7 Tips for Healthy Eating on the Go …

7 Tips for Healthy Eating on the Go …

Most days, I feel like I practically live in my car — commuting, driving my daughter to and from school, dance class, dental appointments, shopping… it never ends! While the gas prices alone are enough to make me loathe my on-the-go lifestyle, worse still is the junk I end up eating. But no more! I resolve to eat healthier, even while I’m running around. And here’s how! Here are 7 tips for healthy eating on the go!

1. Bag them ahead of time

Photo Credit: theyummylife.com

This is a tip I follow all the time. When I go to the grocery store, I buy loads of fresh fruits and veggies, then as soon as I get home, I wash them, cut them up, then put them in little containers or baggies. It’s a little work on the front end that saves loads of time and effort during the week. When I’m headed out the door, I grab a few baggies or containers, and go with a day’s worth of nutritious snacks.

2. Don’t buy junk

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It’s simple. If you don’t BUY junk food, you won’t be able to snack on it. So when you go to the grocery store, stock up on healthful options, like the pre-packaged 100-calorie snacks or (better yet) lots of fresh fruits and veggies, so you can make your own snack packs. Now you’re ready for healthy eating on the go, no matter what you’re craving that day.

3. Know what to choose from a vending machine

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Sometimes the urge for a snack strikes when you’re not prepared… and that vending machine down the hall beckons. As long as you know what to choose from that machine, you can still enjoy a snack without sacrificing your diet! Look for trail mix (without chocolate in it), pretzels, or baked chips. Avoid anything fried or anything overly sweet. See? Not bad at all!

4. Know your healthy fast food options

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I am completely addicted to fast food, but I still eat healthy on the go because I know what to order from their fat and calorie-rich menus. Most fast food places offer salads, which you can enjoy without the fried chicken or dressings on them. Even Taco Bell offers a healthier menu… oh, yum! Taco Bell!

5. Bring water, not soda

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Even if you’re drinking diet or zero-calorie soda, it’s still not as good for you as water. So stop carrying a bottle of soda with you, and choose a bottle of water instead! There are endless flavor additions you can use, too… I love the Crystal Light lemonade!

6. Keep a snack in your bag

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Backpacks, workbags, gym bags, handbags — all of these are the ideal place to stash a snack, so no matter where you are, or what you’re doing, you’re prepared for healthy eating on the go. I even keep a little something in my glove box!

7. Get an app!

Photo Credit: everydayhealth.com

Healthy eating — did you know there’s an app for that? Actually, there are hundreds of apps for that! Download a few free trials and see which works best for you before you buy one. Calorie counters, portion recommendations, menu, and more… the app options are endless!

Now that I’ve shared these healthy-eating-on-the-run tips with you, I promise to try and follow them myself! Do you have any other tips to share? I’m all ears!

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8 Reasons to Avoid Fast Food …

8 Reasons to Avoid Fast Food …

As far as I’m concerned, fast food really only has one advantage over home-cooked or restaurant food: it’s fast, hence the name, right? But other than that one quality, I really don’t like fast food (except for an innate weakness I have for Taco Bell), and here’s why… here are 8 reasons to avoid fast food.

1. It’s fattening

Reason number one for avoiding fast food: it’s fattening. Actually REALLY fattening. A Whopper 40 grams of fat. A Big Mac has 29 grams. For the sake of comparison, and in the pursuit of full disclosure: my entire lunch at Taco Bell (a bean burrito with sour cream and a cheese roll-up) has 22 grams of fat. That’s a LOT of fat, considering these aren’t total meals… most of us eat fries with our burgers, and those add a whopping 22 additional grams of fat — in other words, there are as many grams of fat in my entire Taco Bell meal as there are in just the fries… and we’re really only supposed to get, maximum, 195 fat or sugar calories a day… do the math! A Whopper has 40 grams of fat, which is 360 calories… ick!

2. It’s a lot of empty calories

While it’s true that some of the calories in fast food are from fiber and other “good” carbs, most are not, so they’re useless, or “empty” calories. Empty calories aren’t going to keep you full or help your body, so why bother?

3. It’s disgusting!

Let me be blunt, but gross: there is a certain amount of animal feces in your hamburger. A LOT of animal feces. When you hear of fast food tainted with E. Coli, that, my dear, is where it’s coming from — animal poop.

4. There aren’t a lot of fresh food choices

Most fast food restaurants offer apple slices (with sugar-laden caramel dipping sauce) or salads on their menu, but sadly that’s about the extent of their fresh food offerings. There are a few exceptions: Subway, for example, offers plenty of fresh food options, but, according to Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation,” Subway is more concerned with selling franchises than food.

5. They have poor employment practices

Do you know why fast food places seem to hire so many teenagers? It’s because hardly anyone else wants to work in fast food, with the dismal hours, hard work, and low, low pay, most of the time without benefits. Add to the teenage (and thus slightly less reliable) work-force the fact that these restaurants get a tax break every time they hire a new employee, and you see why high job turnover is good for the fast food business, but maybe not so good for the economy.

6. They harm the environment

Massive feedlots, scores of polluting trucks, less-than-energy efficient stores… I’d say fast food isn’t quite as gentle as they could be on the environment. Granted, they’re not alone, but this is just another reason I avoid fast food.

7. They target children to form life-long “addictions”

In a way, I think it’s sick that McDonald’s, Burger King, and all of the other fast food chains target children. They’re trying to get them “hooked” on tasty, high-fat, high-calories, high-sugar foods, so they’ll be what the industry refers to as “heavy users” as adults. No pun intended. That’s really what frequent fast food customers are called.

8. Ronald creeps me out

Last and certainly not least, Ronald McDonald completely creeps me out. He’s a scary clown with blood-red paint on his face and a cheer that borders on manic. And the Burger King plastic guy? Yeah. He’s scary, too.

With so many reasons to avoid fast food, and only one good one I can think of to opt for it, I’m starting to eat at the cursedly addictive Bell less often, and at other fast food next to never. Do you love or loathe fast food? Why do you avoid it or adore it? Please share!

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