no eggxaggerations

Eggs are an interesting concept.  When you think about what they are, they seem like a strange thing to consume.  The nutrient content is also intriguing.  Let's take a look at the breakdown of nutrients in one large egg, white, and yolk:  

	Large Egg	Egg White	Egg Yolk
Calories (kcals)	70	16	54
Protein (g)	6.3	3.6	2.7
Carbohydrate (g)	0.85	0.24	0.61
Fat (g)	4.8	0.3	4.5
Cholesterol (mg)	185	0	185
Vitamin A (IU)	245	0	245
Vitamin D (IU)	37	0	37
Vitamin B12 (mcg)	0.36	0.03	0.33
Folate (mcg)	24	1	23
Sodium (mg)	63	55	8
Potassium (mg)	73	54	19
(info from USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference)

As you can see, most of the fat, and ALL of the cholesterol is in the yolk.  But so are all of the fat-soluble vitamins (makes sense for fat-soluble vitamins to be found in fat).  The USDA recommends that you limit your cholesterol intake to 300 mg daily, so if eggs were your only source of cholesterol, it would be totally fine if you ate one whole egg each day (and as many egg whites as you want!)  But if you are also eating butter, steak, bacon, etc etc then you're probably exceeding your cholesterol limit without the eggs.  -But- eggs are more nutrient-dense than butter, bacon, etc, so they should be chosen more often.

Eggs do have some eggcellent qualities:

• The are versatile:  can be fried, scrambled, boiled, poached, made into omelets, the list eggxtends on and on..
• Ineggxpensive! (I can see you rolling your eyes, so I'll stop the egg jokes)
• They are a good source of protein, which is important in building and maintaining muscle mass, and repairing tissue (and lots of other stuff...details on another post)
• Long-lasting:  they can be stored and maintain good quality for several weeks (when refrigerated)
• They contain choline, which is an important component of the cell membranes in your brain.
• They contain lutein, which has been linked with the prevention of macular degeneration.  

Bottom line: eggs are/can be part of a nutrient-dense, balanced eating pattern, just don't over-do it on the yolks, folks.  

Hungry Hippo

One of my patients had a very poor appetite upon admission, and I was concerned she would lose weight and decline, so I recommended an appetite stimulant.  The drug clearly worked because before long the patient started eating great and saying "I'm a hungry hippo!!!" all the time.


You are born with an innate sense of how much you need to eat, and you follow those hunger and satiety cues to promote your growth and development.  But at some point in your early years you begin to respond to external cues to eat rather than your internal hunger and satiety cues.


Some of the external cues may include:  emotions brought upon by environmental factors, celebration, boredom, habit, food looks/smells good, or need for comfort or consistency in a world of variables.  Responding to these external cues creates a situation where internal cues are first ignored then eliminated.


Your objective for the next few days or weeks or however long it takes is to be re-introduce the internal cues of hunger and satiety into your life.  ("Hello, Hunger...Hello Satiety, it's a pleasure to meet you again.")  If you never let yourself know hunger, you will never know satiety.  Here are some guidelines for making the adjustment to responding to internal cues:

• Plan on eating three meals daily and not snacking.  Space your meals evenly throughout the day so by the time you get to your next meal you are hungry again.  
• Do not skip meals, doing this produces ravenousness instead of hunger and will likely result in over-consumption of Calories.  
• Slow down your eating pace--pay close attention to the fact you are eating.  Let your meal be a multi-sensory experience.  
• If you're satisfied before your food is gone, go ahead and stop eating.  If you are still hungry when your meal is gone, eat something else.  Each meal should satisfy you--you should not feel restricted or hungry at the end or any meal.  

You may still be trying to establish a healthy relationship with food (avoiding labeling foods "good" and "bad," etc..see previous post), so don't worry as much about *what* you eat as achieving the feelings of hunger and satiety.  The "what" will come later.  At this point, if you focus on what you eat, you will begin to think you are dieting, which is what I'd like for you to avoid.  

Good luck, have fun, feel hungry, feel satisfied, and enjoy your meals!! :-)

Food Labels

Before eating a high-Calorie, high-fat, high-sugar food, do you ever think, "I shouldn't be eating this, but [insert justification to make yourself feel better]," or do you ever come out of a weekend saying "I ate nothing but junk/bad food all weekend?" 


There are a few ways to eat junk.  One is to go to your trash can, get something out of it, and consume it.  Another is not gonna be discussed.  To eat "bad" food, take a piece of food, put it in a warm, moist environment, and let it sit there for days or even weeks.  Be sure there is discoloration, particularly blue/white/grey, maybe some fuzz.  Then eat it.  You'll be eating bad food.


Perfectly good kcal-containing, unspoiled food should not be referred to as "junk" or "bad" food--it hurts food's feelings to be labeled like that!  And it will result in you feeling guilty about something you should be thoroughly enjoying.  When guilt is introduced to your meal or snack, it damages your relationship with food.


All food has some sort of function.  Some foods just provide Calories (or energy).  Some contribute vitamins, minerals, fiber, etc.  No specific food will "make you fat."  An excess of Calories will make you fat.  


If you must label your food, classify it according to nutrient vs energy density.  The more vitamins/minerals/fiber the food has, the more nutrient dense it is.  The more Calories it has, the more energy dense.  Some foods are both nutrient and energy dense, like dried fruit, nuts, and avocados.  Some foods are only energy dense, like most things you formerly referred to as "bad" or "junk."  If you are trying to lose weight, it is in your best interest to choose more nutrient dense foods and less energy dense foods.  But don't feel guilty about enjoying a treat!!!  


You will be much more successful in your efforts to achieve the health you want if you:

• Stop labeling food "good" and "bad"
• Stop feeling guilty about occasionally eating energy-dense food
• And start enjoying all food you eat

So go eat a cookie and like it.

Intro

 Every  day, all sorts of different people ask me to "create a diet" for them.  Sometimes it's patients, sometimes friends, or family members.  They usually want some sort of menu.  They want a program.  They want to start tomorrow, or Monday, or at the beginning of next month or next year, and they want to lose 10 pounds, or 50 pounds, or they want a flatter stomach or stronger legs.  They are gearing up for summer, or an anniversary, or a wedding, or whatever.  Or maybe their doctor said losing 20 pounds would help with another condition. 

This asking for help is totally commendable.  It means they realize they need to make a change and are making preparations to do so.  But how you go about making a change is what will make the difference between success and failure.  In this blog I will give you tips on how to change your habits to achieve what you want to achieve in yourself, and make this achievement maintainable.  The tips will be based on the following three concepts:

1. Establishing a normal relationship with food
2. Finding a balance between aesthetics and nutrition in your meal choices
3. Creating habits that form a health-promoting lifestyle

Stay Tuned :-)

Meredith, RD