Tag Archives: Protein

Read Your Palm, Determine Your Diet

Open hand, read your palm to know your serving size of meat.

Read your own palm and know your personal dietary needs. An open flat palm (don’t include the fingers) shows the size of meat, poultry or fish that YOU should consume. The thickness and the length of the palm perfectly identifies your personal protein needs. While an individual’s fist size (closed hand) can give you your own serving size for fruit and vegetables.

Your fist size determines your own single serving.

Clear the confusion over serving size, don’t let it upset your apple cart and ruin your diet! By better understanding what a serving size may look like, consider these unique tips to trigger your memory the next time your prepare a meal, or go out to eat a restaurant. Ones body can tell an individual how they must eat to meet their own individual needs. Remember, in order to not over eat, drink (245 ml) 1 glass of water before your meal and another during the meal.

Serving Sizes: Use the list below to measure foods and serving sizes. A serving size means the size of food after it is cooked or prepared.

  • 1 teaspoon (tsp) is about the size of the tip of your little finger (from the last crease)
  • 1 tablespoon (Tbsp) is about the size of the tip of your thumb (from the last crease).
  • 2 tablespoons (Tbsp) is about the size of a large walnut.
  • One ounce of hard cheese is about a 1 inch cube.
  • 3 ounces of cooked meat, fish, or poultry is about the size of a deck of cards.
  • 1 ounce of cooked meat, fish, or poultry is about 1/4 cup (c).
  • 1/2 cup of fruit or vegetables is about half of a fist (A serving of cooked vegetables is 1/2 cup (1/2 handful) or 1 cup (1 handful) raw.)
  • 1 cup of food is the size of a fist, or 8 fluid ounces of liquid.
  • 1-1/2 cup (12 fluid ounces) of liquid is the size of 1 soda-pop can.
  • 1 pint or 2 cups (16 fluid ounces) of liquid is the size of 1-1/3 soda-pop cans.

The American Dietetic Association counsels that individuals maintain a healthy lifestyle by
including the following into their dietary intake:

  • 4 Serving Fruits
  • 5 Servings Vegetables
  • 2 Servings of Milk
  • 2 Servings of Protein
  • 2 Servings of Healthy Fat (2 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive or Canola Oil)
  • 6-11 Servings of Bread (Determined by body size; men eat more bread servings, while women eat less.)
Be smart and plan each meal! When choosing foods, aim for a daily total of 25-38 grams of fiber that will come from Vegetable, Fruit and Multi-Grains.
By: Kimberly Crocker- Scardicchio

References

Spiced Rice

Spiced Rice may be served with: Curry, Stews, Sauces. Here presented with almonds and soy beans

Flavorful rice that can be a great additive side dish, especially with curry, stews and sauces. See instructions below to add a creative aspect to this delicious plate!

 

 

 

 

 

Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cup’s Rice
  • ½ onion diced
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 4 whole cloves
  • ½ cinnamon bark (1 inch or 2.5 cm in length)
  • 2 cloves of cardamom
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 tsp turmeric (optional)

Rice should be washed by placing into a bowl and covered with water, carefully remove water. Repeat process 3 times.   Allow rice to remain in water for 30 minutes, remove water from rice and set aside. (If rice is not pre-soaked add another ½ cup water to dish when rice is added to pan for a total of 3 ½ cups)

Over medium heat add oil to a large frying pan with onion, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom; cook for 5 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add rice and incorporate well with onion and spices.  Add 3 cups of water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes and remove from heat. Fluff rice with 2 forks and recover pan.

BE CREATIVE:

  1. May add vegetables to this dish before water is added to rice.
  2. May add Saffron or Tumeric to dish at end of cooking.
  3. Rice can be placed into a mold pan upon completion of cooking.  Allow to cook for 20 minutes, invert pan to release formed rice and top off with almonds and soy beans.

Suggested dishes to accompany Spiced Rice: Permjit’s Chicken Curry, Paratha, Raita,  Chicken or Veal Parmesan, Florence Italy’s Peposo

5 Tips to Ensure Holiday Maintenance

Chocolates, biscotti, pies and cakes….Holiday’s are for enjoying food, family and fun! Yet our biggest weight gain can occur during the 5 weeks of festivites, for a total of 7 pounds!  We are then reminded, that the party is over,January 2, when the moment of truth hits and one decisively chooses to go on a “diet”.   While new diets that apply calorie shifting are given multiple glances and serioulsy put into consideration, it’s important to remember that the word “diet” is about lifestyle and how one eats on a daily basis.

Five tips are easy to follow in order to shift caloric intake and to make sure that access weight gain is headed off at the pass.

Tip 1.      Begin the day with a breakfast.
Protein such as an egg,
Slice of wheat bread
Fruit
Green or White Tea’s (proven to promote anti-aging due to high phenolic content)
Glass of milk
This is an old trick that helps to fill up the stomach so that less food is consumed throughout the morning. You may even feel the need to have a lighter lunch as well.

Tip 2.      Consume calcium for your snacks. Your body needs to be supplied with calcium for both muscles and bones. Weightgain has been linked to low intake of calcium intake. Example: Three glasses of milk can replace any choice of fluid. Many do not realize how many other foods have calcium. Flaxseed actually contains the highest amount at 40% of dietary intake. Almonds and milk contain the same amount of calcium for dietary intake at 25%. 3 ounces of Almonds = 8 ounces of milk (1 glass). Broccoli and oranges also can be added to the daily dietary count of calcium.

Tip 3.      Eat! Dietetics is about how “All Foods Fit”. Don’t resist the temptation. Eyeball the cake size that you want and then cut in 1/2 the amount that you would have otherwise have chosen. (If really courageous cut portion by 3/4’s. This way you can have your cake and you get to eat it too.

Tip 4.      Wine is not a fruit! Just because it comes from a grape doesn’t mean that it gets to be counted on your daily intake of 4 fruits per day. There are 100 calories in a half of glass of wine, which is considered one serving! Women and Men are instructed to consume no more than one to two alcholic beverages per day. 1 serving for a women and 2 servings for men.

Tip 5.      Salty foods are commonly placed in serving bowls throughout gathering areas. Be careful to choose only half of what you really would like to consume. Fruits and vegetables, especially those high in potassium, will flush out the excess salt from your body that will otherwise contribute to weightgain. (mangoes, cantalope, banana’s, oranges, kiwi, cucumber, tomatoes, plantains, lime beans)

Follow all these tips or just a few and you should notice only your weight maintenance. Happy Holidays from Eat Know How!

More on Potassium:  “Potassium is naturally found in fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and dairy products. Meat, Poultry and Fish foods are high in potassium too, but an entirely carnivorous diet will be detrimental to your health, causing a rise in acid levels and depleting potassium levels.” http://www.buzzle.com/articles/potassium-rich-foods-list-of-foods-high-in-potassium.html

Anti- aging Benefits of White Tea
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19653897?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=3

2000 Cal. Diet Formula

For More Great Articles visit: www.cincychic.com

Many people are interested in Calorie Shifting.  This has proven to be a dangerous diet becasue of the wrong nutrients which are removed from ones diet. A 2000 calorie diet is what the average person is recommended to eat on a daily basis.  This provides an individual with an optimal diet, in which the body receives an adaquate amount of nutrition to keep going throughout the day. 

2000 calories can also seem like alot to a smaller frame individual, or someone who is not active, both which would require less caloric intake. There is a healthy way to determine your caloric intake by removing certain foods without bringing on long term detrimental results to your organs, muscles and bones.

How are calories broken into the amounts for Daily Intake of Carbs, Fat, Protein?
You can easily due this on your own with a bit of practice and understanding of what your caloric intake should be, provided to you by your Doctor or Dietitian.

Carbohydrates are 55% of daily caloric intake.       (2000 x .55= 1100)                Therefore, 1100 calories should consist of :

6 servings of breads,

5 of  servings fruit 

 6 servings of vegetables.                                                                                                                  

Protein is 15% of daily caloric intake.                         (2000 x .15= 300)                          Smaller quantities of:

 2 servings/day 3 oz (card deck size) lean meats and  fish

Nuts (1 oz).
Fat is *30% of daily caloric intake.                              (2000 x .30= 600)                           600 calories should come from fat. EVO Oil, salad dressing, butter.
Mono or Poly Unsaturated Fats come from plants 340 calories
Saturated fat is from animal products less than 260 calories

Carbs                            1100 calories

Protein                            300 calories

Fat                                + 600 calories
Total daily intake =      2000 calories

The Egg! A complete Protein!

Protein is what a body needs in the right amounts, as to not kill off your kidneys in the long run!  THE EGG….has gotten some unpopular reviews because it has cholesterol. So does any food product that comes from an animal. Yet Pizzeria’s are on every corner and they are not using low or non fat cheese!

Back to THE EGG…it is the most complete protein you can have in your diet. It contains ALL ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS required in your daly nutritional intake. There is no combining of foods to achieve a higher percent of protein intake. You would have to combine beans and pasta, or meat and various vegetables, milk with cereal and fruit to EQUAL “THE INCREDIBLE EDIBLE EGG!”
As with all animal fats A.K.A. “Saturated Fats” they must be monitored to keep the LDL cholesterol (LOUSY) down. If you have a high LDL I would recommed now more than 3 whole eggs / wk.
To see some other benefits of protein read about: Protein Tryptophan A  Natural Mood Enhancer.