Healthy Treats for Better Performance
Healthy Treats for Busy Professionals
When you’re busy at work, healthy eating can fall by the wayside. Between work and family responsibilities, our lives can become so busy that it’s hard to find enough time to make healthy choices. It’s much easier to grab the Twinkies or make a dash to the vending machine. But that doesn’t mean you have to compromise your health by settling for what’s readily available! Healthy eating helps maintain energy so you don’t experience an afternoon crash. It’s also easy to accomplish once you develop new habits. It’s a decision only you can make by saying no to the many temptations that are more readily available.
Benefits of Healthy Snacking
Choose snacks that give you energy and make you feel good, rather than set you up for the ultimate sugar crash. Healthy snacks are important for those in-between meal moments because they:
- Help sustain your energy from meal to meal
- Stabilize your blood sugar
- Keep your emotional state and concentration steady and sharp
- Alleviate hunger
10 Health Suggested Snacks
- Nuts—an excellent source of high protein:
Look for raw or dry roasted and stay away from nuts with additives like vegetable oil and salt as these can turn rancid if they sit in a bag in a store.
- Fruit—packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants:
Look for organic fruit like apples, kiwi and oranges loaded with Vitamin C
- Yogurt—high in protein and good source of healthy fats:
Look for full-fat, plain, organic yogurt or ones that do not contain artificial flavors or sweeteners like corn syrup.
- Hard boiled eggs—high source of protein and will keep your blood sugars level:
Boil them the night before and throw a couple in your bag.
- Almond butter—also high in protein and stabilizes blood sugar:
Delicious snack right out of the jar. Or pair it with an apple, banana or celery. Look for a brand that is organic, sugar free and contains no additives. Or make your own from fresh almonds.
- Chia pudding—contains protein and healthy fats such as omega-3.
It’s super simple to make and well worth it. All you need are chia seeds, full fat coconut milk (Trader Joe’s sells it preservative free in a can), vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. If you like chocolate, mix in some chocolate powder.
- Dark chocolate—high in natural caffeine that can give you that energy boost:
Look for brands that list cacao as the first ingredient not sugar.
- Trail Mix—packed with a combo of proteins and sugars to increase your energy:
Look for a mix that doesn’t contain added vegetable oil and salt or buy a variety of nuts, seeds, raisins and cranberries at the health store to mix your own.
- Raw veggies—slices of raw veggies are loaded with vitamins and minerals:
Choose organic veggies where possible. Prepare them yourself rather than buying them already prepped to maintain their maximum nutrients.
- Seeds—pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds are high in sources of vegetable protein:
Look for raw seeds wherever possible. You can find them in the bulk food section.
What if healthy snacking doesn’t satisfy you?
If your diet is already high in processed sugar and food containing lots of preservatives, your body will likely only want more of the same. In other words, you haven’t developed a taste for healthy treats.
Letting go of preservatives and processed sugar and getting into the habit of eating healthy can be a tough transition to make. If you would like support getting started, you may schedule a free 30 minute consultation to learn more.
