Good:
- finally installed rear rack on bike
- got name on the mailbox
- healthy breakfast (greek themed egg-beater fritata w/ fat free greek yogurt, flax seed, & low fat granola)
Bad:
- hideously unhealthy lunch: leftover pizza, blech, saturated fat city.
- Not enough sleep last night (board gaming on saturdays is good. Board gaming until 2am on Saturdays is not. =)
- to much general lounging
- so far have failed to hit the important items on my todo list
- one page summary document for union voter education outlined, but not drafted
- failed to move an inch towards completing applications for west coast environmental policy jobs.
- haven’t coded any interviews for work.
- haven’t cleaned my room.
- haven’t beaten my linux desktop into working properly with the wireless card.
- too much couch lounging (even with very little WoW).
- declined an opportunity to go running with Don in favor of said loafing.
you think fat free yoghurt is healthy?? and… worth eating???
ewwwww.
=p
Relative to the full fat variety? Given my nasty family history of heart disease? Can I get a “hell yeah!”? =)
Certain fats play an essential role in heart health, from cholesterol levels to electrolyte balance.
Full fat products, especially dairy, are usually more healthful than their low/no fat counterparts.
Full fat yoghurt, for instance, contains CLA, conjugated linoleic acid (probably the only helthful TRANS fat), which helps decrease % body fat, while maintaining total body mass, by altering lipid metabolism. It also helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
Not to mention all the important lipid-soluble vitamins that are naturally occurring in fats, vitamin E? does wonders for the heart, Vitamin K? anti-platelet activity (ie, prevents heart disease/stroke).
And of course, fats also play an important part of palatability of food, and promote satiation once they are in your belly (Ie, taste good, and keep you feeling full)
Honestly, you’re better off eating small amounts of full fat products, or even large amounts, if you’re wiling to balance it out with omega-3 supplementation and increased fiber.
Sorry, unsolicited nutrition advice is sort of “my thing”
OH, PS,
fat free products just taste like shit.
I would rather have a million strokes after eating my fat hunk of gouda, or some kefir, than eat low fat cheese or fat free yogurt, it just tastes GROSS.
I appreciate the unsolicited advice.
My understanding is that dietary saturated fat is a great predictor of serum LDLs, which is in turn a great predictor of heart disease, arteriosclerosis, etc, etc. My biology is geared towards high LDL level, as my family history predicts. (diabetes also runs in the family)
I’m aware that this is a simplified picture. I’m certainly not having a fat free diet overall (see also the stuffed pizza with spinach, mushroom, and tomato, the full fat feta that was in the frittata, the smart balance I sauteed the frittata’s mushrooms in, etc).
As a whole grains vegetarian, I think I’m doing alright on the fiber (though maybe not on all the different kinds thereof — I could stand to eat more actual, you know, vegetables, and fruit).
And I’m not quite so adamantly opposed to the fat free taste as you are. =) Obviously.
Ok, then do us all a favor and supplement with omega-3’s, ya don’t die young. =p
I am curious about this CLA stuff you mention, though. I know there are different sorts of saturated fats (fatty acid chain length is the only difference that comes to mind, and makes immediate sense.)
The flax seed (well, flax seed powder to be precise) is specifically to avoid the early heart disease death plan. =)
With regards to different ‘kinds’ of fats, this is basically all you need to know to be a heart healthy shopper:
TRANS fats ==> increase ‘bad’ cholesterol AND decrease ‘good’ cholesterol
SATURATED fats ==> Increase ‘bad’ cholesterol
UNSATURATED fats ==> Decrease ‘bad’ cholesterol, and increase ‘good cholesterol
Therefore it is desirable to increase your intake of (preferably poly)unsaturated fats.
Flax seeds are a great source of fiber, but unfortunately you have to eat a ridiculous amount of them to obtain a significant amount of essential fatty acids, you need to use actual flax oil to get the EFA’s, and even then, youre better off with fish oils.
…I’ll stop now.
=p
CLAs in yogurt? I thought CLAs were basically restricted to grass-fed cows, i.e. not the ones we drink milk from, because we’re not barbarians anymore, we take pills instead.
Whole Foods has some *very* tasty pastured-cow milk and yogurt — tastes like what I grew up with! But it’s, how you say… expensive.
Fish oil makes me burp something awful. And it’s really unpleasant. Am I using the wrong kind of fish oil? I basically stopped taking fish oils pills because of that. I don’t actually want to live to be a ripe old age anyway. Just visited my grandma in a nursing home yesterday… *shudder*
I don’t find all fat free or reduced fat foods to be unpleasant. I drink skim milk, eat fat free yogurt, use Miracle Whip Light and sometimes eat reduced fat (never fat free!) cheese. I think they all taste fine. My philosophy–admittedly not based on any sort of education–is to reduce or eliminate fat where I won’t really miss it so I can enjoy it in the things in which it really makes a difference.
(board gaming on saturdays is good. Board gaming until 2am on Saturdays is not. =)
I respectfully disagree. 🙂
The fury of dracula game that lasted for about 3 hours before we ceded Europe to rampant vampirism rather than keep playing? That I was not a fan of.
Well, yes there are specific games that aren’t worth playing until 2am. But In general, gaming until 2am on a Saturday is a practice I’m good with. 🙂
And don’t forget when you see me at Origins that I’ll be on CA time so as late as people are up I’ll probably be gaming on Saturday since it’ll still feel three hours earlier to me!
Almost enough to get me to use caffeine.
Btw, are you familiar with or interested in “through the ages”? I have a love/hate relationship with it and am planning on bringing a friend’s copy with. He’ll be too busy demoing games for rio grande, and still hasn’t had a chance to play, despite multiple offers.
Yeah, it was slow. Scotland Yard is better because the slow parts aren’t spent wondering if I need a stake or I’d prefer to have dogs.