We know the best way to stay hydrated this summer is good ole water. However, as it gets hotter, we seem to grab and go with drinks that may be very unhealthy and we don’t even know it.
Here are some of the worst types of drinks to consume in place of water.
It gives you wings....oh and love handles!
- Juice drinks that are not 100% juice
- Whipped coffee drinks
- Flavored water
- Diet soda
- Frozen mixed drinks
- Fruit smoothies – can have as many as 700 calories
- High calorie sports drinks
- Soft drinks
- Energy drinks – mostly caffeine and sugar
The average plate at a barbecue can add up to approximately 1,500 calories. For some people that is a day’s worth of calories. Here are some ways to cut the calories but still enjoy your meal.
Fish Kebabs Grilled to Perfection!
Best Appetizers: Baked tortilla chips and salsa, crudites and low-fat dip
Best Entree: Grilled kebabs, chicken, sirloin, fish or tofu with lots of vegetables
Best Side Dishes: Field green salad, grilled corn on the cob, grilled asparagus
Best Alcoholic Beverage: Light beer (about 90 calories) or white wine spritzers
Best Dessert: Watermelon or fresh fruit salad
These healthy choices can cut your calories in half!
Fitness Fast Fact: Do some gardening; cutting, weeding or raking for 40 minutes can burn up to 200 calories!
Categories: PTI Buzz Tags: appetizers, barbecue, beef, chicken, drinks-and-beverages, fish, fruits, grilling, healthy-foods, Nutrition, salad, tofu, vegetables
Here are eight ways to help you lose those ten pounds that have been hanging around for way too long. Remember, there are 3500 calories in a pound, you need to create a calorie budget and burn more than you are taking in.
Fitness and Nutrition
- Switch from whole-milk products to skim-milk products
- Reduce the use of butter and margarine
- Use extra-lean ground beef, ground white meat chicken or ground white meat turkey
- Switch from fried potato chips to the baked ones
- Switch from 100-plus-calorie sandwich bread to the light whole-grain bread
- Swap fruit juice for real fruit
- Increase your exercise and work up to 500 calories a day
- Remove the skin from a chicken breast after cooking and save 100 calories
Just in time for finals! The following is a list of foods that contain vitamin K, E and Zinc, as well as other vitamins and minerals that can help increase both attention and memory.
- Pumpkin seeds
- Broccoli
- Nuts
- Oily fish
- Blueberries
- Tomatoes
- Blackcurrants
- Eggs
- Almonds
- Green tea or coffee
- Red Wine
- Dark Chocolate
It may be a good idea to save the red wine for after exams or your big work presentation!
Spring is a time to clean out your closets but also a great time to spring clean your diet. Try to add foods that can give you energy.
Here are ten foods that we recommend: 
- Whole grains
- Oatmeal.
- Orange Juice
- Bananas
- Salmon
- Whole Wheat Pasta
- Beans
- Almonds
- Dried Fruit
- Greek Yogurt
Check out our past PTI Buzz posts on Greek Yogurt brands, Chobani and Fage.
Everyone is always asking our nutritionists if certain foods can help with our ability to get a good night sleep. So, are there healthy foods that can help us get a good night sleep?
Jars of Honey
PTI co-founder and Director of Nutrition, Carol Kur, M.S.R.D. says, yes. Certain foods can relax muscles, quiet a busy mind and regulate sleep-inducing hormones such as serotonin and melatonin.
Ten healthy foods that will help you sleep:
- Warm milk
- Honey
- Chamomile tea
- Turkey
- Bananas
- Oatmeal
- Potatoes
- Flax seeds
- Almonds
- Whole-wheat bread
These ten power foods can really help you get a good night sleep which for many of us is a dream come true!
With more choices than ever, the whole flavored water craze can be very confusing. Here are some nutritional facts for some of the most popular brands of flavored water.
- SoBe Life Water – 40 calories per 8 oz. serving. Five flavors available and has “very low sodium” with vitamins C,E and B.
- Glaceau Vitamin Water – 50 calories per 8 oz. serving. 15 different flavors and contains no sodium. Each flavor has different vitamins for your needs.
- Kraft’s Fruit2O – 0 calories per 8 oz. serving. One of the healthiest options. Adds a little zest to the water…not a lot of flavor.
- Dasani Flavored Water – 0 calories per serving. This comes in three flavors and is sweetened with Splenda.
- Aquafina FlavorSplash – 0 calories per 8 oz. serving. This is similar to Dasani but has 65 mg of sodium in an 8 ounce serving.
- Gatorade’s Propel Fitness Water – 10 calories per 8 oz. serving. This has 3 grams of carbs per serving and would be considered more of a fitness drink than simply water.
- Nestle Pure Life Natural Fruit Flavored Water Beverage – 0 calories per 8 oz. serving. Very similar to Dasani and Aquafina with too much sodium for a bottled water.
The healthiest beverage to quench your thirst always has been, and always will be, plain old water.
Let’s keep moving towards your weight loss goal with small changes over time. Now that you have written down your goals and set a start date, the next step is to eliminate the temptations. Instead of sweets and fatty snacks, fill your kitchen with healthy and nutritious foods.
Broccoli & Cauliflower
- Lean protein (chicken breast, turkey breast, fish, egg whites)
- Fresh fruits (oranges, apples, grapes, strawberries)
- Raw vegetables (mushrooms, broccoli, squash, green beans, red peppers)
- Healthy food snacks (non-fat cottage cheese, sugar free jello, protein bar)
- Bottled water (don’t forget to recycle) or filtered water instead of soda
The temptation to cheat increases 10-fold with unhealthy foods in your kitchen. Removing the sweet and fatty snacks is a very crucial step towards meeting your weight loss goals.
December 27th, 2010
admin
The New Year is only a few days away. When you celebrate the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 with a cocktail, choose wisely…not every drink is created equally when it comes to calories! Here is a list of popular New Year’s party drinks and their approximate calorie counts.
- White Wine – 5 oz. – 100 calories
- Red Wine – 5 oz. – 105 calories
Happy New Year from PTI
- Champagne – 5 oz. – 85 calories
- Spiked Egg Nog – 8 oz. – 350 calories
- Frozen Mudslide - 6 oz. – 450 calories
- Bailey’s Irish Cream – 1.5 oz. – 375 calories (1.5 ounces!)
- Peppermint Schnapps – 1 oz. – 110 calories (1 ounces!)
- Cognac – 1 oz. – 80 calories
- Margarita – 6.3 oz. – 400 calories
- Cosmopolitan – 2.5 oz. – 160 calories
- Manhattan – 3 oz. – 180 calories
- Rum & Coke – 12 oz. – 361 calories
- Screwdriver – 7 oz. – 208 calories
- Daiquiri – 2.7 oz. – 225 calories
- Martini – 2 oz. – 119 calories
- Gin & Tonic – 7 oz. – 189 calories
- Beer – 12 oz. – 150 calories
- Light Beer – 12 oz. – 110 calories
- Dark Beer – 12 oz. – 170 calories
- Scotch, Bourbon, or Vodka -1.5 oz. – 120 calories
- Bloody Mary – 5 oz. – 120 calories
- Kamikaze - 3 oz. – 250 calories
To all our Friends at PTI, Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!
September 20th, 2010
admin
Our kids are consuming up to 450 calories a day in beverages which can contribute to 23 pounds of weight gain a year.
Here is what they shouldn’t be drinking:
Water wins!
- SunnyD Smooth Style (16 oz bottle) – 260 calories
- Cold Stone PB&C Milkshake – 1,280 calories
- Sunkist Soda (20 oz bottle) -320 calories
- Arizona Kiwi Strawberry (23.5 oz can) -360 calories
- Nesquik (16 oz bottle) -400 calories
- Snapple Tropical Mango Antioxidant Water -150 calories
- Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Soda – 480 calories
There are lots of substitutes for these but the best way to hydrate is water, water, water. Add some slices of fresh fruit and your kids may really enjoy it!
