Northeastern University Dining Services Blog

Friday, May 8, 2020

Continue To Fuel

Friday, May 8, 2020 | 11:06 AM Posted by Northeastern Dining , , , , , , , No comments

Whether you are an athlete, or you work out on your own or following group fitness classes online. It is vital to continue to fuel your body each day.

Due to the current situation with the stay at home guidelines, you are not able to participate as a team or with a group for workouts. If you are continuing to work out and exercise on your own, it is essential to continue to fuel your body properly. When I say fuel properly, this means to continue to eat meals and snacks throughout the day, and it also means not skipping meals, restricting, or limiting food choices because you feel like you might be working out less often. If you are working out less often than you were before staying at home, then you do not need to eliminate meals or snacks. You should work on choosing foods that provide a feeling of fullness as well as satisfaction- meaning choose foods with taste and that you feel good about eating. Feeling good about your food choice(s) does not mean that you made the “right” choice or the food you “should” choose. It means that you picked the foods that have flavor and adequately provide a feeling of fullness. When we choose foods, we enjoy and eat them until we are satisfied/comfortably full, then we are more likely to give ourselves adequate energy needed throughout the day.

Fueling will likely help you continue on with your day being productive in school, work, and exercise. In order to provide yourself with consistent energy, you should think about the food balance. It is essential to incorporate foods from various food groups- protein (plant or animal), whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and fats. When you make balanced choices, then you are more likely to feel satisfied with your meals and snacks. Consider eating meals (with at least 3-4 food groups) and snacks (with at least 2-3 food groups) throughout the day from the groups listed in this table.

Protein
Grains/Carbohydrates
Fruit
Vegetables
Yogurt
Whole grain bread
Apple
Carrots
Milk
Pita bread or a wrap
orange
avocado
Nuts
Rice
banana
cucumbers
Peanut butter or another nut butter
pasta
peaches
broccoli
Chicken, turkey, ham, cheese, tuna, hummus
crackers, pretzels, graham crackers, whole grain cereal
Berries (strawberries, blueberries or raspberries
Salad (lettuce, carrots, tomatoes)

Sample snacks
  • Apple with cheese or peanut butter
  • Cucumber, carrots and/or pretzels and hummus
  • Cereal with milk
  • Graham crackers and peanut butter or almond butter
Sample meal
  • Peanut butter, banana on 2 pieces of bread with a cup of milk
  • Turkey, cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomato on a wrap with an apple 

Friday, May 1, 2020

Time To Garden

Friday, May 1, 2020 | 11:12 AM Posted by Northeastern Dining , , , , , , , , No comments

Whether you have a green thumb or not, this could be the perfect time to start a garden.

Research suggests that gardening may offer benefits to both our physical and mental well-being. With the current recommendations for both kids and adults to avoid going out to help slow the spread of COVID-19, we all need more home based activities. Gardening is something for all ages and skill levels that doesn’t rely on screen time.

If you are new to gardening, here are some tips to get you started:
  • Evaluate your space. Gardening can be small, large and anywhere in between. If you live in an apartment, check out which windows offer the most sun throughout the day. If you are in a house, check for both indoor and outdoor spaces with good sun and room for plants.
  • Figure out which zone you live in. You can enter your zip code into this interactive map from the USDA to determine your zone. Knowing your zone will help you know which plants will do best in your area.
  • Grow things you like! If your garden does well, you won’t want the bounty to go to waste.
  • Check out kidsgardening.org. Don’t let the name fool you. They have great resources for kids, but the site is helpful for adults who are new to gardening too.
  • If you do have kids, involve them. The team at KidsGardeninghas put together a list of easy parent and kid gardening activities. They also have lesson plans that help you bring science, math and nutrition concepts to life through gardening.
  • It’s okay to cheat a little. Waiting for seeds to germinate can be a long process. While a lesson in patience is probably good for all of us, starting with seedlings is a great way to jump start your garden with something green that you can see right away.
  • Have reasonable expectations. If you are new to gardening, you might want to start small with a few plants in containers. As your knowledge and skills increase you can expand to a raised bed garden or something larger.
Reference:
  1. Soga, Masashi et al. “Gardening is beneficial for health: A meta-analysis.” Preventive medicine reports vol. 5 92-99. 14 Nov. 2016, doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2016.11.007
Written by Jennifer M. Roberts, MS, RDN
MAY 2020