It’s Thanksgiving Time!!

First look at what all of us Mill Haven Foods folk received today from Brian and Hollie! Yes, they like us. We like them too.

Now, let’s talk Thanksgiving!

I think I’m so programmed at this point that I now get hungry just at the word Thanksgiving. Not really my problem, my family is capable of throwing down. Seriously, I anticipate my Aunt Lori’s vegetable bake like a sneaker release. It’s that good.

But, with that being said there are a lot of claims out there that we tend to pack on the pounds during this holiday season. There are a few ways to curb that fourth plate extra weight.

Let’s start with a “Ricki” 5 ways to curb the gain…

1. Skip the bun. Yes, I call the bun, filler…and empty filler at that, like the salad line at a buffet, SKIP IT. Unless it’s a homemade one that is still warm, then you’re on your own.
2. At the family gatherings, you really don’t need to try everything. I’m sorry mom, I love you very much, but we both know you aren’t Betty Crocker or even a distant cousin. And I’m ok with that, you taught me other things, like how to order a pizza.
3. Drink less, I’m not talking about less water here friends…I mean the extra cheerful calories in a bottle. I’m boring, I’ll have an occasional watered down beer, but my pops usually finishes it, as in normally more than half. So, if you’re near my dad this holiday season, offer the rest to him. He is a super hero.
4. Don’t buy plates. Yes, I just bought a house, and still only have 1 real plate, of my parents. They also don’t know I have it.
5. If the turkey isn’t great, don’t try to save it with gravy. Just power through the not great turkey. The protein is still there.

Ok moving on to maybe some actual helpful advice…

1. Don’t skip breakfast to be extra hungry for Thanksgiving Lunch/Dinner. I am guilty of this, I fully understand the importance of breakfast, but I’m telling you right now, DON’T GO HUNGRY. You’ll then fill up on the pre meal snacks. And snacking on non-healthy snack foods isn’t the best plan. Just extra calories that aren’t your Aunt’s stellar vegetable bake.
2. Pace yourself. Eating shouldn’t be considered a sprint! Our brains tell our body we are full after about 20 minutes of eating. THAT DOES NOT MEAN CRAM ALL YOU CAN ONTO 8 PLATES AND PROCEED TO DOMINATE YOUR FOOD IN 20 MINUTES!! Take your time. Enjoy the vegetable bake.
3. Hey, maybe just one round of the dessert table. Yes, I’m aware there is probably going to be 18 different desserts on the dessert table. My family is even bringing cake to celebrate two birthdays. I can understand and appreciate wanting to try everything…but be selective and try smaller portions if you really want to try everything.
4. Leftovers…I get it, they are awesome. That 9pm hunger hits, boom you have 8 GladWare containers full of joy, and a full belly by 9:21pm, yes, I accounted for the 1 minute of luke warm microwaved food that you couldn’t wait for a fully warm plate. But maybe, skip them. Don’t take 8 containers, maybe 1; give away your 18 pie slices. Be creative on dodging an extra container.
5. Get moving! Yes, we are all excited about a turkey nap. BUT, we should also be excited about exercising afterwards. If you have a sibling like I do, who sends a text of “CAN WE EXERCISE A LOT THIS WEEKEND” use their excitement and join them.

THANKSGIVING is meant to be a time of being THANKFUL! Enjoy your plate, enjoy your family/friends/whoever you are blessed to be spending your time with, and also enjoy the process of trying to cancel out the holiday season food!

 

Women and Protein

There is a common misconception that women shouldn’t take whey protein.  There are beliefs that whey protein is just for body builders and it will make females bulky.  False.

I’ve been on whey protein for a year. I’m still the size of a 4th grader, except I’m stronger than most of them. To be completely honest, I wish I had started much sooner.

Why? Well, I’ll tell you.

1. Protein helps the body recover after intense exercise. It does this by restoring glycogen levels.
2. Protein prevents muscle breakdown.
3. Protein helps build muscle.

Why will whey not make women bulky?

1. It takes YEARS of discipline and intense weight lifting to attain a body-builder physique.
2. Protein powder doesn’t contain testosterone.

Muscle shouldn’t be an offsetting word for women. In fact, having muscles helps you burn fat. It takes more energy (calories) for your body to maintain 1 lb of muscle than it does to maintain 1 lb of fat.

So, in short, no, whey protein will not turn women into huge hulk-like body builders. Or to be punny, no whey will it turn women into hulk.

For extra clarification….this never happened to me…

Before Protein

This didn’t happen after protein

And to be honest, I was already on protein in that top photo.

Mill Haven Foods Donates to Local Dog Shelter

Mill Haven Foods donated food, toys, and several blankets to the

Juneau Country Dog Shelter.

Great job employees!

The Benefits of Natural Whey Protein

A spoon full of acesulfame potassium helps the medicine go down…wait.. no.

There are a lot of different flavored version of protein powder out there; from Ice Cream to Cinnamon Bun. But does the flavor add anything valuable, besides taste, to the protein?

Long story short. No.

One of the major components to being physically fit starts with what we use as fuel. Nutritionists/dietitians, trainers, athletes, fit enthusiasts, all believe in the notion of clean eating.

I was a dietitian major when I transferred colleges to play basketball. Oddly enough, I went to one meeting with the majors and they were discussing baking apple pies for a fundraiser. I had one question during this meeting, “how do I transfer back?” I transferred for less than 24 hours.

Clean eating is semi simple, eat the good stuff. The less processed the better the food. Many clean eaters are trying to remove all the chemicals from their diets.

1. Clean eaters eat lots of greens that haven’t been altered.
2. They eat meats that are straight from the butcher.
3. Grains that haven’t been broken down. 
4. They read and reread labels to make sure they understand what they are eating.

So many bodybuilders, health enthusiasts, athletes, etc. abide by these rules, but then fail to read the labels of their protein powder.  Fact is, sweetened protein powder is altered. The less ingredients the better.

Many protein powders contain artificial sweeteners. For years artificial sweeteners have been under attack with many critics believing that they can lead to cancer. The National Cancer Institute has said that there is no sound scientific evidence that any approved artificial sweeteners in the U.S. cause cancer. But, the song does go, “A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down” not “A spoon full of acesulfame potassium helps the medicine go down.” And if you’re going to believe anyone, believe a woman that can pull an umbrella out of her purse, before umbrellas were collapsible.

And the fact is, it’s easy to add non flavored proteins to natural items that will flavor them. One of my go to shakes is a glass of almond milk, peanut butter, a banana, and a scoop of protein. Delicious.

And natural protein powder is great to add while baking. It easily addable to pancakes, muffins, and some people even put it into sauces. Be creative and try.

So, if you eat clean and take all the time to prep out meals for the week, really consider drinking clean.

 

WATER

Let’s talk water, or in the words of Jay-Z H 2 the (iz) O.

Cute non related side story…My 86 year old, at the time, grandma was asked by her activities director what music she enjoyed. She replied, “I don’t like the hip-hop.” I, however, do.

Water is an essential part of existing. It makes up nearly 2/3 of a human body. Got it. But it is also extremely helpful with maintaining a healthy diet and exercise.

I require myself to drink at least 2-20 ounce bottles at work. 

First, water has a whopping zero calories.

Second, if you’re drinking cold water, your body has to burn Calories just to drink it. Yes, it’s odd, but your body has to raise the temperature of the water to body temperature.

I like math, let me show you.

Let’s say you will drink 8 ounces of ice cold water. Ice cold water has to be around 0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) yes, I understand that’s the freezing point. So, it’s an estimation, around 0 degrees Celsius (rounded down) being the absolute lowest possible temperature/highest calorie burning water drinkable. We will take the average body temperature 98.6 F or 37 C. It takes 1 calorie to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius. 8 ounces of water converts to about 226.8 grams. So our body needs to raise 37 C. So we take 37 x 226.8 = 8,391.6 calories. BUT that’s little calories, not Calories. Little calories are actual a kilo-calorie of what we consider food calories. So the next step is 8,391.6/1000 = 8.3916 calories is the absolute maximum amount of calories we have the potential to burn from an ice cold 8 oz glass of water.

And if we are drinking the recommended 8 – 8 ounce glasses of water a day we have the potential to burn a maximum of 67.1328 calories a day or one sniff of a Kit Kat Bar. I will come back to the “recommended” amount. A Kit Kat Bar has 4 parts and is a total of 210 calories, yes big calories. So, if you drink 8 – 8 ounce glasses of ice cold water, you could have one part of the Kit Kat Bar (52.5 calories) and still be ahead.

Back to the list…

Third, it keeps you moving! Dehydration leads to sluggishness, headaches, and even stress.

But how much water a day should we really be drinking? I like the simple rule of dividing your weight in half. I am currently topping out at 106. Yes, I’m at toddler weight, no I’m not trying to lose weight MOM. So 106/2 = 53 ounces of water. But, if the weather is hot (15F here) and you’re active you need to consume more.

Follow us on Twitter @MillHavenFoods

Like us on Facebook 

Million Pound Challenge

Something incredible happened last night…

I maxed out on bench, I kid, I kid. I can do more than that….not a whole lot more, but more.

Monday I left work and recorded that Team Mill Haven Foods had raised 1,422.5 pounds of food. That in itself is a pretty wonderful number to reach in 13 days.

I set a goal for Team Mill Haven Foods to break into the top 10 by Friday. Well, we rocked that out in one night. Apparently we are all taking our fitness and our food pantry very seriously here. Not only did we manage to break into the top 10, landing ourselves at number 9, we broke the 2,000 pound mark.

It took us 9 days to break 1,000 it took us 4 days to break 2,000. I could not be more proud of the efforts being made to stock our food pantry and to increase our fit level.

We currently sit at 2,263.8 pounds, just awesome. Can’t wait to see what we do next week!

Even better news, there’s still time to Join Team Mill Haven Foods! Just follow this link http://www.princetonclub.net/mpc/ and click “Join A Team”, pick exercise or weight loss (we recommend exercise), then in “Select a Team” choose Mill Haven Foods in ”Select a Benefiting Hunger-Relief Organization” scroll to New Lisbon Food Pantry.

BUT HOW MUCH PROTEIN???? (FINALE)

Yesterday we realized that in order to gain muscle or lose weight, we need to eat a lot of pb&j’s or protein packed food.

Now I’ll introduce the convenience of a protein powder supplement.

One rounded scoop of this particular protein powder has 24 grams of protein.

Let’s make this as easy as possible, in a real life scenario.

My best friend, Elliott, weighs 185. He regularly lifts and has decided he wants to “cut.”  Cutting basically means that he wants to lower his body fat.

If we were to use the calculation for losing weight (.45 – 0.68 x body weight = total protein) he would want to consume, in the range of, 83.25 – 125.8 grams of protein a day. (.45 – .68 x 185 = 83.25 – 125.8)  Because Elliott has no desire to eat 10.5 pb&j’s he wakes up in the morning to a protein shake and has a protein shake after his workout. Thus, consuming 48 grams of protein powder in just two shakes. Even better, he’s a loyal Wisconsin guy, and mixes his powder with 8 ounces of 2% milk. That adds another 8 grams per shake. His total protein consumption on just two shakes is 64 grams of protein. This makes his goal of 83.25 – 125.8 grams of protein extremely reachable with his food intake. (remaining protein to hit goal 19.25 – 61.8)

Now let’s say Elliott was trying to gain more muscle. (.6 – 1.1 x body weight = total protein) He would want to consume, in the range of, 111 – 203 grams of protein a day. (.6 – 1.1 x 185 = 111 – 203) Now usually body builders like to have a shake per meal and then a shake after a workout. So, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a workout would total 128 grams of protein for Elliott. (24 grams of protein in powder + 8 grams of protein in 2% milk = 32 grams of protein x 4 = 128 grams of protein) This would make him hit his goal and his protein consumption in food would all be a bonus.

Stay tuned for more fun things about protein, including shake accessories, shake recipes, and introducing and exploring different types of protein!

Million Pound Challenge!

Get Fit. Lose Weight. End Hunger.

Make your New Year’s Resolution count for you and the community! Join Team Mill Haven and for every pound of weight loss or hour of exercise accumulated it will equal a 10 pound food donation to the New Lisbon Food Pantry!

Click here to go to the Million Pound Challenge

When registering on http://www.princetonclub.net/mpc/ just click “Join a team”, then choose exercise or weight loss, then in select a team choose “Mill Haven Foods”, then in “Select a Benefiting Hunger-Relief Organization” scroll to “New Lisbon Food Pantry.”

The best thing about the Million Pound Challenge is that it is absolutely free to you! All you have to do is exercise to help our community! You can either choose for every pound or every hour. I recommend choosing for every hour, because it’s much easier than dropping pounds!

The Million Pound Challenge runs from January 1, 2014 – May 31, 2014.

Wisconsin Business Development 2013 Award Winners

The Wisconsin Business Development Board presented Mill Haven Foods with the Community Impact Award. Mill Haven Foods was recognized for participating in the School to Work program with New Lisbon High School. The School to Work program gives students the opportunity to work during the school hours.  It allows students the opportunity to experience structured training, work experience, and even gain school credits.

The press release can be found here.