Even if you take time to eat three meals a day, you may still feel hungry at times. Grabbing a healthy snack is certainly appropriate even if you are trying to lose weight. Snacking on nutritious food can keep your energy level high and your mind alert without taking a lot of time to prepare.

The key is to pick the right foods to snack on and to keep the portions small.  It’s meant to be a snack not an extra meal.  A small handful of nuts is a healthy snack but a whole bag full will only add extra calories!

To keep energy levels going and avoid empty calories stay away from foods with simple carbohydrates (sugars) like candy bars or soda and high fat processed foods like fast food and packaged convenience foods.  Be sure to read labels.  Just because a label claims the product is “all natural, or “pure” doesn’t mean that it's nutritious.  Many of these foods can still be full of sugars and high in calories with very little nutritional value.  You even need to look closely at organic labels – just because it has organic corn syrup in it doesn’t mean you want to eat it! 

Other items to avoid are:  food colorings (all dyes), Benzoate preservatives, artificial sweeteners (usually in anything “sugar-free”), all sodas, diet sodas, sweetened ice teas, vitamin waters, sports drinks, as they are full of sugar and food colorings, trans fats, which are found in shortenings, margarines, processed foods that have a long shelf life and foods made with partially hydrogenated oils, excessive amounts of sugar and all items with high fructose corn syrup.

Here are some healthy snack ideas and many are easy to pack up and take with you when you are on the go!

Chopped raw vegetables or baked pita chips with hummus or other healthy dips

Chunks of avocado sprinkled with Herbamare

Olives and a small piece of cheese or some cherry tomatoes

Hard-boiled eggs

Grilled vegetables (sweet potato, beets, zucchini, red pepper)

Air popped popcorn (avoid microwave bags)

Organic tortilla chips with bean dip or guacamole

Granola or trail mix (homemade: mix nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips)

Toasted whole grain breads or rice crackers with fruit spread or nut butters

Whole grain bread, toasted & cut into four strips dipped in unsweetened applesauce w/cinnamon

Mini rice cakes with organic peanut butter or other nut butters

Apple slices with hazelnut butter

Fresh fruits (fruit kabobs are fun!)

Dried fruits (raisins, prunes, apricots, figs, dates)

Frozen bananas dipped in semi-sweet chocolate, rolled in coconut or chopped nuts

Crispy nuts, especially mixed with dried fruit

Unsweetened whole milk yogurt with fruit & a little sweetener (look for raw or non ultra-pasteurized dairy products)

Homemade muffins or cornbread

Fresh soybeans (edamame)

Cup of homemade soup

½ chicken or turkey sandwich w/mustard

Healthy snack bars – check ingredients carefully!  Lara Bars are a good brand.

Baked mochi (made w/sweet brown rice) baked and dipped in apple butter or with goat cheese & herbs.

Small smoothie made with almond milk, frozen berries, & ½ banana

Small piece of dark chocolate preferably with 70% or more cocoa and with the first ingredient listed as cocoa mass

Bottom Line:  Try to plan ahead to have some healthy snacks on hand so you won’t be tempted to visit the vending machine or convenience store when hunger sets in.  Only snack when you are hungry and keep portions small. Be sure to read package labels carefully.


Rebecca Haines, Certified Nutritional Consultant & Certified Holistic Health Coach

Many people eat their largest meal at dinner, which is the time of day when we have the most time to prepare food and sit down to a meal with our family.  However, this is the time of day when our digestive system is starting to slow down and the body is preparing for sleep.  It’s also at this time of the day that our hormones and metabolism decrease. It is actually better to eat a hearty breakfast and large lunch, when our digestive system is at its peak and we need fuel to get through the day.

A dinner of healthy carbohydrates and a small amount of protein helps with the body’s relaxation and detoxification functions that happen while you sleep.   A large salad as the main course of your dinner helps to support these functions and can also contribute to weight loss.

Eating a breakfast with plenty of protein and healthy fats, a large lunch full of vegetables and protein and a light dinner with a lot of vegetables and a small amount of healthy carbohydrates or protein at about the same time each day will help keep your body and its energy levels balanced and functioning properly.  A mid-morning and late afternoon snack can also be added if you are feeling hungry.

Some suggested dinner ideas include:

Salads: A large salad with plenty of fresh, organic greens and colorful vegetables.  Remember to watch the ingredients in your salad dressings.  A light dressing of olive oil and lemon juice is best.  Or, start with a large bowl of fresh steamed, sautéed or stir fried vegetables.

To the vegetables add any of the following:

Grains: Quinoa, brown rice, millet, couscous, amaranth, buckwheat, or other brown rice pastas. 

Meats/Seafood: Small portions of grass-fed meats or wild caught fish.

Soups: Bean, lentil or rice soups with plenty of vegetables and homemade broths.  

Keep your portions small but enough to fill you.  View the rest of our blog for lots of great recipe ideas!

Bottom Line:  It takes some effort to switch your main meal from dinner to lunch but it makes a significant difference in supporting your body’s natural systems.  Make vegetables the main course of dinner and add small portions of grains, beans, meats or fish as a side dish.


Rebecca Haines, Certified Nutritional Consultant & Certified Holistic Health Coach

While breakfast is an important way to start our day lunch also plays a key role in keeping our bodies fit.  Eating regular, well-timed meals throughout the day can help keep our blood sugar level stable. If we skip lunch, our blood sugar level drops and we may become irritable, sluggish and lose concentration.

Adelle Davis, one of the country’s best known nutritionists, is known for the saying:  “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.”  Many cultures have their biggest, heartiest meal at lunch.

As with a good breakfast, you want to make sure to get enough protein to carry you until dinner.  While salads are a great way to get your vegetables, a salad by itself is not going to sustain you for long.  You’ll end up needing a snack or hitting the candy machine later in the afternoon.  Skipping lunch or eating too lightly at noon can also cause binge eating at night.  The body is designed to eat frequent meals throughout the day.  If it doesn’t get what it needs at some point it is going to demand food and that means eating all your calories at once. 

If you skip meals in an attempt to lose weight you may find it has the opposite effect. Your metabolism will slow down because the body thinks it is being starved. Rather than losing weight, the metabolic rate will slow down and the body will stop burning fuel. The body also knows to store extra calories as fat if it thinks it isn’t going to get food again for a long time.
 
In addition, lunch is a great time to be sociable and to have a much needed break from a busy day!

What are some healthy lunch ideas?  Here are some suggestions:

Salads:  A big bowl of fresh, organic salad greens (avoid the iceberg lettuce!) with lots of raw and cooked vegetables is a great base for a salad.  You can add grilled or roasted vegetables, organic cheeses, nuts & dried fruit, cooked salmon, or sliced chicken or turkey for a hearty meal.  Watch your salad dressing.  Most commercial dressings are full of unhealthy fats and added sugar and salt.  Make a quick and easy dressing by adding a splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of sea salt or Herbamare.   Here are two easy homemade dressings to try: Creamy Caesar Dressing and Basic Vinaigrette.

Sandwiches: Fill a sprouted grain tortilla wrap or a sandwich made with whole grain bread with hummus and raw or grilled vegetables.  Other filling ideas include sliced organic, grass-fed meats, organic cheeses, avocado, sprouts,  - be creative!

Soups: Hearty soups especially in the winter make perfect lunches for on the go.  Purchase a thermos and bring homemade soups from home for lunch.   Homemade chicken, beef, and vegetable broths are full of enzymes, minerals, and gelatin and make a great base for soup.  See our recipe section for a number of soup ideas.  There are also good canned soup choices at your local health food store.  Amy’s, Healthy Valley and Sheldon’s are a few good brands.  Watch for the sodium content in canned soups, as they tend to be high and use canned soups only on occasion.  Homemade soups are healthier, heartier and taste better!

Leftovers:  Any foods leftover from dinner the night before can easily be packed for the next day’s lunch.  Investing in a good thermos or glass containers can make transporting and heating leftovers easy.  

Seafood: Other quick lunches for on the go include canned salmon, sardines, mackerel, or tuna.  The best source of canned seafood is Vital Choice.  They offer low-mercury tuna and their cans are BPA-free.  These items are a good source of protein, Omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin D, and can be easily added to salads or other dishes.  Canned salmon (or tuna) can be made into delicious salmon cakes.

Lunch items to avoid or eat sparingly:  Meals with a lot of bread, pasta, or grain can cause us to be tired and sluggish later in the afternoon.  You’ll also want to avoid heavy sauces and fast food items that are high in fat, sugar, salt, and trans fats.  Watch the labels on packaged and convenience foods items.  If you can’t pronounce it or spell it – don’t eat it!

Bottom Line: Be sure to break for lunch everyday sometime between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm.  Make this the main meal of the day.  Choose good protein sources and plenty of fresh vegetables.  Limit simple carbohydrates and avoid dessert unless it’s a small piece of dark chocolate.  Find a quiet place to eat lunch so you can enjoy your food and chew slowly or spend lunch with friends to connect over a delicious meal.


Rebecca Haines, Certified Nutritional Consultant & Certified Holistic Health Coach

A healthy breakfast jump starts our metabolism, helps us to concentrate and reduces our chances of grabbing something unhealthy later in the morning when we are feeling ravenous. Our bodies are designed to eat after a period of “fasting” overnight.  When you skip breakfast you are prolonging the fasting period and this can increase your body's insulin response, which in turn increases fat storage and weight gain. Eating the right foods in the morning gives you energy for the rest of the day.  It refuels you body and balances your blood sugar, which increases your ability for physical activity.

What makes a healthy breakfast? Here are some suggestions:

Eggs are a great source of protein and can be cooked in many ways (soft boiled, hard boiled, over easy, scrambled, in a frittata or a quiche)  Eat them with a side serving of leftover vegetables.  Choose farm fresh eggs from the farmer’s market or organic eggs from your local health food store. 

Smoothies are easy to prepare and you can take them with you to drink in the car on the way to work.  Start with a liquid (whole fat yogurt, coconut milk, almond milk, etc.) and add your favorite fruits.  It’s best to use organic berries, which don’t contain as much sugar as fruits such as banana or mango.  The fruits can be frozen, thawed or fresh depending how thick you like the smoothie.  In addition you can add a combination of the following for added nutrition and protein: ground flax seeds or flax oil, hemp seeds, chia seeds, almond butter, maca root, kelp, bee pollen, carob powder, goji berries, whey protein, etc. 

Hot Grain Cereals are warm and comforting on a cold winter morning.  Quinoa is high in protein and contains all the essential amino acids.  It can be cooked the night before and heated in the morning for a quick breakfast.  Add a small amount of milk or almond milk to your serving of precooked grain and heat it in a saucepan over low heat.  Once heated through you can serve with chopped nuts, fresh fruits, a small amount of sweetener, dried fruit, and/or sprinkled with cinnamon.  You can substitute rolled oats or steel cut oats for the Quinoa.  Avoid instant or quick cooking oats since most of their nutritional value has been removed due to over processing the grain.

Yogurt & Cottage Cheese are other possibilities for breakfast.  Dairy products can promote inflammation so go easy with them.  Cultured dairy such as yogurt and kefir are more easily tolerated.  Add fruit, nuts, cinnamon and a small amount of sweetener to yogurt or cottage cheese.  Those with dairy intolerances can try goat or sheep milk products, which tend to be easier to digest.  Go for whole milk products and avoid anything that is labeled lite, low-fat or non-fat. This probably won’t be enough protein to sustain you until lunch so you can eat it with a piece of toasted Ezekiel or Manna bread (found at health food stores) or other whole grain breads spread with nut butter.

Coconut pancakes: Coconut flour is a delicious, healthy alternative to wheat. It is high in fiber, low in digestible carbohydrate, and a good source of protein. Coconut pancakes can be made ahead of time and frozen.  Put them in the toaster to warm them and add your favorite toppings.  Coconut flour can also be used to make other baked items such as muffins and quick breads.  Cooking With Coconut Flour by Bruce Fife, ND is great resource for coconut flour recipes.

Other Options: You don’t always have to have “breakfast” foods for breakfast!  You can eat leftovers from dinner the night before or make a breakfast wrap using sprouted grain tortillas filled with scrambled eggs, black beans, salsa and cheese or a wrap with eggs and leftover cooked vegetables and goat cheese.  Turkey or chicken sausage or bacon (purchased directly from a local grass-fed farm or organic meats from your health food store) are hearty breakfast options.  Be sure to look for meat products that are nitrite and nitrate free and raised without hormones or antibiotics.  Boil, sauté or bake the sausages and eat with eggs or leftover cooked vegetables.  Sardines or other types of fish also make good breakfast choices. 

Breakfast foods to avoid: Bagels, scones, muffins, donuts, and cold breakfast cereals are all refined carbohydrates that cause our blood sugar to spike.  They are empty calories with very little nutritional value.  They lack the protein and healthy fats needed to sustain us for a long period of time so we tend to get hungry well before lunch and want to snack.

Bottom Line: The amount of time we have for breakfast in the morning varies for all of us.  We all have different work/school schedules, likes/dislikes, and time for preparing food.  The bottom line is to figure out what works best for you but to make sure you eat a healthy breakfast in the morning!  Do your breakfast “prep work” the night before, plan an “on the go” breakfast that you can grab as you head out the door, or if possible, enjoy a leisurely breakfast that you’ve taken care to prepare.  Be sure to include some protein to help sustain you until lunch.


Rebecca Haines, Certified Nutritional Consultant & Certified Holistic Health Coach