Don’t Skip Momma’s Smoked Ham for the Milk’n’Cookies

 Ah, tis the season to larger waist lines. The holiday season is filled with indulging on the best holiday chocolates and cookies. 

 I am an ABSOLUTE sucker for sweets. I am the one who gives into having more than one piece of cake.  I completely believe in enjoying the holiday sweets. However here are some helpful tips on not over doing the sweets and gaining those extra pounds:

1^st  “Don’t skip meals to eat sweets”. It makes sense to think I’ll save the calories for dessert but it’s actually worse. When you skip meals your body runs on empty making your blood sugar low that you crave MORE sugar. When you eat, your metabolism, works to break the food down into smaller, usable parts. Eat up your plate of salad, potatoes, ham and broccoli.

2^nd- Wait for dessert.  I often get so excited that I say bring on the dessert. It takes 20 minutes for your mind to process with your stomach that your full. I say wait a good 30 mins. Burn some calories get up and help the host clean up the Holiday Dinner

3^rd – Drink Water – Drink a full glass of water before grabbing for the box of holiday chocolates. Drinking water before allows you to feel even fuller

4^th- Eat Breakfast filled blueberries. Blue berries are proven to fight craving spikes. I love a bowl of oatmeal with blue berries in the morning. Eating Breakfast allows to you eat less later in the day.

 

5^th – Workout and just stay active – Falling into an all-around lazy slump is very common for the Holidays. You go into food comas. No matter how tired you are from food intake after a good 10 minute walk you’ll feel a lot better. I am all into relaxing but there is a big difference between relaxing and a food coma of stuffing your face in front of the TV.  Schedule in morning hikes and night walks. I know I will be working out at the gym and running but you don’t have to think extremes.

6^th – Enjoy. Don’t count calories and think about it too much. Your beautiful no matter if you do go crazy on the box of chocolates. Tomorrow is always a new day. We all have slip ups and need to learn how to forgive ourselves.  Don’t fall into the helpless state. Life is going to be okay<3 p="p">

Remember eat little less, live a little more and love a lot more. The holidays are not all about food.

Happy Holidays<3>

Cliff Bar? You might as well eat a Snickers

Cliff Bar? You might as well eat a Snickers

A lot of misconceptions come along with health protein bars. A lot of  people think cliff bars are healthy. Considering the health benefits you might as well eat a snickers.  If your on the go and need a meal filler snack to hold you over grab the RIGHT protein bar that will nourish your body.  The right bar  encourages your body from over eating later.

Certain bars should meet different goals. Some are post workout to fuel after, some are a snack and some are a meal replacement.

Generally…

Tips for the best health bars

-Bars should be 200 calories or less

- Meal Replacement bar should a little over 300 calories

-Should be less than 8g of artificial  added sugar

-Should give you at least 11g of PROTEIN

- * A high protein diet fills you longer

-Look for a short ingredient list

-Look for a bar that provides FIBER

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My Favorite Bar:
Think Thin

I usually eat this after a workout or in the morning with grapefruit juice. I love the Chunky Peanut Butter Flavor. It keeps me so full and satisfied.

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http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-and-nutrition-pictures/smart-protein-bar-picks.aspx#/slide-6

Busy Schedule, Eat Clean

Wow between finals, final projects, my night job, my internship, my gym workouts and fitting in a little social life I almost lost touch of my blogging.

So what happens when your busy? What happens to even myself ? I crave food. The wrong food. All I want is sweets. 

Getting enough sleep is more than just about feeling refreshed and ready for your day.

Why do you crave sweets/carbs?

Adrenal fatigue. The adrenal glands secrete chemicals that provide us with energy. However, stress, lack of sleep or insomnia can disrupt the function of these glands and cause exhaustion and so your body looks to other sources for energy.

When your body is running low:

-Drink lots of water

-Take a half hour to yourself and relax even if it’s during your lunch break. Go outside sit in the parkand breathe the fresh air in.

-Stay away from packaged items such as protein bars** which have artificial sweeteners

-Take lots of Vitamins and Iron Supplements

-Eat fruit to fulfill your sugar cravings

-Don’t Drink Excessive Amount of Coffee

-Drink Green Tea

**Look out this weekend for the blog post of what on-the-go health bars (proteins bars) are the best to eat.  You might as well eat Snickers before grabbing just any protein bar.