Food in many hospitals no better than fast food ?

First, it was our school cafeterias. Now it seems our hospitals aren't any better at offering healthy meals to our children either...at least in California (though I'd venture to guess that they aren't the only state guilty of harming, rather than helping, our children). I don't know about you, but this really shocks and angers me. And here's the real shocker: 

Only seven percent of hospital entrees are considered healthy, according to a new study published in Academic Pediatrics. 


Only. Seven. Percent. Really?!? Doesn't that make you crazy?


Here's what Dr. Lenard Lesser, primary investigator and a physician in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program in the Department of Family Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA has to say:

As health professionals, we understand the connection between healthy eating and good health, and our hospitals should be role models in this regard. Unfortunately, the food in many hospitals is no better – and in some cases worse – than what you would find in a fast food restaurant. (To read the full article, visit Newswise.) 

Does this surprise you and/or make you as angry as it does me? Go ahead and vent...


-Lisa Bakewell

Holiday Eating: Good Choices Equal Less Weight Gain

Small changes can make a really big difference in how many calories are consumed over the holidays. Holiday Eating by the Numbers; 

Good Choices Equal Less Weight has some great tips, such as:

•  Remove turkey skin to deduct 50 calories 

• Switch from whole milk in mashed potatoes to fat free or skim — or consider using new potatoes instead, which have less sugar

•  Enjoy one less piece of bread: cornbread is about 200 calories a piece, and each dinner roll will cost you 80 

• Opt for a fresh dessert instead of a baked one: a single slice of pumpkin pie is packed with about 350 calories and Southern pecan pie has more than 500 calories. A fresh fruit sorbet: only about 100 calories

Read the full article to learn more about how to avoid holiday weight gain.

TELL US, HOW DO YOU KEEP FROM GAINING WEIGHT OVER THE HOLIDAYS?

-Lisa Bakewell