Old wisdom tells us that snacking between meals is a good way to get plump. But new wisdom tells us that snacking is a good way to keep your metabolism in gear and to prevent you from overdoing it at meal time. Who’s right?
The truth is somewhere in the middle. Snacking can be a great way to rev up your metabolism and keep you energized and satisfied. But if you are not snacking on the right things, then your mid-day noshes could be destroying your diet.
Here are snack foods for a lean, mean body and tons of energy.
1) Hard boiled eggs:. Always keep hard boiled eggs at hand. Make half a dozen at the beginning of the week and then store them in the office fridge. You can top them with tumeric to make them more exciting.
2) Roasted chickpeas. Roasted chickpeas are a crunchy and satisfying treat, especially if you are craving something salty You can buy them pre-made or make a batch easily at home. Add spices like cumin and chili powder to up the flavor without adding calories.
3) Protein shake. Nothing kills an ice-cream craving like a cold, frothy protein shake and it is wonderful for muscle recovery after a hard workout.
4) Homemade granola bars. Make your own granola bars using sugar substitutes like agave nectar. Use your favorite fruits and nuts and get creative.
5) Snack clean with a dried fruit concoction. “Here’s my favorite snack right now: I take a sliced dried apple and I top it with almond butter. Then I toss some coconut shavings and cinnamon on top. Easy, breezy…and best of all, it’s great for your body!”
6) Raw, unsalted almonds. Ideal if you can soak them in water for a few hours before-hand since that makes them easier for your body to break down.
Have you noticed that all of these things have some kind of protein in it? Protein digests slowly so it’s an ideal thing to tide you over for a few hours.
So what about NOT to eat?
Anything that comes from a vending machine is likely to be filled with all kinds of chemicals and franken-foods to keep them shelf-stable for long periods of time.
Most “Energy Bars” are likely to be filled with all kinds of sweeteners that make your thighs chubby so unless you are certain the ingredients are pure and clean then I would actually avoid most of them. Food companies can make all kinds of claim such as “light” “natural” but there is no legal basis for these terms. They can even put pictures of wholesome ingredients on them.
Most of the things at Starbux, especially the coffee drinks are LOADED with all kinds of fattening and sugary stuff ( I like to think of the Starbux drinks as coffee-flavored ice-cream sundaes)…. it’s ok to do occasionally…. but as a daily habit if you really want to trim down it’s a No-No. Please note, I’m not talking about regular black coffee but talking about the coffee with a bunch of whipped cream, frothy milk, syrups and chocolate shavings on top. These drinks are pretty pricey anyway… $4 for one of these? If you have one of these every day ( which MANY of us do) that is about $1500 a YEAR? What could you do with an extra $1500 a year. I’m not saying don’t drink coffee if you need your fix, but just make it at home which will end up being much healthier anyway.
Most things that you get in the middle section of the grocery store are not ideal snacks….. most of the things come in packages, crackers, potato chips, packaged sweets etc. I usually stay away from all the middle aisles which have all the highly processed foods and drinks.
“Power drinks”. Again, just because it says in big letter that it is “Vitamin Water” and there are pictures of beautiful fruits and vegetables on them does not mean that is is actually healthy…. even remotely. Read the actual ingredients…. especially the sugar content and your eyeballs will pop out to see how much sugar was added to these things.