Fear Of The Unlabeled

I recently had a discussion with one of my friends, and an interesting topic arose concerning eating healthy and controlling calorie intake (I have such interesting conversations, don't I?)  He mentioned that he was afraid of eating foods that didn't have nutritional labels associated with them, for fear of consuming too large an amount of calories, or other bad stuff (like trans fat) without ever knowing it.  I too used to have this fear, big-time.  It's a common one.  Heck, if you don't know what's in your food, how are you supposed to know if it's healthy?  It's a legitimate quandary, and I decided right then and there that I would write my next article on that very subject, namely, how to get over the fear of unlabeled food.

Firstly, I'd like to say one thing:  YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF EVERY FOOD THAT DOESN'T HAVE A LABEL.  Why not?  Because some of the healthiest stuff in the entire WORLD doesn't have a nutritional label on it.  For instance, go and pick yourself an apple.  Does it come with a nutritional label pasted to its skin?  Nope.  Does this mean it's not healthy, and you shouldn't eat it?  NOT AT ALL!  In fact, you'd do well to eat that apple right at that very instant and start benefiting from the enormous amounts of nutrients it contains.  The same goes for fruits, nuts, and vegetables.  In their natural form, there's no way they could be bad for you.  Just absolutely no freaking way.  In fact, almost every single container of organic food you can buy at your local health food distributor will NOT have a nutritional label, and yet those foods will do so much more good for you than any sort of boxed crud you could get at any old grocery store.  So if you see a bowl of apples sitting there in the cafeteria, or a bucket of tomatoes at the salad bar, don't avoid them.  Dig in.  You won't get fat, you won't have a heart attack, and you WILL make your body healthier.

But that's a no brainer...right?  Yeah, I thought so.  So what about the more complicated stuff?  Let's look at the situation I'm regularly in when I go to my school's cafeteria.  They make a LOT of healthy food, and a LOT of crappy food as well.  And rarely is any of it labeled correctly (though they are trying, I'll give them that.)  But do I stress?  Not one bit, because I know what to look for.  That means I can look at a plate of sauteed vegetables, and tell if the cooks have used too much oil, or if there's a sugary glaze overtop of them to make them more appetizing.  And this is what you need to do.  With complex dishes, you need to use a combination of past knowledge (what have you eaten in the past similar to this, and how was it made?), and a discerning eye for ingredients (know what oil looks like, know what fried foods look like, and determine what ingredients make up the entire dish.)  If it's a relatively plain dish, as in no glaze or anything like that, you can assume that those veggies aren't any more caloric than the raw ones at the salad bar.  If it's a stir fry, I still wouldn't be worried, you can easily account for a few extra (healthy) calories and still have a good meal.  Heck, a little cooking oil will give you some healthy fat in your diet.  If those veggies are rolling around in sloppy meat and brown sauce, skip them, as you know they've been too doctored up to really be beneficial for you.  It's not a hard concept, go with stuff that looks more plain, or more sparingly dressed.

What about meat?  Well that can be a little more daunting, but still not a horrible situation.  Breaded or fried meats are generally a no-no, as they'll have many more calories (sometimes almost double the plain variation), and a lot of bad fats that you know won't do you or your figure any good.  Heavily sauced meats are generally in the same boat, and you should avoid things smothered in BBQ sauce or a sugary marinade.  If the meat is only spiced (seasoning baked in), it could be just fine, or it could have excess sodium.  That one's really a toss up, but a little salt every now and then will do no harm.  In my opinion though, the plainer the meat, the better.  Go for the grilled or poached chicken, or a medium portion of turkey/beef.  I'd stay away from pork and fattier cuts of beef, as they'll be the secret killers, ESPECIALLY if they're unlabeled.  Fish is an AWESOME choice as long as it's not fried.

Also, you have to know your portions.  6 oz of meat is a decently thick piece about the size of your palm.  6oz of any sort of plain meat ranges from 120-250 calories, based on whether it's chicken, pork, fish, steak, etc.  Knowing portions is just as important as knowing ingredients just by looks.  If the cuts are too big, slice it in half and throw out the rest (or give it to your friend who loves meat.)  Not hard, right?

Another reason NOT to be afraid of unlabeled food is as follows:  Just because a food has a label, doesn't mean it's healthy.  Just 'cause you know how many calories are in an Oreo doesn't mean eating them is a healthy choice.  Heck, have you seen a Lean Cuisine package?  I picked one up the other day, and my jaw nearly dropped open at how many chemical ingredients were in that thing.  Low calorie?  Sure.  Healthy?  NOT EVEN CLOSE!!!  You'd be better off eating a piece of meat that you had no freaking clue how many calories were in rather than one of those things.  Ridiculous.

So here's the bottom line.  If you want to eat as healthily as possible, you have to move away from labels.  The healthiest stuff on earth is unlabeled, and you have to deal with it.  I'm pretty sure most of what I eat doesn't have nutritional labels on it, and I'm seeing fantastic results in both strength an leanness as I continue to train.  Don't be a label addict.  It'll only limit your diet to the point where you're absolutely stifled when it comes to mealtime.  If you're a serious addict, you can always look up nutritional information online after (or before) the meal.  But seriously, don't stress.  It'll only cause tension, hormone imbalance, and in this case, hunger.  Remember one thing:  calories aren't all that matters.  Nutrients are where it's at.

Know your portions, know your ingredients, and as always, GOOD LUCK!

Healthy Popcorn: Easy And Delicious!

Okay, come on now, who doesn't love a nice big tub of popcorn when watching a good movie, or at the state fair, or even the amusement park?  Those crunchy, buttery kernels just seem to hit the spot, and boy is it fun to dig right in.  Now I hate to say it, but unfortunately that over-buttered heaven in a cardboard container isn't the healthiest option when it comes to eating out, and one small container can have over 600 calories!  Not to mention you're getting a heaping load of trans fats and saturated fats.  It's too bad really, because that stuff is so tasty!  If only there was a way to get some delicious popcorn without all the blatant violations of health code.

Well, there's good news.  Popcorn can EASILY be turned into an extremely healthy snack.  Yes, that's right, it's a very easy task to convert that buttery, artery clogging corn dripping with butter into a delicious, nutritious snack for movie night, game night, or even a mid-day snack.  In fact, popcorn is actually a whole grain, and therefore in its natural form is already quite good for you.  Let's figure out how we'd go about optimizing this!

First off, you need to take a step away from the microwave.  Yes, I know it's hard, but listen for a second.  That microwave popcorn, while not horrible, still has all sorts of oils and strange chemical butters sprayed all over the kernels to make them tasty and addictive, hence why the stuff sells so well.  In general, microwave popcorn isn't too good for you.  

There ARE a few "healthier" options when it comes to microwave popcorn, and many companies now sell 100 calorie popcorn bags.  If nothing else, you can at least get a well portioned movie snack that won't push you over your caloric limits for the day.  

But there's a better way, and no I promise you I'm not just full of hot air.  However, this method sure is!  Remember air popped popcorn?  It was all the rage a while ago, when popcorn was still being widely introduced to the masses.  You buy the kernels, stick them in an air popper, but a bowl under the output spout, and watch as the little fluffy puffs come flowing out of the noisy little machine.  Surprisingly, this is still the healthiest way to cook popcorn, because you can buy popcorn kernels with NO ADDITIVES.  That's right, they're raw popcorn kernels, no butter, no salt, no trans fat, just little pieces of white heaven in the making.  

How does it compare to the buttered up stuff calorie-wise?  In one cup of air popped popcorn there are only 31 calories!  Not bad, not bad at all.  There's also no sugar, and no fat.  Just gets better and better, doesn't it?

Now I know what you're thinking:  "I couldn't eat that, that stuff is wayyy too bland!" 

This is where a little bit of creativity goes a long way.  Air popped popcorn is in essence a blank canvas.  It's easy to make your own healthy recipes filled with all the nutrients you desire and within your calorie requirements.  And you can make the stuff to YOUR taste!  Awesome!

And what would this article be without some recipe suggestions?  Here are some of the better air-popped popcorn recipe ideas I've run across:

Cinnamon and Splenda:  It's as simple as it sounds, sprinkle cinnamon on your freshly popped popcorn, add a little Splenda, Truvia, or other zero calorie sweetener, and mix it all up.  It'll taste fantastic and keep you slim and trim.

Sea Salt:  Though I'm not one for huge sodium consumption, if YOU'RE in control of how much salt you're adding it's much easier to keep the doses lower.  Add a little sea salt to your popcorn, and enjoy!

Flavored sprays:  There are many low/zero calorie sprays sold out there in grocery stores now, including butter, olive oil, and garlic.  These can add a lot of taste with extremely little effect on overall calories, and are much better than the nasty oils used in many popcorns.  Remember though, moderation!

Spice it up:  I LOVE SPICY THINGS.  Adding chili pepper to popcorn is an awesome idea, especially if you want a little kick in your snack.  You can add other spices like curry powder as well if you really want to bring some flavor into those kernels.

Grated Cheese:  This one's easy! Just grate a little cheese over top of your warm popcorn and you'll get a better, more wholesome cheesy flavor than that nasty oiled up microwave stuff.  It'll provide you with a lot more nutrients as well!

Popcorn doesn't have to be loaded with nasty stuff, and it doesn't have to be unhealthy.  It can be quite good for you, and still taste better than you can imagine.  Try it out!  Get creative!  Air poppers are cheap and bulk bags of kernels won't break the bank either.  Have some fun on your next movie night, and show the family what popcorn should REALLY taste like.

Be imaginative, think healthy, and as always, GOOD LUCK!

So What Is Trans Fat?

It's a legitimate question.  Trans fat seems to be the elusive killer in food, rarely seen on nutrition labels because of all major food companies' desperate attempts to get it out of mainstream consumption.  But the question (besides "what") is why?  What is this stuff and why is it so dangerous/undesirable to eat?  Could it really cause that much damage to the human body?  It's just a little fat, after all.  

Well, it's not quite that simple unfortunately.  I could get into some pretty heavy chemistry, but I don't think many of you would be too interested in all of that.  I'll go as far as to say that trans fat is basically an unsaturated fat with a little thing called a "trans-isomer" tacked on the end.  This makes the fat molecule "stiffer," more robust, and more likely to clog arteries.  Think of it like this:  Healthy, unsaturated fat flows freely through your body and is actually healthy for your heart.  Trans fat piles up in your bloodstream and makes your heart work double time to keep pumping at an acceptable flow rate.  Not good, not by a long shot.

But the really devious nature of trans fats goes beyond its chemical structure, and toward the fact that it actually affects both of your cholesterol types.  It raises LDL cholesterol (the bad stuff) and decreases HDL cholesterol (the good stuff.)  That's a pretty bad double whammy, even worse than just plain saturated fat (that stuff just raises your total cholesterol levels, still not good, but not quite as bad.)  Large consumption of trans fat has actually been shown to drastically increase risk for heart disease (going as far as doubling it in women).  Trust me, you want to steer clear of this stuff.

But what is trans fat actually in?  Well, not nearly as many foods anymore, thank goodness.  Trans fat actually doesn't really occur too often in nature, beyond a slight amount in things like beef and dairy.  It's much more commonly found in processed food, specifically foods that contain hydrogenated oils (natural vegetable oils with hydrogen added to "stiffen" them).  You'll find trans fat in things like margarine, sweetened peanut butter (not the natural stuff though...that stuff is heavenly AND healthy), and all sorts of quick little snacks and fast food.  The shortening dubbed "Crisco" was probably the most famous for its trans fat content, and only recently has the company introduced a variant with no trans fat.  Here's a list of Grocery store foods you can find out there today with the highest trans fat content (and therefore should probably be dubbed the blacklist of food):

1. Celeste Pizza (5 g of trans fat per serving)

2. Marie Callender's American Pies (5 g of trans fat per serving)

3. Pop Secret Popcorn (5 g of trans fat per serving)

4. Utz Hulless Puff'n Corn (Cheese flavor has 5 g per serving, original has 3.5 g)

5. Jolly Time Popcorn (4 g of trans fat per serving)

6.Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits (3.5 g trans fat per serving)

7. Shore Lunch Creamy Potato Soup Mix (3.5 g trans fat per serving)

8. Aunt Jemima Biscuit Sandwiches (3 g trans fat per serving)

9. Betty Crocker Helper Complete Meals (3 g trans fat per serving)

10. Gardetto's Roasted Garlic Rye Chips (3 g trans fat per serving)


Here's the original list: http://www.takepart.com/photos/supermarket-shame-10-secret-trans-fat-offenders

And HERE are the top 88 fast foods highest in trans fat:
http://www.acaloriecounter.com/fast-food-trans-fat.php

In fact you should look quite closely at any sort of packaged foods like pie crusts, cookies, candy, frozen dinners, butters, oils, and other similar products to make absolutely sure they have NO trans fat.  Many companies that previously had products high in trans fat have released zero trans fat varieties of their food (one that comes to mind is Country Crock Margarine), so spend a little extra time reading the labels and making absolutely sure that what you're getting doesn't have any.

Just remember, the more processed and "fake" the food looks, the more likely it will contain things you don't want in your body.  Spend some time reading the labels, the ingredients, and know what you're feeding that ever-improving body of yours.

Be careful, avoid those trans fats, and GOOD LUCK!

The Hard Truths About Restaurant Nutritional Information

I'll be honest, I don't go out to eat too often.  I prefer knowing exactly what goes into my meal, and enjoy experimenting with my own culinary ideas.  That's not to say restaurants aren't a great change of scenery, and it's not to say that they can't make a healthy meal.  You just need to know what to look for, which, like I always say, will be coming in a later article.  However, you should have a general idea:

Grilled chicken with pan seared vegetables?  Good

Salmon Filet with cauliflower and garden salad?  Good

Fish and chips with a heaping pile of fries and coleslaw?  Meh...not so much.

But orders aside, I've been noticing that more and more restaurants are displaying nutritional, or at least caloric information about their meals.  This, I believe is a good thing in general.  Instead of blindly ordering something, you now have at least a little idea of the caloric value of that meal, and therefore can make some assumptions about what went into it.  To see caloric information on Wendy's menu made me quite happy the one time I couldn't find any other place to go, and I was relatively content eating their grilled chicken sandwich, with NO fries, and water.  It was a good meal, and I more or less knew exactly what I was eating.

But I'm not writing this article to rave about how amazing these calorie signs are.  In fact I'm here to say that while in general they represent a good idea, they've opened up a lot of hidden dangers that most people don't realize.  I'm here to reveal the truth about some of these restaurants, and while they may be revealing a little bit, they're still hiding a good amount of information about the food they're giving you.  And that information, ladies and gentlemen, could greatly hamper your diet attempts.  Here are the hard truths:

1.  The calorie information they're showing you is true only for THE MOST BASIC VERSION OF THE ORDER.  I'm going to pick on Subway for this one.  Their logo is the "fresh fit meal," and they happily display caloric information about all of their sandwiches.  Let's take the six inch turkey sub, for example.  Subway says that's 280 calories for a turkey breast sub on wheat bun.  Not bad, eh?  Well guess what they're not telling you.  That 280 calories does not include cheese or condiments.  And it most certainly does not include the Mountain Dew you have with the meal.  Add 4 slices of cheese?  Another 200 calories.  Add mayo?  I'd say another 200 at least, the way those workers pour it on.  Suddenly you're eating a sub that's close to 700 calories, and absolutely LOADED with sodium.  Don't get me wrong, Subway has the potential to be a somewhat healthy meal.  But you have to keep it basic.

2.  The calorie information tells you nothing about the ingredients.  I'll pick on McDonalds AND Subway for this one.  Sure, at the end of the day, it can be argued that calories are calories, and the types of food that those calories were contained in don't matter as long as you didn't go over your daily caloric intake goal.  But that's a close-minded way of thinking, in my opinion.  Your body is going to be more apt to drop off unwanted fat and build that lean figure if it's filled with natural, nutrient rich food.  And while that subway sandwich may only by 280 calories plain, it's packed with salt, and the bread is some of the worst quality you could get, filled with things like high fructose corn syrup.  

It's more easy to relate to a McDonalds example.  A Big Mac alone is 540 calories.  While that's pretty heavy for a relatively compact sandwich, it's manageable from a caloric standpoint.  But look at the nutrition facts.  About half your daily sodium, 1.5g of trans fat, and not to mention all the horrible artificial ingredients/chemicals that go into the sandwich (bun, burger, cheese and all).  Think about it, you've all had home cooked burgers.  Does a Big Mac taste like a burger?  Heck no.  It's not even close.  It tastes like a Big mac.  So while 540 calories doesn't sound too bad, the ingredients should help you steer clear.

Sometimes the nutritional value of the food is more important than the number of calories. I'd rather eat a 200 calorie salad filled with fresh vegetables and grilled chicken than a 100 calorie cookie pack.

3.  Some restaurants haven't quite "come out of the closet" yet with their nutritional information, but think they're doing just as well by putting little symbols next to the menu items that they deem "heart healthy."  I think I saw this in friendlies and a few other places.  What I'm here to say to you is while yes, maybe those menu items lend themselves toward being slightly healthier than a traditional cheap cut of steak, don't for one second think that they're low in calories, or are in general "good for you" in any real, feasible way.

Some menus will give you a limit to their maximum calorie density like "under 555 calories."  Sure, it may be they're under that.  But same deal, look at the ingredients, and choose wisely.

So let's wrap this up.  I believe that displaying nutritional information about food is a good first step.  I also believe that restaurants should be a little more honest with these figures.  They should also make accessible ingredient lists, and details explaining what the caloric information regards (like whether it's the most basic meal, or what options it includes).  

However they're trying to make money, so I don't see this happening any time soon.  And guess what that means.  It's up to YOU, THE CUSTOMERS, to be smart about what you eat.  No, fast food won't kill you if you only have it a few times a month.  It won't even throw off your diet, so don't beat yourself for indulging every now and then.  But BE SMART.  Don't assume that the 280 calorie, heart healthy sandwich includes mayonaise in it's nutritional information.  Don't believe for one second it includes those four slices of cheese either.  

Be smart.  Eat right.  Feel good about the choices you've made each and every day.