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Thanksgiving Confessional: Share It and Move On

FitSugar — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:00:02 -0800

Whether you let yourself overindulge or try to keep things in check, it's impossible not to think about food during Thanksgiving. Perhaps you only splurged on the dish that is totally worth the calories to you, or maybe you ate one more piece of pie than you said you would.

The important thing is not to let it get you down. So join me in the Thanksgiving confessional! Leave a comment to shed your guilt about your biggest Thanksgiving indulgence, and together we'll resolve to get back on track now that the feast is over.

Healthy Ways to Deal With Thanksgiving Leftovers

FitSugar — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:00:37 -0800

Thanksgiving never seems to be a one-day affair, at least not the food part. Properly stored, leftovers can last up to four days, beckoning you to eat more, more, and then some! This Thanksgiving, resist the urge to overindulge by finding healthier alternatives for your T-day leftovers. Here are a few of our ideas - share your own in the comments section below.

Get rid of them. Buy some inexpensive containers before your meal to pack up leftovers for guests and send friends and family home with the most decadent dishes.
Make a healthy salad. Turkey is packed full of protein and tastes great on a salad. Use leftover cranberry sauce to make a healthy dressing - mix a dab with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Make a turkey curry. Turkey is great in a curry because it easily soaks up the flavors of a sauce. Try using turkey instead of the tofu in our Indian-Spiced Chard recipe.

For more healthy leftover ideas, read more.

Make turkey stock. I always like to have broth or stock on hand because it adds a ton of flavor to my cooking and can be the base of a variety of dishes. Storebought broth usually has a ton of added salt, so I think it's best to make your own. Save the carcass of the bird and break it up into a large stock pot, then add mirepoix, garlic, and savory herbs. Cover the entire mixture by at least two inches of water and let simmer for five hours. If the water level falls below the ingredients, add more liquid to the mix. Cool quickly, store in the refrigerator, or freeze.
Use turkey stock to make a delicious soup. Cut up any extra veggies you have leftover from your T-day meal or ingredients, add some barley or brown rice, throw it in your stock, and you've got a simple, tasty soup.
Puree leftover vegetables. Healthy vegetable side dishes are great to have after Thanksgiving, but give them new life and puree them. A veggie puree can be the base of a soup or pasta sauce. Veggie purees can also add moisture to baked goods.
Make an open-faced sandwich. Everybody loves the day after Thanksgiving sandwich. Make your sandwich healthier by only using one slice of bread.

Learn to Love: Persimmons

FitSugar — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:00:01 -0800

Now that berry season is long gone, I'm expanding my breakfast fruit horizons. Celebrate the cold weather with pomegranate seeds in your oatmeal, or slice pears or persimmons and serve them with nut butter on toast or whole-grain waffles.

You probably know how to pick and slice a pear, but persimmons have a steeper learning curve. They're worth learning to love, so read more.

Persimmons come in two varieties: hachiya, which are orange-red and shaped like acorns, and fuyu, which sort of look like yellow-orange tomatoes. The hachiyas are bitter and astringent when they're not ripe, but when ripened, they have a soft, jelly-like texture. Fuyu persimmons are a bit firmer like a pear when ripe and can be sliced up like apples.

This fruit is an excellent source of antioxidants and chock-full of vitamins. One persimmon packs 55 percent of your daily allowance of Vitamin A and 21 percent of your recommended Vitamin C, plus six grams of fiber. In addition to having persimmon for breakfast or a snack, you can slice them up and serve them in a pretty Fall salad.

Have you tried persimmons? Tell me how you like to eat them in the comments.

7 Steps to a Healthier Sandwich

FitSugar — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:00:04 -0800

Whether it's the recession or our increasing need for simplicity, sandwiches are having a moment. They're one of my favorite easy lunches and very healthy if you make them right. But it's important not to get stuck in an unhealthy or unimaginative sandwich rut.

Some healthy-sandwich strategies are obvious: avoid fried foods and super-oily sauces, opt for whole-grain bread instead of sliced white. But that's only the beginning. For my seven tips on making sandwiches that are both delicious and nutritious, read more.

Open it up! An open-faced sandwich made with one slice of wheat bread instead of two can save around 70 calories.
Go green. In place of empty iceberg lettuce, opt for iron-rich greens like spinach or romaine. Try pressing a cup of raw spinach into a hot panini.
Load up on veggies. Sneaking veggies into sandwiches is a great way to get your five a day. Think beyond tomatoes and add everything from roasted beets to cucumbers to carrots.
And don't forget fruit! Similarly, you can increase your fruit intake through your sandwiches. I suggest sliced apples and cheese or figs and nut butter.
Hold the mayo. I'm sure you know this, but here's a reminder: mustard is a much better choice. One ounce of yellow mustard has just 19 calories and one gram of fat, while the same amount of mayo packs 210 calories and 21 grams of fat.
Speaking of mayo, try swapping it out for nonfat yogurt to make a healthier tuna or chicken salad.
Don't say cheese. Rather than eliminating the creamy texture of cheese, replace it with sliced avocado. One ounce has just 45 calories and loads of healthy fat.

Are You a High-Maintenance Menu Orderer?

FitSugar — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:47:05 -0800

The more concerned I get about healthy eating, the more I start to sound like Sally Albright in When Harry Met Sally. The charming neurotic played by Meg Ryan makes endless substitutions when ordering off menus; as Harry points out, "'on the side' is a very big thing for you."

I confess, I'm also a big "on the side" person. I'm also a fan of sharing entrees and enjoying starters as a main course. Are you high maintenance when it comes to ordering off of restaurant menus?

Lessons From the White House Chef

FitSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00:07 -0800

Part of Michelle Obama's master plan to reform eating habits in this country includes the directive of a young chef named Sam Kass. Kass has been the Obamas' personal chef for several years now, and when the Obamas packed up and moved to the White House, he did too.

Kass, 29, plays more than cook at his current post: he is the first White House chef to have an actual desk in the East Wing and works alongside the rest of Ms. Obama's policy team with the title of "food initiative coordinator," meaning he's given the daunting task of getting the entire country to eat better.

To hear how Kass is trying to making the country healthier, read more.

How does one man do that in a country where the golden arches rule? In the latest editions of People and the Chicago Sun Times, Kass shares that moving past the obstacles won't be easy but "it's an unbelievable opportunity" that he couldn't turn his back on. In the last year, the chef has gotten closer to his goal by helping plant a garden on the White House lawn and educating children about the benefits of healthy eating. He's also discussing legislation with the Agriculture Department that would reform school lunch on a national level.

When it comes to feeding the first family, Kass and White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford serve up classic fare like burgers and tacos, but make healthy food swaps and use lean beef and low-sugar ketchup instead. As for dessert, it's a special treat served only on the weekends, and that order comes directly from Michelle herself.

Inspired by the Slow Food movement, Kass looks to the White House garden to inspire his menu, pushing forth the idea of eating local and by season. Right now, he's got his eyes on a bevy of sweet potato dishes and fresh salads, which should come in handy for the Obamas' first state dinner later this month.

Padma Cooks at Home to Stay Fit

FitSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0800

Thanks to a full season of Top Chef's indulgent cuisine, the reality hostess admits she's likely to go up a couple dress sizes during filming. Still, Padma Lakshmi doesn't let the extra pounds take a toll on her healthy fitness perspective, and shares with Glamour how a positive attitude and a realistic take on eating help her shed the weight.

For one, Padma reveals that when Top Chef contestants aren't whipping up something decadent for her to taste, she's likely to be cooking something healthy at home. Padma knows that cooking in her own kitchen can be a healthy way to control her caloric intake, and while takeout can seem a more convenient alternative, Padma reminds us that, "it can actually take longer to order delivery or go pick up takeout than it does to cook." In addition, the foodie loves the physicality of cooking, noting that "[instead] of watching TV, waiting for your food to come, you’re actually moving [when you cook]. My aunt had the best arms in the world, and she never stepped inside a gym.”

Check out Glamour to get the rest of Padma's realistic weight loss and healthy eating tips.

Can You Scale the Food Pyramid?

FitSugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:00:40 -0800

The old food pyramid you remember from grade school got an upgrade in 2005, but the basic sentiment remains the same. The government guidelines advise eaters to choose a variety of foods from the different food groups in order to eat a balanced diet. How much do you know about the food pyramid? Take my quiz and see how you measure up.

Take the quiz

Smarter Eats: Use Chalkboard Labels on Jars

FitSugar — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:30:28 -0800

Take a peek into my kitchen cabinet for a healthy eating tip. If you can't tell from the picture those are jars with chalkboard labels. I've been using them for almost a year now and for two good reasons: health and money.

I love nuts but find that it can be easy to eat too many at one sitting. I use the chalkboard labels to remind myself of the nutritional breakdown of the stored nut and its serving size. For instance, on my almond jar I've written 20 almonds equal 180 calories, 14g fat, 7g protein, and 6g carbs. This method has been a really great way to keep me from overindulging.

Having these jars is also an incentive to buy from the bulk aisle. Most food, especially organic, is cheaper when purchased in bulk. Plus buying in bulk cuts down on wasteful packaging, and I don't confuse things that look alike. The labels create an easy way to remember cooking ratios - if I'm storing a whole grain or beans, I write the name of the grain and the ratio of the grain to how much liquid it needs to cook.

You can either buy chalkboard jars for cheap or make your own using chalkboard paint. As an alternative you can use paper or sticky labels but using the chalkboard method helps cuts down on waste.

Health Food Obsession Gone Too Far: Orthorexia

FitSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:39 -0700

If you're reading this site, chances are you're into eating healthy. While it's beneficial to be conscious about what you put in your mouth, it's not good to become so obsessed that your lifestyle goes from a healthy diet to an unhealthy fixation on a healthy diet. The condition is referred to as an eating disorder by some, known as orthorexia nervosa. Symptoms include sticking to a strict diet such as a raw food diet, making a list of foods that are off-limits, or nervously avoiding foods deemed unhealthy, such as those with artificial flavors, preservatives, or that aren't organic.

Being obsessed about eating healthy seems like a positive thing, but problems arise when a person's healthy lifestyle becomes so overwhelming that it pushes other activities and interests to the periphery, and interferes with relationships and day-to-day responsibilities. As the quality of their diet increases, the quality of their life decreases. It can ironically lead to unhealthy consequences like malnutrition or starvation (anorexia orthorexia).

This is not to say that those who have diet restrictions such as vegans or those following a macrobiotic diet have orthorexia. It has to do with the rigidness of the lifestyle, and whether or not it's actually detrimental to a person's health. While some mental health professionals classify orthorexia as an obsessive compulsive disorder, others think orthorexia isn't a real disorder at all. What do you think?