Healthy Snacks

Snacking in between meals is a good way to keep hunger under control and make sure you don't show up to your next meal starving and ready to devour your whole fridge.

I try to never get too full or too hungry, so I stop eating when i am 80% full and give my brain time to realize that I am no longer hungry. If you eat until you're full - you over ate. 

Try to have two snacks per day at under 200 calories. Here are some ideas for good snacks: 

1. Freeze dried fruit - I'm obsessed with freeze dried fruit. I'm convinced they are the perfect snack. They contain only one ingredient: the fruit! They taste so good,have a crunchy bite, natural, easy to carry around, and super low in calories and sugar! (Crunchies very berry: 1/4 cup = 25 calories and 3g of sugar.) I like apples, strawberries, or blueberries and a good brand is Crunchies available at whole foods and online at www.crunchiesfood.com

2. Baby carrots with home-made ranch dip - I make a healthy ranch dip by buying the ranch seasoning packet (in same isle as the dressing) and mixing it with plain greek yogurt (thicker then regular yogurt so it is better for dip) or low-fat sour cream (not fat-free). The same flavors of ranch are in the dip, from the seasoning packet, without the high calories. Dip baby carrots or any other veggie you like. Yummy! 

3. Rice Cakes - Lightly salted rice cakes are a good option and you can eat plain or spread with low-fat cream cheese.  

4. Fresh Fruit - Fresh fruit like apples, bananas, or peaches are a great snack option because it is easy to carry in your bag and is less than a 100 calories. They also pack tons of vitamins and fiber. I suggest actual fruit better than juice because you are actually eating something so it is more satisfying and contains more fiber than the juice. Apples are great because they have a long shelf life, don't spoil easily, and handle a beating in your bag best. 

5. Frozen grapes and blueberries - Frozen grapes and blueberries taste like sorbet but are 100% fruit, and they'll never go bad because they are in the freezer! 

6. 100-calorie pack popcorn - They now sell popcorn in 100-calorie mini portions to pop in your microwave. You'll be surprised how much popcorn you can have for a 100 calories, and it only contains 2g of fat and give you 4g of fiber. I like Orville Redenbacher's smart pop which are available at Publix. 

7. Plain yogurt with berries or cereal - I always recommend plain yogurt rather than flavored ones because the flavored ones can have as much as 35g of sugar which is almost 9 teaspoons of sugar! Greek yogurt is the lowest in sugar and highest in protein, so if you like the tart taste I recommend that, but regular plain yogurt is also good. I just found this yogurt at Fresh Market called Swiss Yogurt from Emmi, it's so delicious and i added agave for some sweetness (very little amount of agave, a few drops was enough. The agave nectar from Madhava comes in a bottle where you can pour very small drops, also from fresh market)

                    snacking with my dog toy :)