Thursday, January 12, 2012

Simple & Good Choices

So, I forgot to pack my lunch today and after my run this morning, I was starving. Now the only decent choice we have in the food court at the Peterson Events Center @ The University of Pittsburgh is a salad bar. Other than that, there is an icecream stand, a Burger King, a sub place, and a pizza/ pasta place. Which is why most of the Pitt Police look like this.

I eat at the salad place fairly regularly, but sometimes I'm just not feeling it.So, today I went down to the local IGA. It's not a very fancy grocery store and definitely doesn't have a Whole Foods or Trader Joes health focus, but I found some options.

I always start with a good protein source. Today I went with Ducktrap Smoked Salmon. It's farm raised and definitely short of quality as compared to wild caught, but it was pretty much salmon with some spices, so nothing terrible about it.

I also had some steamed broccoli and cauliflower. I got Birds Eye Steam Fresh Frozen Vegetables. I've shied away from frozen vegetables in the past because of preservatives and losing nutritional value, plus I just like raw vegetables, but IGA's fresh vegetables didn't look great and I wanted something warm with the cold of the salmon.So, I was delighted when I read the ingredients and there wasn't a single ingredient I couldn't pronounce. It was just broccoli and cauliflower. I feel happy about my score there.
Finally, I topped it off with some Justin's Maple Almond Butter. Almond butter is delicious goodness and way tastier than peanut butter without the negatives associated with them. So, I had a little pack of it just to get some more Calories in and to have something that stayed with me a little better.

I was also pleased with myself because one of the eating strategies I promote is the "Divide Your Plate Into 3rds Strategy" Except, instead of having. 1/3 as Whole Grains, we just go with more veggies, maybe some fruit, some sweet potato, some nuts and seeds. You know, things with actual desirable nutritional content. This little meal fit right into that with 4oz fish, 12oz vegetables, and the almond butter was only a little over 1oz.
Like this, just with less starch and more veggies.

 So, I ended up picking some decent quality foods. What does that look like in the macro department? 
Fish- 180C
PRO-26g
FAT- 8g
CHO- 0g

Veggies-105C (The whole bag was considered 3.5 servings by the way. It felt like one serving to me.)
PRO-5.5g
FAT-1g
CHO-15.5g

Almond Butter-200C
PRO- 6g
FAT- 17g
CHO- 8g

Total- 485C
PRO- 33g
FAT- 26g
CHO- 23.5g

So that comes to a 21/29/50% CHO/PRO/FAT ratio. Now that's a little higher in fat than where I'd normally like to be and a little low in carbs, but I ate some fruit after my workout and that was weighed more in that direction.It's been a few hours now and I'm still satieted, but I can tell I'm going to need to eat again later this afternoon, so I can have a small dinner before my night class. 

Anyway, I hope this helps anyone who is looking for how to put together a meal when you are on the go and looking for a healthy option.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Diabetes Cat


My most recent post (I use the term recent loosely) was about my dog choosing quality food over crap. I got a text from my friend Christin about her cat and I thought it was worth sharing. I hope HIPAA laws don't apply to cats.

In June, her cat was diagnosed with diabetes. He had a blood sugar of 560! The vet asked if she wanted to put him down, which she wasn't ready to do. So, they gave her some prescription food and some insulin and sent her on her way. The fancy prescription cat food didn't have any positive change in the cat's health. In July, she put her cat on a paleo diet centered around raw chicken (because that's what cats eat in real life). Last week, he was tested again... His blood sugar is down to 85 and he is likely to be getting off the insulin next month. The vet couldn't believe it.

Most of Christin's friends think she's nuts. I'm not sure why it isn't common sense to understand that the quality of what we put in our bodies makes a difference in our health. What our pets put in their bodies makes a difference in their health. And what our food eats, makes a difference in their health and thus our health again. And sometimes the food we are willing to put in our pets has an impact on our health. "Where's the Dog Food? In Your Hamburger".