My Top 20 Snacks!

Prepare, Prepare, Prepare. You never want to have one of those days when you eat really well all day, get stuck in traffic on the way home and find yourself munching on a bag of chips. By the time you get home, the bag of chips is nearly empty. All that “eating well” all day suddenly goes down the drain. Now you are disappointed, skip your workout (because you think, “what’s the use?”).

When it comes to snacking… and when your body is saying “I WANT A SNACK”… it is usually right- on, you are a little hungry, and can’t wait for the next meal. So you need a little something to hold you over. Think of a snack in that way… just a little something until you can have your next meal.

Clean out your kitchen… and place appealing things that are healthy at eye-level in your fridge- like washed berries, grapes, carrots, and cheese sticks.

When you get those little “nudges” from your belly telling you to have a snack… what it really wants is something worth-while. Feed it what it needs. Something with a little protein is always a good option (think almonds, turkey jerky, Greek yogurt, peanut butter, or string cheese). It may need some nutrients like potassium – think bananas!

We are all busy. So prepare! Make sure you have some of these key snacks available to you (at work), (at home), and in the car. Put one in your purse if you are going to your son or daughter’s sporting event. Chances are there are snack machines or snack booths lurking around the corner at these events, tempting your belly “nudges” to purchase something from them. Having something in your purse ahead of time will prevent the temptation.

Make sure your house always has: snack size baggies, ice packs, and portable containers to put snacks in.

My Top 20 Snacks

1)      Banana

2)      Ultimate Rice Cake (Multigrain Rice Cake) 2 TBSP PB2 or Just Great Stuff Powdered PB (reconstituted), with ½ banana sliced on top

3)      100 calorie pack plain or cocoa almonds

4)      1 serving of plain non-fat greek yogurt with 2 TBSP sugar free jam (I love raspberry)

5)      Turkey Jerky

6)      Carrot Sticks (put them in the mini snack bags) with hummus

7)      Homemade trail mix: Dark Chocolate Morsels, 8 plain almonds, dried cranberries, couple pretzel sticks (put in a snack size baggie- store in fridge if it is summer time so the chocolate does not melt).

8)      Take a P90X bar- slice into 4 slices and place in separate baggies for a quick yummy treat (70 calories)

9)      Grapes

10)   Berries

11)   Smart Pop popcorn (definitely recommend putting these in baggies in 1 portion sizes) it can be easy to go to town on the whole bag (OR Pirates Booty- single serve bags).

12)   Clementine oranges

13)   Homemade Granola Treats: (2 ripe bananas, 1 cup of quick oats, 1 TBSP honey, 2-3 TBSP PB2 (Reconstituted), handful of dried cranberries, handful of dark chocolate morsels OR 1- 100 calorie cocoa almonds - crushed, mix together, and place in 6 cup- disposable or reusable cupcake tin (3/4 way full)- place in freezer) grab and go for a quick snack.

14)   String cheese (low fat)

15)   Low Fat Cottage Cheese with S/F raspberry jam

16)   ½ banana covered with plain Greek yogurt and cinnamon/ truvia mixture then roll in crushed almonds. Place in freezer.

17)   Apple slices with ½ TBSP honey drizzled and cinnamon/ truvia mixture- warm in microwave

18)   WASA multigrain cracker, 1 TBSP light miracle whip, tomato slice, and ½ ounce low-sodium turkey breast, sprinkle with pepper.

19)   Raisins

20)   1 dark chocolate square