Happy Holidays

Seasons Greeting from The Eating Well Podcast.

We're busy with friends and family, travel and such. We have our next recording scheduled for the 30th with the goal of releasing before the new year.

Do you have a new years resolution or success story you'd like to share? How did Christmas go?  What is your plan for New Years Day?  Tell us what's working for you!

We're still ironing out the email. We get and read every email that comes in (minus spam) but outgoing mail has been a bit more problematic. I don't want anyone to feel like their email goes off into some black-hole or trash bin because we were not able to reply. Also, if you'd rather not have your name or some other detail mentioned in the show, please say so. At this point we assume that anything you send to us is for use on the show. That said, some of you have really great questions and show ideas, thank you very much! Personally I like the people that just send in the 'hello from someplace' emails. Anyway, our email address, as always is eating dot well at gmail dot com.   Your feedback is always welcome and very much appreciated!

-Steve

Beverages - The Eating Well Podcast

Beverages! #007 In this show we cover:

• Alcohol
• Eggnog
• Many beverages are not usually served with nutrition label to show calories
• What about “low carb” drinks?
• Drinking to cope with holdiday stress
• Drink a lot of water
• Portion Control

Online Conversion.com

• Beware of the food pushers, or in this case, drink pushers.
• Have a Plan!
• Holiday Coffee Drinks
• Caffiene
• Do not undereat to save calories for extra beverages
• Fruit juice

Try to have fun and be social without makeing the entire event about drinking. SuperSize Me!

The RSS feed for our podcast is http://feeds.feedburner.com/EatingWell

Carbohydrates - The Eating Well Podcast

Sorry for the long delay in getting a show out. We’ve both had some pretty big shake-ups in our regular schedule and havn’t both been able to get some free time at the same time to record a show. We should be back on track.

Carbohydrates

#006 The main energy source for our bodies

Regardless of what you have heard about the dangers of carbohydrates, they are an important part of a healthy diet.

Simple sugars vs. complex carbs

Simple sugars:

1. are broken down quickly
2. taste sweet
3. glucose
4. fructose
5. sucrose

Complex carbs:

1. fruits & veggies that have fiber
2. lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, hypertension
3. fiberless cerals & grains

Glycemic Index:

Glycemic index measures how fast & how high our blood sugar rises after consuming a particluar carb. For example white bread has a high gycemic index. White bread will convert to blood sugar almost immediately, resulting in a rapid spike.

Compair this to brown rice which has a low gycemic index. Brown rice is digested much more slowly causing a steady rise in blood sugar. The slow rise in blood sugar is what the body prefers.

Diets rich in high gycemic index foods often lead to diabetes. Overall, we are more concerned with glycemic load.

A good database reference is www.glycemicindex.com

Tips:

• Eat the whole fruits and veggies rather than rely on their juices
• If you enjoy juice, dilute it with water – “Volumize”
• Eat potatoes a maximum of once every-other day at lunch time
• A “good” low carb diet includes fruits, veggies, & whole grains, these 3 combined should be the bulk of one’s calories

Easy ways to increase your consumption of whole grains:

1. Oatmeal for breakfast, add fruit is even better!
2. High fiber cereals (Kashi is our favorite)
3. Whole grain breads, with 3+ grams fiber per serving
4. Replace white rice with brown or wild rice(try frozen or microwave types too!)
5. Try whole wheat pasta, there are some on the market with 1/2 wheat & 1/2 white

IN THE NEWS

CBS is reporting that “Diabetes has become such a pressing healthcare concern in the United States, one in three kids will be diagnosed with the disease at some point in their lives.

AND

NPIcenter is reporting on the The Natural Marketing Institute’s 2005 Health & Wellness Trends Report where the topic of consumer awareness of the key differences and benifits of low-carb versus slow-carb is on the rise, primarily due to blood sugar control issues and diabetes.

Special Edition - Holiday Season 2005

• Have a plan
• Eat light to make extra room in the calorie budget for the week.
• Eat before you go. low-cal, high volume foods
• Bring foods you want to eat. veggie platter, SF cranberries
• Avoid dips, sauces, gravy, and junk-snacks like chips.
• Drink a lot of water. carry diet soda in wine glass
• Exercise good subtractive EC when you can, go for a walk to remove yourself from the Env.
• Beware of the food pushers or bring them on a walk with you.
• Give yourself a break. Plan to eat something there, decide before you go what it will be, AND HOW MUCH. Allow yourself to have this portion so you don’t feel like you’re missing out.

Now if you do eat somthing you didn’t plan on, you should use your skills to change the situation, either by bringing something you can or should have into that environment or by removing something you shouldn’t have. This may also include removing yourself from the situation, go take a walk or play with the kids or something to get away. There are some things you do NOT want to do in response to eating an unplanned food.

• Do not go nuts and scratch the day or consider it blown.
• Do not try to purge. This is very unhealthy! If you are considering this as an option you should seek out some counciling.
• Do not have an exercise binge, to “Make up” for those calories.
• Do not starve yourself. Get in your nutrition, reguardless of the calories.

Realize that it may take a week or more for those calories to show up on the scale.

Try to have fun and be social without makeing the entire event about food and eating.

No matter how good or bad your day goes, tomorrow is another day.

• reminder: you can eat more calories in 5 minutes than you can burn off in 5 days

About Us: Michelle and Steve

Michelle - Wellness Education Specialist

Michelle is in her third year at the Sharp Center for Health Promotion, focusing on Weight and Health Management. Prior to joining the Sharp team, she worked for 2 years with the Sansum Santa Barbara Center for Wellness, helping to make it one of the most successful weight management programs in the country. Michelle received her Bachelors of Science in Health Education with an emphasis in Holistic Health from San Francisco State University. She is currently on hiatus from her graduate studies, majoring in Human Sciences with an emphasis in Holistic Health Education. As a Certified Personal Trainer, she enjoys leading groups through a strength training program. Her additional interests include stress management, women’s health and public speaking. She was an active volunteer for many years, coaching the Special Olympics track and field team, and helped facilitate the Women’s Health Conference at UCSF. When she is not inspiring others to achieve a balanced, healthy lifestyle, she travels and enjoys the beaches of San Diego with family and friends. Michelle is currently keeping off 35 lbs for almost 7 years now. Weight loss attained, and maintained, through healthy eating and moderate exercise.

Steve - Computer Services and Support Technician

In the last two years, Steve has lost over 330 lbs with proper diet and light to moderate exercise and physical therapy. With the support of many medical professionals, friends and family Steve continues to work at losing weight. So inspired by the dramatic change in his life, Steve has sought the means to share his experience and learning with anyone who will listen. Two websites and now a podcast, Steve will continue to make available: tips, advice, information and inspiration for people who want to eat well in our fast food nation. Steve is a skilled computer expert with more than 14 years of hardware, Internet and networking experience. Steve has held positions as web developer, high school teacher, PC repair technician and graphic artist. Maybe one day he will get rid of the template used on this site and create something better. (maybe not)

Environmental Control - The Eating Well Podcast

The Eating Well Podcast #005 on Environmental Control for Wednesday October 19th 2005

Today’s show topic is Environmental control, We’ve mentioned it a lot in previous shows. Now we really break it down and talk about it.

• What is EC? – The obligatory question

• Environment means the area around you. Itextends from your body out to where ever you need it to.
• Your home, car, jobsite or office, restaurants you may visit
• Any place you go or plan to be is considered your environment

There are two types of environmental control: Additive and Subtractive

Either your bringing things into your environment because you want to their influence, or you’re removing things from your environment because you don’t want their influence.

Environmental Control is a behavior modification tool, that you can use to help yourself make better decisions, and change or encourage or discourage a particular behavior.

That behavior can be anything from eating things from vending machines to getting exercise to what time you eat, the list is really limited by your own creativity because environmental control is a tool. Once you learn how to wield it you’ll find all sorts of uses for it.

Environmental control can have a tremendous impact on your ability to eat a healthy nutritious diet and lead a more active lifestyle.

There are a great number of choices you can influence in each enviornment where adding something to them or removing something from them would help you make a better choice.

Adding things to your environment to yield positive nutrtion choices:

• have a large bowl of fresh fruit, already washed available at all times
• cut up fruit salad and grab & go veggies in the fridge
• frozen & canned fruits & veggies in stock
• easy to prepare and/or cook lean meats (sliced turkey, frozen chicken tenders, veggie burgers)
• keep low-calorie/sodium canned f/v’s in your office
• keep water bottle with you at all times
• keep whole grain snacks in your car & office (crackers, nuts, seeds)

Adding things to your environment to yield other positive health choices:

• keep an extra pair of tennis or walking shoes under your desk to walk during breaks
• keep a stocked gym bag in your trunk (clean clothes, water bottle, shoes)
• carry a small journal with you at all time to track progress
• schedule yourself into your day, ie exercise from 2-2:30 pm

Subtracting foods from your environment:

• do not keep your favorites on hand AT ALL, especially not in bulk (ie Ice cream, chips, cookies, nuts, bread)
• brown bag the cheeses (or any other goodie in the fridge) to “hide” it, out of sight, out of mind
• have a separate cupboard in the kitchen for your healthy options so that it won’t be necessary to move a tempting junkfood out of your way to reach the healthy option that you are reaching for
• if you love ice cream, go out for it & enjoy a scoop, do not bring any home. Plan for the calories, decide what you are going to have, exactly, how big or small it will be and all the details, BEFORE you go.

Subtractive environmental control might include removing yourself:

• it is ok to decline an invitation to an event if you know that you will not maintain self-control or end up 5 lbs heavier
• Go to the event, but be sure to eat first.
• Have tea or water w/lemon & let your company know that you really wanted to be there but won’t be eating with them, “I’m not feeling well”
• socialize w/others just until the food arrives, then excuse yourself, return in 10 minutes, they’re done by then & ask for your plate to be removed (no one really notices)

IN THE NEWS
Floridas Star-banner is running a profile on Lynn Fischer called Eating Right
”...it is important to set aside the fad diets and focus on eating to maximize nutrition.”

Fiber - The Eating Well Podcast

Fiber! #004 Why you need it, and where to get it. Proper fiber intake can promote better general health -Fiber supplements and bowel regularity -Improve your cholesterol -Blood sugar control -Reduce the risk of colon cancer? We think so anyway What is Fiber? -Listed on product labels -Include a variety of sources -Most experts suggest 25-35 grams of fiber per day -Most children only have 4 servings of fruit and veggies per WEEK! ---Sources of fiber for American kids -----Apple Sauce -----Fruit Cocktail from a can -----Pizza ---Check your food labels and keep track of your fiber intake, otherwise you're only guessing With fiber intake - Water becomes more important -Use good Environmental Control to get in 64 oz per day Work your fiber intake upwards slowly to allow your body to adjust Soluble vs Insoluble -If you really need to know this, do some research. More important is to get fiber from a variety of sources. Higher fiber foods -Tend to be higher in calories -Tend to be higher quality (nutritionally) -A preferred source of calories, this is why we make room in the calorie budget Try some legumes! Beans are very nutrient dense, so 1/2 a cup is serving -Michelle tells us about the Broccoli incident -Steve recommends 16oz bags of baby carrots -See if your kids will go for plain/raw carrots or apples, you might like them too Most fruits have 2 grams of fiber Most Veggies have 4 grams of fiber Check out the Nutrition Data search bar at the bottom of the page! Cooking foods does not change the fiber content, unless you remove the peel. (Apples) -Michelle chooses canned beans, rinse and ready-to-go Steve gets tons of different fruits and veggies and recommends experimenting with new foods and combinations Michelle recommends oatmeal for breakfast, plenty of fiber and really keeps your blood sugar stable leaving your full for a long time Low-carb diets can mean excluding fruits and veggies! Michelle is rather annoyed with this trend, you need fruits and veggies Try fresh fruits and veggies instead of relying on supplements, you might even like them. IN THE NEWS: -FDA makes needed changes in feed regulations for 2006 (ABC News) -Higher prices for fruit and veggies may mean less access for low income children (Forbes.com) Next show: Environmental Control - Promote positive decisions.

Fats - The Eating Well Podcast

UPDATED LINK! Fats! #003 The good the bad and the ugly. Follow up question from Sue in Ohio. -- Thank You Sue! We talk about Grazing all day long Michelle recommends breaking your caloric intake up: 30% at breakfast 40% at lunch 30% at dinner and having carbs, fat and protein at every meal. When should I get my fats in? Consider it fuel for your body. When do you need to fuel up? Before you go out, or after you get back? Fuel-up in the morning instead of using caffeine! Steve tried out some soy meat alternatives. Morning Star Farms Light Life Smart Ground Yves Boca Burger Kudos to Steve for giving them a shot. Soy used as a replacement for meat greatly reduces your fat intake. Fat supplies energy to your body in a compact form. You NEED fats in moderation to feel and be well. Americans get plenty of fat, the problem is they're not choosing the good ones. Question from Amber -- Greets Michelle and not Steve "Hey!" Wants to know about good fats and bad fats. Thanks for the question Amber! Mono-unsaturated and Poly-unsaturated fats - GOOD FATS! - We talk about the health benefits of the good fats for balancing your HDL and LDL. Memory tool: Happy and Lousy. Over the Counter Cholesterol Test Kit Saturated Fats - BAD FATS - Found mostly in animal sources. These fats are required for normal health but should be used in moderation as they tend to raise your LDL or Lousy Cholesterol Trans-Fat - THE UGLY FATS - Cheaper, longer shelf life, but at the cost of your health. Question from GH -- Thank you GH! GH wants to know about Trans-fat and how to know if it's in the food products we buy. Study after study shows that trans-fats can mutate cells in your body, which could lead to cancer. New laws will be forcing manufacturers to display the amount of trans fats in the nutrition facts panel on the package starting in 2006. Check the list of ingredients for trans fats. Some foods that don't typically have labels may have trans-fats. They have long shelf lives and and may be available in convenience stores because they're cheaper to produce, display for sale and stock than more perishable products. In-n-out burger cooks their fries in cotton-seed oil which is trans-fat free. (CA, AZ, NV area fast food chain) Special mention to some trans-fat all-stars: Donuts and Stick Margarine. So instead of using these trans-fatty products just use real butter, just remember to use it in moderation. You don't need butter. Good fat

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sources to include with moderation: Walnuts, Almonds, Peanuts - Dry roasted or Raw, unsalted, and no coatings or coverings. 1 ounce is plenty. Olive Oil and Canola Oil. Look for extra virgin. Choose these over other fats. Still exercise moderation, you don't NEED these fats, but they are far better than the alternatives. Try the Misto to help you minimize the amount of oil you're using to cook with. Try Fish, good for protein, and some have those great Omega III fatty acids. Salmon, Cod, Sardines, Tuna. Remember it matters how you cook them. Avocado - good for fat content - not so hot with calories. Omega III fatty acids are great for heart health. We talk Flax and Michelle recommends flax meal. Flax Meal should be stored in its original package, and kept in the refrigerator. Fat-Reduced Products to help you reduce the Bad and eliminate the Ugly out of your dietary fat intake.

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We recommend the SmartBeat Mayo, and Butter Spray. Steve likes the ICBINB Spray. Big recommendation for Walden Farms Brand products! Try the marshmallow dip! Fat free dairy. Milk, Yogurt, Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream. You may not be able to switch from full-fat to no-fat products overnight, but you can work them in slowly. Soon they will be your preference, and you'll be cutting out a lot of fat. Remember that we'd like you to replace the foods you normally eat with these lower fat or better fat foods. It does you no good to simply add these foods. Michelle mentions the Golden Circle Eggs which contain Omega III's. And then we wrap up with more tips on Trans-Fats - Restaurants use them to reduce costs and Convenience food items. IN THE NEWS: Slate - 40th birthday of the 7-11 Slurpee Reno Gazette Journal - Hagen Daz vs The Slurpee Try the Crystal Light or Diet Pepsi Slurpee for huge calorie savings.

Protein - The Eating Well Podcast

UPDATED LINK! Protein! #002 Michelle and Steve Introduce the topic and take listener questions! Michelle gives a little perspective on our use of protein. Meal replacement shakes that we're both using that have about 16g of protein each. Michelle explains what Protein is, why it's important and what "essential" amino acids are. We discus why choosing the best source of protein for your needs is important, all sources are not equal. Can vegetarians get complete nutrition if they don't eat any meat products? My Odeo Channel (odeo/9e2d24aa997fa6a0) Audio question from Amaro -- San Diego, CA

"...How much protein should I get each day? And what are some good choices?"

- Thanks Amaro! Most people are going to need 50-60 grams of protein. You should talk to your doctor and find out for sure. Some people have specific protein intake needs. What is the "Grand-daddy Supreme" source of protein? Soy Isolate. Good Sources of Protein:

- 6 ½ oz can tuna, packed in water (44 g) - 1 cup of tofu (20g) - 6-8 oz of fish (42-56g) - 1 ½ cup of nonfat yogurt (16g) - 4-6 oz chicken or turkey (28-42g) - 1 cup of beans (14g) - 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese (28g) - 2-5 oz soy "veggie" burger(13g) - 4 oz of lean pork or ham (28g) - 4 oz carton of egg substitute (12g) - 4 oz lean ground beef, 90% fat free (24g) - 4 egg whites (12g)

Try Fish - Without frying Steve complains about his lack of fish-cooking skill Michelle offers up the following suggestion:

- Nice cut of 'whitefish' on tin foil - Light mist of your favorite low-calorie butter spray - Some oregano - Some lemon slices - Wrap it all up so the steam doesn't escape too much - Stick it on the grill for about 10 minutes

Steve remains less than optimistic but resigns to his need for more fish in his diet. Eggs for good protein? Try an egg substitute or egg whites. Beans! Beware of the sodium and exercise some portion control. Dairy Sources such as cheese may not be good options but used sparingly, everything is better with cheese! Tofu, Tempeh and other soy foods are great! Michelle really likes the Morning Star Farms brand chicken nuggets. Other products? White fish, salmon, unprocessed poultry, Morning Star Farms soy products, any yogurt w/o added sugars, canned beans w/o added salt or fat. Check the Label! Food labels also can be helpful if you're trying to moderate your sugar intake. The nutrition panel lists the amount of sugars in grams (4 grams is equivalent to 1 teaspoon) in a serving of the food. Note that this amount includes sugars that are present naturally in the food (such as lactose in milk and fructose in fruit), as well as sugars added to the food during processing. If you're interested in finding out whether a sweetener has been added to a food, check the ingredient listing. Terms such as "sugar (sucrose)," "fructose," "maltose," "lactose," "honey," "syrup," "corn syrup," "high-fructose corn syrup," "molasses," and "fruit juice concentrate" are used to describe sweeteners added to foods. If one of these terms appears first or second in the list of ingredients, or if several of them appear, the food is likely to be high in added sugars. E-mail question from Kim -- New York

"Can you please explain [or] talk about ketone metabolism [and how] low carb diets aim to achieve it. How long does it take the average person to convert to ketone metabolism and how does it burn fat? What kinds of foods have carbs but can be healthy and beificial in a low carb diet?"

- Thanks Kim! Ketosis information. Also: Definitions found here. What kinds of foods have carbs but are still healthy? Whole Grains and Fruits and Veggies! You know you should get 5-a-day but, "Knowing does not equal doing." Suffering from Veggie-phobia? French Fries and ketchup don't count as veggies! Be careful how you eat/prepare your veggies. Sometimes it's not that you're eating veggies that needs attention, it's what you're eating them with. Protein bars and supplements are intended for weight gain, mainly for building muscle mass. Beware of the bars that are high calorie or taste like a candy bar. Protein bars are not great meal replacements, you're going to be hungry again soon. Try the CLIF Luna Bar! IN THE NEWS Year of Free Pizza Wittenberg College is offering up a year of pizza to the winner of an essay contest to celebrate Constitution Day.

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Meat and Poultry producer Expo Meat and Poultry Workshop World Wide Food Expo .We still can't remember what food product has listed 1g of trans fat. If you know, send us some email.

Hydration - The Eating Well Podcast

Hydration! #001 Steve and Michelle present their first podcast on the importance of getting plenty of water on a daily basis. -- UPDATED LINK