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Post Workout Nutrition & Why It’s Important!

October 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

One important and often overlooked aspects of eating healthy is timing.  Eating healthy is one thing, but eating healthy at the right times is taking it to a whole new level! Of course, every knows about eating a big healthy breakfast first thing in the morning to kick-start your metabolism.  However, do you know what type of fuel your body needs after working out? Take your fitness to the next level with these tips:

Workout: Heavy Weight Lifting

Goal: Feed your muscles with fast-digesting protein & carbs, allowing for damaged tissue to rebuild itself as quickly as possible.

Suggestion: Have a post-workout shake of 1 serving whey protein, 1 frozen banana, 1/4 cup frozen berries, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1/2 cup quaker oatmeal, & whatever amount of skim milk brings the shake to the right consistency.

Workout: Long distance run

Goal: High-fiber foods to help you feel satiated.

Suggestion: eat a whole wheat bagel, some dried figs, or a hard-boiled egg.

Of course, I need not mention the importance of water consumption post-workout to make up for fluids lost.  Chug that water, baby! Anybody have some other suggestions for post-workout snacks?

Filed Under: Health & Nutrition Tagged With: , , , , ,

Eating Healthy is Easier and More Affordable Than Ever!

September 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Remember that old excuse we used to have about eating poorly? You know, the one where we claim it’s “too expensive” to buy the healthy stuff? Well, that excuse is going out the window because the price of healthy snacks & beverages are finally starting to compete with their junk food counterparts. This means it should be easier for us to make smarter snacking decisions, without money being a deal-breaker.

In general, healthier foods still cost a little more, but keep in mind that you’re paying for a higher quality product with REAL ingredients and nutritional substance. As more and more people are hopping aboard the healthy movement, we are starting to see a positive transition in both company and consumer priorities. Many companies are working to deliver healthier products to consumers and, in turn, we are willing to spend more on foods that we know are better for us.  That being said, affordability is becoming a non-issue and our accessibility to healthy food options is growing. Hooray!

Just look around at the grocery store — Take a stroll down the snack aisle. There are so many more delicious and healthy products now and, best of all, it won’t break the bank for us to bring them home. A lot of companies have even improved their existing products to have better ingredients, without affecting the price.

Still, there is way too much junk food out there and many of us are in the habit of turning to these products out of impulse and familiarity. We need to work on that. There are so many healthy alternatives out there to satisfy every craving, flavor, and texture that your tummy could desire. You just have to make the right choices, break your old habits, and commit to snacking smarter. It will benefit everyone, especially yourself.

Here’s a quick scenario:

You’ve got a buck in your hand, and a nagging hunger pang. You walk over to the nearest food source, a typical traditional vending machine. Hmm, what to choose? Well, there are greasy potato chips, fried corn chips with additives, snack crackers with chemical preservatives, candy bars full of high fructose corn syrup and refined sugars, fruit snacks with artificial flavors and dyes… you get the idea. Is this really what you want to spend your hard-earned money on? It may only be $0.75, but it’s still a poor investment. Don’t give this vending machine your money! Your health will be paying a lot more down the road if you choose to consistently eat from here.

Do this instead:

Take your money to 100% healthy vending machines (these guys are popping up everywhere!). Their products might be priced a little higher, but you’ll get premium, equally tasty (if not tastier) natural snack options like baked pita chips, gourmet rice puffs, fruit & granola bars, etc. that you can feel good about eating. H.U.M.A.N. Healthy Vending is even launching a $1 machine, stocked completely with 100% healthy items that will only run you a buck! Now that’s making your dollar count.

Times, they are a changing! Upgrade your eating habits, and get it out of your head that “healthy” is synonymous with “expensive.” You don’t have to settle for junk food anymore, and you don’t have to spend a lot to get a lot. Healthy eating is not a privilege, it is your right!

Filed Under: Health & Nutrition, Healthy Vending Machines, Lifestyle, Vending Trends Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Taking a Crack at Healthy Snacks: Part 3!

September 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I’m back with an attack of snacks that’ll leave you lying on your back! Who am I kidding, I’m way too white to rap.  Today bring you Part 3 and the FINAL INSTALLMENT of my Taking a Crack at Healthy Snacks series.  I hope you found the last two installments full of creative and more importantly TASTY ideas to create snacks for yourself and your family.

Today I’m going to give you the final installment. But instead of listing recipes I’ve learned along the way or found online, I’m going to hook you up with some links to some awesome healthy snack recipe sites!

BE SURE TO BOOKMARK THIS PAGE to visit these links later. When you get cravings for snacks, just pull this page up and whip up a snack with healthy food in your pantry instead of hitting the drive through!

Kids’ Health.Org – Great overall site for health tips, facts, and other useful information for kids!

Family Education.Com – Great family information website. Very thorough. Check out their Food section!

AllRecipes.com – HUGE database of healthy food ideas and recipes!

Delish.com – Great site with tons of recipes, especially for the YOUNG’Ns!!!

FitnessMagazine.com – Fitness oriented online magazine, but has tons of healthy snack ideas as well!

So check these sites out, but be sure to stay tuned to my future blog articles for more tips and tricks from yours truly!

Filed Under: ADVICE & EDUCATION, Health & Nutrition Tagged With: , , ,

Taking a Crack at Healthy Snacks: Part 2

August 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Snacks, snacks, and more snacks! You’ll be a snacking machine by the end of this 3 part series! Did you try any from Part 1? C’mon, leave a comment below and let me know! Making healthy snacks a part of your life will shave INCHES off your waistline and THOUSANDS of dollars in health care costs down the road.  Don’t take these tips lightly! I’m going to hit you with some more healthy snacks today in Part 2. Copy and paste these to a Word document, or bookmark this page to refer back for ideas whenever you get hungry!

1.  “Gorp” a.k.a Trail Mix.  Make this tasty snack mix for on the go nutty snack action: Mix the following nuts together in whatever proportions suites your taste:

  • Almonds
  • Peanuts
  • Cranberries (dried)
  • Dates (dried)
  • Chocolate chips (don’t over do this one

2.  Strawberry & Cream Cheese Sandwich: this little bad boy will ROCK your world.

  • Whole wheat bread
  • Reduced fat cream cheese (actually READ the nutritional info…as well all know “reduced fat” is thrown around willy-nilly a lot)
  • Medium strawberries, sliced
  • Honey (just a little bit!)

3.  Apple Chips: these make potato chips look and taste like crap! Healthy and crunchy…can’t go wrong here.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp Sugar
  • 1 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 4 Thinly sliced Granny Apples

Directions: Heat oven to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Mix sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and apply to both sides of the apple slices. Put slices on the baking sheets and let bake for about 2 hours or until they’re crisp.

4.  Peanut Butter Banana Apple Snackers a.k.a. “Crack for Children”

Ingredients:

  • 2 apples, sliced thinly
  • 2 tbsp peanut butter
  • 1/4 banana, sliced up
  • 1/8 tsp sugar
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • 14 blueberries – if you can afford these expensive little bad boys in today’s economy!

Directions: coat the top of each apple slice with peanut butter, then top with the bananas. Sprinkle the sugar & cinnamon on top. If you splurged on blueberries then slap those puppies on there any which-way seems best!

5.  Fruit Kabobs – awesome way to trick kids into eating fruit! It’s fun when it’s on a stick!

Ingredients:

  • Kabob stick
  • Melon balls
  • Berries
  • Pineapple chunks
  • Apple chunks
  • Sliced banana
  • WHATEVER THE HECK YOU WANT!

So that’s it for Part 2 of Taking a Crack at Healthy Snacks! Treat your family to some good quality food instead of letting them eat the same processed GARBAGE over and over.  Now check this page out tomorrow for Part 3, which will expand your healthy eating horizon EVEN FURTHER!

Filed Under: ADVICE & EDUCATION, Health & Nutrition Tagged With: , ,

Taking a Crack at Healthy Snacks Part 1

August 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A lot of words give off a certain feeling when you think about them.  When I say “cigar”, you think of the word “Cuba” or picture men in pinstriped suits and tommy guns negotiated deals in smoky rooms. When I say “Tiger Woods”, you may think of the phrases  “great golfer” or “furious wife”.   When I say the word “healthy snacks“, what comes to mind? I mean the very first thing? For most people it’s “tasteless” or “bland”.

To transition yourself to regarding the phrase “healthy snacks” with something better than mild disgust, you have to reprogram your brain.  To do that you need to let your tongue experience the taste of some awesome snacks that also happen to be healthy, so that when you hear that something is “healthy” you don’t think about licking a cardboard box.

So to help you do that I am going to provide you with a ton of FREE healthy snack ideas over the next three days.  Be sure to bookmark this page and set a reminder to check back to print out each day’s list to stick on your fridge!

Here goes Part 1: ENJOY!

1.  Mix tuna fish with yoghurt and herbs of your choice (experiment…). Serve on whole wheat crackers or celery.

2. Un-buttered popcorn, flavored with herbs. Seriously: eat this enough and you’ll forget what buttered tastes like.

3. Sliced kiwi in cottage cheese

4.Healthy Yoghurt Parfait: Mix Greek Yoghurt with Fiber One cereal!

5.Homemade French Fries: spray no-calorie non-stick spray on a pan and bake sliced potatoes with salt and pepper on them.  Much better for you than McDonald’s fries…

6. Vegetable salsa: mix chopped up squash, eggland, zucchini, and tomatoes and dip slices of toasted whole-wheat bread in it…very delicious.

7. Banana & Yoghurt Smoothie – you can also mis in any other fruit to add flavor to this tasty breakfast supplment.

8. Spicy hummus – slice up some cilantro and put into hummus…use as a dip for vegetables or whole-wheat crackers.

9. Sun dried tomato and artichoke heart dip – YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW THIS WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.  AS SOON AS IT HITS YOUR LIPS YOU’LL THINK THAT YOU DIED.  Obviously I am somewhat biased towards this one.

10. And finally at number 10: sliced apple with peanut butter.  This one is particularly awesome for the afternoon, giving you a dose of protein and fiber all in one delicious shot to the mouth!

Now remember, you are retraining your brain and tongue to associate “healthy snacks” with “tasty”. So quit forcing yourself to eat bran muffins and make the extra effort to create some tasty little morsels! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s batch of healthy snack ideas…

Filed Under: ADVICE & EDUCATION, Health & Nutrition Tagged With: , ,

Healthy Vending Machines & Deconstructing the Oxymoron

August 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

What do these words have in common: United Nations, healthy tan, death benefits, tight slacks, and easy payments have in common?  They’re all oxymorons!  Well when most people hear the phrase “healthy vending machines“, it gets the same reaction: “HUH?!?”

Well I’m here to wipe the silly look of confusion off of everyone’s face, because healthy vending machines DO exist.  But I can definitely see why the phrase would seem contradictory, after all: vending machines are traditionally unhealthy in more ways than one…

Let’s step back in time to the first vending machines that dispensed food products: In 1888 the Thomas Adams Gum Company introduced machines that dispensed gum balls for coins on New York City subway platforms.  A revolutionary concept: create miniature automatic retailers that required no supervision and that conveniently placed products that people wanted where they happen to be walking by! Brilliant!

The vending machine evolved through the late 1800s and early 1900s to offer everything from cigars to stamps.  Did you know that there was even a completely coin operated restaurant called Horn and Hadart in Philadelphia from 1902 to 1962??? Customers would come in and place coins in slots below windows that displayed cold food, then they’d turn a chrome knob and the food would be revealed through technological magic (ok, not that magic, a slot opened up).

By the 1920s vending machines evolved into just soda and candy dispensers.  This is where I think the industry flat-lined in terms of its product offering. Sure, the machines themselves advanced along with the breakthroughs in related technology (lights, compressors, etc.), but the food and drink type basically stayed the same….why?

I think its because vending machine operators bought into a model that worked. And like my pappy used to say “if it ain’t broke, then get a beer from the fridge and hide in the garage from your mother so that she thinks you’re busy fixing it when you’re actually trying to get out of helping make dinner!”  Or something like that. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that people were provided with what they thought they wanted when they’re on the go and don’t have time to sit down and eat: sugary foods that “give them energy”.

So since 1920 the vending machine industry has been about as innovative as my brother, who just the other day decided to start wearing pants in public. Doesn’t that baffle you? Not about my brother’s daily indecent exposure, but that for 90 years vending machines have almost exclusively offered candy, soda, and cigarettes? Through all the health revolutions and nutrition awareness campaigns….these big brown boxes sat there displaying “tasty” crap for all the world to eat?

Well, thankfully its 2010 and there are healthy vending machines that dispense ONLY 100% healthy food and beverages.  No, they don’t dispense healthy cigarettes. There’s no such thing.

Do you know any funny oxymorons? I’d love to hear about them!

Filed Under: HEALTHY VENDING, Healthy Vending Machines, VENDING INDUSTRY, Vending News, Vending Trends Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Healthy Eating MYTHbusting – Surprising Facts!

August 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Ever watch the TV show Mythbusters? A couple of weird, nerdy guys in berets (worn for some unknown reason) take the time to de-bunk or to prove popular myths such as whether using a cell phone near a gas pump will cause an explosion or if a person with a tongue piercing is more likely to get struck by lightning.  All very applicable to our daily lives! Well I am here today to clear up a few MYTHS in regard to healthy eating and healthy snacking.   Don’t believe everything you hear…

Myth #1: Bread, pasta, and rice raise your insulin levels and cause you to gain weight.

Truth: Making these foods off-limits to yourself is denying your body carbohydrates, which are used by your body to create insulin, which in turn helps convert carbohydrates into usable energy.  The key is not to eat too much!

Myth #2: Always choose “low fat” or “fat free”.

Truth: These phrases can be misleading as a lot of times the product will still have the same number of calories as the regular version. The difference might be because sugar was used to repeat flavor lost when fat was removed.

Myth #3: Skipping breakfast will help reduce the amount of calories you take in each day, making you slimmer.

Truth: By eating breakfast you are kick-starting your metabolism.  If you don’t eat a sufficient breakfast then by the time you DO eat (lunch), your body will frantically store your lunch as energy for future use AKA fat.

Myth #4: Dairy makes you fat.

Truth: Dairy contains the hormone calcitriol, which helps conserve calcium for stronger bones while at the same time telling fat cells to convert less sugar to fat while burning more body fat.

Myth #5: If it’s brown then it’s whole grain.

Truth: Check the ingredients! Make sure whole grains actually are listed as the top ingredient.  You want this because the extra fiber makes you feel full.

You can see now how important it is to know what how to separate truth from fiction! The typical phrases people throw around like “fat is bad” and “just skip breakfast to lose weight, you’re not hungry in the morning anyway” are said out of ignorance, not out of knowledge.  Don’t be like them. Arm yourself with the facts!

Tomorrow I will destroy TEN more healthy eating tips! Stay tuned…

Filed Under: ADVICE & EDUCATION, Health & Nutrition, Lifestyle Tagged With: , ,

A Trip to the Vending Machine = Walking the Plank?

August 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

“Bill rubbed his eyes from the glow of his monitor.  It was 3:00 p.m. on a Monday and he was TIRED.  Slammed with meetings, reports, and an endless barrage of emails, Bill had barely had time for lunch (a quick trip through the McDonald’s Drive-Thru).  He stood up, stretched, and stepped into the hallway to walk down to the vending machines for some much-needed energy.  As he entered the hallway he was surprised to see his co-workers jeering and yelling at him.  His boss grabbed his hands roughly and pulled them behind his back, tying them together with mailing tape.  He felt the sharp poke of scissors in his back. ‘Forward, wench! You did a poor job swabbing the poop deck, and now you must walk the plank! YARRRR!!!’”

While this may be a slight exaggeration of how the typical walk to the vending machine goes, in reality each step you make towards that can of soda might as well be a walk towards the edge.  Bill learned his soda habit in school, and kept with it his whole life…and he is not alone.

Here’s some soda facts, me maties:

  • Americans drink more soda pop than ever before.
  • Soda accounts for more than a QUARTER of all drinks consumed in the U.S.
  • More than 15 BILLION GALLONS were sold in 2000, and its only increased since then.
  • 15 BILLION GALLONS works out to at least one 12-ounce can per day for every man, woman, and child!
  • Soft drink consumption rates have doubled in the last decade.
  • Soft drinks are the leading source of added sugars in the average American teenager’s diet, equaling 15 to 20 teaspoons of added sugar per day!
  • Adolescents (ages 11-17) get 11% of their calories from soft drinks!
  • Drinking soda replaces nutritious drinks like milk, leading to decreased calcium consumption in girls. (One result: osteoporosis)
  • A Harvard School of Health study determined that in 9th and 10th graders, those who drank soda regularly were THREE times more likely to develop bone fractures.
  • For every soft drink consumed per day, the risk of obesity goes up by 50%

YARRRRRRRR! These kind of facts make really SHIVER ME TIMBERS. I honestly have no clue what that means. But, I think it has to do with the vibrations running down a pirate’s wooden peg leg from angry convulsions.

Anyway, its obvious that soda is horrible.  But kids have few options at school, and when they’re thirsty, THEY’RE THIRSTY! And when they want to snack on junk food, who is going to stop them? The solution? First off, replacing junk food and soda vending machines with healthy snack and drink machines.

A possible objection: Won’t the school will lose money? Answer: FALSE. North Community High School in Minneapolis replaced most of its soda machines with machines stocked with fruit juices and water and their sales INCREASED.  Other schools across the nation (Miami, Washington D.C., North Carolina, etc.) are already replacing their food AND drink machines with premium, high-tech 100% healthy vending machines.

Yar.


Filed Under: Health & Nutrition, Lifestyle, The Bigger Picture Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Obesity Task Force: The Lowdown on the White House’s Plan for Healthy Schools

July 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

When I picture an “Obesity Task Force”, I picture Richard Simmons barking orders drill-sergeant style to a platoon of spandex-clad fitness freaks.  Apparently I’m way off, because the real Obesity Task Force is deadly serious about creating healthy schools and healthy kids.

The Obesity Task Force (where people wear suits, not spandex) was created by President Obama in 2009 and is closely related to the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign.  These initiatives represent the sense of urgency felt in all levels of government and society to implement concrete changes to the lifestyles of our nation’s youth.  Obesity is on the rise, healthy eating is plummeting, and physical activity is grinding to a halt.

So what makes the OTF different from every other committee that simply talks but never delivers real meaningful change? It all comes down to action plans.

According to a White House statement, the Obesity Task Force plan aims to achieve the following:

“1. Getting children a healthy start on life, with good prenatal care for their parents; support for breastfeeding; and quality child care settings with nutritious food and ample opportunity for young children to be physically active.”

In my opinion this starts at home.  If you let your kid eat McDonald’s all the time, grab soda from a traditional vending machine instead of fruit juice from a healthy vending machine, and let them sit in front of the tube all day then OF COURSE they’ll be fat.

“2. Empowering parents and caregivers with simpler, more actionable messages about nutritional choices based on the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans; improved labels on food and menus that provide clear information to help make healthy choices for children; reduced marketing of unhealthy products to children; and improved health care services, including BMI measurement for all children.”

Kids are like lemmings.  Or do I mean monkeys? Or do I mean a weird hybrid animal between the two? (Pause here to picture this and laugh.  Now pull yourself together and keep reading).  The point is they mimic and follow what we big people do.  If they see mom and dad caring about what they eat then they will too.

“3. Providing healthy food in schools, through improvements in federally supported school lunches and breakfasts; upgrading the nutritional quality of other foods sold in schools; and improving nutrition education and the overall school environment.”

Here’s where the school board and administrators come in.  Kids are at the mercy of your cafeteria.  With the government SUBSIDIZING your food through the National School Lunch Program, you need to choose a healthy food service.  Natural and organic foods are much better fuel for learning than the alternative. Also, replace those Coke and Pepsi machines with a healthy vending machine!

“4. Improving access to healthy, affordable food by eliminating “food deserts” in urban and rural America; lowering the relative prices of healthier foods; developing or reformulating food products to be healthier; and reducing the incidence of hunger, which has been linked to obesity.”

Low number of food options means low quality of food options.  Healthy snacks don’t just grow on trees. Oh wait, they do, they’re called apples.  But last I checked there aren’t too many apple trees in the city.  That leaves vast stretches of concrete jungle where fast food and candy/soda machines dominate your eyesight.  And until  healthy vending machines and natural food stores become conveniently common, people will keep hitting those drive-thrus.

“5. Getting children more physically active through quality physical education, recess and other opportunities in and after school; addressing aspects of the “built environment” that make it difficult for children to walk or bike safely in their communities; and improving access to safe parks, playgrounds, and indoor and outdoor recreational facilities.”

I interpreted this as “make gym class fun again”.  Kids have vast stores of energy, and this needs to be channeled into things other than video games and YouTube.  And I doubt kids are going to argue with more recess time.  Being able to ride their bikes without fear of getting hit by passing motorists would also be a plus.

Bottom line is I like where this Obesity Task Force is headed.  The gray suits are a little boring, and maybe they could use some of Richard Simmons’ flare, but they are taking a bold step in battling one of our country’s greatest threats: unhealthy children.

Filed Under: ADVICE & EDUCATION, Health & Nutrition, Lifestyle, The Bigger Picture Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Future is Here: Healthy Vending Machines

July 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Am I the only one extremely disappointed that its 2010 and we are STILL not driving flying cars, watching hologram TV, and popping tasty meals in pill form? Its downright absurd! But I guess to be fair, there are some pretty cool things that have come out.  For example: healthy vending machines.  That’s right, I said it. There are actually vending machines that dispense health food and sports performance products!

These aren’t your typical big brown boxes with coils just outfitted with a different product mix, either.  These healthy vending machines are high-tech!  Here’s what I’m talking about:

An LCD Screen: If I could afford it, every wall in my house would be an LCD screen.  A vending machine should be no different.  Plus, how cool is it to have nutrition facts displayed on screen of the food products you’re about to buy? Its not like you can open the machine up and read the labels. If you have to put guesswork into your healthy snack options, then you’re probably not eating as healthy as you could be.

Cashless payment options: Like most of us, I am horrible at keeping cash around.  And nothing is worse than walking by a vending machine hoping for a healthy snack and coming up with lint.  Plastic money rules, plain and simple.

We could have avoided this, machine!Sensors that guarantee that the machine vends correctly: This is as refreshing as the natural and organic options in these machines.   You know the diagram on vending machines showing what NOT to do? (i.e. tipping the machines towards you?) Yep, I’ve been THAT guy.   Because when I get ripped off by an ugly brown box, I feel stupid. And when I feel stupid, I get angry. Angry + Stupid = I am the guy in the diagram.

Eco-Friendly Design: We all love Mother Earth.  (By “we” I am not including British Petroleum). These healthy vending machines use up to 50% less energy than standard vending machines.  This means that when you use a traditional vending machine, you are actually harming your body and the environment.  Whether you buy organic, natural, or simply healthier food from a healthy vending machine its a double-whammy of positive impact for your body and for the earth.

The bottom line is that while we still may not be able to swallow a complete steak dinner the size of an aspirin, the convenience of a high-tech healthy vending machine is a pretty cool substitute.

Filed Under: HEALTHY VENDING, Healthy Vending Machines, The Bigger Picture, VENDING INDUSTRY Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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