SNACKS is that Spark to Rev your Metabolism!

Snack – A small amount of food eaten between meals!!!!

Most of us love snack time…..it probably sticks with us from our younger school years when snack time meant cookies and juice and a little bit of down time from our school time.   Snack time should always remain a special part of your day, even as we get older an

d become even busier in our lives.  Snack time is an opportunity for us to unwind for a few minutes and enjoy the fulfillment of nourishing our bodies in order to be able to keep pressing them along the rest of the day. 

Unfortunately, snacks have a tendency to be unhealthy.  The “snack” aisle at your local grocery store is filled with all of the processed, high sugar items that do not actually fuel and nourish your bodies, nor give them the energy they need to keep pressing them on.  In return, these types of snacks lead you to unhealthy cravings, overeating, and weight gain (especially as we age). 

I believe it is time for us to shed some light on the beauty of snacking and begin flooding our bodies and our children’s bodies with the kinds of snacks that will sustain our appetites, fuel our energy levels and keep our minds intact throughout your day.  Healthy snacks also help to keep your sugar levels steady, which ward off irritability and impatience, and increases your metabolism, as a result, burning more FAT! 

So, here’s the dilemma.  Snacking adds an extra step to our already overbooked lives.  Convenience has become the mantra to our daily lives.  Picking up a pre-packaged bag of snacks seems so much easier than planning ahead and preparing snacks.  Even worse, some people are so busy that they go an entire day without nourishing or fueling their bodies at all. 

What are we lacking????  KNOWLEDGE!  What ARE those healthy, convenient snacks that you will love????  That’s where The Fit Life Coaches come in.  We dedicate our time and our energy to researching these things so that we can give YOU the knowledge you need to EMPOWER you so that you can live the Fit Life.

To get the biggest bang for your buck, your snacks should be a good balance of Protein and carbs.  The right amount of protein will keep you feeling full and the appropriate amount of carbs will help to sustain your blood sugar.   Here is your list of Fit Life approved snacks recommended by your very own Fit Life coaches:

Protein Bars   - The benefits of protein bars is the simplicity and convenience, it doesn’t take any preparation.   The downside of protein bars is they can be costly.  Having said that, here are some of our favorite protein bars. 

·        Quest Protein Bars (so many different flavors to choose from)

·        Advo Bar (Advocare)

·        Pure Protein Bars

·        Think Thin

Protein Powder –

·        Advocare Meal Relacement Shakes

·        Advocare Muscle Gain Protein Shake

·        Trutein Protein Powder

·        Bod-e

·        Quest Protein Powder

High Protein Snack Choices:

·        Cottage Cheese/Fruit

·        Beef or Turkey Jerkey

·        Mixed nuts or trail mix

·        Hard boiled eggs

·        Deli Roll up (low fat or weight watchers cheese stick with ham or turkey wrapped around)

·        Hummus and carrots

·        Brown rice cakes or slice of whole wheat toast with 2 tbs. of your favorite nut butter

·        Greek yogurt

·        Edamame

From time to time, we find ourselves having some extra time and wanting to be creative!  Here are a few extra healthy snacks that take moderate preparation:

Fiesta Turkey Mini Tostados (Biggest Loser Family Cookbook) :

40 Bakes Tostitos Scoops

Olive Oil Spray

1 pound extra lean ground turkey breast

Ground black pepper

1 cup medium or hot salsa

Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  When hot, lightly coat with olive oil and add turkey, season.  Cook, breaking turkey into bite sized chunks until no longer pink.  Stir in the salsa, divide evenly among the scoops.

Hummus – Tuna English Muffins

1 16 oz can chunk light tuna in water, drained

¼ c roasted red pepper flavored hummus

2 whole wheat English muffins

4 slices red onions

Mix the tuna with the hummus and spoon evenly on the muffin halves and top each with a slice of red onion.

In conclusion, 2 snacks per day, ranging between 150-200 calories per snack is a very important part of living the Fit Life, even if weight loss is your goal.  

Kelli Montgomery: Fit Life Fitness Coach

Kelli has been helping people achieve their fitness goals for over three years and as a wife and mother of 3 she realizes the society obstacles of living the Fit Life.  Kelli also finds strength through Faith and has had a specific calling from the Lord to lead others to him through fitness.