Looking to lose weight? Tired of the traditional approach of concentrating on eliminating foods from your diet? How about switching it up and rather than focus on what you should not be eating you turn the focus on foods you should be eating more of?
Foods that not only taste great but are energizing to your body need to be on top of your list.
I am talking about the kinds of foods that kick-in your energy levels…give you that energy boost you need when your fuel tank runs low. Your body is not unlike the car you are driving…it requires quality fuel to run efficiently without breaking down. If you do not provide this energy in the foods you eat, your body then turns to the muscle tissue you presently have to generate the energy needed.
You should never allow your body’s fuel tank to get to empty. “It is very important to maintain normal blood sugar and the best way to accomplish this is to eat every few hours” states Dan Benardot, PhD a nutrition researcher and professor out of Georgia State University in Atlanta.
He goes on to say: “Ingesting large quantities of food stimulates insulin production and the deposition of fat”.
Since we are rarely attached to our kitchens as we go through our days, it’s important to carry the right kinds of snacks and treats with us so we are prepared to fill our tanks with nutrient rich foods rather than dead carbs or bad snacks we may otherwise reach for. (It’s way too easy to reach for that candy bar from the vending machine when you don’t carry your own healthy snacks).
Healthy snacking between meals is an also an energy booster because it keeps your metabolism humming.
Your healthy snack should contain some protein as well as a complex carbohydrate.
You should also start your day off right with a high fiber carbohydrate rich breakfast that will boost your energy levels. A recent study comparing two carbohydrate rich breakfasts (one high fiber, one low fiber)…against two high-fat breakfast. The winner out of the bunch was the high-fiber, high-carb meal. The study showed this meal provided the highest level of alertness between breakfast and lunch.
Nuts like almonds or walnuts are great snacks to get your though the day. They provide good fats helping you to fill full longer as well as other nutrients like selenium, vitamin E and omega-3’s. About the only concern you might have when enjoying nuts is overeating. To avoChid the over-eating temptation, portion them out before you leave the house in little baggies of one ounce each.
Of course the best and healthiest snacks you can eat are those made with raw foods. Because cooked foods destroy most if not all of the enzymes in our foods, enjoying raw snacks gives us not only a way to boost our energy levels but a way to pack nutrition in at the same time.
Eating raw foods will actually allow excess body fat to melt away so not only do you get the energy boost you are looking for, you get the added bonus of melting body raw food snack recipe to make at home and carry with you to refuel: (of course it is gluten, white sugar and flour free!)
Lemon Squares:
1 Cup almonds
1 ½ cups dates soaked 30 minutes, drained
1 cup desiccated coconut
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Pinch salt
Place all ingredients into a food processor and process until well combined.
Press into an 8 x 8 baking pan. Chill for a couple of hours until firm. Then cut into squares.
Enjoy the energy boost you’ll receive from these snacks without the guilt!
Speak Your Mind