Health and Nutrition
When considering what to buy when vending machine shopping it's important to keep in mind the elements of a balanced diet.
1. Eating 4-6 small meals or snacks each day instead of 3 heavy meals can help you lose weight. You would think that eating more times a day would actually make you put on weight, but experts say that eating more times a day raises your metabolism, the rate at which you burn fat, causing your body to burn fat more quickly. Keep in mind this does not mean you can eat twice as much as you usually do and still lose weight, it simply means if you eat small amounts more often you are likely to have a faster metabolism.
2. When chosing items from a vending machine it's important to look at the labels. While it is true that you probably cannot read the nutrition label before you buy the product, reading the front of a product's label is still helpful. Look for words like "baked" "low calorie" "low fat" "100 calorie" "high calcium" or "high protein." You can also search online for product nutrition before you buy something.
3. It is important to balance what you eat. Staying healthy doesn't mean you have to eliminate all of the foods that you love, it just means that you have to cut back and balance what you eat. If you are going to have a chocolate chip cookie from a vending machine, you should balance it out with a salad or some fruit later in the day. You don't have to cut out everything, but be sure to balance what eat.
4. Snack bars, fresh fruit, and nuts are all healthy choices that should be considered when making a selection.
Click here to hear NAMA's dietician Lori Valencic talk about healthy choices.