Is This "Healthy"?

Ok, so the word around the office is that someone (who's name I won't mention has been trying to make healthier choices due to a health condition that he has) ate a "healthy" meal, which consisted of bbq ribs and a cheese/broccoli casserole. He's not overweight, so he doesn't necessarily have to worry about eating healthy for that reason, but this medical condition definitely affects his health in a negative way when he makes poor food choices.

Let me start with the Ribs. In no way, shape, or form are ribs ever healthy. It doesn't matter if you don't put anything on them and bake them or grill them or smoke them or whatever. They are never a health food! Pork is the fattiest meat you can ever eat, regardless of what cut it comes from (except maybe the tenderloin) or how much "fat" you see on the meat. "Lean" babyback ribs have about 17 grams of fat, 240 calories, 850 grams of sodium PER 2 RIBS. Not 2 racks of ribs. But per 2 single ribs. I do not know a single person in my world that I have ever seen only eat 2 ribs, and my family goes through a lot of ribs.

Now, I certainly am not going to turn my nose up at eating some babybacks when my husband has been smoking them for hours on the grill, but I'm certainly not going to kid myself into thinking I'm eating something healthy. I know what I am getting into before I start, and try to limit myself to about 5 ribs.

Ok. Cheese and Broccoli casserole? Come on now. Anything with the name "casserole" is guaranteed to be bad! Isn't butter in there? And white rice? And not to mention cheese? That's like a sugar/sodium explosion! I'm not even sure what to say about that. That little bit of broccoli has no chance to try to make that a healthy dish!

So, my answer is No! This is not healthy! Don't trick yourself into thinking that it is. :)

Newsflash: Mississippi is Fat

Congratulations, fellow Mississippians! For the 5th straight year in a row, Mississippi is once again the fattest state in America! The percentage of Mississippians that are obese - a whopping 33.8 percent. Although last year, we had 35.6 percent of our population obese, but we are still 2.2 % fatter than the second fattest state, which is Alabama.

Here is the link if you don't believe me: Fattest States 2010

So apparently, most of the stuff I talk about in my blog is common knowledge in other states. Educate yourself and strive for change! Here in Mississippi, our Southern grandmothers and mothers always told us to "Clean your plates if you want dessert!" and then we get dessert, some type of delicious pecan pie or cream cheese pound cake. And usually that plate was full of fried chicken and casseroles and breads and green beans cooked with bacon grease. And then we are rewarded in life by getting Happy Meals at McDonald's with french fries and a cheeseburger with a stupid toy. Then we go to the store and get a Snickers or Reece's Peanut Butter Cups for a snack, and chase it all down with sugar and chemical-packed Coke, Pepsi, or Dr. Pepper.

These are not good food choices, people!! Get it together!!

Deep down in your heart, you know this is not good for you. We have to make a conscious effort to take control in our lives if our state is ever going to get out of this fat rut.

NO, it is not easy to be healthy - it takes constant planning and calculating, and YES it can be expensive. But when you make the change and realize you don't have to continue to go to the doctor and pay for medication for problems you were having due to being unhealthy, well, those more expensive foods are well worth the extra price.

And of course, it's not just about what we eat - it's all about our exercise too. Find an exercise program you like. Get a heart rate monitor. Track your progress: Count your calories coming in and going out. Keep a journal. Start a blog. Do whatever you need to do to help yourself stay aware of your daily intake. And most importantly, do it for yourself - not anyone else.  If you don't know where to start, ask somebody! Start today!

A good place to start tracking your calories and to get a good ideas of how many calories you should have in a day - check out this free website at livestrong.com: The Daily Plate