If one of your nutritional goals includes rejuvenation, feeling and looking younger and more spirited, as well as maintaining sustained energy, your goal should involve changing your eating routine from three meals a day to being more of a “grazer” who eats several small portions of quality calorie snacks a day.
As I don’t like structure or preplanning, this definitely works for me and keeps me from feeling draining. While working with professional fitness trainers at 24-hour fitness and Bally Total Fitness, I learned that eating the following foods and loading yourself with the following vitamins will keep your blood sugar at an even keel and help you avoid severe ups and downs when it comes to your energy level throughout the day.
Vitamins such as fiber, B3, A, C, potassium and beta carotene can help sustain adequate electrical stability in your heart and nervous system. It also aids in the repair and growth of additional muscle tissue. Vitamin B12, in particular, is the main vitamin that can help form cells and maximize your nervous system’s function and increase your metabolism of both fats and proteins. Any type of fresh fruits contain a lot of these nutrients in their skins and seeds. Apples, pears, strawberries and kiwis kept on your counter or used for snacks and desserts can help you achieve your nutritional goals in this area.
Dried fruits such as apricots, which I like to dry myself in the summer time, are loaded in Vitamin A, fiber, and iron, as well as potassium. Your immune, reproductive and digestive systems will thank you greatly for consuming more of these.
Although they are not anywhere near my favorite dried fruit, raisins are the easiest way to make sure you get your fair sure of vitamin B12 and are easy to carry around to snack on throughout the day. If you’re not much of a raisin fan, you can mix them with low fat yogurts and cereals.
One thing that I love to snack on at night, and it also helped me quit smoking without gaining weight, is baby carrots. Although I like to enjoy them with a little ranch dip, I am still getting one of nature’s best sources of Vitamin A and beta carotene, Vitamin B6, iron, potassium, and fiber. Beta carotene is one of the most important nutrients in warding off heart disease and healthy skin requires sufficient Vitamin A.
At the grocery store, I like to buy snack packs of veggies that contain the baby carrots as well as celery sticks, broccoli and cauliflower. However, if you substitute the ranch dip for some peanut butter, you will get some essential fats as well as some sustained energy, especially if it’s non processed peanut butter. Some grocery stores, such as Fred Meyer, allow you to use a machine that grinds the raw nuts into butter. You can make butter out of Almonds, which are especially healthy for you and have a lot of cancer fighting elements.
As you graze upon these daily, and munch on them in between meals, you should find that your energy level should remain sustained, you will rarely get sick, and hunger pains will not distract your mind from the task at hand. Also, your metabolism should pick up, even as you age.
Sources –
24 Hour Fitness Certification Training
International Fitness Professionals Association Training Manual
