All Foods Can Fit

performance enhancers

By Sheila Tucker, MA, RD, LDN
Administrative Dietitian, B.C. Dining

Healthful eating does not mean giving up the foods that you like best. With a balanced approach between food choices and physical activity, all foods can fit into a healthful eating style. Even fast-food choices at Lyons Hall can be part of a balanced eating plan!

Be Adventurous

Many foods offered at Lyons Hall already fit the profile of healthful choices. Be adventurous and occasionally break away from the double cheeseburger and french fry habit to try their leaner cousins:

	•	Gardenburger
	•	Grilled Chicken Salad
	•	Grilled Chicken Fillet
	•	Hamburger
	•	Garden Salad
	•	Turkeyburger

By venturing into leaner territory, you could save yourself from a fat hangover: switching from a cheeseburger to a hamburger five days a week will save you from eating the equivalent of 30 sticks of butter over a year's time! Switching to Gardenburger will save you from the fat-equivalent of 48 sticks of butter. Picture that! And that's not messing with your jumbo fries!

Be Active

How far would you walk for your fries? Balance what you eat with your physical activity over several days. No need to get hung up on one food or one meal. After all, there is no such thing as a "good food" or a "bad food".

Got an urge for an order of fries. Go ahead and enjoy them. When you head back to your car or dorm room, just take the long route around; a 150 lb adult would burn off those fries with 28 minutes of walking- and it doesn't have to be all at once. Throw in 10 minutes on the Higgins stairs and you only need to walk 14 minutes. Got the idea? Here are some others: take the stirs instead of the elevator in the parking garage, get off the bus a stop early and walk. Find a physical activity that you enjoy and balance away.

Use the chart below to see how to fine-tune your activity when making fast-food choices.

Minutes of activity to balance food calories for 150 lb adult:

	dance	walk	swim	aerobics	stairs	jog	run	bike 20 mph
Chicken fingers, Reg	71	59	59	40	40	27	26	20
Chickwich	85	70	70	48	48	32	31	24
Cheeseburger	99	82	82	56	56	37	36	28
Fries, Lg	107	88	88	60	60	41	39	30
Double Burger	140	116	116	79	79	53	51	39

Be Flexible

Eating is meant to be pleasurable. Balance higher fat or higher calorie choices with lighter choices.

Free the Fat

So you ate:	Free the fat by having:
Double cheeseburger	8 oz Skim vs. whole milk for 4 days
Large chicken fingers	1 oz pretzels vs. chips for 4 days
Large fries	A cheeseburger vs. double cheeseburger one day
Chickwich	Lite vs. Reg French dressing on side salad one day

Be Sensible

When enjoying higher fat foods, keep portions sensible.

•	Order regular fries, not large
•	Split the large fries with a friend
•	Have a single cheeseburger, not a double
•	Use only half a packet of full-fat dressing on your salad
•	Have one pat of butter, not two, on your bagel
•	Have a large order of chicken fingers, not extra-large

Be Realistic

Make small changes over time. It can add up to healthful savings in the long run.

•	If you order a bacon double cheeseburger everyday, order it every other day.
•	If you wait for the closest parking spot to your destination, park a little farther away and burn a few calories walking.
•	During inclement weather, instead of sitting around waiting for your next class, walk a few loops around Conte concourse. In good weather, head outdoors.
•	Try one new low-fat food a month. The Cutting Edge menu at Lower, McElroy and Stuart can point you towards some wise and delicious choices.

Healthful eating does not mean giving up the foods you like best.
Become a balancing expert; all foods can fit!