Lets eat peanut butter- or a guide to basic healthy eating by adding protein to your diet.

I am no expert on super healthy eating, but I like to think my mother is and she has passed onto me a ton of knowledge about easy healthy eating.  Here are some tips that I follow and hopefully they can give y'all some good ideas to help you eat healthier and live better.

The way your body processes food is that protein gives you long term energy and carbs give you short term energy. So if you eat a bag of chips you will stay full for like 20-30 min. But if you eat a scrambled egg you will stay full for like and hour or two. When you combine protein and carbs in a meal, they work together to keep you full for 3-4 hours depending on how much you eat. But the kind of protein/carb you eat can also be a large factor. The more complex the carb, the better it stays with you and the more protein in the item, the longer it keeps you full.
Here are the steps/information to eating and staying full till the next meal and what to do if your hungry before dinner!

1. Know what carbs are great for you and which are empty calories. Starches and sugars are carbs.

So bread/rice/pasta/potatoes ect. are starches. The whiter the starch, the less great it is for you and the less complex the carb is. So eat brown rice instead of white, get whole grain bread to make your sandwiches with and use whole grain noodles for pasta.

Fruit/some veggies/juice and other things with sugar in them are sugars. The sugars in fruit and stuff are good for you, but the sugar in juice/lemonade/candy/snacks are simple sugars and don't stick with you as well. So you will be hungry soon later.

2. Eat high meals with high protein so you will not need to eat as much through out the day.

Things high in protein: eggs, beans, nuts, meat, fish, cheese, PEANUT BUTTER (a big staple in the waking up in waco household)

3. Your meals should have a protein, a starch, and a veggie. When my roommates and I plan our dinners for the week we make sure these three categories are represented. So brown noodle pasta with meal sauce and green beans heated in the microwave and covered in lemon pepper is easy and great for ya. Frozen veggies you steam in the microwave are our favorite because they are quick and crunchy when they are done (if you don't over cook them). Unlike canned veggies that are...less crunchy and fresh seeming.

4. Snack Healthy. If you are hungry between meals, my rule of thumb is drink a big glass of water. If you are dehydrated your body may try to tell you by making you feel hungry. So after a glass of water, if  you are still hungry and not just bored, have a piece of whole grain toast with peanut butter and a bit of honey. Or an apple with peanut butter. Maybe a handful of almonds/granola and some yogurt. Or a turkey and peanut butter sandwich (i like it, though i only know one other person who doesnt think its gross). Or you can just eat a spoonful of peanut butter. (Can be good for on the go) :P

Oh and don't buy junk food anymore, or just buy a small bag/box/can of your favorite junk food and  only eat it occasionally to make it last all week. Instead put that money toward fruit, whole grain stuff(a bit more expensive the regular) and nuts to snack on. If there is no junk food to snack on, then you can make a healthy choice easy!

5. Eat sweets if you really want to. I am totally over this whole feeling guilty for having a piece of that cake covered in sprinkles on the counter. It's there, it looks delicious, and if I have been making healthy choices all day it should not be a big deal.

This is not an exhaustive list. Nor an I any kind of expert, this is the rough guideline I follow when I put meals together for myself and my roommates. Meant to be helpful and not absolutely scientifically accurate, and you can tell from all my technical jargon.

What things do you do to eat healthy? Do you eat peanut butter almost every day?