Health for life

Holy cow! Did you guys know that the Ice Cream Man/Woman makes between $400 and $900 a day in the summer, depending on the weather? Wow. Time for a career shift.

Speaking about fun foods, reader Rachael wrote in with a question pertaining to last week’s Cooking for Small Children post:

Q: I have 3 children 3 and under. My two oldest love to snack! I have plenty of fruits and veggies for them, but sometimes they arent the easiest on the go. Id like to steer clear of snacks like cheddar fish or crackers, even. What are some delicious whole, nutritious, on the go snacks?!

A: Thanks for writing, Rachael! While I don’t have kids of my own, my cousins/friends/guy on the corner really seem to like Sabra’s single-serving hummus tubs. They’re portable, cute, and ain’t nothing wrong with a little chickpea dip. If you’re concerned about environmental factors, you can buy a larger tub and scoop little portions into a smaller piece of Tupperware.

But sweet readers, I know you have more on this. What are your little ones’ favorite healthy snacks?

Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to Cheaphealthygood@gmail.com. Then, tune in next Tuesday for an answer/several answers from the good people of the World Wide Net.

If your goal is to gain weight instead of lose it, eating healthy snacks is one way to go. To make sure that you add on those much-needed pounds, go for food that’s high in calories, carbohydrates, protein and healthy unsaturated fats. If you’re counting your calories, make sure that your intake is more than the recommended. Pretty soon, you’ll see your weight rising healthily up the scale.
More than just choosing the right types and amounts of food to snack on, it will also help to change your eating habits. Use a generous heaping of olive oil, canola oil or peanut butter on your food. Also, make sure that your drinks contain some healthy weight-gaining sugars. Instead of strictly having 3 square meals, make sure to snack in between. To give you an idea of good, healthy munchies for weight gain, here are 7 snack ideas you can zero in on:

1. Nuts and Seeds

Nuts alone are good muscle building snacks. They are high in monosaturated fats, and even contain a healthy heap of protein and calories. For a better weight gain strategy, you can throw in some peanut butter for a tasty treat. Don’t overlook flax seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, pistachios, and other nuts and seeds.

2. Tuna

Tuna has been a long-time favorite of fitness buffs. Some would argue that it’s perfect for losing weight because of this fish’s low fat content. Being high in protein and healthy calories makes it a perfect snack choice for those who wish to gain weight.

3. Whole Fat Dairy Products

Veer away from low-fat skim products, and instead opt for the full-cream and whole milk. These are rich in protein and fat, which will help you quickly go up the scales. Feel free to add some whole fat cheese, like Swiss and Cheddar, to your snacks and sandwiches. Don’t hold the yogurt either, as this also contains some healthy weight-gaining dairy.

4. Crackers and Bagels

You need not zoom in to the white breads and high-carbohydrate offerings. Crackers and bagels made from whole wheat, bran and sesame can help you pack on some pounds. Use a generous heaping of peanut butter, jams, margarine or honey to ring up those calories and proteins.

5. Cereals

You might be surprised to note that cereals actually contain some healthy calories. The health conscious always seek these out in their daily diet, but they’re also great snacks for weight gainers. You can opt for the healthier cereal and veer away from frosted flakes and puffs. Go for a healthy heaping of granola, oats and muesli. Add in some raisins and fruits, and douse in whole milk. You got yourself a healthy high-calorie snack.

6. Fruits and Vegetables

Even if snacking on fruits and munching on salads is a favorite of dieters, those who aim to gain weight shouldn’t shun fruits and vegetables. They are high in vitamins, minerals and healthy sugars that can definitely aid you in adding a few healthy kilos. Snacking on dried fruits is also advisable, so don’t turn away from dried prunes, raisins and the like.

7. Traditional Snack Foods

This is one advantage weight-gainers have over dieters; they’re still at liberty to reach for the traditional snacks. Go easy on these carbohydrate high-calorie snacks, because they’re not all that healthy when taken in large amounts. But, the increase in calories will certainly help you reach your weight goal. Dark chocolates and baked potato chips should not be scrapped from your snacks list; pretzels are always good as well!
_http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/body-building/7-healthy-snacks-for-weight-gain.html

Todays question comes from college student Caitlin, who has finals coming up.

Q: What about healthy study snacks? i think i ate my weight in popcorn yesterday and definitely need an alternative!

A: Caitlin! Having been a carouser of the late-night cafeteria scene (read: mozzarella sticks, pizza, something called "broccoli cheesebake"), I understand your delicate, frommage-craving pain. Youd like something filling, but light. Tasty, but not time-consuming. And if its caffeinated, all the better.

This sounds lame, but fruit was always a good bet to start, with coffee acting as my beverage of choice. Energy drinks werent so popular back in 199X, but I might have avoided Monster and its ilk like a florescent green plague.

How about some all-natural granola bars? Or trail mix? Or, when all else fails, hummus, carrots, and pita will work wonders.

But I hand it over to you, sweet readers. What snacks will help Caitlin ace her semester-end tests?

Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to Cheaphealthygood@gmail.com. Then, tune in next Tuesday for an answer/several answers from the good people of the World Wide Net.

Hi,

Things Ive learned from trying out the "one meal and one snack per day" idea:

1. The meal is pretty easy to manage. It is the snacks that need purposeful attention and management.
2. One meal/one snack worked for a few days -- but I soon added one more high protein snack. So now it is "One Meal and Two Snacks" but some days I still only have one snack. 
3. Snack, Meal, Snack, seems to be the best order of eating. The meal in the middle of the day seems to work best for me. I use the first protein snack in the morning to get me going and the second protein snack in the evening to keep me on track before bed time.
4. I still need a "binge" or "cheat" day from time to time. These are unscheduled. I am not going to plan a binge or cheat day once a week. Having the binge day when my body needs it is more useful than trying to pre-plan when my body will need it. There is no mistaking when my body needs it. If I can go along without one for a long period of time, well why would I want to mess with that? My body does not need a binge or cheat day to be scheduled. When it arrives, it arrives all on its own.
5. After the Binge day would be an excellent day to do a 24-hour fast. It can be a real fast, meaning no food or drink, or I can drink a sensible beverage of my choice throughout the day. The fast should start immediately at the end of the binge. So if the last binge thing I ate was at, say eight p.m., then I simply dont eat again until eight p.m. the next day.  
6. An alternative to the 24-hour fast would be to have a three-snack day. All of them actual high protein. We know that a "binge" day is not going to be a high protein day... we binge on carbs: sugary, sweet, high carb items. So dont have any carbs the next day and keep the three snacks "snack-sized" and spread out to cover the whole day. 
7. Drink lots of water. Every day. Especially in the summer when it is hot. Making sure the water is ice cold when you drink it will actually help you lose weight. Your body will have to work to heat it up and you will actually burn a small amount of fat in the process.
8. If your "one meal" is as big as a Sumo Wrestlers (or contains a lot of high carb items) then you will still pack on weight. It is still important to have an estimated calorie range for the entire day and the "one meal" should be sensible. (We all know what a "sensible meal" is.)
9.  I cannot use cheese as a high protein snack. For some reason I react to cheese (any dairy products) as if they were carbs. It can set off unscheduled excessive eating. 
10. Mixed nuts or peanuts appear to do the same thing. I notice that if I have either cheese or mixed nuts in the house -- intended to be used as small high protein snacks -- the snacks get bigger and bigger as I go along and I soon am eating whole bricks of cheese or half-cans of mixed nuts at a sitting. That is not a snack. This will definitely mess up my weight loss.
11. Actual protein snacks work very well. One or two eggs (only) is a great snack for me that sticks to my ribs (so to speak) and tides me over to my actual meal time.
12. How the egg is cooked seems to make a difference in how long it tides me over: if the egg is cooked "over easy" with a liquid center, I seem to get hungry again faster. If the egg is scrambled it just seems to stick with me longer. So a really good snack for me is one or two scrambled eggs. Been thinking about hard boiled eggs, but not done them yet.
13. A can of tuna with a few walnuts is an excellent "tide me over" snack. I soon forget about food if I eat tuna. I season it with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings. I also use a little coconut oil as a dressing. It is not your grandmas tuna salad but it is not bad for a snack.
14. Walnuts last in my house. Mixed nuts do not. I can manage walnuts because I dont seem to binge on them and the serving size does not change when I consume them. I really can add five or six walnuts to my tuna fish and not worry about the eating machine. Mixed nuts is another story (see #10 above.)
15. Two hot dog franks (chicken, turkey, beef, pork, any kind without nitrates really -- read the label) is a good snack. I find that I dont like to cook them in my convection oven because they seem to come out "salty." I prefer to steam or boil them on top of the stove which removes some of the saltiness. I dont eat them often because of this, but they do seem to tide me over nicely as a high protein snack when I do eat them and they add a little variety to my eating life.
16. A hamburger pattie is also a good high protein snack. I like to kind of smother it with Spicy Brown Mustard for the flavor. I dont use ketchup, not even the reduced sugar ones because they still have sugar alcohols in them which can affect the eating machine. I season the pattie according to how I feel at the moment. 
17. I have discovered that I love to sprinkle a thick coating of curry powder on a hamburger pattie and cook it in my convection oven. It tastes really good and I dont seem to need the dipping mustard with it. My favorite is the Tones brand of curry powder that I get at Sams in a big container for a small price.
18. I dont "schedule" the snacks and meal.... I eat when I am hungry. That just seems to work for me. If Im not hungry in the morning, I might not eat anything until much later in the day and that will usually turn into the meal. 
19. If the meal tides me over until bed time, I dont worry about the evening snack.
20. The snacks are "available" when I need them. This gives me a sense of freedom and control. I hate all that rigid timed eating stuff. If things are flexible then I can adjust things on the fly as needed for that particular day. This keeps me happy and on an even keel.
21. If I follow the plan I lose weight over night.
22. If I do not follow the plan I gain weight over night.

Well that is about it for now.

Be back soon,

Marcia