Snack Alternatives

Picking the best snacks for your children’s lunch, or for yours, isn’t always easy.  Nowadays, grocery stores are stocked with pre-packaged snack foods that are touted as low-carb, low fat, or a healthy alternative.  However, many of these snacks are still high in calories and often loaded with trans fats.  Below is a list of some healthy alternatives for snacks and lunch foods:

• Graham crackers: They have less fat and sugar than most cookies.
• Fruit: Instead of fruit juice in the morning, or fruit juice boxes for your kids with their lunch, drink water and have a piece of the real fruit instead.  The skin provides more fiber than juice alone, and many juices substitute added sugar for the lost nutrients.
• Hummus: Instead of onion or ranch dip, hummus is packed with fiber, and contains many more important vitamins than dips made with sour cream.  Enjoy with whole wheat tortillas instead of chips.
• Rye crackers: Instead of chips, pretzels, or even wheat crackers, rye crackers are made with little fat, and once again, high in fiber.
• Fruit salad: Ideally, cut up fruit at the beginning of the week, and package into single-serving Tupperware.  If you buy canned fruit, avoid fruit packaged in syrup.
• Low fat sliced turkey on a whole-wheat pita. Use a smaller sized pita rather than two slices of white bread.  Substitute spicy mustard for mayo.

Below is a list of small changes to your everyday diet that can help you cut calories while maintaining a healthy diet:

• Switch from margarine or butter as a spread to apple butter to save around 70 calories.
• Switch to whole-wheat or rye toast instead of a bagel and save up to 175 calories.
• Eat fresh fruit instead of dried fruit or raisins to save anywhere from 50-200 calories.
• Substitute to a dinner of half pasta, half steamed veggies instead of a full portion of pasta to save 150 calories.
• Ask for steamed veggies (not drenched in butter) instead of fries to save 150-300 calories.
• Order chicken breast instead of steak to save 200 calories.
• Using Pam instead of cooking oil can save 120 calories.
• Substitute fresh popcorn for potato chips to save 220 calories.
• Satisfy a chocolate craving with a cup of hot cocoa instead of a Hershey’s bar and save 130 calories.

Whether you simply need help mapping out a successful exercise program and getting a little kick-start, or you need someone with you for each important step, I can help.  Please call me at (609) 304-7598 for a free consultation and body composition analysis.

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• Tip of the Month

  June 2010

  Abdominal Workouts: Frequency, Intensity, and Duration

  Over the past 15 years, there has been countless advice on how to “properly” train your abdominals, or core.  There isn’t a fitness magazine out there that doesn’t publish a different abdominal workout each and every issue.  Opinions and research may change over time, but there are a few things you should look at before you alter your workout with each Fitness Magazine you read!
  First of all, it is important to know what your overall fitness and health goal is before designing a strength program for any body part, especially the mid-section.  For overall fitness, it is smartest to treat your abdominal muscles as you would any other muscle group.  The tried and true guidelines for most exercise programs is to work specific muscles to fatigue within a 30-60 second set time limit (intensity and duration,) while giving the worked muscle group at least 24-48 hours of rest (frequency) before working it again.  The amount of sets you do in a given workout (frequency again) can vary from as little as 4 sets to up to 12 for the average workout.  The science behind these theories is sound.  While exercising, pushing your body significantly past the 60 second mark without fatigue generally incorporates aerobic energy, thereby not stressing the muscles most efficiently.  And rest is necessary so that your body can properly rebuild the muscle fibers that you have broken down.  Additionally, you want to be at 100% energy levels for your next workout!

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• Recipe of the Month

  June 2010

  Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

  This healthy update of a traditionally rich ham-and-cheese breakfast strata is made lighter primarily by losing a few egg yolks and using nonfat milk. Gruyère cheese has a delicious, nutty aroma and flavor, which means that with the relatively small amount in this recipe you still get a big impact. To finish the makeover use nutritious, fiber-rich, whole-grain bread instead of white. The results: plenty of flavor, half the calories and one-third the fat of the original.

  4 large eggs
  4 large egg whites
  1 cup nonfat milk
  2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
  1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  5 cups chopped spinach, wilted (see Tip)
  4 cups whole-grain bread, crusts removed if desired, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1/2 pound, 4-6 slices)
  1 cup diced ham steak, (5 ounces)
  1/2 cup chopped jarred roasted red peppers
  3/4 cup shredded Gruyère, or Swiss cheese
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