Rest Stop - Quinoa and Garbonzo Beans

I am adding a couple of more recipes to this site.  One is Cranberry Orange Quinoa.  It has about 200 calories per 1/2 cup serving.  I am beginning to use more Quinoa.  My wife, daughter and granddaughters really like the stuff.  This recipe comes from the web site: My Food Diary. 

     http://myfooddiary.com/blog/cranberry-orange-quinoa-recipe

Cranberry Orange Quinoa

Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa

1/2 cup fresh cranberries

1 orange, peeled and chopped

1 tsp orange zest

juice of one orange 

juice of one lemon

1 1/2 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

Place the cooked quinoa in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

Put the cranberries in a small food processor and pulse until all the berries are chopped.  Add the cranberries to the quinoa.  Next add the chopped orange, and stir the fruit together with the quinoa.

In a small dish, whisk together the orange zest, orange juice, lemon juice, and honey.  Pour this dressing over the quinoa.  Add walnuts, if desired.

I have already posted a recipe for honey glazed chickpeas and someone asked if I had one for a savory one.  I found this on the Big Red Kitchen Blog:  http://www.bigredkitchen.com/2009/02/roasted-chickpeas/  I like the chickpeas either honey glazed or savory because they have a great nutty flavor.  I haven't brought myself to eating them as a bean yet, but that will come.

Roasted Chickpeas

Ingredients

2 cans chickpeas(garbanzo beans), drained, rinsed, and dried a little

1 Tbsp olive oil

cinnamon

cumin

smoked paprika

smokey seasoned salt

chipotle powder

(no measurements, just to taste)

Directions

On a jelly roll pan lined with foil, place peas in a single layer and sprinkle with oil and spices.  Toss well and bake in 450 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes depending on doneness you like.  Place in an air tight container.

Rest Stop - LOL

Rest Stop - Frighteningly Fattening Fall Foods Slideshow

The Web MD web site has a great slideshow on foods to avoid this fall.  The sad thing is that several of them are comfort foods to me, like the chicken pot pie and ribs.  I just got smoker, but to tell the truth I will continue to use it.  Just sparingly.  View the slideshow at:  http://bit.ly/1eCLDL1

Rest Stop - Santa Fe Style Quinoa Salad

This Quinoa Salad Recipe comes from the web site Once A Month Meals.   http://bit.ly/18tpBnC   I made this for dinner tonight and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  Vick is trying to eat better also and is trying to hold her calorie count to 1000.  I am having a hard time convincing her that is not smart and she should eat at least 1200 calories a day.  Any way back to the recipe:

Santa Fe Style Quinoa Salad

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup picante sauce

1 cup quinoa, well rinsed

1/2 tsp ground cummin

1/4 tsp salt

ground black pepper, to taste

1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 1/5 cup fresh or frozen corn, cooked, drained and cooled

1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

2 medium scallions, thinly sliced

1 small jalapeno chili, seeded and finely chopped

In a medium saucepan, stir together water, picante sauce, quinoa, cumin, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes.  Uncover pan and toss quinoa with a fork.  Transfer mixture to a large bowl and let cool slightly.  While still warm, add the remaining ingredients to the quinoa mixture tossing well to combine.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve slightly warm or let cool to room temperature.  

Here is a little food for thought:  I read a short article about nixing temptation.  It is titled  "Control Your Urges with a Ride on the Mind Bus".  A very interesting read.  I will have try to try it and post about how it worked for me.  The link is:  http://bit.ly/1dKPTbE

Rest Stop - Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

The recipe for these cookies comes from the http://www.welltraveledwife.com  web site.  I know they are technically not healthy but by using coconut oil in them I felt they fit on this blog in an obscure way.  Any way they were very good and even my daughter couldn't leave them alone and she doesn't care for coconut.

coconut chocolate chip cookies

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 cup + 1 Tbsp brown sugar, packed

2 eggs(room temp)

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded coconut(optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray cookie sheet or line with a silpat.

In a mixing bowl, use a mixer to beat the coconut oil and brown sugar.  Add in the eggs and beat until fluffy.  Add in the vanilla extract.

In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder with whisk.  Mix the flour mixture into the coconut oil mixture a little bit at a time with a wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated.  Add in the chocolate chips + coconut and mix well.

Drop by small rounded spoons onto prepared baking sheets.  Bake for 8 - 9 minutes or until slightly browned around the edges.  They will be really soft and chewy, with a slightly crispy edge.  Let them rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before removing to rack to cool completely.

ENJOY

Here is an interesting article  http://nydn.us/15rGCMQ   about the Mars Candy Company asking a small fish shop to post a disclaimer that deep-frying the Mars bar is not in line with company's supposed commitment to "healthy active lifestyle" and that Mars Inc does not endorse the deep frying of their candy bars. As if Mars bars are part of a healthy life style.  Who are they kidding?

Now the answer to the trivia question I asked in my last post.  To find the answer good to the Rest Stop - LOL from Aug 18th.  I posted the answer on that post because if I put it here you would read the answer before you rear the question.

Rest Stop - I Am Not Dead

I have asked by several people what has happened.  They want to know if I am still alive and kicking and how my weight loss is coming.  If you have looked at my weight loss tracker, you may notice that something doesn't look right and you are right.  My scale always weighed me a lot lighter than my Dr.'s scales.  I liked mine better but I have decided to get real and accept the weight that my Dr.'s show me to be.  If I moved my scale a fraction of an inch I could show a 20-30 lb loss or gain.  I have now figured if I set it on a tile I have it shows the same weight as my Dr and thus my weight now shows at over 340 lbs.  But that is okay because that means my beginning weight was about 411 lbs and up to this point I have still lost over 60 lbs and that makes me happy.  I have also set goals for weight loss for each week to be able to lose the 150 lbs I am striving to lose by the time I have been on this journey for a year, which will be April of 2014.  Vick and I have set up some incentives along the way.  They will be for every 25 pounds I lose.  One of the incentives is being in a commercial Dr. Scott wants to do but Vick and I have agreed that I need to be losing big time again before I can take part.  And he is talking about doing this commercial in the next couple  of months, so I need to kick it in gear.

My visits with Dr. Scott had been stretched out to every other week but he felt I had lost my fire and I have been visiting with him every week recently to get it back.  I had fallen to about 60-70 percent dedication to this journey and Dr. Scott was concerned I was slipping farther.  I know what to do, I just need to do it.  I am now at about 80-85 per cent back on track, with a goal of being back to about 95 per cent in the next couple of weeks. Dr. Scott says just take small steps.  He has me keeping a food journal and it includes how many times I go to the Gym.  He wants me going at least four times and preferably 5 to 6 time a week.  And I have to show him my food journal when we visit.  I know I feel a lot better when I eat smart.  I will also be blogging again because I have still been reading about nutrition and exercise and have several recipes to put on this site.

I am very thankful to Dr. Scott for all the help he has given me.  Because of his program and concern for my health and well being I have been able to lose 60 pounds, which is something I had been unable to do on my own.

On the lighter side. a little trivia and a couple of interesting observations from an errand I ran tonight.

First the observations: I went to put gas in my truck tonight at the local mini mart and noticed a couple of signs on the gas pumps.  First, I could get a two cent per gallon discount on my fuel purchase for buying a 44 ounce soda and the second was I could get a 3 cent per gallon discount for a purchase of two Red Bulls. The first one caught my attention because I heard earlier today that the American people consume over 5 billion gallons of soda which equates to over 50 gallons per person.  Since Vick and I drink almost no soda, somebody is drinking my share.  No wonder we have an obesity problem.

Now for the trivia:  What item has sold over half a trillion since it began being produced 100 years ago?

The answer in my next post, which will be posted tomorrow night.

Rest Stop - Healthy Banana Cookies

I made these cookies yesterday.  And actually, they tasted pretty good.  I will be taking them and sharing them with the staff at Dr. Scott's office tomorrow and then I will see if they pass the test of a keeper.  So far his staff has been very happy with the treats I take them, but there is always a first time.

Healthy Banana Cookies

Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup dates or raisins
2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup oil (i used coconut oil)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together and let sit for 15 min.  Drop by spoonfull on greased cookie sheets.  Bale at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

As you can see it is a very easy recipe.  With the cookie scoop I used I got about 3 dozen cookies and each one is about 65 calories.

Rest Stop - Sugar..Soda.................

As you can see by my last couple of posts, I am on an anti sugar and soda kick.  This is mostly due to my own experiences and the amount of sugar and soda I used to consume.  I have been known to keep a bowl of candy next to my computer.  I still have a bowl of Dum Dum suckers there but they are for my grand kids. I also have a gumball machine by my computer.  It was made by the husband of a good friend of mine and my grandson loves getting gum from it and I know in the near future as my granddaughters get a little older they will think it a neat thing also.  So those things will not be going away any time soon.  One of things I have learned through this journey is just how addictive sugar is and how much I was consuming on a daily basis.  For some reason, I think Sunday was my worst day.  I keep candy in the pockets of suit coats for the kids at church and I usually helped myself to more than my share of it.  In the last five months I have had less than 44 ounces of soda and my candy consumption is down by probably 90%.  Not bad for a sugar addict.

Now for a couple of infographics:

He is a link to a good story on "What Happens When You Drink Soda": http://www.ksl.com/?nid=1010&sid=24552939

Rest Stop - LOL

  Answer to the trivia question:  Oreo's, what else would it be?

Rest Stop - Cathi, This One Is For You..........

It is also for the girls at Dr. Scott's office. We have been having an on going discussion about caffeine and its effects.

Here is a link to an article in Web MD dealing with the facts and myths of caffeine:  http://www.webmd.com/balance/caffeine-myths-and-facts  My concern for you guys comes from experience.  When I was in high school I was addicted to caffeine.  My daily consupmtion added up to usually a pot of coffee in the morning while I was doing floors at a local grocery store, up to a half a box of no-doz through out he day and up to a gallon of Coca-Cola everyday.  When I finally crashed it was not a pretty thing.  I did not start out taking in that much caffeine daily, it grew to that because I needed more to stay awake.  One more article about caffeine addiction:  http://www.caffeineawareness.org/caffeineawarness4page.pdf

One last infograph for you Soda addicts and you know who your are.

Rest Stop - Visit with Dr. Hardman

Yesterday was my three month check up with Dr. Hardman.  When she came in to talk to me I got a big hug from her, I usually don't get a hug until I leave.  According to her records I have been losing about 10 lbs a month for the last six months.  That made me feel good and she is extremely happy with my progress.  She said to keep doing whatever I am doing because it is working.

As we talked she asked if Dr. Scott had added exercise to my journey and when I said yes she asked for my exercise plan.  She is keeping close tabs on what I am doing and how I feel.  I told her I feel great.  I then asked with my breathing up and weight going down if I had done these things earlier, if I could have kept my job with the city and she said "NO!"  She said, yes the weight loss is helping my breathing but probably the biggest factor to my dong better is the fact that I am inside all the time and not out in the pollen and bad air all day, every day.  I still have to check the air quality and pollen count on a daily basis and with all the fires burning around the West I am pretty limited to the time I can spend outside, especially with ash lightly falling from the sky.

As Dr. Hardman and I talked about the exercise program I am following, I happened to mention I was going to do the thirty day plank challenge.  She wants to see which one of us can hold a plank for five minutes, which is the end result of the thirty day challenge. This is what the challenge looks like:

 But after doing my first one today and making a whole 12 seconds, 5 minutes at the end of thirty days isn't going to happen for Santa Clause.  My challenge will probably be something more like this:

That's seconds not minutes.  I did find a sheet with some hints on doing planks:

Then when I was really down, I came across an article that added insult to injury.  I was reading an article from Men's Health and it said the scorecard:

Below Average: You can't hold a basic plank for 60 seconds

Below Average: Fewer than 15 push ups

Below Average: Fewer than 3 chin ups

I already knew I was way out of shape. But then:

On the positive side I came across a YouTube video on doing planks that gave me hope.

I will start will the easy level and work up to the advanced level as I start getting in shape.  I will be trying hard to make five minutes by the time I see Dr. Hardman in three months.

If I get up that mountain, then I may take on this challenge:

LET THE PLANKS BEGIN

Rest Stop - Crazy Week Last Week - This Week is Not Much Better

I have not posted for a couple of weeks, for no other reason than I have not wanted to take the time.  I know that is no excuse because I do better with my journey when I am posting because then I become accountable.

As you can see from my Weight Tracker, last week was not a good one.  Vick's birthday was on the 9th and I just didn't watch it as close as I should have.  Dinner out on Thursday, pizza, cake and ice cream Friday, dinner at Texas Roadhouse Sat, and dinner with friends Sunday kinda(really) wiped out the good I had been doing.  Monday is my birthday and my grandson says it is not a birthday without cake and ice cream.  HELP, I am in trouble.  Also we are supposed be going to dinner with the kids tonight and I let my grandson chose were we are going and he told me it will be surprise because I am not supposed to know where we are going.  He did say something about the Pizzeria.  I better get back on my game.

Vick is worried about how I am doing and I told her there are going to be times like this and I just need to be on my game.  I feel good about how things are going and I know there are going to be bad times but as long as I do not let the bad times become the norm I will be okay.

Rest Stop - Pizza Pie Cafe

Time for a confession.  This journey started in April because Vick and I were concerned about my life and were it was going.  I call this a journey because as I said in an earlier post my Dr. had given my 6 to 8 years to live and the first three letters of Diet are "DIE" and I am not to fond of that prospect right now.  So hence the use of the therm "Journey".  I have gone off the grid a few times and that includes going to out to dinner three times.  The last time was last night.  And now for the confession.

My son-in-laws sister won dinner for ten adults at the Pizza Pie Cafe. She decided to redeem the dinner last night.  Vick and I got invited to go along and we went.  We should have had a game plan before going.  Vick is trying to lose a little weight although I don't think she needs to.

What is funny about this whole thing, is one the radio the night before last they were talking about the pizza buffet at the Pizza Pie Cafe and she asked how quick we could get to SLC and go to the buffet.  We decided that we would wait for awhile before we went but as it turned out we waited less than 24 hours.

I did have a large veggie salad before I had any pizza and I did not indulge in pasta, maybe I should have and left the pizza alone.  There were at least a dozen pizzas to chose from along with six dessert pizzas.  The pasta choices number about eight with several different sauces.  Hard to choose and be on this journey.

I don't think I did to bad but I know I could have done better.  Like I said before, I started with a large salad, which normally I probably wouldn't have in the past, but I did have Ranch Dressing instead of a vinaigrette.  Bad choice on my part.  I did limit myself to 4 slices of pizza, which was good for mew beacuse I can usually eat a whole pie without skipping a beat.  It appears they cut there pies into 16 slices which actually makes for a small slice.  I think three of them would not be to much large than one slice from Costco.  I know trying to justify what I ate.  Is it working?  I did have two slices of their dessert pizzas and after I did I wished I would have had a couple of more slices of the regular pies or maybe some pasta instead.  They were good but since I have not had much sugar on this journey, they seemed overly sweet.

I figure the pizza was in the neighborhood of about 170 calories per slice, which would be around 700 calories in pizza and with the dessert pizza weighing in at about 225 calories per slice for a total of 450 or so, bringing my pizza total to around 1200 calories ,plus salad and soda.  I forgot to mention the dinner include soda, but again I filled my 32 oz cup less than full and that was mostly ice.  But it still contained around 300 calories.  This made for a dinner of over two thousand calories.  Not good.

Vick and I have decided we will have a plan in place before we go out again.  It is hard to believe that this is only the third time we have been out to dinner when we used to go out two or three times a week.  I had to keep telling Vick we only screwed up one meal not the whole deal and we would start over being good this morning.  I told her that would be the pattern I will be following for the rest of my life.  I will occasionally go off eating clean but will always come back to it the next meal  because I have worked to hard to lose this 65 pounds and I want to lose about 100 more. Besides we have to much money invested in this journey.

Rest Stop - Carbs

I wanted to post an article I came across about carbs.  I usually think of bread, buns, donuts, cake, pies etc. I know that carbs also come from fruits, veggies and meat, and they are a better chooice.  To say I will give up bread and those type of treats for life is a stretch and isn't going to happen.  As I have said before I will make different and better choices.  I will pick my battles and choose my fights.  Anyway, back to the link for the article titled: All Carbohydrates Are Not Created Equal, Using the Glycemic Index  http://bbcom.me/pes3fq

Rest Stop - Glycemic Index

This will be a short post.  I want to include a couple of links to articles about the Glycemic Index.  On the journey I am taking Dr. Scott has wanted me to eat foods on the low side of the glycemic index, below 50.  As this journey has progressed I have been allowed to add an occasional banana and even rice cakes.  As I stated in the last post rice cakes are high on the index.  I have been reading about the index and actually have looked a few items and then not eaten them because they were over 50.  I know I wont totally stay away from things that are high on the index as time goes on I will just be careful.

The first article is titled simply Glycemic Index.....The Glycemic Index is a numerical index that ranks carbohydrates based on their rate of glycemic response....read more  http://bit.ly/9oNOSf

The second article is more information about the Glycemic Index  http://bit.ly/K4PmN

The third article is from the Mayo Clinic ablut the Glycemic Index Diet  http://mayocl.in/8Lc99N

Here is a link to search the Glycemic Index for any foods you may have questions about their ranking http://www.glycemicindex.com/

Here is a list of 100+ common foods http://hvrd.me/atmEW0

Rest Stop - Rice Cakes

Rice Cakes.  A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object.  And, yes I know everybody says they taste like Styrofoam but they are not bad. I know this might be a crazy thing to write a blog post about but they have become a part of my eating lately.  I checked with Dr. Scott and he didn't see a problem with them but while reading one of the health blogs I follow I found out that rice cakes are high on the glycemic index and thus not very healthy. http://yhoo.it/X51Psb   They always make the list of foods that are making you fat http://bit.ly/iD4rxh  and   http://bit.ly/Lo692B    And yet I am also reading that even though they are high on the index they are good to eat before a work out and maybe a perfect snack  http://bit.ly/OJw31h   I haven't quite decided which story is the truth and even though they are high on the glycemic index I will continue to eat them for now.  I usually add a little almond butter to mine.  Vick can't believe I eat them and enjoy them.  I haven't been able to get her to try them yet.  I will let you decide for yourself.

Rest Stop - Good Eats

When I had My appointment with Dr. Scott earlier this week I took the girls in the office a treat and one of them wanted the recipe and I promised her it would be posted to this blog within a couple of days, so Leslie, this post is for you.

The first recipe comes from Nutritionist in the Kitch.  http://www.nutritionistinthekitch.com/  Great web site, with lots of recipes and info.

Soft & Chewy Banana Nut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

6 Tbsp all natural peanut butter  
2 Tbsp all natural almond butter
1 small banana, mashed well in a bowl
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
dash salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mash banana in a bowl until nice and smooth.  Add nut butters, spices, and salt, and mix until very well combined.  The dough should stick together into one big ball by the time it is all mixed together.  Nothing should stick to the side of the bowl.  Grease a cookie sheet with healthy oil.  Plop into little balls on the cookie sheet and press down with a fork.  Bake 12-14 minutes or until firm...but watch that the bottoms don't burn.  Let cool and enjoy.

You can add chocolate chips, raisins, coconut, cooked quinoa, flax seed or chia seeds if you chose.

The second recipe is very simple.  I made these and took them to a friends dinner we have every month with 3 or 4 other couples.  It comes from the Dietitian Drive Web site. http://dietitiandrive.com/  Another great web site for healthy  recipes and ideas.

Chocolate Cherry Bites

Ingredients

2 Qts Raspberries

12 oz bag Dark Chocolate Chips

Directions

Rinse the Raspberries.  Let Dry.  Insert 1 dark chocolate chip in the raspberry opening.  Enjoy a sweet treat.

The third recipe for this post is something I made a couple of weeks ago when we had dinner with our friends.  I took the left overs to my daughter's house and shared them with her family.  I wasn't sure she would like them but she loved them. I guess I will be making these again.  The source of this recipe is HeatOvento350.  http://www.heatovento350.com/

Mini Pepper Chicken Nachos

Ingredients:

1 tsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 green onions, sliced. white parts and green parts seperated
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 tsp chili powder
1 cup salsa
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound mini bell peppers
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar/jack cheese blend
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/2 large tomato, diced
1/4 cup cilantro

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat the oil in a 12 inch non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and the white parts of the green onions and cook and stir for 1 minute.  Mix in shredded chicken and chili powder.  Toss until all ingredients are well coated with chili powder and chicken is warm, about 1-2 minutes.  remove from heat and stir in salsa.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Slice the ends off the mini bell peppers and slice in half length wise.  Remove seeds and ribs and press each half open so the peppers are as flat as possible.  Arrange close together in a single layer on a large baking sheet.  Spoon chicken mixture evenly over pepper halves.  Top with black olives and cheese.  bake nachos for 10 minutes, or until cheese has melted.  Remove from oven top with tomatoes, cilantro and remaining green onions.  Serve.


The last recipe comes from the Modern Parents Messy Kids web site.  http://www.modernparentsmessykids.com/  Again, I shared these with the staff and ChroniCare of Utah, located in Layton.  The thing that was great is they thought I had used nuts and couldn't believe they we chick peas or garbanzo beans.  I made the Honey Cinnamon recipe.



Roasted Honey Cinnamon Chickpeas

Ingredients:

1- 15 oz can organic garbonzo beans
1/2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a  Silpat silicone mat.  Drain and rinse the chickpeas in a colander.  Place them on a towel to dry off.  Spread chickpeas on a baking sheet in a single layer.  Bake approx. 45 minutes or until crispy.  While chickpeas are hot, toss them in a bowl with oil, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Enjoy as is or for a caramelized effect, place them back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so.  Store leftover chickpeas in an air tight container.





                                                                                                                                                                   

Rest Stop - Sugar

Rest Stop - One of Those Days - LOL

Rest Stop - New Toy

I got a new toy today.  I broke down and bought a Ninja Kitchen System from Costco.  I have been using my Magic Bullet to make smoothies and I don't think is made for the use it has been getting from me lately.  I was afraid it was going to die and it seems now that both Vick and I are eating better , it wasn't going to last much longer.  When we went to Costco today they had the Ninjia on sale.  It is not what I really want but I just can't justify spending the money for a Vitamix or Blendtec.  Anyway, I bought a NInjia today and have already made two smoothies in it.  I will say it does work better than my Magic Bullet.  I am including the recipes for the smoothies I made and both of them fit in my journey.

The first one is an Apple Smoothie and the second one is a Cucumber Blast.


APPLE SMOOTHIE

Ingredients:
2 Apples, core removed and cut into large cubes (don't peel)
6-7 Frozen Strawberries
10 Seedless Black or Red Grapes

Directions:
Put all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.


CUCUMBER BLAST

Ingredients:
2 grapefruits, peeled and quartered
2 oranges, peeled and quartered
1/2 cucumber, peeled
4-6 ice cubes

Directions:
Place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.

Rest Stop - How Restaurants Are Killing Your Diet Plan

The following article came from an email I receive called "Diet and Nutrition"

Make smarter menu decisions to take pleasure in eating out while on a diet plan.

Anyone who's dieting may fear dining establishments, how do you know what falls within your healthy diet strategy versus exactly what should be avoided?  Roughly 75 percent of Americans dine out at least once a week, while 25 percent enjoy bistros at least two or three days weekly.  And a recent study cocluded that women consume an additional 16 grams of fat and 253 calories on days they ate out, thanks to enhanced portion sizes and misleading menus.  Luckily, there are methods that you can stay with your diet plan while taking pleasure in that valued meal outside your home.

Read more.......http://bit.ly/144kyN9  

Rest Stop - Just a Thought

Rest Stop - Joined A Gym

Maybe this rest stop should have been titled "Joined the Gym Again".  When I worked for the city, they paid for a membership to Gold's Gym and when I left the city I joined Planet Fitness with my son in-law.  Gold's was alright especially since I did not have to pay the membership dues as long as I went 12 times a month.  I didn't put a lot of effort into my work outs, so you can guess what the results were.  When I joined Planet Fitness I was going to do better.  My daughter is worried about my son in-law and we were going to go together.  Occasionally we would meet at the gym and the the work outs were lack luster at best.  Neither one of us put much into it and the results showed it.  I got a neighbor to join Planet Fitness and he would go once in a while with me and soon he dropped out.  It got to the point I wasn't going and I quit.  I got a pass to the pool at the high school and that was great for a short time, until they changed up the lap swim times and then totally closed the pool down until they get the money for repairs.  They now have the money and hopefully in the near future the pool will be repaired and reopen.

That brings us to now.  Dr. Scott wanted me to get more exercise than I am getting from walking at the mall.  He suggested joining a gym.  After discussions with my Vick, it was decided I would join Planet Fitness again because it is only $10.00 a month.  I have started doing the Circuit Training they have and it kicked my butt the first couple of times.  After the first time I thought I would die.  My calves hurt for a couple of days. Now I feel the burn but I can at least walk the next day.  And as crazy as it sounds for me to say, "I actually look forward to going to the gym".  The problem is right now I wont be in the gym for a short time due to the fact I had hand surgery this week and my Dr. doesn't want me to my than five pounds of pressure on my hand for a while.  Hopefully, next week when I get the stitches out I will be cleared to resume my work outs.

Rest Stop - Not a Diet

Rest Stop - Food Label Scams

I was reading a newsletter article on Nutrition that I receive, by Joel Marion, that I found quite interesting.  It is titled "Beware Of This Food Label SCAM".

When it comes to food labels, manufacturers are very good at finding the loopholes in labeling laws and requirements, and subsequently very good at pulling the wool over Your eyes.  One such loophole is the manufacturer's ability to claim "zero" grams of fat, or zero grams of trans fat, or zero calories on the label, when in fact the product does indeed contain plenty of fat, trans fat, and/or calories.

Here is law, and how food manufacturers get around it:

Zero grams of fat or zero grams of trans fat: As long as the food item has less than .5g of fat or trans fat respectively, the label does not need to claim their existence on the label.  In fact, the product can even legally market "Zero grams of fat!" or "0g of trans fat per serving!"

More on why this is a HUGE problem and how food manufacturers deepen this loophole in just a minute.

Zero calories per serving: As long as the food item has less than 5 calories per serving, it can be rounded down and labeled 0 calories.

Deepening the Loophole with Unrealistic Serving Sizes

While .5g of fat or 5 calories may not seem like a big deal, remember that these values are "per serving", and while an entire package, box, can or bottle of a product may contain hundreds of calories and loads of fat, as long as they can divide that package into small enough servings to meet the calorie and gram requirements to
claim zero, it's legal.

Legal AND deceptive as hell.

I don't know about you, but I get angry when we see food manufacturers outright LYING to consumers on their labels in the nutrition facts.  Some of these products should change the Nutrition Facts header to "Nutrition Lies" and it'd actually be a lot more accurate.

You see, it is my oath and moral duty to provide you with honest nutrition advice and information, and as such, here are my "Top 3 Violators" of this deceptive labeling practice.

1. Cooking Sprays and Butter Sprays - Cooking sprays are labeled as fat-free but their first ingredient is oil, which is 100% fat.  How in the world can this be?  Well, the serving size is about 1/5th of a second. What?  Last time I used a cooking spray (some of the organic ones are useful) it took about 3 seconds to lightly coat the surface of the pan.  Well, according to the manufacturer, I just used 15 servings.

Bottom line, no one uses the ridiculous and absurd microscopic 1/5th of second spray suggested serving, which isn't nearly enough product to be of practical use.

Cooking sprays aren't fat-free...they are nearly 100% fat.  In my example above, a realistic serving actually contains around 5 grams of fat and 45 calories.  A far cry from the 0 number reported on their nutrition facts.

Same goes for butter sprays, which are 90%+ in most cases.  For example, one popular brand of butter spray contains over 800 calories and 90 grams of fat per bottle, yet it's labeled as a fat-free, calorie-free product!  Yeah, right!

The serving size?  One spray.  Let's real here...no one is using one spray, or five sprays, or 10 sprays,  In fact, twenty-five sprays equals just teaspoon, when the servings size for regular butter is 1 tablespoon. When you balance out the serving size to be the same as a serving of butter, you're looking at 75 sprays to get the same amount.

2. Artificial sweeteners - Not only are artificial sweeteners bad news for your health, but they're also a top violator of "calorie-free" deceptive labeling practices.  Many brands of artificial sweeteners use maltodextrin and/or dextrose(which is pure sugar) as fillers in each packet, and each packet can legally contain up to a full gram of sugar and 5 calories and still be labeled as calorie free.

I've seen people put 3-5 packets of this stuff in their coffee or on their cereal...hardly calorie free and even worse, maltodextrin and dextrose are two of the biggest insulin-spiking carbs around -- the entire reason people choose artificial sweeteners over sugar in the first place!

3. Any food that contains "partially hydrogenated" oils in the ingredient list, period.  Bottom line, you should have a zero-tolerance attitude towards trans fats.  They are the most health-derailing nutrient known to man, and you should be truly consuming ZERO grams per day.

If a product claims "Zero grams of trans fat per serving", especially if they specify "per serving", they are almost always playing the serving size game and you're very likely to see partially hydrogenated oils on the list of ingredients when you flip the package over.  If so, avoid it like the plague.

Week Seventeen - Day One - Try A New Vegetable

Had my weekly visit with Dr. Scott today. He reviewed my food journals and was not real happy but also not real upset.  He said I might want to cut down on the carrots because they are high on the glycemic index. I told him if I did not  eat carrots, there would be virtually no vegetables other than lettuce and some cabbage in my diet.  I am not fond of many vegetables.  Dr. Scott said to try new vegetables because taste buds change over your life and I told him I have lived for 60 years and have not developed a taste for broccoli, cauliflower and such vegetables and I am not about to start now.  Maybe I will try something new but don't hold your breath.

Rest Stop - Apricot Bites

The recipe for these treats come from the site Wholefood Simply   http://bit.ly/12ZRmS8   I made these for my wife and she loved them.  I shared them with a number of people including the girls at Dr, Scott's office and everybody loved them.  I finally got around to posting the recipe.

Apricot Bites

1 cup dried apricots

2 cups desiccated coconut

Add the ingredients to your blender or food processor.  Blend, blend, blend!  This takes

a while to come together, you may need to use a high speed blender.  Press the mixture into a lined loaf pan.  Refrigerate to set.  Once set chop into pieces and store in the fridge,  Enjoy!