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3 Healthy Snack Ideas
By Pamella Neely
One thing I've learned about losing weight: Don't ever get too hungry. If I can keep my hunger under control I can still make the good food choices that keep me trim. If I get too hungry, my will power dives to near zero and I can find myself eating a bagel with cream cheese in no time. To stay slim and well-fed, you need to have a few go-to healthy snacks on hand.
By "healthy" I mean something I can eat at least 2-3 handfuls of without racking up more than about 100 calories. If at all possible, I also define healthy as unprocessed foods. In other words, if it comes in a wrapper, I want to skip it. Sometimes that is just not possible, but we're talking ideals. The snacks I'll discuss here are the healthiest, tastiest things I know of. This isn't the list of "top 5 healthiest things to eat on the road or in airports". I'm assuming most of the time you'll be munching these you'll be at home or at work or between the two.
A reality check before we go over the list: It will take practice to make these your go-to snacks if you are used to potato chips. It took me a full year to actually want to eat raw broccoli. It also took about a year before I had grooved the habit of putting an apple in my mouth at the first sign of the hunger demon. To really start eating these snacks and having them work for you, you'll have to have them on hand and actually put them in your mouth before you get too hungry. Otherwise, you'll think "forget the apples -- I need pizza!" and, even worse, you'll give in to that thought.
1) Apples. Here's why apples rock: they are cheap (less than $1 each), they fill you up, they are sweet, they travel well, they are widely available and they can last up to 2-3 weeks if you keep them in the vegetable crisper. My personal trainer has given me a no-guilt freebie card to eat as many apples a day as I want. Frankly, it usually takes two large apples to curb a serious hunger pang, but they have so much fiber that they basically zero out the 100-120 calories you take on from each apple. If you aren't into apples, try pears... they're almost as perfect a snack, and some people like them much more than apples. Nectarines and clementines are also terrific hunger curbers for me, but they aren't as fiber-filled as apples.
2) Raw vegetables. Stay with me here. I know "raw vegetables" are about as appetizing for some of us as rice cakes. Try them... actually walk into the vegetable section of a really good grocery store (yes, you may have to start being a gourmet to find veggies that taste good enough to crave) and pick 2-3 different kinds of vegetables that you aren't repulsed by. Only buy 2-3 cups of each of them. Try getting a cup a day into your belly. If you come across even one that you think "eh, this isn't so bad", then go get more of it. It will grow on you. Then go back to the fancy grocery store and test out 2-3 other vegetables that don't repulse you. The idea is to have one or two raw vegetables that you actually don't mind eating and can just munch on. For me, sugar snap peas and broccoli are pretty tasty. Carrots are alright too. It will be different with you. Just find one vegetable that you're reasonably happy eating. Switch out one of your "bad snacks" with that veggie and you've pretty much ensured a 10-15 pound weight drop over the next year.
3) Popcorn. Hopefully not the microwavable kind, though in a pinch you can use some of the lighter microwavable popcorn bags. Using a popcorn popper gives you much more control over flavorings, and so you'll have a better chance of finding a happy balance between tastiness and low calories.
Pamella Neely writes about choosing a healthy popcorn popper and how to make the most of your hot air popcorn popper. She eats one and sometimes two bowls of popcorn every day.
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