's motd Friday Oct 22, 2010

[Guest guest]

SNACKAHOLIC

Friday, 22 October 2010

I come

from a family of snackers. It could be any time of

day between meals at our house and, oh yes...you

could find us snacking! And lemme tell ya', there

were so many foods in New Orleans to snack on. Like

a two-foot long roast beef PO-Boy from Central

Grocery in the French Quarter. LOL!

There

were always boxes of crackers and slices of cheese

in our house. I used to like building little layers

of cheese and crackers then see how many I could fit

into my mouth at one time. ("Cute," huh?)

There were always bags of potato chips in our

kitchen and cookies and cakes and candy...oh

my! I also ate a lot of hot dogs when I was

kid. My folks made sure we never ran out of hot dog

buns and Mayer wieners. (Whew!)

When I got older and left home to attend college, my

snacking rituals continued. I snacked my way all

the way through my college years. Hey, I'm telling

you, I knew where to find every vending machine on

campus.

So, where you a big time snacker...like me?

Then you know how many calories you can accumulate

in one day from all of those snacks. You know, an

extra 200 calories here, another 400 calories there

and, before you know it, you've eaten enough extra

food to equal four meals for the day,

instead of three.

And

okay, to this day, I still like to snack. But the

good news is that my snacking habits have changed

dramatically. (I've come a long way, baby!)

First of all, I never snack on starches. Unh-unh!

My starches are sacred to me. I want to enjoy them

as part of my sit-down meals and not use them up on

snacks. I also don't snack on dairy foods because

I'm only allowed two portions of dairy a day. So in

that category of foods, when I have a dairy product,

it's only some nonfat milk or a little cup of

yogurt. I don't snack on fats either. I save my

fats for my regular meals, too. And I sure don't

snack on proteins. I eat only six or seven ounces

of protein a day and I'm not going to use them up on

a snack. So my goodness...what's left?

Well, there's thinly sliced cucumbers, marinated in

red wine or rice vinegar. There's cut-up pieces of

celery and carrots. What about slices of bell

peppers or a glass of vegetable juice. (It's

satisfying, very low in calories and tastes so

good.)

Now

what other food groups does that leave for

snacking? Oh yes...fruits! You can have

half of a medium banana, a dozen large cherries, 3/4

cup of blueberries, a medium orange or two

tablespoons of raisins. Or how's about a cup of

papaya? Now I'm gonna tell you something, eating

fruits and vegetables for your snacks is very

filling. Plus, they're low in calories, contain

lots of fiber, have a satisfying crunch and are rich

in antioxidants.

So remember, it's not good enough just to plan your

three meals a day, you've got to plan your

snacks everyday, too. Be adventurous this

week. Visit the produce section at your local

supermarket and stock up on some fresh fruits and

vegetables for when you have a snack attack during

the week. Just remember, your snacks can and should

be healthy!

And oh, while you're st the market, give your

produce manager a big hello from me!

Love,