Tips
For Healthy Snacking
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Guest Article by Christopher William
McCombs
Dieting
can sometimes feel very challenging, especially
if you are the type who likes to munch on
a lot of sweet or greasy snacks in between
meals. This typical kind of snacking is how
many people gain a lot of weight in the first
place. So when you transfer over to a healthier
diet, and choose not to snack, it can sometimes
feel like an eternity until your next meal.
But really, there is reason why you should
ditch the snacking habit altogether just because
you've chosen to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
With a few smart strategies, you can happily
munch away while adding minimal calories to
your daily intake.
Don't
Snack Mindlessly
Some
people like to plop down in front of the television
and just chomp on whatever happens to be nearby,
not because they are actually hungry or trying
to overcome a craving, but because they want
to keep their mouth busy. Avoid this at all
costs. This kind of snacking can make you
easily put away hundreds of calories without
even thinking about it. If you have a compulsion
to keep your mouth busy, try chewing gum or
sipping coffee or tea while watching television.
Always
Take Portion Size Into Account
Some
trail mix that you might have on hand might
say that it only has one hundred calories
per serving. And that works great, so long
as you actually stick to one portion. If you
are just grabbing the mix from the bag, it's
easy to eat up two or three servings really
quickly. So if something says that it has
one hundred calories to the third of a cup,
go ahead and break out the measuring cups
to make sure you eat just the right amount.
Don't
Assume It's Healthy Because It's called Diet
Sometimes
a product will tout to be low in fat, but
it will be loaded with sugar. Other times,
a product will claim to be low calorie, but
that's assuming that you only eat a miniscule
portion. Even if it claims to be healthy for
you, make sure to read the label and learn
what you are putting in your body. You may
be shocked at just so healthy "diet"
foods can be.
Be
Extra Cautious About Trans Fats
You
probably already have heard by now that trans
fats are really bad for your health and cholesterol
levels. And snack foods are the one area where
trans fats usually pop up. Even if you see
"zero grams of trans fat" proudly
and loudly emblazoned on the packaging, that
doesn't mean that you should trust it. By
law, if an item has less than half a gram
of trans fat per serving, it can legally be
advertised as having "zero grams of trans
fat." How you can tell if it actually
has trans fats or not is by looking at the
ingredients list. If you see the phrase "partially
hydrogenated" anywhere on there, you
should try to avoid that food.
If you are looking for something that you
can usually snack on, you can't go wrong with
fruit and granola. No diet should ever have
you feeling hungry all the time, so smart
snacking should be an integral part of your
overall fitness plan.
Chris
McCombs is a Long
Beach personal trainer in California.
One breezy day while walking out of a fish
taco restaurant Chris stumbled onto a radical
approach to losing fat at a rapid rate which
he helps people all over Long Beach do today.
Chris is also a personal
training marketing expert and helps self
employed personal trainers to triple their
income and cut their work hours in half.
