Posts Tagged ‘weight loss’
Sunday, August 30th, 2009
It’s 1982 and I am seven years old, celebrating my second grade graduation with my friends, my family, and an eight scoop hot fudge sundae from Swensen’s. This was very unusual for my family because we always celebrated at Friendly’s. But in the spirit of camaraderie, we made an exception and indulged in Swensen’s with the rest of my class.
I have celebrated every momentous occasion in my life, good or bad, at Friendly’s. Little League Champs? Let’s go to Friendly’s! Lost the soccer tournament? That’s okay, we’ll make it up at Friendly’s. In fact, I can still remember the look on my father’s face when, after my high school graduation, I asked him for the keys to the car so I could go out with my friends. He was crushed. “What? No Friendly’s?” And I looked at him in the way that teen girls look at their fathers and said, “Dad. I am way too old to celebrate with ice cream.”
Yet somehow, I found myself sitting at Friendly’s today for the third time in one month. How did this happen? I mean, I am a child obesity specialist. I should know better. But it really wasn’t my fault. I would never take my kids to Friendly’s unless it were for some, um, momentous occasion.
And this month has been crazy. It started with my daughter’s fourth birthday. Of course we celebrate birthdays at Friendly’s. Not the real party but a private celebration afterwards. And then I had to have my wisdom teeth pulled out. And everybody knows that you are allowed to indulge in ice cream when you have oral surgery (like when your tonsils are taken out. Isn’t the same thing true for wisdom teeth?) And then my s0n broke his arm. And I mean, he really broke his arm. I suddenly, unconsciously, found myself comforting him with promises of ice cream sundaes.
My mother-in-law called me at work to tell me that Zachary had fallen off the monkey bars. She thought his wrist looked really bad so I told her to jump in the car and bring him to an orthopedist near me. I would meet them at the office. She handed Zachary the phone and I heard him weeping. “Oh honey,” I said. “Mommy is going to be with you soon. Then the doctor will make you feel better and we will all go to Friendly’s.” Huh? Where did that come from? It just popped out of my mouth.
My promises got more descriptive as his injury got worse. When he arrived at the orthopedist and I first saw his arm, I wanted to pass out. It looked really bad. The doctors rushed him in and the first thing the nurse’s aide did was give him a lollipop. (It’s got to be human instinct!)
As we made our way from the doctor’s office to the hospital where he needed a procedure to realign his bone, I kissed his cheeks, stroked his hair, and said, “When this is over I am going to get you the biggest hot fudge sundae. Just wait and see how big this sundae is going to be.”
As he woke up from the sedation, I told him that “it’s almost ice cream sundae time”.
We didn’t leave the hospital until late at night and we all fell right asleep. A day later, tylenol with codeine was helping Zachary’s pain and he was starting to look like himself again. “Mommy,” he said. “Didn’t you promise me Friendly’s?”
So now you understand why I was at Friendly’s for the third time this month. How else could I celebrate a birthday, ease the pain of a sore tooth, and nurse my son back to health?
Why is it that I immediately jump to ice cream? It must be because that was how I was raised. And that was how my parents were raised. But is that how I want to raise my children?
Clearly, it is not. I don’t want them to use food to heal their wounds or mark their triumphs. It is going to take a great effort for me to break this cycle. I’ve been trying to think of other ways I could have marked these momentous life occasions. A trip to Chuck E Cheese or the children’s museum? A special privilege like a later bedtime or a new toy? I really don’t have the answer but I will keep looking for a healthier substitution and I hope you will too.
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Tags: celebrations, child diet, Child Obesity, child weight gain, diet, exercise, ice cream, mothers, obese baby, obese child, obese toddler, obesity, overweight child, overweight mother, overweight parent, overweight toddler, overweight woman, parenting, rewards, sundaes, weight gain, weight loss
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Friday, August 21st, 2009
Having many friends and family members who are regulars at Yankee Stadium during baseball season gave me the idea to write about the various new improvements, both healthy and unhealthy, at the new Yankee Stadium. Don’t worry! The traditional ball park favorites are still there. You’ll still hear the shouts from the Peanut man, but now also from the Ice Cream man (selling pints of Turkey Hill Ice Cream; Original Vanilla 560 calories per pint).
Traditional favorites such as Carvel Ice Cream in baseball caps and Hebrew National hot dog stands can still be found around the stadium. A few of the interesting additions are a Boar’s Head made-to-order deli sandwich station, Johnny Rockets, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and a Japanese stand serving sushi and noodles in Chinese take-out containers.
The various food stands are now complying with NYC’s mandate to post caloric information on their menus. Although this does not stop many people from treating themselves at the ball game, it does increase awareness by 100%!
Another great advance is Melissa’s, a traditional “farmers market”, carrying fresh fruits and vegetables, with no wait guaranteed.
Most of the food, although it may seem healthy, is most assuredly NOT healthy. The New York Times Restaurants Review of Yankee Stadium suggests trying “the best single food item in the entire stadium” which is Lobel’s USDA dry-aged sliced-steak sandwich on a house-made bun, a very UNHEALTHY option!
The majority of the options on the menu are over 1,000 calories per serving! Here are a few of the calorie counts on ball park favorites.
New York Pretzel: 630 calories
Nathan’s Hot Dog: 320 calories
Regular cheese nachos: 1,500 calories Carvel Ice Cream Helmet Cups: 550-590 calories
Instead of these calorie dense snacks, try a snack from Melissa’s delicious fruit stand, or a sandwich, soup, or salad from Boar’s Head Deli. Another idea is to encourage kids to try the Kid’s Cart. Here you can find smaller sized hot dogs and PB&J sandwiches.
One of the most deceiving snacks is popcorn. At home, popcorn is an extremely healthy and filling snack. Do not be fooled; stadium popcorn is very unhealthy. At baseball parks (and movie theaters), popcorn often has over 2,000 calories, due to the ridiculous serving size, the oil in which it is fried, and the added butter. At Yankee Stadium, a Jumbo Popcorn is 1,484 calories and a Souvenir bucket of popcorn is 2,473 calories. Yikes!
Although the majority of the food offered at the new Yankee stadium is very high in calories, the posting of the caloric and improvements makes it easier for you and your family to make healthy choices when entering the ball park.
~ The Bottom Line ~
The healthiest options you can choose at the ball park for you and your family are:
· Kozy Shack pudding from the Kids Kart: 140 calories
· Chef salad with turkey and cheddar: 241 calories
· California sushi roll: 255 calories
· Veggie sushi roll: 160 calories
· Edamame: 100 calories
· Nathan’s natural casing hot dog: 297 calories
· Any selection from Melissa’s Farmers Market Stand
~ What might surprise you ~
· Baked ziti: 720 calories
· Chicken tenders and fries: 810 calories
· Chicken parmesan sub: 819 calories
· Tofu pan fried noodle bowl: 600 calories
· Onion rings: 790 calories
· Moe’s nachos: 880 calories
· Nathan’s crinkle-cut fries 1236 calories
· Bazzini peanuts: 1190 calories
Hopefully now you’ll think twice about what you and your family snack on during the game. A great way to keep your body (and your wallet) healthy at the ballpark is to pack your own snacks. This way, you’ll know in advance that you’re guaranteed a healthy and enjoyable snack for between innings.
Before the game, you should plan which snack you’re going to indulge in using this guide.
Always choose the smaller portion size for all treats at the ball park. The foot-long Hebrew National hot dog is 510 calories; you can save about 200 calories by having the regular sized one.
Lastly, don’t rush to a decision. Because of the numerous options and vendors spread across the stadium, you do not have to worry about long lines. This gives you more time to think about what you and you’re family are eating, and make the healthiest and smartest choice possible.
Check out this link to the ball park for more healthy food choices!
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Tags: ball game, baseball, child diet, Child Obesity, child weight gain, diet, exercise, mothers, obese baby, obese child, obese toddler, obesity, overweight child, overweight mother, overweight parent, overweight toddler, overweight woman, parenting, stadium, weight gain, weight loss
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Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
I just read about an interesting new study on Medical News Online. The study was performed at Kansas State University and evaluated what children think about other kids with “undesirable characteristics, such as being overweight or aggressive.” The researches also looked at how children treat kids with these attributes.
Obviously, as a child obesity doctor, I was very interested to hear what they had to say. Past studies have shown that children are prejudiced against overweight kids. In fact, prior studies have determined that kids would rather be friends with children with physical handicaps (such as using a wheelchair or missing a limb) than with an overweight child.
But now, one out of every three kids in our country is overweight or obese. Unfortunately, there is no longer anything unusual about an overweight child. Does this change how overweight children are perceived by their peers?
No. It seems that it doesn’t matter that so many kids are now overweight. Overweight children are still discriminated against by their peers.
A major finding of this study was that children discriminate against kids with undesirable characteristics that they believe their peers have the ability to control. For example, they disliked kids with aggressive behavior and overweight children because they felt that these children are responsible for the characteristic and should be able to change it. They did not, however, look down on children with severe illnesses, such as chronic asthma. They felt that the asthmatic child could not help being asthmatic and they didn’t hold it against him.
Not only did the kids say they disliked the aggressive and obese students, they also said that they were more likely to pick on them. Boys tended to respond more negatively to kids with undesirable characteristics than girls. The study was done on third-graders and sixth-graders. Each child filled out a questionnaire with descriptions of hypothetical peers such as a poor student, a nonathletic student, an obese student, an aggressive student, a shy student, an asthmatic student, and a student with ADHD. The aggressive student was the most unappealing, followed closely by the obese student. The kids were most sympathetic towards the asthmatic student.
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Tags: bullying, child bullying, child diet, Child Obesity, child weight gain, diet, discrimination, exercise, fat discrimination, mothers, obese baby, obese child, obese toddler, obesity, overweight child, overweight mother, overweight parent, overweight toddler, overweight woman, parenting, picked on, weight discrimination, weight gain, weight loss
Posted in Child Obesity | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
Join Dr. Dolgoff at #kidsweigh! #kidsweigh is a weekly twitter discussion about child nutrition and weight issues. You are welcome to bring questions concerning your own kids or just learn more about the weekly topic.
This week’s topic: Healthy Italian Food. Learn what to order for your kids at an Italian restaurant! Find out how pizza can be healthy. Understand which foods should be avoided. Bon Apetit!
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Monday, June 29th, 2009
Healthy Birthday Snack Ideas:
A child’s school birthday celebration should be centered around the child; instead, it has become centered around cupcakes. Parents bring in these unhealthy treats and kids rejoice. Yet with the current child obesity crisis, many are rethinking this caloric tradition. In response, I have created this list of healthy birthday school celebrations. Enjoy them! And please, let me know if you have any additional suggestions.
Non-Food Options:
1) Allow extra recess time in honor of each student’s birthday and allow the birthday child to choose an active activity or game. The birthday student’s parents are welcome to participate.
2) Craft project: Bring in supplies so each student can make a birthday card for the birthday child.
3) Craft project: Decorate a balloon with stickers and glitter. Each child gets to take their creation home.
4) Bring in a large balloon bouquet and let each child pick a balloon to take home.
5) Parent reads selected book of choice to class.
6) Create a birthday book for child; each classmate creates a special page about the birthday child.
7) Provide goodie bags with stickers, pencils, pens, school supplies, crayons, noise makers etc.
8) Arrange a classroom scavenger hunt with small non-food gifts for each child.
9) Decorate a birthday crown.
10) Bring in coloring books for each student. Have each child color a page from their book and then hang up the masterpieces and have a ‘gallery showing’.
11) Bring in small fun activity gifts for the students, i.e. jump ropes, mini-Frisbees, waffle balls. Allow some time for the students to play with their new gift.
12) Give each child elastic bracelets with birthday child’s name stamped on it.
Healthy (Or At Least Healthier) Food Options:
1) ‘Make your own’ yogurt parfait with fat-free yogurt, low-fat granola, and fresh berries.
2) Fruit Kebobs: Cut fruit into interesting shapes and let children put the fruit onto skewers with a few marshmallows.
3) Frozen Banana Krispie Treats: Cut a banana in half. Put a Popsicle stick in the banana and then smear with low-fat vanilla yogurt. Roll in rice krispies, freeze.
4) Fresh fruit topped with low-fat whipped cream.
5) Waffle topped with fruit and chocolate syrup.
6) Low-fat pudding with low-fat whipped cream.
7) Frozen fruit bars.
8) Create a trail mix: Let each child choose their own mixture of whole grain pretzels, multi-grain chex, and dried fruit.
9) Yogurt covered raisins.
10) Apples slices dipped in caramel dipping sauce.
11) Baked apples with cinnamon.
12) Sorbet.
13) Orange frizzes: Mix chilled orange juice with carbonated water and a scoop of sorbet.
14) One scoop of low-fat ice cream with sprinkles.
15) Exotic fruit of choice.
16) Jell-o topped with low-fat whipped cream.
17) Baked tortilla chips with salsa.
18) Homemade low-fat rice krispie treats.
19) Yogurt covered pretzels.
20) Baked potato chips.
21) Low-fat pita with hummus.
22) Baked tortilla with guacamole.
23) One scoop of fat free ice cream in a wafer cone.
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Tags: child diet, Child Obesity, child weight gain, cupcake war, cupcake wars, diet, exercise, MeMe Roth, mothers, obese baby, obese child, obese toddler, obesity, overweight child, overweight mother, overweight parent, overweight toddler, overweight woman, parenting, school birthday, school cupcakes, school parties, weight gain, weight loss
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Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Last week, there was an article in the NY Times about Meme Roth and her fight with her children’s school concerning school birthday parties and cupcakes.
What sets her off is the junk food served on special occasions: the cupcakes that come out for every birthday, the doughnuts her children were once given in gym, the sugary “Fun-Dip” packets that some parent provided the whole class on Valentine’s Day.
“I thought I was sending my kid to P.S. 9, not Chuck E. Cheese,” Ms. Roth, a trim, impassioned 40-year-old from Atlanta, said in an interview. “Is there or is there not an obesity and diabetes epidemic in this country?”
Although I agree with Ms. Roth’s concern, the article outlines the outlandish strategies and infantile behaviour she uses to get her point across. For the complete article, click here.
Those who know me understand that this is my pet issue. I have seen too many children crying because they are trying to eat healthy but are surrounded by so many temptations. In my opinion, schools should be a safe haven. So I drafted a letter to the NY Times and surprising, it was printed in Saturday’s paper! Here is my article below:
TAKING SIDES
IN THE
CUPCAKE WARS
Published: June 19, 2009
Esther Pearl Watson
Re “Mother’s Fight Against Junk Food Puts a School on Edge,” by Susan Dominus (Big City column, June 16):
As a pediatrician and a child weight loss specialist, I am conflicted about this article. MeMe Roth, the mother “driven mad” by junk food, may not use the best tactics, but her point is right. We are in the midst of a child obesity epidemic. One out of every three children in our country is either overweight or obese. Our schools should be a safe haven for our children.
I have overweight children crying in my office on a daily basis because they are trying to eat well but are confronted with temptations at school. I do believe in all foods in moderation. But our children have plenty of exposure to unhealthy foods outside of school.
In a typical classroom of 26 children, there are up to 26 days of birthday cupcakes to contend with. Then you add in celebrations for holidays, and many classes have a party every week. There are many healthy birthday options, and we can use them to celebrate our children’s birthdays without sacrificing their health.
Joanna Dolgoff
New York, June 16, 2009
I am interested in hearing your thoughts about cupcakes and school birthday parties. I know I am in the minority. I agree that it is perfectly fine for a child to have a cupcake every now and then. The problem is that it becomes more than now and then. Each child’s birthday usually results in two cupcakes- one at the school party and one at the out-0f-school party. Not to mention all the junk food that is thrown at our kids from everywhere else. Is it really necessary to add another temptation? Can’t we celebrate a birthday without eating unhealthy fare?
Next week: my suggestions for healthy birthday celebrations.
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Tags: child diet, Child Obesity, child weight gain, cupcake war, cupcake wars, diet, exercise, MeMe Roth, mothers, obese baby, obese child, obese toddler, obesity, overweight child, overweight mother, overweight parent, overweight toddler, overweight woman, parenting, school birthday, school cupcakes, school parties, weight gain, weight loss
Posted in Child Obesity, nutrition | 8 Comments »
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Advertisers work hard to earn their money. They can take any food and make it sound nutritious. Very few laws protect the consumer from advertisers’ half-truths. It is up to us to learn how to tell what it a valid claim and what is just hype. How can you wade through the misleading information to find the truth? Easy… just look at the nutrition label and the ingredient list! The nutrition label and the ingredient list have all the information that you need to determine whether a food is healthy.
Last night was a perfect example. My kids and I were at my girlfriend’s house for dinner. She was telling me about this healthy snack she had found for her daughter. “And the best part is that she loves it!” my friend raved. She then showed me a package of Sunmaid Vanilla Yogurt Raisins. “They are raisins covered in yogurt so she’s getting fruit and milk.”
Here is how Sunmaid describes this product:
Sun-Maid starts with only the best, 100% natural raisins from sunny California. Then we cover them with a creamy, vanilla yogurt coating to create our delicious, convenient Sun-Maid Vanilla Yogurt Raisins.
They are the perfect high-energy snack food for people who are on-the-go. They also help you meet the 5-to-9 daily fruit and vegetable servings recommended by nutrition experts. Packed into the zip-close bag, Sun-Maid Vanilla Yogurt Raisins are easy to use in your party mix or cookie recipes or to pass around as a snack.
Sounds healthy, right? Then I looked at the nutrition label.
1 small package (about 25 pieces) of this “healthy snack” has 120 calories, 4.5 grams of fat and 4 GRAMS OF SATURATED FAT.
That is a ton of saturated fat (the bad fat). I particularly dislike the claim that they help you meet your fruit and vegetable servings.
Looking further down the label, I noticed that the product contains 2% RDA Vitamin C, 0% RDA Vitamin A, and 4%RDA Calcium.
I certainly would not consider this a serving of fruit or vegetables. And despite the “yogurt” covering the raisins, there is very little calcium. I decided to inspect it further and turned to the ingredient list.
Ingredients:
Natural California Raisins, Yogurt Coating (Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated palm kernel Oil, Nonfat Milk Powder, Nonfat Yogurt Powder, Whey, Titanium Dioxide, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla), Confectioners Glaze, Corn Syrup, Dextrin, and Maltodextrin.
It seems that the raisins are not covered in yogurt but in a “yogurt coating” made mostly of sugar and partially hydrogenated oil (which is a trans fat- the WORST type of fat you can have). So while the raisins may be natural, the yogurt coating certainly isn’t.
Needless to say, my friend was dismayed to learn that this healthy snack was in no way healthy. “I should have looked more closely,” she said. I replied, “I bet raisinets are healthier than these yogurt raisins.” For fun, we went online to look.
The same serving size of raisinets has about the same calories (raisinets 118, yogurt raisins 120), slightly more fat (raisinets 4.8 grams, yogurt raisins 4.5 grams) but SIGNIFICANTLY LESS SATURATED FAT (raisinets 3.1 grams, yogurt raisins 4 grams).
The ingredient list for raisinets:
Milk Chocolate (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, milk, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin, vanillin – an artificial flavor, natural flavor), Raisins, Sugar, Tapioca Dextrin, Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Confectioner’s Glaze.
Instead of an artifiical yogurt coating, at least raisinets are made with real milk chocolate. Now, I am not saying raisinets are good for you. But at least when you are giving your children raisinets to eat, you aren’t fooled into thinking they are healthy. Shame on Sunmaid for misleading parents into thinking their yogurt raisins are healthy.
This is a great example of how you can’t trust a product’s claims and must turn to the nutrition label for the truth. Don’t let yourself be misled! Always get the facts before serving a new food to your children!
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Tags: child, children, diet, healthy, healthy snacks, moms, nutrition, nutrition labels, parenting, parents, snacks, weight loss
Posted in Weight Loss Study, weight loss | 12 Comments »
Sunday, June 7th, 2009
This blog post contains my first giveaway. Read on to learn what product made me excited enough to want to share it with my readers. THREE readers will win this mystery product.
I woke up this morning, itching to move. I’ve been working so hard this week and didn’t work out. I started to write that I didn’t have time to work out but that’s not really true. Anybody can squeeze in a quick workout if she really wants to. It’s just a lame excuse. Even with everything I have going on, I could have woken up a half hour early and done something athletic. Instead, I chose to stay in my bed this week. I am going to call it like it is.
So I didn’t work out this week and woke up today feeling like sloth. I lay in my bed, trying to decide what I wanted to do. I thought to myself, what is my favorite form of exercise? I like to vary my workouts. I enjoy spin classes, step classes, pilates, elliptical, weights, sculpt classes, boot camp… but what would I do if I could do any workout?
I got up, pulled on my sneakers, and went for a jog outside. The sun was shining on my face and the street felt amazing under my feet. As I trekked up and down the hills in my neighborhood, I let my mind wander. I first went through and organized everything I needed to do in the coming week. And then my mind was clear. I listened to my music and just enjoyed the outside.
And this brings me to my giveaway. I was listening to the music using a pair of Sennheiser PMX 70 Sport Headphones given to me by somebody in the company. Usually, when I run, I start to become annoyed with my headphones a mile or so in. Either the sound isn’t exactly right or the earpieces begin to hurt my ears. When I first saw these headphones, I was skeptical. The headband goes around the back of your head and not over the top. It seemed weird but let me tell you- it felt great. The headphones were really comfortable and the sound was amazing.
In the name of trying to get all of you to go outside and run… I am giving away three pairs of these great headphones. For more information on them, go to www.SennheiserUSA.com.
So- what do you have to do to win them? Just leave me a comment and tell me about your favorite workout. Three respondents will win a pair of these great headphones. Don’t forget to leave your e-mail address or Twitter ID so I can contact you if you win!
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Tags: exercise, giveaway, headphones, running, weight loss, workout
Posted in Parent, Uncategorized | 24 Comments »
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
I recently read a FASCINATING book called “The End of Overeating” by David A. Kessler, MD. I highly recommend it! In the book, Dr. Kessler reviews what makes some people prone to overeating. He outlines the science behind the drive to eat when you are already full. He then goes over how restaurants manipulate us to get us to eat more quickly and thus eat more food.
We are born preferring sweet tastes. Even newborns “smile” when given sugar water! But we are not just drawn to sweetness alone. As Dr. Kessler points out, few people eat sugar straight from the packets. Rather, we prefer mixtures of fat and sugar. Adam Drewnowski did a study where he gave people drinks containing different ratios of milk and sugar. Not surprisingly, the skim milk with sugar (no fat, lots of sugar) and the unsweetened cream (lots of fat, no sugar) did not get high marks. Everybody preferred the mixture that contained lots of sugar and lots of fat.
More interesting, is that there is a “bliss point”, a point where we enjoy the sugar/fat the most. It is possible too make a food too sweet or too fatty. We all know that too little fat/sugar is no good but scientists have shown that too much fat/sugar is also not desired. Scientists have shown that the ideal amount of sugar in a drink is 10%. If a drink is more than 10% sugar, it is deemed too sweet.
Eating foods high in sugar and fat makes you want to eat MORE sugar and fat.
Variety makes you eat more. Our body has what is called “taste-specific satiety”, meaning that it can become full from a certain taste but can immediately feel “hunger” if exposed to a different type of food. This helps account for why we eat so much more at a buffet than a sit-down meal.
We become conditioned to eat high-fat, high-sugar foods. In one study, people who did not usually snack mid-morning were given a high-fat, high-sugar snack before lunchtime for five days in a row. For days afterwards, they craved a mid-morning snack, even though they never used to eat at that time!
When we first put a yummy food in our mouths, our taste buds send a signal to the brain that activates our body’s natural opiates. Opiates make us feel pleasure and can also relieve pain or stress and can relax us. No wonder I want to turn to a donut whenever I feel discomfort and anxiety!
Restaurants use this science agains us! Restaurants are in the business to sell food. And what sells? Fat and sugar! So restaurants will stick fat and sugar into everything. If you order vegetables in a restaurant, chances are they have been fried (or sauteed) in oil.
It gets worse. In just one example from the book, a consultant/restaurant insider discusses the Southwestern Eggrolls from Chilis.
Deep-frying the tortilla drives down its water content from 40 percent to about 5 percent and replaces the rest with fat. “The tortilla is really going to absorb a lot of fat”…
“Cooked white meat chicken, binder added, smoke flavor. People really like smoky flavor- it’s the caveman in them.”
“There’s green stuff in there,” he said, noting the spinach. “That makes me feel like I am eating something healthy.”
He believed the chicken had been chopped and formed much like a meat loaf, with binders added, which makes those calories easier to swallow. Ingredients that hold moisture, including autolyzed yeast extract, sodium phosphate, and soy protein concentrate, further soften the food.
I noticed that salt appeared eight times on the label and that sweeteners were there five times, in the form of corn-syrup solids, molasses, honey, brown sugar, and sugar.
“This is highly processed?” I asked.
“Absolutely, yes. All of this has been processed such that you can wolf it down fast… chopped up and made ultrapalatable… Very appealing looking, very high pleasure in the fod, very high calorie density. Rules out all the stuff you have to chew.”
By eliminating the need to chew, modern food processing techniques allow us to eat faster. “When you’re eating these things, you’ve had 500, 600, 800, 900 calories before you know it,” said the consultant. “Literally before you know it.” Refined food simply melts in the mouth.
Restaurants add fat to everything! Why? The fat helps to lubricate the food so it absorbs saliva better and is swallowed more easily. Fat also lingers after food is swallowed, leaving the flavor behind in your mouth. The end result is that you eat so quickly that you don’t realize how much you have consumed. And you still have some flavor in your mouth, keeping you salivating. So what do you do next? You order more!
Restaurants also add lubricants and process foods to eliminate the amount of time spent chewing. According to Gail Civille, in the past Americans typically chewed a mouthful of food twenty-five times before swallowing; now it is only about ten times. Food processing creates a type of “adult baby food” which doesn’t require much effort to eat. Because it goes down so quickly, it easily overrides the body’s signals that should signal fullness.
Did you know that most restaurant food is fried not once, but twice? It’s true! Most chain restaurants use “individually quick-frozen foods”. These foods are partially fried in factories before they are quick-frozen and sent to the restaurant. Once in the restaurant, they can be taken from the package (still frozen) and into the deep fryer before being served. Very few chain restaurants cook the food from scratch. This helps explain why a Chili’s burger tastes the same in New York as it does in Nevada. They are all made in the same factory! Yum… Even the vegetables and lettuce are prepared elsewhere and then either frozen or sealed in vacuum packages.
The book goes on to give lots of other examples of how restaurants manipulate food to get us to eat more quickly and thus eat more. It also goes over lots of different food chains, including Starbucks, Cinnabon’s, Pink’s, McDonalds and more, revealing their techniques to make their food more appealing. I think it is a must-read for every parent. It definitely has made me think twice about eating out!
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Tags: child diet, Child Obesity, child weight gain, diet, exercise, fast food, healthy meals, mothers, obese child, obese toddler, obesity, overweight child, overweight mother, overweight parent, overweight toddler, overweight woman, parenting, restaurants, weight gain, weight loss
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Sunday, May 31st, 2009
It’s Sunday evening and I am exhausted. We have been running around with the children all day and neither my husband nor I feel like cooking. The kids are too run-down to take them to a restaurant. And most fast food is really unhealthy. I can’t decide what to feed the kids for dinner. I even debate playing the “Breakfast For Dinner” game and giving them a bowl of cereal. And then a commercial for KFC’s New Grilled Chicken comes on TV. Hmmm… My husband and I both look at each other. Should we?
I run to the computer to do some research. And I am pleasantly surprised with what I find. KFC grilled chicken is healthy!
Let’s compare the options:
GRILLED CHICKEN ORIGINAL RECIPE EXTRA CRISPY
(calories/fat)
Wing 80/4 110/7 150/10
Breast 180/4 370/21 490/31
Drumstick 70/4 110/7 150/9
Thigh 140/9 260/19 370/27
But what does it taste like? Solely in the name of research, I head out to KFC. I order the 10 piece family meal which comes with three large sides. I order green beans, corn on-the-cob and rice.
The grilled chicken was delicious. Really delicious. Of course, I peeled all the skin off before serving it to myself and my kids which lowered the calorie/fat count even more. Even without the skin, it tasted great. You could really taste the KFC spices. I practically felt like I was eating real KFC. My family will definitely be eating it again.
Interested in the calories counts on the side dishes? There is no easier way to blow a healthy meal than by eating unhealthy sides. Make sure you pick carefully!
Side Dish (Calories /Fat)
(per standard serving size which varies with each dish- imagine a small amount)
Green Beans (25/0)
Rice (140/0.5)
Mashed Potatoes (130/4.5)
Macaroni ‘n Cheese (180/9)
Potato Wedges (260/13)
Corn On-The-Cob (140/1)
Cole Slaw (180/10)
Biscuit (180/8)
Sweet Kernel Corn (110/0.5)
My recommendation for your child’s meal? Either a breast or a thigh and either a drumstick or a wing. Peel off as much of the skin and fat as possible. Then serve green beans, half of a large piece of corn on-the-cob, and a very small serving of rice. A nutritious, fast, and easy meal.
Enjoy!
And no- KFC did not pay me to write this post nor do they have any idea that I am writing it!
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Tags: child diet, Child Obesity, child weight gain, diet, easy dinners, easy meals, exercise, fast food, healthy dinners, healthy fast food, healthy meals, mothers, obese baby, obese child, obese toddler, obesity, overweight child, overweight mother, overweight parent, overweight toddler, overweight woman, parenting, weight gain, weight loss
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