New Meat Nutrition Labels

On March 1, 2012 the USDA now has rules and regulations in place for the nutrition labeling of some meat products. This should help clear up the foggy assumptions of whether a meat product is really a good option or not.  Remember the leaner (lower fat %) the lower the calories and better the product is to help you lose or maintain your weight!

Here are the changes you will see:
1) All ground or chopped products (e.g. ground beef, ground pork, ground turkey) will have nutrition information on the package label
2) The rule also provides that if a ground or chopped product includes a lean percentage statement on the label, it must also display the fat percentage (ie. will be noted as 90% lean/10% fat ground beef product instead of the traditional way of labeling 90/10)

For more information, visit the Academy of Dietetics & Nutrition website.

Use the Grill: Shed Pounds

This article shows 4 ways to cut nearly 5,000 calories from your diet and help to maintain or lose weight by doing simple swaps.  The push is for people to forgo the restaurants and begin cooking at home to save calories.  The reason: restaurants grill, but they grill by adding fats (and thus calories) when cooking meats and other foods.  The difference? Our grills at home have grates and some of the fat is melted away in the cooking process, while restaurants use a 'flat grill' which doesn't allow for fat to melt away AND they ADD MORE FAT during the cooking process.  

One of the examples provided is switching On the Border Dos XX Tacos for Grilled Fish Tacos at home.  In this switch you will save money, but most importantly save calories going from the 2,150 in the restaurant tacos to 380 in the home grilled version! Visit this link to get the recipe and for other swaps to help you save calories!