Eating Healthy During the Economic Crisis

Registered Dietitian Offers Nutritional “Bailout” Plan

St. Charles, MO 10/16/2008 07:21 PM GMT (TransWorldNews)

Eating healthy is often determined to be too expensive for the average American. Fast food and foods loaded with fat and sugar tend to be inexpensive and always at hand.

Registered Dietitian Jayson Hunter has created some tips for healthy and affordable eating. He is calling it his Nutritional Bailout Plan.”Too many people think they can’t afford to eat healthy, especially during this Economic Crisis”, according to Hunter.

It’s the time of year when we flock to annual fairs and festivals. The midway can be a mine field of high fat and high calorie offerings. If you’re trying to watch your weight or your cholesterol some tips are:
-Don’t go hungry. Plan on having a meal or at least a substantial snack before you head out.
-Keep it simple and small. Try and order smaller portions or skip the cheese or gravy that increase fat content and calories.
-Drink water or calorie-free beverages.
-Share your food with your kids, spouse, significant other or friend.
-Check out all the possibilities first.

Weight loss is never easy. We always want the weight to come off fast, despite how long it took us to gain those extra pounds. At some point we all go through a sort of stagnant period or hit a plateau. It’s usually when we have our goal weight in sight, and only have those last 5 or 10lbs to go.
Vary your exercise and try something different. If you’ve been walking, try a different route with more hills or focus on walking faster or for a longer period of time.

This past weekend I went to the Austin Chocolate Festival (http://austinchocolatefestival.com/). Yes…I eat (and enjoy) chocolate. As a side note I believe that all foods can fit or be part of a healthy eating style…even chocolate. Everything in moderation.

The real neat thing is I found a few things that are specific for those with diabetes, high cholesterol, trying to lose weight or just want to eat healthier.

I learned that gelato is lower in calories and fat than most ice creams.

I don’t know whether it is a new product or if I am now just noticing…but either way I am pleased. HEB (http://www.heb.com) has there own line of reduced fat cheeses. The HEB location that I shop at usually carries a Colby Jack and Cheddar cheese that are lower in fat. So, if you have heart disease or high cholesterol, diabetes or trying to lose weight HEB low fat cheese is good choice.

I know that other brands make reduced fat cheeses, such as Kraft (http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf) , which is great…but they can be costly.

I found a gem of a website this past week that can help. It is a great resource to help individuals with diabetes, heart disease, those trying to lose weight or those who just want to eat healthier when eating out.

The Healthy Dining Program has a website called Healthy Dining Finder (www.healthydiningfinder.com )that reviews and provides nutritional analysis of menu items at a variety of restaurants. The Healthy Dining Program and its website healthydiningfinder.com was developed by the National Restaurant Association and is partially funded by the Center for Disease Control.

I have several friends throughout the country currently training for half and full marathons. This posting is for you!

MapMyRun.com is a social networking community for, you guessed it, runners. Using Google Maps the website allows users to plot a route, track distance and calculate calories burned.

The website also allows users to record workouts and monitor progress. You can even set up email reminders to ensure you do not miss a workout and keep track of when you should replace your running shoes (how cool is that?).

One of my favorite features is that you can visualize your running route in a 3D view.

If you’re a Lance Armstrong in training you can check out Map My Run’s companion site, MapMyRide.com.

These sites are excellent tools for anyone in training that needs some extra motivation.

Train hard; stay strong.

Peace.

Susan

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