Beware of what you're eating!

Just because it's healthy doesn't mean it can't hurt you! Read the following article for more info.


The new Dirty Dozen: 12 foods to eat organic and avoid pesticide residue
By: Dan Shapley

Fruits and veggies are an essential part of a healthy diet, but many conventional varieties contain pesticide residues.

And not all the pesticides used to kill bugs, grubs, or fungus on the farm washes off under the tap at home. Government tests show which fruits and vegetables, prepared typically at home, still have a pesticide residue.

You can reduce your exposure to pesticides by as much as 80% if you avoiding the most contaminated foods in the grocery store.

To do so, you need the latest info from the why the Environmental Working Group's "Dirty Dozen" list of foods most likely to have high pesticide residues. Since 1995, the organization has taken the government data and identified which type of produce has the most chemicals.

This year, celery takes the number one spot and both blueberries and spinach make an appearance (displacing lettuce and pears).

The best way to avoid pesticide residue on foods is to buy organic produce -- USDA rules prohibit the use of pesticides on any crop with the certified organic label.

Here's a closer look at the 2010 Dirty Dozen:

1. Celery
Celery has no protective skin, which makes it almost impossible to wash off the chemicals (64 of them!) that are used on crops. Buy organic celery, or choose alternatives like broccoli, radishes, and onions.

2. Peaches
Multiple pesticides (as many as 62 of them) are regularly applied to these delicately skinned fruits in conventional orchards. Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include watermelon, tangerines, oranges, and grapefruit.

3. Strawberries
If you buy strawberries, especially out of season, they're most likely imported from countries that have less-stringent regulations for pesticide use. 59 pesticides have been detected in residue on strawberries. Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include kiwi and pineapples.

4. Apples
Like peaches, apples are typically grown with poisons to kill a variety of pests, from fungi to insects. Tests have found 42 different pesticides as residue on apples. Scrubbing and peeling doesn't eliminate chemical residue completely, so it's best to buy organic when it comes to apples. Peeling a fruit or vegetable also strips away many of their beneficial nutrients. Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include watermelon, bananas, and tangerines.

5. Blueberries
New on the Dirty Dozen list in 2010, blueberries are treated with as many as 52 pesticides, making them one of the dirtiest berries on the market.

6. Nectarines
With 33 different types of pesticides found on nectarines, they rank up there with apples and peaches among the dirtiest tree fruit. Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include, watermelon, papaya, and mango.

7. Bell peppers
Peppers have thin skins that don't offer much of a barrier to pesticides. They're often heavily sprayed with insecticides. (Tests have found 49 different pesticides on sweet bell peppers.) Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include green peas, broccoli, and cabbage.

8. Spinach
New on the list for 2010, spinach can be laced with as many as 48 different pesticides, making it one of the most contaminated green leafy vegetable.

9. Kale
Traditionally, kale is known as a hardier vegetable that rarely suffers from pests and disease, but it was found to have high amounts of pesticide residue when tested this year. Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include cabbage, asparagus, and broccoli.

10. Cherries
Even locally grown cherries are not necessarily safe. In fact, in one survey in recent years, cherries grown in the U.S. were found to have three times more pesticide residue then imported cherries. Government testing has found 42 different pesticides on cherries. Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include raspberries and cranberries.

11. Potatoes
America's popular spud reappears on the 2010 Dirty Dozen list, after a year hiatus. America's favorite vegetable can be laced with as many as 37 different pesticides. Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include eggplant, cabbage, and earthy mushrooms.

12. Grapes
Imported grapes run a much greater risk of contamination than those grown domestically. Only imported grapes make the 2010 Dirty Dozen list. Vineyards can be sprayed with different pesticides during different growth periods of the grape, and no amount of washing or peeling will eliminate contamination because of the grape's thin skin. Remember, wine is made from grapes, which testing shows can harbor as many as 34 different pesticides. Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include kiwi and raspberries.

America's Worst Lunches

I'm posting a new blog and although it isn't one that I personally wrote, I'm sure you will find it helpful. Also, I apologize for my absence over the past month. I've been dealing with a few things including a sick baby, but we should be back on track now. There will be a new blog next week that I'll actually write so be sure to check it out as well.
Thanks!


America's Worst Lunches - And What You Should Eat Instead
By David Zinczenko, with Matt Goulding

If you're like two thirds of working Americans, you pick up lunch from a fast food joint or restaurant at least once a week. Sure, it's not as healthy as packing your own celery sticks, but eating out every once in a while can't hurt, right?

Not so fast: There might be trouble in the drive-thru lane.

Not only could the window worker pile an entire day's worth of calories through your car window, but you might also be sapping your energy and productivity: Carb overloads lead to energy spikes and crashes, and studies have shown that the bigger your waistline, the lower your cognitive functioning and the more sick days you take.

Kind of ironic, considering "convenience" is the most common reason people give for buying lunch during the workday. In this economy, it's hardly convenient to snore through the 2 o'clock meeting, or miss a few crucial days when the boss is looking for you.

A healthy lunch can help you maximize your afternoon performance, but if you're in a hurry to grab and go, you might not take the time to sort through the menu hits and misses. Let the Eat This, Not That! folks be your efficiency experts: DON'T order the following items. Opt instead for less outrageous alternatives (also below), and reap the benefits at bonus time.

QUIZNO'S
Large Prime Rib Cheesesteak Sub
1,770 calories
116 g fat (25 g saturated, 2.5 g trans)
2,895 mg sodium

Fat Equivalent: Like eating 5 Dunkin Donuts cheese danishes!

It's hard enough to make the argument for one cheese Danish, but five? And we're just talking fat, here — with more than 1,000 calories of the stuff in just one sandwich. You're also be filling up with more than a day's worth of sodium and saturated fat. While this is one of the worst items you could choose, the rest of the Quizno's menu has hazards, as well.

But if your coworkers insist on eating there, order this:

Regular Turkey Ranch and Swiss Sub with reduced fat Ranch
590 calories
18 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
2,235 mg sodium

CHILI'S
Crispy Honey Chipotle Crispers
1,890 calories
99 g fat (19 g saturated)
3,470 mg sodium

Calorie Equivalent: Like eating an entire medium Pizza Hut 12" pepperoni pizza!

If you have the time for a sit-down meal, you have the time to think this through. Chicken Crispers are fun, but account for almost a whole day's worth of calories and almost two days' worth of sodium.

Your smarter choice is to eat this instead:

Classic Chicken Fajitas
330 calories
11 g fat (2 saturated)
2,080 mg sodium

And another hint for a healthy sit-down lunch: forgo the appetizers. Chili's Texas Cheese Fries with Jalapeno Ranch Dressing made the top of our list when we rounded up the worst appetizers money can buy.

ARBY'S
Roast Turkey Ranch and Bacon Sandwich
818 calories
38 g fat (11 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
2,146 mg sodium

Calorie Equivalent: Like eating 23 Thin Mints (one whole sleeve)!

Just because you could prepare it at home doesn't mean it's good for you when you order it away from home — the Roast Turkey Ranch and Bacon Sandwich packs nearly half of your daily allowance of calories and almost an entire day's dose of sodium. Doesn't leave much room for anything else, does it?

Eat this instead:

Sourdough Roast Beef Melt
355 calories
14 g fat (5 g saturated, 1 trans)
1,047 mg of sodium

DAIRY QUEEN
Wild Buffalo Chicken Strip Basket (4 piece)
1,340 calories
96 g fat (18 g saturated)
4,820 mg sodium

Sodium Equivalent: Like eating 14 large orders of McDonald's French fries!

Talk about a value meal: one Chicken Strip Basket gives you two days' payload of sodium! If thinking about it doesn't elevate your blood pressure, eating it might. Don't become a statistic.

Eat this instead:

Crispy Chicken Sandwich
530 calories
29 g fat (4.5 g saturated, 3 g trans)
1,020 mg sodium

PANERA
Italian Combo on Ciabatta sandwich
1,070 calories
50 g fat (19 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
3,010 mg of sodium

Fat Equivalent: Like eating 6 slices of Papa John's cheese pizza!

You were on the right track in choosing Panera, but don't be sidelined by the allure of the Italian Combo. Ciabatta bread may sound sophisticated, but you won't look so refined when you're lugging that spare Pirelli around your midsection.

Eat this instead:

Smoked Turkey Breast on Sourdough sandwich
470 calories
17 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
1,680 mg sodium

CHIPOTLE
13" Tortilla with steak, black beans, rice, cheese, sour cream and lettuce
1,005 calories
40 g fat (17 g saturated)
1,948 mg sodium

Calorie Equivalent: Like eating 40 Hershey's Kisses!

The good news about this tortilla is that it contains 57 grams of protein, but that's hardly worth the outrageous calorie and carbohydrate load — with 100 grams of carbs, you've already covered a third of your recommended daily intake, plus you're taking in nearly a day's worth of sodium and saturated fat. Downsize to drop pounds.

Eat this instead:

Three hard tacos with steak, pinto beans, sour cream and lettuce
633 calories
25 g fat (11 g saturated)
854 mg sodium

(Another hint: When it comes to Chipotle chips, just say "no." They add an outrageous 570 calories and 73 extra grams of carbs.)

HARDEE'S
2/3-lb Monster Thickburger
1,420 calories
108 g fat (43 g saturated)
2,770 mg sodium

Saturated Fat Equivalent: Like eating 43 strips of Oscar Mayer bacon!

It's called Monster for a reason. It's a monster load of saturated fat (more than two days' worth). The good news is that it has a friendlier, healthier cousin in the 1/3-lb Low-Carb Thickburger, with 1,000 fewer calories and a third the amount of fat. Even better, the Low-Carb Thickburger is true to its name — it only has 5 grams of quick-burning carbohydrates, compared to 46 grams in the Monster.

Eat this instead:

1/3-lb Low-Carb Thickburger
420 calories
32 g fat (12 g saturated)
1,010 mg sodium

BURGER KING
Triple Whopper Sandwich with cheese and mayo
1,230 calories
82 g fat (32 g saturated)
1,590 mg sodium

Fat Equivalent: Like eating 10 slices of Papa John's cheese pizza!

You should know by now not to order a triple anything. In this case you're getting egregious calorie, fat, and sodium overloads. Choose a regular cheeseburger instead and slash 900 calories, 66 g of fat, and save yourself from the judgmental stares of your coworkers, who are three times as likely to be grossed out!

Eat this instead:

Cheeseburger
330 calories
16 g fat (7 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
780 mg sodium

And once you've navigated lunch's landmines, don't blow your day with a bad dinner!

Common Sense Nutrition for No Nonsense Weight Loss

In leui of a blog written by me I decided to post an article that I read that may be helpful. So without further ado:

Common Sense Nutrition for No Nonsense Weight Loss
By: Dominique Adair, MS, RD

Lost in the flood of diet aids, diet books, magazine articles, and skinny diet gurus giving you advice? No matter what gimmick, fad, or miracle pill each guru tries to shove down your throat, there is no mystery to weight loss. These "quick and easy" solutions are merely masks to hide the simple fact that if you eat less and move more, you will lose weight. What counts are the calories you ingest. Here are five common sense rules to stand by when you want to achieve no nonsense results:

Fads will not deliver the body of your dreams.

Stop the madness! Fad dieting is simply a quick gimmick to get people to drop weight, but will not ensure lasting weight loss success. After all, fads come and go, leaving us a little ashamed at ourselves once we have partaken in them. (Think about the parachute pants era with the white glove or the famous hair-don't, the "mullet".) Use weight loss recommendations based on a balanced diet with a caloric deficit that is appropriate for your age, activity levels, and gender.

Diet is DIE with a T.

A diet has become a negative term to describe a restricted food plan. Very often people decide to go on a "diet," but think of it as a short term solution to a long term problem. Dieting has become a problematic condition in which the dieter tends to believe that beloved foods are off limits and one must forgo all food desires to lose weight. Let's talk semantics. Everyone is on a diet. A diet is just what one is consuming. It is either a "bad" diet or a "good" diet. You need to understand that "dieting" is a short term solution that will only yield short term results. Serious people should not embark on a "diet," but a healthy food lifestyle. Learn the basics of the food pyramid and know that small indulgences are necessary to keeping up healthy eating patterns.

Small delights allow people to have what they need and what they want, without having to deny themselves of a little fun with food. Just be warned that everything must come in moderation!

Not all carbohydrates are created equal.

There are "good" carbs and there are "bad" carbs just like there is "good" and "bad" cholesterol. "Good" carbs include starchy vegetables (like leafy green spinach), whole-grain breads such as wheat breads, rices, and pastas with low fat and little sugar added, and fibrous fruits such as strawberries and apples. "Bad" carbs include potato chips, candies, sugary sweets like cakes and cookies, and French fries. (But when it's all said and done, when it comes to weight loss, it's calories in versus calories out no matter what the carb… just make the calories in as nutrient-dense as possible.)

"Know Your Role"

Daily ingestion of all the macronutrients is important. Whoever said to cut out the carbs, cut out the protein, or cut out the fat, needs an update on the basics of the food pyramid. Our bodies run efficiently when we have the proper amounts of each macronutrient in our bodies. Carbohydrates, protein, and fats each play a role in regulations of activities in the body. For instance, each macronutrient plays an independent and interdependent role in the following activities: digestion, energy creation and utilization, regulation of body temperatures, regulation of hormones, satiety, nervous system activity, fighting off harmful infections, and building strong bones and muscles among other uses.

Portion control helps measure success.

When in doubt, measure it out. People often mistake portion sizes due to the large portions that are commonplace in American restaurants. There are simple methods to determine portion sizes such as using your fist as a guide when trying to determine how many ounces your serving of meat is (three ounces is roughly the size of a small fist). When measuring drinks, measure how many ounces to be ingested by pouring the liquid into a measuring cup before pouring the drink into the glass. This creates awareness and allows you to get a better sense of how much you should be pouring into their glass with each serving. Very often you'll find that the small glass of wine you had the night before was actually greater than eight ounces (at 7 calories a gram, that can bring more than 300 calories in one serving!). Besides diet cola, water, and coffee (with no additives) all beverages have calories. Liquids count, so watch how much juice, milk, and soda you pour into a glass! If you are not sure how many ounces are in a slice of meat, or what the serving sizes are at a restaurant, give them this easy trick: cut the meal into thirds and eat the first third of the meal and box the rest. Restaurants often serve up to three times the typical portion size.

The Fitness Guy’s Grocery List (Top 10 items)

So I thought we'd cover groceries this week. What better way to do this than to tell you the top 10 items that you will always find in my shopping cart. These aren't just things that I get every once in a while. These are things that are “must haves” when we do our grocery shopping. So let's get started.

1) TLC Chewy Peanut Butter granola bars – These make a great mid-morning snack and are all natural. Which means there's no high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils in the ingredients. I must admit that these are an acquired tasted because they're kind of bland, but once you get a taste for them they're one of the better snacks you can have.

2) Fresh Fruit – You just can't beat fresh fruits. They're full of vitamins and minerals that your body needs and they taste great. Need a quick on-the-go breakfast? Throw a banana and a few strawberries into a blender. Voila! Instant on-the-go breakfast.

3) Eggs – Excellent source of protein and great for breakfast with a slice of whole wheat toast. If you don't particularly like eggs try one of the egg substitutes such as Egg Beaters. They have the benefit of the protein without tasting exactly like eggs.

4) Whole Wheat Bread – The best tasting whole wheat bread I've found is Nature's Own 100% Whole Wheat Sugar Free Bread. It doesn't have all of the whole grains in it which means you won't bite in to little chunks while having your tuna sandwich.

5) Fresh Vegetables – Again, they're full of vitamins and minerals that your body needs and they're so versatile when it comes to cooking you can find a way that suits your taste buds. Just shy away from the butter and too much salt.

6) Chicken Breasts – As with eggs, chicken breasts are an excellent source of low fat protein. My favorite way to make them is to add just a bit of Ms. Dash seasoning to them and then bake them in the oven at 400-425 degrees (frozen) for approximately 1 hour or until they reach 165 degrees with a meat thermometer.

7) Fat Free Milk – Also a good source of protein as well as calcium without all of the fat of whole milk and less calories.

8) Whole Grain Cereal – My favorite is Raisin Bran. The raisins give it a bit of a sweet taste while the flakes are a good source of fiber. The only drawback is that because of the raisins it has high fructose corn syrup which you should try to avoid. This is the only instance when it's ok to let it slide.

9) Tuna (in water, not oil) – Not only is this an excellent source of protein, but is also has OMEGA 3 fatty acids which are good for your heart and help lower cholesterol. I know it's hard to just eat this right out of the can so it's ok to drain off the water, add 1 teaspoon of fat free mayo and make a sandwich.

10) Brown Rice – This is also a good source of whole grains, but make sure you stick to the ½ cup serving. Brown rice is preferred over white rice because it digests slower and less of it is stored as body fat.

So there you have it. The top 10 things I get at the grocery store. So the next time you're doing your shopping try to keep this list in mind and you'll be on your way to eating healthier meals.