I thought I would post a little more in depth about my food choices from yesterday...Not in a bad way at all, but I wanted to analyze my thought process al ittle bit more. So since I already posted the photos from yesterday, you can read below!
Zone Bar: Chocolate Almond Raisin
This guy is 210 calories. 7 g total fat. 3.5 Saturated. 21 g of carbohydrates. 1g of fiber. 15 g protein. 100% of daily value for Vitamin C...
What I like:
It has 14g of protein!
The taste! whole almonds, and raisins - yum!
It is easy to eat
It is easy to pack, carry, etc.
They are cheap and readily available! I can get a box of 6 for about $4 at grocery stores, target, walmart etc.
It has a great added value of vitamins and minerals.
What I don't like:
The Saturated Fat is 3.5g. For me, I try hard to not let me saturated fat go over 20 g/ day for health reasons. I usually am way under but many "Americans" consume way more than is healthy.
The chocolate can taste a little funny - like if you were to eat chocolate chips then eat the bar- you would notice the difference. I am pretty confident this is from the palm kernel oil ( a saturated fat) in the coating- but overall I personally don't mind ever so often if its convienent to grab this.
I don't advocate this as a "proper meal". I enjoy the fullness of the protein and the taste of this bar. However, I always prefer whole foods, prepared well over packaged things. I knew that I would need to eat before my usual time (12:30-1 ish) since I ate breakfast at about 7:30, So I made my choices based on function. It was easy to take to campus with me and easy to eat out of the wrapper and it wasn't big enough to fill me as a meal, however, I was eating earlier than usual so I wasn't quite as hungry as usual either. I would have totally paired fresh fruit with it however I just ran out ( going to the store today!).
The small calorie count is why I brought the small sandwich as well- I figured it would be good to have that in case I couldn't get a long enough break to go to the campus cafe and it had protein and whole grains and fiber! (We have a mini fridge in our grad room in our class building- so I can at least store little things like that in there ).
The future-dietician in me:
Would have taken a greek nonfat yogurt with a fresh fruit like an apple and maybe some crackers or fresh veggies- If I had not run out of all that!
*Campbells Chicken and Vegetable Soup:
What I like:
the vegetables: carrots, roasted red pepper, onion, cabbage, roasted corn
the overall ingredients: no artificial
It was almost a little spicy but I think in an okay way
It had a great 4 g of fiber and only 3 g sugar
What I don't like:
I dont like potato in soups and didn't see it on the can, oh well.
It only had 3 bites of chicken!
Sodium was 480 mg. In general, you should consume about 2,400 mg of sodium a day and this whole can provides 960mg... so it's not exactly low sodium but its better than some cans, worse than some others.
The future-dietician in me:
Added frozen vegetables before cooking it, and the kale, and added a protein source and whole grain ( the sammy). Unfortunately, now realizing the high sodium, I wouldn't get it again! But I bought two while at the store- so you will most likely see the other sometime.
* they advertise how it is naturally lower in sodium because of sea salt. It is true that they used it and made it lower in sodium than other varieties of their brand- however- it doesn't mean that it is a "low sodium" food!
*on their website you can find info about thse new "Select Harvest Healthy Request" Soups- one info said it had 1010 mg of cholesterol... That is a typo!!! I was concerned because my father has high cholesterol, and that would be insane! I also knew that couldn't be because it only had a couple bites of chicken. It has 10mg.
Kale:
I tried Kale after seeing it in the grocery store so often and on other blogs. I really like how cheap it is as well! It took me a few tries to enjoy the taste of it though! I rinse it well with mildly soapy water and dry it out well. Rip it apart ( that's fun!) and throw it onto my toaster oven pan. Sprinkle with salt (f.y.i I use a Lite Sodium Salt in a blue container ) and pepper and toast on high for a couple minutes. I use my sense of smell to know if its done- so sorry I can't report a specific heat/time! I think you should try it because :
It is a cruciferous veggie like cauliflour, cabbage, broccolli...
It offers "glucosinolates" which get broken down by the body and turned into other difficult-to-pronounce "Isothiocyanates". I hope I didn't lose you because these "isothiocyanate" guys inhibit the development of chemically induced cancer in .. .the lung, the liver, the stomach, the esophagus, the small intestine, the colon and the mammary glands of ANIMAL MODELS!
Did we just find the cure for cancer? haha.. well, maybe one day soon.
Okay- hope you all enjoyed that!
The plan for today:
Trader Joes: need frozen fruit, fresh fruit like organic bananas, yogurt, milk... and on the way home I will stop to get staples like aluminum foil, face lotion etc.
Stop at the branch of the bank to get a stop payment /dispute form so that they can erase the overdraft charge.
Stop at financial aid on campus to have them fax to the loan company for deferment of that loan ( which I already have but whatever)
Stop at potential job place an drop off application
Gym... love me a good run
Class 4- 6 : Vitamins, Minerals and Nutricuticels (spelling?)
Busy busy...happy hump day!
11 comments:
I LOVE your comments as "future-dietitian"!!!
And I just want to say THANK you for all of your amazing tips and advice on my blog! You are so sweet!!
:)
Enjoy the day!!
haha your comments as future dietician are so cute :)!!
i love hearing about allthe nutritional value and what you likfe/dislike about the foods, its really interesting!!
hope you have a great class
Great product reviews! I'm not a big fan of the fake tasting chocolate! Hope your Wednesday is treating you well :)
Yes, ZOne Bars are not all that good for you, but if you're going to eat one, I highly suggest the caramel cluster. I lived off them for a summer once. :D
thanks so much for posting all those facts about Kale. I'll try to plan on picking it up the next time I am at the store - iv'e become somewhat hesitant about just buying things to try, before researching them a little. It's awesome, how you know so much about it, as a "future dietitian". I agree with you about the high levels of sodium in canned soup, ever since I started watching my sodium intake I try not to eat them...I am always so surprised when I look at the sodium content.... buy hey, in an ideal world we would all make perfect food choices, but with your busy schedule...you still eat extremely health =)
Thanks for the reviews! I'll have to add some veggies to that soup. Awesome idea!
I was wondering if you had any recommendations of books or websites where I can read up on good nutrition. I have such a passion for it. I sometimes think I should have become a dietitian. Since you're going to be a dietitian, I thought maybe you'd have some favorites. Thanks a bunch and have a great day!
This was interesting to read. I have a strange obsession with what other people eat and the thought process behing it. I guess that is the future dietician in me! ;) (That is really cute, btw). I didn't know that kale is cruciferous!
When are you done with your masters? I am just researching going back to school myself. It's a bit overwhelming but also so exciting. Any tips with the application process? :)
Hi just wondering if the Campbells soup has any hydrogenated elements? Most of the ones I have had a look at seem to have nasties in the ingredients list. I see your a nutritionist? Would love it if you could have a peek at my blog and comment? Cheers
Ross
aw thanks! I thought it was rather appropriate way of addressing how I felt! and no problem on the tips- I just have been there and know what its like so I always want to help in anyway!
Thanks Veggie!
aussirish: i am so glad you liked it! I think I will try to do that more but i always have SO much I want to write about its hard to narrow my focus!
erica: I personally like real chocolate much better, but I do enjoy this bar in general.
hangry: Bar quality has improved across the board since I was in college too! I used to live off of EAS low carb bars and Balance bars in college... I don't think Zone bars are "not good" but I do think there are other options for healthier meals! I have had the caramel cluster and the fudge graham and the peanut butter choc. ! I have had a LOT of bars in my days...It's so funny that you lived off of them once!! How far we've come...
sweetandfit: you are very welcome and I am glad you enjoyed it! I definitely didn't like the taste of kale at first, but when I toasted it with a little salt, i did. at 50 cents for a big ol bunch, its worth a shot- and the antioxidants!
Strong and Healthy: I can gather up a list of some books and comment on your site about some links... Alot of my "knowledge" is from classwork and professors assigned readings, books, articles, research.. I tend not to trust alot of websites because they tend to be sponsored or paid through advertising for certain reasons ( i.e sugar cane farmers paying them to promote something).
Lara:
Good for you!! I will be done when I finish my thesis and two electives, however , to go through the R.D- I need to take three pre-req's and apply to the internship- get accepted- then spend 9 months doing rotations... So I can't give a "clear" answer- but I should finish the master's degree by the end of fall...
tips:I knew deep down what I wanted, so if you do, go for it! I waited for such a long time because I was concerned with references and my GRE scores and writing the BEST essay... It finally all came together. It doesn't have to be the best, just prepare yourself the best you can. Study for the GRE's, practice for them, look for and apply to programs that match what you want to research- pediatric nutrition, public health, organic foods... anything else specific, feel free to ask !
Rosso: I am in graduate school for a master's degree in nutrition. I am hoping to start the internship to become a registered dietician this year. Certified nutritionists typically get the certification through an online, two day course. My master's degree is costing me WAYYYYY more than that!
The campbells soup I tried is "Select Harvest Healthy Request". It did not list ANY hydrogenated oils on their ingredients. The top ingredients were chicken broth, white meat chicken, carrots, roasted corn, roasted red peppers, and cabbage. Less than 2% still did not list any fat sources until way far down there was peanut oil noted. this is not hydrogenated.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for answering! I'm still early in the process (researching schools + budget) but I really appreciate that info.
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