Eating healthy while eating out - by Mike Roberston

Great post from Mike Robertson on his blog


http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3035571976650461447





This past weekend I had the chance to catch up with some old friends in Chicago. One thing I always come back to when traveling is trying to make solid food choices while "on the road."Luckily, if you arm yourself with a little knowledge it's generally pretty easy to be successful. Here are some things I try and do to eat well on the road, regardless of the situation:- Pack small snacks. My wife and I are really good about packing mixed nuts, water, protein bars, protein shakes, etc. If you're in a pinch, these items can substitute for a meal. Along those same lines, it will curb your appetite so you don't binge on the 8 lb. burger (yes, one of the restaurants we ate it really did offer it up!)- Always order a sald and/or extra fruit. If your only goal is to consume copious amounts of calories, then by all means forget about this tip and get that fried appetizer sampler platter and double dessert. If you are in the least bit concerned about your health (not to mention your waistline), adding a sald or fruit to your order helps ensure that you get more nutrients and fiber from your food.- Opt for extra virgin olive oil or vinagrettes instead of "traditional" salad dressings. Not only do they taste better (assuming your palette isn't dead), but they typically have better fatty acid profiles.A few more quick hits, without all the explanations:- If you are looking to shed pounds or body fat, say no to the pre-meal bread and get double-veggies for your sides.- Drink water vs. calorie-laden beverages.- Be reasonable with your meat selections. I'm all for a huge slab of beef from time-to-time, but eating a 10 or 12 ounce steak every night probably isn't necessary.- Whenever possible sub a salad, veggie or even a soup instead of fried side items. They may taste good but there's minimal nutritional value in fried foods.- I won't ever tell you that beer is bad - at the very least, drink light vs. normal beers.While eating out or on the road may never be optimal, performing some damage control can go a long way to helping you achieve your health and fitness related goals.Stay strongMR

Eating better but staying full

• Eating better but staying full
  
  One of the big problems I have been faced with is being able to control my food portions throughout the day. If I do a bad job and don’t eat enough, then by the time I get home I am STARVING! What I end up doing next is overeating during my dinner meal and thus the reason I am having trouble getting to my ideal weight. This also brought up another problem people are faced with is staying full with the smaller portioned meals that they eat during the day and have the same starving feeling the time they get home for dinner.
  
  I just recently read a great article online by a gentleman named Chris Shugart. He gives a great solution to my problem. He states that the problem we face is that the foods we eat are high calorie and low volume foods. So we are putting calories in our system but they are not satisfying our hunger. He suggests “volumize your food” (eat more low-calorie and high volume foods in our diets). Then we will be full more and hungry less and also less likely to eat too much at the end of our day (he calls it “making us full but not fat”).
  
  Some ideas or substitutions he suggests when baking and preparing meals:
• Olive oil and almonds are high in calories and fats, BUT they provide very important omega-3s to your diet. Use them sparingly in your diet.
• Replace white flour with whole grain flour. Healthier and adds much needed fiber to our diet.
• Replace sugar with sucralose (splenda). Saves a ton of calories!
• Replace oil with unsweetened apple sauce. Another HUGE calorie saver can be used for brownies, pancakes, muffins and most baked goods.
• Eggs: Replace with some or all egg whites. (there are omega-3s in egg yolks as well, but this will help to reduce some of your calories in your recipes)
• For burgers, mix lean ground turkey and/or veggies with your ground beef
• For spaghetti, cut out half the pasta and replace with vegetables
• Instead of adding butter, bananas, syrup, peanut butter or other calorie-dense ingredients to recipes, use calorie free extracts or imitation flavorings.
  
  I will try to do my best over the next few months to begin providing recipes with this new “volumized” replacement method and show the difference made in calories and healthy additions made to the “modified recipes”.