Food...Glorious Food!

Keep your food portion sizes in check, because eating too much can lead to weight gain, even when the food is healthy!


The portions we tend to choose are much larger than what the government recommends. In addition, they are larger than the portions people ate 20 years ago.

It's smart to check nutritional facts on labels and menus. But if you need to guess, here are some visual cues to help estimate portion sizes:

•3 ounces meat or poultry = a deck of cards

•3 ounces fish = a checkbook

•1 ounce cheese = 4 dice

•1 cup pasta or veggies = a tennis ball

•1/4 cup dried fruit = a golf ball

•1 tsp butter or margarine = tip of your thumb

•2 tbsp mayonnaise, oil, or dip = a ping-pong ball

Non-Dairy Option...

Calcium is very important for different functions/areas of your body, such as muscle contraction, bone density, and teeth. Many people are lactose intolerant or they find that dairy products are not palatable. What many dairy avoiders don't know is that there are other sources to get plenty of this important mineral.


For an easy way to remember what foods contain calcium, think Chinese food. Stir-fry dishes often include broccoli (62 milligrams of the bone-building mineral per cup), bok choy (158 milligrams in a cup), and edamame (soybeans, delivering 97 milligrams in a cup). Even better, these and other Chinese stir-fry favorites have a chemical makeup that allows your body to absorb calcium. Plenty of other leafy green vegetables, such as spinach and swiss chard, contain calcium. But they also contain oxalate, an acid that limits the amount of calcium your body can absorb.

Considering you need a daily dose of 1,500 milligrams of calcium (and 1,000 international units of vitamin D with that if you're under age 65; 1,200 if you're over that) plus 500 milligrams of magnesium a day, you'll probably still want a supplement.


Here are some other non-dairy calcium sources:

Fortified ready-to-eat-cereals (various)

Soy Beverage calcium fortified

Orange Juice calcium fortified

Sardines Atlantic in oil drained

Tofu firm

Pink salmon canned with bone

Collards

Molasses blackstrap

Spinach

Soybeans green

Turnip greens

Ocean perch Atlantic

Oatmeal plain and flavored instant fortified

Cowpeas

White beans

Kale

Okra

Blue crab canned

Beet greens

Clams canned

Dandelion greens

Rainbow trout farmed

Jump...Jump!

How about jumping rope for your cardio? First check with your physician to make sure that you can handle the impact to your hip, knee, and ankle joints. Here are some good reasons that you should consider to learn the rope: (1) A good rope is not as expensive as a treadmill or elliptical machine. (2) While jumping you are forced to maintain a rhythmic pace and use proper form, which enhances coordination. (3) Jumping rope uses nearly every muscle and helps promote fat loss. (4) The rope is portable and can be used either indoors or out. (5) There is increased bone density with each footfall, so jump to your heart’s content!