Comments on: Sane Snacking: 10 Tips to Avoid Weight Gain

By: Rodney | home building guru

Rodney | home building guru — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 16:15:26 +0000

Just found your blog and I’m enjoying catching up on all the older post. This is great advice by Caine, you should always incorporate what makes you happy. I break my eating up into 2 hour windows. I limit sugar as much as possible and eat good quantity of quality protein like chicken breast and cottage cheese. I also exercises daily including resistance and cardio. This formula has worked well for me and I’m probably in the best shape of my life physically and mentally in my mid forties.
Rodney | home building guru´s last blog ..Getting Pricing and Builder Estimates for Your New Home

By: Caine (Easy Diets)

Caine (Easy Diets) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:51:51 +0000

Regardless of what way you want to lose weight, make sure it incorporates things you like. So if you like to eat fast food or something similar to that, divide the food into 3 or 6 parts – don’t eat it all at once. Make exercise a priority while you’re at it, because it’s the most consistent way to lose weight. If you loathe running, try jump rope or air boxing, something to mold to your needs.
Caine (Easy Diets)´s last blog ..Easy to Follow Diet

By: Donna

Donna — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:26:43 +0000

Ah well… that’s the topic for a whole post! You can do so many things, from drying herbs, vegies and fruit, including tomatoes (for sun-dried tomatoes – except not SUN dried) – great if you have a garden. I’ve also dried fresh coconut, much better than what you get in the store. I’ve made crackers, marinated mushrooms (delicious), cookies, granola, marinated vegies (think roast vegies but a bit crunchier). Snacks – I made these nice chewy, sweet and spicy things using thinly sliced apple and butternut squash. I soak my nuts and seeds (and sprout buckwheat), then use the dehydrator to dry them making them crunchy again. Nuts have enzyme inhibitors that can make them hard to digest, soaking gets rid of the enzyme inhibitors and makes them more nutritious. I’ve also put flavorings on the soaked nuts/seeds before putting them in the dehydrator.

Raw foodies use them like ovens and make all kinds of great stuff, except it still has all the enzymes, vitamins and minerals intact – so higher nutritional content. You can make things like raw vegan pizza, patties, sausages, and energy bars. And some do all kinds of variations on kale chips but using different vegies and flavorings.
Donna´s last blog ..The Health Benefits of Goji Berries

By: Miche

Miche — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 02:42:33 +0000

Donna, thanks so much for the link! Dehydrator? Hmmm… I might have to pick one up? Tell me what else I can make in one! Thanks for the link for the kale chips, but now I need to know more about getting a dehydrator and what else I can do in it! I’m excited now! Thanks!

By: Donna

Donna — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:33:50 +0000

Hi Miche, yeah I used to do the coffee instead of food thing too. At my former job it was particularly bad because there was a Starbuck’s half a block away and so I was drinking huge volumes of Caramel Machiato (I’m sure it didn’t contribute to my weight gain though ). Sometimes I got it together and brought my own espresso and used their milk, but even then I was microwaving it – so that’s not good.

Kale chips are divine! Do try them, you can easily play with the flavoring to make whatever suits your tastebuds. I’ve got a couple recipes on my website here: http://thehealthyeatingsite.com/?s=kale+chips . They are best made with a dehydrator because it preserves the enzymes and all the nutrients if you use a low temperature. But a lot of people use their oven on the lowest setting. I’m sure you have to keep a closer eye on them if you do that though. Dehydrators are great, like slow cookers, because they are more ’set and forget’. I can’t wait until the kale starts growing in our garden – I’m going to try to make kale chips every other day!
Donna´s last blog ..The Health Benefits of Goji Berries

By: Miche

Miche — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:45:21 +0000

Hi Donna, thanks so much for stopping in and for the great comment! So true, cubicle lie and working in front of a computer all day definitely can serve to enable some rather unhealthy eating habits if we don’t take the time to plan accordingly. Kale chips? I’ll have to try those! At my job there’s no where really healthy to eat so I have really have to plan and bring the right food with me to work, or else I’m done for. My real downfall has always been working through meals and grabbing a cup of coffee instead of food… but if I bring the right snacks with me then I need less coffee, not only does it boost my energy but also my metabolism, which always helps keep the extra weight off, too. Cheers, Miche

By: Donna

Donna — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 23:05:51 +0000

Great tips! My worst slump-time is 3-5pm and that’s when I reach for the snacks. I found that tip #9 worked really well for me. If I could pack something like hummus, pita bread and vegies like alfalfa sprouts, cucumber or carrot sticks, that would be enough of a light meal that I often didn’t need to eat dinner later, or just a very small snack would suffice. I really think having a big meal at dinner, so late in the evening is a bad idea. My body certainly struggles with it.

When I was working at my last job as a web developer in a cubicle farm I got into bad snacking habits big time. And I gained weight big time too (no surprise there)! I was so bored most of the time, there was no fresh air (don’t you just love those hermetically sealed buildings where you can’t open the windows?), and no natural sunlight reached my cubicle. I’d find myself literally falling asleep at my desk. So I’d grab another Coke or other caffeinated beverage from the fridge, more cookies if there were any left, or go out seeking sugar-foods if not. I was desperately trying to stay awake. We weren’t allowed to take a break and go for a walk to clear our head (even though no one even said anything to the few smokers who would be gone for 15 minutes every hour for their fix). It was such an awful feeling, because while consuming the snacks would wake me up a bit for a brief time, that crash afterwards was just awful. I would drink lots of water throughout the day at least, which had the added benefit of giving me a good excuse to get up and walk (to the toilet)… that walk wasn’t frowned upon so much by management I became more overweight than I have ever been. Fortunately the Universe took care of me… I had an injury, couldn’t work for some time and lost my job because of it. A blessing in so many ways. It was worth the intense pain I endured for nearly two years.

Now I have fresh air, sunshine and healthy food. I have lost at least 15kg, and interesting cellulite disappeared in the process. I’m trying to eat a raw food diet as much as I can, without beating myself up and stressing out if I don’t. I’ve replaced the soda with home-brewed kombucha (healthy benefits and more energy than I ever got from those carbonated ’smart’ drinks!) and one of my favorite snacks is kale chips. I don’t even eat potato chips any more. When I see a bag of potato chips in the store I crave kale chips! They are so healthy and nutrient dense, yet every bit as good as chips at satisfying that salty, oily, crunchy craving. I really didn’t do anything except replace unhealthy foods with healthy ones, and the weight just disappeared off me with no effort.
Donna´s last blog ..The Health Benefits of Goji Berries

By: Miche

Miche — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 02:23:06 +0000

Hi Anastasiya, great to see you! I think you’re right… women seem more prone to snacking, or at least more prone to keeping on the weight that unhealthy snacking often brings with it. Great thought on the dried fruit… I wish I added them to the list! They definitely can kill that sometimes insatiable craving for something ultra-sweet. Great thought on the decadent treats, too. I have to have the real thing now and then, too… My favorite luxury snack? Just about anything with extra dark chocolate… yum!! Thanks for the great ideas! Cheers, Miche