Bag Your Lunch

Taking a healthy lunch to work is one of the simplest ways to trim your budget. Most people think nothing of spending $10 or so for a restaurant lunch, but over the course of a month ($200)--or a year ($2400) -- the expense can really add up.

Beyond the cost savings, most meals packed at home are healthier than foods at restaurants. When we eat out, we're often faced with whopper portions and fattening extras -- like the french fries that routinely come with sandwiches. But when you pack lunch at home, you can control your portions and choose healthier ingredients.

What Makes Up a Healthy Lunch?

First of all, make sure your lunch is balanced, experts recommend. Lunches that include some lean or low-fat protein along with carbohydrates will keep your body fueled for the afternoon.

"The combination of protein and fiber from whole grains, beans, nuts, vegetables and/or fruit will give you the most satisfying and nutritious combination of foods that will keep you feeling full until dinner."

If you love sandwiches, use a variety of whole-grain breads, pitas, and wraps. Choose lean fillings like sliced eggs, tuna fish, cheese or lean meats. Then jazz up your sandwiches with assorted greens, fresh basil, sprouts, sliced cucumbers, onions, and/or tomatoes.

But sandwiches are far from your only option when you're brown-bagging it. Last night's dinner, hard boiled eggs, vegetarian wraps, cereal -- anything you enjoy at home can be packed up and eaten for lunch.  In fact, you might want to make extra food for dinner so you'll have leftovers to bring for lunch.  "Leftovers are the perfect food to pack and take for lunch because you can control the portions and calories in the meal to ensure it will be nutritious, filling and delicious."

To take this idea a bit further, try cooking in bulk. On the weekend, make a big pot of chili, soup, or rice and beans and freeze into individual portions that are ready to take to work in a flash.

Convenience foods can also make quick and easy lunches. Canned soups and frozen meals can be inexpensive, especially if you stock up when they're on sale, and all you have to do is grab one when you're running out the door. Pair these portion-controlled items with a side salad or piece of fruit to provide enough calories to keep you feeling full. - WebMD

Learn more by coming to this week's meeting.  We will discuss Stop and Swap options as well as a number of other stratigies.  If you can't make it; take a look at this week's flyer.

Balance your Diet

A balanced diet is extremely crucial for healthy and consistent weight loss and eventual weight maintenance. While a lot of people have heard this, not everyone knows what exactly a balanced diet means and how it is achieved. The problem is that with all the drastic, restrictive and eventually ineffective fad diets going around that promise to help you lose weight fast, correct dietary information often gets lost in the crowd. Well, here are a few suggestions.

The Meaning of a Balanced Diet

To begin with, you must understand that a healthy and balanced diet is a nutrient-rich diet, or, in other words, a diet consisting of food items that offer a relatively higher number of nutrients and fewer calories. It is also a varied diet, since every food item has its own nutritional limitations and ignoring any particular food group can cause serious nutritional deficiencies. When a diet is both nutrient-rich and varied, it is balanced. It is such a diet that will keep you feeling healthy for exercise, keep your metabolism high and lead to sustainable weight loss. Now, you might ask, if the problem of a good diet has such a simple and straightforward answer, why have complex fad diets become such a rage?

Why Fad Diets?

It is mostly because they offer a couple of irresistible attractions to most people. Firstly, they are short-term diets, so the sacrifices and trouble don’t last more than a few weeks at best. Secondly, these diets promise very fast weight loss. What you may lose in 10 months with exercise and a balanced diet, you can lose in 6 weeks with one of these diets. As usual, there are a lot of people who fall for the gimmick. The risks are dehydration, severe health problems and, almost always, rapid weight gain when you come back to a normal diet.

What should your balanced diet consist of??  Come to a meeting this week or take a look at this week's flyer to learn more.

Package Label - Tricks!!!

What's on the front of food packages does not always stack up to the nutritional facts on the back. Food labels are merely a secret code that needs deciphering. Many food manufacturers intentionally use miscalculation and confusion on food labels to make their otherwise unhealthy products appear to be healthy.

Here are a few nutritional labels warnings that everyone should beware of:

• “Enriched”,“fortified”, “added”, “extra”, and “plus” This means the product has been processed or changed in some way from it's natural form.
• “Made with wheat,” or “rye,” or “multi-grains” Leads you to believe that it is a quality source of whole grains, but usually do not give an actual number of the amount of whole grain in the product. Look for the word “whole” before the word grain to find actual 100% whole-grain products.
• “Natural” or “made from natural”  This just states that the manufacturer started with a natural source. Once the food was processed, the food may not contain anything “natural.”
• “Organically grown,” “organic,” “pesticide-free,” and “no artificial ingredients” This is not an official organic certification, and means very little. Look for genuine “certified organically grown” product labels.

Who knew?!?!  Be sure to come to a Healthbeat Meeting or check out this week's flyer to learn more.“Fruit drinks” Typically means there is very little, sometimes even less than 1% of real fruit and large amounts of sugar. Search for products that say 100% fruit juice on the label.

Nutrients - Are You Getting Enough?

“Americans consume far too many empty calories -- foods high in sugar or fat and not much else,” says Kathy McManus, PhD, head of nutrition at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. “And we're still not getting people to eat enough nutrient-rich foods, like vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and nuts.”

In 2010, the updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans singled out 10 nutrients that Americans may be missing. Four are so low in many people's diets that deficiency poses a real public health risk. They include calcium, vitamin D, potassium, and fiber. Levels of six other key nutrients are “tenuous,” according to the guidelines, including vitamins A, C, E and K, along with choline and magnesium.  Below is an abreviated list...join us for a Healthbeat meeting to learn more about what you can do to make sure you are making the mark!

Calcium

Most of us know that calcium is essential for healthy bones. New evidence suggests that calcium also protects the heart and arteries. It appears to lower the risk of breast cancer and may guard against other forms of cancer, too. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans concluded that many children and most adults fall short on this essential mineral.

Vitamin D

The sunshine vitamin, D is produced by the skin when we're exposed to sunlight. Since many of us work inside, we may not get enough sun exposure to generate adequate vitamin D. Although recent research suggests that vitamin D may be important for a range of functions, the best evidence points to its essential role in building and maintaining strong bones.

Potassium

Most of us know that too much sodium in the form of salt can raise blood pressure. Less well known is that fact that too little potassium also contributes to blood pressure. Falling short on potassium may also increase the risk of kidney stones and osteoporosis. The latest nationwide survey shows that a whopping 97% of Americans don't hit the mark.

Fiber

Fiber is the indigestible part of plant foods. Researchers have long known that fiber helps keep digestion regular. Newer findings show that it protects against heart disease and type 2 diabetes and may help people maintain a healthy weight.

-WebMD

 Want to know more???  Join us for a meeting this week or see this week's flyer.