Wellness Weekly

This weekend is meant for R&R, good company and good food are likely to be on the schedule for many! here I've found an article that may help us all stay on track with our efforts in healthy living and offers some ideas to add to those snack buffets that we may be faced with.

How to Snack Without Getting Huge
By RealAge

Sneaking a snack now and then is a recipe for waistline disaster, right? Maybe not. A new study suggests a snack strategy that might help you avoid ending up five sizes bigger.
In the study -- involving healthy, normal-weight people -- the participants ate three snacks a day for 8 weeks and didn't pack on any extra pounds. The magic secret? Eat what you know. The researchers think that this snacking strategy may have helped the study subjects avoid calorie surprises and allowed them to better compensate for the snacks later on.
Sneaky Snack Approach
When you know how many calories are in your snack of choice, you're in a better position to adjust your calorie intake of other foods later, so your total caloric intake for the day stays on target. That's right -- you can't snack away without cutting back somewhere else. But knowing how many calories your chosen noshes contain -- be they fruit, veggies, and yogurt or higher-calorie snacks like cereal and savory crackers -- will help you modulate at mealtime.
Listen to Your Belly
More research is needed to determine whether the study results apply to other groups, such as overweight people or people prone to weight gain. But it probably helped that the lean, healthy study participants were in touch with internal hunger cues and knew exactly when they'd had their fill. And best of all, they didn't have to add any extra physical activity to compensate for the snacks.



Snack Smackdown: The 10 Healthiest 100-Calorie Treats

Those 100-calorie snack packs are tasty, convenient, and perfectly portioned for calorie counters -- and they're selling like iPhones on opening day. But what's nutritious about a handful of Cheese Nips or Oreo Thins (even with no creamy centers to lick)? Instead, try these 10 far healthier 100-calorie treats. Stash them in your desk drawer, fridge, or car -- wherever hunger pangs hit you. The best part: Most will curb your appetite for hours because they're high in filling fiber or satisfying protein.
1. Midmorning Fill-Up: Just add hot water to a 100-calorie packet of McCann's Instant Cinnamon Roll Irish Oatmeal, which smells ahh-mazing and comes sweetened with Splenda. No doughnut guilt, and there's a bonus: 3 grams of filling, cholesterol-fighting oat fiber.
2. Peanut Butter and Crackers: Make sandwiches out of six All-Bran Multi-Grain Crackers (45 deliciously crunchy calories) and 1 1/2 teaspoons peanut butter (45 smooth calories). You'll get about 2 grams of fiber and a little healthy fat.
3. Apple Mousse: Mix a half cup of unsweetened applesauce (50 calories) with 3 tablespoons of fat-free nondairy topping (45 calories), and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Make a batch and refrigerate in portable snack cups. Supplies 20% of your daily vitamin C and counts as one serving of fruit. Sweet.
4. Veggies and Dip: Flavor ready-to-eat veggies from the produce section -- which have almost no calories -- with a dip: 2 tablespoons of hummus (60 calories) or light ranch dressing (80 calories). For the veggies, think broccoli and cauliflower florets, baby carrots, snap peas, pepper strips, baby squash -- all of them filled with fiber, vitamins, and protective phytonutrients.
5. Cafe Mocha: Stir a packet of Swiss Miss No Sugar Added Hot Chocolate mix (60 calories) into hot coffee for an instant afternoon pick-me-up that only tastes decadent. It actually delivers 30% of your calcium, 6% of your iron, and even a gram of fiber. Add a splash of milk for more goodness. Compare that to 200 calories for the smallest Starbucks Caffe Mocha (2% milk, no whip), with 6 grams of fat.
6. Mexican Potato: Microwave a medium potato and slice in half (80 calories). Save one piece for tomorrow. Mash the other half inside the potato skin and top it with 2 tablespoons of salsa (10 calories). Eat the whole thing, including the skin. Warm, spicy, satisfying and 2 grams each of protein and fiber, some vitamin C, plus a little iron.
7. Finger Food: Munch edamame like nuts. 1/2 cup of these quick-cooked frozen soybeans (about 95 calories) makes a great nibble. That’s why they're a staple at hip bars -- which probably don't care that they're serving you 8 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, and lots of minerals.
8. Snack on a Minimeal: When you're starving but trying to hold back, try this: Wrap a Morningstar Farms Vegan Burger (100 calories), a tomato slice, hamburger pickles, and a little mustard or ketchup in lettuce leaves instead of bread. The 10 grams of protein will keep you filled till it's really mealtime.
9. Happy Hour Combo: Mix 1/2 cup of tomato juice (22 calories) with 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 2 drops of Tabasco sauce, and a dash of lemon juice. Serve over ice with a celery stick and about a dozen dry roasted peanuts (about 60 calories). Have a second "drink" if you like -- no biggie!
10. Healthy Confetti Crisps: If chips are your downfall, make a batch of these RealAge crisps and divide into 6 portions (95 calories each). Munch through a bag while sipping your club soda and lime. Remember to enjoy the good fat from the olive oil and the fiber and vitamins in the veggies -- these taste so good, you may forget they're healthy.
CONFETTI CRISPS
6 servings, 95 calories each
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup each of peeled and thinly sliced purple potatoes, carrots, and parsnips
Mix the oil and seasonings together, add the vegetables, and toss to coat. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet lightly sprayed with olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20–25 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.


I hope this adds to your ideas bank of healthy living tools...let me know what you liked or didn't like. What do you want to learn about next!?

~be well~

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