Tag Archives: protein

What’s In Your Fridge?

I found a very cool website called My Fridge Food. It lists common items and you click the boxes of the ingredients you have on hand. Then it presents you with a list of recipes you can make.

I plugged in bacon, salsa, eggs, lemon juice and broth and immediately a long list popped up.

Seems I have 100% of the required ingredients for BACON CUPS!

I also had 67% of the ingredients for Easy Guacamole (although not so easy without an avocado) as well as Chicken Noodles with a Twist. The ‘Twist,’ I presume, was that I had no chicken. Or noodles. I was all over the lemon, though.

I had 50% of the ingredients for 21 recipes, and 40% of ingredients for a bunch of recipes, and 33% of ingredients for even more than that. Truth be told, I have more than just those five ingredients in my house, so these figures aren’t technically true. But I’m always looking for another bacon-salsa-eggs-lemon juice-broth recipe. You really can’t have too many.

You can sort the recipes by percent of ingredients, category, number of ingredients, cooking time, calories, carbs, fat, or protein.

I can see a lot of uses for this website.

For instance, they tell you the ingredients you’re missing which allows you to substitute something that you do have.

It’s obviously great for the immediate problem of “Gah! I’m HUNgry! What can I make with this stuff?”

My 81-year-old father lives alone and plays a game he probably calls “Grocery Store.” The rules are simple; he doesn’t buy any groceries until he is completely out of all the food in his house. All. The. Food. As you can imagine, it makes for some exciting and unique dinners. Much in the same way buying cans without labels does.

But also, My Fridge Food could be a great planning tool. What if my grocery budget is running low so I only want to buy cheap stuff this week? What can I make with beans, eggs, peanut butter and ramen?

Or, “I’m looking for different low-calorie recipes; here are all the items I like to eat, O Wise and Generous Website.”

I can’t wait to play around in there some more, but first I have to go stuff some scrambled eggs and salsa in my Bacon Cups. I think I’ll hold back the lemon juice and broth for something fancy when company comes. Cocktails, perhaps.

So what can YOU make with the weird stuff shoved in the back of your fridge? (And don’t be telling me there’s no weird stuff. If you’re reading this, I know you have at least a teensy lazy streak and that means, by default, there’s weird stuff in there!)

Low Cal, High Protein, Low Carb, High Fiber, Low Sugar Breakfasts

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Everyone seems to have their own idea of what constitutes “low” and “high” values within their diet. All the dietary guidelines vary based on a person’s weight, gender, health, and activity level. I’m about 140 pounds, in excellent health and I exercise at least thirty minutes almost every day.

I eat about 1800 calories per day divided between six small meals so I eat about 300 calories per meal. I’ve been told to shoot for about 90 grams of protein per day. Here’s a calculator you can play with to figure out your protein needs, if you want to do some math.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine recommends a minimum intake of 130 grams of carbohydrate per day, so if you divide that by my six meals, you get an average of 21 grams of carb per meal.

Fiber is a specific type of carbohydrate that comes only from fruits, vegetables and grains. Soluble fiber controls blood sugar and may also lower cholesterol. Non-soluble fiber doesn’t appear to lower blood sugar or cholesterol but helps your bowels function, ahem, smoothly. According to the American Dietetic Association, adults need between 20 and 35 grams of fiber every day. Again, dividing by my six small meals, I should average about 6 grams/meal.

There is no daily requirement for sugar, but I read one of Jorge Cruse’s books where he says to try to stick to less than 15 grams of sugar per day. I don’t eat any refined sugar and most of my sugar comes from fruits and veggies, but I am consistently well over 15 grams every day. I don’t worry too much about it since it occurs naturally in my healthy food, but it is interesting to see which vegetables have sugar (onions and bell peppers, for instance). If you are concerned about sugar, watch out for yogurt. It has a ton. I’ve switched to Greek yogurt which has much less sugar.

Based on the above guidelines, the following breakfasts all fall into the low cal, high protein, low carb, high fiber, and low sugar parameters. Plus, they’re quick and easy. Enjoy!

• Spinach and Veggie Omelette

Sauté fresh spinach, onions, bell peppers, and/or celery in a teaspoon of olive oil. After the spinach is wilted, pour 1 whole egg + 2 egg whites, beaten, over it. Cover until it’s set then turn it when it’s cooked to your liking. Spread with 1T Wholly Guacamole and/or salsa. Also have 4-oz V8 juice

• BLT Wrap

Wash 2 or 3 large Romaine lettuce leaves. Spread with 1 wedge Laughing Cow cheese and 2T Wholly Guacamole. Roll up with 2 slices crispy microwave bacon and sliced tomato. You can also add sliced olives, onions, and/or bell peppers. Have 4-oz V8 juice, too.

• Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

In blender, combine 8 oz unsweetened chocolate almond milk, 1T cocoa powder, 1t vanilla, and 2T natural peanut butter (the kind with only peanuts and salt as ingredients). Also have 1 whole grain Wasa cracker spread with 1T peanut butter.

• Greek Yogurt Parfait

Top 4oz non-fat plain Greek yogurt with 1C sliced strawberries. (You can mix in 1 packet of stevia to the yogurt, if you like it a bit sweeter.) Sprinkle with 2T sunflower seeds, and 2T dark chocolate chips (at least 60% cacao), too.

• Ham and Egg Scramble

Chop 4 thin slices of deli ham and add it to 1 whole egg + 2 egg whites. Add some chopped onions and bell peppers and season as you like. Scramble it all together and cook until done in nonstick skillet sprayed with 0-calorie nonstick spray. Also have 4-oz V8 juice.

Click for more low calorie menus and be sure to check out the Lazy Low Cal Lifestyle Cookbook for more recipes!

Still More Answers From A Nutritionist

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Did you read what Mary Schreiner had to say about protein, carbs and ‘mixing it up’ the other day? And about metabolism?

Mary Schreiner, MPH (Masters in Public Health) has worked in the weight management arena since 1990 with both the American Heart Association and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Besides teaching weight loss classes, she’s been involved in several Low-Carb vs Low-Calorie studies. Since she was overweight into young adulthood, she knows how difficult the struggle with weight control can be. It’s more than just eating less and exercising more. She speaks on several health related topics like:

~ Nutrition and Diet in Disease Prevention: Heart Disease, Diabetes, Alzheimer’s

~ Weight Loss Tips and Tricks

~ Women and Heart Disease

~ Exercise – The Fountain of Youth!

Here is another question I asked her.

• If you’re trying to keep your calories in check so you can lose or maintain your weight, how do you know how many calories you should be eating every day?

When trying to lose weight, I often advise people to find out their Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) and use that number as the number of calories you should be eating each day. Then, the more you move = the more calories you burn = the quicker you will lose weight.

We all would love to lose 30 pounds in a week and never have to diet again. However, our bodies do not work like that. It is better to lose slowly (1 pound a week equals 52 pounds in a year!). And if done in a slow fashion, that usually indicates a person is:

1 – eating enough calories each day so they do not get too hungry

2 – are possibly making some lifestyle changes (choosing leaner protein, using low fat items, eating more fruits and veg for snacks) that they will continue after the diet

3 – getting added activity most days, even if just a 10-minute walk at lunch time and parking farther away from the office or store.

4 – has created an eating plan that includes a mid-morning and a mid-afternoon snack

Mary has generously offered to review one lucky reader’s food journal so tell me why you’d like feedback on your diet, either by leaving a comment or privately through the ‘Contact Me’ page. Creativity counts, as would tugging at my heartstrings and/or making me laugh. You’d have to do a few days of writing down EXACTLY what you eat — including quantities — so Mary can give you good feedback. I’ll also want to post the journal and the feedback so that others might learn, too. I don’t have to post your name, though.

Let the commenting begin! *insert royal sweeping arm motion here*

I’ll have more questions for Mary in the future, but what about you? What do you want to ask a nutritionist? Do you do the four things to lose weight slowly? Do you want your food journal studied?

How Low Is Too Low? Calories and Metabolism

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Web MD explains that metabolism involves a complex network of hormones and enzymes that not only convert food into fuel but also affect how efficiently you burn that fuel.

“The process of metabolism establishes the rate at which we burn our calories and, ultimately, how quickly we gain weight or how easily we lose it,” says Robert Yanagisawa, MD, director of the Medically Supervised Weight Management Program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

Of course, not everyone burns calories at the same rate.

Your metabolism is influenced by your age (metabolism naturally slows about 5% per decade after age 40); your sex (men generally burn more calories at rest than women); and proportion of lean body mass (the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate tends to be).”

I’m a big fan of metabolism and have read lots of articles about it, but I’m still not sure I understand all the intricacies.

I understand that to boost your metabolism, you should eat plenty of protein and iron-rich foods. You can rev your metabolism by eating smaller meals more frequently. German researchers even found something as simple as drinking ice water can raise your resting metabolism by about 50 calories per day. (That doesn’t seem like much, but it can help you lose five pounds in a year.)

Bodybuilder Chris Aceto wrote a good analogy. “If you’re earning $4000 a month, but your boss suddenly cuts your pay to $2500 a month, you will try to live the same lifestyle on $2500 a month as you did on $4000 a month. After a while, you have to adjust and save money, and change your lifestyle. The same is true with a calorie intake that is simply too low. When calories are cut below basal metabolic needs, the body will accommodate and slow its metabolism, so it becomes difficult to lose fat even on low calories.”

Okay, I get all that.

But how low is too low when it comes to calories? How do you know how many calories you should be eating and burning to keep your metabolism humming along like a finely tuned machine?

I’ve told you before I’m a big fan of the delightful Charlotte over at The Great Fitness Experiment. Recently she wrote Slow Metabolism — Fact or Myth.

The entire article was interesting and entertaining, as always, but this caught my attention:

“During this time, I had my metabolism thoroughly tested – both in the doctor’s office (they ran tests on my thyroid and my hormones and even my baby maker – which thankfully was unoccupied at that time) and in the gym via hydrostatic weighing and the Darth Vader-on-a-treadmill metabolic testing. Their conclusion? I need 1242 calories a day to go about my daily life.”

I remember asking someone — my doctor? Nutritionist? Hairdresser? — if there was a way I could test my metabolism. While I don’t remember which type of professional I discussed this with, I specifically remember their answer. “No.”

But now Charlotte tells me differently. Yay! A new quest! I will keep you posted, but in the meantime, tell me any of your experiences with metabolic testing.

Have any of you (besides Charlotte) had your metabolism tested in this way? What did it involve? Did it cost a gazillion dollars? How many calories do you need every day?

Free Yourself From Sugar Slavery

Painless Changes You Can Make This Very Minute Or At Least Real Soon, Part Ten

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The Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that people who made small, potentially permanent changes in their lives every week lost twice as much belly fat, more inches, and four times more weight over a 4-month study than those who went the traditional diet/exercise route. The theory is that the incremental changes tend to be easier to adapt to your life over the long-haul, rather than an all-or-nothing diet that you see as having a beginning and an end.

I had a DUH! moment not too long ago. It was so ridiculously obvious it was ashamed to be in the same vicinity of an AHA! moment.

It occurred to me I could eat half an English muffin. I didn’t have to eat the whole thing. Duh. And it would save me money at the grocery store. Double Duh!

Maybe some of these ideas you already know, but maybe some will be Aha! or even Duh! moments for you. In no particular order …

• Wear clothes that are a little too tight, especially when you go out. Not so much that you look gross — think 400-pound butts in spandex — but enough to remind you of those last five pounds and that you probably don’t need a second glass of wine or another trip to the buffet.

• If it’s hard to get up and exercise first thing, sleep in your work out clothes to make it more automatic.

• Don’t fear fat, but choose the right ones — avocado, olive oil, canola oil, sunflower seeds, nuts. Watch amounts, though, because they’re high in calories.

• Eat breakfast. Clear enough? Breakfast is the only meal that actually speeds up calorie burning. And if you eat protein, you’ll stabilize your blood glucose. If you don’t like ‘traditional’ breakfast foods, eat whatever you like … leftovers, sandwiches, salads. In fact, cold cereal — even high-fiber/high protein ones — is one of the worst things you can have for breakfast. They’re highly processed and full of sugar. (Go ahead. Read the label. I’ll wait.) If you’re, ahem, lazy, hardboil a bunch of eggs and/or make a big pot of steel-cut oats so something healthy is always ready. Do whatever … just don’t skip breakfast. And don’t tell me you’re “just not hungry” in the morning. If you don’t feel hungry, then your Starvation Switch has been tripped which also releases endorphins that act as a painkiller to mask your hunger pangs. Don’t let them fool you — your body is struggling to function AND storing fat.

• Eat protein at every meal. It keeps you feeling full longer and uses more calories to digest than either carbs or fats.

• Skinny up the wine by turning it into a spritzer — half a glass of wine plus half a glass of club soda.

• Half of what you eat should look mostly like it does in nature. Try not to eat anything that comes in a box today. Then try not to for a week. (Keep a food journal and send it to me — I’d love to see it!)

• Make a big pot of vegetable soup and eat it for lunch every day.

There are lots more … Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine

Which will you try first? Which will you never try? Which do you already do?