Late Night Cravings!

Healthy "Good Night" Snacks

Snacking can be a favorable thing, however it has to be done mindfully. Many times we choose fat packed, sugar and salt soaked, and completely unhealthy foods to focus our snacking needs. We also over eat and bite a lot more calories and food then we can chew, and this is an important issue. Finally, there is a time for snacking and a time to be careful in your late night snacking. The midnight snack is often a bad choice because the digestive system slows down after you go to sleep. However, if you are careful you can snack healthy even at night!

Watch What and How Much You Eat

The foremost thing that you're required to do is watch what you eat. This can be hard because a lot of night time snacking is done with cravings. Usually they are broken into salty snacks such as potato chips or something sweet such as chocolate and ice cream. You can make food choices for snacking in an easy and comparable way. Replace the unhealthy options with low fat options either in the salty or sweet category. Here are some good options:


Salty Foods

• Popcorn - If it isn't high in butter content. If you are popping your own, pop it in a little oil and sprinkle salt for popcorn flavoring. If you will be popping it in the microwave, choose a light butter or a low fat butter option. These are often less salty as well. Also, don't get too carried away; watch your portions.

• Nuts and Seeds - Being that its covered with salt and high protein content, it is a food that should fill you up fairly quickly. Because this, only select a handful to diminish your craving or to help fill you up.

• Cheese - You can have a small amount of cheese (low-fat is recommended). This includes string cheese, cheese slices, and even cottage cheese!

• Veggies in Dip - Most dips are very unhealthy for you, and are very fattening. However, you can make a great dip from low fat sour cream or better yet, plain yogurt! To make it tasty add seasonings and herbs of your choice (be sure to stay light on the salt!). This is a low fat option that will taste fabulous and you can dip all of your favorite vegetables in it!

• Pickles - It may sound like an unlikely snack, but it is salty, tasty, and low in calories.

• Pretzels - a low fat healthy crunchy salty option. Don't dip them unless you make a low fat dip from low fat sour cream or plain yogurt or choose low fat ranch.

Sweets

• Fruit - There are a lots of good options including bananas, melons, and berries.

• Cereal - Having a minimal bowl of cereal can make you feel full and fulfill your sweet tooth. Pick on that is low in calories and fat, with just a bit of sweet to it.

• Toast with some honey or jam - Make toast and skip the (peanut) butter. Add a bit of jam or honey for a healthy and delicious twist!

• Rice cakes - crunchy and satisfying. Finish it off with a small glass of milk or juice and you should be feeling good!

• Yogurt - Have a small bowl or dish of flavored yogurt. There are tons of options to choose from and even the categories that are regular have very little fat and only a few calories. Worried about fat and calories, no big deal choose a low fat or no fat option.

Drinks
Often times a good night time snack is complete with the perfect drink. Soda may be tempting, but really unhealthy. Here are a few options that are better for you. However, you should think moderation.

• Milk - Aim for less fat and choose a low fat or no fat option (skim, 1%, 2%). Drink just under a cup and it should help fill you up.

• Juice - Make sure you are drinking real juice (100%) and not a small portion type of juice with lots of added sugars.

• Tea - Whether you like it hot or cold a good cup of tea can help make for a good night. Favor something herbal or decaffeinated so it doesn't keep you up during the night.

Tips for Limiting Night Time Snacking

Sometimes late night snacking has to do with cravings and the activities that we participate in, but then there are times when night time snacking has to do with actually being hungry. The first thing night time some snackers need to make sure of is that they aren't snacking just because they're hungry.

1. Eat well at each meal.
2. Snack between meals, but never enough to skip a meal.
3. Don't replace a meal with a large snack, this will only lead to more snacking.
4. Drink plenty of water. Often times we tend to mistake thirst for hunger. Try to drink 8 to 10 glasses of water each day to reduce our food consumption.

You're in Control!

Strategies for Healthy Eating

• Consume sufficient calories but not too many. acknowledge a balance among your calorie intake and calorie expenditure—that is, do not eat more food than your body utilizes. The customary recommended daily number is 2,000 calories, but this depends on your age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity.

• Eat a wide variety of foods. Healthy eating is a timeliness to expand your rank of choices by experimenting foods—especially vegetables, whole grains, or fruits—that you don't normally eat.

Keep portions moderate, especially foods high in calories.

• Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes—foods high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, low in fat, and free of cholesterol. Try to get fresh, local produce

• Drink more water. Our bodies are about 75% water. It is a lively part of a healthy diet. Water helps flush our systems, especially the kidneys and bladder, of waste products and toxins. Most Americans go through life dehydrated.

• Try to limit sugary foods, salt, and refined grain products. Sugar is added to a vast array of foods. Studies show that consuming just one 12-ounce can of soda daily for one year can increase your weight by 16 pounds.

• Don’t be too hard on yourself. You can enjoy your favorite sweets and fried foods in moderation, since they are an occasional part of your overall healthy diet.

• Make some activities and get to moving. A healthy diet improves your energy and feelings of well-being while reducing your risk of many diseases. Adding a balanced amount of physical activity and exercise will make any healthy eating plan work even better.

• Baby steps first. Establishing new food habits is much easier if you focus on and take action on one food category at a time.

5 Foods you should be eating for your body

1. Green Beans

The major health benefit of common beans are their capability to lower cholesterol due to their rich source of fiber. Studies have shown that the high fiber contained in beans prevents blood sugar levels from elevating too quickly following a meal. This makes beans a definite good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance, or hypoglycemia. Common beans promote heart health due to their fiber, antioxidants, folic acid, vitamin B6, and magnesium. Folic acid and vitamin B6 help to lower levels of homocysteine, which is an amino acid that is an aid product in an important metabolic process called the methylation cycle. Elevated blood levels of homocysteine are an independent risk factor for heart attack, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. These elevated blood levels are found in 20 to 40 percent of patients with heart disease. Research has showed that beans are also protective against cancer.

2. Salmon
Salmon is low in calories and saturated fat, yet great in protein, as well as an unique kind of health-promoting fat, the omega-3 existent fatty acids. As their name infers, essential fatty acids are existent for human health but since they cannot be brought about by the body, they must be obtained from foods. Fish contain a type of essential fatty acid called the omega-3 fatty acids. Wild-caught cold water fish, like salmon, are higher in omega-3 fatty acids than warm water fish. In fact, the fat composition of salmon has recently been evaluated as excellent not only because of its rich omega-3 content, but including because of its great ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s and its health-supportive match of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats. Each of these features in the fat composition of salmon helps reduce risk of unwanted inflammation and help maintain the integrity of our immune and circulatory systems. Besides being an excellent source of omega-3s, salmon are an excellent source of selenium, a very beneficial source of protein, niacin and vitamin B12, and a good source of phosphorus, magnesium and vitamin B6.



3. Blueberries
Blueberries are literally bursting with nutrients and flavor, yet very low in calories. Recently, researchers at Tufts University examined 60 fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant capability. Blueberries ranked highest in their capacity of level free radicals. Packed with antioxidant phytonutrients called anthocyanidins, blueberries neutralize free radical defect to the collagen matrix of cells and tissues that can affect to cataracts, glaucoma, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, peptic ulcers, heart disease and cancer. Anthocyanins, the blue-red pigments found in blueberries, correct the integrity of support structures in the veins and entire vascular system. Anthocyanins have been shown to better the effects of vitamin C, improve capillary integrity, and balance the collagen matrix (the ground material of all body tissues).



4. Watermelon
Analysis displays that eating foods that are full of water, such as watermelon, helps keep you satisfied on less calories. (Interestingly enough, drinking water alongside foods doesn’t have the safe effect.) At 92 percent water, watermelon is a favorable source of vitamin C. When it’s the red variety (several are orange or yellow), it too has lycopene, an antioxidant that may help defend against heart disease and some types of cancer. Other foods that are produced mostly of water include cucumbers (95 percent), salad greens (90 percent) and strawberries (91 percent).



5. Tomatoes
Eating more vitamin-C rich foods, such as oranges, tomatoes, strawberries and broccoli, may be a secret to smoother skin. The carotenoid found in tomatoes has been comprehensively analyzed for its antioxidant and cancer-preventing properties. The antioxidant function of lycopene-its ability to help protect cells and other forms in the body from oxygen damage-has been linked in human research to the protection of DNA (our genetic material) inside white blood cells. Prevention of heart disease has been shown to be another antioxidant role acted by lycopene.
In comparison to many other food phytonutrients, whose effects have only been studied in animals, lycopene from tomatoes has been recurrently studied in humans and found to be protective against a growing list of cancers. These cancers now include colorectal, prostate, breast, endometrial, lung, and pancreatic cancers.

Becoming a healthier you

Hey reader! Thanks for checking out my blog! I hope to share great info with you about healthy decisions in your mind and body and share tips and recipes! Be sure to check in every once in awhile to support me! Thanks and have a blessed day.

-Kay