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December
14, 2006
“I thought we should visit again since I almost got stuck when I was practicing sliding down a chimney,” he said with a ho, ho, ho. “Santa, I have been wondering how you are doing,” I said. “Well, it’s not going too well. The reindeer are complaining about my girth. Rudy’s wearing a special harness to protect his back. I’m having some knee problems and my blood pressure was up a little during my checkup. I guess I’m eating from the tip of the Food Pyramid. I think I need a little review,” Santa replied. “Lots of things have changed in nutrition in the last couple of years. The Food Pyramid is now called MyPyramid. It’s online at www.mypyramid.gov. You enter your age, gender and physical activity level. You then can print out an eating plan. By the way, the foods that used to be at the tip of the pyramid are now in a special category called discretionary calories,” I noted. “I’ll check that out. I’m a little computer savvy after Mrs. Claus made me take an Excel spreadsheet class. I used to keep track of the good boys and girls on little sheets of paper all over the house. I suppose eating all those plates of cookies and drinking all that milk is out now,” Santa replied with a chuckle. “We all get some discretionary calories like higher-fat treats. You need to pace yourself on the cookies, Santa, or you’ll be hiring more reindeer to boost your sleigh and dropping the presents down the chimney,” I teased. “Julie, be careful because I haven’t checked if your name is on my list this year,” he said with a ho, ho, ho. “Point well taken, Santa. Here are the facts. An extra 100 calories a day can result in a 10-pound weight gain in a year. That’s about one small cookie. Drink your milk, though. The recommendation from the milk group is three cups per day for strong bones. Men can get the bone-weakening disease, osteoporosis, too. Fat-free milk has about 90 calories per cup. As a bonus, dairy calcium has been linked with promoting weight loss,” I noted. “Are there other foods I should be focusing on?” Santa inquired. “Enjoy plenty of fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, whole grains and cooked dry edible beans. Choose lean meats. You can enjoy all foods, but watch your portions and read about serving sizes and calorie content on food labels.” I said. “I must be burning some calories cruising around on my sleigh,” Santa said. “I couldn’t find anything on a Web-based calorie calculator about riding in a sled with flying reindeer, but I did find some information about winter activities. For example, a 175-pound man burns 240 calories every 30 minutes when shoveling snow or 320 calories every 30 minutes when cross-country skiing,” I replied. “I’m afraid I tip the scales at more than 175 pounds,” Santa said. “The more you weigh, the more calories you burn,” I said. “How many calories do I burn when I watch aerobics on TV for 30 minutes?” Santa inquired with a chuckle. “Sitting and watching TV only burns about 40 calories every 30 minutes. If you do the aerobics along with the TV instructor, you could burn about 240 calories every 30 minutes. According to the latest information, we all need 30 minutes of activity accumulated throughout the day for overall health, 60 minutes to prevent weight gain or about 90 minutes to maintain weight loss. Check in with your doctor, though,” I noted. “I will try to make some changes. Could you leave out some of those homemade spritz cookies when my reindeer pause on your roof and I squeeze down your chimney with some presents?” Santa inquired. “I think I can arrange that, unless you’d like a 100-calorie apple cinnamon bar. I’ll print a copy of this recipe for you to share with the elves, too. It’s from the USDA’s Recipe Finder at http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/ ,” I said.
### Source:
Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu |
Market Advisor: |
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North Dakota State University |
