Deciphering Food Labels
June 4, 2008 by Liz Harper · Leave a Comment
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Reading food labels can be confusing…sometimes manufacturers can disguise saturated fats by calling various names, and ‘Reduced Fat’ doesn’t necessarily mean low fat and ‘Lite’ or ‘Light’ can mean anything.
With all these marketing smoke screens…its easy to fool yourself into thinking you’ve made some healthy food choices.
So here’s some information that might help you make better food choices on your next grocery shop…
Marketing/Labelling…
- Cholesterol Free: This doesn’t mean that the food has to be healthy, low in fat or kilojoules, or low in saturated fat. It just means it’s free from dietary cholesterol. Some foods might be cholesterol free, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t high in saturated fat…e.g coconut and palm oil fit into this category. Commercial biscuits and cakes often contain coconut and palm oil which as usually listed on the ingredients as ‘vegetable fat’ or ‘vegetable oil’.
- Lite or Light: This can refer to anything. They might have less salt, fat or sugar. It doesn’t necessarily mean low in kilojoules (or calories) or low in fat. In some cases ‘Lite’ is used to say something about flavour. E.g olive oil that is lite in flavour.
Weight Watchers Recipes
April 22, 2008 by Liz Harper · Comments Off
Nutrition is just as important as exercise when it comes to weight loss…in fact, it’s probably more important….but more on that later this week.
One of the hardest things we find as a family at meal time, is coming up with a delicious meal that won’t ruin our daily calorie intake, a meal that is quick and easy to prepare….and further more, looks appetizing.
Earlier today I came across Gina’s blog…filled with loads of Weight Watchers recipes….points and all.
Gina has put together an excellent collection of low calorie meals and snacks that should help solve your daily “What to eat” dilemmas.
There’s the Weight Watchers Chicken Milanese with Arugula Salad and Tomatoes or the Juicy Grilled Chicken Spinach Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette & my personal favorite “Spanish Chicken & Rice” …I’m a sucker for a rice dish…espiecially when it’s spicy…this one is worth all 5 points.
Here are some more recipes worth checking out -
Weight Watchers Italian Chicken Rollups
Weight Watchers Vegetable-Peanut Stir-Fry - 5 Points
Weight Watchers Recipes - the good, the bad and the…
Chicken and White Bean Stew Recipe
Keep your resolution with healthy recipes
Weight Watchers Mexican Zero Points Soup Recipe
Bon Appetite:)
Gym Junkie: It’s ok to miss a workout
April 20, 2008 by Kel · Leave a Comment
Feeling guilty because you missed your gym appointment today?
Beating yourself up because you couldn’t be bothered cooking dinner last night - so you ordered a pizza?
It’s OK!
You have to look at things realistically and accept that there are going to be days like these…..it’s called living in the real world. Read more
6 Solutions to help you through your “Feeling Fat” days
April 14, 2008 by Kel · 2 Comments
When was your last “I Feel fat day?”
Did you run to your wardrobe and pick out the baggiest sweater you could find and match it with a nice pair of loose fit 501’s?
Did I hear you say something like “So help me God if I hear one petite little blonde complaining about their figure today I’m holding her hostage in the stationery closet and force feeding her a bagel!”
Oh dear…apologies for that….a little over reaction…won’t happen again.
When you’re in the process of losing weight you will still get the odd “Fat Day”….don’t stress….there are some solutions that will help you feel all “Posh spice” again in no time.
Caffeine & It’s Adverse Health Effects
March 25, 2008 by Liz Harper · 3 Comments
When I read Kel’s article about the caffeine I decided I wanted to write a post about adverse health effects of caffeine. So I quickly set to work, reading and researching. (i.e. trying to come up with heaps of evidence to support my dislike for caffeine).
I consulted books such as “The Great American Detox Diet
As you probably already know, caffeine is a natural substance found in the leaves or seeds or fruits of some plants. It is present in coffee, tea, chocolate, energy drinks, some soft drinks and some medications. The caffeine stimulates our central nervous system and that acts on our brains like adrenalin, increasing alertness, heart rate, respiration, basal metabolic rate and the production of stomach acids and urine. Even though it doesn’t get stored by the body (it is metabolized by the liver and excreted in urine), the effects of caffeine can last for up to 6hrs.
As Kel mentioned, excess caffeine can cause nausea, dizziness, headaches, muscle tension, sleep disturbances and irregular heartbeats. The latter is probably why the heart foundation only suggests 1-2 cups of caffeinated drinks per day and has a statement on a page in their site saying “Too much caffeine can cause problems if you tend to get abnormal heart rhythms and it can raise your heart rate and blood pressure.”
Could Caffeine Kill you?
March 21, 2008 by Kel · 2 Comments
How much caffeine have you had today?
Experts say that too much caffeine is harmful to our health - but surely it wouldn’t kill us? Would it?
Pouring that first cup of coffee in the morning is like lifting the roof off a foggy head. Liz is always trying to get me to convert over to Green Tea…(No thanks) But Coffee lovers, you’ll be happy to know I stand firm and reply with “A couple cups of coffee a day isn’t going to kill me”.
True. But how many cups of coffee in a day will in fact…kill me? I went to Death by Caffeine to find out.
Time to get specific….. Now when you head over to “Death By Caffeine” you need to “Enter your Poison”…well, I really like Starbucks Grande Cappuccino…so in she goes. Next I added my weight and Bang!
Pretty cool huh?
So check this out - A 16 ounce cup of Starbucks Grande Cappuccino contains 150 milligrams of caffeine. Mix in a bit of sugar and frothy milk and look out - your heart is doing cartwheels. Read more
7 Really Amazing Heart Facts
How much do you Really know about your heart?
1. Put your hand on your heart. Did you place your hand on the left side of your chest? Many people do, but your heart is actually located almost in the centre of the chest, between the lungs. It is tipped slightly so that part of it sticks out and taps against the left side of the chest, which is what makes it seem as though it is located there.
2. Make a fist with your hand. If you’re a child, your heart is about the same size as your fist, and if you’re an adult, it is about the size of two hands made into a fist (ie wrap your other hand around the hand that is already in a fist).
3. Your heart beats about 100,000 times in one day and about 35 million times in a year. During an average lifetime, the human heart will beat more than 2.5 billion times.
Get Rid of Obesity Once and For All?
March 14, 2008 by Liz Harper · 7 Comments
Obesity in children is seriously getting out of control.
But where does it start? It has been suggested by some health commentators that it goes back to when you first start introducing solids to your kids diet….at an infant level. If this is true, does that mean we as parents decide (Through our own eating habits and actions) if our children will be obese or healthy? Personally, I believe that to a large degree we do.
Why are our children obese?
Parents talk about children who are fussy eaters (and I am not including any children who have food allergies or intolerances here as that is a whole different kettle of fish)….Now I’ve heard it can take anywhere between 8 and 15 attempts to get a child to eat a new food. So it makes me wonder how many parents of “Fussy Eaters” have simply given up after 2 or 3 attempts?
Having said that, We all know how difficult it can be to have to expend extra energy fighting with your children over food at the end of a 50 hour working week….but at the end of the day if you don’t do it…you run the risk of producing an unhealthy or obese child. Read more
Berries Are Berry Good For Your Heart
We’ve all heard it said at some point - There are foods that are beneficial to changing things in relation to your cardiovascular health…and there are foods that….well, let’s just say you want find any of them in any of those “Healthy Eating Recipes” books.
So when we talk about the heart, what are healthy eating foods? What do they look like? What do they have in them that a Big Mac burger does not? Taste? (just kidding)
The answer is Polyphenols. (Good luck teaching your parrot to say that) Polyphenols are Water-soluble plant pigments also known as bioflavonoid, which encompass more than 4,000 chemically unique flavonoids.
You can find Polyphenols in things like Green Tea, Red Wine, Coco and ….Drum roll please – Berries. (Some delicious Berry recipes later) Read more
Is too much sugar causing symptoms of hypoglycemia in healthy women?
March 9, 2008 by Liz Harper · Leave a Comment
A UK study where 30 healthy (Non - Obese) women aged between 20 - 48 years who had experienced symptoms of hypoglycemia (definition & symptoms) were compared with a control group of 20 women who had not experienced the symptoms.
All women kept a diary of their diets and activities.
Generally it was found that those who experienced hypo symptoms had a diet higher in fat than the control group & it was also found that the meal proceeding the hypo symptoms had a higher percentage of energy derived from total sugars. Read more
