Hey there and Happy Friday! I am finally on VACATION and I couldn’t be happier! I was able to finish up a majority of my Christmas shopping today, and hope that everyone loves what Santa Janelle got them this year!
On Wednesday I had my last nutrition counseling session of the year. You can read about visit 1, visit 2, visit 3, visit 4, and visit 5 by checking out the links.
The good news is that my weight remains to be stable. I am still hovering around my goal of 130 pounds and that makes me VERY happy. Prior to seeing the dietitian, I was creeping up towards 140. So I would definitely say that changing my nutrition made a huge difference!
The food logging is always a struggle, but overall Danielle thinks I’m doing a pretty good job. I am keeping aware of the food groups I consume through the day and definitely getting plenty of protein sources, so I’m happy. I had one luncheon and 2 retirement parties to attend this week, so I knew there would be carbs galore! But I mostly behaved myself…except for those two slices of cake, oops!
[bctt tweet=”Learning about food labels and fats! #nutrition”]
Food Labels and Daily Values
We discussed food labels in detail. I thought I had a pretty good handle on them; serving sizes, calories, you know the deal. But there is a lot that I didn’t know!
Credit to http://nutritionexpert.com/blog/2012/02/understanding-food-labels/When it comes to % Daily Values,
- 5% or less of a nutrient is “low source”
- 10%-19% is a “good source”
- 20% or more of a nutrient is a “high source”
Who knew?! Luckily, the percentages on food labels work pretty well for me because I’m on a 1900 calorie diet plan. I will use these numbers as a guide moving forward.
What really blew my mind was learning about label claims. I had no idea that these claims have actual definitions that are regulated by the government. For example:
- Fat Free/Sugar Free: Less than 0.5 grams of fat/sugar
- Low Fat: 3 grams of fat or less
- Reduced Fat/Sugar: At least 25% less fat/sugar than the regular version
- Cholesterol Free: Less than 2 mg cholesterol and less than 2 grams of saturated fat
- Calorie Free: Less than 5 calories
- Low calorie: 40 calories or less
- Light/lite: 1/3 fewer calories or 50% less fat
- Sodium Free: Less than 5 mg sodium per serving
- Low sodium: 140 mg or less of sodium per serving
- Reduced/less sodium: at least 25% less sodium than the regular version
- Light in sodium: 50% less sodium than the regular version
So if you see a product in the stores claiming to be “low calorie” and it doesn’t fit the definition….beware! This was actually a pretty scary discovery to me. I thought by buying “light” or “reduced” products that I was doing the right thing, but that may not necessarily be true. Needless to say, I will be shopping much more carefully in the future!
Definition of Fats
We also discussed fats. Most of us probably know that saturated fats are “bad” and unsaturated fats are “good”, and LDL cholesterol is “bad” and HDL cholesterol is “good”. But we went a little deeper than that.
Saturated fats are found in animal sources such as beef and eggs and is solid at room temperature. It raises cholesterol levels and is associated with heart disease.
Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temp and found in most vegetable oils. Of the unsaturated fats, you have:
- Monounsaturated fats: found in canola, olive, safflower and peanut oil. Lowers LDL cholesterol and maintains HDL cholesterol.
- Polyunsaturated fats: found in corn, soybean, and sunflower oils, omega 3’s, nuts, seeds, and avocado. Lowers both LDL and HDL cholesterol.
The other fat I had no clue about, and those are Trans Fats. They are typically found in margarine or shortening and are similar in stability to saturated fats. According to my dietitian, trans fats may be worse than saturated fat as it lowers HDL (good) cholesterol and may increase insulin resistance. Yikes!
In Summary
So some takeaways that I had from this session:
- Watch out for those 20% daily values
- Just because it’s “reduced”, doesn’t mean it’s healthy
- Say NO to Trans Fats!
- If there are “hydrogenated oils” in the ingredients, stay away!
- As always, try to maintain a balance throughout the day
I’ll be spending time with my family pretty soon for the holidays, and I’m so looking forward to it. I think I’ve got about 2 more posts to make before the end of 2013! What a year!
Workouts
Monday 12/16: Ran 2.38 miles on the treadmill, followed by hip strengthening exercises.
Tuesday 12/17: Boot Camp Class. Tons of squats and reverse lunges as always, also did kick outs, 3 sets of 20 pushups, and the usual core stuff. By the end of the day, my left knee was feeling awful even after icing.
Wednesday 12/18: Rest. The knee was really killing me. I was seriously worried.
Thursday 12/19: Short 1.10 miles on the treadmill, followed by Boot Camp Class. We did these really tough sets with dumbbells going from pushup, squat, Arnolds, and back to pushups all over again. My knee felt much better, but I’m keeping an eye on it.
How do you handle reading food labels? And are you picky when it comes to consuming fats? How do you keep it all in control?
Great break down on the food labels. Like you I had no idea about the percentages on food labels. Thanks for explaining the definitions on the labels. Right now I simply look at the sodium content. I’m thinking I will be paying a heck of a lot more attention!
Thanks Crystal…I know, right?! It’s so important to be informed…we even looked at a “healthy peanut butter” and it was full of junk!
Wow! Such great information. It sounds like enlisting a dietitian is worth it. Something I’d love to do.
I’m fortunate to have 6 free sessions as part of my health insurance. If you have that kind of incentive, I’d highly recommend!
So great that you got help from a dietitian on your health insurance. It all sounds very helpful!
I buy very few things with complicated food labels any more — mostly I buy produce, poultry, fish, plain yogurt, and ingredients like flour and olive oil so I can make my own food and know exactly what went into it.
But, I’m still learning new things. I was shocked to discover that “juice concentrate” on a food label should be read as “sugar.” I was imagining the concentrate we buy in the frozen juice aisle that you can get without added sugar so it’s pretty healthy, for juice, and can be put in baked goods to add moisture and sweetness with less fat and sugar than other things. That’s cool at home. But it turns out that food manufacturers take juice and keep concentrating and stripping it until there’s nothing left but the sugars! But they put on the package “contains real fruit.” Even though nothing of the healthy part of the fruit remains in the product.
I’m also learning that the less ingredients in food, the better. It’s a huge adjustment though! I think I’m going to have to buckle down soon and seriously prepare my own meals.
Oh and juice is awful! I spend a lot of time reading labels when I buy cranberry or orange juice but they still probably have junk in there. Thanks for the tip, Joy!
My label reading at the moment is focused on “gluten free,” the rest IS very confusing!
Ooh…”gluten free” is definitely something I’d like to learn more about. I was happy to know that certain claims have real definitions, so we can at least try to make good decisions!
I love that you are getting so much out of your meetings! I think it’s really helpful for others to see how it would help them!
I hope so! I never thought it mattered to me because of my “fast metabolism”…but things can change quickly and for the long haul, you gotta take care of yourself!
Hope your knee calms down!
Thanks! They’re still feeling a little touchy.
I’ve always been curious about working with a dietitian. Thanks for sharing your information with us!
Great tips! I’m always amazed how little we’re taught about how to eat, how to think of food, proper nutrition for different metabolic types and goals, etc etc. I’ve learned SO much from other bloggers and books. (P.S. If you haven’t read it, “Crazy Sexy Diet” by Kris Carr changed my life.)