Smart eating is one key to men's longevity and vitality. That includes beneficial foods such as nuts, fish, and tomatoes. Here are some simple ways to work these powerhouse foods into your menu.
- Walnuts are a source of omega-3 fatty acids. These are essential acids that may help reduce risk of heart disease². Add chopped walnuts to breakfast foods such as EggBeaters® omelets, hot oatmeal, waffles, or French toast made with Healthy Choice® bread.
- Cold-water fish also are sources of omega-3 fatty acids³. The American Heart Association® recommends eating fish twice a week. To get started, try our Swordfish with Creole Relish recipe and enjoy our Healthy Choice Herb Baked Fish or Lemon Pepper Fish dinners.
- Tomatoes and tomato sauce contain lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. For lunch, serve a bowl of Healthy Choice Creamy Tomato soup. Pair it with a hearty sandwich made with delicious Healthy Choice low-fat lunchmeat on Healthy Choice Hearty 100% Whole Grain bread. Or try our recipe for Spicy Spaghetti with Beef and Vegetables.
Yes! Keep Desserts and Snacks on the Menu!
Most men think eating better means cutting out desserts and snacks. No more ice cream, cookies, or chips! But these foods can fit into nutritious eating. Try these smart ways to satisfy sweet and savory cravings.
- Serve an old-fashioned, nutritious dessert such as apple crisp. And keep the peel on the apple. It contains two-thirds of the apple's fiber and many of the antioxidants.
- Whip up a "manly" fruit plate with chunks of watermelon, cantaloupe, and blueberries for a rainbow of colors and nutrients. Top with Reddi-wip® Light whipped cream.
- Snacks such as nutrient-rich nuts (walnuts and almonds), whole fruit, cut-up veggies, and Healthy Choice popcorn will keep men satisfied until mealtime.
Be Portion-Size Wise
One sure way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Men love great-tasting food, and lots of it. But when it comes to food portions, bigger may not be better. Take a look.
 |
Food | |
Man-Size Portion | |
Calories | |
Standard Serving | |
Calories | |
| Pasta | |
2 cups | |
442 | |
½ cup | |
111 | ||
| Cheeseburger | 8 ounces | 710 | 3 ounces | 266 | ||||||
| Ice Cream | 2 cups | 1,080 | ½ cup | 270 | ||||||
| Potato Chips | 8 ounces | 1,200 | 1 ounce | 150 | ||||||
| Salad Dressing | 1/4 cup | 296 | 2 tablespoons | 148 | ||||||
| ||||||||||
You Won't Miss the Fat
A sure way to eat more nutritiously is to cut down on fat and saturated fat. Substitutions make it easy.
|
Food | |
Fat/Sat Fat Grams Per Serving | |
Lower-Fat Food | |
Fat/Sat Fat Grams Per Serving | |
| Premium Ice Cream | |
11g/6g | |
Low Fat Healthy Choice Ice Cream | |
2g/1g | ||
| Traditional Lasagna | 16g/8g | Healthy Choice Lasagna Bake | 7g/2.5g | |||||
| Beef Stroganoff | 33g/13g | Healthy Choice Beef Stroganoff | 8g/3g | |||||
| Supreme Pizza | 23g/9g | Healthy Choice Supreme French Bread Pizza | 5g/1.5g | |||||
| ||||||||
Be Active Every Day
Find simple ways to fit physical activity into your daily routine. Try walking, gardening, swimming, golfing without a cart, or mowing the grass. Your daily physical activity doesn't have to be in one session. Each bout of physical activity counts.
Aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a day. Many men and women need to increase this amount to 60 minutes to prevent unwanted weight gain. For those who have been successful at reducing their weight, 60 to 90 minutes of activity may be needed to keep the weight off.
² Supportive but not conclusive research shows that eating 1.5 ounces per day of walnuts as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease.
³ Supportive but not conclusive research shows that consumption of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
Cooking Tips
Ready to cook the perfect burger, steak, or chicken? Just fire up the grill this summer for great flavor, good nutrition, and the best meal ever.
Tip: Spray your grill and cooking tongs with PAM® For Grilling while the grill's still cold for easier cleanup and so food won't stick.
Burgers: Cooked Right
Everybody loves a great burger—especially when it's cooked outdoors and served with all the fixings. How can you turn an all-American favorite into a "grate" success?
- Cooked for Nutrition
- Start with lean ground meat, turkey, or chicken. For beef, read the label. 90 percent lean has less fat than regular ground beef, but still provides some juiciness.
- Right-size your patties. A great burger is about 4 to 5 ounces of uncooked lean meat, shaped flat to a uniform 3/4-inch thickness from center to edges. Thicker patties may not cook through. Thin patties dry out around the edges.
- Serve it on a whole-grain bun, toasted split-side down on the grill for about a minute.
- Cooked Safe
- Figure a total cooking time of about 7 to 9 minutes over a medium fire, turning once after about 4 minutes. Then check the inside temperature with a meat thermometer for doneness. It's done when it reaches 160º F for ground meat and 165º F for ground chicken or turkey. The color of the patty—outside and in—does not indicate doneness.
- Flip your burgers with a clean meat turner, and put cooked burgers on a clean plate to avoid contamination from food-borne bacteria.
- Cooked for Flavor
- Season before shaping raw meat patties. Try Italian, Cajun, or Mexican seasoning mixes. Or add hot pepper sauce, light teriyaki sauce, light Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, pepper, or other herbs and spices. Caution: Sauces not only flavor, but also turn raw meat brown. That's why a patty that's brown inside isn't necessarily done.
- Skip the urge to press the patties with a meat turner. You'll squeeze out the juiciness and encourage flare-ups.
- Layer it on! For a great finish, add summer-fresh sliced tomatoes, crisp lettuce, slices of mild red onions, sautéed peppers, onions, or mushrooms. Or try salsa, chutney, or pesto. A slice of cheese adds flavor, too. Try sharp Cheddar, Monterrey Jack, fontina, blue, or another cheese of your choice!
- On the side? While your burgers cook, grill fresh corn on the cob (another whole-grain choice). To grill corn, pull the husks back and remove the threads. Arrange the husks back over the corn. Tie in place with string. Grill for 10 to 15 minutes, turning. Then remove husks. Spray with All Natural Butter Flavor PAM. Grill for about 5 more minutes.
Steak: Grilled to Perfection/Cooked for Flavor
A sizzling steak on the grill is often the centerpiece of a man's meal.
- Cooked for Nutrition
- Choose a cut that's right for you. Select a tender cut from the loin, such as filet mignon, T-bone, porterhouse, sirloin, or strip steaks (strip steaks generally have more marbling fat). Or buy meat from the rib, such as rib eye steaks (a leaner strip steak comes from the small end of the rib section). Less tender cuts include top or eye round, flank, and chuck steaks. They will need marinating to tenderize.
- How much? A four-ounce cooked portion of boneless steak is enough for most people (men, too).
- Trim away the fat. Less fat is more nutritious. It also cuts down on flare-ups.
- Cooked Safe
- Start with a 1-inch-thick steak (perfect for grilling). Then cook it to the right doneness over coals or a fire with medium heat. Check for doneness with a meat thermometer: 145º F for medium rare, 160º F for medium, and 170º F for well-done.
- Use a clean meat fork to handle cooked steaks, and put them on a clean plate to avoid contamination from food-borne bacteria.
- If you marinate raw steak, reserve some marinade before adding to the meat to use as a basting or finishing sauce later. Throw out marinade that's been drained away from uncooked meat.
- Cooked for Flavor
- Rub on some flavor! Use a store-bought or homemade herb-spice mixture, mixed with a little oil, to rub flavor on the outside of the steaks.
- For less tender steaks, marinate them in the fridge for 4 hours or more to tenderize. To add flavor to tender cuts, a shorter time (30 minutes to 2 hours) is enough. More than that can make the surface too soft.
- Do you need to sear a steak? That's your choice. Just avoid charring the meat!
- Before slicing cooked steak, let it stand a few minutes. Then slice it so the cooked juices infuse the whole steak.
- On the side? While your steak cooks, grill vegetables, too. Try asparagus, zucchini, peppers, and sliced baking potatoes or sweet potatoes. Spray them with All Natural Olive Oil PAM and sprinkle with herbs.
Short on time? You can still enjoy a great meat-and-potatoes meal with wellness in mind. Just stock the freezer with these great Healthy Choice meals: Salisbury Steak, Meatloaf, Beef Tips Portabello, Grilled Whiskey Steak, and Beef Merlot.
Chicken: Great to the Plate
Like fried chicken wings? Reinvent them on the grill with a spicy marinade to pick up the flavor. Cooked over a hot grill, a chicken dinner—wings, breasts, and legs—makes the perfect entrée for a delicious, nutritious summer meal.
- Cooked for Nutrition
- Grill chicken with or without the skin. It's your choice. Chicken is juicier and more flavorful when cooked with the skin. But it can flare more. To trim fat and calories, remove the skin before you eat the chicken.
- Cooked Safe
- Cook chicken over a medium-hot fire. Chicken breasts need about 10 to 12 minutes, turned every 4 to 5 minutes. Chicken legs need a little longer. Check carefully for doneness: 170° F for chicken and turkey breasts and roasts, 180° F for thighs, wings, and drumsticks.
- Turn chicken with clean tongs, and put cooked chicken on a clean plate to avoid contamination from food-borne bacteria.
- As with steak, throw out marinade drained from uncooked chicken or turkey. Don't use it as a basting or finishing sauce. If you would like a finishing sauce, reserve some marinade before marinating.
- Cooked for Flavor
- The mild flavor of chicken is perfectly suited to marinades, sauces, and rubs. Be creative! (Tip: For a quick marinade, use bottled vinaigrette.)
- To keep chicken from drying out, spray on PAM For Grilling before rubbing on spices and herbs.
- On the side? Corn on the cob and other grilled veggies are great (see above). Or toss a crisp summer salad, loaded with greens, as your grill heats up. Another option: Heat up some canned baked beans. It's a great way to fit in beans!
For another way to enjoy grilled chicken, try Healthy Choice Grilled Chicken with Smokehouse BBQ Sauce.
And for more tips on great grilling, refer to our May feature article, "Taking Your Kitchen Outdoors."
