Are you having trouble eating healthy foods in small, frequent meals or snacks consistently? Struggling to spread your protein evenly through the day may be why.

Most people don’t realize that unstable blood sugar levels are both caused by, and lead to erratic eating patterns. Your schedule may be a major culprit, but there are solutions to that. A bigger problem is often rooted in your protein intake; specifically, how evenly spaced your protein choices are as you make your way through your day.

It’s very helpful to have staples you keep on hand so they can be fixtures that you build the rest of your eating habits around. Here are several of mine(I eat all but the protein bar virtually every day):

• Eggs (scrambled or hard-boiled). Substitute – Starbucks egg white spinach feta wrap
• Large low-fat decaf latte (Peets is my favorite)
• Some lean meat or fish (I grill chicken a few chicken breasts and keep them in the fridge, and I eat tuna from the can with lemon juice and drizzling on balsamic salad dressing)
• A protein bar
• Blackberry mango smoothie (equal parts low fat milk, 2% Greek yogurt, frozen banana chunks, frozen blackberries and frozen mango chunks thrown into a single serving blender)
• Hi protein cereal (Kashi Go Lean) with a fruit/nut trail mix or oatmeal cooked with milk and topped with trail mix
• Roasted black edamame (soy nuts – New Leaf or Whole Foods)

So, over the course of the day I get about 80 – 120 grams of protein with very little prep, and minimal planning.

Try some (or all) of these ideas and see how it brings your hunger curve back under control.

Learn more about how to get and stay in great shape? Contact Dan at Tri Valley Trainer