Tag Archive for healthy snacks

Battling the Snack Monster: Snack Ideas

If you’re human, it’s pretty likely that even with the best efforts set forth, the snack monster can come at any time. It happens to me, too. And it can be a real bitch.

You’ve planned out your meals, maybe even packaged them up for work, and then it hits….

the Snack Monster.

Last week was definitely one of those weeks for me. I was stressed, it was cold & rainy for a few days, and I just wanted to snack all.the.time.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t handle the Snack Monster all that well this week. Which by the weekend, left me feeling pretty snacked out and ready to get back to regularly scheduled eating.

It also got me thinking about what I could have done, in hindsight, to combat the Snack Monster. With the holiday season in full force, and food literally at every corner we turn, it becomes more and more difficult to refrain from eating allthefood. But if we DO hold back a bit, we’ll probably be much happier with ourselves when we step into the New Year. Of course, if you gain a little weight during the holidays, don’t sweat it, but it’s much easier to maintain weight than it is to lose it, so let’s combat what we can right here and now!

Most of the time, these are some of the snacks I eat when the Monster hits.

Battling the Snack Monster: Healthy Snack Ideas

  • Apple with a Tablespoon of Natural Peanut or Almond Butter

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  • Strawberries dipped in Non-Fat Plain Greek Yogurt

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  • Carrots dipped in Hummus

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  • Small handful of Salted Almonds

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  • Grapefruit or Orange Slices

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  • Sliced Bell Peppers with Avocado on top sprinkled with Salt & Pepper

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  • Plain Popped Popcorn

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  • Chopped Cucumber, Tomatoes, and Avocado with Balsamic Vinegar, Pepper, Salt, and Cilantro

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  • Ants on a Log: Celery with Natural Peanut Butter and Raisins or Chocolate Chips

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  • Small Handful of Almonds and Chocolate Chips

almondmixcupThe options are endless, but keeping vegetables, fruit, and healthy fats high on the list of options will help to get you through. It’s a snack, so you shouldn’t be eating to get “full” but rather to feel “satisfied”.  Portion out your snack before you start eating so that you don’t go overboard.

Question of the Day

What are some healthy snack options that you use when the Snack Monster hits?

Day in the Life…

I always love Day in the Life posts, so I thought it’d be fun to do one myself! Here goes….

Tuesday, October 14th

7:15am: Charlie’s alarm goes off….I open my eyes and promptly close them again.

7:30am: OK, OK, Time to gay-sauna-nice get up.

7:45am: Brush teeth, throw on clothes and stagger out the door to get some coffee w/ CW

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8:00am : I go back home and open up my laptop. Check e-mails and consult with my to-do list. Post this Fit Lizzio Movement of the Day video on Instagram

http://instagram.com/p/ulzin5qhgg/

8:15am: Start writing a blog post for work….not sure what to write about…..come up with a topic and just start typing. Words are flowing today!

8:30am: Send off blog post to get proofed

8:45am: Eat an apple and get on a phone call w/ a co-worker to talk about a project

9am: Google Hangout Meeting with the boss man…we have a bad connection and it’s super duper annoying

9:15am: Eat a Fage 2% Strawberry Greek Yogurt and a Peach

fage peaches

9:20am: My brother calls me and we catch up…he updates me on my mom and we laugh about our crazy, awesome dentist

9:25am: Write a reminder that I need to go to the dentist

9:30am: See a sale on flights, start perusing flights and dates to go see family for either Thanksgiving or some other reason…

9:35am: Do 10 Squat Jumps for no reason at all other than I’m trying to decide if I want to work out before I tackle my work day

9:45am: Clearly I wasn’t ready. I start checking/responding to e-mails and doing social media work.

10:15am: OK, I’m ready to move. Even though I haven’t run in over 6 months, I decide to go for a run…and simultaneously question who I am today

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10:50am: Finished with run, come back inside and take a shower.

11:15am: Grab a 2nd coffee and head to a meeting

12pm: Stop at FedEx to ask printing questions for a job that needs to be done as soon as the file is received

12:15pm: Walk around Santa Monica with a co-worker while we wait for said file to be sent. It’s a gorgeous day!

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12:45pm: File still hasn’t arrived, so I stop into Simply Salad and get a make-your-own salad. It has Romaine Lettuce, celery, cucumbers, red bell peppers, tomatoes, granny smith apples, feta cheese, double chicken, and balsamic vinegar on the side. I don’t get to eat it right away, so I take it to go.

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1:30pm: Back at FedEx; Wait for document to print (it’s a big job)

2:30pm: Meet w/ co-workers to go over document and have one final look before sending off

3:30pm: Head to the gym to sign some documents, catch up with co-workers there, and do a bunch of admin stuff. I eat a Justin’s Honey Peanut Butter pouch because I’m STARVING

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4pm: Head home and tackle more e-mails + edit another document for work

4:15pm: Finally eat my salad!!!

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4:30pm: I’m totally full. That was a monstrous salad. I read blogs, peruse Facebook, text & catch up with CW

4:45pm: Sit down to write this blog post

I plan on heading to boxing at 6:45 tonight, doing a bit more work, and then going to SLEEP. It was nice to have a lighter day today…it doesn’t happen very often!

Hope you enjoyed my day in the life post! It was fun to document my day like that. I’ll have to do it more often. 🙂

Question of the Day: 

1. Are you a runner or a weights person?

I’m most definitely a weights person, but a good run definitely has some mind-clearing capabilities that cannot be matched with anything else!

Healthy Snacks

There are two types of people in this world. Those who eat 2 or 3 solid meals per day, and those who graze. I am a total grazer. I like to snack and would rather eat 5-6 small meals a day than only a few big meals. Basically I’m like a cow with less spots. And no utters. I hope.

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Snacking can be really dangerous if you’re not careful because many snacks don’t really fill you up, leading you to just keep, well, snacking on them! I’ve compiled a list of my favorite healthy snacks that both allow me to munch on them throughout the day and give me some great health benefits.

Scandinavian Crisp Bread w/ Whipped Cream Cheese
-Fiber city meets Fat town. It tastes good and is good for the gut too. I find the crisp bread in the kosher aisle at Ralph’s (or Kroger, or Fry’s depending on where you live)

(I’m likely going to get a lot of flack for this one because cream cheese is dairy and has fat in it, oh no!!! But I’m not afraid of fats and full fat cream cheese is delicious. Depending on how much criticism I get for this, I may dedicate an entire post to why I include it in my diet as a HEALTHY food.)

Baby carrots w/ Guacamole
Trader Joe’s chunky guacamole is by far my favorite, but Wholly Guacamole is a close second. Their portion control packs are awesome. 100 calories of delicious avocado goodness.

Strawberries and Greek Yogurt
-It’s like dessert. Oh, so delicious and filling. Perfect blend of protein and carbs too! You can use 0% fat greek yogurt, or get crazy, sexy, cool and buy full fat. Whatever you’d like!

Almonds w/ stevia and cinnamon
-Like candied almonds without all of the sugar!

Coconut Oil + Cocoa Powder + Stevia
Emily Zaler taught me this one. Mix equal parts coconut oil and cocoa powder with stevia to taste. Mix it up and freeze it for 10 minutes. When it melts in your mouth, you can come thank me (or Emily). 🙂

What are some of YOUR favorite healthy snacks? Add to this list!