Do you only eat three meals a day? I used to but found that in order to make it between meals I had to eat a lot more than I needed. Instead I plan healthy, low calorie snacks. These smaller meals keep my blood sugar stable and satisfied between lighter traditional meals.
Snacking Strategy
I don’t consider a snack healthy unless it meets these three criteria:
- Less than 5 Weight Watchers points (about 200-250 calories)
- Is a whole food or has protein included
- Calories from fat is less than 25%
These are just my guidelines which I use when selecting snacks at the grocery store or traveling. I try to pair fruit and vegetables snack with protein to provide more satiety or as my mom would have said “stick to my bones”.
Six Filling and Healthy Snack Ideas
Every work day I pack snacks for morning and afternoon breaks. Here are six of my favorite combinations.
1. Berries and Yogurt. The berries are either strawberries or blueberries mixed with greek or soy yogurt.
2. Veggies and Hummus. I typically bring celery, baby carrots or grape tomatoes with 2 tablespoons of hummus. I mix up the flavor of hummus with whatever struck my fancy at the store that week.
3. Veggies and Peanut Butter. This is a good one to have with celery because you can stuff them. Although I’ve been known to dip various vegetables in the stuff. Creamy works best.
4. Cream or Ricotta cheese and Veggies. One of my favorite snacks on the Digest Diet was bell pepper wedges stuffed with ricotta cheese. Be inventive and think beyond celery.
5. Nuts with whole fruit. I love 100 calorie packs of almonds. Even though it’s more expensive, I don’t have to worry about overeating. Combining this with an apple, peach or whatever is in season makes a very filling snack.
6. Protein bar. Right now I have Recharge Dynamic Nutrition bars (affiliate link) and Weight Watchers Oh So Nuts! bars in my pantry. Because they have protein in them I find them very satisfying.
It’s important to keep yourself from getting too hungry and planning snacks works for me. What are your favorite healthy snacks?
My favorite snack is 2T peanut butter with apple slices, particularly Honeycrisp apples because they’re extra sweet and firm.
I haven’t tried Honeycrisp apples but will give them a try. I really like firm apples!
P.S. Hope you’re feeling okay; I will be in touch!
When I dieted 35 year sago, I ate PB & J sandwiches with vegetables. Although I am no longer dieting, I still eat a lot of vegetables and salads. My daily lunch consists of pita and hummus. It is very satisfying.
Krantcents, I have become a huge hummus fan the past year. BTW, was the vegetables on the PB&J or alongside?
Anything with peanut butter! I tend to have a banana with peanut butter as my afternoon/ pre-workout snack.
Nuts (and their butters) are so satisfying. I like the idea of banana and peanut butter together.