Summer Snack Attack

As a trainer, one of the most frequently asked questions that I receive from my personal clients or boot camp participants is "What should I eat for a healthy snack?" This is a great question because eating healthy snacks throughout the day can keep you on track to reaching your health and fitness goals. In fact, you should be eating 1-2 light snacks each day in between your larger meals so that your body is being fueled constantly (which believe it or not, ultimately helps you burn more calories throughout the day). Here is how it works: Your body needs nourishment (fuel) every 2-3 hours or it will automatically default to a "starvation mode" and consequently go into storing your fat (which is counterproductive when trying to lose weight). Since it takes about 2 hours for your body to digest food in your stomach, this is the amount of time that you should space between your meals/snacks. Keep in mind that your snacks and meals shouldn't be huge - it is much better to keep them light and with reasonable portion sizes (aka - don't eat the entire bag of almonds during your morning snack!). Measure out about a handful of your snack of choice and EAT IT SLOWLY with A GLASS OF WATER or other low-cal drink. If you are still hungry after you finish your snack and drink, wait 15 minutes before reaching back for more. Because we typically eat so fast these days, our brain sometimes doesn't have time to tell our stomach that we are full (It takes the average person's brain 20 minutes to register a full feeling in the stomach).

Now that you understand why snacking throughout the day is so important, here is a list of healthy snack options that I eat on a regular basis. Overall, I guarantee you that your hunger will be much more satisfied if you space out your meals and snacks throughout the day. And, even better news, your body's glycemic index (aka blood sugar levels) will be much more likely to stay regulated so that you do not have intense hunger pains (which usually leads to over-eating at your main meals and that uncomfortable feeling you get when you realize that you have over-eaten!) All in all, most people would agree that being able to eat more times during the day and still being able to lose that unwanted weight is a WIN-WIN situation!

Here is an example of my daily eating routine:
1. Breakfast @ 7am
2. Mid morning snack@ 9/10am
3. Lunch @ 12/1pm
4. Mid-afternoon snack @ 3/4pm
5. Dinner @ 7/8pm (The later my dinner is in the evening, the smaller I make my portions) *See previous blog - EAT LIKE ROYALTY for a guide to when and how much to eat during the day.

Healthy Snack Options:

Low-fat, lightly salted popcorn – individual bags are easy to find at any local grocery store which is convenient and makes it easy to control your snack portion

Pirate's Booty - similar to popcorn and an amazing low cal snack for anyone on the go - treat like popcorn and measure out portion to equal 1-2 handfuls

Pretzels – keep portion to a handful; dip in low fat honey mustard or peanut butter for an extra kick

Quaker crisps or Glenny’s soy crisps (you can find them in the chip aisle)

Handful of Nuts mixed with dried tart cherries, blueberries, or raisins: (almonds, peanuts, cashews, walnuts) ex. Sahale’s Spicy Soledad Almonds which you can find in any supermarket on the nut aisle

Apple with low fat peanut butter

Carrots with low fat ranch or vegetable dip

Celery with vegetable dip or hummus

Trailmix fruit and nut granola bars or energy bar containing at least four grams of protein (ex. Luna protein, Larabar, Zbar, Odwalla, *Think Thin bars etc.) Watch sugar!! Should be less than 5-7 grams (Think Thin bars are available at Whole Foods and contain 0 grams of sugar)

Half whole wheat English muffin with low fat peanut butter or low sugar jam

String cheese and low sodium deli turkey rolls with a handful of grapes

Orange slices or handful of grapes

Pineapple slices mixed with oranges

Whole Wheat Slice of bread with bananas with a drizzle of honey on top (be careful on the amount of honey used, as honey is highly caloric when used in large amounts)

Hard boiled eggs with freshly ground black pepper

Low fat Greek yogurt with chopped walnuts and honey (again, don’t overdue the honey topping)

One cup of edamame

Sliced cucumbers or whole wheat crackers with one or two wedges of Laughing cow light Swiss original cheese spread

Rye melba toast crackers with low-fat cream cheese and dried cranberries

One inch cube of hard cheese (like aged Gouda) plus four to six dried apricot halves