Indulge in Snacks without Sabotaging your Healthy Way of Eating

 
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Studies show that 50% of people regularly experience food cravings, which can derail their attempts to eat healthy. In fact, I know in many cases when attempting to cut out sugar, people don't eat enough. This can also lead to cravings.

To avoid these cravings as much as possible, start loading up on enough healthy whole foods at all of your meals. A nice way to ease your way into this is with Breakfast. Try eating at least 20g of protein at breakfast. Then try to eventually incorporate protein in all of your meals.

This will help, but I know cravings will still exist and snacking is inevitable. Snacks aren’t all bad and the right combination will become those quick small, but satisfying meals one needs to fuel their body.

Salty, crunchy, sweet, creamy and savory: for every craving that attacks between meals, I’ve compiled a list of some popular go-to snacks. The list is organized by the craving it satisfies.

Sweet:

  • Fruit

  • Greek yogurt: When I want ice cream or custard. Add fruit and nuts for a complete ice cream sundae.

  • Chia pudding (Chia seeds + almond milk = chia pudding).

  • Raisins: When I crave candy or my kid’s fruit snacks, lol.

  • Dark chocolate

  • Cottage cheese w/fruit

  • Apples w/nut butter

  • Protein Shake or Ice Cream (made with less milk or water and more fruit).

Salty:

  • Popcorn

  • Pumpkin seeds

  • Nuts, olives, pickles

  • Cucumber sticks w/ lime juice, salt and chili powder

  • Hard boiled egg with seasoning

  • Baked potato fries

Sweet and Salty:

  • Watermelon and feta

  • DIY trail mix : Pre-packaged trail mixes often contain artificial ingredients. To avoid this, simply make your own. Here is a simple one to try out with 1/4 cup lightly salted nuts and a tablespoon of dark chocolate chips.

  • Protein bar

  • Naturally Sweetened Dried Fruit

  • Baked sweet potato fries with pink Himalayan salt and olive oil.

Chewy:

  • Beef jerky

Crunchy:

  • Roasted chickpeas

  • Jicama

  • Rice Cakes

  • Thinly sliced baked potato chips or sweet potato chips

Savory:

  • Babel Cheese

  • Hummus and veggies

  • Kale chips w/ cheese

  • Homemade salsa

  • Homemade guacamole

  • Nut butter

  • Banana & Peanut butter

  • Pb & j: almond butter, jelly and rice cake

  • Lettuce wraps with turkey and cheese

  • Deviled Eggs

Warm & Soothing:

  • A hot tea

  • Apple cider vinegar, water, lemon and honey

Alcohol:

  • Dry Red Wine (not sweet)

Happy eating and don’t hesitate to share some of your favorite snacks in the comments below.

 
Felisha Davis