That's Fit

Going to a Fourth of July bash this weekend? Straight from the Delicious Disney, The Disney Chefs with Pam Brandon book I bring you the most yumtastic side salad ever! Want to look like a fancy pants when you walk through the door at that party? This is the way to do it. I've posted the fairly simple recipe for Papaya, Avocado and Grapefruit Salad in my recipe book at Fitzness.com (page 37) for permanent access. Enjoy!

Sounds impossible, doesn't it? Who in the world ever thought of going to Disney and eating healthy? Crazy talk, right? Wrong! Your loving online Fitzness Expert (me) who has extremely high standards on what I put in both my children's mouth and my own can spend a day at the Magic Kingdom or EPCOT and eat as well as I would in my own home. Disney has made grand efforts to improve the healthfulness of the foods they offer, and has even gone overboard with an abundance of fresh fruit stands located throughout each theme park.

I just spent a week at Walt Disney World in Florida and returned home half a pound less than I was the day before vacation. Want to eat right while enjoying the magic with Mickey Mouse? Read on.

• Mickey makes mealtime easy on the fitness fan. Every restaurant I ventured through offered several menu options based on lean grilled meat, veggies, and/or fruit. Even the children's meals come standard with side items like: grapes, carrot sticks, and unsweetened applesauce. They also come with bottled water or skim milk. Sweet! Parents would have to go out of their way to substitute french fries and soda for their children instead of the healthy stuff. Eww! You the fitness fan, certainly wouldn't do that!
• Sit down dining restaurants offer Egg Beaters cooked without oil in lieu of regular scrambled eggs. I enjoyed this perk while dining with Minnie and Goofy at Disney's Yacht Club Resort.
• Resort dining facilities offer endless refrigerators full of fresh fruit, veggies, yogurt, dried fruit, nutritious snack bars and more.
• Seek out healthier desserts. Anywhere they are served, Disney has made efforts to make reduced fat, low sugar or fresh fruit treats available.

Gallery: Dining at Disney is a fitness family's dream!

Besides the different things we do and wear from season to season, the foods we eat vary dramatically as well. The snow keeps hearty stews on the stove and hot drinks in our hands. The summer however, propels us to brew ice cold tea and lighten up a little at mealtime. I found a recipe I like a lot from the book Delicious Disney, The Disney Chefs with Pam Brandon.

The Field Greens Salad with Grilled Salmon just feels right this time of year. It's a delicious dish you can gobble up tonight and not pay the price in your swimsuit tomorrow. I've placed it on page 38 of my recipe book on Fitzness.com. Enjoy!

• This Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing has only 38 calories and 3 grams of fat per serving (2 tablespoons).
• Each 2 tablespoon serving of this Creamy Dill Ranch Dressing has only 19 calories and 1 gram of fat.
• Tangy Herb and Horseradish Dressing has 46 calories and 4 grams of fat in each 2 tablespoon serving.
• Orange-Oregano Dressing has 27 calories and 2 grams of fat per 2 tablespoon serving.
• Don't be deceived by the higher fat and calories in Roasted Garlic Dressing. Most of the 154 calories and 14 grams of fat (in a 2 tablespoon serving) come from olive oil -- a good source of beneficial monounsaturated fat.
• There are only 19 calories and 1 gram of fat in this Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette. Plus, the tomatoes give you a healthy dose of lycopene!
  
• This Asian-style Sesame Tamari Vinaigrette has 37 calories and 2 grams of fat per 2 tablespoon serving.
  

• Try different dressings, but make sure to check the label before buying because certain dressings (like the creamy ones) can be loaded with fat and calories. Better yet -- try making your own!
  
• Add some nuts and seeds. They'll add protein and flavour to your greens.
• Think outside the veggies. Slices of fresh fruit can add a lot of flavour to your salad -- strawberries, grapes and mango are my favourites.
  
• Cheese, please. I love cheese and if adding it to my salad means I look forward to chowing down on my greens, so be it.
  
• Get inspired. I sometimes spend my lunch hours perusing the internet for interesting salad recipes -- I rarely follow a recipe by the book but it's great for ideas and inspiration.

• a variety of greens
• fruits
• nuts and seeds
• tomatoes
• onions
• healthy oils
• seafood and proteins
  
  

Gallery: Healthy salad additions

Are you a salad junkie? There's just something about the consistency of it, the colorful way it's presented on a plate or bowl, and the general feeling of health you feel from eating salad that makes it a lunch meal of choice. But, there may be more going on than meets the eye when it comes to salad, particularly when it comes to being healthy.

First of all, what types of greens are you eating in your salad? If it's iceberg lettuce, you would do well to switch that to either Romaine or red-leaf lettuce, or spinach. That's because iceberg lettuce has almost no nutritional value. More or less, it's a waste of space on your plate.

Second, how much fat is in that dressing? Unless you take a look at the label, you may be surprised that there's far more saturated fat than you thought there was.

And lastly, how much sugar is in that salad? You may have never noticed before, but many salad dressings have quite a bit of sugar added for taste. This, combined with the fact that many dressings also contain sodium benzoate (a chemical preservative that has been linked to ADHD in children in a British study), and your salad has suddenly become a nutrient-free, fat-laden, blood sugar-spiking, possible ADHD causing bowl of destruction.

Okay, so maybe I'm going a bit overboard here. Still, I think the point made was a valid one. Stick to healthier greens, low-fat and low-or-no-sugar dressings, and check the nutritional label for chemical preservatives such as the one mentioned. There ... now it's a healthy meal again!

If you find you're weight is slowly creeping up these days, fear not; there are things you can do to stop it. The first, and most obvious, solution is to start working out. What if you already are working out, but the weight keeps creeping in? Then the problem most likely lies somewhere in your diet.

Here are four simple ways to cut back on some calories and hopefully nip that weight gain at the bud.

Eat Slowly. Sit back, relax, and savor the food you're eating. Research shows that people consume around 67 fewer calories per meal when they take their time.

Take Off Your Top. Calm down, fellas -- I'm talking about the top half of a sandwich. Skipping the top slice of bread will save you around 70 calories. If you eat a sandwich a day for lunch, you'll save yourself 490 calories a week.

Go Pro. Try to consume more protein if you don't eat enough already. Protein digests very slowly (especially casein protein, which is found in dairy products), so it requires a great deal of calories to be expended in order for it to be processed.

Vote for Vinegar. Because many popular salad dressings contain about 75 calories per tablespoon, you can save yourself about 150 calories per salad by substituting in vinegar.