Friday, June 3, 2011

Five for Friday

I love how we just finished a great weekend and another one is almost here!


1. You may have heard some of the excitement yesterday about the unveiling of the new USDA Nutrition Plate, which has replaced the Food Pyramid. 
I was poking around usda.gov to find out a little more about this new icon and found a few 'selected messages for consumers' that I found interesting.
  • Enjoy your food, but eat less.
  • Avoid oversized portions.
  • Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
  • Make at least half your grains whole grains.
  • Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals - and choose the foods with lower numbers.
  • Drink water instead of sugary drinks.
All great tips, and to me, it sounds like the USDA is finally recommending that people not eat (or drink) some types of unhealthy foods. But, interesting enough, none of these messages say anything about high fat foods, or at least ones high in saturated fats. At first glance, this new icon looks much easier to interpret. Funny because I've seen many nutritionists use pictures or props just like this. Nice to see the USDA catching up!

2. One of our favorite markets opens for the season this Sunday - the New Amsterdam Market near South Street Seaport. There's a lot of history with this market, even though it was just founded a few years ago. It's not the typical farmers market because there are actually very few fruit and vegetable vendors. Instead, there is coffee, wine, baked goods, kimchi, artisan jams, bread, cheese, local restaurants, chocolate and more! We're excited to check out the new vendors and visit our favorites from last year.

3. We're very lucky because there is an active chapter of the Michigan State University Alumni Association here in the city. (Actually, Woody is even on the board.) One of the board members is originally from New Jersey and when he moved back to the city after college he took the exams and became a licensed tour guide. Each year he prepares and leads several tours in different areas of the city. Saturday he's leading a chocolate tour and you know who's going to be on it! I'm not sure what chocolate shops we'll be visiting, but I'm looking forward to finding out.  I'm also definitely glad we'll be walking a few miles along the way!

4. A friend and fellow NYRR YPC member is running an ultra-marathon outside of DC this Saturday! Claudia is one of the nicest, funniest, sweetest, most genuine people I know. And so inspiring! She just ran an ultra in May and she's doing it again tomorrow! Incredible. If you have a minute, please head over to her blog HERE and wish her luck.

5. I can never stay up late enough to watch John Stewart since we get up at 5am to workout, but I do love his show. In case you didn't know, Comedy Central re-airs the previous night's show at 7pm. Wednesday night, he had a little to say about Trump and Palin's visit to a Famiglia Pizzeria in Times Square. No politics here, just humor, because a) I've never gotten a handle on the NY fold and always opt for a fork and knife, and b) we can always use a little humor and John  Stewart attempting an Italian accent.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Me Lover's Pizza With Crazy Broad
www.thedailyshow.com
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  • What are you looking forward to this weekend?
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Today's workout -
Just stretching. Today was a much needed rest day.

4 comments:

Teamarcia said...

I've heard about that plate but that's the first time I've seen it. Looks good...a move in the right direction!

Anonymous said...

hooray for the weekend already!

I think I'm a fan of the new nutrition plate - it's a good visual for people that need something really simple to look at. The new dietary guidelines that were released a few months ago do mention more about avoiding saturated fats and stuff, but they are not nearly as user friendly as this plate!

Raquelita said...

That market sounds amazing! I hope you'll post some pictures of your trips to it! I'm looking forward to leaving revisions behind for the weekend and going to Minneapolis to run a marathon.

Karen Seal said...

Very interesting! I hadn't seen/heard about the new food guide! I think I like it!!! :0) More user friendly!