A friend recently clued me in to a food co-op going on in our state.  Fruit and veggies are purchased from local farmers and then sold to families throughout the state.  It helps support our local economy and encourages us to eat healthier!

Labels: healthy eating

Happy Wednesday to you! It's time once again to post another WFMW tip.

Yesterday I had an appointment with a nutritionist to discuss my high cholesterol levels and what to do about them. You can read about some of the details right here.

The nutritionsit shared a website link with me that offers a PDF file for A Guide To Lowering Your Cholesterol with TLC at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. It's pretty good, check it out!

The nutritionist also gave me some helpful handouts that I've scanned in to my computer. They include:

1) General Tips for Healthy Dining Out

2) Physical Activity Pyramid

3) 1600 Calorie Sample Menus

4) Menu Planning Guidelines

If you're interested in receiving any of these handouts, leave me your email in the comments section, specifying which handouts interest you, and I'll send them out to you.

Depending on the level of interest, it may take me a few days to get to you, but fear not, I will get them emailed to you!

Sharing healthy eating tips from the nutritionist works for me. To see what works for others, be sure to check out the other links at Shannon's, the creator of Works-For-Me Wednesday!

My past WFMW entries are found here.

Technorati Tags: Overwhelmed With Joy, Works-for-Me-Wednesday

Labels: healthy eating, lower that cholesterol, Works-For-Me Wednesday

My appointment with the nutritionist yesterday was pretty good.

The woman was very nice and didn’t lecture me as I expected her to. She took my food journal for the week, recorded at www.my-calorie-counter.com, and figured out my averages for Fat, Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, Sodium, and Sugar intake. Then she wrote out some goals that I need to work on achieving.

Goals
1) Keep calorie intake at around 1600/day. This may have to increase with increase in exercise.

2) Limit saturated fats and trans fats to less than 7% from saturated fat based on total calories which is less than 12 grams saturated fat/day.

3) Limit cholesterol to less than 200 mg cholesterol/day (eat less than 3 egg yolks/week).

4) Eat more omega-3 fats (heart healthy fats)- to achieve 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids/day- eat two 4-oz portions of fatty fish weekly (salmon, albacore, tuna, mackerel, or sardines) or take 1000 mg/day fish oil supplement.

5) Keep total amount of fat consumed to less than or = to 53 grams total fat/day (less than or = to 25%- 30% total fat).

6) Get 20-30 grams of dietary fiber per day.

7) Work on Menu Planning: 3 servings of fruit per day, 5 starches, 5 serviings lean meat, 5 servings of fat (butter, dressing, peanut butter, mayo, etc), 3 servings of dairy, and 4 vegetables.

8) Exercise 1 hour/day, 6 days/week. This should entail brisk walks 1 mile/15 minutes or rigorous bicycling or swimming. 30 minutes of moderate level of activity per day should be a bare minimum.

Food Tips
1) Switch from 2% to 1% milk.

2) Eat whole grain cereals- oatmeal, plain Cheerios, plain Wheaties, wheat Chex cereal with 6 grams of sugar or less per serving.

3) Eat only lean meats (palm-sized servings).

4) Lean Cuisine & Healthy Choices frozen meals are fine, but watch the high sodium intake that comes with those meals.

5) Eat out as little as possible because it’s nearly impossible to eat healthy when eating out!

6) Avoid fried foods and creams whenever possible!

7) Eat lots of fruits and vegetables!

The nutritionist gave me some helpful handouts that I'll be posting about tomorrow as my WFMW contribution. Check back tomorrow if you want more details! :)

I hope this info is helpful. Although my doctor only authorized one visit with the nutritionist, I've got the nutritionist's email and she encouraged me to email her with any questions. So, if you have any burning questions about any of this, leave me a comment and I'll see if I can get you an answer!

Labels: healthy eating, lower that cholesterol

In 2 hours I have an appointment with a nutritionist to discuss my high cholesterol levels. Let me show you what they are:

LDL "bad cholesterol"- 148 (normal is below 130)

HDL "good cholesterol"- 46 (normal is 40-59)

Triglycerides: 265 (normal is 0-59)

Total Cholesterol: 247 (normal is 100-199)

I've been asked to keep a food journal for the past 3 days. I actually plan on bringing on in for all of last week.

I fully expect this appointment to be a lecture on what a crappy eater I am. I don't eat enough veggies, I eat too many fatty foods, I don't exercise enough. I need to change my lifestyle.

Can you tell I'm dreading this a bit? I'm not even sure if this appointment is covered by insurance so I may be paying about $87 for a lecture.

I'm not sure how much the fact that high cholesterol runs in my family will weigh in. Both my parents and my 2 sisters are on high cholesterol medication because they couldn't lower their levels even after changing their eating and excercising habits.

Despite not looking forward to the well-deserved lecture that I'm sure to receive, I know I need to go because I don't want to die of a heart attack or heart disease! I owe it to myself and my family to get these cholesterol levels under control and I obviously need help doing so.

I hope this appointment will give me tools to help me change my eating habits for the better. I'm going to ask for concrete lists on foods to avoid and foods to eat more of, I'm going to ask for recipes and help with menu planning. I'm going to try to get my money's worth out of this appointment.

I'll try to stop back today or tomorrow to give you all a report on the results of my appointment with the nutritionist, so please stop back.

In the meantime, I'm curious, when's the last time you had your cholesterol levels checked and how were they? Does high cholesterol run in your family?

Labels: health, healthy eating, lower that cholesterol

It's time to post yet another WFMW tip.

The other day I was in Walgreens, picking up a perscription. Snuggle Bug was over in the waiting area of the pharmacy and he brought me a magazine that I otherwise wouldn't have bothered looking it. The magazine was called, "Diabetes & You" and it was published by Walgreens for customers to take home for free. I absentmindely thumbed through it while I waited for my perscription thinking I wouldn't get much out of it because I'm not a diabetic.

An article called, "Rate your plate" caught my attention! Since beginning the May Challenge I've been trying to eat healthier and watch my portion control. This article taught me about the Plate Method and it reaffirms that I'm eating way too many carbs still and not enough veggies. Having the visual pictures is very helpful so I scanned the article in to share with you all. Click on the images to enlarge them. Let me know what you think!


















The Plate Method works for me, maybe it'll work for you. To see what works for others, be sure to check out the other links at Shannon's, the creator of Works-For-Me Wednesday!

My past WFMW entries:

free steak seasonings/marinades
bargain shopping tips
My-Calorie-Counter
free customized ring tones
party favor basket
10 ways to make brushing fun!
Crayola Twistables Slick Stix
kids car organizer
stop urban legend emails
send credit scores soaring
foolproof extra creamy cottage cheese
stainless steel ball whisk
Uses for your child's wagon
10 Reasons Why Parents Should Not Spank
Love Sweet Love
travel tip
free children's printables
calendar labels
Strawberry Spinach Salad
mesh laundry bag uses
12 lbs 'til Christmas
toddler healthy eating techniques
reindeer puppet
Grocery Game website
No Fear Shakespeare
list of age appropriate children's chores
linking within comments
baptism gift
creating blogger categories
alternate use for pot rack
cake decorating tips
unique way to stay connected
cake baking tip
comforts of home while traveling
quenching the thirst of your little one
pie crust made in bulk
hot chocolate kicked up a notch

Labels: health, healthy eating, Works-For-Me Wednesday

It's time to post yet another WFMW tip.

In light of the May Challenge, that I'd decided to join, I thought I'd share a neat calorie counting website. It's FREE, unless you decide to upgrade to their premium service, which I have not yet done. I'm still debating on whether or not to upgrade.

At My-Calorie-Counter, once you've registered, you can start a daily journal.

Within this journal, you can keep track of what you're eating for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. If you had a packet of hot chocolate, add an entry for that hot chocolate (you can get brand specific) and the site will automatically enter all the nutritional information (80 calories, 3 grams fat). By keeping this journal, you can see how close you are to the recommended 2000 per day calorie intake or the recommended 65 grams of fat (not to mention other nutritional targets). You can also track your daily exercise, water intake, and weight loss or gain.

By doing this daily food journaling, you can receive daily and monthly summary reports. There are even cool daily charts that offer pie chart views of your ratio of fat, carbs, & protein intake.

This site also has a "tools" link that offers things like a meal plan wizard, a BMI calculator, a conversion calculator, an activity exercise list, and much more!

There's also a "411" section that offers great links providing info for a healthier you! One of my favorite articles found there is titled, "The Simple Way To Control Portions".

All of this is FREE, but they offer some added features when you upgrade to their Premium service. 12 months is $35. I'm still exploring the benefits of the premium service before I decide whether or not to upgrade. So far, the free service does what I want.

So, go check out My Calorie-Counter. It works for me, maybe it'll work for you. To see what works for others, be sure to check out the other links at Shannon's, the creator of Works-For-Me Wednesday!

Note: This was not a solicited endorsement. The review of this website was given of my own free will, no kickbacks involved.

My past WFMW entries:

free customized ring tones
party favor basket
10 ways to make brushing fun!
Crayola Twistables Slick Stix
kids car organizer
stop urban legend emails
send credit scores soaring
foolproof extra creamy cottage cheese
stainless steel ball whisk
Uses for your child's wagon
10 Reasons Why Parents Should Not Spank
Love Sweet Love
travel tip
free children's printables
calendar labels
Strawberry Spinach Salad
mesh laundry bag uses
12 lbs 'til Christmas
toddler healthy eating techniques
reindeer puppet
Grocery Game website
No Fear Shakespeare
list of age appropriate children's chores
linking within comments
baptism gift
creating blogger categories
alternate use for pot rack
cake decorating tips
unique way to stay connected
cake baking tip
comforts of home while traveling
quenching the thirst of your little one
pie crust made in bulk
hot chocolate kicked up a notch

Labels: health, healthy eating, Tales from the Scales, Works-For-Me Wednesday

So Beth over at I Should Be Folding Laundry started the May Day Challenge. It is a four month weight loss "program" where many bloggers will set goals, share their weight struggles and successes, and offer each other support.

At first, I wasn't going to join in. Then, while in Nebraska, I stepped on a scale and realized that I could stand to loose 10 lbs. It's amazing how quickly the weight can creep up on you when you hit your 30's. I've never had to worry about my weight in the past so, as a result, I have very poor eating habits and a poor track record with exercise.

Seeing my increased weight on that scale got me thinking about what bothers me the most, my poor eating habits. I'm setting a very poor example for my son and if I continue, those 10 lbs. could turn into more!

So, I'm joining the May Challenge. I want the support, encouragement, and motivating influence of other bloggers to help me make healthy choices when it comes to what I put into my body.

If you haven't already, head over to Tales from the Scales and join in the challenge! If you're not quite ready for that, at least check out Beth's new site to read through the wonderful healthy eating tips she's sharing! I've already started using her suggestions on portion control.

Labels: cooking, health, healthy eating, weight loss