Clean Eating Snack Ideas

Why is it important to eat every 2 to 3 hours a day

First you always want to start the day off with eating breakfast within the first hour of waking up, the biggest reason for doing so is to get your metabolism going.

 



 

Right off the bat I need you to know one thing: STOP starving yourself! It's so important to be eating every 2-3 hours a day.

WHY?

The key isn’t to starve. Actually, that’s exactly what you don’t want to do. What we want to do is to eat something every 2-3  hours. Most people eat 2-3 big meals per day. They go six, seven, sometimes, eight hours without food. When you don’t eat for a while your blood sugar really drops. And then when you eat after six, seven hours your blood sugar spikes. When your blood sugar spikes that causes there to be excess insulin in your blood. When there is excess insulin in your blood your body stores fat more easily. So the big question is, “Rachel, how do I change my body from a fat store to a fat burner?” It’s all about proper nutrition. The answer is simply this: 4-6 portion-controlled, balanced meals every 2-3 hours throughout the day.

By eating this way, you’ll effortlessly speed up your metabolism. Think of this way. If you have a campfire burning and you don’t add wood to the fire, eventually the campfire will burn out! But if you add a little wood every few hours, the campfire will continue to burn. And burn hot!!! It is also easier for your body to digest smaller meals than larger ones.

 

 

 

So, as you see, our metabolism is like the fire…never or rarely feed it and it will slow down. Feed it every few hours and it has no choice but to speed up! So the next questions what should I be eating every 2-3 hours?

Proteins and complex carbohydrates

Eating balanced throughout the day is not the only important factor to keeping your metabolism burning high and your body working well. Every meal (and snack) should include both carbohydrates and proteins. Understand that carbohydrates are 100 percent pure energy, fuel for the body. Proteins are the building blocks; but if no carbohydrates are available, the body will burn proteins. A carbohydrate should be eaten with protein to protect it from being wasted as a less efficient fuel source.  Protein is necessary for vital building functions:  boosting the metabolism, building body muscle,keeping the body fluids in balance, fighting infection, and feeling full longer.

REMEMBER, CARBOHYDRATES BURN, AND PROTEINS BUILD!!!

 

Try having protein and complex carbohydrate with every snack or meal

Snack ideas:

-Apple and almonds
-Apple and all natural peanut butter
-Low fat cottage cheese and ½ cup of fresh berries
-Blueberries and ¼ cup of unsalted cashews
-Banana with all natural peanut butter rolled up in 100% whole wheat wrap
-Pear and string cheese
-4 hardboiled egg whites with a handful of strawberries
-Greek yogurt and fresh berries

 

Eating healthy is a life style not a crash diet I can help you along the way.  We can do this together simple daily changes make big results over time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alaskan Salmon

This is a recipe I always made but once I started to eat clean it was not hard to make a few changes to make it clean.

Ingredients:
3 salmon filets
1 table spoon of olive oil
2 table spoons of agave
1/2 cup of oatmeal (place in food processer for 30 seconds)
1/2 cup of walnuts (any nuts on hand)
pinch of parsley, pepper, crushed red peppers, garlic salt, and oregano

Heat oven to 400 degrees
Place olive oil in bottom of baking dish, add salmon filets, then top with remaining ingredients.
I have replaced bread crumps with oatmeal.  A great time saver is to place 3 cups of oatmeal in food processer and blend.  That way you always have them on hand.  Bake for 30 minutes. 

Salmon is a highly nutritious food. It is high in protein and contains vitamin D, B12, niacin, calcium and selenium and is also an excellent source of B6 and magnesium. All of these are excellent for the human body. There also seems to be a lot of research  showing that in eating this fish helps to decrease chances of inflammation which can lead to problems such as heart disease or diabetes. This is mainly due to the fish containing Omega-3. The Omega-3 within the fish also helps prevent blood clots and have showed signs to help slow cognitive problems such as Alzheimer's disease. People who eat sufficient levels of the fish also seem to be less depressed.

Turkey Meatloaf

I'm all about making one meal that is clean for the entire family.  The first time I made turkey meatloaf I did not tell my husband that I switched and put turkey in instead of beef.  He never notice and since then I continue to make it this way.

Ingredients:
1 cup of chopped onion (I like it very fine)
3 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup of celery
1 pound of ground turkey
1 egg white
2 tsp. Worcester sauce
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 tsp. of salt
2 tbsp. ground flax seed
1 tbsp. of parsley
3/4 cup of ketchup

To make:
Spray your meatloaf pan with either olive oil or coconut oil.  Heat oven to 350 degrees, use a none stick pan on the stove and sauté onions, garlic, and celery. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and form into meatloaf. I always like to add ketchup to the top and than bake for an hour.  Add a side of steamed broccoli, and a sweet potato.

Whole Grain blueberry waffles

As a busy mom and living a clean life style this is a great recipe to replace in your freezer you can make a double batch and then freeze what does not get eaten for breakfast.  Once frozen all you would do it pop these in the toaster and heat up.

Ingredients needed:
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp of salt
1 tsp of baking powder
2 tbsp. of agave
1 tbsp. of almond milk
1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup of fresh blueberries or frozen(any berries would be good)



Combine all ingredients but blueberries and hand mix well, than carefully mix berries in.  Grease your waffle maker with either a small amount of olive oil of coconut oil. Cook how long you would normally cook waffles for.  Keep in mind portion control these are going to be more dense and filling than a regular waffle. 

Its making small changes daily that over time brings big results, and staying consistent.