Food thoughts....

We often plan out our week, but don't plan out our food choices. That can create some havok on reaching your health and fitness goals.  If you are training hard and being conscientious about exercise but not planning out your food you will end up not seeing the results that you are hoping for.  Planning out your meals makes you more aware of what you are putting into your body and how it will nourish you.  Think of food as fuel, which helps make your choices better for your body.

When starting out the day:

• Eat breakfast!  It kickstarts your day and metabolism.  Did you know it takes 20 minutes for your body to feel full? It is because there is an actual hormone that takes that long to process the food intake... and it is why people say to "sit and eat".  
• Make hard boiled eggs 4 at a time, have yogurt measured out, slice up fruit so it's ready to grab, make your own healthy breakfast bars, or have cereal with nonfat or soymilk.
• Sit down when you eat. Plan at least 10 minutes to sit down and eat breakfast, preferably more.  
• If you are not a breakfast eater, have lunch choices at breakfast time. Such as a turkey roll up of farm fresh sliced turkey rolled with lowfat cheese, lettuce and some mustard. Add an apple and 8 wheat crackers and you are set. 

Additional breakfast ideas are: 

• Nonfat Greek yogurt, fresh  berries and 1 TB sliced almonds
• 2 egg whites scrambled with spinach, garlic, tomatoes and lemon juice
• Slice of fortified wheat bread with 1 tb natural peanut or almond butter and sliced fruit or banana instead of jam

When thinking of lunch, plan plan plan! 

• Slice carrots, bell peppers, celery and put a serving of hummus in a to-go tupperwear that helps from sitting by the tub and eating more than you should.  
•  Get deli meat healthy option slices, and do the roll stated above.
• Make vegetable soup on weekends and put it in single serving tupperwares. Grab a container of soup, low fat cheese stick, 8-12 honey wheat pretzles and piece of fruit.

Snacks are good to be eaten at 10:00/11:00 am and 4:00 pm. Think of handful of trailmix, Balance Bar, Luna Protein Bar and dried apricots, carrots with hummus and sunflower seeds, bowl of Kashi Go Lean with nonfat or soymilk, or kiwi/pineapple and cottage cheese.

Plan well, eat well and before you know it you'll be past your goals! Rock your meals, rock your workouts, rock your body.