Healthy Snacks

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics have synthesized years of research on adult weight management to form nutrition guidelines. One topic they've analyzed is the effect of regular meal and snack patterns on weight loss. "Several studies show that eating four to five times per day is associated with reduced or no obesity risk,"  The research also shows that the three squares a day could actually hurt your efforts to reach and/or maintain a healthy weight. "Eating less than three meals or snacks per day may increase the risk of obesity,"

Physiologically, it does make sense: "When you eat regularly throughout the day, your body knows that more food is on the way, and it's more likely to burn the calories you consume than store them as fat," Eating at regular intervals helps stabilize blood sugar and energy levels.

I’m sure you’ve had that experience where you realize it has been a long time since your last meal but you are rushed and busy and keep putting off finding something to eat. As you get hungrier and hungrier your resolve to choose healthy foods subsides and before you know it you can find yourself over eating unhealthy foods. It’s as if your blood sugar got too low for your brain to remember your goals so you just start shoveling in food (usually highly processed low nutrient dense carbohydrates!)

I’d like you to take a good look at the time pattern of your healthy eating. Is there a time (mid-morning or mid-afternoon) when a healthy snack would be a wise choice? For me it is mid-afternoon. I eat lunch around noon and dinner at 6 and that is too long for me to go without eating. So I love to have a snack around 3.

OUR CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK IS TO SCHEDULE, PLAN, PREPARE AND EAT AT LEAST ONE HEALTHY SNACK A DAY. I’d like you to do your planning the evening before or morning of the day. And by preparation I mean you purchase, wash, measure or weigh, cut up and prepare your food for eating in the morning BEFORE your day starts.  And don’t forget to enter it into myfitnesspal to make sure you don’t go over your daily calorie budget. I want you to make sure your day starts with your snack in a bag ready to take along to work or errands or to enjoy in your kitchen later that day.

Here are some ideas for healthy snacks:

1.           Plain or flavored yogurt or cottage cheese with sliced fruit or granola

2.           Whole grain cereals or oatmeal, dry or with milk, yogurt, or raisins

3.           Trail mix or healthy granola bars and fruit bars (look for high fiber and no trans fats and watch the calorie count)

4.           ½ a Peanut butter sandwich with raspberry jam and cashews

5.           Chocolate graham crackers with peanut butter

6.           Quesadillas (melted cheese on whole wheat tortillas)

7.           Popcorn, homemade or store bought (I am a huge fan of Smart Pop and Chicka Boom Popcorn and I eat it right out of my measuring cup)

8.           Tortilla chips and salsa or guacamole or topped with shredded cheese and put under broiler

9.           Whole grain muffins or breads, such as banana, pumpkin, corn, or zucchini (you can make a healthy batch and freeze them)

10.       Mini-bagels with cream cheese and sliced cucumbers

11.       Hummus dip with whole grain pita or crackers or veggies

12.       Sliced avocados with wheat crackers

13.       Hard-boiled eggs

14.       Celery filled with cream cheese, Boursin cheese, or peanut butter

15.       Edamame in the shell, sprinkled lightly with sea salt

16.       Chickpeas or other beans, eaten with fingers or toothpicks

17.       Olives, pickles, canned artichokes or hearts of palm (In searching the menu board at the movies the other day for something I could eat I discovered they sold pickles! Wow what a full taste snack!)

18.       Frozen peas (not thawed!)

19.       Apple slices with cheese, peanut butter, peanut butter and chocolate chips, or honey

20.       Fruit Kabobs (Cut fruit on a stick and dipped in vanilla yogurt)

21.       Smoothies: combine fresh and/or frozen fruit and vegetables, fruit juice and yogurt or soy milk

22.       Dried fruit such as mango, apricots, raisins, plums (I love Costco’s dried coconut but I have to weigh and bag my portions or I could eat the whole bag)

23.       Bananas and/or strawberries with semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate syrup

And if you want the recipe for the snack pictured you will find it at http://therepowoman.com/quick-healthy-snack-recipe-no-baking-required/