. of sodium. That's half a day's worth...assuming you eat only one of the 2/5 servings that the label says the can makes. Campbell's Healthy Request and Select Harvest, Progresso Reduced Sodium, and Healthy Choice slash the sodium to the 400's. Look for lower sodium lines in the 100's to 300's by Amy's, Imagine Foods, Pacific Natural Foods and Tabatchnick.
Interested in a Chipotle Chicken Burrito (tortilla, rice, pinto beans, cheese, chicken, sour cream, and salsa)? Think of its 970 calories, 18 grams of saturated fat, and 2,200 mg. of sodium as three 6-inch Subway BLT Classic Subs! Getting the burrito with no cheese or sour cream cuts the saturated fat to 5.5 grams, but you still end up with 750 calories and more than a day's worth of sodium. Yikes!
People don't expect light desserts at The Cheesecake Factory. But the Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake kicks things up a notch. If it weren't served on its side, this one would stand over six inches tall. And upright or not, the slab of cake still weighs in a 3/4 of a pound. What do you get for all that heft? Just 1,670 calories and 2.5 days worth of saturated fat (48 grams), nearly all of it from chocolate, sugar, cream, white flour, and butter.
No one thinks of cinnamon rolls as health food. But each Pillsbury Grands Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll with Icing has 310 calories and 2 grams of saturated fat plus 2.5 grams of trans fat (more than a day's worth) and six teaspoons of sugar. Companies are dumping their partially hydrogenated oils left and right, yet Pillsbury still makes the most of its rolls and biscuits with the stuff. (No wonder Pillsbury is always sending us coupons for their biscuits and rolls.)
The package declares an "excellent source of ALA Omega 3," Land O'Lakes margarine. Who knew that Land O'Lakes stick margarine was so heart healthy? It isn't. Each tablespoon of the spread has 2.5 grams of trans fat (more than an entire day's limit) and 2 grams of saturated fat. And beware of other trans-filled sticks by Blue Bonnet, Parkay, Country Crock, Fleischmann's, and Imperial. At least those brands don't imply that a big of ALA outweighs the harm caused by the margarine's trans and
saturated fat. Shopping tip: Look for tub margarine - most have little or no trans fats.
Think coffee is a safe choice for sticking to a healthy diet? Guess again. The Starbuck's Venti (20 oz) White Chocolate Mocha with 2% milk and whipped cream is more than a mere cup of coffee. It's worse than a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Few people have room in their diets for the 580 calories, and 15 grams of saturated fat that this hefty beverage supplies. But you can lose 130 calories and two-thirds of the bad fat if you order it with nonfat milk and no whipped cream.
An average half cup serving of Haagen-Dazs ice cream squeezes half a day's saturated fat and a third of a day's cholesterol into your artery walls and makes a 300 calorie down payment on your next set of fat cells - if you can stop at a petite half cup.
Cold Stone Creamery's Oh Fudge shake (chocolate ice cream, milk, and fudge syrup) starts at 1,250 calories for the "Like It" (16 oz) size. That's more than a large (32oz) McDonald's Triple Thick Chocolate Shake. The "Love It (20 oz) has 1,660 calories and the "Gotta Have It (24 oz) reaches 1,920 calories, (an extra day's worth(and 69 grams of saturated fat (3.5 day's worth). It's two 16 oz T-bone steaks plus a buttered baked potato, all blended into a handy 24 oz. cup.
Debunking the myths isn't always flattering, is it? But now you know what we are up against. You may think "Oh, what's one more bite." A lot more than you bargained for! Aunt Millie
Food Pyramid
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
6 Steps To A Longer Life
Let's take a look at six keys to long health and adding them into your own lifestyle.
1) Worry less about weight loss. Losing weight doesn't always equal better health, especially as you age. New research has come out showing that drastic food cutting, scale watching diets so tempting to you know can set you up for bone fractures, weak muscles and weight gain in later years. Worse, so many of these popular approaches don't target the belly fat that causes serious eight related problems like diabetes and heart disease. Instead of focusing on losing pounds, focus on good nutrition and disease prevention. Don't be tied to the scale; instead monitor your waist size. A measurement of 34.5 inches or less for women and 40 inches or less for mean is considered healthy.
2) Eat more food but fewer calories. If you double your daily vegetable and fruit portions and cut portions of fat in half (including fatty meats), you'll ingest fewer calories and less fat but take in more food and more health boosting vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Since antioxidants protect against free radicals, those rogue oxygen molecules that damage cells and cause inflammation in the body, things that stand between you and a longer, healthier life.
3) Fight aging with exercise. Physical activity is a powerful vaccine against the aging process. When University of Florida researchers put healthy people ages 60 to 85 on weight training programs for 6 months, they found that low intensity exercisers had a drop in free radical damage. You don't have to be militant about exercising. In fact, it's better if you aren't. High intensity exercisers showed a rise in free radical damage. And in another study, even those wo added an hour of activity per day for just 3 days a week raised their levels of free radical fighters. The point is to do something, even if it's just a few strength training moves and a few bursts of activity for a full hour a day to 10 minutes every morning, noon and evening.
4) Stay busy. More research shows that doing something that interest you offers big mind-body benefits as you age. Keeping your mind active can slow down the aging process. Staying active socially is a strong longevity benefit. Keeps your mind fresh and doesn't give you a lot of time to dwell on the little aches and pains that life can throw at you as you start tacking on years.
5) Keep in touch. Being alone ramps up stress hormones, raising our risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and depression, damaging health and longevity. Connecting with friends and family, even pets, cuts the stress. So keep up with your phone calls and emails. Enlist family members, neighbors or friends to exercise with you. Even a walk around the block gives you a double long health boost of physical activity and social time.
6) Love your life. An upbeat outlook does more than put a smile on your face. It cuts your risk of illness, speeds recovery when you do get sick and reduces your risk for all manner of problems. Striving for happiness and a sense of control over your life isn't always easy, but it builds stress resiliency a powerful health tool you tap into whenever you focus on doing things that give you joy.
Aunt Millie
1) Worry less about weight loss. Losing weight doesn't always equal better health, especially as you age. New research has come out showing that drastic food cutting, scale watching diets so tempting to you know can set you up for bone fractures, weak muscles and weight gain in later years. Worse, so many of these popular approaches don't target the belly fat that causes serious eight related problems like diabetes and heart disease. Instead of focusing on losing pounds, focus on good nutrition and disease prevention. Don't be tied to the scale; instead monitor your waist size. A measurement of 34.5 inches or less for women and 40 inches or less for mean is considered healthy.
2) Eat more food but fewer calories. If you double your daily vegetable and fruit portions and cut portions of fat in half (including fatty meats), you'll ingest fewer calories and less fat but take in more food and more health boosting vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Since antioxidants protect against free radicals, those rogue oxygen molecules that damage cells and cause inflammation in the body, things that stand between you and a longer, healthier life.
3) Fight aging with exercise. Physical activity is a powerful vaccine against the aging process. When University of Florida researchers put healthy people ages 60 to 85 on weight training programs for 6 months, they found that low intensity exercisers had a drop in free radical damage. You don't have to be militant about exercising. In fact, it's better if you aren't. High intensity exercisers showed a rise in free radical damage. And in another study, even those wo added an hour of activity per day for just 3 days a week raised their levels of free radical fighters. The point is to do something, even if it's just a few strength training moves and a few bursts of activity for a full hour a day to 10 minutes every morning, noon and evening.
4) Stay busy. More research shows that doing something that interest you offers big mind-body benefits as you age. Keeping your mind active can slow down the aging process. Staying active socially is a strong longevity benefit. Keeps your mind fresh and doesn't give you a lot of time to dwell on the little aches and pains that life can throw at you as you start tacking on years.
5) Keep in touch. Being alone ramps up stress hormones, raising our risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and depression, damaging health and longevity. Connecting with friends and family, even pets, cuts the stress. So keep up with your phone calls and emails. Enlist family members, neighbors or friends to exercise with you. Even a walk around the block gives you a double long health boost of physical activity and social time.
6) Love your life. An upbeat outlook does more than put a smile on your face. It cuts your risk of illness, speeds recovery when you do get sick and reduces your risk for all manner of problems. Striving for happiness and a sense of control over your life isn't always easy, but it builds stress resiliency a powerful health tool you tap into whenever you focus on doing things that give you joy.
Aunt Millie
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