The Snack Trap

We've all heard that snacking is great for the metabolism...but have you taken it too far?
In other words, your excessive snacking may be killing your fitness results.

Let's face it, there are only so many extra calories that the body can take before it adds those on as unwanted fat. Even if you're eating perfectly healthy meals and putting in your time at the gym, if your snacking is out of control then your results will be disappointing.

Here's what you need to know to avoid The Snack Trap:

1) Calories Count. Even when you're snacking on "healthy" food, you've got to keep track of how many calories that you're taking in. Almonds are healthy, but if you down 800 extra calories in them you'll quickly gain weight.

2) Fill Up on Protein & Fat. A lot of well-meaning people are still afraid of fat. They think that if their snack is high in fat then it will end up on their body as fat. This is simply not true. Healthy fat, such as avocado or almonds, is a wonderful thing to snack on as it fills you up and keeps you full longer.

3) Avoid Sugar Calories. Sugar is an awful thing to snack on when weight loss is your goal. Refined sugar is a catalyst for fat storage, so avoid any snack that contains sugar. Remember that eating sugar will satiate your hunger for a very short period of time, and then you'll quickly be hungry again.

4) Don't Be Fooled By 100-Calorie Packs. A popular marketing technique is to package junk food into 100-calorie packs. These could be crackers, cookies, chips...basically any guilty snack food you could think of. The premise is that since you're only eating 100 calories, the snack is healthy. I'm sorry, folks, but eating 100 calories of junk food is not a healthy snack. You are better off avoiding the junk completely and eating something wholesome.

5) Use The 'Is It Real' Test. As a rule of thumb, you should use the "Is it real?" test when deciding if a snack is worth eating. The test goes like this: If your snack can go bad, then it's good for you. If your snack can't go bad, then it's bad for you. The idea is to eat fresh, real foods that are unprocessed and wholesome. These real foods are naturally filled with fiber, vitamins, and minerals and will assist you in achieving your fitness goals.

6) Avoid Refined Carbohydrates. Processed and refined carbohydrates make up the bulk of popular snack foods. Take a look around the snack aisle at the grocery store and you will see that most packaged snacks are made with grains. When your goal is to lose weight and increase lean muscle then eating refined grains will work against you. If you only take one tip away from this article, let it be to remove grain-based snacks from your life. This single change could very well recharge your weight loss.

Now you know how to snack in a healthy way that will not derail your fitness goals.

Remember that exercise plays a huge part in getting in shape and losing weight.

Call or email our office today to get started on a results-driven nutrition program.
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(386) 492-4881

5 Fitness Snacks

1. Hard Boiled Egg and Sliced Veggies.
2. Sliced Apple and Almond Butter.
3. Natural, Low Sodium Jerky.
4. Seasonal Berries with 1/4 cup of Almonds.
5. A Bag of Homemade Kale Chips. See recipe below.

Guilt-Free Kale Chip Snack

Salty, crunchy snack foods are a weakness for most people. Instead of eating chips or popcorn or crackers, which quickly add up in unwanted pounds, make a batch of these delicious, crunchy kale chips. Kale chips are low in carbs and make a delicious crunchy snack.
Servings: 5

Here's what you need

• 1 bunch kale, washed and torn, stems discarded
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• dash of salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl mix the kale pieces with all of the ingredients.
3. Spread evenly on foil-lined baking sheets.
4. Bake for 12 minutes, watching closely that they do not burn. Remove from oven when crispy.

Nutritional Analysis: 51 calories, 3g fat, 68mg sodium, 5g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 2g protein

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Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

 

The holidays can be a tricky time if you want to avoid holiday weight gain. There are so many tempting treats, you need to be proactive to stick to good eating habits.   That means having a battle plan:


At work, where the parade of chocolate, cakes and cookies seems endless, tell yourself: “If I’m going to eat something, it really needs to be fabulous and worth the splurge.” “Flavanol-rich dark chocolate is one of the healthier choices," says Jamieson-Petonic. "Research shows it may help to control blood pressure and protect the heart."

Before the party: “When you're hungry and your blood sugar is low, you start to crave foods that are carb-rich and fatty, which can contribute to weight gain. A good defense is to have a small snack of carbs and protein before leaving home. Try apple slices with a tablespoon of peanut butter, or a few crackers with low-fat cheese.”
 
At the appetizer table, be conservative: “Avoid anything deep-fried, creamy or saucy, since these foods tend to be loaded with fat and calories; for example, cheese balls, pigs in a blanket and mini quiches. Opt for appetizers that appear closer to their natural state, such as veggies with herbs, shrimp cocktail, fresh fruit, grilled chicken skewers with a sweet and sour sauce, which is lower in fat and calories than a cream sauce, and grilled shrimp with cocktail sauce.”

At mealtime, choose an entrée you really want, and savor a small portion of it. Another tip: Instead of a large dinner plate, use a small, appetizer-size one (shoot for a diameter of six inches) to control your portions. Fill half of the plate with fruits and veggies, a quarter with protein, such as fish, poultry or meat, and a quarter with carbs, such as brown rice or whole grain pasta.

For dessert, put a small bit of cake or pie in a wine glass; if the dessert has a crust (for example, pumpkin pie), leave the crust behind. Not only will your dessert look pretty, you’ll cut down on your portion size and the calories you consume. It also helps to cut back on your calories and fat earlier in the day, so you can enjoy dessert now.

Along with the holiday eating, engage in plenty of physical activities to burn off extra calories: make a snowman with the kids, go out caroling, play a game of table tennis, dance and volunteer. If possible, walk to your holiday parties.

Finally, remember the real joy of the season is spending time with friends and family, not food. When you focus on your loved ones, you’ll be happier, not plumper!

The Many Health Benefits of Raw Honey

According to Dr. Ron Fessenden, M.D., M.P.H. the average American consumes over 150 pounds of refined sugar, plus an additional 62 pounds of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). In comparison, we consume just one pound of honey per year. Instead, Dr. Fessenden recommends that increasing the intake of pure “raw” honey and drastically reducing the refined sugars and HFCS would reap enormous health benefits.
A report in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine further backs the benefits of raw honey with their opinion:

“The therapeutic potential of uncontaminated, pure, raw honey is grossly underutilized. It is widely available in most communities and although the mechanism of action of several of its properties remains obscure and needs further investigation, the time has now come for conventional medicine to lift the blinds off this ‘traditional remedy’ and give it its due recognition.”

What is Honey?
Honey is far more than a natural sweetener. It is a “functional food”, which means it is a natural food with health benefits. It contains natural antioxidants, enzymes and minerals including iron, zinc, potassium, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium and selenium. Vitamins found in honey include B6, thiamin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and niacin. In addition, the nutraceuticals contained in honey help neutralize damaging free radical activity.
One tablespoon of honey contains 64 calories, yet it has a healthy glycemic load around 10 for 1 Tbsp, which is a little less than a banana. and does not cause a sugar spike and elevated insulin release like white sugar. Although honey is an affordable food, bees spend thousands of hours collecting pollen from around two million flowers to make one pound of pure honey.

Why Choose Raw Honey?
Research by the Palynology Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University tested 60 honey products from supermarkets and grocery stores and found that 76% contained no trace of pollen. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maintains that any honey products that have been ultra-filtered, as these have, are not actually honey and therefore the health benefits of honey cannot be assumed.
Commercial honey is often heavily processed and may even have been chemically refined. Excessive heat destroys the natural enzymes, vitamins, and minerals in honey. Filtering and processing eliminates many of the beneficial phytonutrients including pollen and enzyme-rich propolis. The only way to achieve sparkling clear honey is by heat, so avoid the golden syrup-like honey in favor of opaque organic raw honey.
Raw honey is a concentrated source of natural goodness. Benefits include:
•    A rich taste
•    High nutritional benefits
•    Promotes the growth of good bacteria in the intestine
•    Soothes and heals skin wounds
•    Blocks free radicals
•    Aids sleep
•    Counters pollen allergies
•    Reduces homocysteine levels to maintain a healthy heart
Best of all, honey does not need special storage or refrigeration – use it by the spoonful straight from the jar.

The Health Benefits of Honey
Honey-infused bandages are known to aid healing. Peter Charles Molan at the University of Waikato, New Zealand found that honey reacts with the body’s fluids to make hydrogen peroxide, creating an inhospitable environment for bacteria.
Research studies have already shown that replacing sugar with honey in the diet results in less weight gain and lower blood sugar levels. Switching to honey may even aid in weight loss when compared to diets containing sugar or HFCS.
Honey provides a ready supply of energy in the form of liver glycogen, making it ideal for energetic morning starts and as a pre- and post-exercise energy source. It also boosts the immune system, acting as a preventative against any number of debilitating diseases.
Honey contains many antioxidants including flavonoids to maintain the body’s health balance. Pinostrobin supports enzyme activity while the antioxidant-rich organic acids maintain an optimal slightly acidic pH in the body. Pinocembrin is an antioxidant flavonoid thought to be unique to honey while the amino acids in honey are the body’s building blocks of protein.
Honey promotes restorative sleep as it slowly releases the glycogen needed for essential bodily functions during sleep. Adding honey to milk at bedtime helps the body release melatonin into the brain which is necessary for deep sleep. Melatonin also boosts immunity and helps rebuild tissue during periods of rest. Poor sleep, by comparison, has been shown to be a risk factor for hypertension, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and arthritis. As honey is a proven sleep aid, it naturally lowers the risk of all these health problems.

Although honey is one of the healthiest sweeteners, it still should be used in moderation.

Raw honey can be found at local flea and farmers markets, local farms, and on the internet.   Local raw honey is also known to be a homeopathic treatment for certain types of allergies and even asthma. 

Sources:
http://www.worldclassemprise.com/custom.aspx?id=22
http://products.mercola.com/honey/
http://www.mamahealthy.com/sweeteners-spices-ingredients/raw-honey-benefits-organic-honey
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-nutrition.html
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-benefits.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/034102_honey_consumer_alert.html
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.marksdailyapple.com/is-honey-a-safer-sweetener/#axzz1pZs2Na8k
http://www.draxe.com/the-top-5-natural-allergy-fighters/
http://www.ajcn.org/search?fulltext=RAW+HONEY&submit=yes&x=11&y=10
http://www.drgrotte.com/honey-medicine.shtml