healthy, tasty foods

Created: Mon, May 15, 2000, 11:10 PM

In my never-ending quest to find healthy foods that actually taste decent, I've found a few good ones along the way. As I find more, I'll throw 'em up here.

My goals are basically high protein, relatively low carbs, and very low fat -- to aid my cardio and weight training program. I'm no expert, I'm just relating what I've heard, read, and what has gotten results for me.

If you're just getting started, the two most important things are knowing exactly how your body processes different types of food (my Nutritional Information page will help you there), and then getting in the habit of reading the label on everything you eat, so you know how much of what you're putting in yourself.

Once you've gotten accustomed to being conscious of what you put in your body, you're halfway there already. Basic recommendations are:

Your body's shape reflects your lifestyle; you must change your lifestyle to change your body. Crash diets do not work.

Eat more smaller meals (I try to eat 5x a day) to keep your body's metabolism always up and digesting (and never going into fat-storing starvation mode).

Drink lots of water -- 2 glasses 5x a day (2 glasses per meal) is a good bet -- water is your body's vehicle for nutrition.

Eat about as much protein as you do carbohydrate per meal, and as little fat as you can. This will of course vary with your goals (building muscle, toning, gaining weight, losing fat, etc.) but it's a good starting point. A woman or a man not looking to gain muscle might want to eat meals in the ratio of 70% carb, 25% protein, 0-5% fat -- too much protein, if your body won't use it, can have adverse effects.

I recommend cardio training (running, biking, swimming, walking, etc.) as well as weight training in conjunction with a sensible diet. It's important to do all three if you expect significant results.

Dieting doesn't mean eating LESS food -- in fact you often eat more food; you just eat the right foods. To lose weight you either take in fewer calories, or you burn more off (hopefully a combination of both). It's really that simple.

Yes, it is a pain in the butt to get in the habit of eating healthy -- but the rewards in terms of feeling better, more energy, etc. are by far worth it. The hard part is having the mental toughness to stick it out for a month or two, at which point it begins to become part of your life, and you do it automatically.

And now onto the foods!

.....

 Product: Go Lean
 Company: Kashi
    Type: Breakfast Cereal
Web site: www.kashi.com

Hilites: The first breakfast cereal that I've eaten which tastes decent,
has lots of protein, low fat, reasonable carbs (considering the fact
that you'd eat it in the morning), and importantly, dietary fiber.

With these high protein diets, often getting enough dietary fiber can be
tough.  The taste of the cereal is sort of like Honeycomb's healthy
brother; it won't make you do cartwheels, but it tastes pretty good.

A bowl of this before you work out (maybe 30-60mins) is a good idea, it
gives you the carbs you need in order for your muscles to respond
decently.  This is less an issue on days where you'll do pure cardio.

Per 40g serving (3/4 of a cup)
         Calories: 120
         ..from Fat: 10
       
          Protein: 8g
          
    Carbohydrates: 28g
    ..dietary Fiber: 10g
           ..sugars: 7g
           
              Fat: 1g
       ...saturated: 0g
     
.....

 Product: Isopure Dutch Chocolate
 Company: Nature's Best
    Type: Protein Shake
Web site: www.naturesbest.com

Hilites: A very yummy tasting protein supplement (not a meal
replacement) with the best protein/carb/fat ratio I've found yet.  It's
not nearly as creamy as the Myoplex shakes, so you really have to mix it
well in order to get a good blend -- you also use less water to make it,
and even then it comes out more like chocolate milk than a shake (not as
thick).

I have one of these every morning, and sometimes with a bowl of cereal
too (as well as my vitamin pack and a glass of water).  I love 'em, they
taste great, fill you up, no fat, not too creamy so you can chug 'em,
and you can't beat the protein.

These folks also apparently make protein BARS as well as shakes --  I've
yet to try them, but I look forward to it.

Per 90g serving
         Calories: 300
         ..from Fat: 0
         
          Protein: 50g
          
    Carbohydrates: 25g
    ..dietary Fiber: 0g
           ..sugars: 1g
           
              Fat: 0g
       ...saturated: 0g

.....

 Product: Soy Veggie Burger Burgers
 Company: Yves
    Type: Burger!
Web site: www.yvesveggie.com

Hilites: I never thought it would come to me -- me, the lover of meat --
eating a SOY BURGER of all things.  However, I must admit, they taste
pretty damn good, satisfies your burger craving, and the
protein/carb/fat ratio allows you to put some condiments on 'em without
feeling guilty about it.

In this case, the ingredients are worth mentioning: there is nothing --
I mean NOTHING -- artificial in them.  Ingredients: Water textured soy
protein, vital wheat gluton, textured wheat protein, natural flavor,
carrageenan (from seaweed), malt extract, salt, yeast extract, vegetable
gum, onion powder, evaporated cane juice, spices, potato starch, konjac
flour, garlic powder, rice starch, beet root powder.  Then  it has a
bunch of vitamins too.

These guys make a bunch of other foods, including some really, really
healthy pepperoni (sic) that tastes pretty good too (it's soy protein
too).

Per 85g serving (one burger)
         Calories: 100
         ..from Fat: 0
        
          Protein: 18g
          
    Carbohydrates: 7g
    ..dietary Fiber: 3g
           ..sugars: 3g
           
              Fat: 0g
       ...saturated: 0g

.....

 Product: Soy Nuts!
 Company: GeniSoy
    Type: Peanut-esque snack food
Web site: www.genisoy.com

Hilites: My biggest downfall isn't sweets, it's salty, crunchy snacks. 
As such, although these soy bean nuts have more fat in them than I'd
like, they are a pretty healthy alternative to snacking on peanuts or
tortilla chips or the like.

I get more than enough sweets from protein shakes and bars -- these
suckers go a long way to sasiating my cravings for snack foods.

Per 28g serving
         Calories: 120
         ..from Fat: 36
       
          Protein: 12g
          
    Carbohydrates: 9g
    ..dietary Fiber: 5g
           ..sugars: 3g
           
              Fat: 4g
       ...saturated: 1g

.....

 Product: Pure Protein Strawberry Shortcake Bar
 Company: Worldwide Sport Nutrition
    Type: Protein Bar
Web site: www.sportsnutrition.com

Hilites: Protein bars are great meal replacements -- or for eating
healthy when you're on the go.  A protein bar and a glass or two of
water is a pretty healthy meal (assuming 5 meals a day).  I'm a big fan
of the Pure Protein brands; I like the Chocolate Chip, Blueberry
Cheesecake, and of course, the one listed here, the Strawberry
Shortcake.

They all taste pretty damn good to me, though people say I'm crazy.  I
admit that when I first started all this, the bars didn't taste all that
good -- too chalky -- but you get used to it, and they really start to
taste yummy, and they are healthy as can be, in addition to being
convenient.

Just be careful not to eat too many of them, or you'll feel compelled to
name the results of the next trip to the bathroom after going through
what amounts to rectal labor.

The Pure Protein bars have the best printed ratios of any bars I've seen
-- I've heard rumblings that the accuracy of the nutritional information
printed on some of these bars can be inaccurate, but nothing conclusive.
 Of course, a meal supplement protein SHAKE is more healthy than a bar,
but they are much less convenient.


Per 78g serving
         Calories: 280
         ..from Fat: 35
       
          Protein: 34g
          
    Carbohydrates: 13g
    ..dietary Fiber: less than 1g
           ..sugars: 4g
           
              Fat: 3.5g
       ...saturated: 3g

.....

 Product: 7-grain Belgian Waffles
 Company: Van's
    Type: Waffles!
Web site: ????

Per 74g serving (2 waffles) 

         Calories: 150
         ..from Fat: 32
    
          Protein: 7g

    Carbohydrates: 20g
   ..dietary Fiber: 8g
          ..sugars: 3g

              Fat: 3.5g
       ..saturated: 0g
 ..polyunsaturated: 2.5 g
  ..monounsatuated: 1.0 g
   
So if you had just one, that's half of all the above, and it's still a good
size.  But have two, and it's still not bad.  Hell, you could even have
three.

Ingredients:  Water, whole wheat flour, canola oil, pear/pineapple/peach
sweetener, baking powder, soy lectithin, vanilla, rye flour, barley flour,
oat flour, rice flour, yellow corn flour, soy flour, sea salt.

And the best part is, they're not even pretending to be waffles.  They *are*
waffles.  You will probably find them in an organic/health food store
(although knowing Wegman's I wouldn't be surprised if they have them).

If you get some of the Smucker's Sugar-Free preserves in Raspberry (10 cals
per teaspoon), heat some of the preserves in the microwave for a couple of
seconds, and you get a yummy lo-cal sugar free topping/syrup to go with the
waffles, and it really does taste good.

.....

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at:

andrew@AmbrosiaSW.com


+--------------------------+-----------------------------------+
|       Andrew Welch       |       Ambrosia Software, Inc.     |
|      Thaumaturgist       |     http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/    |
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------+