Eating healthy at restaurants

Most of us eat out at least a few times a week. It can be really difficult to eat healthy at restaurants unless you know what to look for. While it is almost always healthier to eat at home or to bring lunch from home, you can pick healthier options from restaurants. Here are some tips:

• Keep it as simple as possible. The more complex a meal, the more sauces (which means more fat and calories) or extra ingredients are added. Go for a lean protein (steak, grilled chicken, fish) with a side of plain veggies or beans. 
• Use MyPlate to help guide your decisions. Half your plate fruits and vegetables, one-fourth lean protein, one-fourth grains, and one cup of yogurt or milk. 

• Drink water, unsweetened tea, or a little diet soda instead of high calorie beverages. 
• Look at menus online for nutrition information from chain restaurants to see calories, fat, sugars, sodium, etc.
• Skip items with the words breaded, creamy, crispy, or fried. Choose grilled, baked, broiled, or saute instead. 
• Share an entree with a friend and order a side salad. Or, take half of your meal home for a second meal later.
• Baked potatoes can be a healthy side if you watch the butter and sour cream. Try salsa instead.
• Salads can always be a healthy options depending on the content. Go for grilled instead of fried, choose lean protein instead of high fat or high sodium options, add lots of veggies, and choose oil and vinegar or vinegar-based dressings instead of creamy, high fat dressings. 
• Here are some healthy options are various cuisines:
• Mexican/Hispanic - chicken, steak or shrimp fajitas. Skip the tortillas or load up only one. Limit the chips and salsa.
• Chinese/Asian - grilled meat (not breaded) with veggies. Ask for brown rice and skip the fried appetizers (crab Rangoon, egg rolls, etc) or limit them. 
• Italian - skip or limit the bread. Use olive oil for dipping instead of butter if you eat any bread. Marinara is healthier than creamy Alfredo sauces, but most importantly - watch portion sizes!
• BBQ - Meat with minimal sauce, choose veggies or beans for your side. 
• Soups - go for broth-based instead of cream-based. 
• The Eat This, Not That website has a menu decoder to help you analyze various menus. 
• To eat healthy at a fast food place, you only have a few options: small hamburger (no mayo), grilled chicken, side salads, low-fat yogurt, and fruit cups are about the only options. Plain tacos or chili can sometimes be better than other options, but you have to be careful. 
• The more plain fruits or veggies, the better. It is tough to find a lot of options for these foods.
• Of course, if you only eat out once awhile, you are entitled to indulge. But, a lot of people eat out 4-5 times a week, so in that instance, indulgences should not happen every time!
• Eat This, Not That has a list of 20 shockingly healthy restaurant foods. Check it out.
• Eating at home ensures healthier options and saves money. Try to eat at home more often and save your eating out for less often. 

For other information on eating healthy in restaurant and other topics, check out the Eat This, Not That website. 

Shoutout on The Food Daily

My blog on food additives was featured in the 1/10/2012 issue of The Food Daily. Check it out!

Soups and stews

This time of year is perfect for cooking a big batch of soup or stew on the stove or in the crockpot. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension put together a recipe list of seven healthy soups and stews.

Included soups are:

• Ten minute corn chowder
• Turkey stew
• Turkey or chicken soup
• Italian white bean soup
• Ground beef - corn chili with rice
• Brunswick stew
• Quick chili

Some other tips for healthy soups:

• If you have extra vegetables, throw them in a bag in the freezer. These mixed veggies will come in handy in your next soup or stew.
• Cook extra chicken, beef, or turkey for dinner one night and then use it in a soup the next night.
• Repackage big pots of soup or stew into smaller, shallow containers. This ensures the food will cool safely and be handy for lunch or dinner the next day. It  can take up to 24 hours for a large pot of soup to cool to a safe temperature, so use smaller containers and refrigerate immediately. This could lead to food borne illness if not handled properly.
• If your soup is bland, try using some seasonings. Not sure which ones? MU Extension has information on spices and seasonings.

Food additives

Have you ever wondered what all those crazy sounding ingredients are when you read the food label?

Food additives are added to foods to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance. There are over 700 food additives that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has deemed GRAS (generally regarded as safe). 

There is controversy regarding food additives. Some organizations have a list of additives that they do not consider safe, but the FDA has determined them as being safe.

Safe is defined by Congress as "reasonable certainty that no harm will result from use" of an additive. Some substances that are found to be harmful to people or animals may be allowed, but only at the level of 1/100th of the amount that is considered harmful. This margin of safety is a protection for the consumer by limiting the intake of a dangerous substance (from Medline Plus: Food Additives).

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has a list of food additives to avoid. They include sodium nitrate, saccharin, aspartame, Acesulfame-K, caffeine, olestra, and food dyes (including some artificial colors). However, some of  these are still considered safe by the FDA. You can find the entire list on their website.

Of course, the less ingredients that a food product has, the less processed and typically more healthy. "Natural" food additives do not mean they are any safer than artificial or synthetic additives, they may cause allergic reactions.

It is a personal decision on whether to eat foods with certain food additives. People who have intolerances or allergies should always check the ingredient list and food label for their own protection.

The USDA has an entire website on food additive information.

Want to lose weight?

The time of New Year's resolutions is upon us and it is thought that over half of people want to lose weight for their New Year's resolution. That's great and many do a good job of getting started, but have a tough time maintaining their weight loss efforts. Lack of time, boredom, and cravings cause us to fail on our weight loss goals. Here are some things to remember about losing weight safely:

1. It's easier said than done. Many of us know what we should do, but we don't. It's tough, you have to change habits, and it takes patience and time. Remember that.

2. We give up too soon. Unrealistic goals lead to unrealistic expectations. When the weight doesn't fly off like people think after changing habits, many give up. Once again, it takes patience and time.

3. Physical activity is essential. Can you lose weight without physical activity? Yes, you can. But if you want to keep your lean tissue and keep your metabolism up, you have to be active. And on that same note, you have to be active regularly for the rest of the your life. You can't just exercise for a few months and be done. Find things you enjoy, figure out how to stay motivated, and make it a habit. Add small ways of being active into your daily habits, such as parking further at the grocery store or taking the stairs.

4. You may have to reduce or cut out foods that you enjoy. That includes sugar, desserts, sugary drinks, fast food, or other calorie-laden foods. This is tough and can lead to cravings. Cutting down on portion sizes is really tough. No one ever said it would be easy, and if they did, they aren't honest. 

5. It takes extra time. Meal planning, shopping for healthy choices, preparing healthy meals, and exercise all take time. You may have to get up earlier, skip an hour or two of television each night, or figure out something to fit it in.

6. Find support around you. Friends, family members, and colleagues all have an influence on your healthy habits. Surround yourself with supportive people and mimic their healthy habits, not the unhealthy ones. Find a buddy to check in with if that helps.

7. Realize that everyone is different. Our body shapes are different, our eating styles are different. We all lose weight at different paces. Find out what works best for you and focus on that.

8. Find motivation in the small things. Maybe your pants are fitting a bit looser, your knees feel better, or you can walk a mile without getting winded. Focus on the small victories and those will lead to greater things.

9. Focus your eating around fruits, vegetables, whole grains, water, lean protein, and some dairy. It's hard to find a good selection of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains when you eat out (there are some choices though) so you may have to bring your lunch or eat dinner at home much more often.

10. Get started with a good breakfast. Most people load up on sugar and starchy carbohydrates for breakfast and don't eat enough protein. Try a veggie omelet, plain yogurt or oatmeal with nuts and fruit, or a breakfast smoothie. Not hungry? Eat something small within a few hours of waking up.

11. Don't give up! Stay positive and keep working at your goal. If you get off track, don't beat yourself up, just get back on track as soon as possible.

Good luck with your New Year's resolutions and changing your habits for the better.