snacks

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Guest Post: Valentine’s Day Guilt-Free Treats

February 11, 2010 in Nutrition by admin | No comments

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Yay! Fun stuff!

I don’t think Valentine’s Day was made up by greeting card manufacturer’s, I think I was invented by chocolate and sweat pant manufacturers so you eat and bloat and leaves you definitely not in the mood for any lovin’ that night.

Here are some V-Day snack ideas that will satisfy your sweet tooth and your skinny jeans.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Look! Fruit! and chocolate!  Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Buy microwavable melting chocolate at the grocery store (or go old school and melt down some chocolate chips in a sauce pan.) Wash and dry a carton of strawberries, and leave the stem on. Dip the strawberries into the melted chocolate and place on the wax paper. Place baking sheet in fridge until chocolate sets, or you are ready to serve.  To mix it up, try different fruits, like bananas.

Strawberry Shortcake

Mini angel food cakes (one per person)
Strawberries, sliced and hulled
Fat free whipped topping (like Cool-Whip)
Fat free chocolate syrup (just a drizzle)

Place cakes on four plates. Top with strawberries. Top with whipped topping. Drizzle with chocolate sauce. Yeah, that’s it.

Enjoy!  Sweet, figure friendly sweets for you and your sweet!

Kelly Turner is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and health and fitness writer from Seattle, WA.  Her writing has appeared in numerous magazines, and she currently blogs for Breathe Magazine, Kidglue.com is the Health and Fitness Expert for Twirlit.com and feature fitness writer for FitPeeps.com.  To contact Kelly with any questions, you email her at kellycturner@hotmail.com.

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Snacks that Travel With You

January 22, 2010 in Nutrition by Dave | No comments

healthy_snacksPeople generally eat the most unhealthy foods when they are stuck in a bind or short on time.  You hit the drive thru to grab something quick on your way home of in the middle of a busy day, you grab a scone in the morning on the way to work instead of making a healthy breakfast at home, or you stock up on freezer meals that basically prepare themselves.

Stocking up on healthy snacks and stashing them in the places you need them most will keep you from consuming unnecessary calories and fat just because you don’t have anything else on hand.

In order for this to work, you have to have portable snacks that you can easily stash anywhere you need them: your car, your purse, your gym bag, brief case, etc.  Here are some delicious, low calorie, healthy and portable snack ideas you can take anywhere:

* Celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins on top

* Low-fat cheese sticks or cubes

* Hard boiled eggs

* Trail mix- make your own with your favorite nuts and dried fruits

* Half a turkey or tuna sandwich on whole wheat bread

* Yogurt and granola

* Healthy fiber rich, whole grain cereal. Eat it right out of a baggie (Quaker Oatmeal Squares are great plain.)

* Dried fruit

* Any fresh fruit is already portable (apples, bananas, oranges, strawberries, etc)

* Whole wheat crackers with low fat cheese

* Skim milk latte (order a “skinny” at Starbucks, they are made with fat free milk, sugar free syrup, 90 calories for a tall)

* Air popped popcorn- sprinkle with taco seasoning, cinnamon, or Parmesan cheese

* Fat free Graham crackers

* Baby carrots with hummus

* Peanuts

* Raw almonds

* Peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole wheat bread

* Leftover chicken or turkey slices (great cold.)

* Cottage cheese with sliced tomatoes- add pepper for more flavor

* Fruit smoothie in thermos

* Veggies with a packet of low fat dip

Yeah, you guessed it: you are going to have to put in a little prep work.  But just like anything worth doing, if you put in the effort, you’ll get the results.

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Operation: Don’t Eat it

December 8, 2009 in Motivation, Nutrition, Tips and Tricks by Dave | No comments

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You’ve tried your best, and you’ve done well: you’ve kept all the crap out of the house, you’ve been making your workouts consistently, making smart choices when away from home, and clued in all your friends and family that you are trying to make healthy changes.

You’ve done everything right, but then somehow something sneaks into your house.  Maybe its come cookies left over from your kid’s school party, a jar of candy canes from the office, or a yule log the neighbor pawned off on you brought over.

Great, no it is in your home, probably staring you in the face on your kitchen counter, and tempting you at every turn.  What do you do?

Depends.  Is it there because no one else wants it and is hoping someone else will eat it?

If yes:

Give it away. Pawn it off onto someone else, pronto.

Throw it away. Junk food is a waste anyway, so you can waste it by eating it and ruining your efforts, or you can waste it by throwing it out.  The last one? Calorie-free.

Ruin it. If the cookies on a paper plate wrapped in cellophane is too tempting, even in the trash (it didn’t touch anything!) ruin it.  Pour water on it.  Or coffee grounds. Or crumble them up in make sure they fall deep into the trash.

If no, and it’s something the rest of your family wants, if you don’t devour it first:

Make it hard to get to. Wrap it up extra tight.  a few dozen times. Then  put it in a tupperware.  Each layer is a second chance to say no.

Out of sight, out of mind. Put them in a high cupboard, deep in the pantry, or under some crap in a drawer.

Individually package everything. You can allow yourself one treat, but where people usually get into trouble is when they go back for another one.  And then eat the crumb that dropped which means you have to eat the next one it touched, etc.  If you want one, grab one, but just ONE.

Freeze it. Frozen cookies or brownies are still good if you let them defrost- it just takes a little time and patience. Patience is the enemy of an impulse snack, so the longer something takes to prepare, the less likely you are to inhale it.

Just say no. To someone else.  If you think you might eat it, tell your significant other to keep you away from it, or rather, keep it away from you.  Why should you be in charge of something that is going to tempt you?

Never say “oh well” when temptations try and trip you up.  Get rid of it, or do your best to keep as much distance between it and you as possible.  The occasional treat is fine, if you really want it, but never ever eat something just because its there.

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