Tag Archives: healthy snacks

South Beach

5 South Beach Diet Phase 1 Food Hacks

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If you’ve been around the health and fitness portion of Happy Wives Club, you may have noticed that I usually write all of the posts. I’ve been assigned as the resident “expert” for lack of a better term.

This week I was happy to hear about a post from one of our contributors, Maggie Reyes.  She’s been on a mission to lose weight WITH her husband.  When I heard about this I got super excited. I LOVE when a husband and wife are on a joint mission to get healthy. 

One of the most popular diets around is called the South Beach Diet. It has different phases to it.  I’m not going to go through the diet with you step-by-step.  Just know that if you are on it you’ll say goodbye to a lot of carbs (like potatoes, fruit, bread, rice, pasta, etc for a couple weeks). 

Maggie has some food hacks that will help you out if you are in Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet!

Make it a Healthy Day!

Annett Davis (HWC Health/Fitness Contributor) 

5 South Beach Diet Phase 1 Food Hacks!

The hubby and I are losing weight together.  When we analyzed all the things we could eat during the South Beach Diet phase 1, we realized we would have to get creative to stick to the eating plan.

This is where food hacking comes in. Basically you can tweak recipes changing ingredients or otherwise altering a traditionally made item to suit your needs, tastes or budget.

With a little creativity, we have found ways to eat some of the things we love within the strict parameters of the diet’s instructions.

south beach diet phase 1

Here are 5 of our favorite “hacks.”

Breakfast Yogurt – 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt, 1 heaping tablespoon of your favorite sugar free jam, 2 Splendas.

You cannot have fruit during phase 1, but you *can* have sugar free jams and jellies. Mixed in with Greek yogurt, they add flavor and sweetness and make this an easy addition to the breakfast rotation.

Chili with Mushroom – The hubby looooves chili, but he usually eats it with rice, so he had to find a substitute. He experimented with mushrooms as they are light in flavor and typically take on the savory flavors they are cooked into.

He followed the standard chili recipe on the back of McCormack Chili and just substituted mushrooms for rice. This one is definitely for the bolder experimenters, but for us, it worked as a great substitute.

The next 3 tips are all about the satisfying the Sweet Tooth.

Snickers Hack – Hershey’s Sugar Free, Caramel Filled Chocolate (1 piece) + approximately 5 to 10 peanuts. It may not be Snickers, but it really satisfies.

Almond Joy Hack – Russell Stover’s Sugar Free Coconut filled chocolate + 3 almonds.

Imaginary Ice Cream – you really can’t have ice cream during phase 1, but you can have sugar free fudgsicles. Take the fudgiscle, put it in a large cup and remove it from the stick with a knife. Put it in the microwave for 10 seconds, then add a nut of your choice (pecans and almond shavings work really well for this). Voila! Imaginary Ice Cream!

There you have it, 5 creative additions to South Beach Diet Phase 1.

Have you ever done the South Beach Diet?  Do you have any favorite food hacks to add to the list?

 

travel snacks

How to Pack 8 Healthy Travel Snacks

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Being a professional athlete I have had the opportunity to travel the world. Airports were my second home. 

Lately, air travel has slowed down for me, but I still ride all over town in my car. 

One thing that used to bug me was when I was finally ready to partake in my snack, it would be crushed or broken into a million pieces. 

There’s nothing worse than a $3 protein bar, or beautiful juicy berries that have been smashed and flattened like a pancake!

Being the problem solver that I am, I had to figure out a solution. Here’s what I did.  You know the plastic reusable sandwich boxes you can get pretty much anywhere? (I get mine from a dollar store.)

They aren’t just for sandwiches you know.  I use them to keep safe my grapes, energy bars, pretzels, or anything else that normally gets broken up or destroyed in my purse or bag.

I love peanut butter pretzels and whenever I’d go from point A to point B, they would always be cracked open with the peanut butter oozing out. Not anymore!

Containers are so cheap to come by now days, it’s worth it to get an entire set of different sized boxes to keep your snacks travel-safe.

If you are trying to help your husband lose a few inches, you can pack these healthy travel snacks for him when he goes out of town or to work. And the best part is, they’ll arrive to his work desk or on the airplane in tact. He’ll love it!

8 Healthy Travel Snacks

  • Popcorn
  • Muffins (Use a larger plastic container for these, round bowls work well.)
  • Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels
  • Apples with Nut Butter
  • Homemade Energy Bars (your husband will love these)
  • Crackers and Cheese (no more broken crackers!!)
  • Roasted Coconut Sweet Potatoes (yes I take these to-go for a snack)
  • Fresh Mixed Berries

These snacks are perfect to put in plastic or glass containers with lids.  You won’t have to worry about crushed snacks again! Can I get an Amen? :)

QUESTION:  What are some of your favorite on the go travel snacks?  How do you travel with them?

 

 

 

Snacks

10 Great Healthy Snacks Under 200 calories

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In my fitness accountability groups one thing I notice is that people do not know how to properly snack.  Either they eat horrible snacks, or they don’t snack at all during the day. It’s okay to snack, you just need to know how to do it properly.

Eating snacks daily is a good practice because it helps to keep you blood sugar regulated throughout the day.  It also helps us not to overeat at meal times, so that by the time dinner comes around we won’t feel as if we are starving. 

What usually sabotages our diets is not that we eat snacks, it’s usually that we eat the wrong snacks.  When we eat only a piece of fruit this can spike our insulin levels (which can be the culprit for us storing fat). Likewise, eating a candy bar can sabotage our diets. 

Every time you eat a snack (or any meal for that matter) make sure it has a balanced amount of carbs, protein, and fat.  You always want to include those 3 elements whenever you eat. In other words, don’t just eat a piece of fruit alone, pair it with nuts so that you have a healthy fat and  protein with the fruit.

10 Great Healthy Snack Ideas

1.  Nutty Apple Dip-  1 TBS nut butter of your choice, 1 TBS milk of your choice (cow’s, almond, etc), 1/2 scoop of your favorite vanilla protein powder.  Stir until a creamy consistency. Serve with a medium apple sliced.

2.  Hummus and Veggies-  1 cup mixed veggies (carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, red bell pepper slices, snap peas, etc) and 3 TBS prepared hummus.

3.  Smoked Salmon Rods-  1 1/2 TBS low-fat cream cheese spread onto smoked salmon.  Wrap this salmon around  3 whole wheat pretzel rods.  High in protein, and a good source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

4.  Cinnamon Sweet Popcorn-  Using 1 TBS coconut oil in a hot pot pop 1/4 cup white popcorn kernels. Once popped sprinkle cinnamon and a 1 TBS coconut sugar on top. Being high in fiber this will keep you satisfied longer. Cinnamon adds a fat burning boost.  To balance this out eat a few almonds.

5.  Honey Sweet Greek Yogurt- 1 container of Fage Greek Total 2% yogurt and a drizzle of honey

6.  Cottage Cheese and Fruit-   1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese (I like small curds) and a small side of fruit.  The cottage cheese gives you a protein boost (and some fat) which keeps you satisfied longer like fiber does. And, the fruit gives you carbs. Berries are a great choice because they are slow-burning carbs.

7.  Fruit and Almonds-  14 almonds gives you about 100 calories worth of good fiber, protein, and fat.  Couple that with about 1/2 cup of strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries and you’ll have a great balanced snack.

8.  Cheese and Apples- 1 sting cheese and 1 medium apple.  You know what they say? “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” 

9.  Baked Apple- Got a sweet tooth? This will satisfy it for under 200 calories! Bake your apple and sprinkle cinnamon on top to add nice flavor and that baked apple pie taste.  Make sure to add some chopped walnuts for the benefit of fat, protein, and healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

10.  Sweet Potato- Pop a small sweet potato in the oven or microwave until tender.  Mash a little OJ into it, and sprinkle in some chopped walnuts to balance it out.  Sweet potatoes are high in beta-carotene, and provide a good source of vitamin A and C.