Piling your plate high is never a good idea…unless you’re eating healthy foods. So is there such a thing as too much of a powerfood?

Not really.

It’s quite simple… The new word used often is “powerfood” really it’s just a catch phrase for foods that will will take care of your hunger. When you eat six times a day—and get enough fiber—you’ll be less inclined to balance a food skyscraper on your plate when you walk back to the kitchen table.

But that doesn’t mean you can go to town when  All-You-Can-Eats places call to you driving home. Watch what you eat, especially since we’re enforcing a Veteran Training food height restriction.

Here are three foods you shouldn’t feel guilty about:

Milk: Have it with cereal, in your coffee, in a glass, or as a shake—just make sure it’s low in fat. Milk builds muscle and fires up weight loss.

Chicken: When you garnish your protein any ways healthy, you’ll slow down to savor the flavor. Eat it with spinach and you’ll forget about food until breakfast.

Almonds: Seriously, go nuts. (Pun intended) When you surround yourself with foods that bust cravings, hunger will be a thing of the past.

Yes it’s true. The biggest misconceptions about the avocado we hear at Veteran Training are that it’s a vegetable (it’s really a fruit… we promise) and that it’s high in fat and therefore unhealthy. The fact is, avocados contain just 5 grams of fat per serving — and of this amount, 3 grams (or 60 percent) are heart-healthy monounsaturated fat. Studies have shown monounsaturated fat reduces serum cholesterol levels when substituted for saturated fats.

Avocados are also incredibly nutrient dense — they’re packed with dietary fiber; vitamins B6, C, and E; folate; and potassium (60 percent more potassium per ounce than bananas). Furthermore, avocados are rich in the antioxidant glutathione, which helps fight cancer by preventing the cell damage caused by free radicals. A true super food, avocados are a healthy addition to any diet.

There are many varieties of avocado, but the one you’re probably most familiar with is the Hass (rhymes with “pass”) avocado, which accounts for about 80 percent of U.S. consumption. It’s an oval-shaped fruit with pebbly skin that turns from green to purplish-black when the fruit’s ripe.

At the local Scituate grocery store or farmers’ market, look for avocados that yield to gentle pressure. (If you don’t plan to use it right away, choose an avocado that’s on the firm side.) Don’t rely on skin color to determine how ripe the fruit is. The Hass will darken as it ripens, but other types, such as Fuerte and Reed, stay green even when ripe. Need to hurry ripening? Simply place a young avocado in a paper bag at room temperature until it’s ready to eat (this takes approximately two to five days). Placing an apple in the bag will encourage the avocado to ripen even quicker because of the ethylene gas the apple, or any mature fruit, emits.

Ready to dig in? Use the following steps when peeling these sometimes-tricky-to-handle fruits, courtesy of our own Veteran Training Chef:

• Cut the ripe avocado lengthwise around the seed. Twist the halves to separate.
• Remove the seed by sliding a spoon underneath and lifting it out.
• Peel the fruit by placing the cut side down and removing the skin with a knife or your fingers, or scoop out the meat with a spoon.
• Be sure to sprinkle all cut surfaces with lemon juice, lime juice, or white vinegar to prevent discoloration.

When preparing avocado dishes, think beyond guacamole. Add chunks to omelets, soups, pasta sauces, pizza, and sandwiches. Don’t be afraid to try new things!

Every single week Veteran Training Coaches are asked from Pembroke to Hingham…Is olive oil good for you?

True or False: Heart-healthy vegetable oils, like olive oil and canola oil, are the ultimate diet food.

Stock Your Pantry
Cereal (without cartoons on the box; try for at least 4 grams of fiber per serving)
Old Fashioned Quaker Oats oatmeal
Wheat crackers
Brown rice
Whole-wheat pasta
Tomato sauce (check the ingredients—you want a sauce made with only tomatoes, olive oil, and spices—no corn syrup or sugar added)
Canned diced or whole peeled tomatoes
Canned tuna and/or salmon packed in water
Low-sodium canned soups
Canned beans (chick peas, pinto, black, kidney, etc.)
Basic seasonings: salt, pepper, brown sugar, Old Bay, taco seasoning, hot sauce like Tabasco, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, low-sodium soy sauce
Healthy oils like extra virgin olive oil, canola oil, and nonfat cooking spray (keep oils out of the sun, in a cupboard, so they do not get rancid)
Low-calorie hot chocolate packets
An assortment of teas
Granola bars, LaraBars, or Luna Bars
Dried fruit
Fruit leathers
Bananas (for a bowl on the counter)
Avocados (when available)

Stock Your Refrigerator
Fruits and veggies galore (including staples of apples, oranges, lemons, lettuces, tomato, cucumber)
Nonfat/low-fat milk
Nonfat/low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese
Calcium-fortified orange juice
Eggs
Nuts—almonds, walnuts, or cashews, roasted and unsalted (remember, nuts are fats and will go bad if they are not stored in the refrigerator)
Natural nut butters—almond or peanut
Hummus
Low-fat cheese: reduced-fat cheddar, part-skim mozzarella, or reduced-fat string cheese sticks
A block of good Parmesan cheese (so much better than pre-grated)
Firm tofu
Extra-lean turkey bacon (approximately 20 calories per strip, 1 gram of fat or less, and 3+ grams of protein)
Whole-wheat English muffins
Butter alternative (non-hydrogenated and without trans fats)
Mustard
Salsa (try to buy fresh salsa whenever possible)
Dark chocolate Hershey’s Kisses or a bar of really good 70 percent cocoa chocolate

Stock Your Freezer
Whole wheat sliced bread (with at least 2 grams of fiber per slice and less than 100 calories)
Frozen veggies (broccoli, spinach, peas)
Frozen fruit (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries)
Ground turkey
Skinless chicken breasts
Frozen cooked shrimp
Frozen meals (for more specifics check the search bar; top right on Blog)
Pre-portioned low-calorie ice cream treats
Coffee beans

Broccoli: A Gourmet Power Food

Trading Nutrition tips and facts are a regular past time between our Personal Training and Athletic Training Team. It is really quite amazing how much information can be told about something as common and bought locally as Broccoli. Broccoli is found across America but is about as Mediterranean as a vegetable can be. First grown in Italy, it was spread by the Romans throughout Europe; immigrants later brought it to America. Raw or cooked, it’s a major player in a healthy Diet. You can eat it in virtually unlimited amounts for the rest of your life.

You probably don’t need much convincing when it comes to broccoli’s benefits. Its reputation as one of the world’s healthiest foods is well established. But did you know that broccoli is one of the best sources of calcium and vitamin C? Consider this: There’s as much vitamin C in a serving of broccoli (1⁄2 cup in The Sonoma Diet) as in an orange. But an orange will set you back 60 or 70 calories — while that’s not a lot, it’s considerably more than the 20 or so in a serving of broccoli. Same goes for calcium. A half-cup serving of broccoli delivers about 40 milligrams and, unlike milk, has no saturated fat. The benefits, however, don’t end there. Broccoli is a deluxe detoxifier, clearing away potentially carcinogenic toxins and even inhibiting tumor growth. Broccoli is a true gourmet vegetable as well as a cancer fighter and heart protector.

Offering more than fiber.

The big anticancer gun in broccoli’s phytonutrient arsenal is a detoxifier called sulforaphane. As the name suggests, this substance is responsible for the sulfur-like smell of broccoli as it cooks. That’s turned off many a kid and even a former president to this gift of nature. When cooked properly, however, broccoli has a wonderful taste, not to mention a lovely color. Steam or boil it for just a few minutes. Cooking any longer will rob broccoli of both its flavor and its nutrients!