Results tagged “snacks”

When you add it up; too much of a little, can become a whole lot!

Allow me to persuade you to believe that all those little seemingly harmless bites and tastes during your week can be the determining factors of the success in your weight loss goals.

To determine if I'm describing you, I have a simple test. It goes like this:

HOW: In this post we talk about food and how to sate the hunger without digging the hole deeper - it takes a bit of effort, but it can actually be tasty and satisfying.

Two days latter as planned, there was Bob waiting for me in the cafe. I was pleasantly surprised to see he had a note pad opened to a blank page which I assumed was to take notes.

"I bet you're impressed," as he proudly gestured toward what looked like a bran muffin sitting lonely in the middle of a plate. I asked him what happened to the smoothie! He assured me that he has been having one each morning as promised. However, not too long after, he feels that he needs to eat something. At that point Bob expressed that the bran muffin seemed like a healthy choice.

Aware that we both had about 15 minutes before we had to be on our separate ways, we got down to business.

I told Bob it was normal to feel hungry shortly after the smoothie. A good appetite in the morning is a good thing. Some people skip breakfast all together and that's a huge mistake. If they don't want to eat in the morning at least they can drink their breakfast as a smoothie and that would give them the valuable energy their body needs to get the day started. Now, onto the muffin.

It was critical for Bob to learn that thought some foods may be praised as being good for you, they may not be conducive to weight loss. They can be replaced by foods that are equally good for you and would also be better for helping to control your weight. All things considered, even though the muffin Bob chose was not the best choice, it did show he was beginning to put more thought into his food choices.

A muffin is loaded with flour, fat, and sugar. I told him as far as loosing weight goes; flour and sugar are hugely responsible for keeping you from leaning down. Even low fat muffins are not an option. It might be low in fat but I've never heard of a low flour muffin. I also wanted him to be attentive to the fact that whole wheat flour and raw cane sugar can still negatively affect your weight loss goals, and should be avoided. And "yes Bob," even biological honey is sugar. Steer clear of it!

Bob put down his pencil and with a rather depressed look on his face, asked, "what can I eat, everything is made of flour and sugar?" He wasn't correct but from the angle of the typical menu of the average home, he had reason to feel that way.

We were almost out of time and I still hadn't given Bob something to walk away with, apart from his apparent frustration.

"Ok Bob, "I want to recap, and give you some snack choices."

#1 Don't skip breakfast. Drink your smoothie. It's normal to want to snack shortly after, and I encourage it. But make it a snack that has little or no sugar and flour in it.

#2 Some good snacks are:
- mixed nuts (not the whole bag) they're a great source of fiber, healthy fat, and protein.
- fruits and/or berries (we'll worry about specific ones later) just have any that you want for now. Fruits are a great source of fiber, vitamins, and slower to digest sugars. Go for the dark skinned berries. It's a sign that they're full of antioxidants. Think blue and black berries.
- Raw cut vegetables. This choice is not only a great source of fiber, but full of vitamins and phytochemicals which are essential to your body.
- Low fat cottage cheese with berries.
- Yogurt. Be careful of the low fat yogurts, as some of them are higher in sugar. Yogurt helps to keep the healthy bacteria in your digestive system strong, and it is a good source of calcium.
- Light bocconcini cheese with cherry tomatoes. Tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, which has been praised for it's anti cancer properties.
- Avocado eaten as it is is a great snack. Yes it has fat, but it's a totally healthy fat. Further, the fat contained in avocado has been shown to decrease inflammation in the prostate of men who suffer from enlargement of this gland.

It is my recommendation to have one snack between each meal so you're not so hungry when you sit down to eat.

I gave Bob an article that I wanted him to read. I also wanted him to buy a whole bunch of varied size tupper ware containers. The containers are important because bringing his food with him is the number one way to control what he eats.

It was time to go and we agreed to meet again in three days back at my studio. I reminded him to read the article in the meantime because it was full of food ideas so that he could get a better idea of what his meals should be like.