The Eating Buddy – Did you think I forgot?

Life. That is my excuse. As many of you know I have a pretty big thing happening to me in 43 days and that little item is really taking a big portion of my time and thoughts. For those who don’t know this little thing is the Ironman. The mother of all triathlons, 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and followed by a marathon (26.2 miles) and this must be done under 17 hours.

Believe it or not I took a night off. I am watching the St. Louis Cardinal game on TV so I thought while the Cards beat the Pirates tonight it is good night to reconnect with something that remains dear to my heart, fitness and health.

So I believe the last time we connected we where talking about food. Ah food always a favorite subject of mine. We covered the grocery store, fruits and vegetables, breads, seafood (reminds me sushi tomorrow, ummmmmy), meats/poultry and dairy/eggs.

Actually the dairy/eggs post was suppose to be a two parter, so if you like to review please go back to the post labeled cluck and moo. That post really went over portion sizes and why dairy should be in all our diets.

So the dairy rules:

1. Enjoy cheese in moderation - good news great source of protein and calcium, bad news plenty of saturated fat and sodium. In fact cheese generally has about 6x the amount of saturated fat compared to beef tenderloin and 1-ounce of cheese has close to 10% of your daily sodium.
2. Choose fat-free or low-fat dairy products – remember it is calories in and calories out. Here is a chance to cut back on the calories and still retain the benefits of milk.
3. Eggs are very good for you – 1 egg has 13 essential nutrients all in a 70 calorie package.
4. Raw milk not such a good idea - In fact this has been in the press lately! Simple raw milk contains bacteria which is not healthy for pregnant women, children, elderly and immune compromised people. Simply play it safe.
5. Are you lactose intolerant? – If you have a background that comes from a non-Northern European background your chances are higher to be lactose intolerant.
6. Is the non-dairy product your buying calcium fortified? – Read the labels.

Milk: all per cup

• Fat Free (skim) – 83 calories and 306mg calcium. Great for everyday use!
• 1% – 102 calories and 290mg calcium, second best choice because of the calorie count
• 2% – 122 calories and 285mg calcium with 4.8g fat (3g being sat fat)
• Whole – 146 calories and 276mg calcium, great for kids under 2 but after that switch to a lower fat or fat free milk.
• Half and Half – 315 calories, there is a fat free version.
• Heavy Cream – 821 calories, simply no!

Cow or soy? Both are close in how much protein you get, but make sure the soy milk is fortified with calcium because it only has a fraction of what the cows milk offers.

Yogurt:

• Low-fat or fat-free yogurt
• Watch out for high-sugar yogurts – better to buy a vanilla yogurt and add in your own fruit.
• Greek vs. Regular -Yes. Greek has more protein and Regular has more calcium.
• Probiotics – Right now yes, but there are many more studies coming. Watch out for the marketing and look more science.

Cheese: 1/4 cup

• Fat-free – 45 calories, taste and texture might not be pleasing
• Reduced-fat – 86 calories taste and texture better but also has 4.3g of saturated fat
• Whole-milk – 114 calories and 6g of saturated fat
• Swiss cheese is low in sodium
• Cream Cheese? Make it fat free
• Processed Cheese?  NO! It really isn’t cheese at all and generally found as cheese dip.

Butter: Per Tablespoon

• Stick Butter – 100 calories with 7.2g saturated fat – great for baking
• Cultured Cream Butter – 100 calories with 7g saturated fat
• Yogurt Based Butter – 45 calories and 1g of saturated fat – great for everyday use
• Whipped Butter – 68 calories with 4.8g saturated fat
• European-style Butter – 100 calories and 7g saturated fat
• Light Butter -65 calories and 4.5g saturated fat

Eggs:

• Forget the yoke. right? Maybe. The yoke does contain all the egg’s fat, but you will miss out on the omega-3’s, half the protein, most of the vitamins and all of the antioxidants.
• White is right. Yes it contains half of the eggs protein and most of the minerals.
• Small egg – 54 calories
• Medium egg -63 calories
• Large egg – 72 calories
• Extra Large egg – 80 calories
• Jumbo egg – 90 calories and that poor chicken, ouch.
• What is egg substitute? Mostly egg white with food coloring. Generally there are added flavorings, but you will miss out on the benefits of the yoke.

Moving forward I will try my best to keep these posts coming. I can’t promise anything until the Ironman is over, but I believe these posts are a very important part of growing this company called The Fitness Buddy.

So until next time… Your Fitness Buddy and the Cards are winning with Albert hitting a HR!