Healthy Habits Giveaway – Amazing Package!

We are all about healthy family habits here on Mommy Dietitian, so we wanted to keep them going with a fabulous giveaway. The National Pork Board recently did a Healthy Habits 2011 Survey and learned that 60% of those surveyed believed that sticking with healthy habits can be more difficult than learning a new language, quitting smoking or even winning the lottery! Because of this, The National Pork Board has graciously provided a wonderful gift package which will assist you with your family’s healthy habits, that includes:

Enter to win this wonderful package.  Act quick!
This contest ends at midnight on February 28, 2011.

• $25 of complimentary pork cuts of your choice
• A large assortment of spices to complement lean pork cuts and inspire flavor-filled healthy meals
• A sauté pan for cooking your favorite lean pork recipe
• A digital meat thermometer to ensure that your healthy meals are delicious yet safe
• BPA-free glass food storage containers
• A digital pedometer to help you measure your success in the new year
• Eating Well’s 500 Calorie Cookbook that includes healthy pork recipes

Pork: The Other White Meat
Pork really is the other white meat. Just like any meat, the key is leanness. Here are some tips:
• Choose cuts of pork that come from the loin – including chops and roasts – and 96% lean ground pork, which are the leanest cuts of pork available.
• In addition to protein, look for foods high in fiber like fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains to help keep you fuller.
• Ham It Up - What’s the key to long-term dieting success? Finding healthy foods that taste great and make you feel fuller, longer. Yet, only 30% are aware that pork can increase the feeling of fullness.
• Meat-Myth Busters - Reducing fat is essential to healthy eating. Too bad that nearly half of Americans (46%) don’t know that pork tenderloin is as lean as a skinless chicken breast, and 23% mistakenly think it is fattier than chicken.
• Swine Sans Salt - There’s no rule that diets can’t be delicious. Cut out the salt without forgoing flavor. Only a third (33%) of Americans know that fresh pork is low in sodium. Its versatile cuts pair well with a variety of flavors year round.

NEW Recipes:

One-Skillet Pork with Wild Rice and Herbs
Tex-Mex Stuffed Peppers
Game Day Pork and Chile Wraps

How The Giveaway Works

Get one entry for doing one or more of the following:

- Take the Mommy Dietitian Family Nutrition Survey (only 5 questions!): http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7PMY7RQ Comment below to let me know you did this anonymous survey.

- “Like” the Mommy Dietitian Facebook Fan Page. If you get one of your friends to “like” it, then you will both get an entry! In other words, for every person you get to “like”, you can an entry. Document this on the Facebook page or comment section below this post.

- Follow Mommy Dietitian on Twitter! We are getting close to 1000 followers and we’d like to surpass it with this giveaway. If you are already following, get others to follow and document this via a direct message on Twitter or mentioning the giveaway with @MommyDietitian handle and a link to this giveaway post. For every person you get to follow Mommy Dietitian on Twitter, you also get an entry. For every tweet where you mention @MommyDietitian along with the giveaway link, you get an entry.

Enter to win through Monday, February 28th at midnight. One winner will be selected using Randomizer.org. Good Luck!

Disclaimer:  Mommy Dietitian and Angela Lemond, RD, CSP, LD has not received any monetary compensation from the National Pork Board, nor is employed in any way by this organization.  They only supplied the prize pool.

Food Quantity: Portion Control or Intuition?

As I continue my years in the nutrition and wellness industry, I find that there is often a division between dietitians that subscribe to one or the other philosophy when it comes to food quantity: portion control or intuitive eating. I see blogs and articles heavily promoting one or the other. But I would argue that these two approaches are not mutually exclusive of each other. They are both important approaches that can be used together for optimizing health. I was recently interviewed by a company called Healthy Steps by Jokari – a company that sells practical kitchen tools, including very useful portion control gadgets. They asked me what portion control means to me. The interview is provided here, although the video interview did not allow for me to expand on these concepts. So let’s explore this discussion in a bit more depth as we look at portion control, intuitive eating and another important eating approach – meal frequency.

Portion Control: Portion control is a tool that is used to show standard and appropriate serving sizes of foods. Examples of portion control tools would be comparing a deck of cards to represent 3 ounces of meat, or a baseball to represent a serving of starch or starchy vegetable. Or, even the useful products that companies like Healthy Steps sell to consumers that help load your plate with standard portions.  Portion control tools are meant to be a guide to what the USDA decides is an appropriate portion for most Americans based on research. Again, it’s merely a guide. In fact, I wish we renamed this to a more friendly approach – portion guidance. The word “control” seems so militaristic in nature and that is what turns many intuitive eating promoters off to this helpful tool. This approach was never meant to be something that would relinquish our right to listening to our own bodily cues. Portion guidance systems also help us to make sure we are eating enough of a given food. We are encouraged to eat a certain amount of fruit and vegetable servings each day (go to http://www.mypyramid.gov/ to get your own custom plan by plugging in age, gender, weight, height and activity level) so we need to know how much a serving is.  Portion guidance seems to be especially helpful for my patients that were raised in the "clean plate club" and are now psychologically unable to end a meal until their plate is cleaned. They need to have a jumping off point to set up their plates, and then dial in the intuitive eating concepts. We use standardized portions when prescribing constant carbohydrate diets for diabetics in order to optimize blood sugars.  For instance, one portion of carbohydrate for diabetics is 15 grams, and they must know what those portions are in order to dose insulin and/or to stay within their carbohydrate prescription.  As you can see, portion guidance is a very useful tool in a variety of situations.

But before we talk about intuitive eating, let’s insert another eating approach here that sets us up well – meal frequency.

Meal Frequency: Americans are leading busier than ever lives and often times we go way too long to eat. Most of my weight management clients either skip meals or go way too long between meals. Many times this causes a person to not be satisfied by an appropriate meal portion. In fact, this can cause them to overeat in order to make up for the lost calories earlier in the day. My recommendation, consistent with current research, is to make sure you eat three solid meals and also include 1-2 in-between those meals in order to decrease your risk of (or treat) obesity. That way, you never come too hungry to a meal. Let’s be honest, it’s difficult to make optimal food choices when you’re starved. More than weight control, the correct meal frequency optimizes energy levels and  promotes both normal blood sugars and cholesterol levels. I do find that my patients get used to not eating breakfast and they ask me if they should eat even when they don’t feel like eating. This is the one meal of the day where I would say...yes. Your body needs to be re-trained to eat with regular frequency, and this will help start the progress.

And now we have intuitive eating.

Intuitive Eating: Meal frequency and portion guidance set-up allows us to practice intuitive eating. Intuitive eating is a nutrition philosophy or approach that encourages us to tune into our bodies more and eat for simply the feeling of hunger. Living in a world of multi-tasking, it can be difficult to do what seems like such an obvious thing. But we do. We eat because the clock tells us to do so (and we try to push our kids to do the same!), or because of stress, or boredom or a variety of emotional reasons. This approach is very important and something that all people should look at in their own lives. Many times people are not overweight because of food, but because of outside influences that drive us to eat in order to soothe our feelings or emotions. Obesity caused by emotional eating can dredge up fear around food because emotional eaters don’t feel in control in its presence. Intuitive eating concepts are important for the ex-clean plate clubber or the busy parent or the emotional eater. Let’s get back to the basics and eat for real physiological reasons. If you find that you are an emotional eater, consider getting support by a counselor or psychologist that specializes in this field.

When it comes to food quantity, all these 3 approaches - in my opinion – are great tools to be used together for optimal health. The right meal frequency combined with guidance using standard portions and then letting intuition do the rest. Combine that with food quality, and you are well on your way to living your best life!

New USDA Dietary Guidelines - Done Cheap!

The new 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans was released on Monday. The press conference was attended by many dietitians on the world wide web, and all the while we were discussions were in real-time on Twitter. At the press conference, one of the age old questions was raised. I am paraphrasing, “How does the average American that is struggling in this economy feed their family the way these guidelines recommend?  Healthy foods are expensive!” Many of us in “Twitterland” were wishing they would have provided the public some good examples, but they answered only in generalities. Is a bag of chips really cheaper than a bag of frozen veggies? What about a box of twinkies?

Unfortunately, the report that was put together in order to come up with the guidelines revealed that children eat the bulk of their calories from grain-based desserts, yeast breads, processed chicken, sugary drinks and pizza. In other words, our children are overfed, yet are still undernourished.  This post will list the foods the USDA wants us to eat MORE of along with some budgetary tips (utilize the active links!) on how you can do this without blowing your monthly budget.

Increase vegetable and fruit intake, which includes eating a variety of vegetables, especially dark-green and red and orange vegetables and beans and peas. My local grocery store often sells 10 bags of frozen vegetables for $10. The other day, they had a sale on canned foods where you only pay 26 cents for 20 cans! You have to watch the sales and then buy in bulk when able. But remember, frozen is about equal to fresh on nutrient quality and very low sodium canned vegetables and canned fruit in their own juices are just a close second. You can often buy bags of beans for less than $1. Consider searching out a produce co-op in your local area or visiting your local farmer’s market. Locally grown produce usually contains superior nutrient quality since it’s farm to plate distance is shortened, and you get to support your local farmer. If your funds are really tight, government programs or WIC cards encourage for the purchase of produce items through special incentives.

Consume at least half of all grains as whole grains. Increase whole-grain intake by replacing refined grains with whole grains. Make your own breads! Make your own pancakes by adding half whole wheat or buckwheat flour. Start your day off with a big batch of steel cut oatmeal in the crockpot. Purchase things such as wild rice, whole wheat couscous, brown rice and barley in bulk or in the bags versus the boxed varieties. Cook them in large quantities and eat them throughout the week. Add these grains with beans, top with a low-fat cheese – serve with a side salad or frozen veggies for a super easy and nutrient-rich meal!

Increase intake of fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, such as milk, yogurt, cheese, or fortified soy beverages. Generic brands of milk are often cheaper. Look for dairy items that are on sale. Blocked cheese is cheaper than the pre-shredded. Purchase yogurts in the larger containers instead of the single serve for big savings. Use dried/powdered milk for recipes.

Choose a variety of protein foods, which include seafood, lean meat and poultry, eggs, beans and peas, soy products, and unsalted nuts and seeds. Bulk, bulk, bulk. Remember that 3-4 ounces is a portion – decreasing portion sizes for each family member is a huge cash saving!

Increase the amount and variety of seafood consumed by choosing seafood in place of some meat and poultry. Shop ethnic grocers such as Asian stores, as they have a tendency to have cheaper prices. Look for frozen bags and canned seafood on sale.

Replace protein foods that are higher in solid fats with choices that are lower in solid fats and calories and/or are sources of oils. Higher fat meats may seem lower in price, but how much are you paying for the actual meat of that portion? You actually get LESS protein per pound than lower fat/lean cuts. So pound for pound, you pay MORE for the nutrients found in fattier meats. Food for thought!

Use oils to replace solid fats where possible. I am sure you have noticed by now, but canola oil is much cheaper than olive oil. I like canola oil because it has the least amount of saturated fat (~7% as compared to ~15% in olive oil) large percentage of omega-3 “heart healthy” fat. Canola oil can be used for both baking and cooking, so it’s very versatile.  Again, look for savings in the generic or store brands.

Choose foods that provide more potassium, dietary fiber, calcium, and vitamin D, which are nutrients of concern in American diets. These foods include vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and milk and milk products. Make budgetary room for low-fat dairy in your diet because dairy will help you achieve potassium, calcium and vitamin D. Beans of all kinds are a fabulous fiber and nutrient source that could be enjoyed alone, added to salads, soups and casseroles.

Other Tips

Be Flexible. Maybe your favorite food items are out of your budget. Remain patient and there will come a sale. Explore other foods. You might find something you like better! And the more variety we have, they better nourished we are.

Plan Ahead. Shop for your groceries one full week in advance in order to avoid the eating out trap. Eating out excessively leads to both budget and belt busting every time!

Bulk and freeze. This will not only save you money, but will also save you time – two precious commodities these days. Free resources for doing this can be found at http://www.menus4moms.com/bulk/index.php and http://bulkfreezercooking.com/. Be sure to choose the healthy recipes!

Grow your own garden. Again, eating on a budget demands that flexibility! There are a lot of resources for first time produce gardeners.  What a fun thing to do with your children and as a family.  Don’t have enough room outdoors? No problem. Many people are growing all kinds of produce indoors.
Brown bagged your lunches. Many of these components not only save you money, but they also help you stay on track with your healthy lifestyles. You can bag healthy food items that go on sale or even eat leftovers from last night’s dinner.

Be on the lookout for sales and good coupons. Grocery stores have weekly specials that can be found in a saver book located at the front of the store. You can also shop for coupons online at websites such as http://www.coupons.com/, http://www.couponsurfer.com/ and http://www.smartsource.com/. Consider taking a look at the coupons to help plan your weekly menu. You can search for recipes by ingredient at websites such as http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.gov/ (under Recipes) and http://allrecipes.com/search/ingredients.aspx.

You can read more about all the recommendations in the 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines by going to http://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/.

Are your food budgeting tricks not listed? Share them with us!