Raise a Glass!

There are plenty of options for milk alternatives out there on the market, but do they stack up to the real thing? You may select an alternative based on taste, preference, nutrient content, or health reasons. But an alternative may not be the best for you and your body! I support you and your decision on what kind of milk or altnerative you want to drink. I am just here to clear the air between the differences and help you make a more knowledgeable decision for your life and health.

Let's dive in!

Skim Milk- In just one 8 oz glass of milk, there's only 80 calories! Within those 80 calories, there's no fat at all, less than 5 mg of cholesterol, 12 g of carbohydrates, 8 grams of protein, 30% of the daily value of calcium and 25% of the daily value of Vitamin D! Just one small glass of milk packs a good punch of nutrients! Nothing needed to be added into milk in order to make it like this, its all nautral!



Let's compare it to 8 oz of Soy Milk
One 8 oz glass has 110 calories (thats 30 more than a glass of skim milk). There's 2.5g of fat, 15 g of carbs, 5g of protein, and vitamins that are added into the beverage to add some nutrient content. This is the ingredient list for this vanilla soy milk -

• Organic soymilk (filtered water, whole organic soybeans)
• Brown rice sweetener (filtered water, brown rice)
• Natural vanilla flavor with other natural flavors
• Tricalcium phosphate
• Sea salt
• Carrageenan
• Vitamin A palmitate
• Vitamin D2 

Let's look at Almond Milk
 It has only 30 calories in an 8 oz glass of the unsweetened variety, but it has 3.5g of fat, 3g of carbohydrates and only 2g, at most, of protein.  There is a significantly less amount of nutrients in almond milk compared to skim milk!

Let's look at Coconut milk!
One 8oz glass of coconut milk has 80 calories, like the skim milk, but has 5g of fat all coming from saturated fat, 7 grams of carbs, and less than 1 gram of protein!!! This product is also fortified with vitamins in an attempt to up the nutirent content.


For those who are lactose intolerant and rely on milk alternatives in an attempt to get some nutrients, there is a better option! Nestle has a new milk product called FairLife. It comes in Chocolate Milk, 2% and Skim Milk, and the best part is that it is actually made from cow's milk! Now you may be thinking "why is she saying this if I can't have milk because of the lactose!" FairLife is Ultra High Pasturized Milk, meaning that it is heating to an extremely high temperature which breaks down, or denatures the lactose proteins, making it lactose free. Not only is it lactose free, but there's also 50% more protein than regular milk, half the carbohydrate content, and 30% more calcium! Let's look at the nutrient fact panel

Just like the regular skim milk, there is 80 calories, only 6g of carbohydrates, and 13g of protein!! This milk really packs a punch and is great after a tough workout.

NUTRITION FACTS

Serving Size 1 cup (240ml)

Servings Per Container About 7

Amount Per Serving

Calories 80 Calories from Fat

 % Daily Value*

Total Fat 0g0%

Saturated Fat 0g0%

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 5mg2%

Sodium 120mg5%

Total Carbohydrate 6g2%

Dietary Fiber 0g0%

Sugars 6g

Protein 13g26%

Vitamin A 10% Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 40% Iron 0%

Vitamin D 25%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Ingredients: Nonfat Ultra-Filtered Milk, Lactase Enzyme, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D3

Contains Milk. 

Now that you have all this information, it's time for you to decide what is best. You can't milk a soy bean, almond or coconut! 

How to Meal Prep for Week Night Dinners!

Are you a very busy person and have a hard time putting together nutritious dinners fast on week nights? Do you turn to convience foods and fast food to just to grab a quick dinner and get on with the day? We can change that! Making a nutritious dinner for you and your family, or roommate if you're a college student like me, doesn't have to take hours to prepare. Making home cooked meals saves you money, and can become a family activity every one can take part in. Kids are more likely to eat and try new things if they help make the food and know how it is prepared. This could be the end of a picky eater! Another thing that helps assure you're eating more nutritious foods and getting family time is eating dinner around a table together at the same time. Step away from the TV and the couch and enjoy a meal together. Enjoy each other's coompany and converstation and help each other make healthy choices together.

Here is your 1 week meal plan, complete with entrees, along with great sides that will accopany the main dishes. Most of the meals can be prepped ahead of time and sit in the fridge or the freezer until it's ready to be cooked and ate.

Recipes are in the links provided

Day1- Spicy Turkey Meat Loaf with Ketchup Topping

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-turkey-meat-loaf-with-ketchup-topping

Meatloaf can be made ahead of time and popped in the oven when going to eat. Doesn’t have to be made the day before eating! 

Vegetable- Sauteed Zucchini and Yellow sSquash. Slice zucchini and squash (can be done ahead of time), season with desired seasonings and saute with olive oil until translucent over medium heat

Starch- Garlic mashed potatoes

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/garlic-mashed-potatoes-6

Although they cannot be made ahead of time, simple and easy prep

Day 2- Black Bean Burger

http://theroadtobeinganrd.blogspot.com/2016/08/meal-prep-for-busy-days.html

Double recipe for 4 burgers

Can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer till use

Fries can be made and cooked with burgers are cooking.

Day 3- Chicken Taco Salad

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/chicken-taco-salad.html

Chicken can be cooked ahead of time, along with the vegetables being cut and prepared. Dressing can be made ahead of time as well. Left over beans and corn from the burgers can also be thrown on the salad.

Pair with baked tortilla chips and salsa

Day 4- Sweet Orange Salmon with Steamed Green Beans and Brown Rice

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-orange-salmon

Spices for the salmon can be combined and set aside ahead of time and then rubbed onto the fish before cooking

Green beans can be trimmed ahead and stored in a refrigerator, and while fish is cooking, rice can be made. If salmon isn’t your favorite, any fish can be substituted

Day 5- Crock Pot Pot Roast

http://www.food.com/recipe/to-die-for-crock-pot-roast-27208

Throw everything into the pot before work and come home to a meal waiting for you!

  

All of the entrees can be prepped ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer until use. Maybe make this a sunday afternoon activity for the whole family! 

How to Lighten your Starbucks Order!

Over the past year and a half, when I am home on breaks from school or on summer vacation I work at a local Starbucks as a Barista. With this experience, I have come to learn how energy dense a lot of the drinks are. And when I say energy dense, I mean that a 12 ounce drink can be upwards of 300 calories! Now thats a lot of calroies to be spending on a little afternoon treat, especially if it won't keep you full until dinner time.

One of the beauties of Starbucks is that you can customize your drink anyway you'd like, and I'll make it order! Pretty sweet deal for the customers, especially if they don't like a certain flavoring or milk in a drink. All of the customizations I see, are pretty ingenius. I've had people ask me to make red velvet Frappuccinos, salted caramel mocha coffee, and even froot loops flavored lattes. However, a lot of these customizations add extra calories that can be a burden to the waistline. But they don't have to be! I'm here to show you that you can still have a delicious drink from Starbucks, without ruining all the nutritious eating you've been doing.

First, lets talk about their most popular drinks, besides just plain coffee-Frappuccinos!

-Frappuccinos are by far the most calorie laden item on the menu, but they don't have to be. A standard Frappuccino comes with whole milk, which has 160 calories per 1c and 8 grams of fat. A Venti Frappuccino has more than a cup of whole milk in it! Cut back the calories and fat by asking for it to be made with skim milk or even a mix of skim and 1%. Frappuccinos can also be made with a light base, which makes it blend easier. Switching from the normal Frappuccino base to the light base with cut calories down by a decent margin. Another thing that can help cut sugar content is by either asking for the sugar free syrups for the drink, or asking for less pumps of the syrup. In a large Frappuccino there are 4 pumps of syrup, which is equivalent to 4 tablespoons of syrup. Cutting down on pumps or switching to sugar-free syrups can cut down on sugar content without sacraficing flavor! You can also add protein powder to any Starbucks drink to up the nutrient content and add some fiber to your beverage. 

Next, lets venture into Lattes and Cappuccinos

-Lattes have some similar changes that the frappuccinos do. Lattes are standardly made with 2% milk, cut down on calories and fat by asking for it to be made with skim milk. Flavored lattes and cappuccinos contain the syrups that are made with sugar, like the mocha, vanilla, cinnamon dolce, peppermint, caramel, hazelnut, etc. Most of the syrups previously mentioned also have a sugar-free alternative. Starbucks has a Skinny Mocha, which is made with less sugar but still tastes great. They have sugar-free peppermint during the Christmas season to make great Skinny Peppermint Mochas. Most lattes also come with whipped cream, cut the calories and fat by asking of light whip or no whip at all. The whip usually melts into the drink and you can't really taste it then anyways! Asking for your latte to be iced also helps decrease calorie count because you are getting less milk and sugar in them due to the space taken up by the ice. 

Lastly, Teas and Hot Coffee

-During the summertime, Starbucks offers specialty Teavanna teas (Teavanna is Starbucks tea company). All of their shaken iced teas come with a a base tea of either, Black Tea, Green Tea or Passion Tea (which is their herbal tea). When ordering a tea, they will automatically sweeten it because that is the standard. If you're looking for something less sweet, ask for less pumps of classic syrup or flavored syrup or no syrup at all. You can also get lemonade mixed in with the tea, which will raise sugar and calorie content. If you really can't go without the sweetener or lemonade, ask for less lemonade or less pumps of the sweetener. You will still great the same great taste you love, but it'll have much less calories. 

-Hot Coffee does not come sweetened or with milk. If you want to sweeten your coffee up a bit to make it more drinkable, go for stevia or an artifical sweetener. If you want a specific flavor coffee, ask for the sugar-free syrup! When adding milk, add it slow and be sure to stir it and try it before you add more. By stirring it, you make the milk evenly distributed throughout the drink and will have a better idea if you have enough milk or not.  

Craving the full fat and full sugar version of your drink? Go for a smaller size! During the summer time Starbucks offers a mini Frappuccino which is only 10 ounces, 2 ounces less than the Tall. Hot drinks can also be made in the Short size cup, which is 8 ounces! The hot venti is 20 ounces; thats almost 3 cups of your beverage! And the cold drinks are either the 26 ounce Venti-over 3 cups, and the 30 ounce Trenta- about 3 and half cups! 

Next time you visit Starbucks, try to make some substitutions like the ones I have mentioned above. You will still get all the flavor you're looking for, without hurting your waist line or causing a stomach ache! 

Here some examples of how a little change in your order can result in a lot less calories, sugar and fat

 

 

 

All nutritional information was obtained from starbucks.com

Waist Circumference and Your Health

Some people are very fixated on what the scale says. They believe that if they are a certain weight, that they are unhealthy and that they are worthless and need a change. A scale is just a machine. It measures the force of gravity you exert on the earth. A number does not define you. Yes, I believe that everyone should live healthy and active lifestyles, but you don't need to tie a number to your health. I already know that when I am a practicing dietitian, I will not be weighing my patients unless it is absolutely necessary. People fear going to the doctor because they do not want to know what they weigh or what a doctor will say about their weight. We can make changes without tying a number to ourselves. By simply focusing on our eating and health habits, we can achieve goals. I personally do not step on the scale unless I absolutely need to. A better way to gauge health is to do waist circumference. Women should strive to have a waist circumference of 35 inches at most and men should have a waist circumference of 40 inches at most. Waist circumference can be a good predictor for being overweight and obese, and can help dietitians predict if you more likely to develop a disease. There are two main types of adiposity, Central adiposity and Gynoid adipostiy. Central adipostity is excessive amounts of fat around the abdominal area. When there is a significant amount of fat in the abdominal region, there is a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension. Less harmful but still bad is Gynoid adipostiy. This is where fat deposits around the hips and glutes; less harmful but still an issue. These two types help dietitians and physicians to describe where fat is gathering and storing on the body. Gauging waist circumference and adipostiy type can help you and a dietitian figure out an action plan to achieve your goals and become healthier.  

         
Want to figure out how healthy you are without stepping on the scale? Try measuring your waist circumference and figure out where you stand! Need help reaching your goals and making a change? Message me and we can get you on the right track!