Category: Healthy Eating in Restaurants

Healthy Seasonal Foods For Fall

The Fall season is officially here!  And, the new season brings a great variety of fruits and vegetables that can help you stay on track with your healthy eating plan without compromising great taste!

Explore local farmer’s markets, roadside stands, and grocery stores for an abundance of good eats this time of year.  To help you get started, here’s a list of in-season fruits and vegetables and ideas on how to incorporate them in your weekly diet.

Try these tasty fruits and vegetables for fall!

1) Apples.  Harvest Season: August-November.

Apples make great on the go snacks.  Use them in salads, with savory dishes like pork chops; or chop them up and put them in yoghurt.

2)  Dates.  Harvest Season: September-December.

Dates are great in baked goods. Try chopping up a few for your oatmeal or over the top of frozen yoghurt.  For savory dishes, look for low-cal middle eastern recipes that include dates.

3)  Grapefruit.  Harvest Season: September-April.

Add over greens or squeeze fresh for a healthy juice.

4)  Kiwi.  Harvest Season:  September-March.

Kiwis are a great add to spice up a fruit salad or a smoothie.

5)  Pears.  Harvest Season: August-February.

Pears are one of my favorites because they are so versatile.  This fruit is great as a snack, added to mixed greens, used in savory dishes, or poached with a bit of cinnamon for a low-cal healthy dessert.

6)  Tangerines.  Harvest season:  November-April

Add these sweet little low-cal treats to yoghurt, pack in lunches, snack on them, use as dessert, or add to a salad.

7)  Brussel Sprouts.  Harvest Season: September-March.

I must confess, it took me awhile to like these wonderful little cabbages.  Now, they are one of my favorites this time of year! Try roasting brussel sprouts with olive oil, or sauteing with butter and garlic.  Serve with roasted meat and mashed potatoes.

8)  Cauliflower:  Harvest Season: September-June.

Use cauliflower to make fantastic soups, in stir-fries, or steamed with other vegetables as a side. Chop up cauliflower with other veggies and serve with a low-cal yoghurt dip for parties.

9) Squash.  Harvest Season:  October-February

There are so many varieties of squash and ways to prepare them. Try them steamed,  stir-fried, or in soups.  I’ve even used butternut squash to make a low-cal bechamel sauce!

10)  Pumpkin.  Harvest Season:  October-February.

Pumpkin is used mostly in desserts like pies and cakes. You can use it for waffles, pancakes, and breads.  Search for low-cal substitutes of these sweeter treats and keep portions in check.

11)  Sweet Potatoes.  Harvest Season:  September-December.

Not just for Thanksgiving Day anymore. Roast them. Make mashed sweet potatoes, or baked french fries.  If you’re cooking for 1-2 people, save time in the kitchen by microwaving a large sweet potato.

12)  Turnips.  Harvest Season:  September-April.

Try these tasty root vegetables roasted with olive oil or in stews.

13)  Parsnips.  Harvest Season:  October-April.

Add parsnips to other root vegetables and puree for a sweeter soup, or roast with potatoes and carrots for a wonderful blend.

14)  Rutabaga.  Harvest Season:  October-April.

Honestly, I haven’t cooked with this one yet.  I discovered it when researching my list for this article.  It’s a cross between a turnip and a cabbage.  Suggested uses include  roasting, or adding to casseroles and soups along with turnips and carrots.  I’ll report. You decide!

Decide which fruits and vegetables you’d like to incorporate into your healthy eating plan and use low-cal recipes that include these foods as ingredients.  You can find great low-cal seasonal recipes in Cooking Light  and Eating Well magazines.

Have fun experimenting with healthy seasonal foods. Browse your produce stand and farmer’s market.  When eating out, ask your food server what’s fresh — and depending where you live — ask what’s local on the menu.

Please feel free to share any great recipes or snack ideas you come up with.  I want to hear from you!

Blessings!

Jennifer

 

The Right Foods For Weight Loss

Have you been struggling to lose or maintain your weight? Don’t worry! You’re not alone. The good news is you can begin to make simple changes in the foods you eat and lose weight for good!

For the past 22 plus years, I’ve helped clients make easy changes in their daily/weekly food intake and lose weight. No deprivation diets or crazy workouts, I promise! Just simply swapping out some of the higher calorie foods with good tasting low-cal substitutes helped them lose weight. It can help you too.

Try food swap magic!

Here are some small yet powerful changes you can make to lose and maintain your weight:

1)  What’s for breakfast?  Do you know that one cup of granola can pack in 450 calories? Yikes! You can eat a serving of oatmeal (with blueberries and butter), and two eggs for only 360 calories. Granola is a healthy food, but if you are trying to lose or maintain your weight, avoid the high calorie cereals in the morning. They make better toppings than meals.

If you eat breakfast at your favorite coffee shop, you will want to find out how many calories are in that on the go meal. Keep it to 350 calories and have a plain cup of coffee with a small amount of creamer. This simple tweak alone helped one of my clients stop gaining weight and lose three pounds in five weeks!

2)  Snack wisely. A small serving of chips is about 150 calories on average. But, did you know you can eat four cups of popcorn for only 60 calories? Popcorn is way more filling, and will keep ,you satisfied longer. Not crazy about popcorn? Eat a piece of fruit.

3)  Entertain with lower calorie choices. Having company? Offer hummus and yoghurt based dips. Offer whole grain crackers as well as fruit and cut vegetables to go alongside the dips. Serve smaller portions of the higher calorie fare such as cheese and cured meats. You and your guests are likely to eat less when the portions are sized smaller.

4)  Limit the fast food!  I realize this may be obvious to some. However, with 25% of our nation eating fast food daily, I do not like to ignore this one. Most of us picture a drive through window when we think of fast food. However fast food can be healthy take out as well. When you let someone else cook the meal, you have zero control over the calories.

Just like with the breakfast meals, find out how many calories are in your favorite take out and decide if it meets your weight loss goals. Or, have some healthy frozen food on hand and combine it with a fresh salad for a last minute dinner option.

5)  Watch the sweets! There are 196 calories in a large chocolate chip cookie. Switch to a piece of dark chocolate (60 calories), a small cookie (49 calories), or a small serving of sorbet (110 calories).

These tips will help you cut calories and stay on track without feeling deprived! Please let me know if you have a food swap you’d like to share or a question about your daily food intake by leaving a comment below.  I really enjoy hearing from you!

Blessings to you and yours!

Jennifer

 

The Truth About Trans Fats

Last week I talked about why low fat diets don’t work. Check it out if you didn’t get a chance to read it. In that article I mention avoiding trans fats entirely. It got me thinking that I should follow up with more information on why. So here you go!

According to the Mayo Clinic, trans fat is considered to be the worst type of fat by some doctors. Unlike other fats, trans fat (also called trans-fatty acids) raises your “bad” (LDL) cholesterol and lowers your “good” (HDL) cholesterol.

Trans fats harm you in many ways:

  • It raises triglycerides, which in turn increases the risk of stroke, diabetes, heart attack, and heart disease.
  • It increases lipoprotein which promotes a buildup of plaque in your arteries.
  • It causes more inflammation which is how your body responds to injury. Trans fat appears to damage the cells lining blood vessels, leading to inflammation. This can cause a heart attack or stroTo simplify, they not only hurt your body’s ability to fight “bad” cholesterol; they create more of it! And, trans fats leave you at a higher risk for heart attack, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

What the heck is trans fat anyway?

Trans fat is made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil. This process is called hydrogenation. Doing this to the oil helps the food stay fresh longer, giving it a longer shelf life. Sound scary yet?

Foods that typically have trans fats are:

  • commercially baked goods like crackers, cookies, and cakes;
  • many fried foods such as doughnuts and french fries;
  • frozen foods and prepackaged box foods.

Small amounts of trans fat occur naturally in some meat and dairy products. However, it’s the trans fats in processed foods that are the most harmful and that you want to avoid.

Don’t be fooled by the ingredient label — know where trans fats are hiding!

Read the labels. This is where it gets tricky! In the United States, if a food has less than .5 grams of trans fat per serving, the food label is allowed to read 0 grams trans fat. It may seem small, but eat two servings and you have already exceeded your recommended daily limit!

To be safe, make sure you read the ingredients! Since zero doesn’t always mean zero — if the label says “partially hydrogenated” vegetable oil — do not buy it. That’s code for trans fat!

This sounds a little weird, but “fully” or “completely” hydrogenated oil doesn’t have trans fat. If the label simply says “hydrogenated” then it may contain trans fat. My thought here is why take the chance? If it says “partially hydrogenated” or “hydrogenated,” don’t buy it!

I know what you’re thinking — what about restaurants?

Good news! Many cities around the country are banning the use of trans fats in restaurants. In California the ban is statewide!

Many restaurants are responding to this health risk and switching the oil they use. Examples are Mc Donald’s, Burger King, The Cheesecake Factory, and Carl’s Jr. Use Google to find out if your city has banned trans fats. If not, check into the restaurants you frequent to make sure they have made the switch. A large serving of french fries in some restaurants can contain 5 grams or more of trans fats!

Don’t deprive yourself — but preserve your health!

I do not believe in deprivation when it comes to food. And, I believe in a balanced approach to a healthy diet, so I don’t normally call any food “bad.” However, when it comes to trans fats I can confidently say never eat them! You don’t have to eliminate the food! You just might need to find another brand or try making it yourself.

Please let me know if this has helped you understand the topic better; and ask away if you have any questions.  I love to hear from you!

Blessings to you and yours!

Jennifer