Category Archives for Student Bites

Student Bites: Baked Kale Snack & Fiber Talk

Today in class, while learning about all kinds of fiber, I’m enjoying a tasty snack of baked kale!

I made my Kale this morning during my normal daily food prep and packing. It really takes no time at all. I preheat the oven to 400 degrees, dry then season the chopped Kale Greens, then bake for about 10 minutes until crispy. Into a container and my lunch box, and off to school I go with a dark leafy green box of yummy!

Dark leafy greens are an excellent source of fiber. Today in class I learned that soluble fiber delays gastric emptying and increases transit time. In other words, fiber keeps you feeling fuller longer. That’s important to know if you are trying to lose weight and eat fewer calories and not feel deprived! An added benefit to soluble fiber is that it reduces the body’s ability to absorb nutrients, especially glucose and that’s great news if you have high blood sugar!

I found this awesome chart showing the fiber content of some foods:

According to the MayoClinic Online: “Women should try to eat at least 21 to 25 grams of fiber a day, while men should aim for 30 to 38 grams a day.” So eat your plants!

And don’t forget, if you increase your fiber intake, you need to increase your fluids too! If you know what I mean.

Do you get enough fiber in your diet?

Student Bites: Metabolic Rate Shocker!

On Thursday in my Exercise Science Lab at school I was so lucky to have to opportunity to do this:

That is me hooked up to a Korr Medical Technologies Cardio Coach that measures how well my body metabolizes Oxygen and outputs Carbon Dioxide, a measure of my Resting Metabolic Rate. In simpler terms, it determines how fast or slow my metabolism is burning. And with that data, a computer program can calculate how many calories per day my body would burn if I were a couch potato all day!

This is where years of personal dieting experience and those torturous 1200 calorie days were thrown completely out the window! Apparently my body burns 2290 kcals/day! That’s huge! In comparison with others, my metabolism is 42% faster than most women of my age, weight and height!  According to the nifty printout we received detailing our results, I should be eating 1832 kcals/day on days I do not exercise, here’s the kicker, to lose weight! 

 

I’ve been eating about 1400 calories per day for the past two years and have obviously lost well, and yet, I have noticed that the last 20 pounds have gotten very difficult to drop! According to Elena, the RD who provided the testing, my body has been in the starvation zone and therefore holding on to every last possible pound it can! She also suggested that the reason I am not seeing cuts in my muscles, despite my intense exercise for the past year, is because my body is attacking the glycogen in my muscles for fuel.

My body’s metabolism is so high that I am exceptionally efficient at processing calories and therefore should be eating more to fuel my body!Craziness!  

I love this quote from the informational handout:

One thing holds true in weight management and that is Energy Balance. Simply put, if you burn more energy than your body absorbs, you will lose weight. When food is absorbed into your body it must either be burned as energy or stored as fat. Knowing your metabolic rate helps you to know how to balance what you eat with what you burn.

So here’s the plan: I will be eating much more food than normal, about 1832 calories per day while continuing to track on MyFitnessPal. I will also be focusing on post workout snacks as a place to add in those calories. I learned that I should be eating within 30 minutes of exercise and that snack should include a whole grain, fruit and protein. For example, a whole wheat tortilla with hummus and an apple. I’m going to allow myself larger portions of the healthy foods I already eat and continue to eat a plant based diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes!

Here’s a look at what my food day looked like yesterday, consuming 1800 calories:

   

(And for the record, yes I know Honey Mustard isn’t vegan, but come on, it’s okay to live a little!)

I’m skeptical but hopeful that this will be the nutritional push my body needs to see real athletic results!

So keep my results in mind next time you consider drastically reducing the number of calories you consume from day to day.  You may be able to eat more than you think and still lose weight! Of course it’s still vitally important that your calories come from real, whole foods packed full of nutrients! It’s also imperative that you move your body – just a small increase in exercise output can have major effects on your metabolism.

Do you want to have your metabolism tested? Contact Elena Doris with National Metabolism Testing Services. Their phone number is 877-527-5677 and the email is nmtsllc@gmail.com.

Student Bites: Challenge Your Idea of a Balanced Diet

A lot of us grew up learning the food pyramid in school.

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Your carbs at the bottom, then fruits and vegetables, then meat and dairy, and then at the very top you had a small allowance for fats and sweets (so, we’re supposed to eat them, right?). Sure it had flaws, but it helped the general population better structure meals, and in my opinion, structure is what helps most in controlling and monitoring your diet. All good things, right? Not so fast.

Recently there’s been a shift in the visual method the Government uses to make recommendations for healthy eating. We are now supposed to learn and follow the MyPlate method.

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MyPlate is a huge improvement on the old pyramid. There is a greater emphasis on fruits and vegetables, a recommendation for whole grains over other starches, and no dedicated space for fats and sweets, but don’t get me started on the dairy. Overall the plate is visual, practical, and applicable to every day life. Awesome, right? Not so fast.

Consider for a moment that we stopped thinking about foods in terms of grams of protein, calories, or percent daily value. Yesterday in my exercise nutrition class, my professor Dr. Longstreet presented us with an interesting concept that challenges the way we traditionally structure a balanced diet – thinking about food in terms of purpose and benefit, not servings and allowances.

It goes a little something like this…

GO FOODS give you energy. Think carbohydrates, the good kind like whole grains.

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GROW FOODS help you grow – muscles, bones, hair. Think protein, as well as calcium and iron containing foods – nuts, legumes, seeds, soy.

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GLOW FOODS make you glow. Think fruits and vegetables – vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

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I think intuitively I’ve come to view foods in a very similar way over the past few years, just without the articulated structure. I feel like thinking about foods in terms of health promoting or preventing is a much more wholistic, self aware approach to eating that champions the individual’s sense of worth and well being – my inner yogi would be so proud.

How to you think about food? Well maybe I should ask, have you ever even stopped to think about food?

Student Bites: Obesity Infographic

I’m in the middle of studying for my Community Nutrition Final and I’ve come across an excellent infographic my professor posted to our class document sharing website. I thought  it would be appropriate to share here…

I especially love the comparison of calories consumed between the 1970′s and present day.

What did you find striking about this infographic?

Student Bites { Healthy Snacks for Kids }

I am currently working on a grant proposal / project for my community nutrition class aimed at improving snacks at a local elementary school.  I am asking Publix Supermarkets for gift cards to provide to teachers that will enable them to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables to serve to their students every single day of the school year.  Part of this initiative will include banning junk food, such as chips, cookies, candy and sugar sweetened beverages from the classroom!

Why not just teach parents how to better feed their children? 

Children in our community tend to eat a majority of their daily caloric intake at school and are rarely exposed to fresh fruits and vegetables at home. It is evident that a majority of the student population would beneift from further nutritional support. The administrators, teachers, students and parents have identified an opportunity to improve the intake of fruits and vegetables by students by improving the current practice of providing mid-morning snacks to students. The current snack program is funded entirely by teacher and parent donations, often times consisting of low cost, processed foods such as chips and cookies.  Research shows that an increase in the consumption of added sugars and fat, such as those founds in chips and cookies and sugar sweetened beverages, is directly correlated to an unhealthy increase in the weight of children. A recent report from the National Insitute of Health showed that decreasing the intake of excess sugar and fat and increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables not only reduced the incidence of childhood obesity but also served to improve academic performance. Furthermore, children who are well fed are less likely to become sick and miss school days; a decrease in absenteeism will directly increase the extent to which a child will learn subject curriculum.

In doing research for this project, I came across this great article from PCRM (Physicians Comitee for Responsible Medicine) about healthy snacking for kids, complete with ideas, and recipes!

PCRM | Healthy Snacks for Kids.

Busy families sometimes have trouble fitting in three healthy meals each day. Like it or not, snacking has become an important contributor to daily food intake. According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) survey of nearly 10,000 children, twice as many kids today eat snack foods, like crackers, popcorn, pretzels, and corn chips, as kids did just 20 years ago. Soda consumption has increased 37 percent for six- to nine-year-olds during the same time period. While children are eating extra calories, many still fall short on meeting their needs for vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin E, vitamin B6, zinc, and iron.

What does this all mean? You’ll want to take extra care to make certain your child’s snacks are every bit as healthful as the meals you serve. The easiest way to do this is to use the same guidelines for snack planning as for meal planning. Many healthy, convenient options can be found within each of the New Four Food Groups—fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes.

Whether eaten on the go or at home after school, healthy snacks are easy and quick to put together and eat, and offer important nutrients and energy in each delicious bite. Keep healthy beverages, such as water, juice, and soymilk, and snack foods, such as the ones listed in the table below, on-hand at home and encourage your children to pack them into their bags before leaving the house.

Part of my grant proposal includes snacking guidelines for teachers, as well as examples of healthy snacks for kids and cost saving techniques. It is important for me as a future dietitian to recognize that although I may personally believe a whole foods vegan or plant based diet is ideal, it may not be a possibility for all populations.  I would like my mission as a health care professional to be to encourage an increase in fruits and vegetables and a decrease in fats and sugars. With that said, please don’t hate me for including fat free ranch dressing in my suggestions.

Guidelines for Teachers:

  • Daily snack must contain at least one serving of fresh fruit or vegetable.
  • One serving is ½ piece or ½ cup of fruit, ½ cup of cut vegetables, or 1 cup of salad greens.
  • Teachers must provide a different Fruit or Vegetable every day of the week.
  • If Snack contains cereal or crackers they must contain at least 50% whole grains
  • Chips, Cookies, Candy & other “Junk Foods” are not allowed in the classroom.
  • Measure and control proper serving sizes, especially of non-fruit or vegetable items.
  • Be mindful of food allergies.
  • Get creative. Present food in fun, easy to eat, kid friendly ways.
  • Avoid Sugar Sweetened Beverages, even Fruit Juice. Provide water to drink.
  • Most importantly, be enthusiastic. Never express distaste for any fruit or vegetable no matter your personal preferences. Encourage experimentation and new experiences for students.

Examples of Healthy Snacks for the classroom: 

  • ½ Apple with 1 Tbsp of Peanut Butter
  • ½ Banana with Whole Grain Crackers or Trail Mix
  • ½ Banana with 1 Tbsp of Peanut Butter and a Whole Wheat Wrap
  • Carrot Sticks with 1 Tbsp of Fat Free Ranch Dressing or Hummus
  • Celery with 1 Tbsp of Peanut Butter and ¼ cup Raisins
  • Grapes with Almonds
  • Sliced Bell Peppers 1 Tbsp of Fat Free Ranch Dressing or Hummus
  • Fresh Orange Slices
  • Fresh Strawberries with Low Fat Yogurt
  • Small House Salad (Greens, Cucumbers and Fat Free Dressing)
  • Salsa and Whole Wheat or Corn Tortilla
  • Hummus, Spinach and Whole Wheat Tortilla Rolls

Cost Saving Tips for Teachers and Parents:

  • Buy fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season or on sale.
  • Purchase whole fruits and vegetables that can be chopped, pealed, and packed into serving sizes yourself.
  • Keep in mind that pre-packaged, pre-cut fruits and vegetables can be convenient but expensive.
  • Remember that children do not require large serving sizes of foods. Split whole fruits in halves or quarters – depending on the grade level. Carefully measure serving sizes of items like dressing, peanut butter, and grains. This will conserve supplies and control calories.

What are your favorite snacks to provide to your children? How would you feel as a parent knowing this is something happening at your kids school? Leave comments below or email me at SummerVBlankenship@gmail.com! 

Student Bites { What I learned today about WIC }

Today in Community Nutrition Class we had an engaging, eye opening lesson about WIC, how the process works for a family in need, and what it’s like to be a Dietitian working within the Department of Health.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, WIC stands for the Women, Infant & Children Food Assistance Program, interestingly under the control of the USDA (think: commodity foods).  

According to the website www.FloridaWIC.org :

WIC is a federally funded nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children that provides the following at no cost: healthy foods, nutrition education and counseling, breastfeeding support, and referrals for health care. Who is eligible? Pregnant and breastfeeding women, women who have recently been pregnant, infants, and children under the age of 5 years who have a low or moderate income, are at nutrition risk, and who live in Florida.

My awesome professor provided us with all of the paper handouts, brochures and other materials a WIC client might receive upon entering the noisy, crowded waiting room at a WIC office (imagine the DMV, but if everyone had children under the age of 5!). We also watched a horribly stressful video intended to be watched in that terrible waiting room about how to buy foods using WIC checks. I was overwhelmed. The amount of detailed nutrition information, rules, and exceptions to the rules seems excessive.

Take a look at this pamphlet describing the rules of what to and what not to buy as a person using WIC checks in the state of Florida… 

     
(Click on each image to read the fine print!)

Can you imagine what its like to be a low income, pregnant woman with or with out young children trying to take in all of this information? Did you know that the WIC nutritionist gets only about 15 minutes per month with each client to make required health assessments and give education?

So no matter your political opinion on government assistance programs, keep in mind that those women you see in front of you holding up the line at the grocery store –  the ones with all the paperwork getting frustrated with the teenage cashier - are either pregnant or trying to raise young children on a limited income. They have taken part in a long, difficult process of applying for assistance, sat in waiting rooms for hours just to get a few minutes with an RD, and are only allowed to buy certain brands of certain foods in restricted amounts.  Next time you run into Publix for some Sushi or a Sub Sandwich, have a little perspective, and consider the fact that the lady in the next isle with the crying baby is working very hard to feed her family.

Have you or anyone you know ever used Food Assistance Programs? Share your insight. And, as usual, if you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me at SummerVBlankenship@gmail.com.