Oh, and they’re easy too! Growing up, I lived in the world of breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. Maybe even a dessert ;-). As a child I would eat breakfast at around 6:30am before heading to the bus. Lunch would be the standard noon. Get home around 3pm. Snack. Dinner by 6pm. Snacks would be cheese and crackers, fruit, maybe a couple cookies, and that was pretty much it. One thing that strikes me in the above schedule is how long I would go from my breakfast to lunch. 5 ½ hours. Other than the cheese (which was nasty processed American cheese) my after-school snack would be something that would shoot right through me and spike my blood sugar. How was I functioning my best in school? Playing with real, solid energy?
Snacking also has a bad reputation as something that is going to cause us to gain weight or spoil our dinners. We are also overly-snacking and eating the wrong kinds of snacks. Overly processed junk that spikes and crashes our blood sugar, doesn’t keep us full, doesn’t give us energy, affects our brain functioning, and yes, weight gain as well. The goals for snacking should be to:
- SUSTAIN ENERGY
- FULLNESS
- FUEL OUR BRAIN
- BALANCE OUR BLOOD SUGAR AND…
- HELP AVOID UNHEALTHY FOOD CRAVINGS.
Here are 5 of my dozens of snack ideas that are great for you AND your children. Make life simple and all eat the right foods together. Your goal is to find snacks that are: Whole and real. That contain 1 or 2 of the following: Healthy fat, quality protein, fiber, or whole grain. Avoid: Overly processed, refined vegetable oils, soy, high sugar- that also includes anything with an –ose at the end of it (& keep it less than 5g per serving), hydrogenated veggie oils, protein isolates, artificial sweeteners, and any artificial colors or preservatives.
Try these on for size!
- Shave zucchini with a vegetable peeler, spread with hummus or cream cheese, layer in some veggies like asparagus and peppers, roll up and voila!
- Whole grain toast spread with mashed avocado
- Organic plain Greek Yogurt (Full fat. Grass-fed if possible) with organic applesauce (unsweetened), cinnamon, and hemp seeds
- When in a pinch, Perfect Bars are my go-to (because there are always those bar days)
- No bake granola bites: http://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/2015/01/healthy-no-bake-granola-bites.html
Snacking the right way will get you through the amazing day you’ll have.
To Your Health First-
