Perfect example: last night I was working on my taxes with my husband Bruce and the TV was playing in the background.  We had an early dinner, about 6:15.  Mind you, it was really healthy — turkey meatloaf, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and quinoa tabouli.  I was priding myself on the fact that it was light and delicious, I ate just the right amount and I felt satisfied. Throw in the fact that we leisurely ate at the table, a friend stopped by and we all caught up on our days, and I just had to chalk it up to an enjoyable experience.

But when I fast forwarded several hours, I was seriously getting hungry.  My first inclination was to get some of my favorite gluten-free snack: Mary’s Gone Crackers.  We have a stash of the herb crackers and they’re perfect with hummus.  Then I entertained the idea of some gluten-free bread with peanut butter or an apple.

But then I thought twice and reached for water instead.

Whenever I eat late at night, I never sleep as well. Sometimes I feel restless, sometimes I seem to have the oddest dreams and sometimes it feels like I wake up feeling tired.  The truth of the matter is that our bodies do best when we go to bed having had time to digest our food. Eating late means they’re often working over time as we sleep to digest things instead of simply resting.

Water is great because it can fill you up and nip hunger pangs in the bud. And no, I don’t mean I drank a gallon, just a 10 ounce glass.  Even better, drinking the water didn’t disturb my sleep, I didn’t drink so much that I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and I felt great when I woke up this morning.

The trick for me is to pause before I act. Instead of just mindlessly grabbing and gobbling up a snack, I took the time to think through what was most important for me.

What do you do to stave off late night hunger? Have you ever tried drinking water as a simple solution to nip snacking in the bud?

Interestingly, I’ve been checking out the gluten-free section of my favorite two health food stores for ages, yet never even spotted the crackers before.  As someone who tries to avoid wheat and gluten, mostly because it can aggravate my eczema, I’m no stranger to gluten-free products. In fact, it’s usually my inclination to reach for gluten-free brown rice crackers as a good option.

Recently a friend on Twitter connected me with Mary’s Gone Crackers, and they offered to send me some samples.  Little did I expect such a generous shipment and variety of crackers. I was immediately taken by all the flavors and varieties — onion, herb, original, black pepper and caraway, to name just a few. My clean eating care package also arrived with what they call “Sticks & Twigs,” miniature snack sticks in a variety of flavors like curry and chipotle tomato.

I have to tell you that when I opened up one of the snack sized packages and popped a cracker in my mouth, I was caught off guard. I’m used to the bland, not so exciting flavor of brown rice crackers.  They get the job done but there’s nothing to jump up and down about. And yes, even though several different brands come in a variety of flavors, I tend to opt for the basic ones. So when I bit into the cracker, I sure wasn’t expecting so much flavor.  At first, I wasn’t even sure I liked the crackers — they tasted bold and different. But I kept eating, and several crackers into the package it dawned on me that they tasted really good. That all the flavor and texture was a welcome and much needed change from my usual cracker routine.

What a concept — an all-organic, gluten-free and wheat-free cracker that’s also vegan, has no hydrogenated oils and contains Omega 3-fatty acids. Even better, they boast a variety of whole grains — quinoa, brown rice, flax seed, and sesame seeds. I thought all the flavors tasted great with my favorite hummus but I was especially enamored with the caraway.

My last time at the health food store I finally noticed the crackers on the shelf in the gluten-free section and they surely aren’t cheap,  but I would be willing to pay a little extra for something that’s organic, clean eating and so healthy.  And it looks like you can get better pricing by buying them online via Amazon which I might be willing to try.  Nonetheless, I’m excited to have a tasty, whole grain alternative to the usual gluten-free fare that’s got me so intrigued.

Have you tried Mary’s Gone Crackers before? What was your experience like?

• Bring your favorite delicious and healthy dish to a party you might be attending. That way, you know there will be something you can enjoy without all the guilt
• Fill up on water when you arrive at the party to curb your appetite before you get into snack mode
• For every alcoholic drink you have, drink a glass of water afterward. It will hydrate you and won’t be full of empty calories
• Substitute high fat, creamy dips for low-fat and tasty hummus
• Replace your favorite refined white flour crackers for whole grain varieties. I’m a big fan of Mary’s Gone Crackers, delicious gluten-free crackers that pack a flavorful punch
• Want chips? Make your own! You can easily bake homemade potato or sweet potato chips that will satisfy almost any fan
• Kale chips anyone? These yummy treats can be made in minutes and the perfect way to add in some dark leafy greens that even kids will eat
• Grill mini turkey burgers. You can save calories and fat by substituting low fat turkey for beef
  Use low-fat cheese instead of the full fat variety
• Make a batch of cookies with whole grain flour and your favorite natural sweetener. They’ll satisfy a sugar craving and taste great too
• Whip up a pot of delicious veggie chili. It’s so good you won’t even miss the meat!

One of my biggest challenges is keeping up my eating clean when we go on a road trip.  Mind you, I’m not stuck on perfect clean eating all the time, bringing all my food with me and missing out on fun because I can’t find the right foods.  In my book, that wouldn’t be much fun at all.  In fact, I’ve written other posts about how I try to maintain clean eating while I’m away like when we were at the Newport Jazz Festival this summer.

But I like the idea of maintaining my clean eating  as much as I can when I’m away.  For me, that means beginning with the end in mind and bringing a few healthy items with me.  On Saturday, we headed to Philadelphia in the wee hours of the morning to attend my friend Michelle’s mom’s funeral.  We left so early that thinking about food at that hour almost seemed strange but the night before I made a list of items we’d take, got out my insulated cooler and did a little prep. On our list:

• Hard boiled eggs (I’m not a fan of the yolk to begin with, and the clean version is all about the egg white)
• Sabra hummus cups
• Brown rice crackers
• Apples
• Water
• Nuts
• Lara bars

I brought enough of a selection to have a good choice yet more food than we’re ever need. The eggs came in handy for breakfast on our way down. Having healthy choices meant no stopping at a rest stop on the Jersey Turnpike where the only options were Roy Rogers, Nathan’s or Starbucks.  Before we arrived I had a Lara bar and lots of water which kept me satisfied until after the service.

On the way down, while driving through Cherry Hill, we noticed our favorite restaurant, Seasons 52.  They have them in Florida and Georgia but it was a total surprise to find one in New Jersey.  Seasons 52 features fresh, local food that’s seasonal and none of the entrees have more than 450 calories — think clean, healthy and delicious food.  On our way home, we stopped there for a late lunch and thoroughly enjoyed our clean eating meal.

To me, it’s totally possible to find a balance with clean eating while you’re traveling that doesn’t have to leave you at a loss for what to eat but is all about a little pre-planning and checking out your options along the way.

What do you do to ensure that when you’re away you make a clean eating plan? What are some healthy snacks you bring with you to make it easier?

Even though I’m not exactly an angel when it comes to eating when I’m on vacation (I mean honestly, who really is?), there’s still a part of me that maintains some semblance of healthy eating so all is not lost when I get back home.

And that’s exactly how things unfolded this week when we were in Montreal for the jazz festival. Generally, I did pretty well. I’m not a big drinker so there weren’t lots of empty calories expended on that. And we walked everywhere, some days logging 5+ miles so that helped too. But i did indulge a bit with desserts. We came across some awfully good ones that I must admit I loved. The good news is that it was all in moderation.

So what’s the key to my success in averting weight gain while on vacation? It’s all about finding a few healthy snacks that are easy to carry, keep blood sugar stable and stave off hunger. My first order of business in a new city is always to scope out the closest market and we easily found the IGA about a 1/2 mile from our hotel. We stocked up on fresh fruit and nuts that powered us through our busy afternoons of exploring and listening to amazing jazz.

We also found the one healthy food stand at the whole jazz festival. Well actually, most of the food at this particular stand wasn’t the healthiest, but the big winner was the fresh mangoes on a stick that they featured. As soon as I saw someone eating one, I made a beeline to get my own.

Check out the video I created right at the festival with this yummy treat. It’s so easy, you can make it at home yourself!

What do you do to ensure that you don’t fall completely off the wagon when vacationing? What’s your success strategy to avoid weight gain? Do share what works for you.

That’s unusual for me. Usually once I’m done with dinner, I’m done for the night. Seriously, that’s how we’re supposed to be eating, with plenty of time to digest our food before bed.  For me, I think it’s just a little PMS this week that’s tipping the scale.

But why is it that so many of us are professional snackers, having mastered the art of food in one hand, remote in the other? Truth is, it’s easy to get sucked into mindlessly snacking when sometimes we don’t even want the food, let alone need it.

Check out this week’s audio tip on some simple ways to avoid late night snacking, and if you have to, healthy alternatives.

What do you do to put the kabosh on late night snacking and maintain your weight?

When I stumbled upon Raw Revolution bars recently, I was immediately intrigued.  They contain a handful of all natural ingredients and they’re kosher, dairy-free, gluten-free, completely raw and use only natural sweeteners.

To me, the best snack is something that’s not processed at all – raw fruit or veggies  – but when you get a snack attack and don’t have access to something that fresh, a healthy snack like this sure beats the heck out of a Snickers bar or other unhealthy snack you may reach for.
You can find them at most health food stores, even big box grocery stores (that’s where I discovered them — at Stop and Shop). They’re a bit pricey but worth it.

What’s your favorite packaged, healthy snack?

But let’s not forget about some of the other benefits of dark chocolate. When it has at least a 70% cacao content, it’s dark, but still really palatable to many people. Did you know that dark chocolate has been linked to improving heart health, reducing some forms of cancer and controlling blood pressure? Here’s a great article I found from today’s Washington Post, “Your Heart May Have A Sweet Tooth” that talks in detail about both the cultural and health aspects of chocolate. Yum…what’s not to love about that?

And while you’re at, why not read up some more on the benefits of dark chocolate - in moderation of course, it does have lots of calories.

Here are a few tips to adapt your favorite Super Bowl snacks:

Nachos: Cheese sure tastes good but it’s full of saturated fat. Choose a low fat variety and use a bit less when making your favorite nachos OR make your own bean dip and skip the cheese altogether.
Burgers: Some people love a good burger, and making turkey burgers is a great substitute for the traditional burger. Low in fat, you can jazz them up with your favorite seasonings to give them lots of zip and zing.
Chips: What’s a party without chips and some dip? Here’s a twist: instead of the usual potato chips try kale or collard chips. Baked these greens for a few minutes and you have a crunchy, healthy snack that’s simply delicious.
Chili: I love chili during winter months, it’s hearty and delicious. You can make a healthier version minus the meat. Check out this month’s recipe for a yummy vegetable chili that won’t even have you missing the meat.
French Fries: What’s better than sweet potato fries? You can whip up a batch in no time and they’re a nice change from traditional fries and so much healthier.
Raw Veggies: Make a veggie platter even more appealing with hummus instead of sour cream dips. Chock full of nutrients and fiber, it’s a great addition to any Super Bowl menu.

If you don’t have time to peel and cut a pumpkin, here are a few easy tips:

–  Use canned pumpkin but look for pure pumpkin, not pumpkin puree (usually loaded with sugar).
–  Can’t find fresh pumpkin? Try substituting butternut squash, orange bell peppers or sweet potatoes instead. All are      chock full of many of the same nutrients.
–  In a mood for a healthy snack? Grab a handful of raw pumpkin seeds and eat them by themselves, or add to your favorite soup or salad for an added burst of flavor.