Over the years I have tried MANY diets, and because I’m an avid reader, I always read the corresponding best selling book that goes along with each diet.
To save you the time and aggravation of all that reading and diet experimentation, I’m going to boil it down into one of the common themes I found in almost all of them—rules for healthy snacking.
Rules For Healthy Snacking
The numbers in parentheses after each “rule” indicate which sources offer the advice (sources are listed at the end of this article).
You’ll notice no concessions here for potato chips or candy bars. If this confuses you, please read the title again. Also, believe me, I tried very hard to find a credible cookie diet that would help me lose weight and be healthy—no luck.
- Always combine a carbohydrate with a protein (1, 2, 4)
- Eat every 3-4 hours (1, 3, 5, 6, 7)
- Snacks should be between 100 and 200 calories (2, 3)
- Eat clean by avoiding processed foods (4, 6, 7)
- Don’t eat after 8 pm (4, 5, 7), but if you do JUST protein (4, 5)
- Avoid high glycemic index foods (3, 4, 6, 7)
- Drink lots of water (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
Suggestions For Healthy Snacks
Here are a few suggestions to help you out. Simply choose one item from the protein column and another from the carbohydrate column to create a well-balanced, healthy snack.
PROTEIN |
CARBOHYDRATE |
½ c hummus |
1 red bell pepper, cut in strips |
1 oz nuts |
20 grapes |
1 cheese stick |
1 apple or pear |
2 T nut butter |
unlimited celery sticks |
3 slices turkey |
1 dill pickle |
½ c black bean dip |
20 baked corn chips |
1 c tuna |
¼ avocado |
1 c greek yogurt |
½ c berries |
½ c cottage cheese |
12 grape tomatoes |
2 oz cream cheese |
5 whole wheat crackers |
2 wedges Laughing Cow cheese |
unlimited carrot sticks |
Sources:
- Body For Life (Bill Phillips)
- Cook This Not That (David Zinczenko & Matt Goulding)
- Extreme Fat Smash Diet (Dr. Ian Smith)
- Master Your Metabolism (Jillian Michaels)
- The New Metabolic Effect Diet (Jade & Keoni Teta)
- South Beach Diet (Dr. Arthur Agatston)
- You: The Owner’s Manual (Dr. Michael Roizen & Dr. Mehmet Oz)
This is a great post. I like how you spelled it out with the healthy snack lists of Protein and Carbs – very easy to follow. I might use this as a quick reference guide. Thanks for sharing! (PS: hehehe, look at my comment love link!) Oops 🙂
I am so inspired of getting fit this year, lots of bloggie fwiends are sharing healthy diets and exercising. I love fruits.
Those fruits in the bowl are my favorite! Thank’s for this information, I’m always dying to lose those baby fats of mine!
That’s true, choosing a healthier snacks makes us becomes more healthy and happy tummy in the end.
thank you fr this nice healthy food advice! i love the berries you got in your dish here.
Are you on the same diet as me? I so needed this list, thank you.
If it’s the “ever since I turned 40, I gain 5 pounds looking at a french fry” diet, then yes. 🙂 I hope the list is helpful.
I am trying to eat more healthy and this is a great source of info
Great Info!! We try to not eat processed foods. I stopped buying a lot of stuff, chicken nuggets what a lot of mom’s give their kids. They are the worst thing we could ever give our kids. I make them homemade now, bake and freeze. I have to trick a lot of stuff in to my sons meals, cause it can be a struggle to convince him to eat somethings.
I have a son like that too. I tried the Sneaky Chef recipes for awhile but that just made him suspicious of anything that had a sauce or where he couldn’t identify by sight all of the ingredients.
Great post! I try to eat as clean as possible because I think it is really important. I also eat a fruit or vegetable with each meal including snacks.
as we go for a healthy living as well, we slowly switching to juicy diet. Thanks for sharing !
Amazing tips. I so need these right now. I am on a diet plan, but snacking right is hard.
i eat fruits and drinks of water as much as i can too.:)
H2O is recommended on EVERY diet I have ever heard of–DRINK LOTS of WATER!! I noticed that every diet you looked at recommended that——-now that I am diabetic I really have to watch what I eat–I do tend to eat small servings several times a time that consist mostly of protein and some carb or maybe veggie. I did get my sugar way down so I must be doing something right after all these years of doing it wrong!!
Thank you for the snack chart. I have printed it out and put it on my fridge.