Lovin’ Those Left Overs

I stopped in at a fast-food restaurant for lunch today, as I often do, and ordered something off the menu. I won’t tell you what it was, but I will say this… it wasn’t a salad. (I don’t believe in counting calories, I believe in portion control.)

As I waited for my order to be prepared, I took a look at a rack which had brochures containing nutrition information for everything the restaurant sold. There was also a placard giving ten tips on how to lose weight.

Nine of the ten tips given were fine, but one tip enraged me. “Always try to leave a bit of food on your plate.”

Never!

My sister was guilty of this. She, her husband, and their four-year old son lived with us for a month while they were searching for their own place (having just returned from life overseas.) Although the boy consistently showed that he didn’t have much of an appetite, either my sister or her husband consistently gave him a plate with an adult-sized portion of food, encouraging him to eat it, but saying, “If you leave a bit, that’s okay.”

And he always left about two-thirds of the food on his plate. Yet the next night, he’d get the same amount of food.

All this did, in my opinion, was to encourage the kid that wasting food was okay.

My point is…. don’t waste food. There is nothing to be proud of in leaving a third or a fourth of your meal on your plate to be thrown away. (The exception, of course, is if you don’t throw it away, but rather wrap it up in foil and have it for breakfast or lunch the next day. In that case, the practice is fine!)

American restaurants, for the most part, are guilty of giving their patrons very large servings of food. I’m not talking about fast food restaurants, but sit-down restaurants where you typically get an entree and three “sides.” (How long this will go on is problematical, as the government will undoubtedly soon be legislating the size of the servings restaurants are allowed to serve.)

There is a simple solution… instead of forcing yourself to eat all the food given you, and instead of wasting it by throwing it away, simply ask for a doggie bag, take it home, and have it for lunch the next day. I do this all the time, and frankly, no matter how good the food was the night before, it always seems to taste better the next day!

Now I’m sure many of you do that already, but many more don’t…whether because they’re embarrassed to ask for a doggie bag or what have you. Well, don’t be embarrassed. Think of it as getting your money’s worth, which is needed now more than ever, in these tough economic times.

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If you enjoy eating ethnic food such as Chinese, then you need to know that you can eat healthy Chinese food as well. Many individuals that have ever tried Chinese food have found out exactly how tasty it can be, but they also know how unhealthy it can be. Oftentimes, if you select the right type of Chinese foods to eat, then you will not have to worry about gaining any unwanted pounds.

The first step with selecting the right kind of Chinese food is to learn the lingo. Chinese dishes will often have funny names such as Jum, Chu, Shu, and Kow. It will be helpful if you learn what these words mean, prior to ordering your next Chinese dish. Obviously, anything that has been steamed will be good for you, but where do you go from there?

If you see the word “Jum” in the name of a dish, then you will now know that the dish has been poached. The word “Chu” means the dish has been broiled, while the word “Kow” means the dish has been roasted. The word “Shu” simply means that the dish has been barbecued. Any dish that has been either, lightly or dry stir fried will be great for you. Any dish that has been braised is also good for you. However, on the other hand any dish that is breaded, fried, or even coated in flour would be a dish that you would want to avoid at all means.

The Chinese eat with chopsticks for a reason; this helps them eat a lot less oil. You could probably give this a try, and see if it works for you.

As far as those famous Chinese sauces goes, you need to know that they are loaded with corn syrup, sugar, flour, and cornstarch. Two very popular Chinese dishes that you should avoid are General Tso’s Chicken or Pork and Sweet and Sour Chicken or Pork. Although these dishes taste great, there are ways to order them so that they will be healthier for you.

The majority of Chinese restaurants will offer their patrons hot mustard sauce, oyster sauce and Hosin sauce, which are much better for you. However, please note that you can always order your dish so that it has only half the sauce, this ensures that you get half the calories!

You should really avoid any unnecessary sides such as those delicious crispy noodles. These noodles get their dark coloring because they are soaked in oil, which can cause them to have thousands of unwanted calories.

Whether you want to lose weight or just stay in good physical and mental shape, exercise is good for you. Many people feel that they have to join a gym to get the benefits of exercise, or they have to take up some sport such as running. This is not true. There are a number of ways that you can exercise at home, even without buying gym equipment.

Old fashioned exercises still work well to maintain a toned body. Sit ups, deep knee bends, push ups and leg lifts can all be done in the privacy of your own home and can help you stay toned. Years ago, before gyms and exercise equipment made the scene, people who wanted to stay in shape performed these type of exercises. They also practiced deep breathing and relaxation techniques before going to bed. These old fashioned exercises were nothing fancy, but they actually worked to keep someone in shape.

To practice sit ups, lay on the floor on your back and pull your knees close to you. Crunch up with your body to a sitting position, concentrating on the abdominal muscles. Do as many of these crunch like sit ups as you can. These are low impact for your back and will work just as well as old fashioned sit ups that you performed in gym class.

Leg lifts can be done laying on your side. Concentrate on the muscles that you are exercising as you lift your legs towards the ceiling. You will start to feel the impact of leg lifts as far as muscle tone right away.

Another old fashioned exercise is jumping jacks. These are good way to start the day, before your shower, as they get your heart pumping and give your metabolism the boost that it needs. You can do these right in your bedroom without having to go to a gym or even put on gym clothes.

If you want to stay in shape, joining a gym or buying equipment is a good step. But you can still get in shape by using old fashioned exercises that you can do right in the privacy of your own home.

By Joe Wilkes

True or False?

1. Turkey – False: Young tom turkeys have tenderer meat than older birds. Actually, the older tom turkeys are tenderer than the young toms, which tend to be more muscular and stringy. However, it is the opposite with hen turkeys. The older hens tend to be far tougher birds. So young hens and old toms are the way to go, something my more seasoned friend Tom has long averred.
2. True: Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird instead of the eagle. Franklin thought the eagle was an ignoble, cowardly bird and was more favorably inclined toward the turkey. In his own words, in a letter to his daughter:

   For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him. With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country . . . I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America . . . He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.

3. King Henry VIII – False: The turkey was domesticated in Canada. The turkey was domesticated in Mexico and Central America by the Incans as early as 200 BC. It was brought to Europe in the 16th century. Henry VIII was the first king of England to eat turkey, and he is often portrayed in his portly years with a turkey leg clenched in his fist. Edward VII popularized the eating of turkey at Christmas, a tradition which 90 percent of modern-day Brits enjoy today, roughly the same percentage as Americans who eat turkey for Thanksgiving.
4. True: Forty-five million turkeys are eaten in the U.S. on Thanksgiving. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they are “begun to be eaten.” About a sixth of the American turkey population is ingested the fourth Thursday in November every year. Turkey has steadily risen in popularity, as it is higher in protein than chicken or beef and lower in fat. The average American now eats around 17 pounds of turkey a year.
5. Stove – False: The temperature of a cooked turkey thigh should be 140 degrees. Only if you’re serving Turkey a la Salmonella! The temperature of the deepest part of the thigh should be 180 degrees for safe eating. However, I recommend cutting off the breast meat a little earlier. Because of the size of the bird and its low fat content, the breast is often overcooked and dry before the thighs are cooked through. It’s not as glamorous a presentation as tableside carving, but you’ll get juicier results if you cut the breast meat off first and let the rest of the bird cook through a bit longer on its own.

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Self-talk and internal dialogue can determine the effectiveness of our fitness routine, according to top psychologists.

When it comes to exercise and losing weight, the majority of people do not realize how big a role their attitude can play. By having a negative attitude, there is every chance that your fitness program will fail. By taking two key steps in changing their attitudes, people can get back on track to achieving their health and fitness goals.

The first step is to recognize how your negative thoughts are affecting your exercise plan. Once this has been achieved, it is then a case of challenging this negative thinking, and replacing it with a positive mental approach.

It is crucial to remember that a thought it essentially just that – a thought. It is not reality. If you think you are going to fail, then there is every chance you will fail. In the same way, if you think you are not going to enjoy a particular exercise, then you probably will not enjoy it. The key in this example would be to find a type of exercise which you find more tolerable – if you hate running, try swimming. If you hate swimming, try cycling. The same process applies to food. If you think you are hungry, then you will likely eat something. By making changes in our thoughts we can make changes in our behavior.

Mastering the required skills to achieve a beneficial exercise plan is not easy, but will come with time and will give you a great sense of achievement when it does arrive. If you stick to an exercise routine for a few months, it will no longer become a chore, but part of your lifestyle. Twenty years ago we never had mobile phones. Nowadays, we find it hard to imagine life without them. Imagine how it would be if you could do the same with exercise, making it so that you cannot imagine your life without it. By making the same changeover when it comes to exercise, it will become part of your daily routine.

Here are some examples of how you can change a thought from negative to positive:

Negative thought: I cannot find 30 minutes a day to exercise

Positive thought: I could probably walk the 15 minutes to work, and 15 back, rather than taking the car.

Negative thought: I’ll never be able to lose 20 pounds – it is too much weight.

Positive thought: If I can lose one pound a week for the next 20 weeks, I will have lost 20 pounds.

By making changes such as these in your thought process, you will be will on the way to achieving a successful and beneficial exercise routine. And the great part about it all is that as time goes by and you start to see results from your exercise plan, you will want to continue and see even better results.