Play on Words

Ansley Bartlett
Delta Delta Delta

You are on the go, whether this means your on your way to class, trying to make it to Memphis to catch a flight or just too lazy to cook something yourself so you: a) go to the nearest McDonald’s and order the first thing that sounds appetizing b) go to the C-store (no matter what year you are and pick up some stuff there) or c) just skip eating. Well I hate to be the person that reiterates the information you already know, but if you are trying to lose weight/stay in shape none of those options are the way to do it.

And then there is the problem with going out to eat and looking at the menu filled with delicious sounding foods and the inability to control your appetite so you immediately order the first calorie loaded meal, like a burger and fries. Well, thanks to Weight Watchers, I have used their list of “healthier” words and “red flag” words with examples of the different foods for each word.

“Red-flags”:

Au gratin- often uses breadcrumbs, cheese, and lots of butter. Example: some potato casserole dishes

Battered- uses flower, milk, and eggs. Example: pancakes, waffles, and crepes

Breaded- uses breadcrumbs or a mixture of seasoning. Example: fried chicken

Buffalo-style- usually drenches the food in buffalo sauce. Example: wings

Buttered- obvious. Example: biscuits

Creamed- usually made with high butter fat milk. Example: custards, puddings, cake

Crispy- crunchy shrimp roll is basically the same thing as crispy

Fried- stay away, as much as we all love Southern fried food, this is the one that takes the cake on weight gain.

Hollandaise- mixture of lemon juice and butter. Example: Eggs Benedict or over vegetables

Parmigiana- comes from the southern part of Italy. It means a fried slice or whatever covered in cheese and tomato sauce and then baked. Example: the filling of eggplant

Scalloped-- same as gratin

Scampi- in the United States this meal is usually shrimp with white wine and garlic butter.

“Healthier” choices:

Baked- basically dry heating the food. Example: Baked Lays chips

Boiled- usually used with tougher meats like red meat or chicken. Example: hard boiled eggs

Broiled/Grilled- applied to the food above or below. Example: kabobs, grilled chicken

Poached- gently simmering a food in a liquid, like milk. Example: poached eggs

Roasted- another dry heat with an open flame for food. Example: Roast beef

Steamed- way to heat food by using water that eventually vaporizes into steam. Example: steamed broccoli

Notice the list of “red flag” foods is longer than the list of “healthier” foods. Why is that you may be wondering? Maybe that’s because the fast food industry has literally taken over our country. I was really curious about the growth in fast food restaurants so I did some research on the Super Size Me website. For example, in 1972 $3 billion dollars was spent on fast food and year, now it’s over $110 billion. Another foul fact, French fries are the most eaten vegetable in America.

Just from those two facts, we can now figure out why the list of unhealthy foods is so much longer. So as you are eating out, remember the list of healthy foods and choose wisely. But if you do feel the urge to have something on the no-no list, just remember, there really aren’t any good or bad foods, but it’s the way that you balance them out with food and exercise.

Ansley is a sophomore studying secondary education and English. You may contact her at sabartle@olemiss.edu.