It may not be the most important meal of the day, but you don’t have to be Billy Madison (Mr. “Where’s my snack pack?”) to understand the importance of having the right snack at the right time!
When it comes to our on-the-go snack choices, our dietitian, Olivia Wagner, wants you to raise the (energy) bar and use the PAR approach.
When picking up a grab-and-go snack or bar, ask yourself it the ingredients are:
P: Pronounceable
A: Appropriate for the food product
R: Recognized as a whole food ingredient
Check out this great recap of Olivia’s class on Reading Nutrition Labels with Fleet Feet Sports Chicago. When it in doubt, just make your own! Olivia’s Trail Mix Recipe is easy to make and full of energy-dense ingredients that will fill you up without weighing you down.
Ingredients
1 cup almonds
1 cup goji berries – contains 3x the amount of potassium as a banana!
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds
13 apricot halves quartered
1/2 cup walnut halves
*Choose all nuts and seeds raw and preferable sprouted
Nutrition
(1/3 cup serving)
KCAL: 201.86
FAT: 14.86
CHO: 13.4g
FIBER: 3.41g
SUGAR: 7.1g
PROTEIN: 6.6g
POTASSIUM: 201mg
Quick tip: The next time you have a snack attack and don’t have time to make your own, choose products where at least 75% ingredients are naturally occurring and appropriate for that food item. “Ask yourself, farm or factory?”
About Olivia Wagner:
Olivia is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Certified Health Coach, and ACSM Certified Personal Trainer. She believes health is a positive vitality-not just the absence of disease. At Aligned Modern Health, Olivia takes a comprehensive and individualized approach to coaching each of her clients; incorporating their unique history, physiology, and lifestyle to paint a holistic portrait of health. Olivia is passionate about a whole foods approach to nutrition and has a knack for developing easy- to prepare innovative and wholesome recipes. Some areas of practice Olivia is particularly passionate about include Integrative and Functional Medicine, vegan/vegetarian diets, farm-to-table practices, mindfulness, food intolerances/sensitivities, and sports nutrition. With a background in nutrition for athletic performance, Olivia possesses the unique skill to integrate sports nutrition techniques into her practice, helping athletes and clients alike to optimize their training and performance. Learn more about Functional Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, or schedule a free consultation with Olivia, here.
