10.31.08

CFHQ Rest Day + Happy Halloween!

Come in today to make up any of the past three workouts

Healthy Holiday Eating

I’ve blogged about holiday food before, I love the holiday season and love some of the food. What I really don’t love though, is the fact that most people feel the need to completely go nuts when it comes to food. On average, a traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner can contain more than 2,000 calories! That’s more than most of us need in a day…all wrapped up in one meal.

You guys are working hard and seeing results from CrossFit, by adding a high quality Paleo, Zone or clean eating diet to your lifestyle, you are going to see some amazing results. All too often though, when it comes to diet, people are concerned with what you CAN’T eat as opposed to what you can, especially with the holidays.

There are many nutritional goodies in our traditional dinner that shouldn’t be overlooked:

5 Healthy Holiday Foods
Pumpkin – Pumpkin is rich in Vitamin A and also provides fiber. Pumpkin seeds are high in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids (the good fats). Pumpkin itself is quite low in calories and is a healthy holiday food. Okay, this does NOT mean that pumpkin pie is good for you just because it has pumpkin in it.

Cranberries – Cranberries are packed with Vitamin C and also provide a fair amount of dietary fiber and manganese. Cranberries also contain proanthocyanidins, a type of antioxidant that can prevent the adhesion of bacteria to the urinary tract sometimes causing urinary tract infections. Unfortunately, one of my childhood faves, the canned cranberry, aren’t ranked among the healthy foods. They are loaded with extra refined sugar.

Sweet Potato – Sweet Potato is a rich source of antioxidants such as Vitamin C and beta-carotene. Similar to the banana, it is also an excellent source of potassium. If you eat the skin, you will also reap the health benefits of fiber, making the sweet potato a healthy holiday food. Again, like the pumpkin…putting sweet potato in a pie or loading them up with brown sugar and butter…not a healthy option. If you must use butter, try Olivo or some type of Olive Oil based product instead…tastes the same as butter without the saturated fats or cholesterol.

Turkey – In addition to being an excellent source of protein, turkey offers the least amount of fat per serving, among all other meats, if you pass on the skin.

Green Beans – Green beans are probably one of the healthiest holiday foods out there. They are an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin K (important in bone health) and manganese. They also contain a good amount of vitamin A, dietary fiber, potassium, folate, and iron. Green bean casserole in a traditional Thanksgiving meal is rather high in calories as it contains butter, cream of mushroom and cheese. Prepare this dish with lower-fat version of these ingredients such as fat-free cream of mushroom and skip the butter and you will be able to enjoy the yummy taste without the guilt!

October 31, 2008 | Filed Under W.O.D.

Comments

8 Responses to “10.31.08”

joe kitz on October 31st, 2008 8:38 am

Where can you buy packs of dried fruit that isnt extra loaded with sugar? I’ve been buying those sunkist/planters bags of nuts/dried fruit to snack on – but that sh*t is still loaded with salt and sugar. All I want is some plain jane stuff to snack on during the day, but I cant find it anywhere. Please dont say I have to spend 1000 dollars at some health nut store for a weeks supply…
bridget on October 31st, 2008 8:49 am

Try Whole Foods or Fresh Market. Dried fruit is higher in sugar than regular fruit anyway, but you want the stuff that doesn’t have added sugar or other preservatives, which most do. Fresh Market across the street has a good bulk section. Whole Foods does as well and it isn’t that expensive. Not sure if they have the premixed stuff, but they have a whole boat load that you can mix and match from, that is what we do.

For nuts and seeds…make sure they aren’t salted and are raw.
joe kitz on October 31st, 2008 9:59 am

What about un-salted and roasted? Does that make a difference? Are you recommending raw to make sure no nutrients get cooked out of the nuts?

I just like the dried fruit cause it lasts longer. I’m too lazy to go to the grocery store more than twice a week…but I’ll probably hit up Whole Foods after Angie today to see what they have available. Not too many “good” grocery stores on Buford Hwy these days!
bridget on October 31st, 2008 10:19 am

Raw stuff is typically more nutrient dense. Go for almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, stuff like that. Surprisingly the raw ones taste better than roasted ones :). Mix them up with some dried fruits and there’s your snack :).

I do like Fresh Market better than Whole Foods…they seem to have more of a selection and is a bit less expensive. Their produce is definitely fresher too.
joe kitz on October 31st, 2008 2:02 pm

anyone beat speal’s time of 8:57 yet? id hate to be the only one on the team to top that time…dont want my ego getting too big.
Scott on October 31st, 2008 2:47 pm

Ray – Rach and I are gonna try and come by tomorrow. I need to see Todd, Ryan and Joe’s progress. Happy Halloween.

Quick Poll: Who thinks Joe would make a great David Hasselhoff for Halloween?
joe kitz on October 31st, 2008 3:51 pm

David Hasselhoff chest hair – check
David Hasselhoff body type – check
Gets drunk and eats cold chicken on the floor while being video taped – maybe this weekend? check?
Monica on October 31st, 2008 6:27 pm

Joe-
Try Trader Joes as well, they have lots of dried fruit and different nuts at really, really good prices. They are all about no added crap, so they don’t dump sugar in their dried fruit. I throw the fruit and nuts in salads all the time…yum!