Quick Snack Ideas

Small meals throughout the day are a great way to “boost your metabolism.” However sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between a small meal and a regular sized meal and this can lead to overeating. If regular meals mixed with snacks throughout the day makes more sense to you, below are some examples. Remember snack does not equal junk food! If you wouldn’t eat it for breakfast or feed it to your kids for dinner, then don’t eat it for a snack!

Many of these snacks can be prepared beforehand and stored in your fridge, freezer or pantry for easy snacking!

Savory-

• Vegetable crudites
• Baked potato with salsa, marina sauce, sautéed onions, broth or fat free sour cream
• 2 Salt free/ low sodium rice cake topped with avocado and salsa
• 100% whole grain pita dipped in hummus
• Toasted “Food for Life Bread “(in freezer section) with some natural peanut butter
• 7 “Hint of Salt Triscuits” topped with tomato slices and heated in microwave
• Quesadillas with low-fat cheese and salsa on an “Ezekiel Tortilla”
• 100% whole grain English muffins with pizza sauce and sautéed onions
• Small palmful of no-added-salt nuts
• Plain popcorn topped with nutritional yeast or some “Mrs. Dash”
• Fresh vegetable slices dipped in low fat/ fat free cottage cheese, plain yogurt or hummus
• Celery with fat free/ low fat cream cheese
•  Baby carrots dipped in 2 tbsp pb
•  Low-fat string cheese with an apple or pear
• Omelet with 1 tsp oil, 2 eggs and diced vegetables
• 2 boiled eggs
• Salad (forget the dressing and croutons and top with salsa, vinegar and/or moist veggies)
• Veggie/ turkey  burger topped with tomato sliced and mustard
•  Last night’s leftovers!!!

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Sweet-

• A piece or pieces of fruit
• Granola/ energy bars (Look for one with few ingredients)
• A “Larabar”
• Trail mix with 1 box of raisins and small palmful of no-added-salt nuts
• Boiled apples with cinnamon and vanilla
• 2 rice cakes topped with mango and strawberry slices
•  Plain yogurt topped with berries
• Smoothie- frozen fruit blended with skim or soy milk
• Soycream- tofu blended with frozen fruit
• Oatmeal supreme- plain oatmeal topped with cinnamon, fruit and 4-5 chopped pecans
• Pb cup oatmeal-  plain oatmeal with 1 tbsp pb, 1 tsp coco powder and ½ cup soymilk
• Autumn oatmeal- plain oatmeal mixed with canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice
• 1 banana with 1 tbsp pb
• PBJ Rollup- natural peanut butter and grapes sliced in half on half of an “Ezekiel Tortilla”
• Baked sweet potato with cinnamon

PEPPERS, ONIONS and sausage

Make it a non-effort to eat plenty of veggies. Next time you are making sausage, first saute 4 onions and 8 peppers with 1 tsp of olive oil (yes that is all you need). Add in 4 of your favorite sausage links and enjoy. This spread into 6 HEAPING portions will provided 2-3 servings of vegetables each. My favorite "sausage" to use is Tofurky Sweet Italian with Tomato and Basil, if you prefer meat try Applewood's Organic Chicken and Turkey Italian Sausage. Make sure not to drain the excess liquid released from the vegetables; this is where many nutrients are. Bonus- use this moist dish instead of dressing to top over salad for even more veggies!

Creamy Green Smoothie

Want a new texture and taste to your everyday smoothie? Try this one...

Blend a mango, 2 kiwis and a hass avocado together to make a smoothie for 2!

Want a smoothie for one? Use a honey mango, 1 kiwi and half of a hass avocado. YUM!!

Each serving is about 250 calories of healthy nutrients.

My favorite bread!

In my opinion, Food for Life makes one of the best breads around; this is the brand that makes the popular Ezekiel Bread. It is not the "sprouted grains" the company boasts that I am most interested in. Instead it is the limited amount of ingredients and low amount of sodium (about half than most breads) in their great tasting products. These breads do have a "grainier" taste and texture than most breads with additives and dough conditioners. If you are new to this bread, I suggest start by toasting it first. The bread is located in the freezer section of your grocery store and usually only about $3.50 per loaf. Since the bread is more hardy than most commerical breads with a lot of air, you eat less of it!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, let me know!

It's never too late to start!

Today I am very proud of one of my clients for completing his FIRST 5K run/walk (3.1 miles).
We have been training for the Springtime Tallahassee Race for several weeks and it is a very hilly race. Though he has never completed a race before, what better time than now to do so (a few months before his 70th birthday).

Set your goals high and shoot for the stars!

Power Superbowl Dip

Skip the cheese, sour cream and beans with lard.
Instead: 
-Blend 1-2 cans vegetarian pinto beans with 1 tsp cumin and spread on bottom of a dish.
-Add a layer of smashed or scliced avocado.
-Add chopped lettuce or green peppers.
-Pour a jar of salsa.
-Top with corn, chopped onions and/or black beans.

Grocery Shopping Tips

Here are a couple tips for grocery shopping, feel free to print this out and take it with you next time you head to the store.

Beforehand:

Do: Plan meals/ snacks and make a list of items you need to prepare these.

Don’t: Go on an empty stomach, this will cause you to buy more and make it more challenging to make smart choices.

Produce-

Do: Begin your shopping trip here and experiment with new colors and flavors.

Don’t: Limit your selection to only fruits and vegetables you are use to.

Healthfood Section-

Do: Get some good alternates which are more natural and many times limited in added sodium.

Don’t: Buy additional “junk” food here because it is “healthy” junk food.

Meat, Dairy, Eggs-

Do: Choose lower fat options and if possible buy organic.

Don’t: Pay extra for gimmicks such as “hormone-free eggs” or “natural milk.”

Juice, Crackers, Cookies

Do: Choose 100% juice and 100% whole grain crackers such as Triscuits.

Don’t: Buy crackers/ cookies with more than 1/3 of the fat saturated fat and avoid trans fat.

Canned and Starches-

Do: Choose canned fruit “in its own juice” and vegetables with “no salt added.” Choose brown rice and 100% whole grain pasta.

Don’t: Purchase canned meats/ meals high in sodium.

Dried Fruits and Baking-

Do: Pick dried fruit with no added sugar and whole grain flour.

Don’t: Buy artificial sweeteners.

Breakfast Items-

Do: Choose oats, whole grains and natural peanut butter.

Don’t: Purchase too many caffeinated beverages.

Drinks -

Do: Choose bottled water if you prefer this for convenience and seltzer water if you prefer some extra pizzazz!

Don’t: Buy soda.

Snacks-

Do: Choose baked chips, lower sodium popcorn/ nuts.

Don’t: Buy a large bag if it will be too tempting to eat too much at a sitting.

Frozen-

Do: Choose fruits and vegetables to add to dishes or eat plain.

Don’t: Buy high fat/ high sodium highly processed meals.

Deli-

Do: Choose salsa and hummus.

Don’t: Purchase high sodium meats and fried choices

Things to consider-

DO: Be patient with yourself and others, learning to grocery shop a healthier way can take some time.

Don’t: Expect perfection.