Healthy Snacking The Foster Way

For the past few weeks my routines have changed as often as New England weather. My lovely wife and I recently moved from our house in the valley to a home in the foothills. While this move has been well worth the time and effort moves like these entail, the aftereffects are often discombobulating. Adding to the chaos, my main source of income—AKA: my day job—has also tossed some new wrinkles my way.

For the past decade, I have worked at home as a telecommuter. I have enjoyed the freedom and less pressurized working environment that telecommuting offers, as well as the convenience of having my own kitchen (and bathroom) only a room or so away. As a self-professed health nut, I take my eating seriously, and my snacking even more so. In fact, I don’t consider myself a snacker at all, opting instead to call my style of eating several small, healthy meals throughout the day as, for lack of a better phrase, The Foster Way. I don’t profess that I invented this healthier way of consumption; it has been well documented by nutritionists and those in the know that to maintain your weight and encourage weight loss, it is better to eat several small meals throughout the day rather than three big ones.

But getting back to the recent changes in my life and habits. On top of moving and attempting to establish a new workplace, home, lifestyle, and routine, I now also find myself commuting into the office several days a week. This is not necessarily a bad thing, just another new change I need to embrace and deal with. The good news is I am actually enjoying this change in routines, but I have also noticed a few things while away from the comforts of home and my telecommuting life and having been dropped into the middle of office life.

PEOPLE EAT! ALL DAY!

Now, again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing if what they are eating is healthy. Remember The Foster Way. It’s okay to eat every hour or so as long as the portions are small, you only eat until you start to feel full, and what you are eating is high in fiber and lots of other good stuff. Sadly, this if far from the case.

One of the motivating factors of my starting this blog and my video site, livelife365.com, was to share my weight loss and healthy lifestyle successes with as many people as possible. Why? Because I know the statistics, read the newspapers and websites, watch the news, and have seen firsthand that there is an epidemic of obesity and weight problems troubling this country and the world. Sitting amongst my working brethren, I can now add that excessive snacking is a major offender. But help is on the way!

HEALTHY SNACKING THE FOSTER WAY



1. EAT IT RAW

If you are going to snack, or graze all day, then instead of reaching for a handful of candy or another slice of that breakfast cake try a carrot stick or broccoli spear. Now I understand the desire to then dip that healthy sliver of veggie into some fattening dressing, like ranch, but try to resist. Instead, eat an apple. Or banana. Or orange or peach or nectarine or any of the dozens of nutritious raw options available. I usually brown bag a banana and apple and some cherries just about everyday. Add to that some almonds or other nut choice, and you’re well on your way to healthier snacking.

2. READ THE LABELS

If the snack you’re choosing has more than a handful of ingredients listed on the packaging, then it’s probably not good for you. If many of those ingredients are big words that are impossible to pronounce, then it is most definitely not a healthy option. Processed foods, and snacks especially, are loaded with excessive amounts of sodium, saturated and trans fats, sugars and carbs, but more importantly, calories. Empty calories. If you are trying to lose weight, or just trying not to gain, then you need to limit your caloric intake. And if you find yourself in an office setting where you feel the urge to snack, then you will be battling a constant weight struggle if you consume empty calories: i.e. processed foods that have little nutritional value. The challenge is avoiding that giant bag of tortilla chips and salsa that one of your kind coworkers brought in to share, or those homemade brownies. Dive in and eat…but only if you want to gain unhealthy weight.

3. BRING YOUR OWN

What works for me is raiding my fridge and cupboard and brown-bagging it. When I am (forced to be) in the office, my reusable, recycled bag is never far from reach. In it I have fresh fruit and other healthy snacks like soy protein bars or almonds or even a almond butter or peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole grain bread (a surprisingly healthy food choice, by the way). While others munch on Sally’s homemade breakfast cake throughout the day, I pop a few cherries into my mouth and keep right up with them, only guilt-free and happily healthy.

4. GET UP AND GO!

Exercise cures a lot of what ails you. When working in an office, or engaging in any other sedentary-like vocation, the opportunity to move around is sometimes limited. If not limited, the desire to move as little as possible versus getting that blood moving through you seems like the only option. I sit in front of a computer all day and often most of the night, but I get up and move around all the time. I try to get up at least 3-5 times an hour, if only to stretch my legs on a short jaunt to the kitchen for some green tea or almonds. I also take a walk just about every day, usually for at least thirty minutes. While at the office, I walked the perimeter of the building I work at during every break and lunch. Ten minutes here and there adds up—so do those calories burned. Remember: burn more calories than you ingest and you WILL LOSE WEIGHT!

5. JUST SAY NO

Nobody ever said you HAD to eat those brownies just because Sally stayed up half the previous night baking. In the perfect world, or at least the Foster World, all snacks would be good for you, and you could cram as many of them into your mouth as you wanted without suffering any adverse consequences. Alas, the Foster World does not exist (yet!), and constant consumption of unhealthy foods will cause all sorts of health problems. One solution is to replace that deli platter or nachos and salsa with something healthier—veggie platter, whole grain breads, vegan or low-calorie cookies, and fruit bowls. A huge bowl of fresh cherries is a delicious option to Sally’s brownies any day.

Hey, I love to snack as much as the next person. As I stated earlier, I eat several small meals throughout the day, opting to consume my daily caloric intake this way rather than eating three larger meals with snacks in between. The thing that keeps me happy, healthy, in shape, and living life 365 is following The Foster Way of Snacking. You should to…but only if you want to lose weight and live a happier, healthier life.


Until next time…


peace,

Mike

In case you need a refresher on how to eat a few healthy foods: