One of the major reasons that people have difficulty keeping on their diets is the urge to snack. For many of us, it's hard to get through the day without having at least one snack. However, that one snack can easily turn into ten and before you know it you're grazing all day long, adding useless calories to your daily intake. While snacking can be important, you're going to need to be smart about it to make sure that you can stick to your diet.
When we need a little snack fix, most of us reach for a bag of chips or a candy bar. It's a quick fix and provides you with that burst of sugar that will make you feel pretty good right away, but not so good later on. The key to snacking without ruining your diet is picking the right kind of snacks. It may take a little while at first to get used to eating healthier snacks, but before long, you'll be able to prefer it.
Start by figuring out how many calories you want to eat per day. Add up your three main meals and then figure out how many calories you have left over. This can be used as a guide to help you pick the snacks that will keep you on your diet. You'll also need to figure out the times when you are most likely to snack and target some changes in your regular meals to help you get through the day.
A great snack will contain enough protein to give you the energy you need to make it to your next meal without feeling deprived. Over the long term it is much more effective than carbs at keeping your body fueled right. For example, instead of that can of soda and a serving of chips, which can equal more than 300 calories, have one serving of low fat cottage cheese. This contains only about 80 calories and can actually be quite satisfying. Nuts, nuts, nuts... Almonds are particularly good for you, but almost any kind of nut is a great source of energy and in appropriate amounts nuts will fit into any diet. (5 almounds is equal to 1 protien serving on my diet. I get 14 protien a day.) Even a small block of cheese, a serving of tuna or some other small treat can be a great low calorie high protein alternative. A really great healthy snack that I just picked up at the local Costco (seriously tastes great) is dry roasted and lightly salted edamame aka soybean. 70% Less fat and 40% more protein than peanuts... one serving is 14 grams of soy protein and 2 net carbs.
Figure out what kind of protein snacks you like to eat. If you are one that absolutely needs to feed your sweet tooth, look for special protein bars that are low in calories and carbs while high in protein. These can provide a great boost of energy and keep you balanced all day.
Earlier, we mentioned that it is also important to figure out what times of the day you are most likely to snack. This is usually a sign that you are not eating a balanced enough meal before hand. For example, if you have a lot of carbs for breakfast, that sugar is going to wear off well before lunch, leaving you feeling hungry. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but is should contain enough protein to give you the fuel you need to make it to lunch.
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calories, diet, healthy eating, snacking
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amazon, burst, candy bar, chips, daily intake, diet, diets, how many calories, main meals, rcm, snack, snacks, target, urge
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7 comments ↓
I spend a lot of money on my snacks.
lots.
here’s hoping the ole “you save later in medical bills” adage holds true.
[...] might need something to replace the junk calories. Kevin at Weight Loss Journal has some tips for snacking without ruining your diet. Like many of us, he’s discovered that adding a little more protein can help you feel sated. [...]
Nuts.
No, really - nuts is the only snack you really need. There are many different varieties to keep things interesting, and you can even rotate between plain, salted, smoked or whatever flavour is in stock. Cashews, macadamia, walnuts, pistachios, hazlenuts, brazil nuts, pecans… it doesn’t really matter, just make sure you mix it up.
I eat 50-100g of nuts each and every day over about 3-4 sittings (depending on the day), and always before a workout as they’re a rich source of energy.
I tend to not eat peanuts if possible, although if pushed I will. I do eat peanut butter every day, however, for breakfast (on wheat toast).
One major advantage nuts have over other healthy snacks is they don’t feel like you’re eating wood or something equally flavourless. Your cottage cheese idea is admirable but cottage cheese does not in any way compare to chips and a Coke. You’ll soon get bored of that strict a regime.
A handful of mixed nuts, however, doesn’t feel like you’re missing out. It’s the optimum snack choice, in my opinion!
@Sheamus
Good call… I have been eating almonds on a regular basis since starting my diet… I cannot believe I left them out of this post… Time to make a minor edit. Thanks !
And I can’t believe I left almonds out of my list, either! ;D
Snacking is my worst habbit!! It literally ruins my healthy diet daily. I eat 3 good healthy meals, but snacking between them kills me!
[...] My concern was the calories, carbs, and the protein to carb ratio. At 170 calories the bar is 14% of my daily allowance. The bar contains 31g of carbohydrates and only 4 g of dietary fiber; therefore, a countable carbohydrate count of 27g. That is 3 of my 6 carbohydrates for the day. The bar contains 5g of protein, which give the bar a 5:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio. The ratio was the issue my weight loss doctor had with the bars. In order to balance the ratio I ate the bars with 2 servings of roasted edamame. [...]
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