How to Reduce Your Food Bill: part one

Part one: Eat what is in season

Have you ever walked out of grocery store, stared at the receipt, and thought “how did I spent THAT MUCH money?” It is so easy for this to happen! This is part one about to cut your food bill.

Now, I know not everyone is a math major, but bear with me:

Local food = less transport cost = less CO2 released = decreasing your carbon footprint

Why do produce prices fluctuate? It depends on whether or not the produce is in season. Therefore, if you purchase items that are in season, they will be cheaper.

Not only will you save money by buying in season, but if you purchase food from a local farmers market or CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), then you are doing your part to making the world more sustainable! For example, say you live in Texas and want to purchase strawberries. Usually those strawberries come from California, which is 1,318 miles away! If you purchased local food, you could prevent those carbon emissions, thereby doing your part to protect the environment. Remember, we want to decrease our carbon footprint and increase our carbon handprint!

Part of eating locally is that you will not have access to ALL fruits/vegetables because they are not in season year round. For example, if you eat locally, then you would not eat blueberries in the October because blueberries are not in season in the fall. In fact, did you know that the out of season produce in the grocery stores is stored from the previous season? So those apples that you eat in April are from the previous fall. (Maybe that does not bother you, but it’s not desirable to me!)

Local food = less pesticide use because of less transport costs

The further the produce has to travel, the higher likelihood that it will have more pesticides. Think: can a bundle of grapes from California be fresh when it is goes all the way to Oklahoma? It needs a little “boost” to make the distance. That’s why we have refrigerated trucks and pesticides. These two factors keep the produce looking and tasting good so you,

the consumer, will buy it!

Why are pesticides important? Well, we don’t exactly know everything about them, that’s why! Children and pregnant women are thought to be most vulnerable. They are linked to birth defects, headaches, and added strain on your body. Are they carcinogens? That’s hard to do research on. This is why you should ALWAYS THOROUGHLY WASH your produce.

More resources:

What is organic? What is local? What products have the most pesticides on them?

Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Learn more about the local food movement, what “organic” means, Whole Foods, CSA’s, the Slow Food Movement, why you should know about where you meat comes from.

Find farms, markets, restaurants that use local food

Find local farmers in your community, how to get plugged into the Slow Food movement

Christine is a Nutrition Science student at Baylor University. She loves black beans, the elliptical machine, and a little kick of caffeine.

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

1. Decide what you want out of your career. Do you want to make a lot of money and have a comfortable lifestyle? Do you want to have flexible hours if you start a family? Do you want to change the world? It’s all up to YOU!

2. Talk to your university’s career counseling/career services. They can connect you with career databases.

3. Take a personality test. You can find these online or with career services. It may sound lame, but it can help you figure out what jobs would NOT work for your individual personality. Examples include Myers-Briggs test (free). http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

4. Ask your friends, relatives, distant cousins, etc about their jobs, enjoyment factor, etc. Can you see yourself doing same positions?

5. Go to monster.com, browse around, see if there are any jobs that appeal to you.

6. Talk to your professors. They have more insight than you think.

7. Volunteer, even if it’s not related to what you think you want to do. Volunteering is a great chance to step back from your crazy schedule and reassess what you really want to do with your life. The connections you make can set you up for a job after you graduate.

8. Perfect your resume or seek out those who can. Always helps to have someone else read it to check it for spelling errors, alignment, etc. The average recruiter spends 3.25 seconds on your resume. Best to make it count!

9. RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH! This is YOUR career, not your mom’s or your best friend’s.

I have pretty been around the block and back when it comes to picking a major. Granted, I have never actually changed my major since I started college, but I have thought about it several times. These moments of doubt tempted me into the world of indecision, which lead to the research of various careers, which lead to reaffirmation that I chose the right major in the first place! It’s ok to surf the internet and see what’s out there.

The job that you get after graduation is not the job that you will have for the rest of your life. If it takes a while to find your perfect job, then so be it. Remember, life is what you make of it. This includes having a good attitude, healthy body, and great relationships with the people you love.

Majors search at Princeton Review

What Can I do with a Liberal Arts degree?

Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the US Department of Labor. Look up careers, job descriptions, salaries, and anticipated outlook

Career Onestop. Self explanatory! Tips on interviews, how to connect with recruiters, browse occupations, and more.

Christine is a Nutrition Science student at Baylor University. She loves black beans, the elliptical machine, and a little kick of caffeine.

Benefits of Coffee

Did you know that there have been 19,000 studies done looking at the impact of coffee on your health? Studies show that 2 cups of coffee daily (compared to not drinking coffee) can:

• Lower risk for Parkinson’s disease by 80%
• Reduce risk of colon cancer by 25%
• Reduce liver cirrhosis risk by 80%
• Lower risk of gallstones by 50%
• Enhance exercise performance
• Lower risk for diabetes

• Coffee also has a ton of antioxidants
• Coffee helps things, er, “move along” in your digestive tract.

Wait, what? Are you telling me that coffee is good for me? Well, yes and no. If you are talking about a cup o’ black joe (with a little sweetener or milk), then yes. The benefits listed above refer to that kind of coffee. However, if you are drinking the whole milk version of your drink, have extra syrups, or are drinking the full-sugar version, then no (but something tells me you probably knew this already!).

One of the controversies with coffee is the amount of caffeine it contains. Caffeine is a stimulant, so it has been shown to increase your alertness and can improve mental performance. Sometimes this can be unwanted, especially in the later hours of the day. Side effects of coffee include decreased reaction time and improved information processing. Most of us would rather not develop a twitch or get on a caffeine high, so do not drink massive amounts daily (more than 5cups) or drink it all at night. How well your body handles your “dose” of coffee varies individually.

As always, more research is needed to re-confirm all of the above. Until then, drink up, but do so in moderation (4-5 cups a day).

For more info, check out WebMD’s info on coffee or Positively Coffee’s site

Christine is a Nutrition Science student at Baylor University. She loves black beans, the elliptical machine, and a little kick of caffeine.

iPhone and myHealth

Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a way to keep track of weight loss, the amount of reps you do, learn how to meditate, and fall asleep faster? Well, there’s an app for ALL of that.

Welcome to the year of 2009! With iPhone applications, you can graph the buff-ness of your expanding biceps, find a recipe, and learn yoga all on one piece of modern technology. This ain’t your grandfather’s battery pack cell phone from the 90′s (please tell me someone else remembers these!). This is the iPhone!

Some of my personal (practically free!) apps Check out:

1. Sleepmaker <– Like to listen to rain,  sounds of the rain forest, or waves? Fall asleep faster by listening to “Rain: medium and steady with puddles” to simulate your next spring camping trip. Free and upgraded versions for $1.99.
2. Restaurant Nutrition <– I wrote about this in a previous blog, but I use it all the time! Nutrition info for many fast food restaurants. Free.
3. iFitness <– Keep track of your fitness goals, watch demo exercises, and more. $1.99.
4. Whole Foods Recipes <– plan breakfast, lunch, and dinner while having low cal, low fat, high fiber meals! Conveniently shows you the closest Whole Foods market. Free.

My favorite site for health apps has 100 of the best iPhone apps for your mental health. Complete with brain teasers, inspiration, meditation, relaxation, stress relief, social, humor, organization and wellness applications. So handy for a college girl!

Please note that there are many apps out there that do relatively the same thing. Trial by error works, but also try to read the customer reviews before purchasing or downloading an app. You can also check out websites that review apps to get the best one.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the health/mind/spirit-related apps. Developers are constantly coming out with new ones!

Christine is a Nutrition Science student at Baylor University. She loves black beans, the elliptical machine, and a little kick of caffeine.

Food Labels: You Got Some ‘Splainin to Do!

So I walk into Starbucks last week to get my Venti light coffee frappuccino (can you say 180 calories, delicious, and filling?) to get my treat for the week. I noticed the colorful arrangement of pastries, muffins, and sandwiches in the display case. I saw that they have a reduced fat product and a low fat product. Being a nutrition science student, I was very excited that Starbucks had healthier options for the calorie-conscious collegian.

WAIT! Hold up. How do I know which one is better for me? Reduced. Low. Light. What does it all mean?!?!

Instead of flipping a coin to determine which choice is better, here is some info for you about food labels from the FDA. (Don’t be scared by all of the numbers!)

Free: less than 5 cals/serving, less than .5 gram fat or sugar/serving, less than 5 mg sodium or cholesterol per serving

Low: less than 40 cals/serving, <3g fat, <1 g sat fat, <20 mg cholesterol, <140 mg sodium, not defined for sugars

Reduced/less: 25% less compared to original product. Example: reduced fat, reduced sodium, etc

Go back to my signature Starbucks drink, the frappuccino light. It has 180 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 23 grams of sugar (yes, nutrition majors EAT too!). The original frapp has 340 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, and 57 grams of sugar (my blood sugar is spiking just thinking about it). According to the U.S. FDA, a light version  has  to have calories reduced by 1/3 and fat reduced by 50%.

Ok, ok, enough with the numbers! So what does this all mean? In my scenario, what was the best choice? I did not find the “original” product to compare to the reduced options (such as the  blueberry or banana chocolate chip reduced fat coffee cakes). For simplicity’s sake, since we do not have the original product, go with the light or low baked good.

However, the best rule here is to go online to a restaurant’s website and know what the choices are before you go. Knowing before you go takes the stress out of the way, so you know exactly what you want when you get there. Most restaurants have their nutrition information on their websites (think Panera Bread and Jason’s Deli, to name a few). Now, if they do not have what you want when you get there…

Try out this FREE app for your iPhone called Restaurant Nutrition from the Foundation Care Network. Popular restaurants/fast food places like Chili’s, Subway, and McDonald’s featured on this app. I have this app on my iPhone in case I get in a bind. Takes the guesswork out of the food labels AND gives you more options! Thank you, 21st century technology.

For more information about informative food labels, please refer to the FDA’s website

Still hooked on Starbucks? Click here for Starbucks’ 20 Delicious Choices Under 200 Calories and here for all the Starbucks food choices

Christine is a Nutrition Science student at Baylor University. She loves black beans, the elliptical machine, and a little kick of caffeine.

Newbie Nutritionista Hearts Frozen Food

Hello hello! Welcome to Christine’s portion of the College Lifestyles blog. My ramblings will consist of my personal writings about food, exercise, nutrition, stress, microwaving, and eating disorders. Note: this is not a “foodie” blog…this is a nutritionista blog! I will write about things that honestly interest me, so whether these topics make me extremely nerdy or extremely cool is entirely up to you! A good thing to know is that I am from Texas, so I will use “y’all” quite frequently (no stereotypes, please!).

After I graduated high school, I made it my personal goal to cook a good meal for myself every night (I was a freshman, what did you expect?). The women of the Food Network, like Paula Deen and Rachael Ray, were so inspiring to watch. They cook an entire meal from scratch for a family in such a short time. It looks like an art form, how they know exactly which ingredients to place in a bowl and how to cut everything just right.

REALITY CHECK: we are several (if not many!) years away from cooking for a family every night. That said, I encourage you to embrace these years of living alone (or with roommates) and branch out a little. Try a new vegetable every week. Not sure what a casava is? Buy one at the store, look it up online, and get moving! You might find your newest food obsession by being a little risky at the grocery store (scandalous, really!).

Now, Rachael may do it all in thirty minutes, but does she take into account the clean up time or the time it takes to figure out a recipe at the first go? With that said (or rather, written!), cooking does not have to be long and tedious. Rachael does not have formal cooking experience and you do not necessarily need it either! You do not have to spend hours on your feet in front of a stove grasping for the tastes and smells of cooking perfection. Not to say that I do not applaud those who make such attempts, but there are plenty of good ways to get a meal with a healthy dose of nutrients and minimal preparation time,without giving up and throwing your cute pink apron in the trashcan.

So, what’s my answer to getting healthy food where you have little time to prep fresh produce? FROZEN FOOD. Yes, I said it. You may cringe, but there are more nutrients in frozen food than in canned food. The canning process obliterates many heat sensitive nutrients, like Vitamin C. Go ahead, look at a can of corn, tell me how many nutrients you see! Frozen vegetables are flash frozen, which seals in more nutrients than canned foods. Using frozen food in your meals is a great way to get off season fruits and veggies too.

Personally, I like combining frozen food with fresh food. For example, I will defrost/cook some baby frozen shrimp and put it in a fresh green salad. Alternatively, I will take a Lean Cuisine meal, add a cup of (gently) microwaved spinach, and mix it all up. Another example is taking a frozen burger (like Morningstar farm’s black bean burgers or griller’s recipe crumbles) and add it to a pita pocket, put a little shredded cheese, half a tomato and half a pepper in there, and you are good to go! You can also take meat (lean beef, chicken, shrimp, etc) and marinate it for an hour before class. Come back, cook it, freeze it, and enjoy it throughout the week!

For more information on freezing food (especially meat), check out the USDA’s website on frozen foods.

Christine is a Nutrition Science student at Baylor University. She loves black beans, the elliptical machine, and a little kick of caffeine.

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