By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
March 30th, 2012
We hope you’ve enjoyed the posts this month on “Keep Your Plate In Shape”. It was a month of ideas, successes and opportunities as we discussed keeping dinner plates and life plates in shape. It is nearly impossible to be perfect, but the more you can keep your plate in shape the better quality of life you’ll have. I’ve noticed things seem to fall into place more easily when a balance is achieved. It is also important to remember your idea of balance is different than another person’s idea of balance. Do what you feel is best to keep your plate in shape.
Keep checking back for great nutrition and health topics as we highlight key research and trends throughout the rest of the year to keep ENC’s plate in balance too! The next couple months are pretty egg-citing. April is full of eggs and egg dishes and May in National Egg Month.
Here are a few more of my egg meals to keep you excited for the upcoming months.
Tags: eggs, MyPlate, National Nutrition Month
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
March 27th, 2012
No, I am not talking about oil changes! I am talking about regular doctor and dentist visits for checkups. I know several people personally who skip these visits, unless they start to feel something is wrong. They say something like: “I know I should go to the doctor/dentist but I don’t like to or don’t have time.” Many people are afraid of what might happen at the doctor or dentist based on past memories of their family or themselves. We can help them overcome this and show how it will help them. If you are actively seeing clients in the doctor office setting, encourage them to continue and even praise them for making these visits (although it seems logical for most of us).
We know prevention is a key to good health. Encourage all clients/patients to make and keep these important visits in your practice setting.
A couple examples:
We have seen a link with dental health and heart disease, yet many people do not brush/floss as often as they should and many neglect visits. Hmm sounds similar to many nutrition and activity issues.
Same thing with a diagnosis of health conditions (example diabetes). Many people walk around undiagnosed because they haven’t had a regular checkup. They are often diagnosed during some other testing or hospital stay.
The list can go on and on…..
I know I am preaching to the choir on this one, but keep promoting this part of the plate in overall health. Also, if you happen to be one of those people who skip the doctor or dentist take a step towards achieving balance on your plate.
Tags: MyPlate, National Nutrition Month
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
March 26th, 2012
Sleep is an important part of balancing your life plate. However, as we get busy our sleep patterns tend to be affected. When these patterns are affected, we see that diet and many other parts of the plate are compromised as well.
I saw a great blog post by fellow RD, Joan Salge Blake, about new research regarding sleep and nutrition that I wanted to share with you all.
Don’t forget to get your zzz’s and when assessing your clients don’t forget to ask about sleep patterns. Check out the National Sleep Foundation for more information.
Tags: eggs, MyPlate, Sleep
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
March 23rd, 2012
I recently read a Today’s Dietitian article that discussed Best Breakfasts From Around the World and loved to see that eggs are a common breakfast food in other countries. One key difference is the foods the people in other countries eat with the eggs- the eggs have great company-healthy and colorful plates in many instances.
Interestingly enough many of these breakfasts around the world follow MyPlate concepts, but appear to be more balanced than the US breakfast. I could envision many of these “plates” to easily be half full of vegetables, with a great protein source like eggs, along with fruit, dairy and whole grains.
Breakfast around the world tends to include foods that we, in the US, may not see as common breakfast foods, but are overall quite healthy! Thanks for the RDs who gave their first hand experiences of the most important meal of the day across the world. We could learn much from these other countries. As I leave you today, I challenge you with the phrase: “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” Adelle Davis
Tags: breakfast, healthy eating, MyPlate
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
March 16th, 2012
Are you a creature of habit with your food choices? I have been working on having a variety on my plates. I’ve been tracking “my plates” for the blog this month and also posted several photos on my personal facebook page. Some people noted- oh you eat ___ a few times a week. Sometimes it is habit and sometimes that was the food on sale! That being said, I have mentioned how versatile eggs are in many of my posts, so I do tend to eat eggs a few times a week for different meals. You’ve seen photos of some of these throughout the month.
Today, I’ll show you some of my other plates. What do you think? I would like to point out that the cheesecake plate was eating in conjunction with a meal (but eggs are an ingredient). I felt compelled to share it so you can see overall balance means you enjoy treats (cheesecake) too! Keep track of how your plates look-not only for a day but a week. Remember it is the overall picture that matters! If you’ve never taken a pictures of your plate- it can be a great motivator and keeps you accountable.
Tags: eggs, MyPlate, National Nutrition Month
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
March 15th, 2012
Yesterday was Registered Dietitian (RD) Day-hooray for all of our Registered Dietitian readers. Instead of doing some other tasks last night, I decided to celebrate RD Day and take a trip to Whole Foods and Trader Joes for no other reason than to look around (of course, I still bought a few things). I wasn’t in a hurry and I was able to enjoy my trip. Some of you may be thinking that my activity is not fun, but for me it is something I like to do. Regardless of what activity it is, we all need to take time to do things that are relaxing and fun. It should be a part of everyone’s plate. We’ve probably all experienced some form of stress and if it is not managed, excess stress can lead to poor eating, sleeping, and overall health habits. I can say this was a piece of my plate missing for some time. Long clinic hours and taking work home definitely interfered with this part of my life and I found it difficult to want to take time to do the “fun” things that would have been great stress-relievers.
I’ve worked to make sure I have me time-some of the time I consider my workout me time because I during that time I can let all things go and focus on my workout. For my well-being, I’ve been trying to spend more time with friends. There is something to be said about spending time with others and this is usually one of the first things to be put on hold as life gets busy. Also, I enjoy spending time reading (magazines are easy read choice) and spending time with my kritters.
What do you do to keep this part of your plate in balance?
Tags: MyPlate, National Nutrition Month, registered dietitans
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
March 13th, 2012
Coach Nicole gave me inspiration for the next post because it really applies to me. About six months ago I made it a priority to get my health back. I had put it on the back burner for too long-between medication, life issues and overall feeling crummy. Even health professionals can go through this and many have-we are not exempt.
For me the thing that seemed to do the trick was upping the exercise. I have been consistently working out for about two hours most days of the week- a mix of cardio, strength and interval type exercises. I started to feel better right away and noticed results soon after. It is something I do not intend to give up again-I’ll remember how I feel during and after a workout, compared to how I felt previously. One thing that is great is that I have made new “gym friends” to help keep motivated and it is always nice to spark a new friendship.
That being said-two hours is a pretty big commitment and it has taken a lot of time. As I have approached my goals, I’ve modified my workout plan and this article gave me some great tips. This will be one more idea for balancing “my own plate”.
Tags: eggs, exercise, MyPlate, National Nutrition Month
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
March 12th, 2012
Today’s guest post is from Personal Trainer Travis Burkybile. Travis has a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology and a NCFS certification. He works as a Strength Coach at Corefitnesschicago.
At this time of year, warmer weather is on everyone’s minds, the holidays are a distant memory, and tax season is in full swing. Your fitness routine is probably the last thing you are thinking about right now. So how do you keep your New Year’s commitment or get started if you are ready to take the plunge?
Working as a coach in the fitness industry for the last 6 years in a corporate gym setting and a smaller private training facility, I have gotten to know what works and what does not work so well for my clients. The biggest hurdles for most people, regardless of where and how they workout are making the time for exercise and wanting results too quickly. Today, I will share some ideas that have helped my clients overcome these barriers.
How can you make time for fitness and stay motivated to continue? If you are starting a new fitness plan, or looking to improve on your current one take a lesson from Leo Babuta in the book The Power of Less. He advises that when beginning an exercise program start slowly and always leave enough room to do a little bit more. This tactic keeps you engaged and motivated to return to your workout. It is much more beneficial to be consistent when building a habit than it is to try and get it all done in a day or even a week. This will also make it easier from a time perspective to fit exercise into your existing lifestyle. If you are already doing a program, change it! Shorten your rest breaks, change your reps, and the gains will come again.
The most important part of any exercise program is what you get out of it. Whether training to improve a pain or weakness, improve your body composition, or be stronger, it is important to see results. There are multiple ways to measure such as body fat percentage, circumferences, personal bests in races and training, and many more. If you are stuck with motivation, results, or both hire a qualified coach! The best motivation is success.
Remember this final tip. A project, a habit, or a lifestyle change is successful when you restart it every day. It is a willful and conscious decision to start again rather than simply continue. You aren’t in a pattern, good or bad, if you aren’t doing it. Restart your own fitness today!
Tags: eggs, personal trainer
By Marcia Greenblum, MS, RD
March 8th, 2012
As a representative of the Egg Nutrition Center for the Strategic Partnership for the ChooseMyPlate.gov program, I signed up to show everyone what I eat. It sounds so simple, right? On March 8 National What’s On Your Plate Day, just spread the word about how to eat using ChooseMyPlate.gov as a template. Yet, just thinking about how to show a healthy diet can be difficult when reality hits. Do I really eat all my meals on a plate? Do I really eat only at meal time? What about my beverages and that mouthful of nuts? What about when I go to meetings, dinner with friends or business associates? By the third picture of my meals, my husband had already asked me to stop taking pictures claiming it was disturbing his dinner! So, in an effort to come clean about what a 33 year veteran of the American Dietetics Association, now the Academy of Dietetics really eats, I am fessing up on national What’s On Your Plate Day, March 8, 2012.
Breakfast: My favorite breakfast: warm hard boiled eggs with orange slices and Greek yogurt. Add a cup of coffee and I’m good to go. This is my power breakfast because it gets me through the morning, including exercise at the gym and satisfied until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. It even looks bright and sunny.
Lunch: Melted open faced sliced turkey with aged provolone cheese sandwich with sugar snap peas. I love this lunch because it’s quick and I adore the melted cheese flavor along with the sweet crispness of the peas. Finished with multiple cups of rooibos tea and I’m set. Only one dish to clean up!
Dinner with my husband, I tried a new recipe: shrimp in lime and coconut sauce garnished with cilantro. In addition I served a spoonful of jasmine rice and lots of mushrooms and roasted asparagus on the side for color and a taste of spring. My husband suggested taking off the “green stuff” to improve the look of the meal but that’s why he’s not a 33 year veteran of ADA! Add in a glass of white wine and that’s my day’s meals. I have a new appreciation for food stylists, I doubt anyone would make this meal if it was in a cookbook! After dinner, I confess, I did sneak into the kitchen for handful of almonds and tea before bed but no one’s perfect!!
Tags: ADA, eggs, MyPlate, protein
By Marcia Greenblum, MS, RD
March 6th, 2012
I’ve been reading blogs and websites about working moms recently, like Workingmom.com and SimpleBites.net, trying to get inspiration about how to balance life that includes kids, husband, parents, finances, friends, environment, profession etc.
Today’s woman has so much access to knowledge, it can be overwhelming. In the old days women consulted their mothers or grandmothers for advice, now the web can be a great substitute for the experience those elders offered. However, the catch is not to expect perfection in everything you undertake.
As a registered dietitian, one would expect that I strived to teach my children to eat healthily. Well, I recognized immediately that actions speak louder than words and rather than verbal teaching I made sure our meals had balance and variety and organization. All our meals had variety of color, texture and nutrients long before the MyPlate program showed us all how to eat. Ellen Sater RD in her book, Feed Me I’m Yours, taught me that the size of one’s portions should be determined by the person eating with the requirement that one needs to sample new foods. I ate most meals with our children and snacking was rare.
To quote Aimee Wimbush-Bourque on SimpleBites.net: “If they see you reaching for a crisp apple instead of a Doritos bag at snack time, they’ll do the same.” Peer pressure does take hold when kids go to school and those packaged foods look so much better than the home made lunches I sent but, after sending kids with packaged lunches once or twice, they soon realized that simple homemade food was tastier.
In my professional life I find it easy to support the egg industry because I have always felt eggs are full of nutrients, inexpensive, serving sized and delicious. If this was a scientific experiment I would be able to write in the results section that I proved my hypothesis, my kids now all adults, are healthy, eat well and love to cook.
Tags: eggs, Kids, registered dietitans, School
