Nutrition

Healthy, Easy snacks

One of my clients said to me last week,” I would probably eat better snacks if healthy food was as easy as junk food”.  That really bothered me so I explained; healthy eating can be just as simple and easy as eating junk food.  Of course it is simple to go to the pantry and grab a bag of chips or a processed bar, those types of food are always available and if you keep them in the house will usually sound like the easier more appetizing choice to make when snacking.  However, I believe (and practice) that it is just as simple to go to the refrigerator and grab a hand full of carrots or celery.  There is a laundry list of very healthy foods that are easily accessible and ready to eat just as you buy them from the store or pick from the garden.  Off the top of my head some easy snacks aside from carrots or celery are: Olives (black or green), any type of berry, tropical fruits (bananas, pineapples, etc), apples (try with almond utter) most nuts (with the exception of peanuts) and seeds are great very healthy snacks, and many many more.

Now for some snacks that may require a chop but still quick and very healthy broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, hot peppers!, coconut, and watermelon to name a few.

As you can see it is very simple to have healthy snacks, one of the biggest reasons we eat bad is because A. Bad food is readily available and or B. Good food is unavailable or perceived to be difficult to obtain.  Here is two very simple steps to eating healthier snacks; One:  Go to your pantry and empty out all of the junk food; chips, bars, candy, any processed or packaged foods that have so many preservatives they would still be good in 5 years if you went to the landfill to find them.  STEP TWO:  Go to the grocery store and buy some fruits, vegetables and any of the other healthy snacks I mentioned above or that you may enjoy; when you get home cut, clean and divide the fruits and veggies into snack sized ziplock baggies and toss them in your fridge, now you have no excuse not to grab a healthy snack, it is there and ready to eat!  My fiancé and I do this every Sunday.  Makes eating healthy simple and mindless.

Have fun!

David Hopper

Carbohydrates; it has been the story for decades.  Carbohydrates are the enemy!  However, I think they are just fine, in fact, essential to good health.  Let me set something straight.  It is nearly impossible to eat “carb free”; carbohydrates are literally in everything except meat.  If you eat vegetables you eat carbs, if your eat fruit your eating carbs, if you drink any type of sports drink or juice, you are consuming carbs, and if you eat fried chicken you are eating carbs and sending in a death wish.  Not only are carbohydrates hiding in more places than you probably realize, but they are in fact excellent for you!  Your body needs carbohydrates!  When you exercise your body burns glycogen for energy, this is your body’s stored form of carbohydrates.  When your body runs out of glycogen it will switch to burning primarily fat, YOU WISH, it will start breaking down muscle proteins and converting them to useable energy.  This is no good, because lean muscle tissue increases your metabolic rate all day!  So if your not eating carbohydrates your actually doing yourself a disservice; interesting.

Lowering your carbohydrate intake to match your body’s needs is a great idea, you will see weight loss and your muscles will tone up and you’ll feel great!  So how do you measure this out?  The easiest and cheapest way would be trail and error.  If you want to loose weight you’re probably eating too much already, (or not enough, different topic) so lower your total calorie intake and cut your carbohydrate intake in half.  See how you do on this plan for a week.  If your feeling tiered and weak you need to eat more, if you aren’t feeling any better about your body your probably still eating too much.  When you feel just right, enough energy to make it through the day and get in a good workout, plus feeling positive about your gains (or losses depending on how you look at it) you probably hit it right on the head!

Always consult your doctor before starting any new diet strategies.  For more information just ask!