Mamma Di and the ride of her life, oh yeah, and great snack ideas

I had the wonderful chance to have my mom in town for the weekend and it was so fun to spend the whole day with her.  I think most people have something food related that they struggle with. My mom and I always talk about these struggles and bounce ideas and suggestions off of each other. She is a huge support to me and always encourages me on whatever program I choose. Sometimes I suggest things to her as well, but  I think I crossed the line one summer when I took her mountain biking to get some exercise.

For those of you who know my sweet mom, lovingly referred to as "Mamma Di," you will know that she is kind of like Phyllis from the office in some ways. (But WAY more beautiful)  She is kind of quiet, always sweet, but also wants to be in on the fun and is always full of surprises. I can't believe some of the things I've convinced my mom to do. Sometimes we egg her on ruthlessly because she is the funniest human being ever when she gets enough encouragement to just let it all out.

Mountain biking was one of those things that took a lot of encouragement. She loves to ride bikes (around the neighborhood) so I thought why not try riding on the trails? Mountain biking came quite easy and natural for me once I had a bike with some suspension. I spent years mountain biking the many trails of Pocatello and thought everyone would love and enjoy it as much as I did.

I gave my mom a helmet, some gloves, and a quick lesson on how to shift the gears. She did great on the way up. I took her on my favorite "city creek" trail and pretty soon it was time to turn around and do some down hill. This is where the fun begins. I got a little too excited and thought she could handle the "9-1-1" section which is a very technical section of the trail. It feels like a rollercoaster because you ride down a big gully like a snowboarder rides down a halfpipe, going from one side to the other. Well this got out of control very quickly and I hear my mom screaming for help and I see her tangled in a bunch of sage brush.

I felt so bad! I helped her out and we walked our bikes down to the more level part of the "easy" trail and I thought this would be fine. Well...I guess when someone gets spooked it takes awhile to recover because every few feet my mom would slam on her breaks, scream in fear, and occasionally be in the verge of tears. My poor, poor mom! She was scared to death. It was a horrible experience for her. I think we ended up just walking our bikes down the whole trail.

Since that experience, I have been a little more cautious when I have these "mom-and me" days. This time when she came, we decided to get some gardening supplies and also help her start to work on a few healthy habits.

Like most people, my mom is busy and stretched very thin. She takes care of everyone and spends a lot of time in the car going from place to place. I relate to this!!! We decided that getting her a personal snack bag would help her when she was on the road longer than she anticipated or when she was leaving a stressful situation so at least she could have something to snack on without being tempted to go through the drive through. I know I have done that a million times- I just think, oh I'm starving and I won't be home for awhile so I'll just stop in and get a snack from Arby's or a gas station. DANGEROUS habit that I had to work at very hard to break. If I wasn't on medifast right now, I'd have my own snack bag too!

My mom also needs to watch her carbs to keep her blood sugar under control so many of the snacks we picked are diabetic friendly. We went to cost-co and read a lot of labels to make sure we weren't getting things with a lot of added sugar and fat. I think the key for a snack is to have between 100-200 calories, no more than about 15 carbs, and about 5 grams of healthy fat, and about 5-8 grams of protein. Keeping snacks balanced with fat and protein will help satiate you.

I think snacking is great! It keeps you energized and it also keeps you from getting overly hungry. Here are some snacks we got for my mom. We bagged all of them in individual ziplocs so she didn't have to think about portion control. We got some things that will just live in the car with her and some things that will stay in the fridge that she can just grab on her way out the door. The thing I wanted to focus on was food being a POSITIVE thing that is easy. So much guilt is usually attached to eating and snacking and I wanted to help my mom see how she could actually enjoy a healthy snack fast and easy.

• Nut Clusters- Costco has a variety of nut mixes that come in a giant bag. These ones had a mix of almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, and a hint of honey. They are in the shape of little cubes and we filled little bags with 1 oz. of these clusters. 

• Kellogg's Fiber Plus Bars- everyone wants something that feels like a treat. As a general rule, "granola" bars are candy bars disguised as a healthy snack. Most granola bars are loaded with sugar and offer little nutrition. At the top of the rung of granola bars is the Kind Bar.  They are nuts, dried fruit, and a natural sweetener like honey. They are a cool company and these little bars have been proven to help suppress appetite! (here's the article)

Another great company that offers healthy snacks is Kashi. I LOVE all things made by Kashi. A Kashi granola bar is made with all natural ingredients and are packed with healthy grains and nuts. They are super tasty and affordable. 

And now finally, we have the FiberOne and Kellogg's Fiber Plus bar category. The best thing about these bars is that they have a lot of fiber which helps balance out their moderate carbohydrate content. They do contain sugar but in more moderate amounts than other granola bars. We got these for more of a "treat" kind of snack because they are super tasty and filling. These bars are super cheap when purchased in bulk. I think it was around $10 for 35 bars!

• A few items that we got for the fridge are individual packs of hummus, carrots, and snap peas. We actually bought a huge bag of snap peas at Costco and then just put them in little ziplocs. The hummus is to dip the veggies in and come in great little individual packs. So fabulous! Who wouldn't want a little tub of hummus to dip cute little baby carrots in? Yes, you will pay a little more for the packaging of the single packs of carrots, but that extra $.50 will be worth it when you just have to open the fridge and throw it in your bag. We also threw some string cheese in the car because seriously, who doesn't love string cheese? It's like the king of snacks.

• Finally, we got steamer packs of edamame. For those of you who have never tried edamame, you are missing out!!! They are little pods of soy beans that resemble pea pods. You don't eat the whole pod, but you do put the whole pod in your mouth and then pop the little soy bean out and then throw the casing away. They are delicious when sprinkled with coarse sea salt. With only about 158 calories, 13g of protein, 10g of fiber, who wouldn't want to snack on this delicious whole food? The steamer packs are so easy. You just pop the whole bag in the microwave and voila! Great substitute for snacking on chips, crackers, and popcorn because they are salty and take awhile to eat. 

The only downside to purchasing things in bulk is that you spend a lot more up front. The veggies were all around 4-5 bucks, the bigger stuff was about $10, and the hummus was only $5! When you look at the cost of buying fresh, whole food snacks, it is WAY cheaper than anything from a dollar menu, will keep more fuller longer, and obviously without question is better for your health. Keeping a snack bag in your car stocked with healthy, filling snacks is an easy way to make sure you are feeding your body but also keeps you from pulling the drive-thru maneuver.