Happy (Healthy) Halloween!

Happy (Healthy) Halloween!

Fun costumes, spooky decorations, mugs of apple cider…what’s not to love about Halloween? If you have a sweet tooth, trying to avoid binge-eating candy can be a challenge. Luckily, there’s many healthier alternatives that will put you in a festive mood without causing cavities. Here’s five of our favorite healthy Halloween recipes, that are equally yummy year round!

1.) “Candy Corn” Chicken Quesadillas
Candy-Corn-Chicken-Quesadillas-BoulderLocavore.com-001
Cheesy in both senses of the word! Make these with whole wheat tortillas  for a bonus nutritional boos     Recipe from Boulder Locavore 
2.)  Devilish Avocado Sriacha Eggs
 15467922891_10f795c155_b
Replace mayonnaise with avocado for a scary good twist on the classic deviled egg! These spicy eggs are high in protein and healthy fats, making them the perfect appetizers.
3.) 3 Ingredient Banana Mummies
low-sugar-halloween-treats-01
Gluten, dairy, egg, soy, and nut free? Check check and check! These frozen treats made with banana, coca butter and coconut sugar are sure please even the pickiest of eaters.
4.) Cheese Witches Brooms
escobas de bruja
These party snacks are the perfect size to satisfy salty cravings!
5.) Veggie Skeleton
HalloweenVeggieSkeleton-1
The only time veggies should be spooky! Mix up the dip for whatever sounds good to you. We’d serve the veggies with home made hummus. Just blend olive oil, garbanzo beans, tahini sauce, garlic, lemon juice in a food processor and enjoy!
-Happy Halloween from the Fit Snack Team!
4 Ways to Find Time to Workout

4 Ways to Find Time to Workout

“I’m too tired to go to the gym!”
“Who has time to run or workout these days anyways?”
“I’ll go for a run tomorrow for sure”
Any of these excuses sound familiar? Finding time to exercise is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to staying (or getting) in shape. There’s no magic “One size fits all” method for fitting exercise into your busy schedule, but here’s a few tips that will help:
1.) Wake Up Earlier
         You’d be amazed at how much you can get done before work! Try setting your alarm for one hour earlier than normal and use that extra time to go for a run, hit the gym, or do some yoga and push ups in the living room. By the time you’d normally wake up, your workout is done for the day!
2.) Maximize Lunch Breaks
          Take a break from work and go for a power walk outside. Choose a coffeeshop 15 minutes away and earn that (unflavored) latte! If your office building has a gym, this is a great time to use it. Bring dry shampoo and wet wipes for a quick post-workout “shower”!
3.) Make It A Family Affair
          Wrangling children and pets can be a workout in and of itself! Make your family an active one by going hiking instead of to the movies on the weekends. Usually take your dog for a walk in the morning? Try running with it instead! You and the dog will enjoy the cardio health benefits.
4.) Be Prepared
            Don’t waste time debating whether to go to the gym or not, and just go! Keep a bag of workout gear and healthy snacks  in the car so you’re always ready to get into beast mode. Short on time? Try a circuit training workout to hit all the major muscle groups in as little as 30 minutes!
Plyos _Email_July

Fit Snack 30 minute lower body workout!

Manage your time effectively to hit your fitness goals daily.
What Motivates Fit Snack?

What Motivates Fit Snack?

Here at Fit Snack, with “fit” in the name, you’d think staying motivated would be a no-brainer. Balancing work, relationships, and exercise is tricky. Everyone has their own reasons and goals for staying active, and our team is no exception. We’ve decided to share what keeps us motivated to workout and our favorite inspirational quotes. What keeps you motivated?

Rose (Fit Snack Founder) :

“I’m motivated by always finding something active and fun to concur. This weekend, I hiked a trail that led to a gorgeous ocean view of the Southern California Coastline.  I am always exploring new ways to stay active and eat healthy, though the gym is my bread and butter”.

Rose Muniz in prep for first and strategically 'last' Bikini Body Building Competition.

Rose Muniz in prep for her first Bikini Bodybuilding Competition, She placed top 3 out of 300 2X.  The greatest lesson was how to nourish her body. 

Latest Favorite Fitness Quote: “Nothing lifts me out of a bad mood better than a hard workout on my treadmill. It never fails. Exercise is nothing short of a miracle”. ~ Cher

Anita (Nutritionist & Customer Relations) : “One of my favorite things to do is swim, especially in the great outdoors.

Going for a swim after completing the Lake Padden Triathlon in Bellingham, Wa.

Going for a swim after completing the Lake Padden Triathlon in Bellingham, Wa.

Something about the serenity I find being in the water hearing nothing, but my thought’s and feeling nothing, but the water rushing past me. I love to have upper body and lower body workout days and to feel the power it gives me when I am back in the water fighting the current.”

Favorite Inspirational Quote: “Acquire peace of mind by making the effort to become the best of which you are capable.” -John Wooden

Shaun (Graphic Design) :

GreysPeak

Hiking Grey’s Peak, one of the many amazing Colorado 14ers

I don’t get out to the gym very often, but who needs one when you have the beautiful mountains of Colorado in your backyard. Getting out and being active in nature is one of my most favorite things to do wether it’s hiking in the summer or snowboarding in the winter there’s always something incredible to be doing outside.

Favorite Inspirational Quote: “Ask yourself if what you are doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow” -anonymous

 Arielle (Social Media Intern):
arielle ski

Arielle in Crested Butte, Colorado

 “My love for skiing keeps me motivated! In the summer I stay in ski shape by running and doing lifts focused on the lower body to improve my stamina and endurance on the slopes.”

Favorite Inspirational Quote: My running mantra is : “It doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you don’t stop,” – Confucius

The Truth about Over-Exercising

The Truth about Over-Exercising

 

 

The author at the start of over-exercising

 

Note: Arielle is the social media intern for Fit Snack. Below, she shares her fitness journey and the dangers of exercising without proper nutrition. 

All I wanted was to look like a Victoria’s Secret model. I yearned for the long, lean legs and abs you could  shred cheese on. Like most 20 year old college girls, I had neither, so I began a diet and exercise regime that was so dangerous I’m lucky to be here today.

My first step was to cut out all unnecessary calories. I grew up eating a mostly vegetarian diet, so I was never anything near overweight and had a healthy relationship with food. I didn’t think twice about sipping the occasional Frappucino during my 9am classes. When I decided to get serious about getting fit though, I followed a rigorous self imposed meal plan. For breakfast, I’d have an exactly portioned bowl of cereal with skim milk and 6 ounces of low-calorie orange juice. Lunch and dinner were also strictly portioned out, and I made sure that everything was not only healthy but as low calorie as possible.

The models I envied were often photographed working out, so I made it a goal to do some activity daily. Because that’s perfectly healthy and normal, right? I started running every day, and after a few weeks  I was able to run six miles non-stop. Since it was often too cold to run outside, I would do laps around the small indoor track. It took 48 laps to do six miles, and I did that five times a week.I would follow up my runs with 90 minutes of weight lifting and mat exercises.

Still striving for the Victoria’s Secret body, I  did every inner-thigh and ab workout the internet offered. On the weekend, I would go for one long run of eight plus miles, and had one “rest” day where I walked at least four miles. I was eating “healthy” meals, and exercising for 2+ hours a day. Fat was melting away! Little ab muscles started to poke through! I was finally fit! Or so I thought.

Shrinking away

Shrinking away

The exhaustion is what scared me first. After three months of my new lifestyle, I could barely stay awake past 8pm. I was constantly drinking coffee, but it made no difference. The only motivation I had was to get my workouts done, then collapse. Even though I lived with three roommates, my social life took a nose dive. I was too exhausted to go out at night, and was scared of all the calories in beer and liquor. So I stayed in my room, looking up low cal recipes and workouts till I fell asleep. Sure, I liked the way my body was starting to look but this was not the fun college experience I had in mind.  I knew I needed help.

My first meeting with a nutritionist was a huge wake up call. She looked through the food log I’d kept and was appalled. My “healthy diet,” she said,  was something she would prescribe for an obese person, not an extremely active young woman trying to get toned. She calculated how many calories I needed for my body to sustain itself at my activity level, and my jaw dropped. I should have been eating 3,000 calories a day just to function properly, and even more if I wanted to build muscle. My body was going into starvation mode, hanging on to every calorie to prevent further weight loss. This explained the horrible stomach aches and constant bloating I had started experiencing. My body was eating itself.

She diagnosed me with orthoexia, an eating disorder characterize by an obsession with “healthy” foods and extreme limitation in food choices.  I was constantly exhausted because my blood pressure was so low (I never added salt to my food because salt=bad), that the nurse was surprised that I hadn’t fainted yet.  Due to my inability to miss a workout and tendency to skip social functions to go to the gym, I was diagnosed with  excessive exercise disorder as well. My body had already started exhibiting some crazy scary symptoms and I finally realized there was only one way out: proper nutrition.

376919_10150388489528914_1281578585_n

The cinnamon roll that went uneaten

With my nutritionist’s help, we created a meal plan that still fit my parameters of “healthy.” Changes were small at first, since my stomach could not handle large meals without a ton of pain. I added a few spoonfuls of flax seed to my cereal for essential fatty acids, stopped measuring the peanut butter on my toast, and ordered large whole milk lattes instead of black coffee. I cut back on my weekly running mileage and started going to yoga classes instead of forcing myself to do crunches for an hour.  My mind was still twisted, though, and I would often go for an extra long run to make up for a “bad” meal like a burrito. Progress was slow and I mentally relapsed many times. My lowest point was when my dad visited for my birthday and surprised me with a giant cinnamon roll. Despite it being my favorite treat, I was so angry that he ordered something so full of sugar that I couldn’t even force down a bite.

It took a full year before my appetite and energy levels were back to normal, and I gradually began re-building muscle.  Surprisingly enough, my clothes still fit  as I gained back the weight. I learned how to fuel my body with the calories it needs to run and hike and lift heavy weights.  Now I can eat half a large pizza without feeling guilty. I know some girls are not so lucky, that they starve themselves to a point where hospitalization is required. With help from a nutritionist and the support of my family, I avoided that fate and am stronger than ever. I may not look like a Victoria’s Secret model, but I am happy, and finally, truly healthy.

 

11188407_10155515605445032_3218113087913846994_n

Strong enough now to backpack 20 miles!

How To Host a Healthy Party

How To Host a Healthy Party

The Fit Snack team loves to party! Here are five steps to throwing a get together that is as healthy as it is fun:

Step 1: Shots, shots, shots! (On second thought…maybe just one shot)

Cocktails have a reputation for being sneaky sources of calories, and rightfully so. The average margarita, for example, has nearly 200 calories. And who only has one margarita? Luckily, its easy to make lower-cal, delicious cocktails at home with an easy recipe like this from What’s Gaby Cooking :

GABY_SKINNY_MARGARITA_H-copy

INGREDIENTS

  • 5 ounces tequila
  • 5 ounces freshly squeezed citrus juice, orange, blood orange, tangerine, satsuma, grapefruit
  • 3 ounces lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons agave nectar
  • splash of sparkling water

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Run a wedge of lime across the top of 2 cocktail glasses. Once damp, coat the rim in salt.
  2. Add all the ingredients except the sparkling water into a cocktail shaker with a few cubes of ice. Shake for 30 seconds until chilled and then strain the margaritas into serving glasses with new ice. Top with a splash of sparkling water in each glass and serve immediately.

2.) Let’s Get Snackin’

After a drink (or two) at a party, the hunger starts to kick in. But what to eat while waiting for the burgers to grill? Ditch the potato chips and say hello to some tasty and healthy sides.

pesto-pasta-salad

  • Chips and Dip: Everyone loves a snack that’s salty and crunchy. Unfortunately, potato chips are loaded with sodium and lack nutritional value you’d think they have from being potatoes. Luckily, kale chips pack all the salty crunchiness people love with a boost of vitamins and are gluten and soy-free! Try this foolproof kale chips recipe and you’ll never go back to potatoes! bestkalechips-5324

3.) Build a Burger

956923a82fd5a201_shutterstock_108245801.xxxlarge_2x

 

“Swap plain, protein-rich Greek yogurt or smashed avocado (a superfood in our book!) in place of mayo for a healthier spread.

Use whole-wheat breadcrumbs instead of white, or try ground nuts (such as hazelnut or almond) for a healthier filler that’s also gluten-free.

Add fresh herbs to your burger for a healthy, low-calorie flavor-booster.

Sneak more veggie servings into your day by tossing chopped spinach or other leafy greens into the burger mixture, or add as a topping.”

  • Mustard and ketchup are condiment standbys for a reason; they’re delicious. Even more delicious, however is Homemade Curry Ketchup and Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip .
  • Get creative with toppings! In addition to tomatoes, offer healthy and flavorful options like avocado, jalapeños, spinach, red pepper, portobello mushrooms…whatever sounds good!
  • Use multi-grain buns instead of potato or white bread for an added boost of nutrition!

4.) Nobody Screams for Ice Cream!

Some of us abide by the saying “Life is uncertain, eat dessert first.” Thankfully, these Vitamin-C packed ice pops are refreshing enough to eat at any point in the party! Your guests will love them so much, no one will go running out when the ice cream truck rolls by: Minted Watermelon & Lemon Ice Pops 

1006p146-minted-watermelon-lemon-pops-m

5.) Have FUN!

Now that you have healthy options for each course sorted, sit back with your skinny Margarita and enjoy the party!

 

By Arielle Rubenstein