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HEALTH 14 tips for “healthy” fast food


Eating out can be a challenge nowadays if you have a goal of fat loss, weight loss or toning up. With fast food and restaurant meals that can easily be more than 1,800 calo- ries, taking in one meal can certain- ly derail one’s efforts to obtain their goals. Here are some quick tips to help you make “healthier” choices when you are stuck in a situation where you have to eat out. 1. Do your research: Look online before you head out to eat as most restaurants and fast food places have their nutritional information online. You can figure out the best options and plan your meal before you go. 2. Fiber up: Stick to meals that have more fibrous carbs like fruits and veggies and minimize the starchy carbs like bread, pasta, potatos, etc.


3. Size matters: Try to keep the meal below 500 calories and avoid


super-sized, biggie, deluxe sized meals. 4. Avoid fried foods. Chicken and fish are normally good choices, but if they are fried then they are not good at all. 5. Take the food to go:


You are more inclined to eat more when you are away from the comforts of your own home. 6. Eat before you go: Have some veggies, fruits and some protein


Shelton Matsey


of some sort before you go to limit your hunger 7. Split it: Split the meal with a friend or have the waiter/waitress put half the meal in a to go box before they even bring out the main meal.


8. Don’t be afraid: Don’t be scared to special order you meal to


have the chef prepare it to fit your dietary requirements. Ask for more veggies instead of the pasta. Ask that the sauces not be included, etc. 9. Drink up: Not on the alcohol of course, but on the water. Drink one glass of water before your meal and you will feel fuller faster and eat less.


10. Make it your main meal: Order a “healthy” salad as your meal instead of a regular meal. 11.


Watch portion sizes: Oftentimes restaurant food is 3-5 servings of food. Know what a good portion size is. 12. Enjoy: If you take time to enjoy your meal then you give your


Where we enter: Black women and HIV-prevention research


The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a Black woman’s issue--a clear-cut, yet complicated, consequence of Black women’s disempowerment, sexual and reproductive oppression and high rates of gender-based vio- lence. Poverty and violence are key drivers of black women’s vulnera- bility to HIV and AIDS. More than 23 percent of U.S. Black women live in poverty, and Black women and teen girls experience dispropor- tionately high rates of community and intimate-partner violence. The epidemic also disproportionately affects Black women because they have been getting infected with HIV since the U.S. AIDS crisis began in 1981, but the epidemic raged unchecked for 10 years before pub- lic-health experts acknowledged this truth. So while we comprise less than 7 percent of the U.S. popula- tion, we comprise 66 percent of women living with HIV, or about 20 percent of the U.S. HIV-positive population.


These facts beg the question: When and where do Black women enter the fight to end the epidemic in our communities?


In the past several years, scientif- ic advances in how to use pharma- ceutical medications to prevent HIV transmission have occurred rapidly and yielded remarkable results--and


some of these discoveries have involved Black women. We know that behavior interventions do work, but not effectively enough alone to reduce rates of new HIV infections. And anti-retroviral drugs--the medi- cines that help HIV-positive people stay healthy and live longer--can also be effective in preventing HIV transmission. By combining behav- ioral approaches with the biomed- ical tools being developed, the end of AIDS now lies within our reach, the HIV advocacy and scientific communities and U.S. government agree.


But thus far, studies on Black women have been conducted in Africa in ideal clinical-trial condi- tions. Other than small safety stud- ies, very few Black women in the U.S. have participated in these clin- ical trials. Our incidence rates are high for the U.S., but not high enough compared to the rates in other countries to enroll Black American women in big, interna- tional trials. Given this scenario, how will U.S. Black women utilize these drugs in real-world settings-- and will these drugs actually reduce their vulnerability to acquiring HIV? That remains to be seen. The studies currently underway do not reduce women's need for: effective, culturally relevant behavioral inter-


ventions; reductions in gender inequities and more community- level interventions; or female-con- trolled prevention options such as female condoms and microbicides. But they do provide opportunities to increase women’s health and research literacy; spotlight the inter- sections of HIV, reproductive health and violence against women; help the U.S. achieve the aims of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy; and advance advocacy on special popu- lations of women, such as sex work- ers and victims of intimate-partner violence.


When women learn to take charge of their health--whether about HIV or other chronic or life-threatening issues--powerful and inspirational transformation takes place. I have witnessed even the most marginal- ized women become leaders and advocates, pressing critical matters that Black women need to hear and to heed, and demanding that research strategies, such as the ones that are soon to impact them, include them from the beginning. Dazon Dixon Diallo is the founder, president and CEO of SisterLove, a reproductive-justice organization for women, with a focus on HIV/AIDS.


Source: Blackaids.org CHICAGO DEFENDER / MARCH 7-13, 2012 7


bodies hunger cues time to kick in. 13. Skip the bread: Request that the bread basket not be brought to the table


14. Order sauce and dressing on the side: You can apply it conserva- tively to your food and still get all the great taste without all the calo- ries. With these tips you can make bet-


ter choices when eating out and stay on track towards your goals. Shelton Matsey is a certified fit- ness expert (ACE and NASM) with 12 years of experience in the fitness industry and Co-Owner of Fit Code Bootcamps. Matsey can be reached at slmfitness@gmail.com or 708- 824-8415 or_www.chicagoland- bootcamp.com.


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