How to Prepare Healthy Meals Quickly
I am not a fan of spending hours in the kitchen to prepare a meal. I like my meals to be quick and easy to prepare. Here are a few tips to get in and out of the kitchen quickly with a well-balanced nutritious (and good tasting!) meal.
There are 3 core principles you need to have in place to prepare meals efficiently:
Keep it simple – Gourmet meals can be saved for special occasions. If you want to prepare a meal quickly opt for recipes with fewer ingredients that do not require elaborate preparations.
Make it a habit – Prepare the same meals on a fairly regular basis and you’ll be able to throw ingredients together without thought.
Multi-task – Now this is usually frowned upon, but when it comes to preparing a meal it’s good to juggle more than one task at a time, such as boiling water while you prepare the meat and veggies.
There is nothing worse than being in the middle of putting a meal on the table and realizing you are missing an essential ingredient. This is where menu planning comes into play. A little preparation one day a week can drastically save you time later!
Here are 5 tips for making quick yet healthy meals:
- Purchase vegetables, such as baby carrots and salad greens, prewashed and ready-to-eat.
- Select fruit packaged and pre-sliced.
- Use the microwave to cook vegetables quickly.
- Find recipes that require minimal cleaning and preparation of ingredients.
- Choose meats at the store with low levels of visible marbling (white, fatty streaks) to decrease time spent removing the fat.
If you have a good tip that works for you please share it below!
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Heart Healthy Tips
http://www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com
Lower Cholesterol – How Quickly Will a Cheeseburger Impact My Cholesterol Labs
A subscriber to The Heart of Health submitted the following question.
Question: “Hello ma’am, I need some information. My cholesterol level is finally down to a reasonable level, but do you know how sensitive are cholesterol readings? I ask because I’m worried if I eat a cheeseburger or a KFC meal that my cholesterol level will sky rocket back up to over 200.”
Answer: If you revert back to unhealthy fast food on a regular basis your cholesterol levels will elevate quickly.
However, if you follow a heart healthy diet and occasionally treat yourself to a cheeseburger or other high fat/high cholesterol meal your cholesterol levels for the long-term will not be negatively impacted.
That being said it is important to discuss the need to fast prior to lab work with your physician. If you have a high fat/high cholesterol meal within 12-24 hours prior to your cholesterol lab work, the results may be skewed due to your diet choices.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Heart Health Made Easy
http://www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com
Dr. Houston Answers Your Top Heart Health Questions – Part 2
Here are more of the questions and answers from my interview with Dr. Mark Houston in February 2010.
Lisa Nelson RD: Is there a connection between blood pressure and heart rate?
Dr. Houston: If blood pressure increases, normally the heart rate should decrease. However, in some patient with dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system the heart rate may increase with the blood pressure.
Lisa Nelson RD: Blood pressure fluctuation – What causes blood pressure to fluctuate drastically throughout the day? Is it something to worry about?
Dr. Houston: Most people have fluctuations during the day due to the normal circadian rhythm (high in AM and low in PM). Stress, anger, eating, exercise, rest, meditation, coffee are some of the things that will alter blood pressure. About 60 % of patients that drink coffee have increase blood pressure for several hours after consumption.
Lisa Nelson RD: What is the risk of not treating high blood pressure? For example, someone has a blood pressure of 160/100, but they feel perfectly fine. Why should they be concerned and seek treatment?
Dr. Houston: Heart attack, stroke, heart failure, kidney failure, loss of vision, aortic rupture, valve dysfunction, atherosclerosis. Hypertension is the silent killer. At this level the arteries will be damaged over time and all of these complications will occur. At that high level of blood pressure one will decrease life expectancy by about 15 years or more.
Lisa Nelson RD: Do blood pressure recommendations change with age?
Dr. Houston: A normal blood pressure is 120/80 regardless of age. If it goes up with age it means the arteries are not healthy, but very stiff.
Lisa Nelson RD: What is a normal blood pressure response post exercise? How quickly should heart rate return to normal post exercise?
Dr. Houston: Blood pressure will fall for several hours after exercise depending on hydration status and severity and length of exercise. Usually systolic (top number) blood pressure falls about 10-15 mm Hg and diastolic (bottom number) 5-10 mm Hg. Heart rate should return to normal within 2 minutes post exercise.
Part 1 – Top Heart Health Questions Answered By Dr. Houston
I’ll be posting more of the Q&A with Dr. Houston over the next few weeks. Sign-up for the e-course 7 Natural Ways to Lower Blood Pressure and you’ll also be notified when the new blog posts are added.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
http://www.lowerbloodpressurewithlisa.com
5 Tips to Prepare Healthy Meals Quickly
Do you need to get in and out of the kitchen fast? Here are 5 tips to speed up meal prep while still delivering a heart healthy meal:
- Purchase vegetables, such as baby carrots and salad greens, pre-washed and ready-to-eat.
- Select fruit packaged and pre-sliced.
- Use the microwave to cook vegetables quickly.
- Find recipes that require minimal cleaning and preparation of ingredients.
- Choose meats at the store with low levels of visible marbling (white, fatty streaks) to decrease time spent removing the fat.
If you have a good tip, feel free to share below!
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Heart Health Made Easy
http://www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com
Obesity Rates Have Stabilized
Researchers periodically evaluate data from NHANES (National Healthy and Nutrition Examination Survey). Recently rates of obesity were compared over the past 50 years.
Between 1960-1980 the number of adults who were obese stayed relatively stable. Between 1976-1980 and 1988-1994 data the number of obese adults in the US increased 8 percentage points. Then between 1999-2000 data reported further increases in the number of U.S. obese adults.
Well, the latest research has been analyzed again and the good news is that the percentage of obese women did not significantly increase between 1999 and 2008.
If obesity is not longer increasing, that is great news; but the fact that 68% of U.S. adults are overweight or obese and 32% of U.S. school children are above the 85th percentile BMI-for-age leaves plenty of room for concern.
It’s still critical that individuals who are overweight or obese take steps to lose the extra pounds. Obesity is a major health risk increasing risk for many diseases, including heart disease and cancer.
Overweight is defined as a body mass index (BMI) between 25-29.9.
Obesity is defined as a body mass index above 30.0.
Don’t know where you fall? Here’s a how to calculate your BMI:
Weight divided by height divided by height x 703 = BMI
Here’s an example:
Height = 64 inches
Weight = 150 pounds
150 divided by 64 divided by 64 x 703 = 25.7 (overweight)
The first step is to evaluate your situation and outline a plan of action. A Mini Diet Makeover will complete this for you – https://www.lisanelsonrd.com/minidietmakeover.html.
Have you been successful losing weight? I’d love to hear your story. You can share your story as a comment below.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
1-A-Week Weight Loss Tips
http://www.weightlosswithlisa.com
4 Benefits of a High Fiber Diet
Current recommendations are to consume 25-35 grams of dietary fiber everyday. Here are 4 benefits you’ll receive from achieving the recommended intake.
1. Lower cholesterol and stabilized blood sugar/insulin levels.
2. Regularity to prevent constipation and diverticulosis (small out-pouchings from the large intestine).
3. Reduced risk of colon cancer.
4. Increased satiety – you’ll feel full when eating less calories and fat to promote weight loss.
Some of the best fiber sources include fruits and vegetables!
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
How to Lower Cholesterol in 8 Simple Steps
http://www.lowercholesterolwithlisa.com
