The Art Of Snacking

If you love food as much is I do, you'll be happy to hear that snacking in between meals is actually beneficial (if you are snacking on the right kinds of food, of course). The term "snacking" has somewhat of a negative connotation because people often associate snacking with mindless eating, such as grabbing a handful of chips here, or a few M&Ms there.

The type of snacking I'm talking about is almost like having a mini meal in between meals. It could be a piece of fruit, a handful of raw nuts, a granola bar, carrots with hummus, and the list goes on forever. The point is, eating a little something in between meals keeps your blood sugar levels nice and steady, which keeps your hunger in check. Going from starving to stuffed multiple times a day is not as healthy as staying at a steady level, and takes a toll your body. Also, it's a lot more difficult to make healthy decisions at meal time when you are absolutely ravenous. Let's face it... that In-n-Out drive through is much harder to pass by when you are starving!

It can be hard to find nutritious snacks that keep you satisfied and taste great, especially in college. I had to get a bit creative and search multiple places on campus to come up with a core group of go-to snacks, but I did it! Here are some of my favorite snacks, and why they will keep you full and fit!

My Grocery Goods: Here is what I picked up from the local grocery store, and how I like to use it for snacking!

Ezekiel bread, egg whites, & avocado: 
These three ingredients make for a fantastic morning or afternoon snack when combined. You can actually make scrambled eggs in the microwave! It's amazing! I would then pile those scrambled egg whites on top of the ezekiel bread. Ezekiel bread is a simple, healthy brand that contains very few, all pronounceable, ingredients. I would top off my scrumptious snack with a few slices of avocado. Avocado is a well-known superfood, and is full of good fats that your body needs. Yum! 

Plain greek yogurt, honey almond flax granola, & fresh apple slices:
This is another dorm snack I have been enjoying lately! I start with a generous helping of plain greek yogurt. Plain greek yogurt tastes exactly how it sounds- plain. Sour, even. It would not be very tasty to eat alone, which is why I like to pile it high with goodies. Plain greek yogurt is amazing for you! It is low in calories and sugar, and high in protein and calcium. I like to mix in granola (my favorite/the brand in this picture is Kashi Go Lean Crunch) and fruit. 

Honey greek yogurt, organic peanut butter, and dried apples:
This is a great snack to have after the gym. Between the greek yogurt and peanut butter, it is chalk full of protein that will help keep you satisfied and help your muscles recover. Some people try to avoid peanut butter because it is fattening. Chances are you have heard of "good fats vs. bad fats"... well, peanut butter is a prime example of the GOOD fats that your body actually needs (similar to the good omega-3 fats in fish, olive oil, and chia seeds). I like to blend the peanut butter in to the yogurt and throw a few dried apples on top for some extra fiber! 

Smoothies, Smoothies, & More Smoothies!

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE smoothies? In addition to being fun to create, they are also a powerful nutrition tool. You can hide so many nutritious ingredients in smoothies and not even taste them. I love thinking of new ingredients to combine to make the best possible smoothie, and over the past few years I have done quite a bit of experimenting with different combinations. Here are some of my favorite smoothie recipes! They make for a great snack or breakfast. Enjoy! :)

Green Monster Spinach Smoothie: 

1 frozen sliced banana

1 tablespoon almond butter

1/2 cup non fat vanilla greek yogurt

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

3 cups baby spinach

Strawberry Banana Chocolate Smoothie: 

1 banana

5 fresh strawberries

1 cup spinach

1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbsp stevia

1 cup almond milk

Creamy Mango Smoothie: 

1 mango, peeled, pit removed, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp honey

1 cup ice

Banana Mocha Smoothie:

1 banana

1 cup chilled coffee

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa poweder

1 packet of stevia

1/2 cup almond milk

handful of ice 

Strawberry Soy Smoothie:

2 cups frozen strawberries

1 banana

1 cup soy milk

2 tbsp honey

Banana Oat Smoothie: 

1 banana

1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt

1/2 cup skim milk

1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

2 teaspoons flaxseeds

1 tbsp honey

1 cup ice

 Tropical Chia Smoothie:

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup frozen mango pieces

1 cup frozen pineapple pieces

1 banana

1 tbsp chia seeds

The Most Important (& Most Delicious) Meal

I absolutely LOVE breakfast. In addition to being my favorite meal of the day, it's also the most important! Here's why:

Breakfast = "breaking" the "fast." It's even in the name people! After fasting all night while you're asleep, your first meal is the key to jump-starting your metabolism for that day. Think of it as the meal that wakes up your metabolism and prepares it to efficiently burn and process everything else you eat for the rest of the day. If you skip breakfast, your body won't work as effectively to burn food, and a slower metabolism means more of what you eat will be stored as fat instead of burned for energy! NOT good. In fact, there is a saying that says "eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a peasant", meaning it can actually be beneficial to make breakfast your biggest meal of the day! If you're the type of person who has absolutely no appetite in the morning, that's okay too! Drink lots of water and try to at least have a piece of fruit or a small bowl of oatmeal. 

Now, to the fun part! Here are a few of my favorite breakfast options: 

1. 2 eggs with a few slices of turkey bacon, fruit, and green tea
2. Oatmeal made with soy/almond milk, topped with berries and flax seed
3.  Smoothies made with fruit, greek yogurt, almond milk, almond butter, and whatever else I feel like throwing in there! I'll do a whole separate post for my favorite smoothies :) 
4. Flour/sugar-free Oatmeal banana pancakes topped with berries
5. Omelets filled with spinach, mushrooms, onions, & ground turkey
6. Overnight oats (again, these babies deserve their own post) 

I could probably make this post go on forever with my favorite breakfast options, but I decided to keep it short for the sake of the reader. The moral of the story is, always eat your breakfast, and most importantly, enjoy it! 

My Healthy Inspiration

My grandma is hands down the healthiest person I know, and not to mention one of the best cooks! Her story is part of the reason why I am so fascinated by health and want to pursue it as a career, so I thought I would ask her to give me a little insight in to her healthy ways. She has arthritis, and ever since she cut out certain foods that are known for causing inflammation, she has felt so SO much better... even better than any medicine ever made her feel! It is amazing to me how much what we eat can influence us in so many different ways. 

Here are Grandma Judi's words of wisdom: 

"I find that sugar is probably my biggest food enemy. If I make a smoothie, I use bananas instead of ice cream, fruit not fruit juice. Ice and Greek yogurt (0 sugar) add  good flavor and consistency. I try not to have fruit juice but have whole fruit instead as the juices have sugar. The only cereal I eat is oatmeal made from scratch, not the instant. I add fruit and yogurt, soy milk and sometimes apples, cinnamon and a dash of brown sugar. Honey would be good too instead of brown sugar. I have sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes, eat lots of vegetables, and use quinoa instead of rice. I had stuffed peppers that had ground cauliflower instead of rice in a restaurant and could not tell the difference. I take a recipe and like you, make it work for my needs. For extra fiber I have beans and snack on almonds and walnuts.  Processed foods are full of ingredients we do not need of course, so again, we have to be creative. We also have to incorporate what works for each of us."

Isn't she wonderful?! If my grandma isn't proof of how much nutrition impacts us, I don't know what is! Like me, she also believes in moderation.... and she still makes the best marshmellow Christmas salad around :) 

Surviving The Dining Hall

You walk in. The smell of french fries and freshly baked cookies hits you, and you know you're a goner! Anyone who is in college knows about the dining hall. All it takes is one swipe of an ID card, and it's all you can eat buffet style heaven. My first few dining hall experiences ended painfully with what my roommates and I refer to as a major "food baby" (in our case, it was more like food twins). Needless to say, the thrill of the dining hall faded quickly for me, and now all I want is some yummy food that would make me feel good and energized. No matter where you go to school, I guarantee the dining hall has healthy options. The thing is, you might have to get a little creative. 

Here's an example! Tonight was "make your own taco" night in our dining hall. I do love me some tacos, but wasn't really in the mood for anything too heavy. I decided to take lettuce from the toppings bar and make my very own taco salad, complete with chicken, beans, rice, guacamole, and a sprinkle of cheese! Combine that with a side of fruit and a cold glass of soy milk, and I was all set! 

The moral of the story is, the healthy options are always there, they just might not be sitting on a golden platter with a light up sign pointing to them. Be creative, be healthy, and don't be afraid to make it your own!

Setting "The Bar"

Sorry about the cheesy title, I just couldn't resist! I have always liked to grab a bar as a quick snack, but college has given me a brand new appreciation for these babies. When I'm rushing between classes or practice and I need something to hold me over, these are my top 3 picks! Here's why:

Think thin: I love these bars. They are delicious, FULL of protein, and low in sugar. They will definitely hold you over!

Luna bar: Luna bars are also great! Even though they have more sugar than the think thin bars, they are full of calcium, iron, folic acid, and vitamin d. There are also dozens of flavors, so you'll never get bored! 

Lara bar: If you have never tried a Lara bar, go do it. Right now. Don't even finish reading this! Seriously, they are delicious. And that's not even the best part! Take a look at the ingredient label and you'll see how simple and healthy these bars are!

My Top Ten Tips

Believe it or not, my clothes are actually looser than they were at home. I don't weigh myself often, and normally base my health on how I feel and how my clothes are fitting, and by those measurements, college has made me a healthier version of myself. How!? That was my first thought. As I thought about it more, I realized that it's the little things that add up. Based on those little things, here are the 10 tips I have for feeling great during college:

1. Walk everywhere. Just do it.  If you're the type of person who hates walking, college is going to be a hard slap in the face! Unless you're lucky enough to have a car with you, walking is going to become a huge part of your life. Even though it doesn't quite feel like exercise, the miles will add up without you even realizing. Trust me. 
2. If you keep junk in your dorm, you will eat it. This one may seem obvious, but it couldn't be more true. When you're up late studying for that psychology test and your stomach starts to growl, you're going to grab whatever food you have on hand, regardless of whether it's an apple or a bag of chips. 
3. Find a form of exercise you actually enjoy. I've never been a big fan of running. Once in a rare while I'll be in a running mood, but most of the time the thought of running makes me want to crawl into bed and hide! I enjoy exercise because I have found the things I actually enjoy doing. For me, it's cycling, running stairs, yoga, hiking, and my newest hobby, rowing. Find something that makes you both sweat & smile, and do it often!
4. Don't get too extreme when it comes to health. The amount of girls I hear in the dining hall saying things like "I'm not eating carbs for a whole month" or "I'm going on a fruit cleanse" is always funny to me. A healthy diet needs to be whole! Your body actually NEEDS carbs, good fats, protein, even natural sugars. Trying to go extreme and cut out an entire food group (or restrict yourself to one) will only end up making you grumpy and more likely to pile on the pasta when you give up. 
5. Everything in moderation. If that fro-yo machine seems to be calling out to you, have some! Pile on some fresh fruit and granola while you're at it, just don't do it every night. It's okay, healthy even, to allow yourself to enjoy food, as long as it's in moderation. The fro-yo place on campus has a 2$ tuesday deal, and my roommates and I love to indulge on Tuesdays. It makes turning down sweets on other days of the week easier knowing that we have our Tuesday fro yo to look forward to. 
6. Going to the gym doesn't mean you can eat whatever you want for the day. It may sound harsh, but it's true. It's great that you hopped on the ellyptical this morning for 40 minutes, but here's the thing- cardiovascular exercise burns around 10 calories per minute, meaning your workout burned somewhere between 350-450 calories. That muffin you decide to reward yourself with from starbucks has around 500 calories, and there goes your workout! Don't waste the hard work you put in at the gym on something that will be gone in a few minutes. 
7. Don't use food as a reward. I know it's tempting to want to celebrate that A you got on your midterm with a burrito the size of your face, but using food as a reward is not the best idea. Look at the American culture: we celebrate everything with food... and I mean everything. The problem is, there is always a reason to celebrate, which means there is always a reason for a not-so-smart food choice. Instead, try to reward yourself with something else; a new shirt, a manicure, or even a nice soak in the hot tub! 
8. Write down what you eat. It may seem like a pain in the butt, but it's actually quite eye-opening. Try it for at least a few days, and you will be amazed by how it makes you stop and think about what you're putting into your body. 
9. Think about carrots. Let me explain. Whenever I feel that little pang of hunger, I ask myself this question: would you eat carrots right now? If the answer is yes, I am actually hungry. If the little hunger pang goes away, I was probably just bored or craving something. It can be tricky to tell when you're actually hungry, or eating for another reason. Ask yourself about carrots if you aren't sure :) 
10. Healthy doesn't mean perfect. No one is perfect! You should enjoy life and love every minute of it, so don't spend too of that precious time stressing about what you eat or wether or not you worked out that day. Having an unhealthy day does not make you an unhealthy person!