Are you getting enough Vitamin D from your diet?

If you’re between the ages 19 and 70, you should be getting 600 IU of vitamin D every day.  So how do you assess if you’re getting enough?

Well…in order to reach 600 IU of vitamin D, you would have to consume at least 1 cup of fluid milk (fortified) plus 3oz salmon every day.  Three ounces of salmon contains about 440 IU of vitamin D and 1 cup of milk is about 100 IU vitamin D.  So you can see it’s not easy to get enough vitamin D from your diet.

Other good sources of vitamin D are:

• 1 tsp. margarine – 20 IU
• 1 egg yolk – 25 IU
• 3oz shrimp – 85 IU
• 3oz liver – 130 IU
• 3oz sardines – 230 IU
• 3oz kippered herring – 75 IU

You know, it’s interesting how much we can learn from children.  Today’s nutrition tip stems out of a conversation I had with one of my nephews when he was nine.

We were talking cereal and he asked me if “Cap’n Crunch” was good for you.  (you heard that right…it’s “Cap’n” not “Captain”, and he pointed that out too!).  In looking at the nutrition facts table, the Cap’n didn’t do too badly….

You might recall that one of our nutrition tips was all about sugar, and I suggested that an acceptable amount in most products would be 10g or less.  Well Cap’n Crunch has 11g of sugar per serving – not too far off if you’re a big Cap’n Crunch fan.  What’s missing is the fibre; one gram hardly covers the roughly 10g most people should be getting from a meal.

I recommend choosing a cereal with around 200 calories per cup, 10g of sugar or less and more than 6g fibre.  So what did my nephew suggest?  …adding bran buds!

One third cup All Bran Buds contains 11g fibre and only 80 calories, making it a perfect addition to his Cap’n Crunch and making a wholesome breakfast – dietitian approved!

If you’re not into Cap’n Crunch, other cereals that will meet the Spectrum Guidelines are:

·         Natures Path: Optimum Slim

·         Mom’s Healthy Secretes: Fibre Fit

·         Kashi: Go Lean Crunch

·         All Bran: Strawberry Medley

Do you snack?  What have you heard about snacking?  You should have snacks….you shouldn’t have snacks…The truth of the matter is that everyone is a little different.  Some snack and some don’t.  The key is keeping it consistent.

Here are a few simply guidelines to help you keep your snacking under control:

• Meals should be no more than 4-6 hours apart, if they are – you need  a snack
• Snacks will only last you 1-2 hours, so once you’ve snacked, you should be thinking about when your next meal will be
• If it’s meal time – just eat your meal!  …forget the snack
• If you snack, snack consistently – same time everyday
• To maximize the lasting effect of your snack – choose a snack high in fibre (5-10g)
• Snacks should be anywhere from 100-150 calories for most women and 150-200 calories for most men

Fried foods – ‘diet’ sabotage 101…

For those of you who know me, you’ll recall I have very few ‘rules’ when it comes to food.  Just about every food can fit into a well planned out eating plan…but fried foods just don’t cut it! Especially when you can enjoy the same wonderful foods at home for ½ the calories…

At last check, Milestones yam fries ‘cost’ a whopping 680 calories, which if split between two people works out to 340 calories each.  Not bad for calories you say – and you’d be right if ½ a plate of yam fries and an ice tea is what you call dinner (which I don’t, by the way).  If you’re like most of us, that’s just the beginning; then the entrée, let’s say for arguments sake is an average of 700 calories, plus perhaps another beverage… all for a grand total of way too much!

Now, if you had just skipped the appy, chose a calorie free drink and picked a meal for around 600 calories, you might actually be close enough to ‘on track’ to win this dietitian’s approval!

Still love yam fries you say?  Bake them at home!  Check out our recipe section for our yam fry recipe and get the full restaurant experience for ½ the calories (sauce included).  Enjoy!

Eating at parties can be challenging while you’re trying to lose weight…but it can be done with minimal damage to your eating plan.  Follow these simple steps to party eating and never avoid the food table again!

1. Avoid ‘grazing’ – party food is often very high in calories (think mini quiches, cheese platters, chips, potato salad and the like), having one little high calorie yum yum here and there will add up to a lot of high calorie yum yums over the course of an evening.  Remember, 4 little cubes of cheese can easily = 300 calories.

• Put everything you intend to eat on your plate at once.  This will give you both a sense of actually eating something substantial and provide you with visual feedback on just how much you are consuming.

2. Follow the PLATE MODEL – making sure you get a combination of starchy foods, protein foods and vegetables is the best way to feel physically satisfied from a cocktail party style menu.

• Starch: choose a dinner role or grain salad (like quinoa salad or tubule)  over chips or potato salad
• Protein: choosing cold cuts like ham or turkey over cheese or salami will save you more than double the calories
• Veggies: load up!  Eat as many veggies without the dip (or with very little) as it takes to fill yourself up.  Sorry… ceasar salad is typically high in calories.

Following these simple rules will go a long way to keep you on track.  Have your own party survival tip?  Post it on our Facebook page (and become a fan)!

Eden Organics ‘bean and grain’ mixtures.

As usual, I love finding new products, especially ones that are nutritious and uber easy – giving my clients no excuse not to follow their eating plan.  These are what I like to call ‘a nutritional gem’; high in fibre, high in protein, acceptable sodium (700 mg per meal) and sugar (10g or less) levels and the perfect amount of calories for a meal (around 350 per can). All the Eden Organic bean and grain mixtures contain the starch part of the plate, and the protein.

The only thing I would add to this meal to make it perfect is more vegetables.  According to Spectrum Nutrition’s PLATE MODEL, half the plate should be made up of vegetables.  Although this meal does come with an intrinsic amount of veggie material, you’d be hard pressed to convince me that they’ve managed to squish 1/2 a plate’s worth into a can.  So what do I recommend?  Add a can of Eden Organics bean and grains to an all veggie salad (remember, 40 calories or less per Tbsp of dressing is ideal) and you’ve got a perfect on the go meal without all the salt, fat and calories of take out.

Have you tried ‘Nourish’?  Tell us what you think on our Facebook page and become a fan!

Are you under the influence?

Dr. Wansink, an Economics & Management professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York studies all sorts of external cues that might influence us to over eat.  You may recall the never ending soup experiment where people ate 73% more soup if their soup bowl unwittingly was refilled (from a secrete ‘hole’ in the bottom of the dish).  Well Dr. Wansink has a few more tips stemming from similar research which I’d like to pass on here:

• Put your food on a smaller plate (it looks like more food 😉
• Candies and other sweets are best kept in an opaque bowl (as oppose to clear) and kept at least 6 feet from arms reach
• Put chips, popcorn and other snacks into smaller containers – every waistline of those dipping into the bowl will thank you
• Pre-portion your food or snacks – 100 calorie snacks are a good start
• Put the ‘good’ for your foods at the front of your cupboard or fridge, the first thing you see is the first thing you eat

Incidentally, Dr. Wansink also found that it doesn’t seem to help that you know not following these recommendations will cause you to over eat – you actually have to put them into action or you will over eat.  “It’s easier to change your environment than to change your mind” so “why not give your self-control a break” and put these simple suggestions into action today.  Some pretty sound advice if you ask me.

Ever wonder why you can hold up two of the same products made by different brands and one seems to have a whole lot less calories than the other (think lasagna)?

There’s a little trick I use to keep the calories low in mixed dishes like lasagna, Sloppy Joes, tacos, chili, spaghetti sauce (or other meat sauce):  “Bulk” up the meat part of the dish with as many vegetables as you can handle!

Think of it this way, if you normally use 2lbs of ground meat in your lasagna recipe in order to make enough sauce for the whole dish, you are essentially doubling the calories you’ll get out of every serving.  Instead, why not use one pound of lean ground meat (ground chicken breast has ½ the calories as extra lean ground beef), PLUS chopped peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, onion or any other vegetable you think might taste good.  I use this concept when making taco’s, chili, stroganoff and many other dishes.  In fact, this little trick works so well I’ve managed to conjure up a lasagna recipe that only has 350 calories per serving…and we’re talking ‘man’ sized servings ;)…check out our recipe section for details!

So go ahead, get chopping and do something good for your health…and your waist line!

What are plant sterols and are they good for you?

Plant sterols are a set of natural compounds found in plants that are structurally similar to cholesterol.  These food components actually interfere with cholesterol absorption and therefore have been found to lower cholesterol levels for those who have moderate to high cholesterol.

Studies have found however, that just taking additional plant sterols in supplement form is not overly useful at lowering cholesterol levels.  What the studies do show is that taking up to 3g of plant sterols when mixed with dietary fat does help lower cholesterol.  So where does that leave you in terms of getting enough plant sterols in your diet?

The good news is…all you have to do is eat your fruits and vegetables!  Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds all contain plant sterols

1. Try Becel’s new “pro.active” margarine – Each serving (2 tsp) contains 0.8g of added plant sterols

Just one more reason eating your fruits and veggies is a good thing 😉

Ahhh, summer.  We enter the wonderful time of year when fresh summer salads become staple summer meals.  And although arguing that such a tradition is not healthful would be unwise, a few words of caution need to be expressed for the summer savvy salad creator.

There are some basic components to a well thought out meal; a high fibre source of starch, lot’s of vegetables and a lean source of protein (most of you know this as “the plate model” by now ;).  As salads go, this could be richly green romaine lettuce arranged on a bed of quinoa, topped with a freshly grilled red snapper fillet.  Add a few more veggies and a low fat dressing and this is a perfectly balanced summer salad meal adhering to even the most strict of dieters palates.  If following the plate model, this salad would provide the average women with around 400 calories.  Not bad.

Now…add to that oven roasted corn kernels (prepared with a little olive oil), dried cranberries, a sprinkling of sesame or pumpkin seeds, a dash of feta cheese and a home made oil and vinegar dressing…suddenly your dieters delight has turned into a calorie parfait.  Now your salad is worth approximately 800 calories more!  Not good.

Things like avocado, dried fruits, cheese or nuts can really add up the calories in these summer staples.  A quarter cup of any of them will add 90, 130, 180 and 250 calories to your salad respectively.  My advice, keep your salads simple, use a low fat dressing and enjoy the lightness of this meal, not just the illusion of it.