Nutrient Density

Have you ever seen the movie Nacho Libre? Well there is a line in the movie where Nacho says that the eagle eggs didn't give him any nutrients. This reminded me of something I learned a while ago and relearned today... Nutrient Density! This means that you are measuring the nutrients provided in a food per kcalorie of that food, or in other words, how much nutritional value you are getting from the food you are eating.

1/2 cup of cooked broccoli is considered to have a high nutrient density because it is high in nutrients relative to its caloric value. In comparison a chocolate cupcake with frosting has many more calories and few nutrients making it a low nutrient density. These foods are sometimes referred to as empty calorie foods because they aren't providing you with the nutrients that you need.

Fruits and Veggies are going to have a high nutrient density whereas fast food and candy will have a low nutrient density. You can choose what you want to eat. I am not saying never to eat "junk food" again--I actually just put a dove dark chocolate in my mouth :)--I am just hoping that you become aware of what you put in your body.

Challenge: Write down everything that you eat for one day and go to choosemyplate.org and see how many empty calories you ate that day. Then figure out what you can improve on. Good luck!

Serving Sizes

I'm sure you have all heard the phrase "Two a day" meaning to make sure you have two servings of fruit each day, but what exactly is a serving? Here are some helpful tips when deciding what a serving is:

1 serving of grains can be:
*1 tortilla
*1/2 of a bagel or bun
*1 slice of bread
*1 cup of cereal
*1/2 cup of cooked rice or cereal
Try to make at least half of the grains you eat whole grains. They will help you stay fuller longer.

1 serving of fruits can be:
*1 medium sized fruit
*1 cup (8 oz) of 100% fruit juice

1 serving of vegetables can be:
*1 medium sized vegetable
*2 cups leafy greens
*1 cup of vegetables
*1 cup (8 oz) of 100% vegetable juice

1 serving of dairy can be:
*1 cup of milk
*1.5 oz of natural cheese
*2 oz of processed cheese

1 serving of protein can be:
*1 egg
*2 Tbsp of peanut butter
*1 oz of meat
*1 oz of almonds, seeds, or walnuts

Sometimes when you are in a hurry, it is hard to stop and measure so here are some easy ways to determine a serving size:

*1/2 cup= size of a tennis ball
*3 oz of meat= a stack of face cards
*1 cup= size of a baseball, size of you fist
*1 oz cheese= size of your thumb
*1-2 oz of snack foods (nuts, seeds, etc...)= Handful

Challenge: Eat the recommended servings for your calorie count. Measure everything out and pay attention to it. You will become familiar to measurements and will soon be able to measure everything out just by eyeballing it. If you have any questions about anything, just let me know! Good luck!