Healthy Food & Snacks

Eating out at work or having office food adds unnecessary calories and makes you lethargic. Food at hotels and restaurants seems tasty, but is loaded with extra fats. Thus extra calories get added to your waistline. This should serve as a warning signal as most health problems are related to obesity.

To avoid these problems you need to adopt healthy cooking methods. Try to get healthy and nutritious food at work. This will not only keep you healthy and fit, but will also be more cost effective. You can save on all the restaurant bills and snacks by getting yourself a healthy cooked meal from home.

You can take salads, veggies and fruits to work. All these are highly nutritious and healthy. Try to avoid heavy snacks such as donuts, cookies, chocolates or chips. Instead opt for crackers, cereals, bagels and dried fruits or yogurt.

Don’t keep having cups of tea or coffee to be attentive; these have high sugar content. Instead, opt for fresh fruit juices. These are not only invigorating, but also healthy and provide essential vitamins.

Taking food to work need not take time and much effort on your part. You can take foods that don’t take much time for preparation. You can take the leftovers from the previous day to work. This saves time and requires no extra effort. Another thing could be to opt for tinned products. These are quick and healthy options. Salads don’t need much preparation time either. Fruits are a readily available source ready at your disposal.

Also, while preparing a meal you can opt for healthy cooking methods such as grilling or toasting your food with less oil or butter. This works well in comparison to fried foods. Also minimize high calorie foods such as cheese and potatoes.

So, opting for healthy food at work need not be a tedious job. By adopting simple measures you can keep fit and also enjoy a tasty meal. You just need to inculcate the habit of healthy cooking and cut down on junk food, fried food and outside meals.

Coffee stimulates the brain when we drink a cup of it. This happens because caffeine is absorbed through the stomach and small intestine into the human bloodstream. Once caffeine gets into the bloodstream, its effects are felt usually within an average of 15 to 50 minutes. The level of caffeine in the blood that reaches the brain is what actually stimulates cognitive abilities and benefits the brain. This level is dependent upon the potency of the caffeine present in the bloodstream, and it varies according to the amount of coffee consumed.

Coffee drinkers talk about getting a lift after drinking coffee. They also mention feeling less fatigued, more alert, less drowsy and sharper in their thinking. People who drive for a living or take long trips favor drinking coffee. They report improved driving abilities and more focused attention on the drive after a cup of coffee. Coffee acts as an awakening agent. It provides the stimulant for feeling upbeat and ready to take on the daily tasks with a positive, can do attitude. For this reason, it is not surprising that millions and millions of people all over the world have a cup of coffee in the morning before starting their daily activities. As the day progresses, millions more repeat the cup experience for the extra lift or simply because coffee tastes so good!

As long as caffeine remains present in the blood stream, it continues to have an effect on the human body. A very positive effect of coffee is the active role its antioxidants play in minimizing or neutralizing the negative consequences of free radicals in the body. Usually, within a period of about 3 to 5 hours from consumption, the body eliminates about half of the caffeine consumed. The rest takes additional time, from several hours to days. Caffeine metabolism occurs through the liver and coffee is excreted through urine, saliva, breast milk, semen and some traces through sweat. read more »

It’s a new year and many are anxious to start their diet off on the right foot, maybe lose a few pounds, eat better and make smarter food choices overall. Here is a list of great, healthy food substitutes for your usual choices that will help you keep your New Year’s Resolution. They are lower in fat, calories but high in taste!

Love chocolate milk but not so fond of the stomach pain and gas you get afterward? There is a new healthy choice available and it’s not soy! As a lactose intolerant woman, I typically drink soy and rice milk, but my latest choice is wonderful, especially in chocolate and it’s Almond Milk! It has such a clean taste and you’d swear you were drinking the real thing! You’ll want to look in your grocer’s healthy/organic or dairy case. They offer a shelved brand as well, but the refrigerated kind is the best. This yummy treat is from the makers of nuts, Blue Diamond Natural Almond Breeze. Even if you’re not lactose intolerant, it only has 120 calories and has less fat than even soy so drink up!

Do your kids adore grilled cheese sandwiches but avoid them due to the lactose? One great option for cheese slices is ‘Veggie Slices’ found in the vegetarian section of the dairy case and/or produce area. They offer flavors like cheddar, mozzarella, American, jalapeno, smoked provolone and the best thing is they are low calorie, cholesterol free and have 0g of trans fat! The Veggie Slices brand also offers regular bricks of “cheese” as well as shredded and they are all fantastic, you’d swear they were dairy!

The avocado is a great delicacy and when you want to whip up some guacamole or just put some slices on your salad it’s great to know there is a low fat option. A large avocado trademarked as the “SlimCado” let’s you eat this wonderful fruit (that’s right, if you didn’t know it, the avocado is actually a fruit!) without piling on the calories. It is still meaty like a regular avocado but does have a slightly higher water content, so it’s best used in guacamole. These are about 3 times the size of a regular one and a little can go a long way. read more »