Entries Tagged 'calories' ↓
June 25th, 2008 — calories, diet, healthy eating, snacking
One of the major reasons that people have difficulty keeping on their diets is the urge to snack. For many of us, it’s hard to get through the day without having at least one snack. However, that one snack can easily turn into ten and before you know it you’re grazing all day long, adding useless calories to your daily intake. While snacking can be important, you’re going to need to be smart about it to make sure that you can stick to your diet.
When we need a little snack fix, most of us reach for a bag of chips or a candy bar. It’s a quick fix and provides you with that burst of sugar that will make you feel pretty good right away, but not so good later on. The key to snacking without ruining your diet is picking the right kind of snacks. It may take a little while at first to get used to eating healthier snacks, but before long, you’ll be able to prefer it.
Start by figuring out how many calories you want to eat per day. Add up your three main meals and then figure out how many calories you have left over. This can be used as a guide to help you pick the snacks that will keep you on your diet. You’ll also need to figure out the times when you are most likely to snack and target some changes in your regular meals to help you get through the day.
A great snack will contain enough protein to give you the energy you need to make it to your next meal without feeling deprived. Over the long term it is much more effective than carbs at keeping your body fueled right. For example, instead of that can of soda and a serving of chips, which can equal more than 300 calories, have one serving of low fat cottage cheese. This contains only about 80 calories and can actually be quite satisfying. Nuts, nuts, nuts… Almonds are particularly good for you, but almost any kind of nut is a great source of energy and in appropriate amounts nuts will fit into any diet. (5 almounds is equal to 1 protien serving on my diet. I get 14 protien a day.) Even a small block of cheese, a serving of tuna or some other small treat can be a great low calorie high protein alternative. A really great healthy snack that I just picked up at the local Costco (seriously tastes great) is dry roasted and lightly salted edamame aka soybean. 70% Less fat and 40% more protein than peanuts… one serving is 14 grams of soy protein and 2 net carbs.
Figure out what kind of protein snacks you like to eat. If you are one that absolutely needs to feed your sweet tooth, look for special protein bars that are low in calories and carbs while high in protein. These can provide a great boost of energy and keep you balanced all day.
Earlier, we mentioned that it is also important to figure out what times of the day you are most likely to snack. This is usually a sign that you are not eating a balanced enough meal before hand. For example, if you have a lot of carbs for breakfast, that sugar is going to wear off well before lunch, leaving you feeling hungry. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but is should contain enough protein to give you the fuel you need to make it to lunch.
Photo Credits: 1
Related Articles
May 28th, 2008 — calories, exercise, healthy eating
When you are trying to lose weight, it is very common to go on a strict diet and add in exercise on top of that. There is a problem with this however and you can end up feeling too exhausted to keep going. This usually leads to quitting your diet entirely or giving up your exercises. If you want to avoid feeling exhausted, you need to provide your body with the right amount and kind of fuel to keep going.
First, let’s talk about that simple ratio of reducing calories in + increasing exercise = weight loss. However, there is a problem in this simple equation. If you’re not getting enough calories in, your body will go into starvation mode. You’ll need to add another item to this equation to make sure that you’re getting the right balance.
You’ll need to figure out how many calories a day that you need, and then how many calories you burn at your exercises. For example, if you’ve cut down to 1200 calories a day, and you’re burning 400 at the gym, that leaves you with only 800 calories for fuel. This is not nearly enough to keep you going. (I am on 1200 calories and exercising with my Jumpstart Medicine medically assisted weight loss… but I am under the supervision of a physician and I am getting all of my calories from lean protein (70%), complex non grain carbohydrates (25%), non fat dairy (5%), and I am taking a multivitamin.)
In this scenario, it would be better to eat a few more calories a day so that you’re not running on empty. You can find the right balance by seeing how many calories your body needs to exist. This is usually around 1500 for women and 2000 for men. Anything above that and you’ll gain weight. Too much below it and you won’t have enough to stay healthy.
This means that on days where you exercise, you may need to eat a little bit more. Don’t go overboard, but try to add a healthy snack on exercise days to help avoid having too little fuel. Remember, 3500 calories = 1 pound of fat. Without getting into complicated math, for each pound you want to lose, you’ll need to cut 3500 calories out of your diet.
Simply put, if you’re burning 400 calories a day in exercise, within a little over 8 days you would have lost a pound, if you’re sticking with your normal caloric intake. It can get a little complicated, but the easy way is just to add up the calories you eat, subtract the amount you burn in exercise and see what you have left. Anything below 1200 calories a day for women and 1500 calories a day for men is not recommended.
You’ll also need to supply your body with the right kind of fuel. You can’t eat a brownie and expect to have it help you keep your strength up. Look for foods that are high in protein and low in fat with a low glycemic index. This will give you the energy you need to avoid feeling rundown. Healthy nuts like almonds are a great snack that can give you plenty of fuel for your workouts. Avoid sugary treats and stick with healthy alternatives for the best results.
Photo Credits: 1
Related Articles
May 16th, 2008 — blood pressure, calories, fats, food labels, healthy eating, nutrition, sodium
If you’ve ever tried reading a food label, chances are it’s tough to get through all of the different amounts, crazy names and percentages. However, there is an easy way to read those labels to get exactly the information that you need to know in a lot less time. By targeting those labels you’ll know right off the bat if it’s something that will be beneficial for your diet, or might sabotage it.
The calorie count is probably the first thing that you should look at, since it is the most important. You’ll need to keep track of how many calories you’re eating every day to stay under your required amount. If the calories are too high, see if there is something you can replace that will keep you under your limit. Just remember to write everything down so that you can keep track.
The second most important piece of information on the label is the amount of fat contained in it. Most Americans eat more than 60 grams of fat a day, and that is usually considered to be too much. While on a diet, it’s a good idea to keep your fat grams to around 30 per day. Log this information and if the fat content seems too high, find an alternative.
Next up is sodium, and this is an area that many people don’t pay enough attention to. The average requirement for daily sodium intake is around 2400 mg. Unfortunately, most people eat way more than that. Always look at the sodium content to make sure that you’re staying under your required amount. The foods to look out for in this area are ramen noodles, canned soups and vegetables as well as prepackaged lunch meat. Too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure as well as water retention.
You’ll also want to look at the amount of carbs in a serving. Once again, most of eat far too many carbs. Think of carbs as sugar - one teaspoon of sugar usually equals about 4 carbs. That means one can of soda can have more than 8 teaspoons of sugar in it. If that seems like a lot (it is) this will give you a better appreciation of how much sugar you are really eating.
The last thing to look at on a label are the ingredients. One common ingredient contained in canned foods is monosodium glutamate. Many people believe that this is responsible for excess weight gain and if you are sensitive to it, you can end up with a migraine headache. While the studies are still out about the harm that monosodium glutamate or MSG as it is commonly known, it is best to avoid it. Yeast extract and autolyzed yeast also contain MSG, so watch out for those names as well.
Reading labels doesn’t have to be hard. With this system, you can tell with a simple glimpse whether or not you should be eating that food. With practice, you’ll be zipping along.
Photo Credits: 1
Related Articles
