For busy executives and budding entrepreneurs, leading a healthy and fit lifestyle is essential to maintain focus and work tirelessly towards their professional goal. While many health conscious individuals opt for mindful and diet oriented regular meals like breakfast, lunch and dinner, there is a certain level of neglect when it comes to snacks. However, in order to reap the benefits of a proper healthy eating routine, it is important to keep in mind that unhealthy snacking can unravel even the healthiest of diets.

Working professionals and executives often argue that settling for a healthy snack in the middle of the day is time consuming, and often inconvenient. Untrue – there are numerous healthy snack options which can be prepared quickly without much fuss, or loss of valuable time.

Simple home-made, high-protein yogurt

One of the simplest snacking options is fresh homemade yogurt with fresh fruit. This is an alternative to the store bought artificial fruit flavored processed yogurt with fruit at the bottom, which is sugar-laden.

Fresh homemade yogurt is easy to prepare, with enough left over to last you the week.  One single cup of yogurt contains protein amounting to nearly 13 grams, including phosphorus, calcium, potassium, folic acid and vitamin B complex. A bowl of simple homemade yogurt is better than the bulk of costly multivitamin and mineral medication. Moreover, the addition of a fruit like cherries, apples and banana which are rich in antioxidants, will provide added protection against disease and even aid towards weight-loss.

Eat your vegetables

In terms of opting for healthy alternatives and ensuring you are able to stick to proper weight-loss goals, you can still eat potatoes without worrying about weight gain. Processed potato chips, deep fried potato and fried potato wedges are unhealthy since they contain an unhealthy overdose of sodium and preservatives such as acrylamide which is a cancer causing compound. Instead if you opt for a mashed potato (sans cream and cheese!), which is essentially boiled potato, or bake it instead of fry it, potato then turns out to be a healthy snacking option. Potatoes contain potassium, iron and vitamin B6. Add fennel for extra flavor for example, and your meal will be rich in fibre, vitamin C, folate and potassium. The combination of these two vegetables help in the reduction of indigestion, constipation, colic, cholesterol in the blood, regulating blood pressure thus ensuring lower levels of risk for heart disease.

Fruit as a healthy snack

This is another healthy alternative when it comes to snacking and this one does not take much effort in terms of preparation. Below are some simple fruit salad options, including their added health benefits:

• Apples: Helps the body to develop resistance against infections
  
  
• Oranges: Helps in maintaining vision and great younger looking skin
  
  
• Blueberries: Helps in protection of the heart
  
  
• Mangos: Helps in protection against different types of cancer
  
  
• Pineapple: Helps to fight conditions like arthritis
  
  
• Cherries: Helps to protect the nervous system
  
  

It is quite evident that a healthy fruit salad can turn out to be a healthier option in comparison to canned or processed food when it comes to snacking. For executives and entrepreneurs with limited time in the day, eating a fruit salad is easy, convenient, and definitely one of the best options for better health.

Avoid junk and processed food

Many executives depend on processed, canned, tinned and frozen food for their regular snacking. Here’s a list of commonly preferred junk food and the associated risks:

• Soda Pops: Soft drinks with citrus flavour and sports drink contain brominated vegetable oil which gives these drinks its cloudy appearance & can cause ulcers, memory loss, headaches, fatigue as well as loss of muscle coordination.
  
  
• Hot Dogs & Deli Meats: Hot dogs, deli meats and other processed meats contain nitrate and sodium nitrite. These chemicals are linked to pancreatic, colon and bladder cancer as well as leukemia.
  
  
• Potato Chips: Processed potato chips contain preservatives hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole which are widely termed as human carcinogens which means that these preservative can potentially cause cancer.
  
  
• Salad Dressings & Canned Pickles: Salad dressings, canned pickles as well as most carbonated drinks contain Benzoic acid and Sodium Benzoate which can cause asthma, hyperactivity in children as well as in some serious cases cancer as well.
  
  
  

Conclusion

Obesity and weight-gain from a mindless diet can cause a multitude of lifestyle problems ranging from cardiovascular disease to diabetes. Mindfully choosing a diet that suits your timetable, taste buds and preferences can help you in weight-loss along with nourishing our body with rich sources of minerals and nutrients.

Article source: http://execfuel.net/2016/05/26/snacking-doesnt-need-to-be-complicated/