Did You Eat Your Veggies?

The USDA has a great interactive website called MyPlate. You can type in your personal information and get feedback specific for your lifestyle. One of the standard tables that I refer to on this site is the minimum vegetables servings for each age group. When you first glance at the daily vegetable recommendations, you might think "that's not a lot" or "I get that daily"... Sadly, THINK AGAIN!

It is very common for children to eat NO vegetables for several days at a time. When your taste buds are repeatedly stimulated with sugary foods it's really hard for vegetables to compete. Below are the daily recommendations for vegetables (individuals who exercise less than 30 minutes a day). Remember, this is the BASIC recommendation... If you are physically active eat more! 

Children: 

2-3 years: 1 cup

4-8 years: 1 1/2 cups

Teens:

Girls

9-13 years: 2 cups

14-18 years: 2 1/2 cups

Boys

9-13 years: 2 1/2 cups

14-18 years: 3 cups

Adults:

Women

19-30 years: 2 1/2 cups

31-50 years: 2 1/2 cups

51 years and older: 2 cups

Men

19-30 years: 3 cups

31-50 years: 3 cups

51 years and older: 2 1/2 cups

*Eating the minimum recommended amount of vegetables daily will not meet your daily fiber needs. 

Obesity Pop! All Natural

image source: natural news

I stumbled across this clip art the other night and found myself cracking up, before you judge my lameness understand what got me...

1. I totally relate to that mother, with what appears to be a little slobber on the side of her lip and the screaming toddler in the front of the cart.
2. I have desperately bought those ADHD Flakes, cracked them open and handed them to my screaming monster so I could finish shopping. 
3. The Obesity Pops- All Natural cracked me up!!
4. Oddly, when I go down certain aisles I think this about SO many products... simply, we have a whole lot of CRAP choices at fingers length.

Juicing 101: Carrot Limeade

Simple & Sweet, this is my favorite juicing recipe!

Try This: Cleanest Bar in Town: LaraBar

If I had to choose the cleanest bar, hands down the LaraBar wins! They are the cleanest snack bar on the market with a max of 9 ingredients. There are numerous flavors and appeal to a wide range of taste buds and *kid approved! 

These bars are well suited for special dietary restrictions due to the simple, clean product ingredients. You can find them in the snack aisle or in the supplement section (near the vitamins and protein mixes) of most grocery stores. 

Special Diet Considerations Courtesy LaraBar.com

GLUTEN FREE/CELIACS LÄRABAR®, über® and Jŏcalat® are Gluten Free. They have no gluten-containing ingredients, and we have manufacturing controls in place to ensure that there are no cross-contact concerns. We also periodically verify our practices using Gliadin gluten testing.

NUT ALLERGIES  We make the following products that contain peanuts: LÄRABAR Peanut Butter Cookie, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, and über Roasted Nut Roll. If you have questions regarding specific nut allergies, please call 800-543-2147.

RAW DIET  Many raw foodists enjoy our products as part of their diet.  However, because there is no consistent definition for what can be labeled as “raw,” we have chosen to take the word raw off our label.  LÄRABAR products are made by a simple process in which fruit, nuts, and spices are ground and mixed together. They are not baked or cooked. We use simple ingredients, as close to their natural state as possible.  Practitioners of the Raw Diet should be aware that to ensure the safety of our products some of our nut ingredients are steamed or roasted and our few juice concentrates are pasteurized.

VEGAN/VEGETARIAN  LÄRABAR and Jŏcalat are made entirely from plant-based foods. Though the vast majority of chocolate chips in the world are made with dairy, soy or both, we specifically asked our supplier to provide us with chocolate chips which are Vegan—containing no dairy. While no dairy products are used to make our chocolate chips, they are made on a line which also produces chocolate chips made with dairy products.  Due to the potential for cross-contact between the types of chocolate chips made at the facility, the chips we use may contain trace amounts of dairy from those other chips; thus we cannot claim that our chocolate chip flavor varieties are Vegan. Due to the use of honey, über is not certified as Vegan.

SOY  With the exception of our chocolate chip varieties, LÄRABAR bars do not contain soy or soy derivatives.  We do not claim soy-free on the flavors containing chocolate chips because our chocolate chips are made on a line which also produces chips made with soy.  Due to possible cross-contact, the chips we use may contain trace amounts of soy from other chips made at the facility.

Visit HERE to see all the different bars!

*kid approved = MY kids approve

Redneck Cantaloupe

Here, in Southeast Texas, it is pretty common place to drive passed someone and see them in their yard burning stuff. We Southerner's call this designated spot a burn pile and most people have one in their backyard. Now, what is burned depends on the level of country living you fall into. I have a burn pile but I like to dress it up and refer to it as a fire pit... bricks stacked and formed into a circle, simple. We burn sticks, grass cuttings, yard debris and paper products. Some people burn everything, and I mean EVERYTHING (remember the level of country living I mentioned earlier). 

Which brings me to my latest burn pile discovery. I stopped at my grandma's house and noticed that there were three bags of trash on the porch. I asked her why they were not in her dumpster. She laughed and told me that it wasn't trash and that there were cantaloupe plants that started growing out of the bags! My uncle had went and cleaned my mom's burn pile (removed the excess ashes) and bagged up the ashes to throw away with the upcoming trash day. My mom likes cantaloupe and had tossed her rinds near her burn pile and never gave it another thought. The cantaloupe seeds from the rinds were mixed with the ashes my uncle gathered... add a two day rain shower and poof you've got cantaloupe plants! 

INGREDIENTS:

If you think about it, it is the perfect place for seeds to grow. The ash from this burn pile is predominately wood ash and it is rich in nitrogen which promotes leaf growth. Add a little rain shower and you have an ashy garden. 

I do not recommend anyone grow their garden vegetables or fruits in this setting. Gardening is a science and I do not pretend or claim to be an authority on gardening in any aspect. I am a receiver of master gardeners... they grow it and I eat it! 

In the event that these plants grow what I refer to as Redneck Cantaloupe, I highly doubt I will be one of the taste testers :) But it has been a fun teaching tool with my kids and they have had a fun time checking on the "trash plants" when we go to visit.

Why is it that when I try hard to not kill a plant it dies but a pile of trash on a porch can yield a fruit plant?! 

#nutritionwithnat

Protein, Protein, We Need More Protein!

One of the most common concerns I hear from clients is "I'm not getting enough protein?!" And there is usually a genuine concern and worry about their protein intake but not a thought about the source of protein or any of the other macronutrients they might be lacking. 

Most Americans are OVER-CONSUMING protein at an alarming rate. There are hundreds of protein powder supplements that can pack as much as 60 grams of protein per scoop, which might be more than an individual needs in an entire day. The first question you need to ask yourself is "How many grams of protein do I need daily?" and "What are the best sources?"

How to Figure Your Protein Needs

Adults generally require .8 grams per kilogram of body weight. 
A safe protein range would be .8gms-1.0gms per kilogram of weight. 

For example, I weigh 120 lbs. 

First, I need to figure out my weight in kilograms. 
1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds.
120/2.2 = ~55 kilograms

Next, you multiply the weight in kilograms by .8

55 x .8 = 44 grams of protein daily

*Determining the protein needs for children is very different from the above mentioned formula. Do not use .8 gms/kg to determine the protein needs of infants though age fourteen.*

So, my daily protein needs are 44 gms. I exercise most days of the week and am very active and my protein needs do NOT get a raise for activity. A very common misconception is that when you exercise you need to really amp up your protein needs... WRONG. Unless you are training like an Olympian (extreme levels of training), you do not need to drastically increase your protein. I know most personal trainers will read this and say Oh yes you do need more protein and it's because of X Y and Z... Blah, blah, blah. What you need is a really great pre- and post-snack, lots of fluids and a good nights sleep (more on sports nutrition coming soon).

Remember, too much of a good thing doesn't make it best. Excess protein consumed that your body doesn't need is stored as fat and puts a lot of extra work on your kidneys when breaking it down to store.

Now, there are certain diseases that have very specialized protein requirements which may require a much lower or much higher need each day. For example: renal failure, hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, liver failure and burns (stage I, II, & III) all require different protein needs. Individuals suffering from any of these conditions should be regularly monitored by their healthcare team. 

#nutritionwithnat

Eleanor Said It Best

We live in a world that can be cruel and unforgiving. Often times, we may find ourselves feeling doubtful, inadequate and a list of others but the fact of the matter is, we all have a purpose. Everyone has talents and attributes unique to only themselves. 

Eleanor Roosevelt said it best, don't give your consent to the world. There is no circumstance in life that warrants someone the privilege to make you feel inferior. So, choose to be happy and never give up or give in.

You can do it! We all can!

Try This, NOT That: Fage Greek Yogurt vs. Sour Cream

Fage (pronounced Fa-yeh) is a greek yogurt and the BEST on the market nutritionally speaking. There is no other yogurt that I have found that can compare. It is high in protein & low in: sugar, sodium & fat and the ingredients are simple & clean. Fage can be used in desserts for an extra creaminess and as a replacement for sour cream in savory dishes. I also like Fage added to smoothes to add a punch of natural protein and creaminess. 

With that said, in my opinion, it is not the best tasting greek yogurt. Let me explain, Fage is thick, creamy and has to be stirred up when opened. It is more of a texture issue for me when eaten as a plain yogurt.  I don't like my yogurt thick, if you do then you will like it. 

I witnessed a little taste-test on a couple of unsuspecting teenagers. They were preparing their taco's and were asked if they liked yogurt. All said no and replied "it's nasty". Then they proceeded to make their taco's and add sour cream. When the meal was almost over it was revealed that the sour cream was in fact yogurt. They were shocked and oddly excited that they had eaten it instead of sour cream. Like them, I really can't tell the difference between sour cream and Fage! So why not make a health conscious decision and switch. 

Nutrition Facts

1 container, 7 oz

150 calories, 20 g protein, 8 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 4 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 65 mg sodium, 8 g sugar

Ingredients: Grade A Pasteurized Skimmed Milk and Cream, Live Active Yogurt Cultures (L. Bulgaricus, S. Thermophilus, L. Acidophilus, Bifidus, L. Casei)

To learn more about Fage visit them here.

*product pictures were found on google.com and nutrition facts provided by Fage.

National Running Day 2013

Iron Rich Foods

*Eating iron-rich foods along with foods high in vitamin C, will allow your body to better absorb the iron. Foods rich in vitamin C include: papaya, bell peppers, strawberries, broccoli, oranges, kale, peaches and kiwi.