One of the first things anyone who joins our Healthy Eating & Lifestyle Weight loss Program asks is what kind of snacks can I have?
We Americans seem to be obsessed with snacking... and we fell deprived if we can't have them. When you look around yourself, do you notice that snacks are involved in every nook and cranny of your life?
Either it's when your surfing on your phone, or during a tiring day at the office.
Maybe it's when you're sitting on the couch watching Netflix or even driving around in your car running errands.
No matter where you are, what you are doing, for many snacks never leave their side in times of hunger and even when they aren't in the last bit hungry.
Now we aren't saying snacking is a bad thing, in fact for some it's a great way to prevent overindulging at regular meal times, but the problem with snacking is that we generally love to eat the foods that are most harmful to our health.
Fast food (which really should be meals not snacks), ice cream, chips, candy or other sweets the list is endless. And sadly most of it is devoid of any real nutritional benefit. It's pretty much empty calories.
That being said, avoiding snacking completely isn't realistic. The key is to make healthier choices, ones that not only fill your snacking needs but give you some nutritional benefit as well to keep your body healthy.
Here are some of our easy, healthy, and delicious snacks to satisfy your hungry demons without destroying your health!
Fresh or Dried Fruits
Veggies cut up
Banana and Oatmeal Cookies
Almond butter cookies
Greek yogurt and mixed berries
Dark chocolate and nuts
Chia pudding
Avocado toast
Popcorn
Banana ice-cream
Smoothie
Berry mix
Trail Mix
Fruit bowl
Note: We've posted recipes for many of these on our Facebook page.. Check it out!
Food For Thought
Now to be sure you can't go crazy with these.. remember the motto: All Good Things In Moderation!
Snacking is a habit that can sometimes take an undesirable turn, and instead of being a joyful experience, it can turn out to be a nightmare.
Anything in excess can be bad, and so is excess snacking. When people start to binge eat, this results in increased glucose, blood pressure, or cholesterol levels. Depending on the type of food, any body system can be damaged.
Hence, it is important to be mindful of what you eat and how much you eat. It doesn't matter if you are on a diet or not - the portion size must not be ignored, even when snacking!
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