November 30, 1999

Plan Mini-Meals To Boost Metabolism

Most of us have heard that mini-meals can help boost the metabolism and keep a body lean, attractive and functioning at its peak. Planning mini-meals, however, can seem like an effort that takes entirely too much work. Why bother when a fast-food stop can take care of hunger in a big way? If losing weight, maintaining it and even boosting health and metabolic levels is desired, the mini-meal is the key.

The trick with mini-meals is to plan out about six small meals or meals and snacks to eat during the course of the day. These meals can include all the basic ingredients for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They just need to be broken up into smaller portions. If you're unsure of what a portion is, look at the real serving sizes for foods.

Here are some ideas that can help get you started in planning your own mini-meals for any given day:

Breakfast
Skipping meals is never advised when boosting metabolism is desired. Breakfast is considered one of the most important meals, since it kick-starts digestion for a busy day. Ideas that can help here include such things as whole grain cereals, fruits, whole wheat toast, a single scrambled egg and even a ham and egg sandwich on a half slice of wheat toast folded over. Pay attention to real serving sizes for foods.

Lunch
Think things like half sandwiches on whole wheat, mustard instead of mayonnaise, fruit, nuts, yogurt, cottage cheese and even a single slice of pizza and you'll be on the right track. It's okay to have that cheeseburger once in a while, too. Just use low-fat cheese, skip the bread or use a pita instead. The idea is to eat smaller portions of regular foods more frequently.

Dinner
This is one of the hardest meals of the day to stick with a mini-meal plan on. Since dinner time is also family together time, careful planning needs to come into play here. The best way to handle this is to make sure you serve yourself real serving sizes rather than going back for three helpings of the main dish. Regular, healthful dinners can work very well in an overall mini-meal plan as long as the portions are right.

Snacks
Snack foods are the backbone of a mini-meal plan. Some of the smarter - and easiest - choices include such things as fruits, raw vegetables, granola, whole wheat snacks, pumpkin or sunflower seeds and even yogurt. If something sweet is a must, consider low-cal iced treats, like Popsicles, or even frozen yogurt.

Boosting metabolism through eating is possible. The key is to make sure that what you're eating is healthy, tasty and doesn't contain a ton of calories. Smaller, frequent meals are not all that hard to plan. It becomes much easier once you get a hang of the right ingredients and serving sizes.

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