With my busy lifestyle, granola bars are a staple in my diet. I usually eat granola bars during rush-hour traffic, to tide me over during my workout (before dinner). I had been eating Kashi Chewy granola bars, which have ~140 calories, 5 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber, and 6 grams of protein (good pre-workout snack, in my opinion). There are a variety of flavors to choose from (trail mix, cherry dark chocolate, honey almond flax, and peanut peanut butter). My favorites are the cherry dark chocolate and peanut peanut butter.

However, a coworker introduced me to Fiber One chewy granola bars recently, and I’m hooked! These granola bars come in Oats and Chocolate (my favorite) or Oats and Peanut Butter varieties. Although they only contain 2 grams of protein, they contain 9 grams of fiber, 140 calories, and 4 grams of fat. Although the Kashi bar is higher in protein and better for a pre- or post-workout snack, the Fiber One bars pack in more fiber, which can also keep you feeling full, lower your cholesterol, and keep you regular. It’s great that cereal companies are looking to give us more fiber and more protein for our overall health without skimping on flavor!!

My dilemma in the morning when I pack my treats for the day now is which granola bar to choose: cherry dark chocolate or oats and chocolate! I love that I can get my chocolate fix while eating low fat and high fiber!!!

Family reunions are abundant during the summer months, and many reunions involve food and picnics. Do you know how to keep your family safe during a picnic by practicing food safety?

Why is it important? Bacteria grow in warm, moist conditions. If food is in the “danger zone” (40-140 degrees F), bacteria will grow more rapidly in these foods than if the foods were kept at a safe temperature (which is less than 40 degrees F for cold foods and more than 140 degrees F for hot foods).

In case you need a refresher, here are a few tidbits to keep in mind:

1. Transport your food in an appropriate container. If you have a hot dish to transport, cover the food, use a hot pack and put the food in an insulated container (like a Pyrex container). If you have a cold dish to transport, put ice packs (or ice) in a cooler and keep the food in the cooler.

2. Transport your cold food in the passenger part of your vehicle, not the trunk. Your trunk’s temperature can reach up to 150 degrees F in the summer months. This is great for keeping hot foods hot, but not for keeping cold foods cold. If the food should be cold, keep it next to the air conditioning vent in your car. If it’s hot, put it in the trunk. Simple to remember. Also, keep the cold foods in the shade once you get to the picnic site (if a refrigerator is not available).

3. Bacteria grow in any foods, even fruits. Keep your watermelon and canteloupe cold (as bacteria have been introduced to these foods when you cut them) or choose to bring foods that do not need to be cut beforehand (peaches, pears, plums, apples, etc). Same goes for vegetables.

4. Keep foods at the appropriate temperature during the picnic. If you have a cold dish, surround it with ice or ice packs (don’t just set it on top of the ice). Try to keep the hot food covered as much as possible and keep it in its insulated container. This goes for the grilled items too–keep raw meats in a separate, insulated container before they are cooked, and make sure that once you cook them, they don’t sit out in the sun for more than an hour.

5. Throw away any food that should be kept cold or hot if it has been sitting out over 1 hour, especially if it’s over 90 degrees outside!!!!

6. Consider taking smaller portions to the picnic. For example, you make a huge container of potato salad, put it in one container to transport, and put out this huge container for everyone to eat. Only 1/3 of it is consumed at the picnic. You’ve wasted 2/3 of the potato salad because you need to throw away any of the food that has been sitting out over 1 hour. However, if you divide the potato salad into 3 smaller bowls and take each container out of your cooler as your family consumes it, the other two containers may still be safe if they’ve been sitting in ice (not just cold water) in your cooler, unopened, the whole afternoon.

I hope that you enjoy your summer picnics and that you and your family have safe eats!

Check out Fight Bacteria for more information.

A month ago, I posted an article about getting your calcium intake each day. I mentioned that Total is one breakfast cereal that helps you meet your daily calcium requirements. A recent research study (published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, November 2006) shows that eating breakfast cereal with milk can increase your calcium intake to about 450 milligrams a day (or about 40-45% of your daily calcium need).

Granted, most of the calcium that you ingest in the morning is from the milk added to the cereal (unless you eat cereal that is calcium-fortified). But, if you have 10 minutes in the morning, instead of having toast, think about that bowl of cereal!

As for the milk, choose low fat (1%) or nonfat (skim) milk to lower your fat intake each day while still getting your calcium. And, better yet, make sure that your child starts off with that bowl of cereal and milk in the morning–most female teenagers (some studies suggest over 80%) do NOT meet their calcium needs each day, putting them at greater risk for osteoporosis later in life.

So eat your milk and cereal!

Mike published a post the other day about how money and marathons are related. With his permission, I will post part of his advice, as I think it pertains to building nutrition and increasing physical activity in general.

“While training last year, I knew I was burning tons of calories, so I took it upon myself to make up ALL of those calories when eating. I relished in my ability to eat whatever I wanted, and almost any quantity I wanted. What was the end result? I still had to carry my 226 lb body 26.2 miles on race day! I didn’t lose a single pound. Granted, I had converted a lot of fat into muscle during training, but I deserved that horrible finish time. I barely “Beat the Bridge” and finished with just under a 14 minute mile pace.

How could I do better this year?

Yeah, I could just push myself harder this year (which I am anyway), but if I continue consuming the same amount of food as I’m burning in calories, I’ll still have to haul my fat 226 lb butt across that finish line. Or, I could reduce my calories to a reasonable amount to provide energy to complete the run and recuperate, and carry less weight for 26.2 miles.

I chose option #2 this year. I’ve already lost about 7 lbs in the last 1.5 months of running, and I hope to be down to 205-210 by race day. However, I have to balance my goal to lose weight with my body’s need to sustain itself during training. If I take in too few calories, my body will give up on me, and I could possible injure myself permanently. Or I could end up gorging on food once this period of “fasting” is over.

What lessons can we take from this post?

Keep in mind that Mike is attempting to lose 15-20 pounds over the course of 5 months (which is about -0.5-1 pound a week). Don’t try to lose weight too fast –aim for 0.5-1 pound a week for sustainable weight loss.

Also, by eating adequate amounts of healthy carbs and protein, but keeping fat in check, you can lose weight without sacrificing the carbohydrates and protein you need for those long runs. For example, eat grilled chicken instead of fried chicken and a baked potato instead of french fries. As well, remember that muscle weighs more than fat, so if you start working out after taking a hiatus, you might not see weight loss but might lose inches around your “trouble spots”, which is better overall!!

Many of us are goal-oriented individuals. We want that feeling of accomplishment to feel good about ourselves. We have goals in our careers, finances, and home life. Let’s extend that to our physical selves.

With aerobic fitness workouts, we have measurable goals. For example, running an 8 minute mile (my own goal), beating a certain number of stairs per 30 minutes, or biking at a certain constant pace for 60 minutes. When the machine or our clocks tell us that we’ve met our goal, we can celebrate.

Strength training also provides many opportunities for meeting goals. We may not focus much on the time factor though. Rather, we can count number of repetitions of a certain weight. In college, when I first started strength training (I was a pretty overweight kid), I had a goal of bench pressing 225 lbs. I started with 135 lbs and worked until I could complete 30 repetitions of 135 lbs, with breaks. I continued stacking up the weights through the months until that one day I pushed up 225lbs. I felt amazing that day.

Although your goals may not match up with what others around you can accomplish, don’t be discouraged. Ultimately, your goal could be to out-bench, out-run, or out-anything that friend or stranger.

Set measurable, yet attainable goals in order to provide yourself the ability to feel an accomplishment. Without goals and without rewards, your fitness and strength training activities may feel rather pointless. Give yourself something to work towards so that you’re excited to go to the gym, the track, or the weight room!