BLOG 223 HAMBURGERS
When we think of American food, the classic hamburger comes to mind. Certain chains have made this meat patty and bun extremely popular, especially with all the different versions that now exist. The patty can be fried, grilled, or flame boiled, and some of the traditional toppings include lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, mustard, cheese, pickles, mayonnaise, or different special sauces.
The first hamburger was sold by Louis Lassen in 1895. This information is according to the government of Connecticut who said that hamburgers originated from the Louis Lunch restaurant. This sandwich was actually nameless until a traveler from Hamburg, Germany, named it after where he lived. It wasn’t until about 1921 when White Castle in Kansas became the first chain to carry the product. About 19 years later, McDonalds soon followed suit. This chain was known for adding variety to the sandwich. Because McDonalds offered fast service, the hamburger soon became a hit. Today, Burger King follows McDonalds as the second largest hamburger chain.
A traditional single patty hamburger has about 230 calories, 9.5 grams of fat, 25 carbohydrates, and 13 grams of protein.
Americans consume approximately 50 billion burgers per year.
About 75% of all American restaurants are burger joints.
71% of beef consumed in American is in the form of a hamburger.
There are over 50,000 burger joints across the United States.
Of all sandwiches sold, burgers account for 60%.
McDonalds purchases over 1 billion pounds of hamburger meat per year.
Besides the major chains the list of burger joints that sell the most burgers are as follows: In-N-Out, Culver’s, Fuddruckers, Steak n Shake, Smashburger, Five Guys, Whataburger, Rally’s, Carl’s Jr., and Wendy’s.
A burger can be very basic or very unique these days. The portion distortion of a single patty has also become part of the more the merrier for the belly. Not to mention the French fries or onion rings that come on the side. A burger can pretty much satisfy anyone’s taste-buds and there are now vegetarian and non-red meat options. Those following dietary restrictions might ditch the bun and opt for a lettuce wrap. There are gigantic not able to fit in your mouth burgers, and then there are mini sliders. Depending on your preference, a burger can be detrimental to the waistline or a good addition of iron and nutrients. Going back to the basic hamburger Louis Lassen made might be a lost art, but there’s always room for simplicity in one’s life. At summer barbeques and parties, burgers are always an option on the menu. A hamburger is taste of American tradition well sought after.
BLOG 222 EATING OUT
Dining out. Eating out. To-go. Fast food. Restaurants. Delivery. It’s food served to you and not prepared by you. When cooking at home is not on the to-do list or packing something just isn’t happening, eating out is the solution. No matter the reason, your wallet is paying the price in addition to your waistline.
Eating out allows you to be sociable. It’s a nice change of scenery. It’s a great opportunity to celebrate. It’s less work than cooking. Most times the food is great. Eventually, eating out can become the new norm for you, and suddenly your meals are taking place in different settings three or more times per week. Maybe the following will serve as convincing argument to stay at home more often.
1. Eating out is expensive. Your no effort to cook means that you are being served by someone else and you are paying for this luxury of labor. You also have to add in transportation and the tips.
2. It’s not healthy. The food tastes so good because of the extra fats from oils, condiments, and sauces that add flavor. Fast food is completely salt filled.
3. You don’t really know what is put in the food. If you are watching your waistline, you don’t know what all is included in the cooking process.
4. There is more to be tempted by. You are always asked if you want dessert. The effort to make a poor choice is so much easier than baking a cake yourself. Any day becomes a special occasion.
5. Tradition can be lost. Home cooked recipes are a favorite of everyone. Don’t let their novelty wear off or their passing onward be forgotten. Teach the next generation how to cook up your favorite meals.
6. Time consuming. Eating out can be a waiting game depending on when and where you go. Plus the drive time there and back. This doesn’t hold true for fast food, but fast food can take time off your life by increasing health risks.
7. Portion control. Let’s face it you are likely to eat much more than you would have if you made the meal yourself. Having the will power to just eat some and take the other part home for later can be a daunting task that feels like you are depriving yourself.
8. You tend to drink more beverages that are sugar filled and calorie filled. Free refills so why not have more. Since the alcohol is there why not and another round.
9. You can’t really relax. There are social norms that come with eating in front of others. You aren’t in your pajamas. You typically have to hold conversations too.
10. Guilt. You just keep going even though you told yourself you would eat out less and when you did eat out you wouldn’t order poor choices, have extra drinks, or dessert. But you walk away yet again having done it.
Challenge yourself to 30 days of eating at home. See what happens as your own experiment for your health.
BLOG 221 REASONS TO LIE
To tell a lie, to avoid or not state the truth, to say something that is not accurate, is a behavior that ridicules decision making and questions a person’s character. There are pathological and compulsive liars, and there are those that just tell little lies here and there. Sometimes, understanding why a person lies or why you have even lied requires looking at the perspective through the culprit’s eyes. Here are some reasons people lie when they really don’t need to at all.
1. Avoiding disappointment: The person is worried about losing someone else’s respect. It is human nature to want to be liked, to want to impress others, and to care what other people think. A person might feel the truth could undermine any of these sentiments.
2. The lie matters: A person might lie about going to the grocery store when they really went to the mall because to them this lie matters. For whatever reason, it is important to them that the other party think they went to the store and not the mall.
3. Control: People tell lies because they want to control a situation. In order to get the outcome or reaction they want, a lie is necessary.
4. It’s not a lie to them: Memory tells this person that they are recounting the situation correctly. Their memory is unreliable, so they fill in the blanks with what they believe to actually be true. It is as if the person has created an alternate world in their head that makes them think what they are saying did happen and is true.
5. The person wants what they’re saying to be true: A person might feel that by making a statement or repeating what they want to be true, will actually make it true. Desire and need are human nature, when a person lies it is because to see the world play out how they have imagined it in their mind.
6. Lying becomes a snowball: Repetitive liars often don’t even know they are lying anymore. Sometimes telling one lie, leads to another lie to cover up that lie. The confusion creates more and more lies. They can hardly trust themselves anymore.
The expression that the truth hurts sometimes makes a person lie to be nice or to avoid confrontation. In the end, the truth always prevails and wins. That is why it is the truth. We live in a world with a justice system that we believe should uphold the truth. Therefore, it starts with our moral character and even if it seems like telling a little lie won’t hurt anyone, when the truth surfaces lies usually go back to the teller and are viewed as a negative character defect. Don’t lie to yourself and don’t lie to anyone else….simple.
BLOG 220 MAYONNAISE
Mayonnaise, “mayo”, is a popular condiment used around the world. It is the combination of egg yolk, oil, acid, and either lemon juice or vinegar. This recipe might be tasty, but it is full of trans fat and saturated fat. The heart does not appreciate this. The list of negatives continues with this condiment being high in calories, high in cholesterol, and high in sodium. Mayo is mostly oil. Regardless, people love to use it on sandwiches, in salad dressings, and tarter sauce. Others just use it standing alone to dip foods in. Not paying attention to the portion quickly leads to high amounts of calories and fat in one false swoop. Think of potato salad, deviled eggs, and dressings… portion distortion is rampant.
Mayonnaise is the product of an interesting process called emulsification. Lemon juice or vinegar and egg yolk combine to turn a liquid into a solid. In the U.S., most commercial mayo is made with soy oil which is high in omega 6 fatty acids. There are 57 calories and 4 grams of fat in 1 tablespoon. For an item that isn’t necessary to have, it is more for flavor and your preference, mayonnaise could be opted out. There are reduced fat and lower calorie options, but these tend to be loaded with sugar. There are also a lot of artificial ingredients and preservatives in mayo.
In order to avoid some of the poor points about mayo, making a homemade version is a good idea. Using avocado oil, macadamia nut oil, or olive oil can help lower the amount of omega 6. There are different ways to add flavor so that this healthier version is still tasty. This might include adding hot sauce, curry powder, garlic, or pesto.
Having 4.5% of your daily calories from 1 tablespoon of mayo seems pretty high for such a small quantity. When having macaroni salad, potato salad, or different dressings, it is highly unlikely that just this portion is being consumed. Regular mayo eaters might experience weight gain. Yes, the body needs some fat and some sodium to operate, but we always have to consider the source. It is small daily choices that add of overtime and make a difference. For someone who tops their daily lunchtime sandwich with mayo, this accumulates over time. It can be avoided. Condiments are add-ons that are not necessary. If concerned, prepare at home and maybe that sandwich at lunch can have some of your own version to keep the flavor the way like it.
BLOG 219 GRANOLA
Granola has that healthy but sometimes no-so-healthy make up of ingredients. A basic granola recipe contains the following ingredients: oats, some type of sweetener such as sugar or honey, and some type of crisp made from wheat or rice. Then other add ons might include nuts, dried fruits, or even coconut. The major controversy with granola is that only ¼ cup Is one serving, and most of the time granola is not consumed in this small quantity. Some eat it by the cup as cereal or others drown their acai bowls with the crunch. Well, that one fourth cup is composed of 100 calories, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of protein, 2.5 grams of fat, and 1.5 grams of fiber. Now when nuts, raisons, dark chocolate, or other toppers are included, these numbers rise. A standard cup of granola contains 597 calories and 29 grams of fat. That is so much for such a small amount.
What this means is that filling a bowl with granola and milk to start the day equates to having a 600 calorie breakfast filled with sweeteners. When it comes to granola, a light sprinkle is the recommended serving size to stick to that ¼ cup. This might mean having a little on top of yogurt or a handful as a snack, not a free for all just because it can be bought in health food stores. All calories aside, granola does contain magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, manganese, and selium. It is considered a whole grain and contains folate, Vitamin E, and thiamin. Granola is also a healthy fat. Magnesium is needed for energy production. Calcium is needed for bone health. Selium, zinc, copper, and manganese are all great for red blood cells, bones, and connective tissue. Folate and thiamin are types of Vitamin B which help with cell growth, metabolism, and nerve function.
Granola certainly has its pros and cons. It is not all bad and it is not all good. It is certainly a type of food that can be misleading. Health food stores even make their own and one tends to think that this snack is a great option versus a bag of chips or candy bar. However, there aren’t always labels on the back to tell you just how much sugar or other ingredients are involved. The key is portion control and not getting carried away with reaching for more and more. There are all sorts of granola bars too. Label reading is very important, especially when it comes to what constitutes what one serving is.
BLOG 218 HITTING SNOOZE
Everyone has done it. Hear the alarm, find the alarm, turn it off or hit “snooze”. Just a few more minutes. Delaying the getting up process. Waiting to have to start the day. Avoiding what lies ahead. Most of us do feel anxious when the alarm goes off. Some might feel energized, excited, awake, and others are angry, exhausted, just not ready to rumble…yet.
Baby boomers are actually the biggest snooze hitters at rate 3x higher compared to others. Millennials are the least likely.
But sleep after hitting snooze is almost wasteful. It isn’t restful. What is five more minutes really going to do?? The best thing to do is just get up. About 2/3 of women hit snooze and about ½ of men on occasion and then some people are repeat offenders and might hit the snooze more than once. Life’s circumstances can make the extra little shut-off seem attractive, but realistically you are really gaining quality sleep that will suddenly make the concept of getting up any more inviting.
The key to fixing the snooze habit is to get enough rest. Yeah, yeah, easier said than done. Chipping away at sleep over time can happen when life has all its demands. Suddenly 30 minutes less turns into 2 hours less and then the next day has arrived and you aren’t ready. Time keeps ticking whether you slept or not. Work starts when works starts, same with school and other obligations.
Hitting snooze just doesn’t set the right tone for the day. Your mind is telling you to hold on, hold off, just wait. Some people know what they can get away with. They know the traffic, the if I skip breakfast, the if I don’t blow dry my hair, little tricks to get 5 more minutes.
My recommendation is to stop hitting snooze. Get up when you originally set the alarm with that same intention. Your mindset will be in a far better place. Starting the day rushed and stressed because of a few more minutes of not even sound sleep, isn’t worth the risk. Face the day with positivity and if you get up on time, make the habit to go to bed on time too. The clock can be on your team, if you make the decision to be the boss who doesn’t compromise on your goals and what needs to get accomplished.
The act of smiling is good for you. The facial movement when smiling triggers positive endorphins to be released. In fact, a fake smile produces the same thing because this physical muscle movement tells the endorphins to expose themselves. Happiness cranks up and stress backs down. Facial expression can give our mood away or cover up our mood. I might grin and bear a conversation I don’t agree with or want to be part of. Smiling tricks the brain to be happy. Positive thoughts produce smiling. Smiling is a facial expression that influences our mood. When we smile and someone sees us smile, it can evoke their feelings to smile too. Smiling becomes contagious. Besides, we certainly make more friends when we smile and make ourselves appear approachable.
Smiling makes you more attractive. Showing those teeth makes you more desirable. I mean think of a dating website…. do you go for the person with a straight face?? This isn’t a passport photo. You display innocence and kindness that make you appear trustworthy with a smile. Your own confidence increases too. When you are more sure of yourself you become more productive and motivated. It’s almost like a painkiller and alleviator to a bad day. Stress can be reduced and then blood pressure lowers.
We smile for photos all the time right?? A smile can be someone’s best feature. Just like other muscles in our body, we have to exercise the ones in the face and smile. Smiling can really ease the tension in a room. We go through life on a roller coaster, but we have to remember to smile and think of what makes us happy, thankful, and loved. I use my smile to help other people because I know a smile can make someone’s day. We often times forget that we influence other people’s lives all the time. So don’t be that person in the photo who doesn’t smile. Be the one who’s pearly whites sparkle grin makes heads turn in the room.
BLOG 216 APPLE CIDER VINEGAR
When yeast is added to traditional apple juice, the fruit sugar turns into alcohol. That is the premise of fermentation. The bacteria in this alcohol then become acetic acid. This acid is the culprit for the sour taste and smell of vinegar. We use vinegar to bake, cook, it’s in most salad dressings, and it is readily used as a preservative. It is not meant to be used in high amounts due to its acidity. Over consumption can lead to stomach problems, damage to your teeth, and it is not good for the lining of your throat. So why are we hearing so many claims that apple cider vinegar is great for our health??
Research doesn’t support many of the claims we hear about this vinegar. Mixing a couple tablespoons with water has been used for several health tricks. Apple cider vinegar has been used as a home remedy dating back to the early Greeks. At that time, it was used topically to treat wounds.
Today, we hear about this product being used for weight loss, to make dandruff go away, clear acne, and to improve heart health. The link to weight loss is based on the notion that vinegar improves blood sugar levels. This would then help people with type 2 diabetes which is associated with obesity. Some say that it is an appetite suppressant. Others say it interferes with the body’s ability to digest starch which means less enters the blood stream.
Vinegar also has antioxidants which can help with cellular repair.
It has been said to cure the common cold because germs can’t survive in the acidic environment that vinegar ingested creates.
When it comes to your gut, apple cider vinegar has the good bacteria that can help with an upset stomach and help stop diarrhea.
It has also been used to stop hiccups.
The potassium and enzymes in this vinegar have been said to increase energy. The potassium can also help with leg cramps.
It has also been said to white teeth when used as a toothpaste.
Some claim it help the coloring of bruising go away.
The key is that a little goes a long way. It is a weak acid, but it is still acid in your body. Having too much can cause heartburn and bloating. Although it may claim to suppress your appetite, prolonged use will damage the stomach’s lining. This is also true for teeth whitening use because eventually your enamel will deteriorate from the acidity. Home remedies are effective in the eye of the beholder and can be the first responder application to a problem that could be treated without too much effort. Do what is best for your body and what works for your body. That is the freedom of choice and the freedom to control your health’s destiny.
BLOG 215 CHAPPED LIPS
Chapped lips can happen at any time to anyone making the lips dry, scaly, or even sore. Some of the main culprits of this condition include dehydration, sun exposure, smoking, constantly licking the lips, possible vitamin deficiency, weather, and breathing through the mouth. As a result, the lips might crack, peel, flake, or feel tender.
There are few home remedies that can help chapped lips. These include:
1. Exfoliation: It is important to remove the dead skin cells off the chapped lips and this can be done by creating a paste with sugar and honey.
2. Coconut oil: This is a natural moisturizer.
3. Caster oil: This is effective at hydrating.
4. Aloe vera gel: This can help with any pain from the chapped lips.
5. Cucumbers: When rubbed lightly on the lips, the juice helps hydrate.
6. Petroleum jelly: This is effective when applied several times during the day.
7. Water: In general, at least drink those 8 recommended glasses per day.
Moisture in the body is a must to keep the lips fresh and smooth. Winter is a hard month for the lips as the skin is literally breaking from this lack of moisture. There’s a lack of humidity and the air is dry. Licking the lips only makes the problem worse because once the saliva dries, it is back to dryness over and over again. Certain lipsticks and products contain chemicals and allergens that can dry the lips. Medications can do this too. This is why the plain, boring, lip balms and moisturizes are more effective. When it comes to flaky skin on the lips, the best idea is to just let it be don’t pick at it and force it to be removed when it is not ready to come off yet. Look for moisturizes that have a wax protectant and vitamin E. Topical steroids can also be used. Sometimes a person finds a chap stick they love and almost become addicted to application due to the fragrance or taste. However, sometimes constant application can cause further irritation. For those with sensitivity, there are hypoallergenic lip balms. If all else fails, a dermatologist can recommend a solution.
Having chapped lips is a very common problem as our lips are constantly being exposed to the weather, to our movement activity of the area, to our foods and beverages, to our talking, kissing, and for the ladies to their lipsticks, liners, and glosses. Plump and luscious lips are in, but not the type that are dry, flaky, and irritated. Keep your smile vibrant and your lips moisturized. Just another reason to drink water, eat healthy, and practice good self-care.
BLOG 214 ENERGY DRINKS
A pick me up, wake me up, pre workout, pre event, you name the need for an energy drink. They started out so innocently with Red Bull and what a Starbucks fancy drink could do. They have now evolved into a market of their own. They’re widely promoted and claim to improve performance. They have actually become the most popularly consumed dietary supplement next to multivitamins. Men between the ages of 18 to 34 years consume the most amount while 1/3 of teen between the ages of 12 to 17 have them on a regular basis. Suddenly sitting through class requires a drink, going to the gym require a drink, heading out for a night on the town means starting with a drink, or just to get through the tail end of a day.
There are basically two types. There are the typical 16oz can or bottle type or the 2 to 3oz energy shot. Caffeine is the main component of these drinks, totaling up to 240mg in that 16oz or about 200mg per shot. A typical 12oz canned soda has about 35mg and a standard 8oz cup of coffee has about 100mg. Caffeine overload certainly provides that alertness and spike. Other ingredients might include guarana which is a Brazilian caffeine source, sugar, ginseng, vitamin B, and carnitine.
Science is showing that there are a number of poor health effects when it comes to these drinks. Energy drinks have actually resulted in hospital visits. About 25% of college students mix them with alcohol. Those who do this have been found to report higher rates of drunk driving, unprotected sex, and other alcohol related injuries. The CDC reports that a person is four times more likely to report binge drinking when they also have an energy drink.
A person might feel might alert or feel that their performance has improved, but excessive intake of caffeine takes its toll. It can lead to poor sleep problems, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, can cause dehydration, can lead to anxiety, and can also upset the stomach. The bottom line is that we live in a world that favors excess. I won’t work out as well, I won’t have as much fun, or I will be tired are all reasons energy drinks can lure a person in. Then this become a habit and then this becomes part of the routine. The excess sugar goes to the waistline and the poor decision making leads to a bad recipe just for a drink. Better off with just coffee. Better off with just getting good sleep. Better off with keep in it simple and clean.