It’s no secret that fruits and vegetables are part of healthy eating. They are nutrient rich (vitamins, minerals and fiber) and relatively low in calories. So, we know they are healthy but there are other questions to be answered—How much? Which ones? Should I buy local?

Choose Color

One way to gauge the variety of the fruits and vegetables in your diet is to look at the colors on your plate. To start with choose dark green, orange, yellow and reds to pack your plate with nutrients.

More Matters

The more the better (while staying in your calorie requirements). A good start is to add a new fruit or vegetable to one meal each day and then increase it every few weeks. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has a great website www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov where you can find out how many fruits and vegetables you should be eating each day based on your age, sex, and activity level, as well as, recipe ideas, featured fruits and vegetables, and budget tips for stretching your fruit and vegetable budget.

Fresh or Frozen

Fresh or frozen, fruits and vegetables are good for you, however there are things to look for when choosing the frozen option—with vegetables watch out for sauces with added calories, when in doubt go for the plain ones. With fruits often times sweeteners are added so make sure you are purchasing the unsweetened.

Look Local

Farmers markets provide an excellent opportunity to choose new fresh fruits and vegetables and support your local community (read Eat Healthy and Help the Local Louisiana Economy for more information).  You can also be sure that what you are buying is in season! There are several farmers markets throughout New Orleans, here are a few:

Crescent City Farmers Market Has an Uptown, Mid-City and Downtown market. Check out their website for fruit and vegetable offerings.

Hollygrove Market and Farm Offers a bi-weekly market in Hollygrove, as well as, a community garden.

French Market You can find clothes, art, and jewelry, but tucked in between are several produce vendors offering locally grown Louisiana produce.

Whether you choose strawberries from Ponchatoula, turnip greens from Amite, or frozen broccoli from Rouses, make fruits and vegetables a part of your day!

What’s your favorite fruit and vegetable?!?

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Lauren Futrell Dunaway, MPH, RD, graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Dietetics.  She then completed her dietetic internship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. After becoming a Registered Dietitian, she began to pursue a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Lauren currently works at the Tulane Prevention Research Center as a program manager for their core research project focusing on the built environment and how it affects obesity.

Improving Your Nutrition from the Ground Up

Eating healthy can be a daunting task. Learning about what to eat, how to eat it, and how much can be overwhelming! That is why I am here to help! Registered Dietitians have the training to answer all those questions for you and more. With March being National Nutrition Month, I can’t think of a better time to start thinking about how we can make our diets more healthy. Over the next few weeks we will focus on one of the themes of National Nutrition Month, improving our nutrition from the ground up!

· Focusing on fruits and vegetables, especially those grown locally right here in Louisiana

· Making calories count, just because something is low calorie doesn’t meant it’s healthy

· Testing our taste buds! Trying new things to improve our palate and grocery lists

· Trick yourself with treats. Don’t be scared of this one, healthy doesn’t equal hungry

I’ll go into more detail for each one creating a tool-box of ideas, recipes, and steps to take towards a healthy diet. Healthy eating doesn’t mean sacrificing taste and it definitely doesn’t mean deprivation.

So come back next week to find out about focusing on fruits and vegetables with featured local produce, sold right here in New Orleans!

Check out www.eatright.org/nnm for more information on National Nutrition Month and more information on why Registered Dietitians are the nutrition experts you should seek for healthy eating advice.

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Lauren Futrell Dunaway, MPH, RD, graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Dietetics.  She then completed her dietetic internship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. After becoming a Registered Dietitian, she began to pursue a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Lauren currently works at the Tulane Prevention Research Center as a program manager for their core research project focusing on the built environment and how it affects obesity.

Yesterday was the start of National Nutrition Month sponsored by the American Dietetic Association.

“National Nutrition Month focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. Registered Dietitian Day, also celebrated in March, increases awareness of registered dietitians as the indispensable providers of food and nutrition services and recognizes RDs for their commitment to helping people enjoy healthy lives.”

So in recognition of National Nutrition Month and the very exciting news that Be Fit NOLA now has a registered dietitian on board to blog for us – Lauren E. Futrell Dunaway, MPH, RD…more to come on Lauren later this week.  We have decided to do a fun giveaway.

Here’s how it works

To be in the drawing to win a brand new iPod, you need to leave a comment to this post with the top 3 healthiest items in your refrigerator and the top 3 unhealthiest items in your refrigerator. This is not required to win, but we would love it if you could also take a picture of what’s inside your frigde – add it to your Flickr account, join the Be Fit NOLA Flickr Group and share the picture of what’s in your fridge there (for our delight, nitpicking, and entertainment).

We will draw a winner next week, March 10^th.

BTW, for Aaron and I…in our refrigerator (picture included) the top three healthy items are: a variety of fruits and vegetables, skim milk and skinless grilled chicken (red container). Top three unhealthiest items are: the WholeFood’s Dill Tuna, a bottle of white wine (in the back) and light mayonnaise (on the door).

I am amazed a how little my clients and boot campers know about nutrition but, I don’t blame them for it. How is anyone supposed to know what’s good for them when they have Taco Bell Drive Thru Diet telling them they will lose weight if they eat Taco Bell everyday. You need to read the fine print for example: Drive-Thru-Diet® is not a weight-loss program. For a healthier lifestyle, pay attention to total calorie and fat intake and regular exercise. Taco Bell’s Fresco Menu can help with calorie reductions of 20 to 100 per item compared to corresponding products on our regular menu. Not a low calorie food. For complete nutritional information please visit TacoBell.com.

I feel nutrition is an essential part of anyone looking to live a healthy lifestyle. I take the time with my clients and boot campers to answer any questions they might have about general nutrition and refer them to a dietitian if they would like specific meal plans.  I require all my clients to do a food journal for me so I can see  what they are eating and give them healthier options to their favorite foods. I even take trips with them to the grocery store of their choice to show them how to shop for healthy foods.

I believe 80% of what you look like is your diet. You can workout all day long, but you will not truly reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle unless you change your eating habits.  You will not lose weight by exercise alone if you’re going to go to McDonald’s and order a  Big Mac (540 calories and 29 grams of fat) or those Zapp’s Potato Chips that we all love so much! My clients tell me all the time “You don’t understand; it’s easy for you, you don’t ever eat anything unhealthy.” WRONG! I like unhealthy food as much as the next guy; I do live in New Orleans the capital of yummy fried food and creole cuisine.  I just understand those foods need to be eaten occasionally and in moderation. I try to educate people on how food is meant to be used as fuel for your body. If you eat unhealthy, you will feel unhealthy.

Nutrition and exercise go hand in hand, so it is important to be knowledgeable about what you are putting into your body. Are you fueling it, or dragging it down? In order to answer this, you must go straight to the source – the nutrition label. Looking at a nutrition label can be overwhelming, so here is what you need to know!

Where to find it:

This can be found on the side of a product, or on its original packaging. If for some reason you cannot locate it, or threw out the wrapper, check online. Many products’ websites have nutritional information listed on them.

Start from the top:

Serving Size: This amount will tell you how much of a particular food product constitutes as one serving. Keep in mind that the nutrition facts that follow will reflect only one serving. If you eat more than one serving of the food item, you must multiply the nutrition facts to receive an accurate account of what you are consuming.

Servings Per Container: How many single servings the packaging contains.

Calories: The total number of calories in a single serving. This includes calories from fat, carbohydrate, protein, and alcohol.

% Daily Value: For each nutrient there is a DV, a %DV, and dietary advice or goal. If you follow this dietary advice, you will stay within the recommendations of public health experts. Keep in mind these values are based on a 2,000 calorie daily diet, which may vary for each individual.

Calories From Fat: How many calories in a single serving come from fat. Fat contains 9 calories per gram. Notice : foods higher in fat are higher in calories.

Total Fat: How many grams of fat are in a single serving. Always work to limit or eliminate your trans or saturated fats.

Cholesterol: How many milligrams are in a single serving. Typically the body can make all the cholesterol that is needed. Consuming excess amounts of cholesterol is what may lead to heart problems. The American Heart Association recommends that you consume less than 300 mg of cholesterol each day, and if you have heart disease, less than 200 mg.

Sodium: How many milligrams of sodium are in a single serving. Individuals should aim to consume less than 2300 mg of sodium per day.

Total Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram. Dietary fiber and sugar also fall under this category. Aim to keep the fiber content high, and the sugar content low.

Protein: Protein contains 4 calories per gram. Protein is not only good for your muscles, but keeps you feeling fuller, longer!

Vitamins: The percentage of your daily recommended value that is in a serving will be listed. Look for foods that have a wide variety of vitamins and minerals that you need for the day.

Ingredients: The most prominent ingredient in the product will always be listed first, followed by the second most prominent, etc. Therefore, if the ingredient list begins with “high fructose corn syrup”, it probably isn’t the best choice. Always read the ingredients on a product before you buy it!

Remember:

Always look for a well rounded food item. If the sugar content is very low, but the sodium content is, say, 1,500 mg, it still isn’t the best for you! Make sure most, if not all areas of the label are healthy!!

Helpful Websites:

FDA Food Labeling/Consumer information

CalorieKing.com

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Emily Eoff received her M.S., in Health and Exercise Science from Louisiana Tech University, as well as, her B.S. in Kinesiology and Health Promotion. She also holds her personal training and group fitness instructor certificates from some of the leading certification programs in the country. As a motivator, role model, and leader, Emily brings nine years of experience in the health and fitness industry to her XLR8 Fitness business.

Yesterday we attended the Lakeview Christian Center Wellness Fair 2010…and we were pleasantly surprised by how well organized the event was.  Parked outside of the Center was the Elmwood “On the Move – Driving to Fight Childhood Obesity” Bus.  This unique program is designed to give school children ages 9-13 an opportunity to learn about health and fitness in a non-competitive environment. Inside the bus is a fitness center designed for children – check the Elmwood Fitness Center Website for more information.

Inside the Lakeview Christian Center we were welcomed by a staff (church members) who were excited, and happy to see us and tell us all about what was available for us to see and take part in.  They had 36 vendors that made up the Wellness Fair to include a station to get your Blood Pressure taken for free and Cholesterol screening from The Blood Center: Blood Mobile & Free Cholesterol Screening. Also in attendance was Salire Fitness, BestRD Wellness (nutritionist), Advance Medical Care and Wellness, DHH/OAAS/Adult Protective Services, Elderly Protective Services, Louisiana Chiropractic Center, Alzheimers Association of GNO and the American Cancer Society to name a few.

From 10:00 am to 3pm they hosted some wonderful free seminars for attendees which included: Tulane hospital discussing Childhood Obesity & Type 2 Diabetes, Rose Dermatology discussed Skin Cancer, and LSU Radiolody has a seminar of Mammogram, When and & Why.

We spoke with Pete Schefferstein the Church Administrator and Wellness Fair Organizer to find out more about the Fair and why the Lakeview Christian Center decided to put on this event. As it turns out, Pete used to be quite an unhealthy fellow – as he puts it “a typical New Orleanian” and his wake-up call came when his doctor told him that he was close to being diabetic and unless he made some changes, he would have to take medicine for diabetics.

Speaking with Pete was an eye opener.  To hear him say that for him; not being able to bend down to pick something up, or not being able to walk up a flight of stair or walk around the block and that living with all the discomfort of bad health seemed perfectly normal was very surreal. It’s hard to comprehend that some people have never known or experienced living a normal “healthy” life.

However, when his doctor told him if he kept going the way he was he would be diabetic – Pete decided to change his lifestyle.  Since then, Pete has lost over 100 pounds.  He enlisted the help of his son who designed a program for him based on the Men’s Health TNT.  After losing 40lbs, Pete was finally able to use a treadmill.  Pete was exercising for the first time in his life.

Pete said to us “When you’re overweight, you don’t really realize how much everything is such a chore – like bending down to pick something up, traveling…how embarrassing it is to ask the stewardess on a plane for a buckle extension”

Since losing the weight and making life changes/establishing a new healthy lifestyle, Pete became more aware of the members in his church community who also needed help and assistance.  He commented on how difficult being overweight is on the families in the community; “People are losing jobs because the can’t perform their duties.” That’s when the Lakeview Christian Center became involved in helping their community become healthier.  Every six weeks they run a Biggest Loser Challenge to encourage members to get involve, participate in learning new things about nutrition and exercise and support each other in losing weight.

They bring in other members of the community who are nutritionists, trainers, nurses and doctors to speak on health issues.  It’s really fabulous what the Lakeview Christian Center have started and how they are supporting their community.

Update: This Event was CANCELED due to the Saints Parade and will be re-scheduled. Stay tuned for details.

There is a very special event going-on tomorrow night…besides the Parade for our New Orleans Saints Super Bowl Champs – it’s the LGBT Community Center 2010 Weight Loss Challenge’s February Weigh In and Discussion Panel.

The LGBT Community Center of New Orleans’ 2010 Weight Loss Challenge kicked off on Sunday, January 10, 2010 at the Community Center on Decatur Street with the contestants’ initial weigh-in.  It was an amazing day for the contestants and included meeting all of the Weight Loss Challenge’s sponsors, the LGBT Community Center’s Board of Directors and each other.  The Challenge has officially started with a total of nine contestants.

The contenders are competing against each other for prizes all while losing weight that they have tried so hard in the past to lose and have been unsuccessful. The goal of 2010 Weight Loss Challenge is to assist each contestant to lose the most percentage of body weight in a stable and healthy manner. The Center is optimistic that it will be successful in changing the way that all involved, including the entire New Orleans Community, looks at themselves as it pertains to their health. Throughout the duration of the contest, the public will be given an opportunity to follow the contestants in their struggle to reach their individual goals.

When: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 8pm
Where: LGBT Community Center of New Orleans (2114 Decatur Street)
What: Weigh in and Panel Discussion

You definitely have time to make both the parade and this event – which is open and free to the public.

The panelists and items of discussions are:

Nutritionist, Ginger Bouvier: Discussing the proper dieting techniques to fit your lifestyle.

The Fit Gourmet, Chef Dione Duhon: Discussing the importance of having a fully stocked pantry with it comes to making diets work.

Executive Chef from Ralph’s on the Park, Chef Chip Flanagan: Discussing different cooking techniques to lower the calories in your meal and how to make healthy choices with dining out.

Corporate Executive Chef for Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group, Chef Haley Gabel Bittermann: Discussing different cooking techniques to lower the calories in your meal and how to make healthy choices with dining out.

The general public will be allowed to ask the panelists questions and interact with the contestants. Be Fit NOLA will be there and we hope you will too…this is such a great opportunity to discuss healthy eating habits.

You gotta love it when a couple joins forces and starts something pretty cool. That is exactly what Tim Ryan and Heather Ryan have done.  Tim is a digital video producer and his wife, Heather is a yoga instructor and personal trainer…she’s also quite the cooking show host as you will see in her debut video of The Herbivore Next Door.  But before we get to the video we asked Tim and Heather to give us a little background and insight on the show.

Q:  What was your inspiration for starting The Herbivore Next Door?

Heather: The first inspiration for the show came as my sister and I were driving to Baton Rouge one day at sunset.  We were passed by an 18 wheeler transporting a group of cows.  I felt so bad for them, and so helpless to do anything to make a difference in the way animals are treated. Moments later it occurred to me that Tim and I could shoot a vegetarian cooking show.

Q: Are you both vegetarians? If so, for how long have you been vegetarians and what’s the driving factor behind your decision?

Heather: I am a vegetarian; Tim will have fish on occasion.  He gave up meat about two years ago, around the same time I gave up fish for good.  I saw the film, Baraka, nearly 16 years ago, that was when I first gave up meat

Q: Heather, you are such a natural…have you done this type of show before?

Heather: Thank you, Ann.  No, I haven’t done this type of show before.  I was pretty nervous, but  I do have a background in both Theatre and Improvisation, which helped.  Tim and I communicate well since we’ve had so much practice after being together for almost ten years. Good direction is key!

Q: What can we expect to come in future episodes? How often do you plan on releasing a new episode?

Heather: Future episodes will include more New Orleans-centric recipes.  We’re so happy to live here and to celebrate the food culture in our own healthful way.  We would love to be able to do an episode a month, even more if we had sponsorship.  Alas, we both have to pay the bills.  For now, we simply enjoy the opportunity to share our skills with each other in a meaningful way.

Alright so with no further ado – here is the first episode of The Herbivore Next Door where Heather shows us how to make Artichoke filled tofutattas served with gluten free, dairy free drop biscuits and a mixed green salad.

This week Molly explores snacks that can be custom made from various websites – this is really awesome. The sites are MixMyGranola, Element Bars and YouBar

 

Next Molly does her Like, Love, Hate segment on Pretzels:

After tweeting my blog from this morning with the question: Did you take yours (multivitamin) today. @dlightful tweeted back: @befitnola Actually, I take my vitamins at bedtime so that I sleep through the vitamin-tummy-ache.

Of course that made me wonder what might be causing her tummy-ache, dlightful answered: @befitnola I’ve been told by many a healthcare professional that it’s the calcium. No biggie. I’ve found a way to make it work.

Since some other people might also suffer from upset stomachs and perhaps you have stopped taking your multivitamin because of it; I wanted to post some additional information on the topic of multivitamins, in this case calcium.  There are different types of calcium; citrate and carbonate.  There’s also a difference between calcium carbonate and calcium citrate; calcium carbonate can cause stomach upset.  If you’re sensitive to calcium carbonate than you should probably try the citrate form of calcium.  Studies suggest calcium citrate is highly soluble and the absorption rates are much greater because of the bioavailable forms.

Another factor to consider with calcium; calcium can make it difficult for the body to absorb certain ingredients of the multivitamin which is why it’s important to have the right amount of magnesium.  This will help solve that problem.

You’ll notice, depending on what brand/combination of multivitamin you’re taking, that you should either take it between meals or with meals.  This primarily has to do with the absorption of the multivitamin; some multivitamins have to bond with food in order to be effective.  When you ingest multivitamins, your body responds by releasing stomach acids which is what can end up giving you the upset stomach.

Several multivitamin supplements contain an abundance of minerals (iron, calcium, magnesium, etc…)  These minerals may have the tendency to cause side effects which is why it’s good to consult with a doctor before taking any type of multivitamin product, especially if you have any preexisting medical conditions.  Although multivitamins are essential for your health there are still potential health risks when taking too much.

Some additional information that’s important:

• Do not take more than the recommended dose.
• Try not to take more than one multivitamin at a time unless instructed to; this could cause an overdose.

I hope I was able to provide a little more insight.  Please, feel free to comment and discuss any issue with us!

Welcome to my initial introduction to vitamins.  The multivitamin. Okay, it’s not always just one vitamin but getting the right multivitamin/or multivitamin pack to match your lifestyle is a great way to get started.  People live different lifestyles and as a result, everyone’s nutritional needs vary – but there is a multivitamin out there for you.  Do you live a stressful life?  Are you in the process of changing your diet to a healthier one?  Venturing back into the local gym to crank out some weight training?  A good multivitamin will help you feel better and make this transition easier.

I talk to people frequently about vitamins and the common trend is they don’t seem to be aware of the multivitamin variations.  For instance, I’m a bodybuilder so I need extra nutrients added like amino acids, digestive enzymes, lipotropics, alpha lipoic acid and L-arginine, to name a few.  When a woman is pregnant, she should look for a multivitamin, generally a prenatal choice, that is higher in folic acid and B-vitamins which will help reduce the risk of birth defects of the brain and spinal cord.  Elderly individuals should try to find a multivitamin that is higher in iron, calcium and magnesium which will help lower blood pressure, reduce anemia and help maintain normal muscle and nerve function.  As you can see, it’s important to know what you’re looking for when choosing the right one! Most supplement companies pre-package their vitamin bottles and packs to match common lifestyles, sexes and age groups. Women and men have different needs.

No matter which multivitamin you choose, as a baseline, make sure you look for the recommended daily allowance of the 13 essential vitamins:

• Vitamin A – Retinol
• Vitamin C – Ascorbic Acid
• Vitamin D – Ergocalciferol & Cholecalciferol
• Vitamin E – Alpha Tocopherol
• Vitamin K – Ketamine
• Vitamin B1 – Thiamine
• Vitamin B2 – Riboflavin
• Vitamin B3 – Niacin
• Vitamin B5 – Pantothenic Acid
• Vitamin B6 – Pyridoxine
• Vitamin B7 – Biotin
• Vitamin B9 – Folic Acid
• Vitamin B12 – Cobalamin

Generally, a good multivitamin will aid your body in recovery from strenuous activity, provide additional energy and help you maintain a positive state of well-being.  There are several more benefits but those are a few highlights.  Don’t be one of those people who quickly gets discouraged when taking multivitamins because you don’t immediately feel any changes; look at your diet and determine if it’s healthy.  Diet will play a big role in the effectiveness of your multivitamin – they go hand-in-hand.

We’ll be talking a lot more about vitamins, but I wanted to kick things off  by letting you know that choosing the right multivitamin will provide a solid foundation for your health and nutrition.

Start your day tomorrow by taking your multivitamin.