Weight Debate

You can’t tell if food is done by looking at it. Use a food thermometer to be sure.

Temperature Rules for Safe Cooking
Make sure you cook and keep foods at the correct temperature to ensure food safety. Bacteria can grow in foods between 40 °F and 140 °F. To keep foods out of this danger zone, keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot.

Use a clean thermometer and measure the internal temperature of cooked food to make sure meat, poultry, and egg dishes are cooked to the temperatures listed below.

USDA Recommended Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures

Beef, Veal, Lamb, Steaks & Roasts – 145 °F

Fish – 145 °F

Pork (medium) – 160 °F
Pork (well done) – 170 °F

Ground meats – beef, veal, lamb, pork – 160 °F
Ground turkey, chicken – 165 °F

Egg dishes – 160 °F
Eggs – cook until yolk and white are firm.

Poultry breasts – 170 °F

Whole chicken, turkey, dark meat, duck and goose – 180 °F

Myth: Eating after 8 p.m. causes weight gain.

If you eat late at night, will the calories automatically turn into body fat?

The fact is… the time of day isn’t what affects how your body uses calories. It’s the overall number of calories you eat, how much physical activity you do, and the calories you burn over the course of 24 hours that determines whether you gain, lose, or maintain your weight. No matter when you eat, your body will store extra calories as fat if you’ve eaten too much.

If you want or need to have a snack before bedtime, think first about how many calories you have already eaten for the day. Avoid snacking in front of the TV at night, it may be easier to overeat when you are distracted by the television.

As we age, our body composition gradually shifts – which means the proportion of muscle decreases and the proportion of fat increases. This shift slows down our metabolism, making it easier for us to gain weight.

Also, some of us become less physically active as we get older, which increases our risk of weight gain.

There is good news, though… weight gain can be prevented by choosing a lifestyle that includes good eating habits and daily physical activity.

By avoiding weight gain, we avoid higher risks of many chronic diseases, such as:

• Heart disease
• Stroke
• Type 2 diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Osteoarthritis
• Some forms of cancer

The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight isn’t about short-term dietary changes. It’s about a lifestyle that includes healthy eating, regular physical activity, and balancing the number of calories we consume with the number of calories our body uses.

Staying in control of our weight contributes to good health now and as we age.

You are the most important influence on your child. You can do many things to help your children develop healthy eating habits for life.

Offering a variety of foods helps children get the nutrients they need from every food group.

They will also be more likely to try new foods and to like more foods.

When children develop a taste for many types of foods, it’s easier to plan family meals.

Choose foods and beverages that don’t have sugar and caloric sweeteners as one of the first ingredients. Added sugars contribute calories with few, if any, nutrients.

Cook together, eat together, talk together, and make mealtime a family time!

Source: U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

If you are in a hurry, you can make a vegetarian meal for your kids that’s healthful and tastes good. Try these menus…

Menu 1
Canned vegetable soup with cubed tofu
Whole wheat roll
Apple or banana
Low-fat milk

Menu 2
Toasted cheese sandwich
Cole slaw
Pudding
Orange juice

Menu 3
Spaghetti sauce mixed with canned red beans, over pasta
Tossed green salad
Cut up fruit
Calcium fortified soy beverage

Make Sure You Eat Breakfast!!

A healthy breakfast gives you energy and keeps you alert throughout the day, and many breakfast foods come packed with calcium and vitamin D.

Eating breakfast could actually help you control your weight.

Studies show that people who skip breakfast and eat fewer times during the day tend to be heavier than people who eat a healthy breakfast and eat four or five times a day, because people who skip meals tend to feel hungrier later on in the day, and then they eat more than they normally would.

Try to eat small meals throughout the day that includes a variety of healthy, low fat, low calorie foods to help you control your appetite.

Try these quick breakfast choices…

• Oatmeal with low fat or fat free milk, or soy based beverage.
• Fruit smoothie made with frozen fruit, low fat yogurt, and juice.
• Low fat yogurt with fruit.
• Low fat yogurt sprinkled with low fat granola.
• Whole grain cereal with milk.
• A slice of whole wheat toast with a thin spread of peanut butter.
• High fiber, low sugar cereal with soy based beverage or low fat milk.

No Time for Breakfast?
Get these food items ready the night before and eat them on your way to work:

• Whole grain breakfast bar.
• Whole wheat crackers, lean meats and low fat milk.
• Pack baby carrots, nuts, or dried fruit.
• Whole grain muffin or English muffin.
• Leftovers.
• Munch on veggies, pretzels, or popcorn.
• Trail mix or dried fruit.
• Apple, orange or any other fruit.

Serves - 8
Serving size - about 3 meatballs each.

Ingredients
1/4 cup onions, minced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 eggs
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup whole milk – you can use fat free or low fat milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions
1. Preheat oven 400 degrees F. Grease baking sheet lightly with oil.
2. Add 1 tablespoon oil and onions to small skillet. Cook over medium heat, until tender, about 3 minutes.
3. Mix remaining ingredients together in bowl. Add onions. Mix until blended, using a large serving spoon.
4. Shape beef mixture into 1 to 2 inch meatballs. Place on baking sheet.
5. Bake until thoroughly cooked, about 10 to 12 minutes.
Note: Serve with spaghetti sauce or in a meatball sandwich.

Nutritional Information Per Serving (mg = milligrams)
Calories – 345
Total Fat – 21 grams
Saturated Fat – 7 grams
Cholesterol – 142 mg
Sodium – 224 mg

Would you like to be more physically active, but have excuses not to be, or maybe your are not sure if you can be more active than you are?

Well, you don’t have to run or do push-ups to get the benefits of being physically active – and you can have fun and feel good doing it.

Use your imagination or try some of these suggestions if you are able to:

• Dance to music – Dancing on your feet is a good weight-bearing exercise. Dancing while seated lets you move your arms and legs to music while taking the weight off your feet. This may be a good choice if you cannot stand on your feet for a long time.
• Swimming and water workouts – puts less stress on your joints because you do not have to lift or push your own weight.
• Walk outdoors.
• Be active with friends.
• Go ice skating or roller skating.
• Play golf.
• Do some gardening or yard work like mowing the lawn or raking leaves.
• Wash the car.
• Do some housework.
• Sit less.
• Walk more while doing your errands.
• Park further away from the grocery store or mall.
• Walk to each end of the mall when you go shopping.
• March in place during TV commercials.
• Take a bicycle ride
• Take 2 to 3 minute walking breaks at work a few times a day.
• Put away the TV remote control and get up to change the channel.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator but make sure it is safe.
• Stand or walk, rather than sit while talking on the phone.
• Play with your kids, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, etc.
• Walk to your coworker’s office instead of using the phone or emailing.
• A shopping trip can be exercise – it is a chance to walk and carry your bags.
• Get off the bus or subway one stop early and walk the rest of the way but be sure the area is safe.

Any physical activity is better than none, start where you can and gradually increase the amount of physical activity you do.

It is recommended to do 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week. And don’t worry if that sounds like a lot to you, because it doesn’t have to be done all at once. You can break up the 30 minutes of activity by doing 10 minutes of activity three different times of the day. A few minutes of activity here and there can really add up.

Remember that physical activity does not have to be hard or boring to be good for you. Anything that gets you moving around, even for only a few minutes a day, is a healthy start to getting more fit.

Have fun trying different activities you really enjoy.

Anxiety disorders range from feelings of uneasiness to immobilizing bouts of terror. One type of anxiety disorder is panic disorder.

People with panic disorder experience white-knuckled, heart-pounding terror that strikes suddenly and without warning. Since they cannot predict when a panic attack will seize them, many people live in persistent worry that another one could overcome them at any moment.

Some Symptoms of Panic Disorder

• Pounding heart
• Chest pains
• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Nausea
• Shortness of breath
• Shaking or trembling
• Choking
• Fear of dying
• Sweating
• Feelings of unreality
• Numbness or tingling
• Hot flashes or chills
• A feeling of going out of control or going crazy

Diagnosis of Panic Disorder
Either four attacks within four weeks or one or more attacks followed by at least a month of persistent fear of having another attack. A minimum of four of the symptoms listed above developed during at least one of the attacks. Most panic attacks last only a few minutes, but they occasionally go on for ten minutes, and, in rare cases, have been known to last for as long as an hour. They can occur at any time, even during sleep.

Some Treatments for Panic Disorder
Cognitive behavioral therapy and medications such as high-potency anti-anxiety drugs like alprazolam are used.

Several classes of antidepressants (such as paroxetine, one of the newer selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and the older tricyclics and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAO inhibitors) are considered “gold standards” for treating panic disorder.

Sometimes a combination of therapy and medication is the most effective approach to helping people manage their symptoms. Proper treatment helps 70 to 90 percent of people with panic disorder, usually within six to eight weeks.

Eye Comfort Exercises

• Blinking (produces tears to help moisten and lubricate the eyes)
• Yawning (produces tears to help moisten and lubricate the eyes)
• Expose eyes to natural light

Palming

• See photo on right. While seated, brace elbows on the desk and close to the desk edge. Let your weight fall forward. Cup your hands over your eyes. Then close your eyes. Inhale slowly through your nose and hold for 4 seconds. Continue deep breathing for 15-30 seconds.

Eye Movements

• Close your eyes. Slowly and gently move your eyes up to the ceiling, then slowly down to the floor. Repeat this 3 times. Close your eyes again. Slowly and gently move your eyes to the left, then slowly to the right. Repeat 3 times

Focus Change

• Hold one finger a few inches away from the eye. Focus on the finger. Slowly move the finger away. Focus far into the distance and then back to the finger. Slowly bring the finger back to within a few inches of the eye. Focus on something more than 8 feet away. Repeat 3 times