Snack Attack

I wanted to talk about snacking. Some think that snacking is not allowed when trying to lose weight. That cannot be farthest from the truth!! Depending on yor fitness goals eating regularly can be very important. I tend to eat every 2-3 hours and have at least 3 snacks a day. 

Of course your snacks should be healthy, low in fat, low in added sugars, etc. These are the snacks that I tend to buy the most. Usually I will find something I like and stick with it. So, here are my favorite snacks of the moment. 

1. Fruit

I have a serious sweet tooth and I use fresh fruit to satisfy it. Strawberries are my favorite fruit of all time! I've loved them since I was a young child. Grapes are also a deliciously sweet snack that I eat often. Other fruits I enjoy include cuties, apples, and blueberries. 

2. Hummus

Need I say more?? Hummus is so great and can be enjoyed with fresh vegetables. I prefer to eat my hummus with baby carrots. I also enjoy eating my hummus with smart pita pockets. 

3. Baby carrots

As I've a least mentioned I love eat if baby carrots with hummus, but I also love eating them with other things, including salsa, guacamole, and lite cheeses. 

I have found that baby carrots can often be a great clean and healthy replacement for chips or crackers. 

4. Hard boiled eggs

Eggs are an excellent source of protein. I eat a lot of eggs. Sometimes I will eat just the whites, while other times I will eat them whole. Either way eggs are good for you, especially when boiled. 

5. Rice cakes 

I almost forgot about one of my favorite snacks! Rice cakes are great plain or topped with different things, including mustard, salsa, or peanut butter (or other types of nut butters). It's fun to get creative with rice cakes. They make a wonderful canvas!

What are some of your favorite healthy snacks? I'm always looking for new ideas!

My Green Smoothie Recipe

Good morning, ladies! 14 days until Christmas!!! Are you ready?? I still have a LOT of Christmas shopping to do. Most actually! I am a procrastinator to the fullest!

Anyway, I just wanted to share my smoothie recipe with you all today. I love this recipe and generally drink this as my morning snack on the way to work. Adding the raw oats makes the smoothie a little more filling and gives it some substance. Adding spinach also allows you to increase your veggie intake for the day. I definitely recommend this as a snack. This is a high sugar smoothie due to the fruit, so keep that in mind. If I have this smoothie I usually don’t eat anymore fruit for the day. It is also high in carbs due to the oats as well as the fruit.  

Ingredients:

½ banana

1 handful fresh chopping spinach

1/3 cup berries of choice (frozen or fresh)

About ½ cup Unsweetened vanilla almond milk

½ cup raw oats

Combine all ingredients in blender (I use a personal sized blender). Blend for about 1 minute and enjoy! 

The key to this smoothie is the green color. If it’s not green then you didn’t add enough spinach!

Nutritional Info:

243 calories

47g carbs

4g fat

8g protein

15g sugar

Baked Oat "Muffins"

Happy holidays! I hope that everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and didn't eat too much! I definitely enjoyed my holiday. I love spending time with family and eating good food. I did enjoy a few cheat meals over the holidays and definitely recommend indulging yourself every now and then. You should never deprive yourself of anything! It will only lead to terrible binges! I have learned the hard way. Planning on a day to cheat is recommended by a lot of people in the fitness community!

Now on to the recipe. This is another one of my favorite go-to breakfast foods. They remind me of eating muffins (which I often miss). They are quick and easy to make and you can easily heat them up in the morning for a quick and filling breakfast. I have made these many ways and love to add blueberries to them. I either eat them alone (usually two for breakfast) or with yogurt (0% plain Greek of course) and fruit. Some people like to eat it with milk as well. These are very low in fat, which is great for those on a low fat diet. I will plan to go into more detail of what a typical day of food looks like for me at a later time.

So. These are the ingredients you will need:

3 cups oats

½ cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 egg white

1 whole egg

1 cup unsweetened apple sauce

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

*I added in a few sprinkles of nutmeg

Combine all ingredients together and mix with a spoon or spatula. 

It should look something like this when completed:

Spoon into a muffin pan until distributed evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

This recipe will make 12 "muffins." Very easy, right? Try it and let me know what you think!

Estimated Nutritional Info for One “Muffin”:

125 Calories

2g Fat

24g Carbs

2g Fiber

10g Sugar

3.5g Protein