Posts Tagged ‘dining’

International No Diet Day

Monday, May 6th, 2013

Emily Decker, RD

Have you ever tried a fad diet? Did it work for you? How long could you stick with the plan? The variety of fad diets ranges from no carbs, to only cabbage, to smoothies, and the list goes on and on. Most Americans have tried some outlandish craze to drop those 5 or 10 pounds to look good in a bathing suit, wedding dress, or suit for a high school reunion only to soon regain the pounds they suffered to shed, plus some.

May 6th is International No Diet Day. Who would have thought a Registered Dietitian would encourage Americans to not follow a diet?! This day is an opportunity to encourage people to follow one of most RDs favorite words, moderation! That’s right. Moderation means there is no food you have to avoid. The goal is to focus on how much and how often you consume higher calorie and/or fat foods.

This May, focus on lifestyle changes rather than looking through the latest magazine for the new popular diet celebrities are advertising or trying. The plate method is a fairly simple and realistic way to balance meals without feeling deprived or confused all day. Instead of worrying about the number of grams, milligrams, or calories to consume at each meal, the plate method encourages individuals to have a wide variety of foods from each food group at each meal.

The USDA’s website has multiple interactive tools and printable materials to help you make healthier choices on a daily basis. The basics of the plate method include making half of your plate fruits and vegetables, a quarter grains (choosing whole grain products half of the time) and the remaining quarter a lean protein source with a low-fat dairy product on the side.

Try to use smaller plates, bowls, and cups as this will help you follow recommended portion sizes.

For example, a healthy plate lunch could consist of a kiwi, chicken stir-fry with 3oz grilled chicken, ½ cup brown rice, ½ cup cooked mixed vegetables in a low sodium sauce, and 8oz skim milk.

Portions tend to be one of America’s biggest problems. In today’s society, bigger is better. Unfortunately for our health, bigger portions are not the best. Try to use smaller plates, bowls, and cups. This will help you follow recommended portion sizes without feeling robbed. Also, using measuring cups to portion out your serving sizes can help prevent mindlessly eating larger than needed portions.

Try to remember there are no “bad foods”. You do not need to feel guilty for eating a high fat/calorie meal or snack, but make a conscious effort to make a healthier choice at the next meal. For example, if you know you are going to have a cheeseburger at your Memorial Day cookout, try to leave off the mayo, add extra lettuce, tomato, and onion, and choose a whole wheat bun.  Or if you ate ribs for dinner, try to skip dessert or choose a piece of fruit versus a piece of cake. Eating healthy is about moderation and making compromises. Overall, try to focus on which food is healthier and go with that option a majority of the time. But remember we are all human…I have yet to meet a Registered Dietitian that doesn’t love a piece of chocolate every now and then.

Emily Decker is a Registered Dietitian for Sodexo at Center for Nutrition and Diabetes Health affiliated with Wayne Memorial Hospital in Goldsboro, NC.

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Healthy Aging

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

Jennifer Miller, RD, LD, CNSC

Good nutrition and physical activity are cornerstones to staying healthy throughout life. Because nutrient needs change as we get older, it is important to know which foods offer vitamins and minerals that will promote good health.

Foods rich in nutrients are familiar and easy to find, which makes achieving balance and building a healthier lifestyle simple and stress-free.   Follow these small steps to create healthy habits that will benefit your health now and for the rest of your life:

  • Select foods in their rawest form when seeking out foods that are rich in nutrients— look for ingredients you can pronounce and limit processed,  pre-packaged foods as much as possible
  • Eat fresh, whole fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors. The three major antioxidants are beta-carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E.  To get the biggest benefits of antioxidants, eat these foods in their rawest form or lightly steamed—don’t overcook or boil. September is still harvest time in many areas so continue to seek out local farmers markets
  • Opt for whole grains—such as, whole wheat bread, pasta, cereals and rice. Check the ingredients label and select “whole” grains or “whole” wheat versus “enriched”.  These are best in offering antioxidants, vitamins B and E, fiber and iron
  • Keep muscles strong and healthy by selecting lean proteins, found in several types of foods—such as: lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs and low-fat dairy.  The healthiest types of proteins come from vegetarian sources: beans, nuts and soy
  • Commit to a healthy breakfast that includes whole grains, protein, and calcium-, vitamin D- and vitamin C-rich foods.

    Healthy eating = healthy aging

  • Become physically active almost everyday.  Regardless of age or condition, there is a type of physical activity that’s right for you.  Always ask your doctor whether it is safe to start a physical activity program.

It’s never too late to begin good habits and start a path of health and wellness.   Help feel your best by learning how to make healthy food choices – especially those that are lower in calories and packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber and other nutrients.  Remember to enjoy your diet and become physically active every day!

Jennifer Miller, RD, LD, CNSC is a Clinical Nutrition Manager for Sodexo at Georgetown Hospital System in Murrells Inlet & Georgetown, South Carolina.

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Making Kids Favorites Healthy

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

To learn more about Sodexo's work in improving student well-being, click on the above photograph of Lisa and her son!

When I first walked out of Roth Hall at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y. holding my culinary arts degree in my hands, you can bet that I didn’t see the position of director of culinary services for Sodexo Education-Schools in my future.  I mean, who graduates from one of the top culinary schools in the country and wants to be the school lunch lady, right? 

Last May, just over 20 years later, I found myself standing at a podium at the CIA’s Greystone Campus in St. Helena, Calif., kicking off Sodexo’s first ever K-12 Culinary Research and Development Conference.  In the audience were chefs from more than 20 national food manufacturers as well as many of our own chefs and dietitians from Sodexo-served school districts, where we provide more than 2.5 million meals every day.

Our goal was to work together to create a diverse set of healthy, delicious and nutritious recipes specifically designed with kids in mind.  As a team, we wanted to develop dishes that begin to introduce global flavors to our tiny customers while also offering healthier versions of other regional favorites. 

At the very core of our mission was a desire to increase our dependency on whole grains for texture and flavor while continuing to decrease the fat, sugar, and salt in the meals we serve.  Together we created amazing dishes like Fantastic Stuffed Mushrooms, Maple Granola Crusted Sweet Potatoes, Mediterranean Lentil Soup, and Moroccan Apricot Chicken.

At the three-day conference, our chefs and our manufacturing partners made a commitment to each other to make the food kids like to eat healthier.  We were not dealing with little no-name manufacturers that no one has ever heard of, but household names like General Mills, Kellogg’s, Uncle Ben’s, and Dole.  These are school food suppliers with the power and, more importantly, the desire to improve school nutrition not only for Sodexo-served schools, but students nationwide. 

At the end of the conference, I took a red-eye flight home so that I could be there to pick up my 2-year-old son Max from daycare.  As I carted him, squirming, into our van, he started digging into my laptop bag and came out with a bag of crackers that I had “appropriated” from one of our vendors.  With a delighted look on his face, he said, “Ooh, you brought me a present! Open it, open it!”  And open it I did, happy in the knowledge that he was eating something that was whole grain, low in sugar, fat, and sodium, and, as far as Max was concerned, made just for him.

Being the school lunch lady is awesome!

Lisa Feldman is a Certified Research Chef and a director of culinary services for Sodexo Education-Schools

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Not Your Parent’s College Dining Experience

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

Click the photograph for additional photographs.

Campus dining has come a long way in the past few decades however, the Sodexo-run Universities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have gone to the extreme to provide students with more than just fun and food when they come into the dining hall. 

Chef Michael Dahl has visited several accounts in the district and served “Xtreme S’mores” to the students coming by for lunch.  What makes a s’more extreme?  Chef Michael lights a marshmallow on fire using a blow torch, sprays it down with dark chocolate using a spray gun, and then passes it to the student for them to dip it in the fresh fruit toppings of their choice, all in the middle of the dining hall. 

“‘Xtreme S’mores in the Dallas Baptist University cafeteria was a blast! It was so much fun to see the chefs at work, and get the chance to interact with them. 

“I was having a stressful day with school, so this was such a pleasant surprise, not to mention that the s’mores were delicious”, says sophomore Katie Vineyard of Dallas Baptist University.  But it doesn’t stop with flamin’ s’mores.  At Texas Christian University, Chef Charlie Guajardo has come up with “Tastes Around the World”, a series of themed weeks in the dining hall that feature different cuisines from specific regions across the globe. 

So far, Chef Charlie and his team have prepared calorie consious Mediterranean, Far East and Caribbean dishes for the students of TCU.  “Tastes Around the World gives the students an opportunity to step outside the box and try food from a region or culture that they may not have tried otherwise.  This also gives us a chance to see which dishes from these regions are most popular among students so that we can incorporate them into future menus”, says Chef Charlie. 

Having culinary experts like these make it easy to make every day a better day for students in Sodexo dining facilities.

Kelly Raw is a district marketing coordinator for the Sodexo Campus Segment.

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Embracing Meatless Mondays

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

Here at Meatless Monday, we’re delighted that Sodexo is embracing the Meatless Monday movement in your client facilities around the country. We’re particularly pleased that you’ve chosen to focus on the health & wellness benefits, in line with your Better Tomorrow Plan, because it’s holistic changes which can improve our society, as well as our environment.

Founded in 2003 in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Meatless Monday is all about helping people cut their meat consumption by 15 percent. This percentage equals one day a week and by slightly changing eating habits, people can reduce their risks of preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.

So what are the health benefits of cutting back on your meat intake?

REDUCE HEART DISEASE: Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death for both men and women in America. A recent Harvard University study found that replacing saturated fat-rich foods (meat and full fat dairy) with foods rich in polyunsaturated fat (vegetable oils, nuts and seeds) reduces the risk of heart disease by 19 percent.

LIMIT CANCER RISK: Hundreds of studies suggest that diets high in fruits and vegetables may reduce cancer risk, particularly colon cancer.

FIGHT DIABETES: Research suggests that lower consumption of red and processed meat reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes.

CURB OBESITY: People on low-meat or vegetarian diets have significantly lower body weights and body mass indices.

IMPROVE YOUR DIET: Consuming beans or peas results in higher intakes of fiber, protein, folate, zinc, iron and magnesium with lower intakes of saturated fat and total fat.

Why not give it a try. See what cutting back just one day a week can do for your health!

Chris Elam is the program director for Meatless Monday at the not-for-profit organization “The Monday Campaigns.”

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Starting your Day off Right

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

Heart disease is still the number one killer in America. Stroke is the third leading cause of death. Recent news stories showing that one in three American children is overweight or obese; and the health implications of this have many people thinking about their cardiac health, and what they can do to live healthier lives.

At Sodexo we’ve been thinking about – and developing healthy alternatives for traditional favorites – for a long time. So, when I was asked to stop by the studios of WUSA-9 NEWS, the CBS affiliate in the Nation’s Capitol as part of Sodexo’s partnership with the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk and START! Walking efforts to whip up an easy, healthy breakfast, I jumped at the chance.

I prepared “South of the Border-Style Eggs Benny” which has just 217 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 653 milligrams of sodium, a ‘guilt-free’ alternative to traditional Eggs Benedict. I wanted to show that you do not have to sacrifice taste, variety and even fun when eating healthy.

Here’s the recipe if you want to make it yourself, at home. It’s easy, and delicious. And a great way to start your day.

1/4 cup roasted red potato, sliced (a great way to use last night’s leftover roast potatoes!)
1 medium egg, poached
1/2 whole grain English muffin, toasted
1/4 cup pico de gallo (you can make this, or purchase it fresh at your local grocery store, in the produce section)
1 tsp queso fresco (a Mexican crumbling cheese. Can’t find it? Try feta cheese…)

  1. Spray red potatoes lightly with canola cooking spray and roast in a 400 degree oven for 25-35 minutes. Slice into ¼” slices
  2. In a saucepan, add water to a 2” depth, minimum. Heat until simmering (small bubbles gently rise from the bottom of the pot).
  3. Carefully crack the egg and place in water, being careful to avoid splashing, or breaking the yolk. Simmer, untouched, for 2 ½ minutes.
  4. Toast the English muffin half(ves).
  5. Top the muffin with 3 warm potato slices.
  6. Carefully remove the egg with a perforated or slotted spoon.
  7. Place the egg on top of the potato slices.
  8. Top the egg with ¼ cup pico de gallo.
  9. Crumble 1 tsp queso fresco over the pico de gallo.

                     ‘Eggs Benny’      Eggs Benedict          RDI
Calories            217                        464                      2000
Total fat            5 g                          29g                      65g
Sat fat                1.5 g                      12.1g                   20g
Sodium             653 mg                1140mg              2400mg
Cholesterol     190 mg                470mg                300mg

Dave Willard is the national executive chef for Sodexo Health Care

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New Design Promotes Fresh and Healthy Dining

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

Click the picture for a tour of the new dining facility

The kitchen is the heart of the home – a place where we meet to nourish body, mind and soul. Many say a dining hall is a student’s kitchen away from home – even though we know we can never fully compete with mom and dad.

As a registered dietitian practicing in a college environment, I’m fascinated with how design and culinary finesse contributes to good nutrition. Sodexo just transformed Eickhoff Resident Dining Hall at The College of New Jersey into a part home-away-from-home kitchen, part hometown restaurant, and part food court.

Dining and good nutrition fuel a student’s performance and overall experience. The new facility has 10 locations designed as open kitchens or mini-restaurants.  Our customers can custom-order meals, then watch the hot-off-the-grill prep and delivery.  

We’ve worked hard at TCNJ to create the kind of environment that promotes good nutrition. Our new design even takes into account the growing concern of many students (and their parents) who have special dietary needs, such as a sensitivity to gluten or lactose.  The concept gives those students, and their families, peace of mind that they are dining safely. Nutritional information is available through nutritional kiosks and digital signage. Our customers can now make smart and informed choices.

We also have a new vegetarian meat-free-zone restaurant. As a dietician on a college campus, I know students following a vegetarian lifestyle are grateful to learn how to combine foods for optimum fuel and energy.

The best way to ensure good nutrition throughout life is to learn how to cook wholesome foods. Our demonstration cooking area is the stage for teaching this important life skill while students talk informally about it to our chefs.  Bottom line, this new restaurant concept will maximize the nutrition by delivering the freshest food possible.

Take it from someone who is passionate about good nutrition, the new dining facility at TCNJ is a recipe that works!

Jeanne Molloy is a registered dietitian and part of the Sodexo team at The College of New Jersey

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