I have had a lot of people approach me and ask me what types of foods they should be eating when they’re working out.

I really can’t give them a diet to follow because I don’t believe in diets and I’m not a dietitian. However, I can give them some basics that may help. I want to share these with you since I had several people request that I post some ideas here on the site. Please be aware that if there is anything that is listed here that you may have an allergy to then stay away from that food. There are plenty of  good foods to choose from.First, no food should ever really be forbidden even though there are many foods that we should not eat because of the damage they do to our bodies. Realistically speaking, we will probably come across these foods from time to time and we may eat them. If you eat well and make good choices for most of the time, it will not hurt you to eat these foods once in a while. If you mentally try to make a food forbidden, you will want it more and will probably end up binge eating.

Below is a list of some good healthy snacks and meals. If you are allergic to anything listed please don’t eat them just because they’re good for you or because I mentioned them. Be sure that you drink plenty of water each day. I can’t stress that enough!

First off, you don’t always have to eat bread or a starch such as potatoes with every meal. We did that growing up and we ate three meals a day. It is now recommended that we eat six small meals a day. It keeps your insulin levels at a more even level and your body functions better. You will feel less hungry and will most likely make better choices throughout the day. Believe it or not, we also tend to consume fewer calories with six small meals than we do with three big meals and snacks in between.

Try to stay clear of white bread. Instead, go for bread that has a lot of protein such as Ezekiel bread which can be found in the freezer section of most grocery stores. It’s completely natural and will go bad if it’s not refrigerated or frozen. High grain breads are good too since they tend to have lots of nutrients and fiber in them. Brown or long grain rice or high grain bread with lots of fiber and protein are good too. Try replacing your bread with wraps since they are very low in calories. For carbohydrates, go for fresh or frozen fruit. You may not have known that fruits are an excellent source of good carbs. Anything high in sugar should be kept to a minimum. When choosing your foods at the grocery store take the time to read the labels. Anything that rhymes with gross is typically something you want to stay away from such as fructose, or glucose sucrose. These are all forms of sweeteners or sugar. If you don’t recognize or can’t pronounce the words on the ingredient list chances are they’re not exactly natural or healthy. Low fat is better than fat free since they tend to replace the flavor in fat free products with synthetic sweeteners and flavor enhancers. Start your shopping by sticking to the outer walls of the grocery store before working your way in to the center isles.. The outer walls are where you will find most of your natural foods. The produce isle and the meat isles are usually on these walls. Steer clear of processed , pre-made, or boxed snacks and meals. These are full of preservatives. Fresh is best. If you are able to, buy frozen veggies instead of canned. Canned vegetables are full of sodium. When purchasing juice, watch out for concentrate. This may mean they cooked it down with sugar during processing. Even if they didn’t add sugars, the sugar content can be elevated from the process which brings out the natural sugars and concentrates the product. So read your labels carefully. All natural should mean all natural but it doesn’t always. Sometimes it says that on the front and the label says natural flavors added. This could mean sugar or fats. I ‘m not telling you what to eat. Just be aware of what you eat and drink.I am only giving you ideas to pick from and some tips you can follow here. Treat your body like a machine. It will run well if you feed it well. Happy eating!

About Breakfast : Experiment with your breakfast choices. It doesn’t have to be boring. No foods have to be just for breakfast or any other meal. Eat what you feel like for breakfast as long as it rarely contains processed meats and high starch foods such as doughnuts, fried potatoes, bacon or sausage gravy. Those types of foods should be limited. They dd extra fat that we don’t need and they’re tough on the cholesterol levels and the heart. They will also make you feel sluggish after you eat them which can effect your progress toward your goals. Make good choices and don’t skip breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day. Breakfast sets your metabolism for the entire day. If you skip it, your metabolism will be slow all day long. So be sure to eat this extremely important meal every day and get your internal engine running.

This list of snacks and meal ideas can be eaten at any time.

Oatmeal with fresh fruit (on the side or in it)

Eggs- (best if you poach them or cook them in olive oil ) If you scramble them, try adding some fresh veggies to them such as green peppers, mushrooms ,onions, tomatoes or spinach. Serve with fresh fruit.

Fruit Shake- Best if you make this from scratch. Try adding 1 cup low fat vanilla or plain soy milk, 1/2 cup juice- (all natural), 1/2 to 3/4 cup frozen fruit and 1/2 cup of unsalted slivered almonds. You get your protein from the soy milk and the nuts, and the carbs from the fruit and juice. - Remember, if you have any allergies to anything listed here, substitute with what you know you can tollerate.

Low sugar yogurt-(read your labels.You’ll be surprised by how much sugar is in flavored yogurts. Try to get the yogurt with the lowest sugar content. ) mix with fruit or some cottage cheese.

Nuts- Good for a snack but watch the amount. They have good fat in them but nuts are high in calories. About a 1/4 cup or a handful is a serving.

Cut up vegetables- Make a nice colorful mix. Each color signals that each vegetable has different nutrients: Carrotts, celery sticks,tomatoes, asparagus or green beans -(both are great steamed then chilled), broccolli, cauliflower, green, red and yellow peppers cut into strips for easy eating, and green onion. Cut them up and have them easily accessible in your fridge. You’re most likely to eat them if they are easy to grab and eat.

Salad- Of course! The darker lettuces such as green leaf, red leaf or the spring mix has more nutrients than the iceberg lettuce. Put lots of fun stuff in your salad. For great salad ideas check out my article about salads here on this site.

Griled chicken breast- You can grill this up in a heartbeat and have a great healthy meal in minutes. If you marinate it, don’t use over the counter salad dressing unless the ingredients are all natural and low in fat. Balsamic vinegar works well at breaking down the meat and tenderizing it while adding great flavor. Don’t fry your meats in oil unless it’s a healthy oil such as olive. Try simmering your meats in a bit of water and lemon or lime juice, or mandarin oranges or pineapple for a nice change. Put sliced cooked chicken on a salad for a perfect combination or just eat your chicken by itself with a plate full of your favorite steamed veggies.

Fish- Salmon is a great source of Omega 3 which is so good for your heart health. Tuna is another goos source, but it contains mercury so don’t eat this every day. Cod, Flounder, pollock, catfish are all white fish that tend to be pretty mild tasting and easy to prepare.

Pork- This is a white meat. White meats are good for you. Stay clear of the processed meats such as ham, sausage, hot dogs or bacon. Ground beef tends to be high in fat as well. If you shop carefully you can find low fat ground beef, although this is still something that should not be eaten regular since it contains fats that are not good for us.

Peanut butter- This is a high protein item. If you get the all natural peanut butter it contains less sugar and fat. You may need to stir the all natural peanut butter before you eat it because the natural fats float to the top of the jar. These are not bad fats. They’re good, but you still need to limit your peanut butter intake daily to about 3 tablespoons a day.

Soup- A great meal or snack. As long as its not creamed soup. The cream soups are yummy but they are high in fat due to the cream or milk added to them. Go fo the broth-style soups instead such as vegetable soup.

Turkey- Turkey from the deli can be high in sodium so watch it. Ground turkey has become a popular replacement for ground beef and is lower in saturated fats. It can be used anywhere that you might normally use the ground beef.

Soybeans - great source of protein and great for you.

Hummus- I like to put this into a hard boiled egg that I have removed the yolk from like you would with a deviled egg.. It’s different and it’s easy to pack and take with you.

Frozen grapes- Rinse off and remove stems from grapes ( red grapes are most flavorful this way) towel dry the grapes and put them in a bowl in your freezer. A great healthy fun to eat snack.

Soy milk- I use this in my cereal, my shakes and in my tea.

There are many,many other snack ideas out there that I could list but that would take me weeks and weeks to come up with them. By now, I think you probably have some ideas that you can start with. Experiment and have fun with it. If you have some great healthy snacks that you want to share e-mail them to me at ilandsurf27@yahoo.com and with your permission we can put them on the site. In the meantime I will try to share some of my favorite recipes and will post them on our web site.

Make this the year.

Pam