Healthy Low Fat Snacks
You probably already know that fat is healthy, but it also is higher in calories per gram compared to carbohydrates and protein. One gram of protein contains four calories, just as one gram of carbohydrates does. However, one gram of fat contains nine calories. While you don’t want to give up the health benefits of fat, choosing healthy low fat snacks in Raleigh can help you keep your calorie count lower and allow you to include healthy fat foods at other times, such as having an avocado with breakfast to keep you full to lunch.
Mushrooms can be a great snack that also has other health benefits.
If you want to give your immune system a boost, consider snacking on mushrooms. They have lots of nutrients, such as Vitamins B6, D, C, niacin, pantothenic acid, thiamin, folate, riboflavin, iron, potassium, zinc, copper, phosphorus, manganese and selenium. It also is a good source of fiber and vegetable protein. That may be why mushrooms have been used by healers through the centuries. They make a great grazing snack at a cookout when grilled or a go-to snack served with a low fat dip.
Speaking of low fat dips, have you tried hummus?
If you haven’t tried hummus, you should. This high protein dip is made from chickpeas, ground, hulled and toasted sesame seeds. You can make it at home easily. There’s a bit of olive oil in it—a healthy fat, but to lower the fat, switch it out with low fat yogurt. Homemade hummus could be used as the low fat dip for mushrooms or a dip used for celery, carrots, broccoli and other raw vegetables.
Keeping it simple is the route to go with snacks that have their own container.
It’s so easy to carry an apple or orange with you. There’s no need for a container or plastic baggy. It’s ready to eat the minute you wash it. If you don’t need to carry your snack with you, another option for low fat, low calories snacks is to have fruit already cut and ready to eat in the refrigerator. A bowl of watermelon or cantaloupe cubed, grapes or cherries is quick to make and easy to access when you need a snack. If prep time isn’t a problem, peel and section grapefruit and have it ready to eat when you need an energy boost or fill a craving.
- Search for snacks that contain only ancient grains. You’ll fill your stomach while getting a low fat option that’s loaded with nutrition. Always check the labels to make sure you’re getting only those grains.
- Make a lettuce wrap to eat for a snack. A lean piece of baked, roasted or grilled chicken wrapped in greens will fill you up while providing protein.
- Homemade kale chips baked on parchment paper may take a little longer to prepare, but are well worth the effort when you taste how good they are. Try baked sweet potato chips too.
- Get a sweet treat without guilt when you go with chocolate-covered banana pops. Just cut up one inch slices of banana, put a stick in each piece and freeze. Later, when frozen, dip in dark chocolate or carob and put it back in the freezer. These banana pops are ready to eat when you crave something sweet.
Foods that are heart healthy contain nutrients that help maintain heart health. These include vitamins D, omega3 fatty acids, magnesium, CoQ10, folic acid and potassium. Dietary fiber is also important, since it helps lower blood cholesterol levels. While these nutrients are important for heart health, they’re also mandatory for overall good health, so adding them to your diet even if you don’t worry about heart problems can improve your well-being.
It’s hard to stay healthy working at a desk. You sometimes sit for hours and the only part of your body moving is your fingers. It’s not only uncomfortable after a long period, it’s hard on your body. In fact, one study shows that sitting continuously for over 50 minutes at a time can actually wipe out many of the benefits of working out. You need to get up every fifty minutes and move around, whether you’re working out or not. If you don’t workout, the effects of that time are even worse.
When you eat healthy, you get results. It’s true, but many people fail because they don’t consider what they drink as part of the program. Soda can be devastating to a diet. Soft drinks, whether or not they contain sugar can undo all you’ve tried to achieve. Even in sit down healthier eating restaurants in Raleigh, NC, soda is often one of the drink choices. If you want the best results and to be your healthiest, you have to quit soda, even sugar free soft drinks.
The holidays are often one large binge that lasts from the end of November until the next year starts. Recovering from the holidays isn’t easy. You have to start from scratch if all caution was thrown to the wind and you gave yourself permission to sample (sometimes several times) every item on the table and skip a few (perhaps all) workout sessions. You’ll often find that good feeling that you had before the holidays is gone and now you’re left feeling bloated and lacking any motivation.
Healthy and happy do go together. It doesn’t mean you can’t have one without the other, but it does mean that when you have one, the other tends to follow. I want to help all my clients in Raleigh achieve both. While it might not seem I have much input into the happy part of the equation, that’s not true. Most of my clients find that once they start working out, their mood improves dramatically. That’s because exercise burns off the hormones created by stress that leave you feeling tied up in knots. Exercise also stimulates the brain to create hormones that make you feel good, adding to your overall sense of happiness. It’s also because my clients have more energy.
Some people are gung-ho when it comes to getting fit. They know exactly what they want to accomplish, set their goals and start working on it immediately. Others want change, but aren’t ready for a big commitment. Instead of setting big goals, they start by inching into fitness with smaller, easier to achieve ones that eventually become a habit. There’s no right or wrong way to do it. It’s all about what works for you. If you set smaller, easier to achieve goals, it can give you confidence to go to the next step.
If you want to achieve fitness, you’re not alone. Many people either are working on that goal or secretly wish they were. It can be even more fun when you share it. Who knows, you might discover that many of your friends secretly want to get started, but were sure how to do it or didn’t want to do it alone. Part of the fun of getting fit is having someone to share the joy of victories. Working out with others in a group is also an economical way to get the benefits of having a personal trainer, but at a far less expensive price than private sessions.
I’m often asked whether strength training in older women is safe. My answer is always, YES! It’s not only safe it’s extremely beneficial. Whether you’re a man or woman, young or old, fit or out of shape, strength training provides huge benefits. One worry was that some older women are too frail for strength training and if you’re talking about bench pressing 200 pounds, you might be right. That’s not how strength training works. Trainers make sure that each person can safely do each exercise, which for those out of shape, may be as little as one pound weights or even no weights at all at first.
Most people come to our gym in Raleigh to shed a few pounds or get more energy. In reality, what they’re really doing is beginning an exciting journey to health and fitness. Like any journey, it all starts with a destination. Most people refer to that as a goal. It may start out to be shedding a few pounds or fitting into a fabulous outfit for a high school reunion, but I find that once clients learn how good they feel, how enjoyable healthy eating is and how great they start to look, the destination changes. It becomes a lifelong adventure.