WE HAVE TEAMED UP WITH DR. KARLIE MOORE OF FIT FOR DUTY CONSULTING TO PROVIDE WEEKLY NUTRITIONAL TIPS THAT ARE SURE TO HELP US GET "FIT FOR DUTY" . DR. KARLIE'S WELLNESS PROGRAM PROVIDES CLASSES NOT ONLY ON NUTRITION BUT EXERCISE, WEIGHT LOSS AND HEART/BACK HEALTH. THESE CLASSES ARE FIREFIGHTER SPECIFIC AND BASED ON SCIENTIFIC STUDIES ON FIREFIGHTERS. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DR. KARLIE, WHO HAPPENS TO BE MARRIED TO A FIREFIGHTER, AND FIT FOR DUTY CONSULTING CLICK HERE ! AND IF YOU OR YOUR DEPARTMENT SIGNS UP FOR THE WELLNESS PROGRAM, PLEASE LET THEM KNOW THAT FORK AND HOSE CO. REFERRED YOU! NOW ONTO THIS WEEK'S TIP.....
DONT GET STUCK IN THIS COMMON CALORIE TRAP
By Dr. Karlie Moore
Last time I talked about calories in beer and I told you that some beers can have near 300 calories in them, about as much as a Dairy Queen sundae. If you missed that one, you can read it here. Staying firefighter fit requires maintaining a healthy weight so it’s key to understand which foods can have you unknowingly taking in tons of calories.
A great resource on this topic is a book called “Eat This, Not That.” It includes examples from popular restaurants and fast food chains as well as grocery store items such as cereals and breads.
One food that we tend to trip up on (probably because it is commonly marketed as a “health food”) is the smoothie. Some smoothies can have up to 600 calories in them. That’s more than the McDonalds McRib sandwich! Luckily smoothie places like Jamba Juice post their calories on the menu (or in a pamphlet).
Be wary of ingredients that add calories like ice cream/sherbert and peanut butter. And even while all-fruit smoothies with no added sugar can be an excellent way to get in your fruit servings for the day, remember that those calories still count! The healthy, all-fruit smoothies still pack in between 250 and 300 calories. So the best way to eat a smoothie would be as a meal replacement (for breakfast) or in addition to something small (for lunch), rather than simply eating one between normal sized meals.