Compass Group 360°

My Top Ten Ways to Cut 100 Calories

Health experts tell us that successful weight loss comes from taking small steps, rather than making drastic changes in our diets. People who take small steps, like cutting out 100 calories each day,  will lose weight slowly (about ¾-1 pound per month) but find it easier to keep weight off in the long run. Try some of my favorite ways to cut 100 calories from your diet:

1. Choose diet soda rather than regular, or better yet choose flavored sparkling water
2. Have a whole apple rather than a 12 oz. bottle of apple juice
3. Split a dessert with a friend
4. Switch to fat free milk from regular in your coffee or tea
5. Leave the cheese off your burger-add lettuce, tomato and onion instead
6. Order your sandwich on whole wheat bread rather than a croissant
7. Use 1 tablespoon of mayo and a little lemon juice in your tuna salad rather than 2 tablespoons of mayo
8. Top your pasta with 1 cup of marinara sauce instead of alfredo sauce
9. Cut back the “tasting” while you are cooking: The following “tastes” each have 100 calories-2 tablespoons chocolate chip cookie dough, 3 tablespoons of chocolate pudding, 4 tablespoons beef stroganoff
10. Reduce the size of your steak from 4 ½ ounces to 3 ounces (about the size of a deck of cards)

What are your tricks?

- Deanne Brandstetter, M.B.A., R.D., C.D.N.
VP Nutrition & Wellness, Compass Group North America

Piece A' Cake

It Happened This Week: Cake, Incredibly Inspiring Weight Loss Blogs & Celebrity Weight Battles

Eating healthfully all the time is hard, and probably not realistic. Have you ever really wanted that piece of cake, but knew you shouldn't eat it? The more you think about wanting it, the more the resulting consequences you imagine are blown way out of proportion.

Check out this YouTube video Piece A' Cake which captures this very dilemma.

- Deanne Brandstetter, M.B.A., R.D., C.D.N.
VP Nutrition & Wellness, Compass Group North America

A Healthy Menu for Valentine’s Day

What better way to celebrate Valentines Day that to cook dinner for someone you love?  You’ll save money, avoid overcrowded restaurants and have a delicious meal that’s actually good for you too.

Our Valentine’s Day menu features components of the Mediterranean Diet which has been proclaimed for years as one of the most healthful eating patterns.  Start off with a colorful roasted red pepper spread with your favorite crudités, followed by exotic Moroccan chicken with a multi-vegetable tagine and a crisp greens and herb salad, and finish up with dark chocolate dipped strawberries and dried mango.

And in Mediterranean tradition, serve with a glass of nice red wine- given the sweet-tangy Mediterranean flavors, try pouring a Mediterranean rosé, which will complement the chicken with its red wine-like fruitiness and white wine-like acidity.  Two good choices are the berry-rich 2007 Château Grande Cassagne Rosé and the spicy 2007 Domaine Sainte-Eugénie Corbières Rosé.


-Deanne Brandstetter, M.B.A., R.D., C.D.N.
VP Nutrition & Wellness

- Chef Elizabeth Hales, Executive Chef, Balanced Choices

The Mediterranean Diet

Cambridge, MA
November 16-18, 2008

Last month, I had the good fortune to attend the 15th Anniversary Mediterranean Diet Conference. Sponsored by the Oldways Preservation Trust, a non-profit food issues think tank, this international conference focused on what is now considered the “Gold Standard Eating Pattern”, the Mediterranean Diet. 

The sessions and meals presented were a look at how traditions and nutrition science, working together, are keys to the Mediterranean eating pattern. Fausto Luchetti, former executive director of the International Olive Oil Council in Madrid, conducted a serious tasting of olive oils from Turkey. 

A new Mediterranean Diet Pyramid was unveiled and will be utilized in Compass Group’s  National Nutrition Month promotion Eat, Learn, LIVE MEDITERRANEAN scheduled for March 2009.

-Martha Kennedy, MS, RD, CDN
Corporate Nutritionist & Balanced Choices Dietitian

Maryland Blue Crab

July 1, 2008
Annapolis, MD

There is nothing like moving to remind you about how closely food and location can be connected. Having recently moved from New York City to Maryland, I am reminded of this fact almost daily. While I still miss the everyday New York foods, I am starting to embrace the foods of my new surroundings. One that is so important here that its picture is featured on state issued ID’s (yes, even my drivers license) is the Maryland Blue Crab.

During a recent meeting that I hosted with some of my colleagues from New York we embraced the very Maryland activity of eating crabs. After getting some recommendations, we headed off to a local restaurant known for their blue crabs. We knew that we had come to the right place when on a Monday night we were greeted with a 20 minute wait to be seated. Located on a small creek just outside the city of Annapolis, the atmosphere was all about the crabs. Long picnic style tables were covered in butcher’s paper and supplied with small buckets for shells. When our crabs arrived along with our chosen sides we were supplied with the necessary tools (small wooden mallets, knives, vinegar, crab seasoning and lots of paper towels) and given a lesson on crab picking.

The crabs were delicious and I couldn’t help putting on my nutrition hat and thinking what a great lesson this was for healthy eating. The act of picking the crabs had forced us to take our time and enjoy the food and the atmosphere. What a nice departure from the typically hurried pace of eating.

Blue Crab is a 'good alternative' from the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch List. 

-Jennifer M. Ignacio, MS, RD
Nutrition Specialist, Flik Independent Schools

Organic or GMO?

March 28, 2008

Did you know that the PLU (price look-up) code of produce tells you whether it's organic or genetically-modified?

* The PLU codes on fruit and vegetables contain four numbers (i.e., 4859).
* If produce is organic, the PLU code is 5 numbers starting with a 9 (i.e., 94859).
* If you see 5 numbers starting with an 8, (i.e., 84859), that means the fruit or vegetable is a GMO (a genetically-modified organism).

Of course, you'll see signs loudly marketing fruits and vegetables as organic so you probably won't have to examine the PLU to figure that out. However, for those "quiet" GMOs that have found their way into the food system and consequently into our diets, here's a way to keep them out!

- Katherine Kwon, Bon Appétit Management Co., Communications Project Manager

World of Healthy Flavors

January 18-20, 2008
Napa Valley, California

I had the opportunity to attend The World of Healthy Flavors conference at the Culinary Institute of America in their amazing Napa Valley California location. The purpose of this conference was to learn about integrating healthy and nutritious ingredients into foodservice cuisine. Culinary colleagues from many foodservice businesses attended including three other Compass chefs: Robert Maluso with Eurest, Paul Pontarelli with Flik, and Marc Zammit with Bon Appétit Management Co.

Each presentation topic was carefully focused on our world today and how to manage and obtain good nutrition within the food industry. We were lucky enough to observe cooking demonstrations by restaurateurs, chefs and cookbook authors from Lebanon, India, Mexico City, Bangkok and America. Our meals showcased the delicious food that these specialty chefs prepared following the nutrition philosophy of eating lots of fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains and small amounts of protein.

Many of the recipes that we saw demonstrated involved world flavors;  using ethnic herbs and spices to keep the flavors of the food fresh and lively while minimizing the amounts of fat, salt and sugar. This is a great way to dispel the myth that “healthy food has no flavor”.  All of the food was incredibly inspiring and will lead to development of food concepts and specialty menus for our Compass Group accounts all over the country.

Pictured: a small orange grove in Napa Valley and a vineyard from the Culinary Institute of America

- Chef Elizabeth Hales, Executive Chef, Balanced Choices

Stonyfield Farm Headquarters

August 27-29, 2007 
Manchester, New Hampshire

At the end of August, I attended a Compass Group Corporate Social Responsibility meeting at the Stonyfield Farm headquarters in New Hampshire. The purpose of our visit was to learn more about how organics and animal welfare affect our global food supply - more importantly to reinforce the message of how closely the two are interconnected.

We toured their yogurt plant and visited one of their organic dairy farms. We also had the pleasure of hearing Gary Hirshberg, CE-YO of Stonyfield Farm talk about their business journey. It was just amazing to see how a small company that started out in 1983 is now a pioneer and leader in the organic agricultural industry and humane treatment of animals, not to mention a successful, growing business.

Organic farming is nothing new. It is what we humans did less than 100 years ago. We are actually getting back to our roots by converting to what is now called “organic”.

10 reasons for organic!

• Removes persistent toxins from the food system
• Dramatically reduces point-source pollution
• Requires a farm plan which mandates soil  improvement
• Reduces soil erosion
• Reduces water usage
• Animal standards: access to outdoors and pasture, good nutrition, low stress (See the happy cows above!)
• Enhances biodiversity
• Saves family farms because of price stability
• Can help reduce health care costs
• Can reduce dependency on fossil fuels and thus can reduce climate footprint
• Visit www.stonyfield.com!

-Deanne Brandstetter, M.B.A., R.D., VP Nutrition, Compass Group North America