Food to Fuel Middle Age Fitness

Posted on 03. Mar, 2013 by Sybil in All Posts, Nutrition

Delicious calabaza squash!

I have been introduced to so many new foods while on the Beachbody Ultimate Reset. One of my favorites is Kabocha squash. That was de-licious! I baked it in the oven and then pureed with coconut milk. Well, tonight I had one even BETTER!!!! Jamaican Calabaza squash! I have never tasted something so delicious that wasn’t chocolate! It was delicious right out of the oven. I bought it pre-cut in a large slice. This article explains why it was pre-cut, as this squash is notoriously difficult to slice! Since it is pre-cut, be sure to store it in the fridge for up to a week.I ate some right out of the oven and pureed the rest in vegetable broth. Water would have sufficed just fine. This was heaven on a spoon! It has a similar nutrition profile to sweet potato which means twice as many carbs as the Kabocha. For that reason, I would likely have the Calabaza squash as a mid-morning carb snack rather than at dinner unless it was a small side dish. I try to limit carbs to leafy greens at dinner time. As you know, we middle age folk, have to be even more mindful of our nutrition and that includes the time of day in which we eat certain foods. Use Calabaza squash in any dish you would use butternut or acorn squash!

Macronutrients

One cup of cooked calabaza squash flesh provides healthy carbohydrate energy, 2 grams of protein and less than 1 gram of fat within 76 calories if cooked without butter or oil. These squash are actually vine fruits that most people use as vegetables in composing their meals. The American Diabetes Association considers winter squash starchy vegetables, with all varieties averaging 18 grams of carbohydrates, of which 6 grams are dietary-fiber carbs. Calabaza and other winter squash have about half the carbs of other starchy vegetables, such as peas and corn. If you are a diabetic or bodybuilder who counts carbohydrates, you’ll still need to monitor your portion size of squash to stay inside your carb boundaries.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/551087-nutrition-in-calabaza-squash/#ixzz2MWDvjsSR

Calabaza is extremely high in Vitamin A, provides 30% of your RDA for vitamin C, as well moderate amounts of B vitamins. I know it’s easy to take a multi-vitamin pill each day, but I feel it’s much better to get these vitamins from real food as they are assimilated with a host of other co-factors and vitamins which may not be present in that so-called magic pill.

Tags: Beachbody, Food, middle age, nutrition, Ultimate Reset