But that happens in the busy life of the modern adult, doesn’t it. Time is gold, life is demanding, personal health and fitness is a nice ideal at best. Perhaps the busy nature of life and the easy availability of junk food is why Australia America
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have work to do. Health authorities recommend half an hour of exercise every day in order to maintain health. Exercise is wonderful! Your body loves it even if your brain hates the idea of sweating off the pounds. But don’t shoot yourself in the foot. “Weight loss is 20% exercise and 80% food” says personal trainer and café owner, Joanne Verrill. So here are her tips on how to nail the snack food situation!
Keep your metabolism pumping! Six small meals a day keeps it revved up. Start big then finish up small. But don’t go and hit the vending machines in between times! High sugar, high saturated fat foods will cause your blood sugar to spike then drop making you feel drowsy and foggy. Go for a healthy, pre-planned snack instead. Despite what you think though, it is best to not eliminate all fat from your diet. Fat is actually needed for digestion. But go for the good fats. Avocado, almonds, nuts and legumes are a good place to start.
Junk food is addictive! Avoid it! It is packed with additives including sugar, artificial colours and flavours. It is also a known hiding place for the dietary boogie man called MSG which is an addictive agent. So if you have fallen into the trap of habitually choosing cheap junk-food as an easy hunger buster, it might be time to retrain the pallet. Food is best eaten closest to its source. For example, don’t get your tomatoes from a can (or sliced up in a burger). Buy them fresh. Processed food is the enemy of the healthy digestive system.
Plan your menu! Do not even think about going shopping when you are hungry. It’s a recipe for disaster. Think ahead. Bring a snack box to work. Geeky - maybe a little bit. Responsible and healthy - Most certainly! And it will help you avoid the vending machine trap at the train station on the way home. If you are struggling for inspiration on healthy hunger busters, here are my tips:
First some good news - You don’t have to quit the coffee. Just quit the sugar you add to it. Before you going replacing sugar with sweetener, educate yourself! Some sweeteners out there have the nutritional value of rat poison. However, good health food shops stock natural alternatives that don’t have the questionable long term effects. Another fun fact for you is this - Black coffee is better for you than white. It allows you to absorb all the nutrients and antioxidants that coffee has to offer.
Make sure you drink plenty of water as well - Two litres a day is a good goal. You might be interested to know that hunger pangs can often be ‘thirsty’ pangs that we got all confused. One benefit of cold water drinkers is that they actually burn more calories as well! Heading to the water fountain yet? Good! But before we move off the water topic I must mention that coffee dehydrates. So for every cup of the beautiful brew that you consume, replenish yourself with two glasses of H2O!
Dried fruit and nuts - It’s simple enough for the busy person to grab a mixed bag from the supermarket or health shop. This one is high on my list of favourites because nuts have the kind of fats that help with digestion. Dried fruit is packed with flavour and though high in sugar, it’s the right kind of sugar. Keep in mind that of the nuts, Almonds are the lowest in fat. Chow down on them before you hit the Macadamias which rate a lot higher in fat content.
Yoghurt - It’s packed with good bacteria such as acidophilus and it’s easy to grab single serves from your supermarket. If in doubt, 100 grams is a great serving size. You can also choose from low fat varieties to keep the waistline under control. If you want to change it up a bit, throw some dried fruit or low fat muesli in with the yoghurt. It is an easy snack that doesn’t take long to prepare.
Salads - They don’t have to just be for lunch. Why don’t you make yourself a colourful salad to nibble on during the day? Throw in 100 grams of chicken or tuna and a handful of pine-nuts for a delicious snack that keeps you full but doesn’t load you up with carbs or sugars. If you are after a low fat dressing, a little bit of lemon juice and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil adds a little bit of pizzazz. You could also try balsamic vinegar which has given many a boring salad a burst of life over the years.
Fresh fruit and vegetables - Because the simple things in life are often the best. How many times have we heard the recommendation to eat five serves of vegetables and three serves of fruit every day? How much is a serve? It’s about as much as you can fit in the palm of your hand. There you go, that’s not so hard to achieve now is it?
Juices and smoothies - While it is best to avoid any with added sugars, juices and smoothies actually makes a good snack. They still have the nutrients of fruit but they don’t have the hassle and mess of peeling an orange at your desk or chopping up a watermelon in a hurry.
Revamp a dieters favourite - Try celery with low fat cheese spread and cherry tomatoes. Celery is an old dieters favourite because your body uses more energy to digest it that the celery actually contains. But on its own it can be rather boring. Solution: Put a bit of low fat cheese spread or sour cream on it and slice a few cherry tomatoes for a new twist on an old favourite.
A final point to keep in mind: Don’t hit the breads and carbs too hard. Most people involve carbohydrates in their main meals so there is no need to go into overkill by snacking on breads and biscuits. Your body can do without that. If you stay away from high sugar snacks, you might even find that you will have more energy during the day instead of that sluggish feeling or the sugar high/low sugar crash cycle we can easily get stuck in.
Happy snacking! And good luck towards attaining a healthier, slimmer you.
(We are published! Check out http://www.newcitymagazine.com/ and look for the February Edition)
