Life in the Big Apple…

This past weekend my husband and I lived life in the fast lane on a weekend getaway trip to New York City.  For those of you who haven’t traveled to the NYC lately, there’s a new “Zero trans fat” law that went into effect this summer which mandates that all restaurants prepare foods using “0 trans fat” ingredients.  This new law is a victory for everyone especially for those who follow a heart healthy diet. 

Trans fat can significantly increase your bad cholesterol, or LDL—and it has no nutritional value.  Unlike olive oil or canola oil, synthetic fats often used in fast food cooking that made McDonald’s fries famous, may make some foods “tasty” but with the fat come a worse cholesterol profile, excess calories and NO nutritional value. 

So without having to deal with trans fat, my goal during our NYC trip was to maintain my eating program….filling up on lean protein, fruits and vegetables with selective carbohydrates with the ultimate goal of keeping on top of my eating so that when I’d step back on the scale after the trip I wouldn’t be blown away with any additional pounds.

We spent our first evening in the Big Apple at a popular steakhouse where Coach Ferguson stuck to his guns and ordered steak tomatoes with mozzarella, drizzled with vinegar (but no olive oil) followed by a lean cut of steak and steamed broccoli.  I, too, passed on the warm bread, and chose the leanest cut of steak on the menu with asparagus and ended the meal with dessert….a small cup of fruit sorbet!  I said “NO” to crème brulee, cheesecake, ice cream, mousse and a chocolate soufflé…and instead, I selected a lighter dessert option to satisfy my sweet tooth and avoided all the unnecessary calories.   

I continued on my quest to experience all that New York has to offer without compromising my food plan or my waistline.  Breakfast at a corner café featured an egg white omelet with fresh vegetables and whole grain toast.  I passed over the stack of pancakes and French toast drenched in syrup for a high protein and fiber rich breakfast which held me throughout the morning.  After stopping by a local convenient mart and picking up some protein bars, we headed down Broadway to make the 2pm Theatre matinee.

Even after experiencing an amazing Broadway performance with The Color Purple featuring Fantasia, we’d continue our whirlwind tour of New York at the US Open in Tennis.  There was no Venus, no Serena, no Roddick, no Federer but there was amazing tennis to watch.  Seeded or unseeded, the men and women’s third round of play held our attention way past midnight before we caught the 1:08am train back downtown.  Having missed “dinner” in order to make the 7pm US Open start, it was close to 2 o’clock in the morning by the time we sat down to eat.  We ended the night at a 24 hour diner with….you guessed it…. an egg white omelet!

Mushroom and tomatoes, peppers and onions, or spinach and asparagus…..whatever your combination is, load up on veggies, stick with a low-fat cheese option (if available) and avoid extra fat and calories by eliminating sausage, bacon or ham from your egg white (or egg substitute) omelet and you’ll have a filling and heart healthy meal.

Whether you’re in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles or Suburbia, USA, you can enjoy life in all of its abundance by choosing healthy food options even when out on the town!

If we can do it….you can do it!

To your wellness,
Dr. Traci Ferguson, The Health and Wellness Queen

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 at 5:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.