Restaurant Eating Without the Bulge

By Katherine Tallmadge, M.A., R.D.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Restaurant Eating Without The Bulge
Italian Dining Without Adding a Notch To Your Belt
Pasta Dishes
Pasta Menu Recommendations
Salads and Sides
Salad, Sides and Appetizer Recommendations
Main Courses
Main Course Recommendations
Pizzas and Subs
Desserts
Dessert Recommendations
Wine

Restaurant Eating Without The Bulge

I love going out to restaurants. The whole ambiance is delightful. I enjoy the solicitude of the staff, watching the people, and simply taking a quiet hour or two to relax and enjoy good food. There are times when I go out and choose healthfully, and there are other times I enjoy a good splurge and overindulge, either choice is perfectly normal.

For me, eating out is a special occasion. For millions of Americans, however, it’s a way of life. I know more than a few people who eat out all three meals 5, 6, even 7 days a week. That’s when restaurant food could present problems if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Let’s face it, one reason that the dishes we get in restaurants are so delicious is that they’re swimming in richness, and chefs choose their ingredients and cooking methods for their effects on the palate, not for their health properties or low-calorie contents. An occasional splurge won’t do any lasting damage. Indulging – or, to be frank, overindulging – on a regular basis will add some serious weight if you aren’t careful.

If you eat out frequently, I recommend some basics. Before you go, or even decide on a restaurant, look at the restaurant’s website and menu so that you know what to expect and make a note of some of the courses you think would be tasty yet healthy. This way, you’re not so tempted by the sights and smells of the fattening foods you’ll inevitably be surrounded by once you get there.

Second, if you have read about the restaurant and chef, then you may have some idea of how heavy-handed the chef is with butter or other fattening ingredients; or whether the restaurant serves a sole diner a portion that could feed four. But if the place is new to you then look around you for clues. Take a walk to the rest rooms and look at the food on other diners’ plates. How big are the servings? Are the meats, veggies, pastas swimming in sauce? What do you smell? Don’t be afraid to ask the wait staff for help. Finally, it is ok to ask for a take-home bag if the serving size is too much.

Set some priorities. Suppose, for example, you’ve booked four meals out this week. You certainly won’t lose weight, and you may even gain weight, if you eat with abandon each time. What you can do, however, is decide in advance that one of those nights is going to be your “splurge night.” Order anything you want. Enjoy every bite. Savor each and every one of those special calories. On the other three nights, order more carefully. You’ll still enjoy the experience of dining out, but you won’t take in more calories than your poor body can handle. In my book, Diet Simple, I call this strategy “The 25 Percent Blowout.”

Some diet plans and nutrition fanatics forbid, or at least discourage, eating at restaurants and enjoying yourself with abandon at all. I cannot agree. My Diet Simple approach is designed to help you enjoy your meals – enjoy life, for that matter – feel satisfied, but maintain your health and a healthy weight. Eating out with friends or family is a wonderful experience. No eating plan has a chance to last if it’s not enjoyable. What I do advise is eating (and ordering) smart. By all means, enjoy your meals away from home – but take a few simple steps to keep the calories under control.

In my new column for Washingtonian.com, starting soon, I’m taking the guess-work out of restaurant dining to help you choose healthier, lighter meals – and not just settle for fish and vegetables (though this is sometimes the most delicious choice when made by a great chef). Each month, we’ll choose three similarly – themed restaurants at differing price scales. I will give you specific menu suggestions which will allow you to enjoy your restaurant experience without adding a notch to your belt!

To give you some perspective, the average woman should eat about 1,800 to 2000 calories daily to maintain her weight. The average man, about 2,200 to 2400. My menu recommendations are based on this assumption. But a person’s calorie needs can vary widely depending on his height, weight, age and degree of fitness and activity level. To find your individualized calorie needs for weight maintenance, weight loss or even weight gain, find the personalized formula in “Stoking Your Metabolism.”

Once you determine your days’ calorie needs, I find people feel best and avoid blood sugar and appetite highs and lows, with their accompanying cravings, when they eat 1/3 of their days’ calories in the morning, 1/3 mid-day and no more than 1/3 of their days’ calories in the evenings. So, for the gals, that means your meals should be no more than about 600 calories, but if you prefer to have more food at dinner – my recommendation would be 800 at the most for a dinner out. For the guys, meals are no more than 750 calories – or 900 max for dinner out. These rules aren’t carved in stone, but they’ll give you some context when I give you recommendations or you go to a restaurant’s website to view the calorie content of some of their offerings.

Italian dining without adding a notch to your belt… at high end “Tosca,” mid-range “DaMarco” and inexpensive “Olive Garden”

The beauty of traditional Italian cooking is its simplicity: Italians have a no-fuss approach to cooking so their extraordinary ingredients shine. A little olive oil, salt and pepper, maybe an herb or two,– and voila… a light, healthy masterpiece! But for this magic to happen, the freshness of the basic ingredients is vital. Italians (in Italy) have access to the most delicious produce, nuts, grains, olive oil, pasta, cheese, seafood in the world – because they still get it from their own backyards, the neighborhood farm or the fisherman nearby. This freshness and high quality is why simplicity works – no complex cooking styles or sauces necessary, which in turn, keeps calories down and health up, especially because serving sizes are still traditionally small.

But this is where real Italian cooking and most American Italian restaurants part ways. Most Americans expect a lot of food on the plate for their money. We call it “value.” But when restaurants are expected to serve such huge amounts of food for low prices, the quality of the ingredients suffer, fattier methods of cooking, and gooier sauces are used to compensate. This is one reason why Americans who regularly eat in restaurants are fatter, according to research. In fact, one study found if a person ate in a restaurant 12 times or more per month, they were eating 20% more calories… and that can pack on the pounds very quickly!

This is not to say it’s impossible to eat healthfully in an American Italian restaurant. You just have to go in with your eyes wide open! Of course, as in any restaurant, the no-brainer healthy selection is a salad-like appetizer, a simple seafood preparation, such as grilled fish, and fruit for dessert.

But when in Rome, we want to do what the Romans do – and that’s eat pasta! Drink wine! Linger over several courses of beautiful food…! More on the Mediterranean Diet…

I’ll be giving you many examples of delicious and light menu choices so take heart. You don’t need to be disappointed – just alert and careful… Italians do interesting things with vegetables and seafood. Mussels and clams cooked in broths, or raw bar style. The beef or seafood carpaccios are excellent light and tasty choices. And always check the side-dishes and appetizers. Small servings of pastas that involve vegetables and light sauces are tasty examples. Of course, if we ate more Italian-sized portions and preparations, we’d be fine. Italians in Italy eat lightly – small pasta portions, salads, vegetables, and simple grilled fish.

Pasta Dishes

This is where Tosca (http://www.toscadc.com) shines. There, you’ll find house-made pastas in the traditional Italian amount of “six to eight ounces per pasta dish,” (about one-and-a-half to two cups of cooked pasta) said Executive Chef, Massimo Fabbri.

Da Marco Ristorante (http://www.damarcorestaurant.com), on the other hand, fills their plates to capacity. “Every pasta dish contains at least three to four cups of cooked pasta,” said Chef Giuliana Fortini, the wife of owner Marco Fortini, who makes the fettuccini and the raviolis from scratch.

For comparison’s sake, cooked pasta is 200 calories per cup (two ounces dry), quite low in calories, that is if the portion is the smaller, traditional Italian size. Of course, that’s before the olive oil, meats, cheese or sauces are added (that’s the fattening part).

Keeping that in mind, a pasta dish at Da Marco with its three to four cups of pasta would start at 600 to 800 calories before any toppings are added. That means a whole pasta dish would be a meal for two people once it has its toppings, as owner Marco Fortini likes to be generous with his meats and cheeses and says he serves at least ¼ lb. with his dishes. One pasta dish at Da Marco would feed three people in Italy as a first course, and maybe four people, depending on the amount of meat, cheese, and sauce used in the dish. So, I recommend you share one pasta dish between three or four people if you would like additional courses, such as wine, salad, a main course or a dessert.

At Tosca, with the additional meats and sauces, I would consider a pasta dish an entire meal for one person, depending on the toppings, as it would be several hundred calories lighter than a Da Marco pasta dish, containing half the pasta. But, it would still be at least 400 calories, so if you’d like to have another course at Tosca, share your pasta dish with one or more people or, says Chef Fabbri, “ask for a half portion.”

At Olive Garden (http://www.olivegarden.com), based on the calorie and nutrient content of their dishes, which can be found on line, I believe the pasta dishes – calorie-wise, if not quality-wise – are comparable to the dishes at Da Marco, averaging 1,000 calories, based on the serving size information given me by Mr. and Mrs. (Chef) Fortini.

Pasta Menu Recommendations

I recommend sharing all of the pasta dishes or getting a half portion

Tosca

Pasta alla chitarra integrale con salsa di pomodoro e pomodorini ciliegia

Housemade whole wheat square spaghetti with tomato sauce and cherry tomatoes

Linguine ai frutti di mare e pomodoro leggermente piccante

Linguini with a seafood assortment in a lightly spicy tomato sauce

Raviolini ripieni di pomodoro biologico saltati all acqua di pomodoro

su salsina al pesto

Raviolini filled with organic tomato pulp, sauteed with tomato water

and served on a basil pesto sauce

Pappardelle alla carota biologica con ragu di coniglio locale e timo fresco

Carrot flavored pappardelle with a rabbit ragu in a white wine sauce and fresh thyme

Da Marco

Linguine or penne pasta
Pasta with homemade tomato sauce

Penne Caprese
Penne pasta with cubes of fresh mozzarella and tomatoes with a light touch of anchovy paste and balasamic vinegar

Gnocchi di patate
Housemade potato dumplings served in a pesto or tomato sauce

Linguine con le Vongole
Linguine pasta with clams in a tomato or white wine sauce

Linguine ai Gamberi
Linguine pasta with fresh shrimp in a white wine and garlic sauce (avoid the rose sauce which is made with butter and cream)

Fettuccine ai Funghi Porcini
Fresh housemade pasta with imported Porcini mushrooms, extra virgin olive oil and garlic

Olive Garden

Linguine alla Marinara

Children’s Menu Spaghetti & Tomato Sauce

Salads and Sides

In all of these restaurants, it’s tricky to have more than one course. Even the salads and appetizers can contain the calories of whole meals. For instance, the salads at Da Marco contain one quarter pound of cheese or meats, according to Fortini, which is the maximum recommended by health experts for an entire meal – and alone can contain 400 calories, or more. The cheese/nuts salads at Tosca, according to Chef Fabbri, provide two ounces of cheese and one ounce of nuts, also about 400 calories. With dressing, that will come to 500 + calories for a salad in both restaurants. So, if the salad contains cheese or meats, it is your main course. Add a glass of wine, and fruit for dessert and consider it dinner!

On the other hand, if you order the house salad, ¼ pasta portion in Da Marco or Olive Garden or ½ pasta portion in Tosca, you may be able to choose a light entrée and still have a glass of wine (woo hoo!).

Salads, Sides, and Appetizer Recommendations

Tosca

Insalata mista organica delle fattorie al condimento di aceto balsamico e olio novello

Organic mix greens salad with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil dressing

Capesanta arrosto su purea di fave, pancetta la quercia e salsa al tartufo nero

Roasted scallops with pureed fava beans, braised domestic Pancetta

and black truffle sauce

Zuppetta fredda di sedano con mortadella in due modi, e pistacchi Italiani

Chilled celery soup with Mortadella two ways and Italian pistachios

Sautéed cauliflower

Sautéed mushrooms

Warm spinach salad with pine nuts

Grilled asparagus “grandmother style”

Da Marco

House Salad:
Mixed greens in balsamic & extra virgin olive oil w/cucumber, tomatoes, onion

Bruschetta
Fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic on toasted Italian bread

Crostino
Black and green olive spread on toasted bread with a side of artichokes

Olive Garden

Chicken & Gnocchi (One serving)

Garden-Fresh Salad

Minestrone

Mussels di Napoli

Pasta e Fagioli

Zuppa Toscana

Main Courses

In all three restaurants, many of the main courses contain at least one half pound of meat, chicken or seafood. This is too much for most people to eat in one meal. Usually, the health recommendation is three to four ounces of protein per meal. But I can look the other way with 6 ounces if the seafood or meat is extremely lean, such as shellfish or a white fish. But, you’d be better off sharing the protein in most main courses, then ordering extra vegetables to round out the meal. Da Marco owner, Marco Fortini says his chicken and veal main courses contain about eight ounces of meat.

Tosca’s Branzino is about seven ounces, the pork tenderloin about 10 – 12 ounces and the Halibut about eight ounces, according to Chef Fabbri. Fabbri also stresses that only one tablespoon of sauce is used with the meats and fish, keeping calories down “otherwise it’s a soup!” he says he “just brushes the top for color.”

Some appetizers or salads make excellent main courses and contain just the right amount of protein for a healthy meal. This way, you can afford a salad, pasta, some wine, and maybe even dessert (YAY)!

Main Course Recommendations

Tosca

Branzino del Mediterraneo con zabaglione all’aceto balsamico

e spinaci ai pinoli ed uvette (recommend sharing)

Roasted Mediterranean sea bass with a balsamic vinegar sabajon

and sautéed spinach with pine nuts and raisins

Filetto di maiale in crosta di funghi selvatici, fagiolata marinata all’aglio novello, zucchini biologici e salsa al Marsala (recommend sharing)

Wild mushroom crusted pork tenderloin, bean salad marinated with spring garlic,

organic zucchini and Marsala wine sauce

Halibut arrosto in crosta di nocciole Piemontesi, baby granturco, fagiolini

e salsa al burro e limone (recommend sharing)

Pan roasted Halibut in a Piedmont hazelnut crust served with baby corn, green beans

and butter-lemon sauce

Duo di carpaccio di pesce alla Tosca

Tosca interpretation of artic char and tuna carpaccio

Insalata di astice con pomodori heriloom, cetrioli “diva”, pisellin e Bellavista

Lobster salad with heirloom tomatoes, diva cucumbers, english peas and Bellavista

Capesanta arrosto su purea di fave, pancetta la quercia e salsa al tartufo nero

Roasted scallops with pureed fava beans, braised domestic Pancetta

and black truffle sauce

Da Marco

Vitello Pizzaiola (recommend sharing)
Tender slices of veal sautéed with red wine topped with homemade tomato sauce with a side of linguine tomato sauce

Filetto di Pesce (recommend sharing)
Lighly fried tilapia with a side of housemade fettuccine in a lemon or tomato sauce

House Salad
Mixed greens in balsamic & extra virgin olive oil w/cucumber, tomatoes, onion with grilled chicken or shrimp

Olive Garden

Herb-Grilled Salmon

Venetian Apricot Chicken

Children’s Menu Grilled Chicken with pasta & broccoli

Children’s Menu Cheese Pizza

Children’s Menu Chicken Fingers with Broccoli

Pizzas and Subs

For the more casual Italian meal, you may prefer a pizza or submarine sandwich. My recommendation: Be Ready to Share!

The sub sandwiches in Da Marco are probably at least 1,000 calories each. The bread, when weighed by Chef Fortini, is 1/3 pound – that’s about 5 ounces. And with most plain breads being 70 to 80 calories per ounce that means the bread alone is 350 to 400 calories. Then they “fill the sub so it’s as full as possible, so for example one-third pound of meat is typical (another 250 calories – it it’s lean, to 500 calories – for cured, fatty Italian meats). Then we add oil (another 100+), vinegar, cheese (another 100+) and vegetables,” said Chef Fortini. “People usually eat a whole one.” Oops!

I have the same recommendation for the “individual” pizzas. Olive Garden’s starts at 910 calories. With meat toppings, add another 260 calories. Veggies only add 40 calories at the most. Da Marco’s pizza with a 14” thin crust probably starts at about 1,500 calories, plain.

My recommendation would be to have a salad and a portion of the pizza – “individual” or not!

Desserts

We all love sweets, but they tend to be calorie bombs. So, to treat myself, I occasionally (not too often) will eat a dessert for dinner. When I was growing up, one of my favorite dinners cooked by my Swedish mother was crepes with lingonberries and whipped cream. Yummy! Who wants to waste calories on the dinner when all you really want is the Tiramisu, the cappuccino mousse cake, or the warm cherry cobbler with vanilla ice cream? They’re usually just as many calories as the whole meal. Or, if you simply can’t go that deeply into debauchery, I recommend a very light, healthy dinner of, say, lobster tail and salad, or tuna carpaccio with greens or a light seafood soup … followed by the fattening dessert of your choice. Either way, you can have your cake and eat it too! But the following recommendations are exceptions and shouldn’t add a notch to your belt.

More on Sweets

Dessert Recommendations

Tosca

Granita al cocomero e melone

Watermelon and cantaloupe granita

Selection of 3 sorbets

Da Marco

Ooops… can’t find anything… except for those “calorie bombs” I discussed

Olive Garden

Berries & Zabaione

Children’s Menu Sundae

Wine

I’m a great believer in wine’s therapeutic value and almost never eat a meal in a great Italian restaurant without a glass. Wine is only 25 calories per ounce – a glass contains anywhere from 4 – 6 ounces. And, as long as we follow health recommendations: maximum 5 ounces daily for women and 10 ounces daily for men, I always encourage my clients to celebrate their meals with a good “salute!” And plenty of eau du Potomac is always at arms’ reach as well! (no bottled water, please, for the environment’s sake!)

More on Wine’s Benefits

The Protein Puzzle

The Washington Post
By Katherine Tallmadge

When I work with clients who are interested in losing weight I urge them to avoid falling into an easy, tempting but very unhealthy trap: making draconian cuts in their consumption of protein. Not all of us are on low-carb, high-protein diets. We love our soup and salad at lunch, and adding protein can mean adding calories.

Protein is essential for healthy living. It is one of the most important nutrients in the human body.

“Bone health, muscle function, muscle strength, muscle mass and immune function — all are impaired with a low protein intake,” says Carmen Castaneda, protein researcher and acting director of the Nutrition, Exercise Physiology and Sarcopenia Laboratory at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

But how much protein do we need, dieting or not?

I first became interested in this issue when I came across a study that found that people who ate the recommended dietary allowance of protein experienced alarming bone losses as compared with those who ate higher protein levels. This grabbed my attention. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) is a guideline for healthful eating that is set by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Science. The amount of protein it recommends depends on several factors, such as sex and age. But if the study found that people who were eating the recommended amount of protein were still losing bone mass, what could it mean for those of us who weren’t eating even the minimum requirement? Or for those of us who were trying to lose weight by cutting back on protein?

New research has found that a higher protein diet is essential to effective weight loss: it’s more likely to minimize muscle loss and maximize fat loss. Keeping muscle stores high is critical for several reasons.

“Losing muscle decreases resting metabolic rate, making it harder to maintain a healthy weight and lose body fat,” says William Evans, director of the Nutrition, Metabolism, and Exercise Laboratory at the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Protein is also essential for bone health. Should we risk bone loss tomorrow to lose pounds today?

Your bones, composed of protein, calcium and other minerals, are constantly in a state of flux and in need of replenishment to keep them strong and dense. Until age 30, you are building bone mass. After your early thirties, you’re losing it. It’s critical to maximize your bone mass, so that your bones are strong and dense enough to prevent osteoporosis. Osteoporosis leads to humped backs, broken bones and pain for its 10 million sufferers in the United States.

For many years, scientists have observed that protein undernutrition was associated with osteoporosis, frailty and bone fractures. But the relationship had never been fully understood until researchers decided to test the theory for the first time in a group of 855 participants from the Framingham Study (originally established in 1948). Researchers analyzed food intake and bone mass every other year for four years. Their findings, published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research in 2000, were dramatic.

The subjects eating the lowest protein diets lost the most bone mass — 4 percent in four years. People who ate the highest protein diets experienced the smallest losses — less than 1.5 percent in four years. Think about it: If you’re losing as much as 4 percent of your bone mass in four years, that means that one-fifth of your bone mass will be lost in 20 years. That is not a positive development.

And while these studies were conducted on older men and women (68-plus years old), Katherine Tucker, Associate Professor of Nutritional Epidemiology at Tufts University, says the data may be important to people of all ages.

“At younger ages, you need the protein to build the bone, and after age 30 you need the protein to protect the bone from being lost,” said Tucker. “Keeping bones is a life-long effort,” she said.

This study and others have shown that eating about 20 percent of your calories as protein protected bone mass most efficiently — but that’s more than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein, which is about 15 percent of calories.

Should the requirement be changed?

It’s been reported for years that high-protein diets result in high levels of calcium in the urine, and it’s been assumed that this would affect bone mass negatively and might produce kidney stones. But it appears, instead, to be a function of just how much protein is consumed and how balanced the diet is. The National Academy of Sciences, in a recent report, recommended Americans never exceed 35 percent of their calories as protein, as that may be when adverse symptoms begin to appear. Other researchers surmise that if protein is extremely high while carbohydrates are very low, this may be responsible for the negative consequences.

It may take years before this new research is confirmed by additional studies and in turn can result in changes in the offcial recommended protein levels.

In the meantime, it would not be harmful to increase protein intakes to 20 percent of calories, says NAS food and nutrition board protein panelist Peter Garlick.

“Even though the National Academy of Science’s Food and Nutrition board did not change the RDA for protein because we’re still waiting for more evidence to show that it’s necessary, these are safe and reasonable levels,” said Garlick.

In Pursuit of Protein

Although for most Americans the recommended dietary allowance of protein may be adequate, if you’re losing weight or are worried about bone loss, consider increasing your protein.

Protein can be found in a wide range of foods. Animal protein is in seafood, dairy, meat, poultry and eggs. Vegetarian protein can be found in legumes, soy, vegetables and grains. And while it’s true that high-protein foods often bring fat and calories along as uninvited guests, it doesn’t have to be that way.

The lowest-calorie animal protein sources are the leanest. Go for seafood, poultry with no skin, lean veal cuts, pork tenderloin, lean beef cuts such as the round or tenderloin or 95 percent lean hams (less than 3 grams of fat per ounce). Soy products also provide great low-calorie options.

Toss four ounces of lean beef, chicken or seafood or 12 ounces of spiced tofu into your salad and gain 28 grams of high-quality protein and no more than 150 to 200 calories.

HOW MUCH PROTEIN DO I NEED?

At present, the recommended dietary allowance for protein is computed using the following formula:

0.37 grams of protein per pound of body (this usually means people are eating about 15 percent of their calories as protein).

But some evidence suggests that to protect bones and muscle we can consume more, though the amount of protein should never be more than 35 percent of daily calories.

So, if you weigh 150 pounds, this means the minimum amount is:

150 pounds X 0.37 grams protein per pound = 55.5 grams of protein

But you could safely increase your protein intake:

150 pounds X 0.45 grams protein per pound = 67.5 grams of protein

150 pounds X 0.55 grams protein per pound = 82.5 grams of protein

So, the sample 150-pound active woman should get between 67.5 and 82.5 grams of protein per day

WHERE DO I GET PROTEIN?

8 ounces milk/yogurt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 grams protein

1/2 cup cooked beans/tofu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 grams protein

1 ounce meat/fish/chicken/cheese (the leaner the meat,

the more protein and the fewer calories). . . . . . . . . . . 7 grams protein

1 large egg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 grams protein

1/2 cup cooked or one ounce dry

(1 slice bread) grain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 grams protein

1/2 cup cooked or one cup raw vegetables . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 grams protein

— Katherine Tallmadge

Katherine discusses a healthy vegetarian diet with Chef Emeril Lagasse on Discovery Channel’s “Emeril Green.”

Vegetarianism is a lifestyle which many studies find promotes good health. However, it must be practiced with knowledge in how to get appropriate protein and nutrients.

There are mainly two types of vegetarians: vegans, those who eat only plants and lacto/ova vegetarians, those who will also consume animal by-products such as dairy and eggs. In order to get levels of the nine essential amino acids equal to the highest quality protein, vegans (those who eat only plant foods) must eat soy protein, the only vegetable protein as complete as animal protein, or mix beans and grains and receive Vitamin B-12 supplementation (only found in animal products). If not done carefully, vegans also risk low levels of calcium, vitamin D, and iron.

On the other hand, lacto-ova vegetarianscan receive complete proteins in the animal by-products (dairy and eggs) they consume, as well as by eating soy protein and mixing beans with grains each day.

You should eat a high quality protein at each meal. To determine your protein needs, read:

The Protein Puzzle

The American Dietetic Association has developed this “Daily Food Guide for Vegetarians”

Milk and Milk Alternatives Group: 6 to 8 servings daily

• 1/2 cup milk, yogurt, fortified soymilk
• 3/4 oz. natural cheese
• 1/2 to 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup calcium-set tofu
• 1 cup cooked dry beans (soy, white, navy, great northern, kidney)
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 3 Tbsp Sesame Tahini or Almond Butter
• 1 cup cooked or 2 cups raw bok choy, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, collards, kale, okra
• 1 Tbsp blackstrap molasses
• 5 Fig
  

Dry Beans, Nuts, Seeds, Eggs, and Meat Substitutes Group: 2 – 3 servings daily

• 1 cup cooked dry beans, lentils, or peas
• 2 cups soy milk
• 1/2 cup tofu or tempeh
• 2 ox. vegetarian “meats” or soy cheese
• 2 eggs or 4 egg whites
• 1/4 cup nuts or seeds
• 3 Tbsp nut or seed butters

Fruit Group: 2 – 4 servings daily

• 3/4 cup juice
• 1/4 cup dried fruit
• 1/2 cup chopped, raw fruit
• 1/2 cup canned fruit
• 1 medium size piece of fruit such as banana, apple or orangeVegetable Group: 3 – 5 servings daily
• 1/2 cup cooked or chopped raw vegetables
• 1 cup raw, leafy vegetables
• 3/4 cup vegetable juice

Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta Group: 6 – 11 servings daily

• 1 slice (1 ounce) bread
• 1/2 small bagel, bun or English Muffin (or 1 ounce)
• 1 ounce ready to eat cereal
• 2 Tbsp Wheat Germ
• 1/2 cup cooked (1 ounce dry) grains, cereal, rice or pastaSaturated Fats, sweets: use sparinglyOther essentials for those who consume little or no animal products:
• Vitamin B-12 fortified foods or a supplement
• Vitamin D-fortified foods or a supplement
• Omega-3 Fats: 1 to 2 daily servings; 1 tsp flaxseed oil, 3 Tbsp walnuts, 4 tsp canola oil

Congress Flunks on Healthy Living

By: Katherine Tallmadge

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard someone in Congress quote the Hippo­cratic oath during this year’s debate on health care reform — “First, do no harm” — I could retire early. What I have not heard quoted by anyone is an admonition almost as well-known and much more appropriate to the current debate: “Physician, heal thyself.”

As a nutrition and diet consultant in Washington who has worked with members of Congress and congressional staff over the past two decades, I have more than a passing knowledge of the people now making decisions that will affect the health of millions of Americans. And I can tell you they are about the last people in the world who can speak about what it takes to be in good health.

Congress’s lifestyle precludes balanced eating or regular physical activity. Lawmakers — and their staffs — work long, 10-to-14-hour days. They rarely see daylight. Walking to work a few blocks or eating a balanced breakfast is thought to be a waste of time. There are parking spaces to fill and a breakfast meeting with cheese Danishes and who needs exercise when you can have all the coffee you need to stay alert? Lunch breaks are frowned upon, and needing a good night’s sleep is a sign of weakness. Healthful eating and exercise smack of elitism (you didn’t mention arugula, did you?), and relaxation and time for family are for sissies. “It’s a very intense life. Long hours are expected, and your job is everything. You’ll make the sacrifices, including health, exercise, family,” says one of my clients, who worked as a staffer in the offices of one of the most prominent health care proponents (and yo-yo dieters) in Congress before finally deciding she had to quit. She described working on Capitol Hill as “a toxic combination of stress, long hours and unhealthy food.”

Another client broke up with her senator boyfriend because she couldn’t take the unhealthful lifestyle she was inevitably being dragged into. It was beginning to affect her health and weight and at the same time was negatively affecting their relationship.

“It was too painful to be a part of such an unhealthy life,” she explained. “His work was everything. He wasn’t finished at the office until late every night. By then he was ravenous, as he never fed himself proper meals during the day and would inhale huge steak dinners. He was becoming more and more overweight and was being warned by his doctor to shape up. I tried to get him to exercise with me, go walking, or just come home to have healthy meals. But nothing worked. He seemed to be stuck in this unhealthy lifestyle and couldn’t give it up.”

Junk food is pervasive on Capitol Hill. It’s found in abundance — from the candies, cookies and snacks given by lobbyists on everyone’s desks, to the vending machines in office hallways, to the well-stocked candy desk that has been on the Senate floor for 40 years. Who needs balanced meals? Members and staffers regularly grab free food at the continual receptions down the hall or across the street. They live on canapés, cheese and crackers, prime rib, chocolate mousse. Their waistlines expand, but they just buy new clothes, and besides, nobody notices or mentions the result. We’re doing important work here!

The few members inclined to be healthy have access to a House or Senate gym with showers and cut-up fresh fruit. If they need to stay late at work, a cafeteria with a whole crew must, by law, stay to feed them (subsidized by taxpayers). If they travel beyond this tiny and exclusive universe, they are driven, flown and “handled.” And if, heaven forbid, members fall ill, they have access to the best medical care and health insurance in the country. There are even medical offices in the Capitol where members and staffers have access to doctors or nurses as needed at no cost to them. Of course, they work hard and deserve this kind of care. But who doesn’t?

With the limos and the staff and the constant schedule of business breakfasts, lunches and dinners, members of Congress don’t really live like other people. Except in a sense, they do. Their bad habits are an exaggerated version of the things their constituents do, making them overweight and out of shape and ultimately a huge burden to all of us who have to spend money on health care.

Let’s hope that lawmakers can somehow get past their own disregard of good health and make the right choices for the rest of us. We need a system that keeps people healthy, one that actually prevents the most serious and costly chronic diseases, most of which are caused by poor eating choices, a sedentary lifestyle and/or excess body fat. As Congress works hard to reform health care, there is a temptation to simply upgrade the current very expensive system instead of developing an actual health promotion system.

Sound too simple? Well, it isn’t! In my personalized nutrition practice, by teaching people healthful habits of eating and physical activity, I see “miracles” every day. My clients — and others who are lucky enough to work with health care professionals such as me — get taken off diabetes drugs, blood pressure drugs, cholesterol drugs, arthritis pain medications and antidepressants. Studies show that people who improve their eating and activity habits and achieve their ideal body weight report an improved quality of life, level of energy, mobility, general mood and self-confidence. They experience improvements in their physical health and interactions with others.

We either ignore or simply pay lip service to the importance of prevention, perhaps because our “health care system” has no incentives for disease prevention. Who profits when people are healthier? Certainly, Big Pharma, insurance companies, hospitals and junk food manufacturers would lose their obesity cash flow bonanza of the past decades.

Some proposals that will start making a difference are no-brainers and won’t cost taxpayers: labeling calorie content on restaurant menus, getting vending machines with sodas and junk foods out of schools and getting rid of junk food ads and violent video games and television for underage children. We should teach respect for personal health in schools — nutrition, physical activity, cooking and stress management — for students and their parents. After-school physical activity and healthful snack programs should be available for children who live in poor homes or unsafe neighborhoods. Nutrition and weight loss counseling by qualified dietetics professionals should be reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies.

So why aren’t we doing any of this? One reason may be that the people who make the laws don’t understand the need to take care of oneself and adopt prevention. And they don’t understand it, because very few of them actually practice it.

There are exceptions, of course. Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) starts every morning running or cross-training in the House gym. And his personal experience has shaped the kind of remedies he sees as necessary. Kind proposes giving tax credits for going to gyms and supports legislation that would require schools to inform parents of their children’s participation in physical education programs. “It’s very easy to lose touch with what most people have to do — even if you’re conscientious,” says Kind.

My plan for health care reform, then, is to start at the beginning, with the people debating, writing and ultimately enacting health care legislation. President Obama is a pretty good role model — assuming he cuts back on those hamburgers he seems to like so much and finally quits smoking. Now it’s time for Congress to follow his lead. Members of Congress and political leaders need to understand what leads to good health — and practice it. Then they’ll be in a position to tell the rest of the country what to do.

Katherine Tallmadge, president of Personalized Nutrition, is a counselor, author (“Diet Simple,” 2004) and speaker and has designed nutrition, wellness and weight loss programs for individuals, government and corporations for more than 20 years.

© 2009 Capitol News Company, LLC

Blizzard Bloat

Watch out for Winter Weight Gain

Have you noticed your weight creeping up this winter? Are you experiencing more cravings than usual, especially for heartier, more fattening foods? Well, take heart. You’re not the only one experiencing “blizzard bloat,” the creeping up of body fat hitting a large number of people during the winter months.

In the animal kingdom, fattening up in winter is critical for survival. Animals overeat to store enough excess fat to survive until spring. The human animal has a similar natural instinct, probably leftover from the days when food was scarce in winter and shivering in the cold caused us to burn our fat stores too quickly, leaving us too thin to survive (aaaah, those were the days!). But now, with temperature control, improved agricultural techniques and a cupcake shop on every corner, that leftover but highly frivolous instinct just causes trouble. We humans fatten up just for the fun of it!

Though these old instincts are plausible as a cause of winter weight gain, there are more complex—and controllable—causes too. The most important probably involve decreases in both sunlight, and its negative side-effects, and physical activity. Together, they can contribute to enough of a calorie imbalance to cause weight gain. Here’s how.

Sunlight. Some people are particularly susceptible to light deprivation, caused by the decrease in daylight hours during the winter. This affects the neurochemical serotonin, responsible for your mood and appetite, prompting increased food cravings and weight gain.

Physical Activity. When it’s cold outside, we’re less physically active and cut back on subtle calorie-burning activities such as short walks and light outdoor chores. These caloric expenditures may only add up to about 100 calories per day, but this translates into a 3-4 pound weight gain during the winter months.

What should you do to both improve your mood and curb your cravings?

Increase your exposure to sunlight. Bundle up and go outside to reverse the symptoms of light deprivation. You’ll feel refreshed and less bored, and your appetite may be more controllable. The amount of needed daylight varies for each individual. In general, the more the better. One hour daily in the morning, ideally at sunrise, is most helpful. If you’re not an early bird, several hours on the weekends may help make up for a lack of sun during the week. Also, try taking little walks outdoors at lunchtime or any time you can get a break during daylight hours.

Increase your activity level, even just a little. During just one exercise bout, your brain releases feel-good chemicals, called endorphins into your body. These chemicals reduce pain, increase feelings of well-being and elevate your mood. If you’re regularly active, these benefits multiply. A brisk 30-minute walk just three times a week relieves major depression just as effectively as an antidepressant in most adults, according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Wear a pedometer to keep track of your activity level and to motivate you to get more (I recommend the “Omron HJ 112”).

• Increase your intake of a colorful array of fruits and vegetables. These low-cal but filling carbohydrates increase seratonin production, helping to regulate mood and appetite. They also help you feel more satisfied for fewer calories, and research shows adding them to a meal could save at least 100 calories (translating to 4 or 5 pounds during the colder months).

Some Tips:

• To lower the calories and increase the portion size of a favorite recipe, pump up the volume by adding vegetables as often as you can. This way, you can eat your usual portion for fewer calories.
• Choose fresh fruits over dried fruits or juices. For 100 calories, you could eat 1/4 cup of raisins or two cups of grapes. (You’re more likely to fill up on the grapes.)
• Start lunch or dinner with a bowl of broth-based vegetable soup or a big vegetable salad with low-calorie dressing.**
• Turn main courses into soups or salads by adding broth or vegetables.
• Try the following recipes

Goody’s Savory Vegetable Soup

Nora Pouillon’s Ratatouille

How Variety Effects What – and How Much – Food You Eat

Scenario one:You’re at a party and there is one type of cookie offered – chocolate chip with walnuts. How many will you have? One? Two? Three? You’re at another party and there are eight types of cookies. How many will you have? One of each? More?

Scenario two: For your snack, you have a choice of eating apples OR a fruit salad filled with a variety of fruits like tart berries, mangoes, pineapple, sliced sweet bananas, crunchy apples and nuts. Will you eat more of the apple or the fruit salad?

A client of mine recently attended a dinner party with the clear intention of just nibbling on a few things. But by the time her evening was over, she was stuffed, what she ate seemed a blur, and the food lingered in her stomach like a rock. Her plan that evening was to eat conservatively: to taste just one of each passed hors d’oeuvre before she sat down to dinner. What she hadn’t counted on was “one of each” turned out to be five fattening little hors d’oeuvres, and that was before sitting down to a four course meal! Her experience is not unusual.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that my clients who attend a lot of receptions, parties, and restaurants have more trouble losing weight than their eat-at-home counterparts. I always assumed the problem was the fattening nature of the food or the large portions you’re more likely to get while out.

And while these may indeed be important issues, new research is indicating that the single most important factor causing excessive caloric intake may instead be: too much variety.

Variety? I’ve always been taught that variety was the spice of life – a good thing. My advice has always been that eating a variety of foods is the basis of good nutrition, and that’s been the mantra of nutrition experts through the centuries.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if one of the very things we Americans hold dear – variety and freedom of choice among the most diverse and expansive food supplies in the world – is the very thing making us fat?

The urge for dietary variety is important for health and was helpful during evolution. People who ate different types of food each day were – and are – more likely to obtain all the essential nutrients. Infants embrace variety and when presented with a large array of different healthful foods will naturally select a well-balanced diet, according to a classic study from the early 1900’s. But today, because of the wide array of unhealthy, fattening food available, our attraction to dietary variety may be getting us into trouble. The scientific evidence has been building for decades.

Animals eat more when given variety, according to several studies conducted over the past forty years. When rats are switched from regular rat chow to a variety of choices, they eat more calories, causing weight gain

Studies confirm that humans don’t react any differently than rats. More is eaten during a meal containing a variety of foods, than during a meal with just one food, even if that one food is a favorite, concluded a classic study published two decades ago in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

This study found that when people were offered different shapes or flavors, they ate more. When subjects were offered more than one shape of pasta in a bowl, for instance, they ate more than when there was just one shape in the bowl. Apparently, as you’re eating the same food, the pleasure of its taste and appearance decreases, while a different food still remains attractive. This, concluded the study, promotes consumption of a varied diet.

At the time, researchers weren’t as concerned about overconsumption and didn’t know if the effect would last over time or cause weight gain. But, given the recent concern over Americans’ expanding waistlines, the concept was recently tested. Two studies, published in 1999 and 2003 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that when people are exposed to more dietary variety and restaurants (where there is more variety by definition) over six months, overall calorie intake and body fatness increases. Interestingly, people react the same way in cultures as diverse as American and Chinese.

“Variety has an enormous passive effect on calorie intake,” says Susan B. Roberts, the study’s co-author and professor of nutrition at the Tufts University Medical School. “The higher the variety of items you are confronted with, the more most people consume without even realizing it.”

My client’s dinner experience was the perfect illustration of the concept. She ate more, simply because there was more variety. Even if she became satisfied with one course and didn’t finish it, a new flavor from the next course created excitement. Had there been fewer courses or only one type of hors d’oeuvre, she would have eaten less – and been satisfied. But because there were five types of hors d’oeuvres, she ate five! (though she was tempted to eat more of one or two, which she liked more than the others)

Today’s variety is overwhelming and usually involves an array of high fat and calorie options, which the studies showed increased body fatness. (though, vegetable variety increased leanness, but we too rarely benefit from this fact)

“Variety creates torture,” says Barry Schwartz, professor of psychology at Swarthmore College and author of “The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less” (Harper Collins, 2005). “At a buffet, people may choose everything for fear that if they only choose some things, they’ll regret their choice. Of course, taking everything guarantees you’re going to take too much.”

Schwartz and Roberts both agreed that this urge is so innate that limiting choices is the only solution to overeating and weight problems. This may be why rigid diets seem to work well – at least temporarily – no matter what type they are, or why going to a spa where choices are limited, is such a relief for some people. Roberts suggested an even more extreme measure.

“If I could move everyone in America to Senegal, an agricultural community, everyone would be thin!” says Roberts.

But minus the ability to eat by rigid, depriving – and often unhealthy – dietary rules indefinitely, luxuriate at a spa, or move to Africa, what’s a person to do?

* Serve a variety of fruits and vegetables to your family and guests, and they’ll eat more healthy foods, without being the wiser,

* Reduce the variety of fattening appetizers, side dishes, and desserts, no one will notice,

* Control the food in your environment, since you’ll tend to eat whatever is accessible. Make sure a variety of fruits, vegetables and healthy foods are more easily available,

* Eat as much variety of flavors, textures, colors and shapes at each meal – within your calorie allotment – to feel the most satisfaction with the meal,

* Before going to a restaurant, review the menu (ie, online) and make your choice ahead of time so that you’re not tempted by the fattening array of choices once you’re there,

* Always grocery shop with a list, so the variety of fattening food doesn’t suck you in.