HappyFit Coaching

Okay, I’m always telling clients who ask for healthy breakfast ideas about my Peanut Butter & Jelly Smoothie. So here’s the recipe! The protein in the peanut butter and fiber in the fruit and flax seeds will keep you full for a while. This is the perfect breakfast for people who can’t handle solid food first thing in the morning.

Linda’s Peanut Butter & Jelly Smoothie
(Makes a generous 2 servings, or 3 smaller servings.)

* 2 ripe bananas — the riper the bananas, the sweeter the smoothie
* Mixed frozen berries — we like cherries and blueberries (You can also use raspberries or blackberries, but I can’t stand the seeds.)
* 2 heaping Tablespoons natural peanut butter
* 1 1/2 Tablespoons ground flaxseed
* About 2 cups lowfat milk

Put the bananas, milk, flaxseed, and peanut butter in a blender and blend until, well, blended. Add frozen berries a little at a time and blend until you get the desired consistency. (You can make the smoothie thick or thin depending on how many berries you put in.) Pour into tall glasses and enjoy!

We recently got back from a two-week roadtrip from Raleigh to Dallas, which took 40 hours of driving total. (Are we crazy for driving 40 hours with a 3-year-old? You decide.)

One thing we had to worry about every day we were on the road was what to eat. We didn’t want to stop at fast food drive-thrus or rely on gas station snacks. (Ew.) We did some careful planning, and we also learned a lot while we were on the road — and I’m proud to say that we ate well and went to exactly zero fast-food joints.

Here’s what we did, and what you can do the next time you’re on the road, whether you’re on a road trip or you’re on your way to work when hunger strikes:

Go shopping.

I don’t mean to go shopping beforehand, though that’s also important — I mean that instead of stopping at gas stations for an infusion of Cheez Doodles when you get hungry on the road, hit a supermarket to restock your healthy snacks. Our GPS let us search for grocery stores near where we were driving, which was extremely helpful. Most supermarkets were just a few minutes from an exit, which made it just as easy as hitting the gas station. As a bonus, you can stretch your legs while walking around in search of raisins, deli sandwiches, yogurt, nuts, and whole grain crackers and hummus.

And as an extra bonus, many large supermarkets have a Starbucks inside, so you can get good coffee instead of the gas station sludge.

Pack a cooler.

Since we have a 3-year-old who drinks mainly milk, we have a cooler and some freezer packs so we can always carry his sippy cups with us instead of having to search for milk whenever we go out. But we discovered that the cooler can also hold food for the grownups. The freezer packs keep food cold for up to 10 hours.

I like individual servings of cottage cheese, and you can also tote mozzarella cheese sticks, containers of yogurt (don’t forget a spoon!), fruit, sandwiches, baby carrots and hummus, and bottles of water. Check out my blog post on healthy snacks for more portable ideas.

Order right.

If you find yourself starving and with only fast food restaurants nearby, go ahead and hit the McDonald’s or KFC — but think before you order. At many fast food places, the least calorific thing you can get, believe it or not, is a plain hamburger. Some restaurants offer salads, baked potatoes, and grilled chicken sandwiches as well. While fast food fare in general is not the healthiest option, a plain hamburger, salad, and unsweetened iced tea is a lot better for you than a bacon-cheeseburger, large fries, and bucket-o-cola.

How do you eat healthfully while you’re on the road? Do you have any tips or anecdotes you can share?

Many of my wellness coaching clients ask me for healthy snack ideas. They realize that cookies and other sweet noshes give them a sugar high followed by a crash, and they’re looking for better options.

Here’s what I always suggest:

1. Mozzarella cheese sticks. Cheese sticks have just 80 calories and can see you through to your next meal without filling you up too much. If you’re like me and carry a cooler full of healthy goodies for your kid, you can toss a couple of cheese sticks in there.

2. Turkey and cheese roll-ups. Easier to make than a sandwich, packed with protein, and quick to eat: Roll up a slice or two of deli turkey with a slice of Swiss cheese.

3. Greek yogurt. This tangy yogurt has two to three times the protein of regular yogurt, meaning it will keep you satisfied longer. I suggest looking for the 2% fat variety rather than nonfat, as the fat will also keep you fuller. Instead of buying the pre-flavored kind, which is high in sugar, try adding your own fruit, cinnamon, honey, vanilla, and/or nuts.

4. Homemade trail mix. I say homemade because I realized that the brand my husband and I were buying contained hydrogenated vegetable oil, the source of the dreaded trans fats. So we now make our own with a mix of cashew pieces, pepitas, roasted sesame seeds, raisins, dried blueberries, and dried cranberries. The dried fruit gives us a quick boost and then the high-protein and good-fat-filled nuts kick in to give us lasting energy. We make a big batch and carry smaller containers of the trail mix with us so we’re not tempted to buy a bag of chips when hunger strikes while we’re out.

5. Veggies and hummus. Hummus boasts protein, fat, and fiber, so it will keep you more satisfied than veggies alone. Cut up a bunch of red peppers and cucumbers and keep them in plastic containers in the fridge, and stock up on baby carrots and grape tomatoes so you’ll always have a quick, healthy snack when hunger pangs hit.

6. Cottage cheese single-packs. Cottage cheese is fairly high in protein and a single-serving pack has just 90 calories. You may feel the single serving packages are wasteful, but I think it’s just as wasteful to throw out half of a big carton of cottage cheese because it went bad before you could eat it. The individual serving packages go perfectly in a cooler, or you can eat them at home with a handful of fresh blueberries or pineapple thrown in. Like with Greek yogurt, I recommend the kind with 2% fat to keep you satisfied longer.

7. Hard-boiled eggs. You can whip up a batch in 20 minutes and have a fast, protein-rich snack that’s always ready when you are.

8. Half a PB&J. Use whole grain bread, natural peanut butter, and a little sugar-free jam and you have a healthy, satisfying snack. Highly portable!

9. Apple slices with peanut butter. Snack on an apple, and you’re hungry 20 minutes later. Add natural peanut butter and you have a stick-to-your ribs snack that will keep you going until dinner.

These snacks are all easy, fast, healthy, and cheap. What healthy snacks do you turn to when you need a nosh? Post your ideas in the Comments below!

A few weeks ago, my husband brought home a box of Fiber One cereal. He checked the label and saw that it was jam packed with fiber and protein, and low in sugar, and he thought it would be a good replacement for the Kashi cereal we usually eat, which the supermarket was out of.

The next morning I happily poured myself a bowl, took a bite and — wow! For a cereal that’s low in sugar, it sure was sweet. As sweet as those kiddie cereals we avoid.

I looked at the label, and discovered that the cereal was indeed low in sugar, but that the overwhelming sweetness came from aspartame — otherwise known as NutraSweet and Equal.

According to LiveStrong, “The Center for Science in the Public Interest has requested the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to review a recent study conducted by the Ramazzini Foundation regarding the occurrence of tumors in laboratory animals given aspartame.”

Pretty sneaky, Fiber One.

A week later, I was hungry while shopping. I usually carry a healthy snack for just such emergencies, but had forgotten to pack one in my purse that day. So I grabbed a bag of trail mix to nosh on while I browsed the aisles. Healthy, right?

Well, later, when I looked at the label, I realized that the trail mix contained hydrogenated oil — the source of the dreaded trans fat. And when I looked closer, I saw that one gram of fat was unaccounted for on the label, which usually indicates the presence of trans fat. The recommended daily intake of trans fat is ZERO grams.

These experiences taught me that if we care about what we put into our bodies, we need to carefully inspect food labels, even of brands that tout themselves as heathy. I mean, I thought I was eating healthful foods when I was really ingesting chemicals and trans fat.

When you’re deciding whether to buy a food, don’t just look at the nutrition label and be satisfied that the product seems to be low in sugar, fat, or calories. Look at the ingredients as well. Sugar can hide out in all different forms, such as sugar alcohols that end in -ol (like sorbitol or xylitol). Hydrogenated oils can sneak in trans fats, but food companies are allowed to say a product is trans fat-free if it has half a gram or less per serving.

And of course, be on the lookout for the presence of lots of ingredients you can’t pronounce and that sound more like they came out of a lab than out of grandma’s kitchen — despite the fact that the label depicts a homey kitchen laden with fresh foods.

I learned my lesson with these so-called “healthy” foods. How about you — have you ever been surprised to find out that a food you thought was healthy really wasn’t?