Finals are Here - Dining Restaurants Open Earlier

During Finals Week, Dining restaurants are open earlier for those of you getting up early to study or take an exam.  All restaurants are open at 7am this week.  The Places & Markets are also open as usual.

Make sure to eat to fuel your study sessions and test-taking.  Your brain needs food to perform best.

What are some healthy pre-exam breakfasts available in Dining restaurants?

• yogurt with chopped fruit and a cereal mixed in
• hot slow-cooked oatmeal with raisins
• scrambled eggs with salsa on top, toasted whole wheat bread and an orange

Short on time and running in-and-out of Place & Market on your way to your exam? Try:

• Amy's oatmeal bowl or breakfast burrito
• Kashi bar or Lara bar
• Hospitality Express fruit and cheese box (in the refrigerated cases)
• yogurt cup (my current faves are the Greek-style yogurts)

Best of luck on your exams!

Pre-exams/De-Stress Sunday Brunch TOMORROW

Allow Dining Services restaurants to help you fuel your study sessions on Sunday, 3/18, from 10am-2pm with a Pre-exams/De-Stress Sunday Brunch

• Creatively displayed Chocolate Fountain with assorted dipping items (strawberries, large marshmallows, pound cake, banana chunks, pineapple)…FREE!
• Carving station to include baked Pit Ham and Roast Beef with accompaniments (creamy horseradish, mustard and pineapple chutney)…$6.95
• Traditional Eggs Benedict…$2.95 each
• Steel Cut Oatmeal Breakfast Bar (assorted berries, raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, honey, etc.)…$1.75
• Bagels Built to Order…$5.95
• Omelet /Crepe station made to order with choice of accompaniments …$4.95
• Texas Style French Toast Entrée…$3.75

Oh, and Happy St Patty's Day!

Think Before You Drink

my decaf vanilla latte from Roger's Place & Market

Well, it's St. Patty's Eve so the phrase, "Think Before You Drink," might have led you to believe that I was posting about a different topic.  My focus is actually on coffee beverages and the calories in your favorite mocha-cappucino-hold-the-whip-half-caff-with-a-shot-of-hazelnut.

Ordinarily I am a devoted 1-2 cups of caffeinated coffee cups per day kind of gal.  At this time in my life, I am sticking with decaffeinated because I'm nursing my little 4-month old who has plenty of energy without a shot of espresso in her mid-morning meal! My drink of choice at this time is the decaf vanilla latte, which I usually pick up at Roger's since it's near my office on campus.  Which Place & Market is your favorite to make a coffee stop?

Dining Services brews Starbucks coffee and follows the Starbucks recipes so the entirety of the Starbucks coffee nutritionals is available to you here. My favorite drink, the grande decaf vanilla latte, has 250 calories, 6g fat, 37g carbs and 12g protein.  That's a pretty significant contribution to my nutritional intake and most people don't realize that flavored coffee beverages carry quite a few calories, fat, and carbohydrates.  I could save 60 calories and about half the carbohydrates if I didn't get the shot of vanilla but I love the drink that way I order it and I have the room for the calories and fat at this time.

So the moral of the story is Think Before You Drink.  On this St Patty's Eve, I hope you'll also consider that phrase in its traditional meaning as you head out to celebrate the raucous holiday. Have fun and be safe!

Under the Weather but I Gotta Eat

Like many others on campus, I've got some sort of nasty cold. I was fighting it over the weekend and had a rough night of little sleep last night.  Combine that with having a 4-month-old baby and, well, don't judge me on my haggard appearance today...I'll try to brush my hair before I see any of you!

Anyway, when I'm under the weather, I pretty much just want to eat soup and Plaza Cafe on Revelle College did not disappoint. For lunch Plaza has 2 of my favorite soups - Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle and the Albondigas. I opted for the Chicken Noodle and paired it with a salad. Because of congestion, I can't taste that well today but the crunch of the veggies and the smoothness of the ranch (yes, I love ranch, even if it's not the healthiest of dressings - I use it sparingly and it's simply not one of the things on my list to make "healthier") paired very well with the piping hot soup.  For a drink I had soda water - I got this from the fountain by clicking on the "soda" tab (same kind of tab that you can press to get just plain water at the fountain.)  Soda/seltzer water is my new drink obsession. I love the fizz of soda but do NOT want all the sugar rotting my teeth and giving me non-nutrient-associated calories. So, for me, soda water is a great option. I get the fizzy pop feeling but without sugar or calories.

Salad and Soup from Plaza Cafe (Revelle)

Here's hoping you don't have a cold this season. Stay healthy as you gear up for your final exams. Get plenty of rest and wash, wash, wash those hands!

Chocolate Milk: Slick Marketing or Good Post-Workout Snack?

Chocolate milk is getting a lot of press lately for being a good post-workout recovery drink.  The Milk Processor Education Program, the group responsible for the Got Milk? campaign, has a new campaign to promote chocolate milk to adults. You can see the ad on the USAToday news article about this topic here.

College students often ask me whether chocolate milk is "good" for them. The answer is not a clear-cut yes or no.  If you dislike plain, fat-free or lowfat milk and would never drink it and are of normal weight, then I'd recommend chocolate milk to you in order to get some great nutrition (vitamin D, calcium, protein.)  However, I would not recommend chocolate milk as a regular drink to everyone because it is a sugar-sweetened beverage with more calories than most people need to consume from a beverage.  I tend to agree with most of what Marion Nestle says about nutrition topics and I agree with her on the chocolate-milk-as-an-exercise-recovery-meal debate. Instead of drinking your calories, eat something! 

College-friendly After Exercise Meals:

• bowl of healthy cereal with milk (there! I used milk, not chocolate milk, in this example!)
• fruit smoothie (example: yogurt, berries, orange juice)
• sandwich (example: whole grain bread, turkey, lettuce, tomato)
• pasta with marinara or meat sauce
• burrito or burrito bowl with rice (like at Goody's)
• pizza bagel (easy-to-make even in your campus apartment)
• peanut butter and jelly sandwich with....MILK!

Have a great weekend! Exercise today - it's gorgeous outside!

Real Deal Today in Roots

Come by Roots restaurant on Muir College (lower level of Stewart Commons below Pines restaurant).  Roots is UC San Diego's first ever vegan restaurant and it's REALLY GOOD!  Come by to say hello to me, ask nutrition questions and have a tasty, vegan meal.  If you think you wouldn't like vegan food, come try it out - you'll be delighted. This food is good, people, whether you're an omnivore or strict vegan.

See you at Roots for lunch!

Get Your Plate In Shape

March is National Nutrition Month.  This year's theme is, "Get Your Plate In Shape."  The newly named Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) chooses and promotes the National Nutrition Month theme each year.

The key messages of this year's Get Your Plate In Shape platform are:

• make half your plate fruits and vegetables
• make at least half your grains whole
• switch to fat-free or low-fat milk
• vary your protein sources
• cut back on sodium and empty calories from solid fats and added sugars
• enjoy your food but eat less
• be physically active your way

I like these messages, especially the last two, "enjoy your food but eat less" and "be physically active your way." The key pieces of these two adages are ENJOY and YOUR WAY.  It is healthier to focus on enjoying our meals, with less obsessing over control, restriction, or calorie counting.  And with exercise, the key will always be finding out what works for you.  I'm a big fan of the elliptical trainer whereas my sister finds that to be a modern day torture device - she likes group exercise classes like spin or cardio-kickboxing.

Which of the main messages from National Nutrition Month listed above mean something to you?
For more on National Nutrition Month, click here. 

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday today, Dining is offering special Seuss-themed treats:

• Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes for $2.25




Thing 1 & Thing 2 cupcakes - red velvet cake and blue icing


• Cat in the Hat cookies for $1.35

Why are cookies and cupcakes on a healthy eating blog?  There is a reason - all foods can fit into a healthy lifestyle.  If you try to completely avoid ALL sugary dessert-type foods, you'll be a real drag at parties. (Ok, that's not my real take on this situation.) Seriously, being overly rigid or restrictive in your eating habits is an unhealthy approach to nutrition and can lead to over-indulging when you "give in" or "give up" on your strict dietary rules.  It's better to have a cookie or cupcake when the mood strikes.  If you include these items here and there in your intake, your desire for these types of treats is less likely to build up and overwhelm you later.

So if you're into red velvet cupcakes and cookies shaped like a beloved Seuss character, today is your day to have a little something fun!

In honor of the wonderfully creative Theodor Seuss Geisel, I plan to read Green Eggs and Ham to my baby tonight.  What is your favorite Dr. Seuss story?