Thursday, May 5, 2011

Eat Less by Eating Better

Today I was looking at some material on eating less to lose weight.  Losing weight is not the goal of our program; but if you do need to lose some weight these tips will help.  No, what we are trying to do is eat less expensive food so that we can save some money.  I am sure you know the old joke about how after you eat a big Chinese meal you are hungry again an hour later?  Well, that's because Chinese food is mostly rice, rice noodles, or wheat-based noodles with a little meat and some vegetables.  High carbohydrate foods digest quickly, raise your insulin levels, and then your body is craving more carbs (flour or sugar) an hour later.  The modern food industry feeds this cycle with white flour, white sugar, lots of salt, and a whole bunch of additives that only a chemist has a clue what they are and what they do.  Result?  You buy more and more of their products, eat more and more of their chemically enhanced foods, and you still aren't getting the nutrition you need.

GenderAge (years)SedentaryModerately ActiveActive
 Child2-31,0001,000-1,4001,000-1,400
 Female4-8
9-13
14-18
19-30
31-50
51+
1,200
1,600
1,800
2,000
1,800
1,600
1,400-1,600
1,600-2,000
2,000
2,000-2,200
2,000
1,800
1,400-1,800
1,800-2,200
2,400
2,400
2,200
2,000-2,200
Male4-8
9-13
14-18
19-30
31-50
51+
1,400
1,800
2,200
2,400
2,200
2,000
1,400-1,600
1,800-2,200
2,400-2,800
2,600-2,800
2,400-2,600
2,200-2,400
1,600-2,000
2,000-2,600
2,800-3,200
3,000
2,800-3,000
2,400-2,800


The chart above is the average estimated calories required by male and females at different ages and levels of activity to maintain their present weight.  For the sedentary the calories are not very high when you consider that a Whopper with cheese (760), fries (500), and medium soda (300), a fairly normal lunch meal for many, comes in at 1,560 calories.  Add in some extra ketchup and top off your soda on the way out to the car and you are just about maxed out for the day.  But how much nutition did you get for those dollars?  Very little unfortunately (33 grams of protein, which isn't bad but that comes with 47 grams of fat and 16 of those are saturated fats.)  A treat once in a while if you like that kind of stuff but it shouldn't be part of your regular food budget.

Most of us know what the empty calorie foods are; anything high in sugar, fats, simple carbs, and salty snacks.  Chips, cookies, pastries, pretzels, soda, candy should be rare treats if you are on a diet or on a mission to eat well for less.  But there are also many other foods considered healthy that are also mostly empty foods with little nutritional value.  Iceberg lettuce is one.  Now there is no doubt that lettuce is a fairly healthy food, which means it won't harm you.  But it also does not provide much nutrition for the cost.  A head of iceberg lettuce will cost a bit over a dollar.  A cup (72 grams) of shredded lettuce provides the nutrition shown in the label below.

Not much to it really.  Compare that to spinach (see label below).  Keep in mind that the label below is for less than half (30 grams) the serving size of the iceberg lettuce label (72 grams).  If the prices are comparable then spinach is the better buy.  Actually, even if spinach was a bit more expensive it would still be a better buy since it actually has some food value for you.

The point is, if you are going to reduce your calories to the appropriate level and want to reduce your food bills, you must consider the nutritional density of the food you pay for. Look at your recipes and meal plans and substitute foods with higher value for those of low value with price and calories as the standard to align as closely as possible.  But if you have to fudge it one way or the other, always choose the higher nutrition food.

No comments:

Post a Comment