You ever get behind when you know you shouldn’t?
That’s been the story of my life over the past few weeks/months. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining – far from it. I’m having a ball designing new programs, writing 2 books (damn), and coming up with a proposal to take to a few companies here in Lincoln revolving around a weight loss competition.
Good times…but mucho busy times (like the insertion of the Spanish?).
On to my point… Read More→
“Ed, when should I eat? Before or after boot camp?”
“Ed, I don’t eat breakfast…is that okay?”
“Ed, I just roll out of bed in the morning and come to workout. Should I eat something before boot camp?”
This is just a sampling of the questions I receive about eating in regards to boot camp or working out in general.
Just like everything in the fitness world, there seems to be a never-ending supply of goobers out there who will confuse the heck out of you when it comes to meal timing.
I take a pretty simplistic view when it comes to meal timing and eating and exercising.
Check the video out to see the easiest and correct way to eat when you’re working out – no matter if your goal is to lose weight, maintain your current weight, or even gain some weight.
http://www.vimeo.com/6564478What do you think? Does that make sense?
Leave a comment below to let me know.
Talk to you soon!
Ed
Cupcakes with green frosting are NOT healthy snacks
If you’ve gone through raising a child, you know how difficult it is to get your kids to eat healthy snacks – it’s about as difficult as me getting you to eat healthy snacks.
They want the “sweet treats” as Maren calls them. Or they want the Scoobie Snacks, or other cracker-esque snacks found at the grocery store (which is a good reason to keep the kids at home come shopping time, that way you don’t have to hear “I need that!”).
We try to keep Maren’s snacks as healthy as possible, and usually find that if we eat the same thing she does, she’s much more likely to eat healthy snacks – and to be quite honest, kids have fewer hang-ups about eating fruits than we think. We come pre-programmed to enjoy real foods and we screw that up as we age.
Anyway, here’s a quick list of some of my favorite weight loss snack foods both for home and “on the go”. They’re easy, nutritious and will help you lose fat and keep it off.
At home:
1. Broccoli and hummus – This is actually a snack I was just eating with Maren at her tea party table. Broccoli is one of the BEST foods you can eat, whether it’s a snack or an side-dish for lunch or dinner. It’s loaded with fiber, “good” carbohydrates and vitamins and minerals. You absolutely have to add broccoli to your daily diet if you want to lose weight and be healthy.
The hummus is loaded with healthy fats, protein and fiber, not to mention being loaded with vitamins and minerals. It is a very powerful food and makes a great vegetable dip so the next time you’re thinking of adding ranch dressing to your veggie tray give hummus a try.
2. Apple slices and natural peanut butter – The key to this one is the Natural Peanut Butter. The kind of peanut butter you’re probably used to is
I guess there's a couple advantages to eating horribly...built in cupholders being one
loaded with sugar and has the healthy fats removed. Natural peanut butter is a rich source of protein, healthy fats and vitamins and minerals – but be careful because it still packs a calorie punch…don’t go crazy with the dipping.
3. Homemade granola (or a good store bought kind) and strawberries – I have told you countless times that I’m not a chef, so I won’t give you a granola recipe (Google is great for that), but Andrea has made it in the past and it’s quite tasty.
As a side note, if you’re looking for a healthy alternative to store-bought breakfast cereals, try a homemade granola recipe and mix it with some fruit slices and yogurt – it tastes awesome and is a great way to start your day.
If you find yourself constantly on the go and need to have a snack that’s a little more convenient, here are a few great snacks to have while at the office or in the car:
1. Almonds and a Pear – Pears are pretty similar to apples in their vitamin content and they’re loaded with fiber – just like my favorite fruit (apple) and you should know by now the pedestal I put almonds on for a killer on-the-go snack (I eat them daily).
2. Organic string cheese and carrots – Just like the natural peanut butter, the key here is organic cheese, or at the very least skim (no fat).
You probably know that carrots are loaded with Vitamin A, but they’ve also got lots of other vitamins plus they’re low in calories and have a decent amount of fiber.
3. Low-fat, no sugar added Yogurt (although not so great in the car) and red grapes – Yogurt is a great on-the-go snack because it’s easy to transport, high in protein, low in sugar (if you get the no sugar added variety) and adding the red grapes gets you lots of vitamins and cancer-fighting phytonutrients (plus you can get rid of your excuse to have that daily bottle of vino…)
4. Cashews and Green tea – Most people overlook the good ol’ cashew when it comes to adding healthy nuts to their snack list, but they’re a great nut. I love cashews. They’re high in healthy fats, protein and magnesium (which is important for bone health). They don’t have as much fiber as almonds, but they’ve still got some, which is better than most snack foods.
If you’re afraid of eating cashews, or other nuts, because of their calorie punch (190 calories per ¼ cup), you should know that a recent study published in the journal Obesity showed that people who ate nuts at least twice a week were much less likely to gain weight than those who almost never ate nuts.
There you go. There’s a great list of healthy, fat fighting snacks that are easy to make (if they take any preparation at all) and easy to take with you.
As usual, if you have any questions, comments or want to add your own healthy snack leave it in the comments below.
Have a great day!
Ed
Last Saturday night Andrea and I left The Munchkin at home with my niece so we could head out for some good times.
By good times I mean eating dinner, having ice cream, shopping for underwear, then being so bored we just go home and watch a movie.
Yes, we are quite boring and yes we should have gone golfing instead.
I made up my mind earlier in the day to have a salad for dinner and that’s exactly what I did.
Salads at restaurants are never as healthy or waist-line friendly as they seem, but the one I decided on seemed OK from the description.
To put it bluntly, it was just plain gross.
I had a bad salad...but not quite this bad
Loaded with dressing, the chicken was mostly the “throw backs” and I have no idea if the greens were good because the dressing weighed everything down and gave me “Bitter Beer Face” with every bite.
So how do you know if the salad you’re getting at a restaurant is going to be okay?
First, do what I overlooked and always ask for the dressing on the side.
Now that I got that formality out of the way, let’s move on to the real tips.
Look at the type of meat listed.
I would steer clear of the words “chunks of …” because that can mean they used the “throw back” chunks that get discarded from other entrees. They’re usually all gristle and fat, but disguised to seem healthy.
Look for the words “strips” or “whole” in terms of chicken, steak or fish.
If it’s a big chunk, they can’t hide anything because it’s staring you in the face.
Always make sure the salad includes other greens, fruits and/or veggies. Things like tomato, cucumber, green beans, broccoli, peas, apples, etc. If there are a lot of things like croutons, garlic bread, or other processed foods in it, don’t get it.
Avoid any variation of the word “creamy.”
Creamy means you might as well slap the thing to your sides because that’s where it’s going.
Creamy means fat plain and simple.
And this one shouldn’t have to be said, but I know it does…
…don’t get a salad with chunks of fried chicken in it. Just because it’s chicken and just because it’s a salad doesn’t negate the fact that you’re eating something deep-fried.
If you do decide to poo-poo anything I just told you, at least remember this. Get a half-order. Some salads at restaurants can be over 1000 calories – I’m not kidding, I’ve seen the numbers.
Have a great day!
Ed
Do you have any other salad survival tips? Don’t keep them to yourself. Share them with everyone by leaving a comment.
The first thing you need to understand about me is that I believe ALL parents are superheroes...some just have a little too much flabby goo covering their Superhero Body. To learn more about The Fit Dad's story, Click here