Eating healthy poses a challenge for most, especially the picky eaters. When you don't have a taste for healthy foods, how are you supposed to stick to a better diet? The answer is be sneaky. There are many ways to satisfy cravings for unhealthy foods with healthy foods, as well as getting some vegetables in your diet without tasting them. Here are five ways I like to trick myself into eating healthier.
5 Sneaky Ways to Enjoy Eating Healthier Snacks
by CarleyClagg
You hate vegetables. You drink soda daily and chocolate is your weakness, but you want to start eating healthier? Here are five sneaky ways to make that happen.
1. Green Smoothies
Green smoothies are a great way to start the day, though the name itself may seem daunting to some. The green, spinach, has great health benefits such as amino acids, vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants, all of which are an important factor to weight loss and healthy eating. The best part about this smoothie is you get all the great benefits of spinach without even tasting it. Other ingredients like strawberries and banana overpower the spinach taste, while greek yogurt adds texture, and almond milk a little extra sweetness. Here is my modified recipe:
1 cup spinach
1/2 cup strawberries
1 banana
3/4 cup greek yogurt
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Blend all of these ingredients together for a super smoothie that tastes great and is packed with nutrients and flavor.
2. Homemade Chocolate
One fun sized Hershey bar has 77 calories. That means each time you ate one of these bars, you would have to jog for 15 minutes to burn off the amount of calories you consumed. Don't do that to yourself. Stick to a healthier chocolate you make yourself that has the pinterest world buzzing. Simply mix 1 cup of melted coconut oil, 1 cup of cocoa powder, and 3/4 cups of honey. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, poor the chocolate on top of it, and freeze it until it is hardened. Break the chocolate into shards and store in the freezer. It's as easy as that! No preservatives, no crazy amounts of sugar, just a sweet treat. This chocolate is so rich, one piece can satisfy a craving and keep you away from the Halloween candy that is still piled up inside your house. This is also a great way to add coconut oil into your diet, which has numerous health benefits such as helping with the digestive system and preventing Alzheimer's.
3. Almonds
Packed with vitamin E and other important nutrients, almonds have a big name in healthy eating. Just one handful of these nuts can provide recommended daily amounts of protein, minerals, and vitamins. However, some people might find them plain tasting and unsatisfying. There is a solution, flavored almonds. Blue diamond is a good example of a brand that makes flavored almonds that aren't loaded with sugar. If you want almonds with more flavor, try cocoa dusted almonds, oven roasted, or even raspberry flavored to name a few. Just be sure to pay attention to the nutritional facts label. Eating almonds is supposed to e a healthy snack alternative, make sure you aren't buy chocolate covered almonds, or brands with a lot of added sugar and preservatives.
4. Green tea
While water should be the main drink choice in healthy eating, green tea is a great alternative when you are craving a drink with flavor. Instead of reaching for a soda, pour yourself a glass of green tea. Loaded with antioxidants, this power drink has amazing health benefits such as fat loss, improved brain function, and lowering the risk of cancer, and many more. The great taste will steer you away from soda and sugary juices, while remaining a healthy drink choice. However, be careful when purchasing bottled green tea at the store. Look at the nutritional facts label add make sure you aren't choosing a brand with added sugar and preservatives. Green tea bags are often the best way to go as there is no added sugar.
Eggs
Scrambled, boiled, over easy, it doesn't matter how you prepare them, this wonder food will bring quality protein and nutrients to your plate. Eggs are also very fulfilling. Starting the day out with a few eggs can help you feel fuller longer and avoid overeating. If plain eggs don't taste to your liking, add a little salt or pepper, a small handful of cheese, or even some spinach if you feel adventurous. Either way, making eggs apart of your diet is a decision that will only bring benefits. Think of it this way, one egg provides all the nutrients to create a baby chicken from just one cell. Adding eggs to your diet is a great way to boost the amount of vitamins, minerals, and protein you intake daily.
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What are your healthy eating tips?
The computer crashing kept me from asking another part to my comment and question about dairy versus non-dairy yogurt.
The Silk product line also makes blueberry dairy-alternative yogurt. Wouldn't it be tasty to replace strawberries with blueberries and to replace Greek yogurt with blueberry dairy-alternative Silk yogurt?
The computer crashed before I could add the other part to my comment and question about dairy versus non-dairy yogurt.
The Silk product line also makes a vanilla-flavored dairy-alternative yogurt. Wouldn't it seem like a vanilla flavor in an almond milk-made yogurt would cooperate with and enhance the vanilla almond milk that your recipe uses?
The Silk product line includes a dairy-alternative yogurt. The yogurt is made with almond milk.
In particular, I like the strawberry-flavored Silk dairy-alternative yogurt. Wouldn't it seem like a healthily tasty substitute for Greek yogurt?
It's tempting to combine the almond, chocolate and egg snack items into an almond chocolate variant of Alaskan scrambled eggs, which includes eggs and white chocolate.
Would you happen to know of a white chocolate equivalent of your homemade chocolate?
A fellow graduate student whom I really respected mentioned eggs as the perfect food apart cholesterol.
Would you happen to know if anything has been done to counter or mitigate or even nullify cholesterol in eggs?
Your wizzley about Athens indicates that you prefer Greek snack food with feta and without spinach. You mention here under Green Smoothies that bananas and strawberries allow you the benefits of something that also has spinach, but without the spinach taste.
You note under Eggs that adventurous tastes are achieved by adding cheese, pepper, salt and/or spinach.
The first two preferences make me think about those who are un-Popeye-like in appreciating the benefits but not the scent, sight, taste, texture of spinach.
What would you recommend substituting for spinach for those who prefer to avoid it?
Re-reading your green smoothie brought to mind the caloric and nutritious differences between drinking milk and enduring moo-lk.
You mention vanilla almond milk, which I like. Would there be any other milks -- cashew? coconut? hazelnut? -- that would go as well in the recipe (which I make without -- ugh -- bananas)?
There's something else that I'd intended to ask in the comment box below.
Is coconut oil what combines with cocoa powder and honey into the bestest, healthiest taste? Or is there any other oil that operates the same, in assuring best health and great taste?
Revisiting your wizzley brought to mind something that I considered with the first reading.
Do you know how many calories are in the deliciously homemade chocolate combination of coconut oil, cocoa powder and honey?
CarleyClagg, Your tips are great, particularly the almonds and green tea. The homemade chocolate recipe sounds so simple and straightforward that it's begging to be tried out. Your green smoothie is tempting, but what do you recommend replacing bananas -- ugh! -- with?