Gayle HThere are so many ways that we can derail our healthy eating habits!
Muffins for breakfast anyone?
A bag of chips to supplement our sandwich for lunch?
Extra helpings of those amazing mashed potatoes for dinner?
Oh, just a cookie for dessert won’t hurt anything, right?
The small things we do make a big difference!
I’ve been tracking my food for the past week and a half. I hate the process of tracking foods – very cumbersome, additional time, can’t find the foods in the database. Oh yeah, and because then you know the data behind all the food you are putting in your mouth!
But tracking our food intake is a great exercise when you are observing your habits and tendencies. Because it is so easy to gloss over a few hundred calories (rounding down) of sugar or empty carbohydrates or bad fats every day. Right?
And that is before you add in a few snacks along the way! Mid-afternoon pick me up, before dinner hold me over, after dinner grazing – and just like that – you have eaten the equivalent of an additional meal.
And what if you are a work from home professional? Your kitchen is the next office over!
A commuter to the office? Starbucks and vending machines haunt you.
Without some knowledge and planning, our snacking habits will easily derail a weight loss goal, reduce our energy, cloud our brains and impact our ability to get a really good night sleep.
So if you are going to snack, do it right! Here are a few of my favorite snacking ideas:
1: Drink Water (or water variation)
I’m going to start here because before we get too far down a road of putting more food in our mouths, I want to address a very real snacking truth.
Many times when we feel ‘hungry’ we are actually either dehydrated, bored or stuck in a bad habit.
I said it. You know it. We all do it.
Here is my true life example of my mental snacking habit – on the weekends, when the weather is conducive to an indoor day, I snuggle up on the couch and get ready to immerse myself in a movie. If that movie happens anytime after 3pm in the afternoon, there has to be a snack accompanying my movie watching. And that snack is most likely a plate of cheese and crackers or a large bag of Pirate Booty.
I’m not usually hungry. Nope. Those are just my movie snacks and … well… we are watching a movie! Oh yeah, and it is the weekend, so that’s another reason why I’ll give myself a break.
If you spend a moment observing your own snacking habits, you may also uncover a few ‘regulars’ of your own.
Are you programmed to snack when driving in the car? When the kids are eating? After dinner as you catch up on Netflix?
In addition to our snacking habits, we also have tendencies to react to hunger by eating. I’m hungry therefore I must need to eat. Right?
Not really. In fact, our brains sometimes have difficulty differentiating hunger and thirst. And, being that most of us don’t always drink the amount of water we should be drinking every day, there is an extremely good chance that your hunger feelings may simply mean that you need some hydration.
An an additional benefit of drinking water over eating a snack? Less calories.
So let’s talk about our mindsets when it comes to choosing water over a snack. What might we think?
Water is not as yummy!
I need some nutrients.
Water couldn’t possibly fill me up.
Water is so boring!
No, I’m not dehydrated – I had coffee this morning and a glass of water for lunch.
Maybe I just need liquid – a soda! Will that count?
Water has so many disguises. And these different options might start to change your mindset about water as a snack.
For example:
A big glass of water with a lemon, or lime or other fruit. Bright and fresh.
Sparkling water. Bubbly and exciting.
Sparkling water with lemon, or lime or other fruit. Bright, fresh, bubbly AND exciting!
Herbal teas – these are great if you are a sweet snacker. A peppermint tea easily tricks your body into believing that you just had something sweet. I also like Rooibos tea as an afternoon treat.
Hot water with ginger. Ginger is a natural energizer, so if you drink this as your 3pm slump snack (or replace your afternoon coffee), you get the benefit of hydration, no calories and lots of energy with no caffeine.
Other ideas:
Peppermint tea after dinner – settles the belly, relaxes the body and mind, and ‘tastes’ like dessert
Chamomile tea after dinner – relaxing and keeps you busy doing something you don’t reach for a snack.
Water with some EmergenC mixed in for a mid-morning snack. A little flavor and a lot of vitamins!
There are so many variations of water – those are just a few of my go to hydration stations and snack replacements.
Boredom, habit, hunger dehydration and no calorie snacking are all easily satiated with water.
2: Prepare Healthy Snacks
These may take you a bit more effort than grabbing a glass of water or making a cup of tea, but they have their proper place in the snacking world.
Prepared healthy snacks are great for you if:
You truly need some smaller meals in your day to hold you over
You are hungry (but are fully hydrated)
You need to add in a few veggies into your diet that you aren’t getting at meals
You have kids at home and need healthy snacks for them (I would say the same for a partner at home, but I know from experience that Rj would rather not eat than eat a carrot as a snack).
And, prepared healthy snacks are great for your Saturday movie habit or if you are bored and water just ain’t doin it for you. Grab a healthy snack – you can’t go wrong with some added veggies in your diet.
Here are my favorite ideas for prepared healthy snacks to keep on hand:
Baby carrots
Sliced cucumbers
Sliced peppers
Sliced apples
Olives
Then, if you need a little bit more (and aren’t succumbing to overeating):
Hummus (for dipping aforementioned veggies) – careful of portion size
Plain Greek Yogurt (throw some honey or berries in it if you need some sweetness)
Peanut/Nut butters (great on the apples, careful of portion size)
String Cheese (with apple or veggies – nice rounding of protein with those carbs, and makes you feel less deprived)
Trail mix (dried fruits and nuts – make your own or buy at store)
And, if you still want some chip oriented snack on hand:
Popcorn (not loaded with butter and salt – just some nice plain popped popcorn)
Popcorn based chips (be careful of flavorings and overeating these!!)
Chips and salsa (If you can eat these without a margarita in your hand)
The snacks that I have just listed above are just as easy to get at the store as chips, crackers, cheese, cookies, candies – and other stackable items that we tend to lean on when we get the urge to snack. It is not the accessibility of healthy food that keeps us back – it’s our habits!
And if these snacks feel a bit out of your reach for the moment, try just adding one new idea to your refrigerator or cupboard this week. Just one. See what you think.
3: Healthy Snacks Delivered to Your Door
Foods delivered to your door are amazing time and energy savers. Someone else takes the time to think about your food, buy your food, packages your food and then delivers it all to your door!
And with the choices we now have on the market for food delivery, the prices have started to regulate nicely and you can get a great box of food for a very reasonable price. Definitely worth the time and thinking you’ll save trying to manage your own stash of healthy snacks.
Not to mention, you’ll get to try a bunch of foods that you may not have tried in the past. Some you’ll love, some you may not, but I find it very fun to experiment.
Here is where I will make a specific product recommendation because I love this and think you all could benefit from The Zest Box.
My sister introduced me/Danielle because of our love for healthy foods. Danielle is a cancer survivor as well an aunt to a cancer patient. Her story is amazing – and her business is reflective of her values. Which was the first reason I decided to try her box of goodies.
Danielle’s Zest Boxes are filled with healthy snacks AND each month has a theme as well. This month it was Himalayan Salt – so other than there being some fun Himalayan Salt themed snacks, there was also a lovely Himalayan Salt candle included in the box.
I am not an affiliate of Danielle’s, just a fan and a supporter of healthy ideas that I can share with others. And, as icing on the healthy snack cake, a portion of profits from The Zest Box go to Alex’s Lemonade Stand (children’s cancer foundation).
So if you need someone else to help you out with healthy snacking, looking for some fun new snack ideas and love the convenience of having food show up on your doorstep once / month, check out The Zest Box.
Or check out other snack outsourcing as well! Worth your money to save time, thought and health
Snacking CAN work to your overall health benefit! Get a little creative, let someone plan and shop for you or just drink some more water – it’s all good.
Gayle H
