Whether your goal is to maintain a healthy body weight, lose a few or just trying to keep a more even keeled, higher level of energy throughout the day - consuming several small, "Smart Snack Combos" may just be the fix you're looking for.The traditional American diet of Three Steady Meals per day has become seriously flawed.
First, a larger percentage of American's admit to skipping breakfast all together.
If I had a dime for every time someone's told me that they never eat breakfast, I'd be swinging on a hammock right now somewhere in the South Pacific... soaking up the rays and counting my mountain of cash!
Lunch has become nothing more than a 'Grab and Go' experience, often leaving many unsure of just exactly what they've consumed until arriving home after work only to find the spoils of war...(the left over food wrappers) on the floorboards of their cars.
Subsequently, dinner has become an all out, uncontrollable feeding frenzy. Why? Because by the time supper time rolls around, most of us are so under nourished and over hungry that once we start eating, we just can't stop!!!
One way to rectify the situation is by adding a couple of small, "SMART SNACK COMBOS" throughout the day. Doing so will help reduce the risk of becoming over hungry (the biggest saboteur of healthy diets everywhere),especially if you skimp on breakfast as well as to maintain more even blood sugar levels throughout the day, thus elevating energy levels and reducing the highs and lows of nutrient deficient meals (if we can even justify calling them that)!
When choosing your mini meals, the key is to try and shoot for “Smart Snack Combos" as often as possible. These are groupings that contain a carbohydrate to protein ratio of approximately 3 to 1 (3 being the larger carbohydrate portion). Actually, this is how one should always try to eat. While we require many more grams of carbohydrates than protein each day, the proteins we do consume take longer to digest, therefore slowing down the entire process. By eating with this combination in mind; ‘Complex Carbohydrates accompanied by a healthy protein source’ your blood glucose levels will remain more stable. When this occurs, you not only feel full longer, but your energy level will remain noticeably more steady and stable throughout the entire day.
It’s crucial to remember that if you chose to incorporate mini meals of “Smart Snack Combos” to your daily eating plan, do so without going over your daily caloric intake for the goals you hope to achieve (whether aiming to lose or shooting to maintain your current body weight)! If you’re not familiar with what that number is, go to www.livestrong.com and click the “MY PLATE” icon. They’ll do the work for you.
A few examples of “SMART SNACK COMBOS” include;
A piece of fruit (apple or orange etc.) with a piece of low fat, low Calorie string cheese.
A low calorie yogurt with a ½ cup of blueberries.
A smoothie with Skim Milk or Almond Breeze and ½ frozen banana or ½ Cup frozen berries.
Tuna in water, mixed with light or no fat Mayo (if desired), served on thin – crispy whole grain crackers. ETC.
Be creative, the combinations are endless.
While this certainly won’t solve all of our nutrition woes, it is one more small step toward living an Abundant and Healthy Life.
SO GO FOR IT and POWER ON!
Candace
