Five Solutions to the Dieter’s Driving Dilemma

The holidays can be a very difficult time to stick to a healthy diet – especially if you are traveling. Something about long road trips in a car seems to make drivers crave caffeine, sugar, and salt. It can be tempting to get fast food or a bag of chips and a soda along the way – perhaps rationalizing that it’s necessary in order to stay awake. But it’s worth taking the time to plan how to avoid the trap of eating junk food while driving. A healthier drive will get you to your holiday destination feeling good and ready to celebrate.

1. Sing while you are driving. Alternatively, return phone calls using a hands-free Bluetooth or speaker for your cell phone. If you are busy singing or talking, it will be harder for you to snack and drive. At the same time, singing or talking will help to keep you awake if you are driving at night or while otherwise sleep-deprived. Moreover, if you happen to have a baby or toddler in the car on your way to a holiday gathering, singing can be a lifesaver for other reasons!
2. Pack a bento box or other lunch or snack box. If you know that you will have to eat on the road, you might as well plan for it and pack foods that are relatively healthy and easy to eat while driving. Include water bottles and plenty of napkins as well! Here are some good options:
   • Grapes
   • Bananas
   • Oranges or other citrus fruits (pre-peeled and segmented)
   • Apples (you may want to slice apples and dip them in lemon juice before packing them)
   • Cucumber slices or baby carrots with plenty of salt. The salt will help you overcome cravings for chips or French fries.
   • Pickle slices (carefully drained and wrapped up ahead of time, or they will get drippy)
   • Nuts, any kind. Nuts are high in fat, but studies have shown that the fat in nuts tends not to turn into excess pounds. Instead, the body uses it up quickly.
   • Dried fruit. Dried fruit is high in sugar, which is both good and bad. The sugar in the fruit will help to reduce your sugar cravings while driving, but it will also add calories. Still, dried fruit is high in fiber and is nutritionally dense – so if it is your best option, go for it.
   • Popcorn.
   • Sandwiches. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches work very well for driving, as they tend to stay stuck together. Another good option is hummos or baba ganouj (an eggplant spread) in a pita pocket with sprouts or tomato slices. The hummos will keep the sandwich stuck together and sprouts and tomato slices are usually not heavy enough to fall out and end up in an odd nook or corner of your car.
   • A breakfast smoothie, if you are leaving in the morning without eating breakfast. You will want to drink your smoothie right away, before it starts to melt. Add protein powder or make a peanut butter smoothie, so that you have enough protein in your breakfast to last you for a few hours.
   • A thermos of soup broth. Make sure that this is something that you can pour into a commuter cup and drink – no chunky soups unless you are going to make time to stop and eat a stationary lunch.
3. Find places to pick up healthy fast food along the way. If you don’t have time to stop and eat, finding a healthy food choice will be trickier. A salad is one thing you can’t (or shouldn’t) eat while you are driving, for safety’s sake. However, there are still options:
   • Find a health food store that offers prepackaged sandwiches and sushi. Both are relatively easy to eat one-handed.
   • Find someplace to buy a smoothie that has protein added to it.
   • Get a fast food sandwich, but make it a bare bones sandwich with the sauces left off, and resist the temptation to have French fries with it.
   • Find a fast food place that specializes in healthier foods, or one that offers healthier choices as part of its menu.
   • Opt for a veggie burger if you have a choice between a gardenburger full of vegetables and a traditional burger made of meat. Even with a veggie burger, though, watch out for a restaurant’s special sauces.
   • Look for a burrito, since they are easy to eat one-handed, but be careful. Don’t go for a Qdoba-style burrito, which has rice added to it and is the size of three or four normal burritos. Note that refried beans tend to have a lot of fat. Have the restaurant hold the cheese and sour cream as well because that will bring the calorie count down into a reasonable range.
4. If you need caffeine, have some – but be mindful of the fat and calorie content of some caffeinated drinks. A cup of black coffee or plain green tea are better choices. Be aware, as well, that caffeine can be an appetite stimulant for some people.
5. Take mini-exercise breaks along the way. The shortest exercise break of all is to do yoga stretches whenever you come to a stoplight. These should help to relieve some of the tension that you may be carrying in your arms, neck, shoulders, and back from your long drive. Here are some you can try:
   • Lean forward. Snake one arm behind your back, with your hand moving up, and snake the other arm down behind one shoulder. Try to have both your hands meet. Then reverse the position (maybe at the next stoplight?).
   • Turn in your seat as if you are looking over your shoulder to change lanes. This creates a spinal twist. Make sure that you sit up as tall as you can while twisting. Then twist in the other direction and look over the other shoulder. Try to make your spinal twists about equal to each other in terms of how far you turn.
   • Do neck rolls. Let your head drop down to your chest. Tilt your head to try to allow your ear and shoulder to meet (and then try the other ear and shoulder). Tilt your head backward. Roll your head all the way around, if that’s comfortable and healthy for you, and then roll it in the other direction.
   • Do shoulder rolls, forward and back, with each shoulder.
   • Try side bends. Lean to one side, letting the opposite arm slide across your head in a crescent shape. Then lean the other direction, using the other arm.
   • If you are able to take the time, stop for mini-exercise breaks outside the car as well. Park far from any door that you need to enter. Climb stairs when you have the opportunity. If you must sit and wait somewhere, try doing seated yoga poses. Some are very unobtrusive. For example, you can do a seated lunge poised on the edge of a chair, by allowing one leg to bend and then stretching the other leg out behind you. Or you can stretch your legs out straight in front of you and lean over and touch your toes. Don’t be self-conscious – nobody will be surprised to see a driver doing a few stretches after getting out of a car

However you end up handling the eating and driving dilemma, be careful. The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration says that eating and driving causes more traffic accidents than talking on a handheld cell phone while driving. If you spill something, pull over to the side of the road to clean it up. Many drivers have accidents by trying to clean up a spill and keep driving at the same time. Be especially careful if you are driving a stick shift car as stick shifts double your risk of an accident if you are eating and driving simultaneously.

Author: Pam Greene

Bio: Pam Greene’s own journey to fitness started when a friend suffered through some health challenges. Realizing this was a wake up call to her to focus on her own health, she started learning about Fitness, Nutrition and Healthy Weight Loss. Pam now works for BeachBody, which provides Home Fitness Programs and Work Out Dvds including the well known P90X exercise program. Pam is passionate about sharing tips to help others eat better and exercise for better health.

Diet rules and tips are everywhere you turn. Checking out at the grocery store, television commercials, and billiards all think they have the best diet rule to lose the most inches in the shortest amount of time. There is the no-carb diet, the fat-free diet, the liquid diet and more, yet americans are continuing to expand their waste lines. It’s very important for us to take each diet tip or diet rule as a grain of salt and really explore these tips before jumping head first into them.

These next few posts are going to be aimed at diet rules that should be broken.

Diet Rule #1: Don’t ever eat after 7pm

7pm is the magical number. Stop eating after 7pm and you will melt away the fat in no time

. . . FALSE!

Late night eating is a problem that most people face. In fact, a lot of people will double their daily caloric intake during the evening. So, eating late at night is something to be cautious. But 7pm is not a magical number. Research says that one should avoid eating 2-3 hours before bed time. 7pm is the magical number because the typical bedtime is around 10pm. But why? Well research has not proven that avoiding late night snacks will prevent weight gain. This 2-3 hour rule is strictly for personal comfort. Going to bed on a full stomach can cause indigestion, gas, and an upset stomach.

So, can you eat after 7pm? Sure. . . if you have self control.

Most temptations succeed in the evenings when one is exhausted or no one is looking. To prevent a binge fest, create a short list of health snacks to have late at night. Some healthy late night snacks might include air popped popcorn, carrots and celery, a piece of fruit, 60-calorie pudding cup with cool whip, yogurt, or a 1/2 cup of ice cream. Being prepared ahead of time will prevent overeating late at night.

Question: What is your favorite late night snack?

Currently mine is Special K crackers… I’m addicted

]]> http://she-fit.com/diet_rules_meant_to_be_broken/feed/ 20 http://she-fit.com/snacks_low-calorie_after-workout-snacks/ http://she-fit.com/snacks_low-calorie_after-workout-snacks/#comments Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:00:24 +0000 She FIt http://she-fit.com/?p=1359

A long, hard, strenuous, workout deserves a snack, but did you know that the food you choose is just as important as the actual workout itself?

For many people, exercise has become an excuse to eat whatever you want. Not just right after the workout, but throughout the entire day. This can be especially harmful since the metabolism is jump started after a workout, increasing one’s appetite throughout the day. With this mentality and an increased appetite, it can lead to over eating and reaching for the wrong type of food.

On the other hand, one might think that not eating at all after a workout will aid in weight loss, when in actuality, a small 200 calorie snack can prevent you from pigging out down the road with a 800 calorie snack. Having a post workout snack also helps in keeping your metabolism rev’ed up. One should grab a snack 30 minutes to 2 hours after a workout.

So, what should you eat when you get home from the gym?

To contrary believe, carbohydrates are essential to a post-workout snack and should make up about 60% of it. During a workout, the glycogen storage is depleted and should be replenished and refueled to make it through the day without overeating. A post-workout snack for moderate exercise should include 30-50 grams of carbohydrates.

Second, the snack should include some sort of protein which aids in rebuilding muscle.

Here are 7 great post workout snack that will leave you full and keep you going throughout the day:

* Egg Sandwich: 100 calorie English muffin with egg whites

* Fruit and Yogurt mixed with a small amount of granola

* 1 tbsp peanut butter and 1 banana on a rice cake

* Low fat fruit smoothie and protein powder

* High fiber crackers and low fat cheese

* Low sugar fruit juice and a hand full of Nuts

* Cottage cheese and fruit

Question: What is your favorite Post-Workout Snack?

I love making fruit smoothies after my workout!

I just got back from seeing Transformers at the Movie Theatre and thought I should blog on their concession stands. Not only is the food over priced, they are over-caloried… yep, just made up my own word! And lets face it, a typical date includes dinner and a movie so most of us have already eaten up our calories for the night before we even get to the theatre.

Here is the run down on those “Not So Healthy” concession stand foods we all love and enjoy.

Large Buttered Popcorn: 1500 calories, 116g fat
Large Nachos with Cheese: 1101 calories, 59g fat
Large 44 oz Coke: 572 calories, 0g fat
Large Soft Pretzel: 483 calories, 4.5g fat
Hot Dog: 305 calories, 4.5g fat

Careful with the candy! Although you would think that choosing skittles or starbursts would be a better option than those chocolate candies, they aren’t.

Twizzlers: 600 calories, 4g fat
Skittles: 765 calories, 9g fat,
Starburst: 480 calories, 10.5g fat
Gummi Bears: 390 calories, 0g fat
M&M’s: 735 calories, 31.5g fat
Whoppers: ?676 calories?, 24g fat

My suggestion is stop by your local grocery store or gas station and pick up some healthy snacks and pack them in your purse… not only are you saving calories, but you are saving money!