Snack Time! So What Should I Eat?

An important key to staying on your diet is to make sure you are getting plenty of quality food to eat.  A great way to do this is by incorporating small snacks into your diet.

A healthy snack will help you make it to the next meal and can help make sure you get enough fruits and vegetables into your diet.  When adding in a snack I find it best to do so between breakfast and lunch, between lunch and dinner, and one more two hours prior to going to bed.

When planning out your snacks you should try to incorporate at least 2 food groups.  An example of this might include apples and peanut butter.  By eating this snack you are getting both the fruit group and some protein.  This is a good snack option because it contains fiber and protein, which will take longer to digest, thus leaving you feeling full longer.

Other great snacks include oatmeal, vegetables, whole grain cold cereal with low fat milk, yogurt or even just a glass of low fat chocolate milk.

Obviously the goal with a snack is to pick something that has less than a few hundred calories, is low in fat, and preferably high in fiber.  You want your snack to leave you feeling full, but not load you down with calories since your goal is to lose weight.

Another snack I find works are those energy bars you find in the health food section of the store.  These energy bars are designed to give you the calories and other micronutrients you need to incorporate into a healthy diet.

The key to remember when planning snacks is to keep the calories low – only a few hundred calories total.  Try to incorporate multiple food groups and if possible try to pick foods that are high in fiber.  The longer your body takes to digest them the longer you will feel full.