Sometimes I wonder if we think enough about the changes in social structure that have occurred over the past 50 years and the impact it has on eating habits and health outcomes. 

Take a trip back to the 1950s, and think June Cleaver from Leave it to Beaver (if you’re too young to know the show, visit http://www.leaveittobeaver.org/).  Her days were spent managing her family.  This was her job.  It was most likely she didn’t have her own car.  Aprons were something she wore every day.  An afterschool snack was ready to go when the boys walked through the door at the end of the day as was a cocktail and dinner when her husband got home from work. 

Fast forward to today, where roughly 60% of women work (75% full-time, 25% part-time).   With the economy as it is, there is even more pressure on all employees, including women, to work longer hours and to do more with less in the office.  At the same time, mom is still the primary manager of the family and the household.  So while she’s headed out the door to work, her other duties have only dropped slightly in comparison to what June did 50 years ago. 

Do we really believe this doesn’t impact how often dinner gets put on the table, whether kids are eating breakfast before school, what gets put on the dinner plate, and whether there are fruits and vegetables in the house? 

Visit www.nuval.com to see a system that scores all foods, even convenience items that help today’s mom get dinner on the table.  Even June would have used NuVal.

I know what I’m about to say is controversial.  But it’s the truth, and it’s a topic that bears discussion.

When I was pregnant, I didn’t take prenatal vitamins.  Every month when I went in for check-ups, the nurse yelled at me.  But let me clarify.  I didn’t take the standard, fully loaded prenatal vitamin.  But I did take a pill form of those nutrients I didn’t get enough of from food that are so important during pregnancy – folic acid, calcium, iron.

As a pregnant dietitian, I felt like I was eating a good variety of the right foods so didn’t need to take a fully loaded pill.  Today, I take omega-3 supplements and sporadically, lutein supplements.  I do not give my son Jack vitamins at all.  But some of my colleagues will contend that it’s not possible to get all the nutrients we need at the right levels by eating food.  There we have it – the great debate on supplements or no supplements.

In my mind, it’s worth the old college try to get all that you need from food.  Why?  Because food has many as-of-yet undefined nutrients that our bodies need.  I think, too, that some of us take a daily vitamin as a license to make less healthy food choices, figuring we’re getting what we need in the pill form.

I’m not suggesting that pregnant women avoid taking prenatal vitamins (always follow your doctor’s advice!).  I’m just saying that the goal should be getting all the nutrients we need by eating a variety of foods from all food groups.

Voice your opinion – for or against supplements?

Visit www.nuval.com to experience a system that gives credit to the vitamins and minerals in food.

Those of you who are regular readers will realize that it has been over a week since I have posted a new blog.  Life – on both the work and personal front – has just gotten in the way.  I’ve been writing comments to the Dietary Guidelines committee, to the Food and Drug Administration, planning my mothers’ 85^th birthday party.  The list goes on and on.

I imagine that this is reality for many of you, and definitely relates to our topic of the day.  The hecticness (spell check says it’s not a word, but I’m going with it anyway) of life makes it hard for many of us to get dinner on the table.  It just does.  For me, it’s the constantness of it.  Dinner.  Every day.  Something kids will eat.  Fairly healthy.  Something that will warm up okay as my husband sometimes eats later due to an extended work day. 

And as we make our way through the day of meals, it fits in well with what was said at the Seizing the Mealtime Moment presentation I recently attended:

At dinner, it has to TASTE GOOD, be EASY TO PREPARE, and have EVERYONE LIKE IT. Even more interesting about dinner is that the number one reason we don’t                fix dinner at home is because we’re too tired (I can totally relate!).

The best lessons I have learned about getting dinner on the table come from my former co-worker, Amy, who trained me in back in the day at Pillsbury, and my neighbor Laurie, whom I walk with a couple of days a week.  Both are “cooks” in the traditional sense, and hopefully what I’ve learned from them will help you to be more successful at getting dinner on the table and meet the requirements listed above.  What I’ve learned from them:

• Cook a big main meal on the weekends, and plan for leftovers throughout the week.  You can always add a side or a fresh vegetable quickly and easily if you have a main dish ready to go that is reheatable.
• Plan menus and write grocery lists.  When Laurie and her family go on vacation, I feed her cats.  The first time I did it, I noticed her week of menus posted on her fridge.  I know it sounds like drudgery, but if you have a sense of what you’re making for meals each day, you’re move likely to execute against it.
• Teach your husband/partner/teenager how to help with grocery shopping.  This can lessen the burden on you, while at the same time ensure you have food in the house for dinner.
• Offer a variety of fruits and vegetables, served different ways, again and again and again.  Both Amy and Laurie are brilliant at this.  The end result?  They both have kids who get their fruits and veggies in. 
• It’s okay to have frequent, repeat performances in the meals you serve.  Identify the favorites that meet all your criteria – quick to prepare, the kids will eat them, healthy – and rotate them every two weeks.  It’s still dinner on the table.
• If you’re in a pinch and order out, think about what you can add to the main item to round out the nutrition.  For example, if you order pizza to go, quickly cut up some fruits and veggies and pour tall glasses of frosty, cold, skim milk.

Visit www.nuval.com to trade up ingredients in your family’s favorite dinners.

As I talked about last week, I attended a fascinating education session at a conference talking about what’s most important to us as consumers in each of the meals we eat.

At breakfast we care about ROUTINE.

At lunch we’re looking for QUICK and EASY.

At dinner, it has to TASTE GOOD, be EASY TO PREPARE, and have EVERYONE LIKE IT.

As we’re making our way through the day’s meals, our stop today is at lunch.

Quick and easy – you can feel it, right?  When it comes to lunch, there are two main scenarios most of us deal with.

Scenario #1:  You’re in the midst of the madness of your day, juggling back-to-back meetings, trying to steal a minute to check in with daycare or schedule a checkup for one of your kids.  You have 25 unopened emails in your “in” box.  But you need to grab lunch.  By the way, you’d like it to be somewhat healthy.

Scenario #2:  You need to pack a lunch for your child.  You didn’t quite make it to the grocery store last night, so you’re scrounging to see what you have around as well as what you can put into a lunch that she will eat and that he won’t complain that he’s already had for lunch two days this week.  By the way, you’d like it to be somewhat healthy.

Whichever scenario hits you most often, there are some tips that might help you navigate this meal of the day and keep health as a focus.

• Always put a fruit and/or vegetable in a lunch.  I keep a lot of “grab and go” options at my house just for lunches:  apples, oranges, bananas, baby carrots, etc.  These are easy to put into a lunch without any prep.  With my son Jack, we have to pack lunches all summer.  I tend to put both a fruit and a vegetable in as when he’s hungry (which he is from spending the morning at a basketball camp or swimming for two hours), he’s more likely to eat whatever is in his lunch bag.
• Frozen entrees tend to be a mainstay for adult lunches.  I have many co-workers who just bring five of them to work on Monday, plunk them in the freezer and then know they’ll have a ready lunch for each day.  If you choose the brands positioned as “healthy” like Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers and Kashi, these are great for helping with calorie and portion control.  But, even within these brands, the overall nutrition quality can vary.  Using NuVal as the guide, a week’s worth of top options for overall nutrition are:
  • Amy’s Brown Rice and Vegetable Bowl with Tofu (NuVal Score: 50)
  • Amy’s Black Bean and Vegetable Enchilada (NuVal Score: 44)
  • Kashi Pesto Pasta Primavera (44)
  • Lean Cuisine Roasted Turkey and Vegetables (42)
  • Kashi Southwest Chicken (40)
• Build the perfect sandwich.  My friend Darcy’s mom was a master at making the best sandwiches ever when we were kids.  Ever since then, I have been a fan of a good sandwich.  Even this mainstay, which is quick and easy, can be made nutritious by thinking through each component of it.  What kind of bread?  What’s the best meat option?  Cheese or no cheese?  Sandwiches are a great opportunity to sneak in veggies – a slice of tomato, a few slices of cucumber – they all add up over time. More recently, I’ve experimented with using some different options as spreads to add great flavor to sandwiches.  Roasted red pepper hummus, for example, adds a great punch to a sandwich (it adds a bit of nutrition, too).  Guacamole is another option or try some pesto.
• Pending allergies in your in your household or allergy policies at schools, nuts are a great addition to any lunch.  The most nutritious choices are walnuts and almonds – unsalted, of course.  Just a handful is all you need to help fill you up.
• I know many parents like to add chips and/or cookies into the lunch bag, but as I mentioned in my blog, I recommend you re-evaluate whether there’s room in you or your child’s eating habits for these foods which have limited nutritional value.

How do you live and breathe “quick and easy” at lunch?

Visit www.nuval.com to consider your next best lunch option.

At a recent conference, I attended a session put on by the Coca Cola Retailing Research Council called Seizing the Mealtime Moment.  The session focused on what matters most to us consumers at each meal of the day.

At breakfast we care about ROUTINE. 

At lunch we’re looking for QUICK and EASY.

At dinner, it has to TASTE GOOD, be EASY TO PREPARE, and have EVERYONE LIKE IT.  Even more interesting about dinner is that the number one reason we don’t fix dinner at home is because we’re too tired (I can totally relate!).

It feels like each of these topics is worthy of a discussion all its own, so I thought today we’d start with the B – breakfast. 

Routine in the morning is definitely the key for me.  In addition to a frosty cold Diet Mt. Dew (dietitians have vices, too.), the three options I tend to rotate are:

• 2 scrambled eggs, sometimes with asparagus and shredded cheese added (One of my mom’s favorites when I was growing up.  Great use for left over asparagus.)
• Yoplait Greek Yogurt, plain, fat free (NuVal score of 98!) with one Equal packet and some kind of fruit mixed in (my favorite is kiwi, with a NuVal score of 100)
• Kashi GoLean Truly Vanilla Instant Hot Cereal (NuVal score of 46!).  I love this cereal.  It’s got protein, fiber and omega-3s, so it’s a great way to start my day.

How can you build a healthy routine into your breakfast?  Some ideas are:

• Create a “breakfast” section of your pantry and refrigerator so your family can easily grab options.  Load these sections with fruit, low fat dairy, high fiber, whole grains, and lean protein.
• Find three or four healthy options that you like to eat, and stick to them.  Because we’re all driven against routine at breakfast, it’s a great place to build highly nutritious foods into your eating habits. 
• Post a “Breakfast Equation” chart on your refrigerator.  Something like:

     Shredded Wheat + skim milk + fruit in the fridge = a power packed breakfast

     Plain fat free yogurt + fruit in the fridge + a sprinkle of flax meal = the way to start my day

     Fortified egg substitute + leftover veggies + any cheese = hot stuff

What’s your breakfast routine?

Visit www.nuval.com to maximize nutrition in your breakfast routine.