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Moderation is key
As of January 1, 2020, a new law went into effect. Food packaging must now show both the calorie count for a serving size and for the entire package. A couple of years ago we finally got real serving sizes rather than half servings or impossible servings like 5 potato chips is a serving. The food companies were trying everything make the unhealthy and barely health look healthy.
The diet culture in America is a very rapid moving thing. What one could eat last week could become one of those 5 foods you should avoid this week.
Kale has gone from garnish to super food. One-week avocados are everything and the next week there are concerns about saturated fats but then it is discovered that it is the good kind of fat, so it is good for you. I think brussels sprouts will be the next super food. Doesn’t matter to me. I refuse to eat any of them.
I grew up with a nurse for a mother who kept up on nutritional information and adjusted our diets accordingly. We stopped eating bacon back in the 60s for the most part. We started eating more chicken and less beef before everyone else. Fried foods were something we would only get eating out for the most part. She worked hard to make sure we had a good balanced diet all through our childhood and adjusted things as new discoveries were made. And she did take our dislikes into account which I appreciate to this day.
That upbringing gives me a pretty good relationship with food. Nothing is forbidden but moderation is the key. Now that we have this new information on the box, it will be even easier to sort out what a serving is for me. Harder to sneak a high calorie food as low calorie when you know what the entire container is.
Then there are the all fats are good that went to all fats are bad to some fats are good and others are bad. This one has been all over the map. Between Akins and modified Atkins to Paleo to Keto to whatever we have this week in the carbs bad and protein good diet, what we should eat can be very confusing. I follow my mother in this with keeping beef to a minimum. Fish and chicken make up most of our evening protein with occasional lamb and beef. I like protein for so many reasons.
Low-fat and no-fat does not mean no calories. In many cases they replace the fat component with sugar or an artificially sweetener. So, seeing what a box of fat free cookies is really calorie wise is going to be eye opening for some. Personally, I have to be very careful to avoid artificial sweeteners. My body does not like them and tells me so in many ways if I do accidently ingest them.
Discussing carbohydrates these days can be a real hot potato. Low carb or no carb seems to be the mantra. What works for me is to have my carbs at breakfast and lunch then keep them out of dinner for the most part. My brain feels more energized with carbs and I am not as hungry during the day. By evening I am fine without them. But that is what works for me. Others are so scared of carbs; they do an impression of Donald Sutherland at the end of Invasion of the Body Snatcher as they point to the forbidden fruit (or bread or rice or potato).
When they redid the food pyramid, they tried to re-adjust our thinking and appease the big food manufactures. Now we have the new new food pyramid that no longer shows the foods stacked up but side by side and recommended for daily servings with amounts based on an adult who exercises.
The nutritional fads are still out there under various titles and a number of groups have renamed themselves trying to get out of the diet business into the life-style business since the word ‘diet’ is currently on the naught word list. Weight Watchers has become WW and weigh ins are not the main focus anymore. Atkins rebranded itself a bit after the studies that showed this diet increased heart disease. Right now, the popular ones seem to be Keto and Paleo and the food companies are right there to provide foods for each.
I take my direction from my mother. She keeps me up on various things and subscribed me to this wonderful newsletter called Nutrition Action which talks about food and diets and the like. I have learned various entries at many restaurants that I can eat and not feel guilty. They break down the data on various diets giving you the science or lack thereof with each. They take things like soy vs. real milk and lactate free milk and just about any kind of milk you can think of then explain what it all means. They also talk about the vitamin trends and supplements giving the good, bad, and ugly about these products.
I will admit that my one temptation is craft beer. I love a good craft beer but that is pure empty calories so I have reduced my imbibing to about once a week.
I am grateful I was raised in a household with sensible nutrition.
As of January 1, 2020, a new law went into effect. Food packaging must now show both the calorie count for a serving size and for the entire package. A couple of years ago we finally got real serving sizes rather than half servings or impossible servings like 5 potato chips is a serving. The food companies were trying everything make the unhealthy and barely health look healthy.
The diet culture in America is a very rapid moving thing. What one could eat last week could become one of those 5 foods you should avoid this week.
Kale has gone from garnish to super food. One-week avocados are everything and the next week there are concerns about saturated fats but then it is discovered that it is the good kind of fat, so it is good for you. I think brussels sprouts will be the next super food. Doesn’t matter to me. I refuse to eat any of them.
I grew up with a nurse for a mother who kept up on nutritional information and adjusted our diets accordingly. We stopped eating bacon back in the 60s for the most part. We started eating more chicken and less beef before everyone else. Fried foods were something we would only get eating out for the most part. She worked hard to make sure we had a good balanced diet all through our childhood and adjusted things as new discoveries were made. And she did take our dislikes into account which I appreciate to this day.
That upbringing gives me a pretty good relationship with food. Nothing is forbidden but moderation is the key. Now that we have this new information on the box, it will be even easier to sort out what a serving is for me. Harder to sneak a high calorie food as low calorie when you know what the entire container is.
Then there are the all fats are good that went to all fats are bad to some fats are good and others are bad. This one has been all over the map. Between Akins and modified Atkins to Paleo to Keto to whatever we have this week in the carbs bad and protein good diet, what we should eat can be very confusing. I follow my mother in this with keeping beef to a minimum. Fish and chicken make up most of our evening protein with occasional lamb and beef. I like protein for so many reasons.
Low-fat and no-fat does not mean no calories. In many cases they replace the fat component with sugar or an artificially sweetener. So, seeing what a box of fat free cookies is really calorie wise is going to be eye opening for some. Personally, I have to be very careful to avoid artificial sweeteners. My body does not like them and tells me so in many ways if I do accidently ingest them.
Discussing carbohydrates these days can be a real hot potato. Low carb or no carb seems to be the mantra. What works for me is to have my carbs at breakfast and lunch then keep them out of dinner for the most part. My brain feels more energized with carbs and I am not as hungry during the day. By evening I am fine without them. But that is what works for me. Others are so scared of carbs; they do an impression of Donald Sutherland at the end of Invasion of the Body Snatcher as they point to the forbidden fruit (or bread or rice or potato).
When they redid the food pyramid, they tried to re-adjust our thinking and appease the big food manufactures. Now we have the new new food pyramid that no longer shows the foods stacked up but side by side and recommended for daily servings with amounts based on an adult who exercises.
The nutritional fads are still out there under various titles and a number of groups have renamed themselves trying to get out of the diet business into the life-style business since the word ‘diet’ is currently on the naught word list. Weight Watchers has become WW and weigh ins are not the main focus anymore. Atkins rebranded itself a bit after the studies that showed this diet increased heart disease. Right now, the popular ones seem to be Keto and Paleo and the food companies are right there to provide foods for each.
I take my direction from my mother. She keeps me up on various things and subscribed me to this wonderful newsletter called Nutrition Action which talks about food and diets and the like. I have learned various entries at many restaurants that I can eat and not feel guilty. They break down the data on various diets giving you the science or lack thereof with each. They take things like soy vs. real milk and lactate free milk and just about any kind of milk you can think of then explain what it all means. They also talk about the vitamin trends and supplements giving the good, bad, and ugly about these products.
I will admit that my one temptation is craft beer. I love a good craft beer but that is pure empty calories so I have reduced my imbibing to about once a week.
I am grateful I was raised in a household with sensible nutrition.
