I am that person that always has some kind of food in her purse. I am sure some people judge me for it but it’s how I survive. I am not a big eater but I can eat a lot. What I mean by this is I choose to not eat much at one time but I eat often. Balancing the many things I do, good, healthy food is a must to maintain my energy and focus. Workouts, work, performance training, and grad school classes keep me busy but I could just opt for convenient foods but instead I choose to eat small amounts but more often because that’s the only way I’ll be able to be the best I can be.

So what is a healthy snack? You want to think of a snack as small meal. The goals for this small meal/snack is that it needs to include at least 3 of the 5 food groups. A lot of people say the difference between a snack and a meal is that a meal has 3 or more food groups and a snack has two or less. But when eating like I do, small amounts but more often, you need a balanced snack that will give you some satiety, helps you stay fuller longer. The trio that gives you satiety is fiber, protein, and healthy fats. So when you have a balanced snack that helps keep you full, you want to include this trio.

Why is eating small amounts, more often a healthy way to go? Well, in doing so you actually get to maximize the amount of nutrients, like vitamins and minerals, you get from your food. Also, you don’t put as much of your food into storage… aka fat. When you eat small amounts more often your body burns a high percentage of the calories you ate before your next meal comes around. This means less extra food goes into storage because there isn’t extra food. On the other hand, when you eat big meal your body can only handle so much at one time and the extra food gets put into storage, which, if you don’t burn it off, turns into fat.

Then there is this beautiful thing called the thermic effect of food. Without going into too much nutritional science, every time you eat a balanced snack, your body’s internal body temperature increase just slightly to help process the food you just ate. This means you will burn more calories for a certain period of time after each meal. So the more often you eat a small meal the more often you burn extra calories!!! Eating and burning calories at the same time – I’d call that a WIN!

Here are some examples of small snacks or meals you should try to include in your day! P.s. see if you can find the “satiety trio” in all of these… 😉

• Whole-grain toast, peanut butter, a banana and an apple.
• Smoothie with Greek yogurt, fruit to your preference, whole oats, flax seed.
• Whole-grain crackers with rolled up turkey, extra-sharp cheddar cheese, and an apple.
• Trail mix with dried fruit and a glass of milk on the side.
• A dark leafy green salad with your favorite beans, sunflower seeds, and an olive oil vinaigrette.

Let me know if you try any of these out for your healthy snacking options!

Much love,

Sarah Elijah Scherer

I am back! Well shooting air gun that is! It was July of last year at the Spain Grand Prix where I was shooting my first few training days of air gun when my feet began to get tingly. It’s been a long road to get here but man oh man is it worth it.

First training day back, I shot 15 shots and only 1 was a 9… my first shot, a dang, 9.9 ugh! Haha, but it settled surprisingly well. To be honest, my hold was crazy but I guess my many years of training trigger release paid off. 😉

Second day, I upped the anti and I shot 30 shots, with my first 20 straight through. My hold was a bit more settled and I shot some solid strings and 104.0 to finish of my

Third day in was yesterday! Man, was it a great day! I shot a 105.4!!! I was happy! I also shot 30 shots in an attempt to test how shooting more back to back feels. My first string in sighters was a 103.7, my next string was the 105.4!, and my final string 104.2.

Overall, I am really happy with how air rifle is coming together! And I am excited for the next few weeks.

As of this year, I have been following a wheat-free diet with a limit on dairy and chicken. Why is this? Well it’s not that I’m hopping on the gluten-free bandwagon because I want to be “hip”, but I actually got tested for food allergies and I am allergic to wheat and chicken and am sensitive to dairy. So what’s the difference between a food allergy and sensitivity? Great question y’all 😉 A food allergy means that your body’s immune response responds to a certain food as something harmful, similar to seasonal allergies. An allergy is something that’s a part of your DNA, it might not manifest symptoms your whole life but it is always there. Food sensitivity on the other hand isn’t necessarily something in your genes but can be something that’s developed overtime and can be caused by numerous things.

Food allergies and sensitivities affect many people in the world and if you have one, know you are not alone! Most of y’all I am sure have heard about a “gluten-free” diet or “gluten-free” food products but there is a lot of misinformation out there of what it really is. A “gluten-free” diet is only for those that have been tested as having Celiac disease which is a genetic disease in which these individuals are highly allergic to gluten – a protein found in wheat. Following a “gluten-free” diet isn’t more healthy and following it doesn’t cause you to automatically loose weight. Also, if you aren’t careful, you can miss out on essential nutrients your body needs by eliminating foods that contain gluten.

Eating wheat-free, while limiting dairy and chicken, isn’t as hard as you might think because I can eat all of the wonderful grains of oats, quinoa, rice, and many more. Hard, aged cheeses have less lactose and fat so you can get away with eating less cheese, with less lactose, but it still packs a punch of flavor! Chicken has always been a lifelong favorite for me but turkey is a great substitute in most recipes and other protein sources like vegetable source proteins, legumes and seafood are so flexible to cook with or simply add to a salad. But there are some foods that I just am not willing to live without… dietitians are humans too! So here is my list of foods that are my “cheat foods” that, even knowing the not so fun consequences, are totally worth it…

• Cupcakes! Let’s be real, cupcakes are like a big deal in my life.
• Mint chocolate chip ice cream
• The bread served at Texas Roadhouse
• Dubliner Cheese, if you haven’t tried it you need to!
• Cream in my coffee:
  I won’t ever be able to live without coffee so the cream is just part of the bargain
• And last but not least… Garlic breadsticks

Much love and be well!

Sarah Elijah Scherer