Eating For Health

Whether you are an NFL fan or not, everyone knows that NFL players are in shape.    Many teams now have a dietitian/nutritionist coaching them on good nutrition.   In the nutrition class I taught, I showed a video of an NFL team being consulted on eating to win with nutritionist/dietitian Leslie Bonci .   In the video, an NFL player noted how he ate 3 chicken breasts and 8 egg whites for breakfast. Bonci showed the team members that protein is important but so are other foods like fruits and veggies.   Recently, MSN has a great article on 3 simple principles to follow to get in shape and stay healthy for life, according to an NFL nutritionist ,   Mike Minnis .    Sounds easy.   What are these 3 principles?   Principle 1:   Maintain a healthy weight by understanding energy balance Nutritionist Minnis says understanding energy balance means: the balance of the calories you take in versus the calories you burn up.   Take i...

So many of us will be hitting the road as the weather warms up.   A relative is relocating from one state to another and is on a 29-hour road trip.   Other relatives are headed to the beach on a seven-hour road trip.   Too often those on a road trip push their health to the side and stop at Fast Food places for a quick bite to eat.   Even if one had good intentions to eat healthier a road trip can sabotage your efforts.   My husband showed me a good article on “How to Eat Healthy on the Road” in the AAA World magazine.   Many others have written on this topic.   On your next long road trip, how can you eat healthier?   As Wander Wisdom notes, Once I started bringing my own foods and snacks on trips, I felt noticeably better.   My energy levels were high, I was less hungry and I didn’t have to resort to eating the kind of unhealthy meals I’d never eat at home. Men’s Journal recommends avoiding the “feel bad” foods.   Skip the juice ...

Vegetables, just say this word and people have some strong reactions.   Some people love vegetables and others not so much.   Last week I wrote about bananas, such a healthy fruit (See:   Enjoy bananas for good health ).   I always have a banana a day and even bring bananas with us on road trips to be sure I can eat a banana.   What about vegetables?   Some of my nutrition students ate few or no vegetables.   When they did their diet recalls, their “vegetable” was often a slice of lettuce on a burger.   Recently I was in Subway and watching a woman order subs for her kids.   She ordered a 12-foot sub with meat and cheese and a lot of mayonnaise.   When it came time for the vegetables to put on the sub, she stated her son didn’t like vegetables.   Not a one, not even a few slices of lettuce.   Pretty sad as Subway actually offers quite a choice of veggies to put on a sub.   When I go to Subway, I ask for just about every...