Happy Friday, Happy Friday, Happy Friday!

My -my! You readers have been giving me such great comments to respond to! I didn't want to limit my response in the comment section so I decided to just post!

Re: Heather of HangryPants
What is your school's gym like?

I wanted to mention that I already belong to a "private" gym because it is super cheap and has a huge resistance section & huge cardio section. They do not offer anything else really, so hence my search for a new gym! I do not mention my school gym because my school gym pretty much sucks. It's not awful but it has 2 elliptical machines, 1 treadmill, 2 stat bikes. The weight section is decent as are the resistance machines, but you have to sign up for a course, watch a video and take a quiz in order to use it. Isn't that awful? It is about the size of, if not smaller than, a small Starbucks. Oh and it has the STRANGEST hours! I can't even remember but one day it closes at 5, another it doesn't close until 9, some nights 7... in the mornings each day is different like 7-10 , 8-11, 9-10:30 . Then, it closes during lunch hours, re-opens for say 1-2 or 1-4 or something odd. It is just way to hard to keep track of.

My initial thought was that they didn't have enough students to work-study at the check in desk. So I emailed the powers that be and offered to work any or all hours they needed to keep it open. They said it wasn't the problem but that so many classes come in and out to use it for class. I was enraged by the un-fairness of having a sucky gym to begin with (at a school that is big on degrees in nutrition and physical fitness nonetheless) AND expecting all other students to adjust to an insane schedule. I have written a couple emails and apparently they are now working on re-modeling and adding another separate gym for students.


Re Food Guide Pyramids from class:
Unfortunately, the class will NOT dive into international food pyramids. Our professor is from Tawaiian, she mentioned other pyramids in class yesterday but I guess it was just a tease...

The course objectives:

• Practice Sanitation and safety principles in food preparation
• identify principles of food purchasing, handling and product selection
• predict scientific principles of food preparation methods
• practice accurate measuring with a variety of food compositions
• describe typical portions and predict probably cause of failures to acheive desired results
• Create palatable and attractive foods with optimal nutritional value
• Demonstrate Appropriate use and care of large and small kitchen equipment
• Determine recipe principles

( Re: Lara ) So its mostly a "cooking principles" lab plus basic class. This Food Principles class is a required, core course for an undergraduate degree in nutrition OR for the Dietetic Internship program required to obtain your Registered Dietician (R.D) licensure. Also required is a Human Nutrition course, which I took my freshman year at Penn State University, among several others. I mention these two because they are available at most schools that offer nutrition courses for anyone interested in pursuing this area more. Our book is a fantastic basic book for "Understanding Food" as it is titled. Unfortunately, it is expensive. My used copy was $137. However, if you are really interested in having a good reference it would be well worth it. The chapters are each about properties, common cooking methods, principles of each food type... i.e Chapter 3 is Meat

• Chp. 4 Poultry
• Chp. 7 Cheese
• Chp 9 Vegetables and Fruits
• Chp. 13 Quick Breads
• Chp 14 Yeast Breads
• Chp 17 Pastry
  

It goes more in depth than say, a good cookbook, about principles, chemical properties of the food and how they are a part of diet & nutrition.

Here are some interesting things from the first chapter:

Functional Food: A food or beverage that imparts a physiological benefit that enhances overall health, helps prevent or treat a disease or condition, or improves physical/mental performance.

Nutraceutical ( I knew I was spelling it wrong!) My class on Wednesdays is Vitamins, Minerals and Nutraceuticals! This definition, however, is from my Principles of Foods class text on tuesdays and thursdays.

- A bioactive compound (nutrients and non-nutrients) that has health benefits.
- I will be learning more about these so stay tuned! That definition is not very interesting!

"Food groups" were designed to visually illustrate the dietary recommendations ( for more check out www.mypyramid.gov or www.eatright.org, )
Food groups for the U.S Food Pyramid include

• fruits
• vegetables
• grains
• meat and legumes
• milk
• oils
• and there is a section (not a group) for discretionary calorie allowance

Here is a chart that I thought was a fairly easy way to understand/portion your diet to getting in the recommended food groups.

Desired Daily Calorie Range:	1600 kcal	1800 kcal
Fruits	1 1/2 cup	1 1/2 cup
Vegetables	2 cups	2 1/2 cups
Grains	5 oz.	6 oz.
Meat and Legumes	5 oz.	5 oz.
Milk	3 cups	3 cups
Oils	5 tsp	5 tsp
Discretionary Calorie Allowance	132 cal	195 cal
Repeated for Higher Calories:	2000 kcal	2600 kcal
Fruits	2 cups	2 cups
Vegetables	2 1/2 cups	3 1/2 cups
Grains	6 oz.	9 oz.
Meat and Legumes	5 1/2 oz.	6 1/2 oz
Milk	3 cups	3 cups
Oils	6 tsp	7 tsp
Discretionary Calorie Allowance	267 cal	410 cal

Hope this was interesting! That is my "Mind" section for the day!

Body:
I didn't realize that I didn't have a rest day this week, although I had "planned" for one on Tuesday. I may do some light yoga or some Dancing with The Stars Cardo DVD but we will see.

In general, my body feels ready for a workout but my mind feels sleepy a bit. The right side of my back is a little tender today, I believe from walking Jack Brown Pants and him pulling a ton and from the class yesterday- we all of a sudden started swinging are arms to the music-

I am so pumped about that gym yesterday, I really want to go back. My concern is that it is 4 x the cost of my current gym! As it rightfully should be for all the wonderful things it offers, but I don't know if I could swing that cost being in grad school and not having a "real" job (yet!). It is also difficult since I am capable of running outside (cost = $0) and doing home workouts (cost=$0). We will see...

Wednesday-Wednesday Running Mileage: 18 , Highlight of the Week: running a 6:30 mile, Running several miles at or under 7 minutes!

Mind:
See above!

Soul:
I am dropping off an application today and I hope I can find just a part time anything that would be enjoyable enough so that I can have some $$ in my bank account!

It's Friday!! Jeff time, Friend time, Lurlota time

Has anyone seen the Miracle on The Hudson news? Oh my gosh, I ate breakfast this morning and teared up! I cried out of pure joy that everyone made it out alive. That is probably one of my worst fears whenever I fly anywhere. Thank goodness, Thanks to the pilot and Thanks to God* ( or whichever Spirit or Faith you believe in).

Hump Day!

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!

Randomness on Commercial Honey Mustard

I receive a daily email from cooking light with a recipe of the day for dinner. One was oatmeal crusted chicken, which seemed interesting to me ( although I prefer chicken without breading or skin).
I am struck by one little detail they mention in the description of the recipe:

"Oatmeal in the breading adds crunch to these chicken tenders, which are sure to be a hit with adults and children alike. Serve with commercial honey mustard or light ranch dressing for dipping."

Why the heck would you go to the trouble of making an already healthy lean meat, "healthier" by crusting it with oatmeal and then suggest "commercial" honey mustard? Are they not aware that it takes two seconds to mix honey into mustard and make your own without all the extra sugar/chemicals/HFCS often found in commerical honey mustard?

I'm not feeling that suggestion, especially when light ranch dressing really isn't any healthier either-Light Ranch usually has more sugar to make up for the lack of fat and added in unhealthy saturated fat.

I think I would have appreciated an easy dip you can make yourself much more than their suggestion, something with yogurt or maybe a hummus-style bean dip.

Here is an article on honey mustard I found interesting:
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/weight-loss/eating-help/calories/honey-mustard-diet-friendly/

Question: "I love getting honey mustard on my sandwich. But even though it has 'mustard' in the name, is it closer to mayo? I don't want to wreck my diet."

Answer: "There's a huge range of options, from fat-free to high fat," says Cynthia Sass, RD, of honey mustard. "But in either case, it's far from plain or spicy mustard nutritionally."

Full-fat honey mustard is even more detrimental to your diet than fat-free, and not just because of the fat content. "The full-fat honey mustards have about 120 calories, 11 grams of fat (in two tablespoons) and contain high fructose corn syrup, which is usually higher in the ingredient list than honey," says Sass.

Sass further cautions that by substituting honey mustard for regular mustard, you might be missing out on added health benefits: "Actual mustard contains cancer-fighting phytochemicals similar to those in broccoli and cabbage."

Sass points out that even fat-free honey mustard, at about 50 calories per two-tablespoon serving, is significantly higher in calories than spicy and yellow mustards, many of which are calorie-free. Some spicy and Dijon mustards do have up to 30 calories in two tablespoons, but Sass notes that you'd be unlikely to use that much on a sandwich: "A little bit goes a long way, flavor-wise."

Discussions Topic: Ways to Conquer Bingeing

So I have had friends that have dealth with over-eating, binge-eating disorder, etc. I would love to work with people with eating disorders someday, and I thought this would be a helpful post for anyone that may be interested.

I know with Thanksgiving less than two days away, lots of people are travelling or at home expecting lots of food, family, and travelling. For me, this is usually a source of stress for several reasons. It is always a struggle for many to view food as fuel, eat to nourish yourself and socialize to nourish relationships- To be in a situation such as holiday eating, throwing that out the window, "endulging" without guilt associated can be quite difficult for many people.

Focusing on getting to know your family, catching up with the people you may not get to see so often, meal preparation and how fun it can be to "get in the kitchen" with the family can be more rewarding than gobbling up enormous amounts of food.

I usually try to eat what my favorites are so that I fill up on what I truly want instead of just a bunch of food for the sake of its availability. As in, you end up with piles of mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole but you don't really like potatoes. Three quick tips for healthy holiday eating:

1. eat favorites first
2. never deprive yourself
3. don't go overboard - enjoy everything that the holiday is about, not just the food!

There WILL be leftovers, there WILL be another opportunity to eat, you CAN try something and NOT like it and NOT eat the rest of it.

You do not need to clean your plate to be a successful person, you do not need to please people by eating the food they made.

Below is my adapted version of a post from the amazing, inspiring Seeleelive over at For the Love of Peanut Butter ( on my blog list! ) I wanted to add some more tips that I think are very helpful to conquer bingeing behavior. I truly feel that a resource like this list should be available as much as possible, everywhere, anywhere, it can only mean thereis a better chance someone who needs it will read it.

THINGS TO DO INSTEAD OF BINGEING: IMMEDIATE

• Call a safe friend and explain your problem.
  “Safe” can have different meanings for everyone. There are people in your life that are fantastic people, great shopping buddies, fun going-out pals. But that does not mean they would be the right person to support you at this time.

These are examples of NON SAFE:

• a person that would say “I can’t believe you ate that much, I know you were working hard, I wish you wouldn’t have…” (defaulting blame onto you)
• a person that automatically gives advice “ You should throw out all your food, You should run off all the calories, You need some serious help” (while they are trying to help, they are only making judgements, which are not helpful)
• These people may be great friends to hang out with for shopping but they are not the people that can help you get through a binge.
  

Examples of SAFE:

• A person that does not avoid phone calls, that will answer your call when you need them and listen to what you have to say without placing judgement or their suggestions on you
  
• A person that has recovered from an eating disorder and has offered to help others should they need it
  
• A therapist you trust
  
• A non-objective friend or relative that you trust

More Immediate Tips:

• Postpone the beinge for 15 minutes. Set your timer. Brush your teeth. Do your nails…Clean the bathroom toliet, kitchen floor, garbage etc.
• Remove the binge food or Remove yourself from the situation.
• In panic situations, relax with deep breathing on the spot. Then think it through. What are you feeling? Can you handle what is going on? Are you safe?
  
• Leave the environment that is encouraging the binge- go to the bathroom, take a walk around the shops, office, sit in your car, get out of your car- leave that toxic environment if only for a few minutes to boost your self-esteem, reset your mind!
• Get your mind on something else. Turn on the radio, check the weather, do a load of laundry, play a game of cards, play Suduko!
• Get some physical activitiy. Punch a boxing bag or scream into the pillow. Beat your bed with a tenis racquet. Tear up useless catologues. Give your body healthy expression!
  Crying can be a great release.
• Write in your journal or tape record your thoughts. Think: what is the pay off to this binge? What will I achieve? Say out loud to yourself: THE ANSWER IS NOT IN ...THIS (BAG OF CHIPS)
• List the foods you are fantasizing about, tear up the piece of paper, then seal the pieces in an envelope and throw it away.
• Create panic cards with step-by-step directions on what to do in difficult situations.
• Stop yourself in the middle of a binge. This may seem impossible, but it can be a very powerful accomplishment. Breathe peace into your body.
• Stop yourself and idenitify your REAL hunger. Write down your most spontaneous answers. These are your legitmate wants and needs. Often we try to fill the emptiness from the wants and needs with food, find what you are really “hungry for”
  Are you hungry for love? Find something like a pet or someone you can love ( doesn't have to be a boyfriend/girlfriend, how about an elderly person at a nursing home, a terminally-ill child, maybe someone at a homeless shelter).
• Improve yourself and love yourself so that others can love you more fully.
  
• Are you stressed out? Will eating that cake take away the deadlines, bills, lack of appreciation or only delay it longer and make everything worse?
  
• Are you giving more of yourself than you want? Give back to yourself in ways you need it- NOT FOOD- give yourself attention as in a new haircut, a magazine subscription, exercise, manicure, a bath, meditation time
  
• Are you not challenging yourself? Are you bored? Challenge yourself with more work, new work, new activity, new situations- challenging yourself to eat plates of food is not going to make you feel like you achieved anything but stomach pains and weight gain.
  

THINGS TO DO INSTEAD OF BINGEGING: SHORT TERM

• Pamper yourself: get a manicure, a facial, a massage, new clothes, a hot bath. Take care of your body: don’t abuse it! You only have one body in this lifetime, reminding yourself that your body is a temple and should be treated with the best nutrients can often help.
• Relax with yoga, meditation, or another technique. Let your mind be still and your emotions calm.
• Cultivate more friends who are sensitive, compassionate, and capable of uplifting you. Sometimes it is good to talk to someone who has worked at overcoming an eating disorder
• Give yourself permission to eat what you crave. Eat what your body needs and wants, not what you want to shove into it to avoid something else. If the food is a trigger and has a high probablity of setting off a binge, avoid it until you can feel 95% safe that you will not binge afterward.
• If you really want to eat something that may trigger a binge, or know you will be in a situation that “requires” it ( think work party or a food oriented get together) do it with a capable support person who understands your goal is to increase self-awareness, and not to binge.
• Talk to your family members about your childhood. Work towards healing issues that are rooted in resentment, anger, etc.
• Eat what is considered “healthy and normal”. When you are hungry, think “Would a healthy-minded, normal person eat this?”
• Go to a cultural activity. Check out your local free newspapers for happenings, you can check out your city website for events also.
• Make lists about your life-values, beliefs, accomplishments, dislikes, needs, and priorities.
• Practice saying NO to others. It is your fundamental human right! It also gets easier with practice. You are the one who knows your own limits and boundaries. Be assertive.
• Get busy with a project after eating a normal, healthy meal. Collaging, crafting, reading, writing, anything that you can enjoy and be engaged in while your body digests its fuel.

THINGS TO DO INSTEAD OF BINGEING: LONG TERM'

• Begin a long-term journey:
  Focus on those areas of hunger from the immediate list and short term lists- add to them and expand on them.
• Get involved in volunteer work, helping others will help you feel better about yourself. Feeling better about yourself will decrease the chance of bingeing
• Learn something new. A foreign language. CPR First aid. Musical Instrument. Painting. Clay- Pottery Making. Writing. Yoga. Dance. Intramural Sports. Knitting. Crafting. Scrapbooking. Photography. Blog Writing! Home Improvement- rewiring electricity, interior design, feng shui. Pilates. Power Walking.
• Think about what you can spend your money on, other than binge foods. Spend it, expand on your interests because the more you spend on other interests the less you have to spend on binge food- be careful though- don’t go bankrupt!
• Read, magazines, research articles, internet sites, browse stores online for more ideas that can foster a healthy relationship with something OTHER than food!
• Buy a pet! Taking care of a pet can be very challenging but very rewarding. Make sure you research prior to choosing a pet.

Food Discussions, Topic 1

How you STOP eating? ( Stop grazing, Stop that Nibbling)

This question was posted on a couple blogs the past few days * Carrots & Cake and on Kath Eats Real Food )... So my response on Kath's was:


I think this is a great topic for discussion and so helpful to hear other readers comments on! So kudos to Kath for asking suggestions on How to Stop Nibbling? and Tina for How do you Stop eating? ...suggestions that can help "all of us"...

My suggestion aside from what others already posted, DRINK WATER!

Drink a glass of water before eating a meal to prep your digestion system. I find it helps me pick up on my internal cue of "fullness". You can always eat at the next meal!

Then whenever you go to "nibble" .... ask yourself my favorite question

"What am I really hungry for ?"

such a powerful question! in essence: do you NEED whatever it is you nibble on, Why do you WANT it ?

If you need it, eat it! If you REALLY want it, drink a glass of water. Then, have your nibble if you still want it. The refreshing water will probably help more than immediately satisfaction of the Nibble ( which will then have an immediate "let down" so then you want more)

Other questions you could ask yourself:
Did you not enough at your last meal?
You might need to look at your meals vs. snack and up both, or decrease meal and increase nibble size to a "snack"...

Are you nervous about something/avoiding something ?

* This is my problem, sometimes I find myself wanting to reach for nibbles of food to make me "feel" better about whatever it is I am nervous/avoiding/procrastinating...**

Reaching again for another bite is NOT going to help your situation, it will only delay the inevitable and reinforce a behavior that you are not happy with... perpetuation of the cycle!


So these are my thoughts, and I would love more from others other there. I would like to start a "Food Discussions" Section so that I can have a reference as well as others for stuff like this!

Food Discussion: Emotional Eating

What nourishes you in all aspects of your life? …
Often people reach for that cupcake, or a brownie because it's "yummy" because it makes them "feel good" because they "want it"... But why do they want it? …It is food, so what are you REALLY HUNGRY for? We eat to nourish ourselves, its an innate response that we all have to fulfill. What are you trying to nourish?

“”Fill up” an emptiness, be it spirituality, mentally, emotional…with what needs filled. Are you stressed at work because you aren’t getting enough respect? Will people respect you more for eating that cupcake ?

Are you stressed because you are bored… challenge yourself to become a better lawyer/student/friend/self… Are you stressed because you are giving too much of yourself to others? “Treat” yourself by figuring out what it is that you are needing to fill and fill it with what it needs….

Likewise, fill your stomach with what it needs, Be it carrots or carrot cake…. but when it needs it
And when you go for that endulgence, think “Would a sane, healthful minded, BALANCED person be eating this right now?”