Losing this 5 pounds is going to be a challenge of will for me.  After several months of no exercise and failing to watch my diet, I need to change a few bad habits that I have fallen into.  Maybe you have succumbed to these habits as well throughout the busy holiday season:
 

  -        Choosing higher carb, higher fat foods that are fast to shove in your face

  -        Social, unconscious eating without paying attention to portions

  -        Irregular meals at various times of the day

  -        Late dinner

  -        Skipping breakfast so I can run out the door

  -        Snacking throughout the day

 Gotta change. 

Then I got an email from the fabulous Mavis McConnon, the Lifestyle and Weight Management Counselor at LA Private Trainers.  Turns out, Mavis is in fact advocating eating throughout the day, but the trick is what you are eating. 

According to McConnon, more frequent eating is the key to healthful weight maintenance and disease and injury prevention:

“Only living foods will offer you complete absorption of fiber, minerals, vitamins and anti-oxidants. We now know with the help of irrefutable evidence-based research that there is no better way to live healthfully than to exercise and eat living, clean, non-processed foods. Consume the right amount of food by eating high fiber. They digest slowly and help with weight loss because you end up eating less of the high fat non-nutritious foods.” 

She recommends eating protein together with healthy simple carbs.   To ensure that you are doing this, pack snacks when you leave the house (it’s not just for moms anymore!) 

And she suggests some terrific combinations of things that provide the proper combination of protein and simply carbohydrates. Check out these combinations of things you can snack on throughout the day:
 

Rasberries and walnuts

Almonds with grapes

Eggs with orange slices

Yogurt with granola and berries

Hard cheese (like gorgonzola or feta) with green apples

Red and yellow peppers with chicken

Salmon with tomatoes

Artichokes with yogurt

Banana and peanut butter (YAY, I was hoping that PB would be on this list)

Avacado with tomatoes and cheese

Cottage cheese with Cantaloupe

Cheese and celery 

You can prepare these combos any way you like, but don’t add and butter or cream. 
 

One of the easiest ways to back slide when you are trying to get back on the healthy path is to let yourself get hungry.  That’s when we start stuffing the chips and chocolates.  So throw away those holiday boxes of candy NOW and pack some stuff that will truly feed your body at the cellular level.

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Tags: weight loss, healthy eating, eating for weight loss, healthy snack, snacking, nutrition, nutrition for runners, performance eating