Ever since the pandemic hit the world, the most unexpected concept of continuous ‘Work from home’ began and as of today it has not yet come to an end.
Back when the thought of working from home started, it was a change for most of us and once in a while a change in our routine corporate life brings in excitement! So yes most of us were okay with this idea that we can sit at our comfort places, in our pj’s, take a quick after lunch naps, save the commute time and the list goes on.
Along with the comfort of WFH came the comfort of being able to munch on food during our work hours, in regular intervals and having no control of it. Every hour entering our kitchen and grabbing some namkeen packet or taking some chips from the refrigerator or opening a can of coke! With WFH comes the luxury of hot evening snacks or heavy breakfast then comes the brunch facility and then the lunch.
When we are at the office the atmosphere is different, there are people we keep talking to, systematic time for food breaks and the day keeps moving. But, when at home, food is more conveniently accessible, we get hungry often and most of the times we end up eating junk food or just home food but not knowing when to stop.
Unhealthy snacking habits can play with our health in the long run or even before we realise we put on weight.
You would realize that when you’d want to wear some nice shirt or a beautiful dress and then the belly pops out. Or when you go out with your friends and click some pictures then you see it right in front of your eyes. Or even painful, thanks to technology -Google memories! Aah that would show a picture from a year or two before and snap it right at our face. Ouch it hurts to see that.
We never need to starve or put aside our hunger but eating right and being mindful of what you eat is crucial. Unhealthy eating can take a toll on our fitness goals. Imagine you try working out and the results don’t show up. That is because it is not only about physical fitness but being able to have healthy food habits.
In this blog I’m going to share with you 7 easy and healthy munching options to keep our weight in control!
7 Healthy and easy munching choices during our 9-5 job!
Chia seeds
Chia seeds are a great source of omega-3s and fiber. These have been recognized as a modern day superfood and are now consumed by health conscious people all over the world!
Though chia seeds are smaller in size they provide a massive amount of nutrients with a very few calories.
Chia pudding
In one cup of milk (milk of your preference), add 2 spoons of chia seeds – the more you add the thicker your pudding would be, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional), 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Mix them all up, cover and refrigerate it overnight or for a minimum of 5 hours.
Next morning you can find a pudding like consistency, add one spoon of honey or maple syrup to make your pudding sweeter. You can enjoy it as is or add some seasonal fruit like banana, blueberries or mango in your pudding. Tadaa your pudding is ready!
My preference – I like to add only 1-2 spoons on chia seeds as I like my chia pudding to be silkier and get the feel of milk as well! I love it with sliced mangoes or a few pieces of banana in it.
Chia pudding barely takes 5 minutes to prepare and you can enjoy this cold healthy and fruity pudding the next day during your work.
Peanut butter
There are many health benefits of having peanut butter. It is a rich source of protein, one of the main fats of peanut butter is oleic acid – this helps to maintain good cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
The apple and peanut butter is a classic snack combo that’s both delicious and nutritious. Both apples and peanuts are loaded with nutrients that promote your health. They provide lots of fiber which helps to maintain our digestive health.
Quick fix method –
All you need is an apple and a few grams of peanut butter which is easily available anywhere!
Chop the apple into slices and butter each slice with smooth peanut butter. That’s it, it’s that simple! Nothing can get easier than this.
I’m going to soon write about how to make home-made peanut butter from scratch!
Nuts
Nuts are a quick and perfect bite sized snack that satisfies our hunger while also providing nutrients to our body.
We all know how our parents keep telling us from our childhood – a handful of nuts go a long way! That is true.
Nuts are loaded with proteins and unsaturated healthy fats and with several vitamins and minerals. You can have a handful of unsalted or lightly salted dry roasted nuts.
Very easy to store, easy to pack and you are on the go! But, we need to be mindful as they are high in calories so it is important to limit portions.
Best nuts to get started with are – almonds, walnuts, pistachios and peanuts.
Banana & peanut butter smoothie
Banana and peanut butter are a classic combination. The flavors compliment each other and not just that they also have some potential health benefits. Bananas have a good source of fiber so they can be filling and also are lower in calories.
To make this smoothie –
Take 2 bananas (frozen or cold), 1 ½ cup of milk, ½ cup peanut butter, 2 tbsp of honey or maple syrup to sweeten it and 2 ice cubes incase you are not using frozen bananas.
Shake it up and your tasty smoothie is ready! Very easy smoothie for your evening snack or just to sip any time during your day.
Fresh fruit juices
This is another easy breezy one. Depending on the season, you guys can get fresh fruits and drink some juice.
You know how we get hungry around 11am or just after few hours after our lunch, instead of going for another solid meal after our breakfast or lunch we can actually drink some fruit juice!
Fresh fruit juices have antioxidants, fiber, natural sugars and of course are very helpful to maintain body hydration.
Apart from fruit juices you can also try one of my favorite detox juices – Beetroot and carrot juice.
Beetroot & carrot juice –
Take one carrot and one beetroot (equal proportions), one glass of water and 1 tbsp of lemon juice. This juice is a great way to detox naturally, improves metabolism and helps to maintain skin hydration.
Lotus seeds
Makhana! This is one of my favourite snacks.
They are low in cholesterol, fat and sodium. Makhanas are gluten-free, protein rich and as they are low in calories, it also makes them an ideal snack for weight loss.
You can get some Makhana and roast them with butter (ghee) on a light flame. You can then sprinkle some salt or chaat masala and that’s it your savoury snack is ready. Few of us might not like to snack on fruits or sweetener things. In such cases, makhana is for the rescue.
Protein shake
Protein shakes are excellent for breakfast or snacks or any meal replacement. On an average 46 to 56 grams of protein is required on a day. A good healthy protein shake can help us meet that requirement. So next time when we are hungry or ‘bored’ and want to munch on something, we can try to drink this easy homemade protein shake which I’m sure would be tasty as well!
How to make the protein shake?
1 cup of milk (choice of your own source of milk) or you can also try with one cup of water and cut out milk completely, a scoop of protein powder, 1 banana, a tbsp of honey or a pinch of stevia or any natural sweetener, 2 ice cubes and mix them all. That’s it, your protein shake is ready!
Protein powder helps in weight loss, building our muscle strength and also boosts metabolism.
Pro snack item!
Chocolate
Ah ahh not the regular chocolate which is full of fat and sugars but instead dark chocolate.
Dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants and contains less sugar than regular milk chocolate. instead of reaching for regular milk chocolate, go for a dark chocolate. Now you don’t have to choose 80% dark chocolate. But, instead of choosing 100% milk chocolate, you can instead start with a small percentage of dark chocolate. You never know you might like it with time!
During our work we either get extremely stressed and hungry or are just bored and would want to munch something. However, unhealthy snacking can take a toss on your fitness goals or even otherwise just make us put on weight in no time. I have given 7 options to try from which are quick, easy to prepare and mainly healthy!
I hope you guys try a few of these.
Have happy and healthy snacking habits!