All posts tagged with: Healthy

Processed granola bars are handy, but they are packed with preservatives and often have a high amount of sugars and fats. For healthy, active people, finding healthy alternatives is key. This homemade energy bar recipe from the BMO Vancouver Marathon will fill the hunger void and will fuel your body your your next athletic activity.

Filling:

• 1-Cup Dates
• 1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• ½ Cup Water

Crumb Mixture:

• 1-Cup Flour
• ½ tsp Baking Soda
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• 1-Cup Butter
• 1-Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Cups Rolled Oats

Directions:

Add dates, water and 1 tbsp of brown sugar to pot and cook gently until soft.

Mix flour, salt and soda.

Cut in butter, followed by sugar and oats.

Spread half the crumb mixture in an 8X8” pan.

Cover with date filling.

Pat remaining crumb mixture on top.

Bake at 325 ° F for 35-40 Minutes

This is the sixth installment of 10 simple ways you can change and improve your diet to lead a healthier lifestyle. The tips and information from this series comes from Choices Markets Dietician, Desiree Nielsen.

This weeks tip: Eat your beans

Often neglected, beans are the healthiest food you aren’t currently eating. Very high in fibre, beans contain an average of 10 grams of fibre per ¾ cup serving. That is a quarter of a man’s daily recommended fibre intake and more than a third for a woman. This fibre not only helps you to feel full and satisfied as you eat; in combination with the slowly digested carbohydrates found in beans, fibre also helps slow down the rate at which blood sugars rise, reducing your urge to snack and helping you to maintain a healthy weight naturally.

Beans are a great source of vegetarian protein, good for you and the environment. Beans also offer a variety of important nutrients such as iron, magnesium, potassium and folate. Try to eat beans 3 times a week, using the ideas below.

5 Ways to Add More Beans to Your Diet:

1. Simply rinse and eat! The fastest way to go…add rinsed canned beans to salads, soups or stews for an instant nutrition boost to any meal.
2. Mash it: Make your own hummus from chick peas or make a white bean dip by mashing a can of white beans with finely minced garlic, olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Eat as a dip with raw veggies or use as a sandwich spread. If going store bought, choose a hummus with simple ingredients.
3. Go south of the border: Mexican cuisine offers plenty of opportunities to experiment with beans. Try black bean quesadillas, make a 3 bean chili, dip baked tortilla chips into a refried bean and salsa mixture or create a classic rice and beans side dish with plenty of spice.
4. Swap beans for meat: economical and healthy…swap half the ground beef in your favourite recipes with rinsed canned lentils.
5. Snack on beans instead of chips: steam edamame and toss with sea salt or try roasted chick peas. Toss a can of rinsed chick peas with 1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper and chili flakes and bake in a single layer at 350 degrees until they turn golden but before they look too dehydrated.

This is the third installment of 10 simple ways you can change and improve your diet to lead a healthier lifestyle. The tips and information from this series comes from Choices Markets Dietician, Desiree Nielsen.

This week’s tip: Don’t drink your calories

Never before in our history have we designed so many ways to drink ourselves fatter. Consumption of sweetened beverages has increased dramatically since the 1970’s: according to data published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the percentage of calories consumed from drinks increased by more than 50% while calories from soft drinks and fruit drinks alone increased 135%. All of those calories can lead to weight gain over time as research shows that we do not compensate for the calories we drink by eating less later on. Just an extra 150 calories in the form of a sweet coffee drink could add up to ten or fifteen extra pounds a year from now.

So instead of cutting back on meal portions, cut calories the smart way by eliminating them from your drinks. You will likely save yourself a great deal of sugar in the process: a large Double Double will set you back 230 calories and 6 tsp of sugar (making the occasional cookie seem like less of a splurge!).

5 Better Beverage Choices:

1. Enjoy coffee with 2% or skim milk, no sugar
2. A tall nonfat latte has just 100 calories and a third of your daily calcium requirement
3. Drink 6-8 glasses of pure water each day to stay well hydrated. Need a flavour boost? Squeeze in lemon or lime or a splash of a strongly flavoured juice such as pomegranate.
4. Green tea is an anti-oxidant superstar and may help reduce your risk of cancer over time.
5. Looking for bubbly? Try a high calcium mineral water, such as Gerolsteiner.

As announced last week, every week for the next 10 weeks I’ll be sharing with you simple ways you can change and improve your diet to lead a healthier lifestyle. The tips and information from this series comes from Choices Markets Dietician, Desiree Nielsen.

Remember that old adage, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”? Now we have research to prove it: research presented by Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz and her team in 2008 showed that eating a large 600 calorie breakfast every morning helped dieters lose more weight than the typical light diet fare. The ideal breakfast should contain a balance of protein, fibre and slowly digested carbohydrates to keep you going all morning long. What makes this breakfast so special? A hefty dose of protein, combined with quality carbohydrates, helps to control blood sugar rise so you feel energized instead of sluggish. While more research is needed to confirm the findings, big breakfast eaters in the study reported feeling less hunger and fewer cravings throughout the day even when on a low calorie eating plan overall.

5 Easy, Filling Breakfasts to Fuel your Day

1. Power Smoothie: blend 1 cup skim milk or soy milk, ¾ cup plain nonfat yogurt, 1 cup frozen blueberries, 1 banana and 1 scoop of Berry Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer

2. Perfect Oatmeal: Cook up steel cut oats according to package directions (make oatmeal the night before to streamline your mornings all week) and serve yourself one portion, topped with 1 cup of chopped fresh or thawed fruit, 2 tbsp of hemp seeds and 1 cup of skim milk.

3. Hearty Breakfast Bowl: place ¾ cup Liberte Greek Yogurt (high protein) in a bowl and top with 1 cup thawed blueberries, 1/3 cup All Bran Buds, ¼ cup of raw almonds and ¼ cup of your favourite granola

4. Egg Sandwich: Cook one or two omega 3 eggs to desired doneness with ½ tsp olive oil and serve between 2 slices of toasted sprouted grain bread with 1 tbsp salsa and a slice of light cheddar cheese or ¼ cup of soft goat cheese.

5. PB&J: Toast two slices of sprouted grain bread and top with 1½ tbsp raw almond butter, ½ tbsp of all fruit preserve and 1 small sliced banana.