Discovering Excellent Snacking Habits
Snacking can be the destruction of any good diet. Healthy snacks can seem like an impossible fairy tale when you are working hard to eat only nutritious foods. Even the word snack can bring to mind potato chips and cookies. Healthy snacking is actually good for you, if it is done correctly. Snacks are an important part of any daily caloric intake, especially when your meals are spaced more than 4 hours apart. In situations where healthy meals are difficult to find, a good snack can mean the difference between starving yourself for a few hours and then gobbling up the first food you find and enjoying a small and healthy meal at normal mealtimes.
Snacking begins with a menu. Just like planning a large meal, snacking takes planning to create something healthy and nutritious. Keeping a large selection of foods that are considered acceptable snacks on-hand can give you the option to eat something nutritious rather than something fattening. The first step to providing yourself and your family with healthy snacks is getting an idea of what snacks are good for you.
Some delicious alternatives to the standard potato chip and cookie snack base are fruits and vegetables. It might seem like a simple idea, but even replacing one snack of cookies or candy with a choice of fruits or vegetables can cut calories, fat and sodium in your diet. Small changes really do make a large difference, especially in diet. The next time you want to reach for a salty bag of chips, try some carrot sticks instead. You get the crunch that you crave without the salt and fat. If carrot sticks are not your favorite, there are options like celery, raw spinach leaves or even raw broccoli and cauliflower. These snacks are not only low in fat and calories but they are extremely high in nutrients that many families do not get enough of.
Fruits are perfect for snacking and most come in their own wrapper! An apple, a banana or an orange can be the perfect portable snack for anyone who has a busy day planned. Fruits contain the sugars that your body craves when you are hungry, making them very satisfying. Trade that candy bar for an orange and you will get the same fulfilled feeling without the calories and fat. For those of us on diets that restrict caffeine or salt, fruit is an excellent option for snacking. Even small amounts of chocolate can contain caffeine and plenty of fat. Oranges and apples are completely caffeine free!
Simple snacks like nuts can also be a great replacement for potato chips. Nuts often come in salted or unsalted varieties. The very best choice for snacking is a raw and unsalted nut, but small amounts of salted nuts are also acceptable in most diets. If you notice that during your day you often become very hungry or tired between meals, then healthy snacking is definitely something you should consider in your diet. Often, we have no choice but to eat breakfast very early in the morning before leaving for work or school. Our lunch will be 6 hours later and 6 hours is too long to go to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Give yourself some time in the morning to stop for a snack and you will feel more energized by lunch time. Eating a healthy snack just 3 or 4 hours after breakfast can also deter you from eating a huge lunch. We all know that those giant lunches make us tired by the time 2 o'clock rolls around. Especially when you are working outside or in extreme conditions, snacking can be very beneficial to your body.
Good snacking habits can lead to a steady blood sugar level throughout the day. One of the main causes of diabetes and other metabolic diseases is the lack of a steady blood sugar rate. When we become very hungry, our mood often turns sour. Snacking is the perfect way to control those mood swings that come from low blood sugar levels, especially between meals. Low blood sugar also causes fatigue during the day. A small snack can allow you to avoid those fatigued feelings during your work day. Fruit is one of the best snacking choices to create a healthy and stable blood sugar level when there is a large time period between meals. Fruit juices are another options for delicious snacking and they come in such a variety of flavors that you are bound to find something that you enjoy.
Good snacks do not have to be only fruits and vegetables. Besides nuts, there are plenty of options for healthy snacks. Low fat cheeses like mozzarella and cottage cheese can be a great addition to your snacking program. String cheese is another portable snack that even children enjoy. Sunflower seeds and raisins also make excellent and portable snacking choices. Sunflower seeds contain healthy fats that your body requires. Raisins are sugary but they provide a burst of energy that can pep you up for the rest of the day when enjoyed after lunch. Green tea and ginger tea are also healthy snack items. A cup of green tea contains caffeine, but it also contains many antioxidants that are beneficial to your skin and overall health. Ginger tea is excellent to settle a stomach and decrease bloating that often happens after a large lunch.
Snacking does not have to be the bane of your existence. Even though there are a huge number of snack choices on the market, it is very important that you make healthy decisions when it comes to snack foods. A small bag of chips or pretzels is an acceptable snack if you only choose it occasionally. Even a candy bar is not terrible as long as you do not eat them every day. The real issue in snacking comes from making bad choices because you are extremely hungry. If you plan your snacking options, you will never get to the point that you will eat anything because you are starving!
Eating healthy snacks, making dieting easy!
At Tavva Kitchen we’re passionate about providing the highest quality products with a focus on simple and easy solutions to create daily healthy eating habits.
We believe that the most important factor in achieving weight-loss success is to find a way to cope with your cravings. Our stainless steel storage containers with silicone lids make easy and fun to portion your healthy snacks for IIFYM, Paleo, Keto or any custom diet plan.
Enjoy your healthy food habits!
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