Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
clear sky
weather
OMAN
25°C / 25°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Wise up!

minus
plus

By Sayeh Woodman — Are your food choices as healthy as you think?


Many healthy snacks might leave you feeling full and happy, you are making a good choice after all. However, that temporary boost can leave you feeling hungrier in the long-term. How? I’ve been spending the past few weeks on a rigorous boot camp, with personal trainers and nutritionists. As I have been piling the weight back on, oh dear, yep it’s a vicious circle all this dieting, and I’ve been naughty once again, and put weight back on. So, even though you may know this already, even though I’m starting again, I’m going to share with you what my nutritionist said when it comes to tips on how to stop sabotaging your diet and get clued up on those healthier options!


Green juices  — The most obvious healthy choice is a green juice or smoothie. Green means healthy, right? Unfortunately, shops bought smoothies are full of fructose, which means when you’re over that sugar high you’ll be even hungrier than before. So these drinks are not a great idea especially when trying to shed a few extra pounds. Try making your own smoothie at home — here’s a recipe to try — 100g berries, quarter of a large avocado, a small handful of spinach and topped up with unsweetened almond milk.  As well as counting less sugar, it will fill you up for longer and make you less likely to want to snack on sweet foods later in the day. That’s the important bit.


Cereal or granola bars — These are genuinely full of sugars especially the bars, yet people think it’s a healthier snack — wrong. One of the easiest snacks to keep in your bag is plan cereal — yes it might get squashed, so put it in a small tub of and graze on this when hungry. Especially if it’s wholegrain, then that ticks the boxes. The bars try and steer clear of full, as full of refined sugar and worse, sugar syrups such as glucose and high fructose corn syrup.


A great alternative to cereal bars not just cereal, but almonds. These will keep you fuller for longer. Almonds are often avoided due to their high calorie content, but their high protein and healthy fat content are responsible for keeping us fuller for longer. Leading to lower overall calorie consumption throughout the day.


Muesli  — The traditional picture of a healthy morning often includes a bowl of muesli. Not all muesli are the same, and as with anything you buy you need to read the label and not just go by the hype on the front of the packet. Many can be laden with high amounts of added sugar and salt and this can turn a healthy breakfast into an unhealthy one, especially the ones full of pieces and chunks of fruit.


Low fat yoghurt — While yoghurts are promoted as a healthy snack, the sugar crash will inevitably have you reaching for more food again. The label might say low fat fruit yoghurt. And so you would think it would help with controlling your weight, but the yoghurt can contain up to eight teaspoons of refined sugars — say what! I know. This type of yoghurt will be a high glycaemic index food, causing your body to release more insulin and deal with the quick rise in blood sugar — blood glucose and insulin is your fat storing hormone of the body.


You’re probably thinking I should be way slim with all these articles I bring you with good foods to eat — what’s best to do when it comes to stress levels, and healthy living. Guess what, I’m human? Only just recently, and yet most people don’t realise, its not about sticking to a diet for a certain amount of time, or working your bodies off at the gym, its about maintaining a healthy lifestyle, changing habits that are ingrained in your normal routine day to day life. Change your habits for that healthy lifestyle. It’s only taken me 34 years!


— sayehwoodman@outlook.com


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon