Healthy tips for dining out

Originally written and published for World Health Club magazine


Everyone needs a night out once in a while, and while it might not seem like much, a night out to dinner can be enough to through your weight loss goals off track. Here are some tips to help you make smarter choices while dining out, so you’re not having regret for dessert.

• Plan ahead of time. Many restaurants list their menus online. Do your homework and decide what you’re going to order ahead of time. Going in with a plan can help you stay on track, and avoid the temptations of being caught off guard by tasty, but less-healthy options.

• Eat a light lunch - but not too light! Eating smaller portions throughout the day is a good way to keep your total Calories for the day within safe limits. But it’s important to make sure you’re still eating enough. Arriving to your dinner date famished will only make you more likely to overeat.

• Have an appetizer - as your main meal. Most restaurant entree portions are 2-3 times the portions we really need. Choosing from the appetizer menu can help you keep your portions in check. Not enough food? Order a side salad as well. 

• Watch the cocktails. Having alcohol with dinner adds extra Calories. Depending on how many you have, it can quickly add up to another meals’ worth: about 120 Calories for a glass of wine, 150 Calories for a beer, 150-200 for a martini, and over 500 Calories for a 12 oz frozen margarita!

• Watch for the fat traps. Restaurant meals are notorious for going using lots of fat to add flavour, which can add up in terms of Calories. Ask for sauces and dressings “on the side” and for meats to be grilled, roasted, broiled, poached or baked. Remove poultry skin, and choose leaner cuts of red meat, such as loin or flank. Keep an eye out for delicious, low fat vegetarian options as well.

• Get it to go. When you order your meal, ask for half of it to be wrapped up before they bring it to the table. This will help you from going overboard, and you’ll have lunch for the next day!

• Avoid buffets. Studies show that when we have more choices, we will eat more. Enough said!

Read more... Share

How to practice "Slow Food"

A while ago I wrote a post about “Slow Food”, an international non-profit organization "founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world".

Slow Food continues to gain momentum, and is helping to bring back the simple notion of being connected with our food that we seem to have lost over the past few decades. In our search for faster, more convenient meals throughout the second half of the last century to accommodate our fast-paced lives, we have compromised nutritional quality of our diets and our basic food knowledge, cooking skills and healthy social practices, like family dinners.

The philosophy of Slow Food endeavors to bring that back.  Slow Food is exactly what it sounds like: it is the opposite of fast food in every sense. Slower, more nutritious food with meaning. Incorporating this philosophy into your own life offers many benefits including a healthier diet, supporting environmentally friendly and local agriculture, and improving social connectedness by homemade meals enjoyed with family and friends - all of which lead to a healthier lifestyle and planet.

You can incorporate the Slow Food philosophy in your own life by following this simple tips:

• Know where your food comes from and who grew or raised it. Get ting to know your local farmers and suppliers will add more meaning to your food.
• Grow a vegetable - learn about the process by being hands on.  There’s nothing more rewarding that enjoying a fresh veggie out of your own garden! Small space? Start with a window herb garden or a simple container garden with one vegetable outdoors.  (Grow with me!)
• Try a new recipe - New flavours and dishes will increase your cooking repertoire!  
• Try a new ingredient - increase your “food IQ” by trying something different. 
• Purchase local items, responsibly grown or raised with no chemical pesticides that are harmful to the earth.
• Focus on a plant-based diet, making meat the compliment or side dish rather than the focus of meals.
• Bike, walk or take public transit to purchase food, whenever possible.
• Compost - contribute to putting nutrients back into the earth by starting a compost to grow food for the future and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Share! Have gatherings with friends and family to bring the joy back to cooking and eating.

Follow these tips and you should be eating and feeling healthier in no time! I have joined our local Slow Food “convivium” here in Calgary, and look forward to many great events this summer.

www.slowfood.ca (Canadian site)
www.slowfood.com (International site)

.

Read more... Share

Composting: Turn trash into treasure

Good news! The seedlings recovered! I aired them out (ie: took off the lid and opened the window a crack) and the mould is gone! As you can see, all of the seedlings are now doing very well - can't wait to plant them outdoors!

In other exciting news, B and I purchased a composter! It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, but we were limited by our condo-living. Growing up, the only people I knew with a compost lived on a farm but composting is making a come-back and for good reason. The benefits of composting are many, for your garden and the environment. Most of us throw good organic waste (fruit and vegetable scraps, paper towels, coffee grinds, etc) to the landfill with the rest of our garbage. And why not, it will biodegrade, right? Wrong. Contrary to popular belief, organic waste does not biodegrade in the landfill, but is broken down anaerobically in bags (without oxygen). This process produces methane, a greenhouse gas that is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

Composting is a great way to manage organic waste because it reduces greenhouse gas emissions and turns the waste back into nutrient-rich compost, which can then be used to grow more food. Some cities, such as Toronto, offer a green bin program which picks up organic waste, in addition to blue bin recycling programs. For those of us without that service, or with a little backyard space, the better option is to start your own compost.

This is my dream composter, the Roto-cycle:

This baby is compact and user friendly. The downside - the cost. Call me cheap, but since we plan on selling our condo in the next year or so, I didn't want to invest $200 in a composter that may or may not be coming with us. Thankfully, a local organization called Green Calgary is offering a great deal on rain barrels and composters for those who pre-purchase. $35 is a steal of a deal.

The composter we purchased through Green Calgary is the Garden Gourmet. It is quite small - small enough to sit in the corner on our terrance without being an eye sore. This is my pride and joy:

"The Garden Gourmet compost bin holds 11 cubic feet of material and weighs 29 pounds. Parts are easily assembled – no tools – just follow the diagram in the instruction booklet. Finished size is 24L x 24W x 36H inches. It is black plastic that is at least 51% recycled including post consumer waste."

For those of you new to composting, I highly recommend you consider starting.  

.

Read more... Share