ARTICLES

To maximize your energy on days when you're physically active, try amping up the nutritional value of your snacks. The challenge with smart snacking is deciding what kinds of food to snack on - and how much of it to eat. Read the following guide to get your snacking on the right track. Plan healthy snacks by consulting Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide. While this guide is a good start you should also consider other resources: www.runnersworld.com, www.peakperformance.on.ca, and information pamphlets found at your local gym.

• Think of your snacks as mini-meals: eat smaller portions of dishes you'd eat at meals, such as sandwiches or soups. This will help increase your resting metabolism, which will help to burn more calories throughout the day.
• If you keep feeding your "engine" throughout the day, the more calories it will burn. This will help you to shed weight if you need to and will help to prevent you from overeating during some of your meals. 
• Aim for 2-3 healthy snacks a day. As mentioned above, snacking through the day keeps your metabolism burning, will prevent you from overeating at mealtime, and reduces the temptation to make poor food choices. For each snack, try to include food from at least two of the four food group (i.e. chicken wrap with cheese, roughly 250 calories). This allows you to have a well balanced diet.
• Choose fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk products, whole-grain snacks and lean protein whenever possible.
• You've probably heard a lot of talk about carbohydrates and whether you should avoid them or not. The trick here is to choose complex carbohydrates.
• Both complex and simple carbohydrates contain sugars; however, complex carbohydrates take longer to digest and are healthier for you. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are complex carbohydrates. They give you energy and contain fibre which keeps you regular and feeling full.
• They also take longer to digest and therefore maintain a more steady level of sugars within your body. Simple carbohydrates are found in more processed foods; they are digested quickly giving you a "sugar rush" and can contribute to weight gain.
• The more you workout and exercise the more you need to consider protein items as a snack. Your body requires protein to rebuild and repair muscle tissue after a workout. Items to consider that are high in protein: chicken, chocolate milk, egg whites, peanuts, tuna, cottage cheese, lentils, peanut butter, oatmeal, low-fat and natural meat jerky, etc.
• Whole fruit is a better choice than juice. Juice can sometimes have added sugars added to them as sweeteners. Real fruit is higher in fibre and will fill you up more easily. Avoid drinking too much juice, which can be high in calories and carbohydrates (4oz. glass of orange juice can contain 60 calories and 15 grams of carbohydrates). Therefore, if you are drinking more than 4oz. of juice at a time, those excess carbs and calories will begin to add up. It is a better idea to drink water with your snacks.
• Pay attention to your food! Avoid snacking while watching TV or driving as this can lead to overeating.You are more likely to overeat if your mind is not focused on what you are eating.
• Another option to consider is energy and/or protein bars. These bars can be found at a fitness store, running shop, cycling store or at your local gym. They can be high in carbohydrates (needed to give your body energy to workout) and in protein (needed to repair and recuperate your muscles after working out).
• The general rule of thumb is to focus on ingesting carbs before and during a workout, and then switch to protein-rich foods after your workout.