Good Review: Papa John’s Whole-Wheat Pizza Crust

Thu, 05/29/2008 - 10:00am by FitSugar

5,808 Views - 17 comments

Trying to reconcile my love of pepperoni pizza with my love of whole grains just became a little easier. Papa John’s is now making pies with a whole-wheat crust ($11.99/large). I am not sure if most pizza eaters care if they are eating whole grains, but it definitely makes me happy to have the option. I think this might just be the first delivery pizza to come with the 100-percent Whole-Grain Stamp. I tried a couple of these new pizzas with some of the gals here at Sugar Inc. and our opinions varied.

The whole-grain crust is a little thicker than Papa John’s regular crust, which I didn’t mind but others found disappointing because it wasn’t crispy. The crust is sweet, too, making it a nice contrast to the spicy pepperoni for me. My buddy Buzz, on the other hand, found the sweet crust distracting. Nutritionally though, there is no way around the fact that the whole-wheat crust is healthier for you. One slice of a large whole-wheat pizza pie offers you five grams of dietary fiber, to the regular crust’s two grams of fiber. Papa John’s pizza made with whole-wheat crust is slightly lower in calories, sodium, and sugar, too. You can’t beat that. I wish I had a photo to show what the pizzas looked like, but it was gone in a flash.

Found some nutrition info for a whole wheat cheese pizza…

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 slice (132g)
Amount per Serving
Calories 290 Calories from Fat 100
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 12g 18%
Saturated Fat 3.5g 18%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 20mg 7%
Sodium 730mg 30%
Total Carbohydrate 38g 13%
Dietary Fiber 5g 20%
Sugars 4g
Protein 13g 26% Calories in Pizza Harvest Wheat Thin Crispy Crust Pepperoni  Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 serving (126.0 g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories
270
Calories from Fat
81
% Daily Value*
Total Fat
9.0g
14%
Saturated Fat
4.0g
20%
Cholesterol
25mg
8%
Sodium
610mg
25%
Total Carbohydrates
32.0g
11%
Dietary Fiber
4.0g
16%
Sugars
5.0g
Protein
16.0g
Vitamin A 8%     •     Vitamin C 2%
Calcium 25%     •     Iron 10%

Manufactured by Digiorno

 

 

 

You don’t have to stay away from restaurants when you’re losing weight! Are you steering clear of restaurants while you’re trying to lose weight? Are you afraid of large portion sizes, cafeterias, bottomless bread baskets and high-calorie entrees? Believe it or not, shunning restaurants isn’t a realistic approach to weight loss — and it’s unnecessary. Start with this list of tips.

Dining Do’s and Don’ts

1. Set a budget.
Determine how much you’re willing to eat before looking at the menu. You can give yourself some leeway by scheduling some exercise on or near days you plan to eat out. Putting in gym time or going for a brisk walk will help offset a little extra eating. And remember, don’t be flexible. You can loosen up a bit on special occasions, as long as you eat carefully most of the time. (Just don’t let every day become a special occasion.)

2. Put on your game face.
Decide on some guidelines before you go to a restaurant, and stick to them. For instance:

• Skip the all-inclusive menu and opt for à la carte selections. Doing so might not be as economical, but you’ll probably eat less.
• Take one piece of bread, then ask your server to remove the breadbasket from the table.

3. Make special requests.
You’re paying good money for that meal, so you’re entitled to make special requests or slight modifications. Why not say:

• Can I get that without butter? Grilled? With the sauce on the side?
• I’d like mixed greens instead of fries with my sandwich.

4. Practice portion control.
Some restaurant portions can be two, three, even four times the “normal” size–especially super-sized fast food meals. Keep your portions in check by:

• Ordering a salad as a starter and then splitting a main entrée with a friend.
• Creating your own scaled-down meal from a couple of appetizers and/or side dishes.

5. Break down (language) barriers.
If you don’t know what a preparation term means, ask. In general, though, the following words translate into high-fat, high-calorie dishes:

• Au gratin, scalloped, hollandaise.
• Parmigiana, scampi, Bolognese.

6. Downsize the super-size.
Super-sized fast food meal options can be loaded with calories. Either:

• Order something small, like a basic burger. After all, the first bite tastes the same as the last.
• Order yourself a children’s meal.

7. Watch out for extras.
The average burger with ketchup, lettuce and tomato isn’t so bad. But one with “the works” is usually a caloric nightmare. Skip:

• Bacon, cheese and mayonnaise.
• Double-burger patties and extra pieces of bread.

8. Don’t go top heavy.
Salad bars and garden salads grace menus across the country. But those extra toppings can sabotage your seemingly diet-conscious choices:

• Go light on croutons, grated cheese and bacon.
• Opt for small amounts of low-fat or nonfat dressings on the side.

9. Don’t drink away your progress.
A drink with dinner is fine, but too many margaritas may wreak havoc on your dieting resolve. Keep your appetite under control by:

• Alternating alcoholic beverages with noncaloric sodas or sparkling water.
• Not drinking alcoholic beverages on an empty stomach.

10. Resign from the “clean plate club.”
You paid for it so you have to eat it, right? Wrong. Just think of the health and emotional costs of those extra calories on your body. Downsize by:

• Eating half the meal and doggie-bagging the rest.
• Pushing your plate away when you’re full.
• And remember to eat slowly. It takes 20 minutes for your body to recognize that it’s full.

Make these dining-out tips and tricks part of your repertoire. They’ll make a night out on the town, lunch with your pals, or vacations and travel a lot easier.

Our approach What you’ll eat Meetings Online Science of weight loss Success Stories Ready to start? Find a meeting Weight Watchers Online

Avoiding Grocery Store Temptation     A trip to the market can help, not derail, your weight-loss efforts. Just arm yourself with the right tools to succeed. You’re at the supermarket and starving. How do you avoid temptation in the aisles? All it takes is a few minutes of advance planning. Here’s how to get in and out of the supermarket faster and with the right stuff in your grocery bags. Plan ahead. Take some time to plan menus for the upcoming week. Create seven lunch and dinner menus (fewer than that if you eat some meals out). Keep in mind the week’s events: Working late on Thursday? Make it a take-out night. If the dishes you plan don’t include vegetables, estimate how many salads or cooked vegetables you want to accompany the meals. Also, plan on a few snacks and get enough cereal or breakfast foods.As part of your preparation, if you’re a Weight Watchers subscriber and you have a smart phone, take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the new, free Weight Watchers Mobile tool. You’ll be able to use it when you’re in the store to check the POINTS® values of the foods you’re perusing. You might want to make sure you’ve updated your Favorites too; they can act as an evergreen shopping list to make sure you always have your go-to foods to hand. Create a real grocery list This isn’t the list you hurriedly make as you rummage through your fridge and see that you need more milk or you’re out of eggs. Nope, this foolproof shopping list comes right out of the seven-day menu plan strategy. Make your shopping list market-friendly To make shopping easier and faster, organize your list according to the sections of the store. Shop at specialty markets? Then organize by market. Here are some basic categories: Fruits and vegetables Refrigerator cases (dairy, juice, eggs, etc.). Meat, poultry and fish cases Canned foods, condiments and oils Grains and cereals Breads Frozen foods Subscribers can use the Weight Watchers Mobile tool while in the supermarket to look up meals in the Plan Manager from the previous week to make sure favorite healthy foods end up in the cart. The mobile tool also allows you to calculate POINTS values of new foods from the nutrition facts label and look up recipes so you can buy all of the ingredients you need. Grab a snack beforehand You’ve heard this countless times before, and it’s still true: Shop hungry and you’re more likely to succumb to high-calorie foods. If you don’t have time for a whole meal, munch on a quick, healthy snack such as a handful of nuts or a small bag of baked chips before you grab your cart and go. Hit the supermarket once a week If possible, shop on the same day each week and spare yourself some aggravation by avoiding the busy times: weekday evenings or weekends (by Sunday, the produce is usually not so hot anyway). If you work during the day, go after 9 p.m.; if you have a more flexible schedule, go during the day. Make a produce pit-stop Shopping once a week may be too little for fresh produce, so dart into the market midweek to replenish your supply of fruits and vegetables. In the summer months, save time by stopping off at a roadside stand. Shop virtually If you hate spending time in the grocery store, find one that will do it for you. You can shop on the Web, or by simply calling or faxing your order in to a local market; pick it up or have them deliver. Burn down the aisles You can be surrounded by food but still burn calories if you spend a little extra time at the supermarket. Here’s how: Park in the very farthest spot from the door and briskly walk to and from the car Before you pick up a cart, walk up every single aisle in the supermarket as quickly as possible; you may even spot some bargains Grab a cart and shop Now you’re moving more slowly, which means fewer calories burned per minute. So put some extra effort into reaching and stretching for goods on the shelves. Remember that every little bit of activity counts. If you’re a Weight Watchers Mobile user, you can track your activity while you’re standing in line for the checkout (while doing calf raises).

If you’re tired of takeout but too tired to cook, you can still eat healthy without a lot of effort. Sometimes cooking healthy while you’re trying to lose weight can seem like extra effort, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re tired of takeout but too tired to cook, you can still eat well without a lot of effort. What’s the secret? Cutting back on prep and cooking time, without adding calories.

Here are some recommendations

Shortcut Strategies

Purchase dried bean, rice and pasta mixes with flavor packets so that you don’t have to measure out lots of spices and seasonings. (Buy reduced-sodium varieties if you’re following a low-salt diet.)

Eliminate slicing and dicing with packages of fresh or frozen vegetables that are already cleaned and chopped or shredded.

• Take home a whole roasted chicken to make a quick chicken salad, burrito or wrap.
• Use canned and dehydrated soups as bases for heartier soups and stews.

Short on Time, Long on Flavor

• Jodie Shield, M Ed, RD, recipe developer and nutrition consultant to The Chicago Tribune, shares some of her super-fast meal ideas below. A few more tips come from Bev Bennett, cookbook author and weight-loss columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
• For quick jambalaya., stir-fry salad-size shrimp, diced low-fat Italian sausage and chopped bell pepper. Combine with a cooked Cajun-style rice mix until well blended.
• One-dish pasta entrées. make simple family meals. Try adding chopped broccoli and diced lean ham to a cooked reduced-fat macaroni-and-cheese mix. Or make a vegetarian version with chopped fresh tomatoes and lightly steamed asparagus tips.
• Feed a crowd with a wild rice-turkey casserole: Stir-fry leftover turkey breast, chopped broccoli and dried cranberries; combine with a cooked wild-rice mix.
• Go vegetarian with black bean burritos.. Stir-fry diced onions and combine them with canned black beans (rinsed and drained) and a cooked rice mix. Layer down the center of tortillas, top with salsa and low-fat shredded cheddar cheese, roll up, and bake until heated through and the tortillas are slightly browned.
• Add a dash of lime juice, hot sauce and a cup of chopped cooked chicken breast to canned chicken soup. Sprinkle with cilantro and you’ve got hot-and-sour soup. in a jiffy.
• Slice and arrange store-bought, precooked polenta. in a 9-inch square pan; top with soy-based chorizo and a little tomato sauce. Bake until just heated through, and you’ll be dining Italian-style with almost no effort.

7 REASONS WHY VEGGIES ARE SO GOOD FOR YOU

Your mother always said, “eat your vegetables” and she was right - maybe in more ways than she knew. While you don’t have to go all veggie and become a strict vegetarian, one of the healthiest eating habits you can foster in your family is to make vegetables the centerpiece of your meals and let the other food groups accompany them. For many families this may be a switch of mindset from meat and potatoes to potatoes and meat. The animal food is more of a garnish, adding flavor and nutrition to the medley of vegetables and grains. Stirfry is a good example. (Even better would be a combination of fish and vegetables). If you aren’t ready to relegate steak and meatloaf to second place, at least make vegetables equal stars in the meal. With interesting and tasty vegetable dishes on the table (and also a variety of starches), your family will gradually begin eating less meat.

1. Vegetables are nutrient dense. Vegetables pack a lot of nutrition into a minimum of calories. For a measly 35 calories (the amount in one little teaspoon of butter), you can get a half cup of vegetables that contains a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, and health-building substances, called phytonutrients - not to mention a lot of flavor. Load up on legumes (the family of beans, peas, and lentils). Second only to soy, legumes are the best plant source of proteins, fiber, and iron, in addition to being high in folic acid.

LOVE THOSE SWEET POTATOES A good source of protein, fiber, beta carotene, vitamin C, folate and calcium, sweet potatoes are a nutritious and tasty family food and merit a place in our “Top Twelve Foods” list. Contrary to their name, sweet potatoes are not botanically a potato, but rather a root. Though white potatoes contain much more niacin, sweet potatoes are overall more nutritious: They are lower in carbs and higher in fiber, beta carotene, folic acid, and calcium. Like potatoes, sweet potatoes are best stored in a cool, dry pantry. If refrigerated, they lose their taste.

2. Veggies are a dieter’s best partner. Vegetables get top billing on any fat-control diet because most are “free foods,” meaning you can eat an unlimited amount without having to count the calories. Why this lean indulgence? Because of a neat little biochemical quirk that only veggies enjoy: the body uses almost as many calories to digest vegetables as there are in vegetables in the first place. You’ll use up most of the 26 calories in a tomato just chewing, swallowing, and digesting it. The leftover calories don’t even have a fighting chance of being stored in a fat cell. You’d have to eat entire platefuls of most vegetables before the calories begin to add up.

3. You can fill up for less. Because of the fiber in vegetables, you get fuller faster; which is another reason why it’s nearly impossible to overeat veggies.

4. Vegetables are fat-free and cholesterol-free. All vegetables by definition are cholesterol-free and for all practical purposes, fat-free. Over 95 percent of vegetables contain less than a gram of fat per serving, and even that insignificant gram is mostly unsaturated fats.

5. Variety, variety, variety. Let’s face it, diversity makes life interesting. Adults, at least, like different foods prepared different ways. (Witness the diversity of ethnic restaurants in any large city. There are hundreds of different kinds of vegetables and even more ways to prepare them.

6. Vegetables provide complex carbohydrates. The energy in vegetables is in the form of complex carbohydrates. These take some time to digest and don’t cause the blood sugar highs and lows that sugars do. An exception to this rule is the sugar in beets or corn. (These sugars have a high glycemic index and trigger the insulin cycle.)

NUTRITIP Hooray for Hummus! Hummus, a nutritious blend of chickpeas, olive or canola oil, pureed sesame seeds (also called “tahini”), lemon juice, spices, and garlic is a nutritious dip or spread. Never mind that the label shows a lot of calories from fat, since it contains mostly the healthy, unsaturated fats from healthy oils. If it weren’t a heart-healthy appetizer and snack, it wouldn’t be so popular in the Middle Eastern diet, a culture with a low incidence of heart disease. Since it’s rather filling and high in calories (70 calories per 2 tablespoons), you don’t eat hummus by the cupful. Spread it on pita bread or whole-grain crackers, dip vegetables into it, or use it to fill a stalk of celery.

7. Vegetables contain cancer-fighting phytos. On paper, a nutrient analysis of vegetables may not look all that special. Sure, there are lots of nutrients in vegetables, but most of these can also be found in other foods, such as fruits and grains. What you don’t see in the nutrition charts or on the package labels are the hundreds of valuable nutrients, called phytochemicals, found in plants that have as-yet untold health-promoting properties. New research, especially in the field of cancer, is showing that vegetables are nature’s best health foods.

NUTRITIP What Children See, Children Eat A nutritional perk that is a boon for busy parents and picky little eaters is the fact that if your child dislikes one food, chances are that she has other favorites that contain the same nutrients. This perk is called “crossover.” Fruits, grains, and dairy products will provide your child with everything a vegetable does except for some of the cancer-fighting phytos found mostly in vegetables. Surveys have shown that children who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables when they are young tend to continue this eating habit when they’re adults. But how do you get your children to eat vegetables? Eat them yourself. The more vegetables the adults in the family eat, the more children are likely to eat. As they say, monkey see, monkey eat. And remember, tastes change with age - children who turned down vegetables as babies may eat them when they’re toddlers. Keep offering, but don’t force the vegetables. If baby refuses squash at six months, offer it again at nine months. Use modeling, not bribery or threats to get your child to eat vegetables. Good eating habits, like good sleeping habits, can’t be forced on a child. The best you can do is create a healthy eating attitude in your home and let your child catch the spirit. Your job is to eat and serve lots of vegetables, be excited about them, prepare them in a variety of appealing ways, and dress them up to have kid appeal. The rest is up to your child.

THE TOP TEN VEGGIES

Taking into consideration the following factors - protein, fiber, beta carotene, vitamin C, B-vitamins, folate, calcium, zinc, iron, and phytonutrients - here are our top ten veggies in alphabetical order:

Artichokes
Beans (kidney and black)
Beet greens
Broccoli
Chick peas
Lentils
Spinach
Sweet potatoes
Tofu
Tomatoes

Honorable mention: kale, sweet peppers, chili peppers, pumpkin

TOP FIBER-FILLED VEGGIES

Artichoke (1 medium) 16 grams
Beans, black, kidney, lima (1/2 cup) 5-8 grams
Lentils (1/2 cup) 8 grams
Chick peas (1/2 cup) 5.3 Grams
Pumpkin (1/2 cup) 3.5 grams
Peas (1/2 cup) 3.5 Grams
Sweet potatoes (1/2 cup) 3.4 grams
DV (Daily Value) Children: 10 grams; Adults: 25 grams

TOP PROTEIN VEGGIES

Tofu (1/2 cup) 10 grams
Lentils (1/2 cup) 9 grams
Beans, especially black, kidney, and lima (1/2 cup) 6-7 grams
Artichokes (1 medium) 10 grams
Chick peas (1/2 cup) 6 grams
Honorable mention: Other vegetables that rank high in protein per calorie are: broccoli, spinach, brussel sprouts, kale, peas, asparagus, and beet greens.

TOP BETA CAROTENE VEGGIES

Sweet potatoes (1) 11.0 mg.
Pumpkin (1/2 cup) 1.8 mg.
Carrots (1) 4.4 mg.
Asparagus (1/2 cup) 2.5 mg.
Squash, winter (1/2 cup) 2.4 mg.
Beet greens (1/2 cup)2.0 mg.
Kale (1/2 cup) 1.5 mg.
DV: 6 mg.

TOP VITAMIN C VEGGIES

Sweet peppers (1/2, large) 170 mg.
Chili peppers (1) 109 mg.
Brussel sprouts (1/2 cup) 48 mg.
Broccoli (1/2 cup) 41 mg.
Artichoke (1 medium) 30 mg.
Sweet potato (1) 28 mg.
Honorable mention: Tomato, cauliflower, kale, and a potato all have between 20 and 25 mg. of vitamin C

DV: Children: 50 mg.; Adults: 60 mg.

NUTRITIP RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS Take the heat; it’s worth it. Recent research shows that the same chemical that flames your throat, capsaicin, is also a potent anti- cancer phyto. Also, chili peppers top the list of vitamin-C-containing vegetables. Prefer sweet peppers? They’re also an excellent source of vitamin C.

TOP VITAMIN E VEGGIES

Tomato paste (1/2 cup) 5.6 mg.
Tomato puree (1/2 cup) 3.0 mg.
Tomato juice (1 cup) 2.0 mg.
Hummus (1/2 cup) 2.2 mg.
Swiss chard (1/2 cup) 1.6 mg.
Greens, mustard (1/2 cup) 1.4 mg.
Kohlrabi (1/2 cup) 1.4 mg.
Spinach (1/2 cup) 1.4 mg.
Pumpkin (1/2 cup) 1.3 mg.
Broccoli spears (1/2 cup) 1.0 mg.
Beans, kidney (1/2 cup) 0.5 mg.
DV:Children: 7 mg.; Adults: 10 mg.

TOP CALCIUM VEGGIES

Tofu (1/2 cup, firm) 258 mg.
Spinach (1/2 cup, canned) 136 mg.
Artichoke (1 medium) 135 mg.
Rhubarb (1/2 cup, unsweetened) 133 mg.
Beet greens (1/2 cup) 82 mg.
Honorable mention: Kale, beans, chickpeas, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes have 30 to 50 mg. per serving.

DV: Children: 800 mg.; Adults: 1,200 mg.

TOP FOLIC ACID VEGGIES

Artichoke (1 medium) 153 mg.
Asparagus (1/2 cup, 6 spears) 131 mg.
Lentils (1/2 cup) 118 mg.
Spinach (1/2 cup, canned) 105 mg.
Chickpeas (1/2 cup, canned) 80 mg.
DV: Children under four: 200 mg; Adults and children over four: 400 mg.; Pregnant/lactating women: 800 mg

TOP IRON VEGGIES

Tofu (1/2 cup, firm) 5-10 mg.
Artichoke (1 medium, boiled) 3.9 mg.
Lentils (1/2 cup, canned) 3.2 mg.
Beans (1/2 cup, canned) 1.5-2.3 mg.
Honorable mention: Beet greens, chickpeas, pumpkin, and spinach (1/2 cup, canned) all have 1 to 2 milligrams per serving

DV Children: 10 milligrams; Adults: 12-18 milligrams.

These DV’s are based upon foods of medium bioavailability, meaning that around 5 to 10 percent of the dietary iron will actually be absorbed into the body (more or less, depending on the self-regulating system of the body’s total iron needs). The average child needs to get one milligram of iron into the bloodstreamGreens such as spinach, beet greens, chard, legumes, and some vegetables contain substances called inhibitors, such as polyphenols and phytates, that bind iron, thereby lowering its absorption. The figures above represent the amount of iron in the food, but because of the substances, the amount that actually gets into the body may be much less than the amount on paper. The percentage of vegetable iron absorbed can be increased by eating iron enhancers along with a meal, such as meat and vitamin C- containing foods. For practical dietary purposes, this iron-binding problem is only significant of you eat that food alone. Eating foods, such as spinach, along with a variety of other foods, especially those containing vitamin C, compensate for the theoretical problem of iron binding. Yes, grandmother was scientifically correct when she said “eat a variety of foods together at a meal.”

TOP ZINC VEGGIES

Tofu (1/2 cup, firm) 2.0 mg.
Artichoke (1 medium) 1.47 mg.
Chickpeas ( 1/2 cup, canned) 1.25 mg.
Beans, kidney, lima (1/2 cup) 0.75 mg.
DV: Children: 10 mg.; Adults: 15 mg.

WHY TOMATOES ARE TERRIFIC

Tomatoes make the “Top Twelve Foods” list, not only for their nutritional qualities, which are many, but because they are so versatile and they’re a kid favorite in ketchup and spaghetti and pizza sauce. While some green veggies rate higher on paper than red tomatoes, try getting a cup of kale into kids. Here’s why tomatoes are top:

Like that lycopene. The very nutrient that makes tomatoes red - lycopene - is also a top antioxidant. Even though beta carotene gets all the press as a health food, the most powerful cancer-kicking carotenoid is really lycopene. Lycopene delivers twice the antioxidant power of another top antioxidant, vitamin E. Yet, you’d have to eat a hundred times as many calories in vitamin E-containing foods to get the antioxidant power that’s in one tomato. Even though lycopene can help lower the risk of all cancers, research to date shows that tomato-based foods are most effective in lowering the risk of prostate cancer.

Tomatoes are usually picked when green, and as they ripen off the vine in transit to your home, they make more lycopene as they get riper and redder. While lycopene is found most abundantly in tomato products, it is also found in guava, watermelon, and pink grapefruit. The body absorbs more lycopene from tomatoes when they are cooked into sauce, paste, and salsa. Lycopene in canned tomatoes is even better absorbed than in raw ones. (This is one of the few foods in which man can do something to it to improve upon Mother Nature.) Tomato processing concentrates the amount of lycopene in the final product. For salad lovers, an additional nutriperk is a bit of oil eaten with the tomato pulls more of the lycopene out of the tomato and into the bloodstream. Cancer researchers believe that this combination is one of the reasons why people on the Mediterranean diet, which combines tomato products with olive oil, have one of the lowest rates of intestinal cancer and one of the longest lifespans.

Tomatoes are one of nature’s most nutrient-dense foods. Tomatoes are reported to contain around 4,000 phytonutrients, plant chemicals which pack powerful health properties. In addition to packing a powerful antioxidant profile, a tomato stores a lot of other good stuff in those pithy 26 calories, such as 1/2 gram of fiber, 25% of the RDA for vitamin A, a gram of protein, a bit of vitamin B6, riboflavin, niacin, almost half the RDA for vitamin C (high among veggies), and even a pinch of the minerals: zinc, iron, magnesium, manganese, and copper. It is even low in sodium and high in potassium, which is just what your body needs.

Tomato terms you should know (or may be curious about) Tomato puree is concentrated tomato juice and tomato pulp. If the tomato puree is seasoned, it’s called tomato sauce. If the puree is superconcentrated, it is known as tomato paste, which is an even richer source of nutrients such as beta carotene and iron. Sun-dried tomatoes are dehydrated tomatoes. They are sometimes packed in olive oil, both to preserve them and to enrich their flavor.

NUTRITIP Better Ketchup If your child is a ketchup addict, as most children are, replace the highly- sugared red stuff with healthier brands that are slightly sweetened with fruit concentrates. At least you’ll be getting more tomatoes than sugar. Even ketchups that tout “no refined sugars” contain around the same number of carbohydrates from added sweeteners, (such as pear or apple juice concentrate), as carbs from the original tomatoes. Ketchup can also be used in combination with other nutritious foods, such as a dip for veggies or as a sauce over whole- wheat pasta. So, a few added carbs are okay to sweeten the red stuff. Also try ketch-oil. Mix a tablespoon of flax oil with three tablespoons of ketchup. Be sure to stir vigorously to mix the oil and ketchup. You can spread it on a sandwich or pour it into a bowl for dipping.

COOKING AND SERVING VEGETABLES

Serve your family a wide variety of vegetables and from all different parts of the plant - roots, stems, leaves, and seeds. The leaves, or greens, of some vegetables, such as beets and turnips, are equally nutritious if not more so than the veggie itself. These greens are high in beta carotene, fiber, vitamin E, calcium, and iron, but they contain only around 25 calories per serving (without added butter or oil).

FRESH OR FROZEN
How food is processed affects its nutritional quality. Generally, the less processing, the better. In nutrient value, fresh is better than frozen, and frozen is better than canned. But there are many exceptions. Much depends upon the time between harvesting, and freezing, and canning. A vegetable that is frozen or canned hours after harvesting may contain more vitamins than a fresh veggie that has had to travel across the country to market. There are various nutritional tradeoffs from packaging and processing. For example, canned and frozen vegetables contain more sodium. Frozen broccoli may contain more beta carotene, since the stalks have been removed, leaving only the florets in the package, but it will have less calcium and more sodium. As often as possible, serve fresh and frozen vegetables to your family, so they get used to the more varied and intense flavors.

Steaming vegetables preserves a lot more of the nutrients and the fresh vegetable taste than boiling, which releases some value nutrients into the water. Microwaving also preserves nutrients in veggies. Consult a reliable cookbook to avoid overcooking. Cover them tightly so they don’t lose moisture. Perk up the flavor with seasonings rather than salt and butter. Try lemon juice, onion juice, honey, dill, cinnamon, nutmeg, basil, curry, oregano, and garlic. A bit of olive oil, a sprinkling of sesame seeds, or grated cheese add interest.

Savvy salad. When you’re creating a salad, remember that the darker the leaves, the more nutritious the salad. The paler the greens, the fewer nutrients there are. Spinach leaves are a much more nutritious alternative to iceberg lettuce. Romaine lettuce contains about three times the amount of folic acid as iceberg. Although most lettuces and salad greens are similar in the traces of B-vitamins and minerals they contain, there are differences. Here’s how salad greens rank, from most nutritious to least: spinach leaves, arugula, watercress, endive, romaine, bib, Boston, and iceberg.

GROWING YOUR OWN GARDEN

Want to have some family fun - and teach your children about food, nature, hard work, and responsibility? Plant a family garden. While parents are naturally the overseers, children can feel like this is primarily their project. They take responsibility for the planting and the care, with a little parental guidance. Of course, they get first pickings in eating the fruits of their labors. Garden-growing gives children a sense of responsibility, the pride of ownership, and they learn valuable lessons about how sun, water, seeds, and soil come together to make food. The big payoff is that kids are more likely to eat the veggies they grow. Our little 6×20 foot sideyard garden has rewarded us with not only hours of family fun, but produce we can trust. Here are some home gardening tips to help you get started:

Ask neighbors who have a garden what grows best in your part of the country and when to plant it. Or, go to a garden store in your community for advice. They can tell you what you need to get your garden going, including gardening books, soil preparation, gardening tools, seeds, plants, and maintenance. Select an area in your yard that gets a lot of sun. Choose fruits and vegetables that will grow well under the conditions you have and that you most like to eat. Because children are impatient, choose at least some vegetables that grow big and fast. For our family, it’s zucchini, which can grow bigger than a child’s arm overnight, it seems. The vines have big impressive leaves and get into everything. You can make great zucchini pancakes at harvest time- a real family treat! (See ) Put as much color in your garden as you can, such as red tomatoes and peppers, yellow squash and corn, and purple peppers. Pole beans are fun, too. They’ll climb a trellis or lean some poles against each other for a leafy teepee. Make a maintenance chart and help your children keep track of when they planted the garden, when they water the garden, and when they take care of other gardening tasks. This record-keeping adds to their sense of diligence. As they see the fruits of their labor, watch their pride sprout. Keep a garden book. Keep track of what you plant and when from year to year, how much you harvest, what grows well, and what fails. Take photos of children at work in the garden and with their harvest. Make first pickings a special occasion. When that first zucchini comes off the vine, make zucchini pancakes the main course. Make a special salad with the first tender lettuce in the spring. If your yard is not suitable for vegetable gardening, you can still plant a mini garden in pots, small and large. This works well for apartment dwellers, too. You can keep your garden on a patio, a balcony, or even the roof. Tomatoes and peppers grow well this way, as do herbs. Even a cardboard box or shoe box can house your mini garden. Set the box in a sunny place, such as the kitchen or bedroom window. Your local garden shop can help you create a mini garden. Sprout some sprouts. Sprouts are kids’ favorites, since you can plant a seed on Monday and by the following Sunday the kids can already see their sprouts growing. Radish sprouts should be ready in a week. Beets are fun. The leaves (tasty steamed or raw) are more nutritious than the beet root, with gobs of beta carotene and other phytonutrients. They’re a healthy alternative to lettuce on sandwiches, but don’t forget to remove the chewy purple stem. Of course, it’s fun to discover the deep red beets under the ground, too. If you have several little gardeners, divide the garden into plots and let them name their plants (”Susie’s squash” and “Tommy’s tomatoes”). To have fun with your garden, let the children draw faces with a marker on the produce still on the vine. As the pumpkins or zucchini grow, the eyes get bigger and the smiles get wider.Will you save money by growing your own produce? It depends on what you grow and how much money you spend getting started. Even if your produce winds up costing more than what’s available at the grocery store, the extra money is worth it. Gardens are great for kids. As they help the garden grow, the garden helps them grow, too.

Portion Distortion

All-you-can-eat buffets, super-sized meals and cavernous drinks may help keep your wallet full, but they’re also helping to expand your waistline.

Nutrition experts say portion control is one of the biggest factors in successfully losing weight. But Americans aren’t very good at recognizing reasonable portion sizes anymore.

“If people could cut down on their portion sizes, this would be the single greatest way to combat the creeping obesity epidemic,” said Madelyn Fernstrom, founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Weight Management Center. “It’s such a simple concept, but it’s hard to do. There’s so much hidden fat in food, it’s hard to know what a serving size is.”

And, if you think consuming more food than you should at one meal isn’t a big concern, consider that just “100 calories a day more than you need adds up to 10 pounds in one year,” said Miriam Pappo, clinical nutrition manager at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. “That’s only one or two tablespoons of salad dressing,” she added.

A recent study of 120 healthy adults found that when people were given the right size portions, their weight loss efforts were much more successful. Men in the study were told to eat about 1,700 calories daily, while the women were advised to eat 1,365 calories. Both groups were also told that their diet should consist of 55 percent carbohydrates, 25 percent protein and 20 percent fat.

In addition, 30 men and 30 women were given prepackaged entrees of meat and rice and were told to add two large salads, fruit and two glasses of skim milk a day. The remaining men and women were coached on making healthy choices but were allowed to select their own portions.

In two months, the women given prepackaged portions lost 12 pounds, while those who selected their own portions only lost eight pounds. The men eating prepackaged portions lost 16 pounds, versus 11 pounds for those who controlled their own portions.

Fernstrom said she thinks prepackaged frozen meals can be a good option, especially when people are trying to re-learn proper portions. But if you don’t want to eat a lot of frozen food, she suggests saving the containers from those meals, so you have a guide as to what a serving size should be.

Fernstrom also said that today’s dinner plates are simply too big. She recommends eating from salad plates all the time. You can always go back for more food if you’re still hungry, she said.

Pappo said using the “plate method” can also be helpful. Half of your plate should be vegetables, one-quarter should be protein, and the remaining quarter set aside for a starchy food.

“People don’t like to measure their food, but you need to do it every three or four months to see if you’re on target,” said Pappo, who periodically measures her food to make sure she’s not overeating.

When it comes to eating out, both Pappo and Fernstrom said challenges abound.

“Always assume it’s more than one serving,” said Fernstrom, who recommends sharing an entree with a friend or ordering an appetizer for dinner.

“People don’t want to waste food. If it’s on your plate, you’ll probably eat it. If you went by your appetite, you’d probably only eat half of your entree,” she said. “You have to change your mindset, eat slower, and get some tools to help you with portion control, like smaller plates.”

If you need any more motivation to cut back on your portion sizes, Pappo pointed out that if you’re a 130-pound woman who eats an extra 500 calories — something that’s easy to do at a restaurant — you’d need to bicycle for an hour and a half to burn off those extra calories.

Diet and Weight Loss Tips
Weight Loss Information and Tips for Getting Started

Calories per Hour offers the following tips to help you lose weight to look better, feel better, and live a healthier life. These tips are short and sweet and are intended as a starting point or quick reference for individuals seeking to lose weight by using the resources offered on Calories per Hour. Read the related tutorial topics to learn more about the topics discussed in these weight loss tips

1. How Did I Get Here?

Do you simply need help learning how to eat better? Probably. But if you eat poorly as a result of emotional, mental, or spiritual problems, they may have to be addressed before you can make any real progress with weight loss.

Even people who don’t feel they have an eating disorder often turn to food for comfort. To learn to eat well and exercise regularly, you may also have to learn to handle the problems life throws at you without turning away from healthy eating and exercise.

Be particularly careful about all-or-nothing thinking. A common tendency when failing to stay on a diet is to abandon it altogether. Instead, try to learn from your mistakes and do better in the future.

2.# Are You Ready to Diet? Again?

Diets entice us with promises of quick weight loss. But focusing on quick weight loss can lead to unhealthy eating and only short term success.

3.While most diets produce quick weight loss at the outset, they often cause your metabolism to slow. The result is that you have to eat less and less to keep losing weight. You quickly become discouraged, give up, and start eating like you used to. But now, with a slower metabolism, you regain all the weight you lost, and more.

Focus instead on improving your health, and you will become slim and healthy.

Related Tutorial Topic:  Selecting a Diet Plan

4.# Take Control of What You Eat

There are few things that we have complete control over, but what we put in our mouths is one of them. We don’t have to lose control in a restaurant or a friend’s home, and we don’t have to eat everything that’s put in front of us.

Consider this:  We love fat because it carries flavor, and restaurants aren’t as interested in whether we’ll be around in 30 years as whether we’ll be back next week. And what about our friends?

5.# Eat Frequently, and Eat Slowly

It is important to understand what happens when you skip a meal or go on a crash diet. When you skip a meal your metabolism slows to conserve your energy. And when you lose weight too quickly for a few days, your body thinks it is threatened with starvation and goes into survival mode. It fights to conserve your fat stores, and any weight loss comes mostly from water and muscle.

Never skip a meal, especially breakfast, and eat healthy snacks between meals. Eating frequently prevents hunger pangs and the binges that follow, provides consistent energy, and may be the single most effective way to maintain metabolism efficiency.

Eating slowly gives our bodies time to tell us they are full before we’ve eaten more than we need.

Related Tutorial Topic:  Raise Your Metabolism and Burn More Calories

6.# Eat More Fruits, Vegetables and Whole Grains

People who eat healthy, mostly unprocessed foods, including fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and limited amounts of lean animal protein, often find that they can eat as much as they want without gaining weight. If they are switching from a diet containing lots of processed foods, they find that they can eat more yet consume fewer calories — and they lose weight.

Historically, the Chinese ate mostly rice and vegetables with a little lean meat for protein and flavor, nothing like the American Chinese restaurant dishes of deep fried sweet and sour pork. A step back to more natural foods would improve our health and waistlines.

Related Tutorial Topic:  Why Healthy Food Makes You Slim

7.# Eat More Fiber

Fiber makes us feel full sooner and stays in our stomach longer than other substances we eat, slowing down our rate of digestion and keeping us feeling full longer. Due to its greater fiber content, a single serving of whole grain bread can be more filling than two servings of white bread. Fiber also moves fat through our digestive system faster so that less of it is absorbed.

Refined grains like white rice and those used to make white bread and sugary breakfast cereals have had most of their fiber and nutrients stripped away. They turn into blood sugar (glucose) so fast that, like sugar itself, they can cause a spike in our insulin level. This tells our body that plenty of energy is readily available and that it should stop burning fat and start storing it.

Eating foods with plenty of fiber will help keep our blood sugar at a more consistent level.

Related Tutorial Topic:  How Fiber Helps You Lose Weight

8.# Cut Down on Sugar

Be careful about sugar in coffee and soda pop. It can add up quickly, and these drinks aren’t filling.

Watch for “hidden” sugar in processed foods like bread, ketchup, salad dressing, canned fruit, applesauce, peanut butter, and soups. And be careful with “fat-free” products. Sugar is often used to replace the flavor that is lost when the fat is removed. Fat-free does not mean calorie-free.

The greater concern with the insulin spike (above) is not that it tells our body to start storing fat. Whatever we eat and don’t burn up eventually gets turned into fat anyway.

The greater concern is that the insulin spike is followed by a drop in insulin level that leaves us feeling tired and hungry and wanting to eat more. The unfortunate result of this scenario is that it makes us want to eat something else with a high sugar content. When we do, we start the cycle all over again.

Regulating your blood sugar level is the most effective way to maintain your fat-burning capacity.

Related Tutorial Topic:  How Blood Sugar Levels Affect Weight Loss

9.# Too Much of a Bad Thing

Foods like cheese stand out as among the most fat-laden, with a great number of calories coming from fat. But as important as it is to select the healthiest foods, it is also important to consider how they are prepared.

Fried foods, especially deep-fried, contain a great amount of fat. While chicken and fish are usually leaner than beef or pork, they can contain more fat when they are fried. Look at how the number of grams of fat in a chicken breast changes depending on how it is cooked:

Cooking Method    Fat
Meat Only, Roasted    3.1
Meat Only, Fried    4.1
Meat and Skin, Batter Fried    18.5

“Fried food? All I eat is salad and I still can’t lose weight!”

Be careful with salad dressings, mayonnaise, and other condiments that are high in fat content. They greatly increase the calorie count and can negate the healthy aspects of a meal. Replace mayonnaise-based condiments with fat-free alternatives like fat-free yogurt, mustard, ketchup and barbecue sauce.

And remember, a gram of fat contains more than twice as many calories as a gram of protein or carbohydrate.

Related Tutorial Topic:  Calories in Protein, Fat and Carbohydrates

10 # Too Little of a Good Thing

But don’t try to eliminate fat altogether, as dietary fat is necessary to maintain a healthy body. It is a vital component for building body tissue and cells, and it aids in the absorption of some vitamins and other nutrients. Many people eat too much of the bad fats, but also eat too little of the good fats required for optimal health.

Related Tutorial Topic:  Good Fats and Bad Fats

11# Exercise Regularly

People who exercise regularly not only lose weight faster, they are more successful at keeping it off. Exercise makes it possible to create a calorie deficit and lose weight without starving your body and slowing your metabolism.

At home, at the gym, or playing sports, participate in both aerobic and strength building activities on a regular basis. Not only does the exercise itself burn calories, but your body will continue to burn calories at a higher rate even after you’re done exercising.

If walking is all you can do, then walk because it’s great for you. But muscle burns more calories than fat, so put on a little muscle if you can and you will burn more calories just sitting there… looking good.

But don’t sit too long. The human body is good at adapting. If you dig ditches without gloves, you will develop calluses to protect your hands. If you sit too long, you will develop extra padding to keep you comfortable!

Related Tutorial Topic:  Why Exercise Is Important for Weight Loss

12# Take It Easy

Unless you are excited to be following a very specific diet and exercise plan, do not try and change too much too fast. If you have been eating poorly and not exercising, both your body and your mind will have a lot of adjusting to do.

All the sugar and fat were actually quite enjoyable, and sitting on the couch didn’t feel too bad, either. If you try and change everything too quickly the odds are greater that you will feel bad, get discouraged, and give up. So be patient.

A time will come when a healthy snack will taste as good as the junk food you felt bad about eating, and you will look forward to your regular exercise.

13# Begin Now

You can achieve your goals, but it won’t likely happen as a result of the next fad diet. Or the one after that.

Learning to eat well and exercise is the only solution to long term weight loss.

14.  Taking a few deep breaths…
Enjoying a beautiful sunset…
Calling an old friend on the phone…
Most of all enjoy your life . Life is so short and soon it gone . God bless you all

Frozen entrees are a dieter’s best friend…and with good reason. They’re convenient, low in calories and come in a variety of meals. Even better, these ready-made meals fit with just about any weight loss plan. However, there is a downside with stocking up on frozen foods. A typical frozen entrée can be loaded with sodium. For example, one popular brand offers a chicken fettuccini entrée that contains 700 milligrams per serving. Too much sodium is problematic for individuals with high blood pressure or other health conditions that necessitate a low salt diet. Your best bet is to check the nutritional values on each meal before selecting an entrée.