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Chain Restaurants: Nutritional Info on Menus

FitSugar — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 10:30:00 -0800

At popular chain restaurants like Ruby Tuesday's and Uno's Chicago Grill, 2,000 calorie menu items are normal. Order yourself some pizza skins to start and you'll be consuming 2,050 calories, 48g of saturated fat, and 3,140 mg of sodium. You're only supposed to have 2,300 mg of sodium a day. I'll take my check now, please!!!

Some menu items, we know are not exactly healthy for us, but because the nutritional information is not listed, we have no idea just exactly how bad they are.

Starting in the summer, many chain restaurants that operate in NYC will be required to list calories on the menu. I'd like to know what you think about that - take my poll on the matter and voice your opinion.

CSPI (the Center for Science in the Public Interest) believes it is about time for Congress to pass Menu Education and Labeling (MEAL) legislation. Labeling menus will encourage people to order healthier items when dining out. The idea being this will help combat obesity, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diet related heart disease.

When nutritional labeling on food products was introduced, it revolutionized the way people shopped for groceries. Nutritional labeling at chain restaurants will help diners make informed decisions when eating out.

WholeMeals™ Brand Offers Premium Nutrition in a Shape Dogs Love!

PetSugar — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:00:47 -0700

Finally you can give your dog a bone that delivers some long-lasting nutrition! WholeMeals™ Food for Dogs, which was developed with leading canine experts, is a 100 percent complete and balanced meal for adult dogs that comes in their favorite shape.

When it comes to mealtime, your dog wants enjoyment and great taste. WholeMeals™ Food for Dogs contains wholesome, high-quality ingredients that provide premium nutrition. With its unique shape designed to match the way all dogs bite and chew, WholeMeals™ Brand makes mealtime even more enjoyable for dogs of all sizes. Plus, it encourages healthy eating in a more natural position.

WholeMeals™ Brand has clinically proven oral health benefits - the innovative shape and dual texture maximize chewing satisfaction, creating a natural brushing action. The added chewing and unique shape work together to reduce plaque accumulation and tartar buildup, all the way down to the gum line!

Thank you to WholeMeals™ Brand Food for Dogs for sponsoring this post.

Diet Tip: Skip Skipping Meals

FitSugar — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 03:30:00 -0800

When it comes to losing weight, it is easy to think that skipping meals means less food which means fewer calories in. It can seem counterintuitive but skipping meals could be one of the worst ways to lose weight.

Here's why: When you skip a meal (or two, or three), your body starts to wonder why it's not getting any food and it will go into starvation mode. Then it reacts by slowing down your metabolism. As we all know by now, a slower metabolism means slower weight loss so this is the last thing you want. Try not to leave more than three or four hours between meals and snacks-some people even like to have 5-6 smaller meals per day to make sure this never happens.

Fit's Tip: More importantly, try your hardest not to skip breakfast.

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Do You Usually Eat Your Meals at the Same Time?

FitSugar — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 06:30:14 -0700

I'll admit that I'm a creature of habit. I eat my meals and snacks at pretty much the same time Monday through Friday. I eat breakfast when I wake up, have a little snack around 10, lunch by 12:30, another snack around 4:00, and dinner by 7:30. If I don't eat at the same times every day, my body reminds me with a dull headache or rumbling in the tummy. The weekends are a little different because my schedule varies, but for the most part, I stick to a regular mealtime schedule.

What about you?

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Dealing With Digestion After the Feast

FitSugar — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:50:40 -0800

Feeling a bit stuffed? It is a common problem on Thanksgiving and can lead to discomfort. Here are a few ways to aid your digestion and detox after your big meal.

After the meal:

Drink herbal tea: ginger tea, chamomile, and peppermint all improve digestion. Warm beverages promote digestion in general, so if you don't have these on hand, any kind of herbal tea will help.
Chewable papaya enzyme can help promote digestion as well.
Don't lie down for two to three hours after eating to avoid indigestion and acid reflux.

Learn how to help your digestive system tomorrow when you read more.

The next morning:

Eat oatmeal for breakfast. It is high in insoluble fiber, which helps get things moving, if you know what I mean.
Drink plenty of water to help the body digest and eliminate waste. Insoluble fiber needs water to help it do its magic.

The rest of the day:

Eat foods high in insoluble fiber at every meal, like carrot sticks with your turkey sandwich (made with whole wheat bread, of course).
Get moving. Exercise stimulates the intestines, and this will get things moving as well. A little sweating helps the body process and burn the extra calories you consumed. Plus a good workout helps eliminate any guilt you might be feeling about having second helpings of almost every dish.
Skip the alcohol for the day after, especially if you imbibed heavily on Thanksgiving. It will give your liver a break while it works to help break down all the fat from your prior day's meal.

Interview With Lori Loughlin: 90210 Star Dishes on Meals

LilSugar — Wed, 06 May 2009 08:00:00 -0700

Sitting down for a family meal is a time honored tradition that still exists - even in Tinseltown! We recently chatted with Lori Loughlin, the actress best known for her role as Becky Donaldson on Full House and more recently, as Debbie Wilson on 90210, about her partnership with Barilla pasta.

Loughlin and Barilla are encouraging families to involve tots in mealtime planning and preparation through the use of their Piccolini line of miniature classic pasta shapes. The mother of two daughters - Isabella, 10, and Olivia Jade, 9, - has long been a proponent of the family meal. She said:

"Dinner is a really important meal in our household, it is a time that we make a real effort, my husband and I, to be home. We have dinner every night with our kids. My mom cooked every night, his mom cooked every night and now I cook every night for my family. We do eat a lot of pasta in our family. Their favorite shape pasta is penne - we do penne with vegetables, broccoli, diced chicken. We also do turkey meatballs and penne, we do traditional marinara and penne and Bolognese sauce and penne. My kids love the lasagna that I make."

On both Full House and 90210, the actress' characters have made the family dinner central to facilitating conversation about the children's activities.

"At the time when Full House was on, family dinner was more common in America. As your kids are getting older and have their own lives like the teenagers on 90210 - where and when do you have the time to reconnect with your kids? Well, it's over dinner.

To see what Loughlin had to say about how she handles body image issues with her daughters amid rumors of eating disorders in her 90210 costars, read more.

The waif-like stars of the 90210 cast have led to rumors about eating disorders on the set. To instill healthy body images in her two tween daughters, Loughlin focuses on health over diet.

"I say to my kids that you have to really think about what you put in your body because it's your fuel. I always take the approach of health, not weight. We want to start eating healthy now to take care of our heart and our internal organs so we can be strong, so our brains can develop.

One thing I will say that I disagree with in LA, or some of the diets that are [out there] is people cutting out carbs. I don't think you should cut out carbs. I think you need to have that in your system. You can't just be protein and just vegetables. It’s not good for you.

The Piccolini Smiles contest invites parents to send photos of their kids preparing, or eating, their pasta as part of a meal, to see all the details, and learn how to win $25,000 in tuition money, visit www.piccolinismiles.com.

Website lil Loves: MealBaby

LilSugar — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:00:12 -0700

The days and weeks after welcoming a new baby into your home are like a dream. The sleep deprivation and round the clock feedings often mean that homemade meals are sparse and takeout becomes the norm. MealBaby is an online meal registry where family and friends can sign up to make and deliver meals to new parents. For loved ones who live too far away to deliver a homemade meal, the site offers up the opportunity to purchase gift cards to national chain restaurants as well as the opportunity to donate money to Feed The Children, a non-profit organization that provides food for hungry families around the world. If you're too busy to set up the registry on your own, friends can do so for you - which might make a fun addition to a baby shower!

Mural Meal: Incredible Edible Rainbow

babysugar — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Life's not all sunshine and rainbows, but dinner can be! Take a few items from the fridge, dice them up, and mama's got a delish, balanced meal in no time!

Pull out a boiled egg, fresh blueberries, red bell peppers, carrots, and zucchini. Chop up the red and orange ingredients and cook the zucchini if it's not already in the fridge with some other leftovers. Make a small amount of couscous to provide a little weight to the meal. Arrange the red peppers in an arch and place the carrots below them. Add the couscous for a ray of yellow light and layer the last row of veggies with zucchini. Complete the brilliant hues with plump blueberries for a sweet tooth. Polish off the pretty picture with white, cloudlike hard-boiled egg slices and then watch the masterpiece disappear right before your very eyes.

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Mural Meal: A Preppy Pink Heart

babysugar — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:15:00 -0700

If you want wee ones to take another little piece of your heart, serve it up on a pretty platter. We all know fish is good for the heart and full of protein so introducing it to tots at a young age will teach them to eat healthy. A cinch to cook, salmon is a tasty meal that leaves very little clean up behind. Surround it with peas and rice and baby's got a whole new perspective on "seafood."

First cook up some tasty rice and peas. While those are heating up, turn on the oven to 350. Place a piece of foil in a Pyrex dish and the salmon fillet on top of it. Using a teriyaki sauce, glaze the fish and put the pan in the oven for 10-15 minutes. It should "bleed" white when it is cooked through. Once the rice is done, scatter it in a circle on a plate. Then using a heart shaped cookie cutter, break apart the salmon and spread it in the heart. Finally, spoon out peas to encircle the rice for a preppy pink and green mural meal made with love.

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Family Meals and Eating Disorders

FitSugar — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:45:00 -0800

It is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and the subject can't really be contained to one week. When thinking about eating disorders, and frankly getting a little sad about them, I remembered a positive news story I read a while back. There was a study on family meals and eating disorders, that as mother of two girls I found heartening.

Researchers found that sitting down for regular family meals may actually help prevent eating disorders. Girls who ate five or more meals with their families weekly were one third less likely to practice extreme weight control behaviors. Extreme weight control behaviors range from vomiting, taking diet pills and abusing diuretics. Interestingly enough, family meals did not seem to lower unhealthy weight control behaviors like binge eating, smoking or skipping meals. It is important to note that the researchers did say that how the family acts during these meals is important, because they could also promote unhealthy eating habits. Enhancing the meal time atmosphere and saving possibly emotionally loaded topics, like potential prom plans, for other times might promote a healthy relationship with food too.