Snack Your Way to Fitness and Health

Exercise and Superfood Snacks to Keep You Going All Day Long

Looking for ways to integrate more movement and nutrition into your day? We’ve got you! Here are two simple ways you can live your life and work on your health and fitness simultaneously. Exercise snacks and superfood snacks are an easy hack.

If you need to break up hours of sitting in front of a screen, exercise snacks are for you. These small bursts of activity can have a big impact on your health. Exercise snacks are a great way to hit your reset button. They will boost your energy, brain power and focus and help you to de-stress. You will be more creative and productive after giving your body and mind a break.

What Are Exercise Snacks?

Exercise snacks are short bouts of activity interspersed throughout your day. If you struggle to find the time or energy to work out, they are a lifesaver. While many people think such micro-workouts don't count, that couldn't be further from the truth. Whether you work out regularly or not, adding short activity breaks to your schedule is beneficial. You can significantly improve your health and wellness by implementing exercise snacks. You will also feel recharged and much more ready to tackle your next project.

Sample Exercise Snacks

Stair climbing

Push ups or wall push ups

Wall sits and Squats

Jumping Jacks

Walking lunges

Jogging in place

Jump roping or faux jump roping

Brisk walking or jogging

Planks

Bear crawls

Inchworms

Mountain climbers

Sit ups

High knees

Burpees

Marching in place

Pull ups

Dancing

Turkish Get Ups

Man Makers

L-Sits

Why Should I Include Exercise Snacks in my Day?

Exercise snacks can help prevent Type 2 diabetes by controlling your blood sugar. These activity bursts increase your metabolic health by improving your insulin sensitivity.

Your body is able to process nutrients better if you don’t sit for more than an hour at a time without moving. Getting up every hour and exercising helps to reduce inflammation. It increases blood flow and delivers more nutrients to your muscle tissue.

You can improve your lung and heart function by incorporating these micro-workouts. 

Exercise Snack Tips

Start with three to five bouts of one-to-ten minutes per day. These mini-workouts are not meant to replace regular workouts but to complement them or get you started.

Choose what you want to focus on: mobility, strength, flexibility, cardio, learning a new skill or ideally all of the above.  If this step overwhelms you just pick an activity or two from the list above.

Set digital reminders to break up periods of being sedentary. Remind yourself to get up and move every 30-90 minutes of sitting.

Playing your favorite tunes is a good way to motivate yourself to move.

Adding an exercise snack to an existing habit will help to make it stick.  For instance, performing ten wall push ups, ten sit ups and ten jumping jacks before every meal will eventually become automatic.

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Edible Snacks to Keep you Energized, Fit and Healthy

Do you struggle to come up with satisfying, quick and nutritious snacks when hunger hits? The worst time to choose a snack is when you’re hangry.

Having the right snacks in the right portions can make or break your day and your health.  Having an idea of what to eat ahead of time is key.  We have lots of snack ideas to nourish your mind, body and soul. These will energize and sustain you rather than drain you.

100-Calorie Superfood Snacks

25 Baby Carrots or 8 Baby Carrots with 1 Tbsp of Hummus

3-½ cups of Air-popped Popcorn

¼ cup of Oats with ¼ Banana

½ cup of low fat, sugar free Greek Yogurt with ⅓ cup of Berries

25 strawberries (1 cup)

2 tbsp of Hummus with 1 cup of Veggies

Small Skim Milk Latte

13 raw Almonds

¾ cup Apple Slices with 2 tsp of Peanut Butter (90 calories)

1 Orange (72 calories)

½ cup of low fat Cottage Cheese with ¼ cup of pineapple

Smoothie: ½ cup spinach, ½ cup berries and 1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tbsp of Almond or Peanut Butter on Celery

½ Baked Sweet Potato or Potato with 1 Tbsp of Salsa

129 Blueberries (1-¼ cup)

1 Hard Boiled Egg (75 calories)

¾ cup Frozen Mango

1 slice of Whole Grain Toast with ¼ Avocado

1 medium Baked Apple with Cinnamon

⅓ cup Edamame (75 calories)

1-½ cups Melon

Healthy Snacking Tips

Have an exercise snack before your edible snack.  This will help to control your blood sugar.  You may think you're hungry when you're really just bored or tired.

Variety is the spice of life: the more you mix it up, the more exciting your diet will be and the more nutrients you will take in.

The Takeaway

You can be fit and healthy no matter how busy your schedule.  Exercise snacks are a great way to move more throughout the day. They help to battle fatigue and stress, stabilize blood sugar and improve cardiorespiratory fitness. You will give your body and mind a break by incorporating them. The end result will be a more energized, focused and productive you.

Exercise snacks are great for beginners or for those of us in a time crunch. Most athletes will require their full meal workouts in addition to their exercise snacks in order to reach optimal health and fitness.

If you need to refuel in between meals, how you do it is key. Selecting nutrient-dense, low calorie foods will help you in the short and long run. There are countless superfoods to satisfy your cravings and nourish your body and mind. If you know what your options are before you get hungry, you are much more likely to make the right choice.

You are what you eat and what you do. Implementing exercise and superfood snacks will help you be and feel your very best!

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Bluezones.com; webmd.com; beyond.ubc.ca; nytimes.com; everydayhealth.com; theconversation.com; mynetdiary.com; stylist.co.uk; shape.com; verywellfit.com; eatthis.com