Eggs Still Excellent

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Perhaps you've seen the recent headline about how eating eggs is just as "dangerous" as smoking cigarettes. I know it caught my eye on more than one occasion, especially as multiple news outlets picked it up and ran with it. The gist of the recent study is that egg yolks can clog your arteries just as much as smoking tobacco can clog your arteries. If I had more time on my hands I'd read the study to figure out just what kind of correlation they were basing this headline on. Luckily, the editor over at Livestrong did that already, so here's the link to his article: Do Eggs Cause Heart Disease?

What it (hard) boils down to is that eggs are a great source of protein and the yolks are full of important vitamins and minerals. Yes, they also contain cholesterol, so as you would with any food that has some good parts and some less-amazing aspects, enjoy in moderation!

Talking Nutrition with Triathletes

Healthy food for hungry triathletes!

Last night I gave my first of (hopefully) many talks about nutrition to athletes. It helped that the athletes in question were members of my triathlon team and helped even more that I had the support of Nicole Cormier, RD of Delicious Living Nutrition in case there were any questions that I couldn't answer! Back in my former life as an editor, I hired Nicole to work on several nutrition books, which she's still doing. It's great to be working with her in a different capacity now.

The talk was at the bike shop that sponsors my team, Wheelworks in Belmont and about 17 teammates came out for the "Everyday Nutrition for Triathletes" talk. I brought lots of fresh fruit and veggies along with hummus, greek yogurt mixed with dill, and two healthy dishes, recipes below. We talked through daily calorie needs based on the Harris Benedict Equation, daily protein and carbohydrate needs, and talked a bit about pre- and post-race nutrition and hydration. I think it went really well and people were really receptive. It's always great to get little reminders of why you've made life changes like this - I love talking to people (especially athletes) about healthy eating, and look forward to continuing to do it for a long time!

Southwestern Protein Fiesta

1 bag Trader Joe’s frozen Fire-Roasted Corn, defrosted

1 bag frozen edamame, defrosted

1 can black beans (no-salt added), rinsed

1 bunch cilantro, rinsed and chopped

1 container fresh salsa

 

Mix all ingredients together and bring cold to a potluck or BBQ, serve warm over rice or quinoa for dinner, roll it in a whole-wheat tortilla for lunch, throw it over salad, or put in your morning eggs!

Whole-Grain Mediterranean Toss

½ cucumber, diced

½ container cherry tomatoes, halved

1 can garbanzo beans (no-salt added), rinsed

1 package low-fat feta cheese

3-4 cups cooked whole grain (quinoa, brown rice, whole-wheat orzo, or barley)

¼ cup fresh basil, chopped

Balsamic vinegar, pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and serve hot inside steamed halved peppers, cold at a picnic, or as a side with grilled chicken!

Go Nuts!

I'm a huge fan on snacking on raw almonds. They've got protein, calcium, monounsaturated fat (the good kind), potassium, vitamin E... the list goes on. So this morning I was excited to read in the Tufts Health Letter that new research by the USDA Agricultural Research Service shows that almonds actually have 24% fewer calories than originally thought! The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the article, which shows that for some foods like nuts, the original way of figuring out how many calories a food contains could be inaccurate. They got real nitty gritty to measure this, by analyzing "output" shall we say, from people participating in the study. Here's an article that summarizes the study. Keep in mind that this new information only applies to whole, raw almonds, not chopped or roasted or those covered in wasabi, honey, or chocolate!

Fantastic Farmer's Market Finds

It drives me crazy that my local farmer's market doesn't open until mid-June. But then when it does open, I walk through turning up my nose at things labeled "green-house grown." I want fresh and local, and I want it now! Which means I have to be patient. Luckily I was able to bring home some pretty good finds yesterday and while I've been considering what to do with them, I thought of some handy tips for shopping at a farmer's market.

• Try new things. If you aren't sure what something is, it's OK to ask the purveyor how it is generally used or what dishes it might complement. My best suggestion for trying a new vegetable is to first saute in olive oil with a little bit of salt and pepper; that way you'll get a sense of the true flavor before tossing it in with other veggies and seasonings. You'll be able to figure out yourself what it would pair well with!
• Bring cash and ask for weights. I'm not great at eyeballing what a pound of squash might look like, so it can be tricky to know how much to ask for when items are sold by weight. Yesterday I only had $3 left by the time I reached the final booth and the pattypan squash were $2/lb so I asked the woman for $3 worth. I ended up with a whole lot more squash than I actually wanted! But that's OK because it's delicious and I can share with friends. But I probably would've been better off asking how much a couple of small squash would cost to begin with.
• It's in season if there is a lot of it. A few years ago I was so excited that a stand had eggplant for just $1 each. Then the next summer I had a recipe in mind and went to the farmer's market all ready to purchase them only to find that I was several months too early for eggplant at such a cheap price. In the beginning of the season you're likely to find lots of lettuce and other leafy greens; tomatoes and other more colorful vegetables come a bit later.

Pattypan squash from the farmer's market

If you're looking for motivation to try a new fruit or vegetable, try doing an internet search for the health benefits. For example, I just got the newsletter from SCAN, the Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition subgroup of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In it, I learned about the aerobic exercise performance enhancing qualities of beets, rhubarb, and arugula. One study showed that eating 7-8 beets 3 hours prior to performance can improve performance in addition to improving circulation! Another study showed that consuming tart cherries made for faster muscle recovery. So if you're looking for performance benefits or just looking for something delicious, head to your local farmer's market and get cooking.

So You Think You Eat Healthy?

It's something that even my soon-to-be dietician friends and I say to each other: "I'm eating healthy, but I'm not losing weight!" We have studied very meticulously the specific reasons for this, but complaining about it always makes you feel a little bit better. For those times when it seems like there's just nothing you can do, no way to possibly eat healthier, here are some reminders...

Just because it's "healthy" or "better" doesn't mean you can throw portion control out the window. With the exception of some raw or steamed vegetables, even healthy food in large portions will give you a lot of calories. I know I personally give myself a bit of a pass to eat a little bit too much if I'm having whole grains with vegetables and a lean protein. But especially with foods like rice or pasta, whole grain or not, you should still only be having about a 1/3 cup size portion.


Eating healthy without exercising isn't enough. If you are a person who normally exercises and then stops, just eating healthy will not make your body feel the same. Also make sure that you're not overcompensating for hard workouts when you eat afterward; calculate calories burned and consume equal or less, but not more.


Your body has a "set point" where it likes to be. This can be the hardest point of all to remember. If you're trying to lose weight and are doing it in a safe, healthy way but nothing seems to work, remember that your body is very happy right where it is and might be fighting your efforts. Remind yourself that you're doing the best that you possibly can for your body and that while you might not be losing weight, you're likely preventing a host of diseases both short term and long term by eating clean, unprocessed foods, whole grains, and super nutritious veggies.

A Sneak Peek at the Copenhagen Marathon Expo

Today I had the opportunity to explore the Copenhagen Marathon Expo! The race is tomorrow and while I won't be here to watch the 12,000 or so runners, I didn't want to miss my chance to see the expo since I've spent quite a bit of time at marathon expos in the states. I was mostly curious about the sports nutrition products that are being marketed in Europe and got some great photos and information from vendors, as well as several samples to bring back home to try. However, that information requires some additional research. Time (as well as internet access) is precious at the moment so I'll just post one photo and the promise of a post regarding European sports nutrition, to come. If you're curious about my trip to Denmark, with most of my time spent eating and drinking rather than being active, check out Mother and Daughter Spiser.

In Danish, "Pace Setter" translates to "Fart Holder"

Metabolic Armband Post #2!

Last time I promised to post the results of wearing a metabolic armband while handing out bars to runners at the expo, handing out numbers to runners at the expo, and watching runners run the marathon! And here it is. [Good news: I am now the proud owner of a fancy pants metabolic armband so expect more posts like this to come!]

Day of working at the marathon expo (7am-7:30pm): 2830 calories burned (3733 calories for the entire day). Clocked in almost 10 hours of “moderate” physical activity which is much higher than a normal day (see image).

The amounts of moderate physical activity (brown) and vigorous physical activity (yellow) I had from working at the expo

Handing out race numbers (12:30-6): 700 calories

Biking 15 miles of the marathon course: 363 calories

Watching people run 26.2 miles: 750 calories (and cheering, of course!)

Thursday, running for 30 min: 296 calories

Afterburn 60 minutes: 139 calories

Saturday, biking 15 miles: 255

Running a 5K (26 min): 242

Afterburn 30 minutes: 90 calories

The graph of calories per minute when biking (8:00am-9:15am) and running a 5K (10:00am-10:26am)

Unfortunately the afterburn results were not very scientifically accurate so I'll be trying out more of those types of tests soon. For now though, I'm off to Denmark... I'll be doing research for a book about eating, so I've got my running shoes and metabolic armband packed and will be reporting to you from there!