6 Health Boosting Snacks That You Can Eat Anywhere
After making the decision to eat better and maybe even lose weight, one of the biggest stumbling blocks that people come across is finding healthy snacks that they can eat during the day.
The problem with most snack foods is that they are loaded with added sugars and refined carbohydrates and lacking healthy fats, fiber, protein, and antioxidants.
However, with a little preparation and creativity, you can make delicious, nutrient-packed snacks that will support your weight loss efforts while maximizing your health. Here are 6 fast snacks, all under 400 calories, that you can start adding to your diet today.
- Coconut Raspberry Parfait
This is a simple snack made up of raspberries, Greek yogurt, coconut milk, and flaxseed meal. Raspberries have more fiber than any other fruit, and Greek yogurt is loaded with protein and probiotics. Coconut milk contains healthy fats, and flaxseed meal contains cholesterol-lowering omega-3s, and filling fiber. This is one of my all time favorite snacks. It has it all: fiber, protein, fats, and low impact carbs; plus it is very portable.
- Pistachios
Pistachios are a great snack because you can eat more pistachio nuts per ounce than any other nuts (49 nuts compared to only 22 almonds). The added difficulty of shelling each nut before you can eat it forces you to eat slower as well.
- Green Eggs
This is one of my snacks that was featured in Men’s Fitness magazine. Hard boil a couple of eggs, shell them, cut them in half (lengthwise), and remove the yolks as if you were making deviled eggs. Now, fill the hole in the egg with 1-2 teaspoons of guacamole.
- Cashew Cookie Larabar
Larabars are one of my favorite nutritional bars as they are minimally processed, have no additives, preservatives or refined sugar, and you can pronounce every food on the ingredient list (which is usually only 2 – 4 foods). One of their best flavors, Cashew Cookie, has 2 ingredients: cashews and dates.
Larabars are a great ‘emergency snack’, and are good to have around in case you need something quick and healthy. In most areas, they are available in grocery stores and gas stations. These are great to carry with you while traveling, when you may not have quick access to other healthy snacks.
- Nutrient Optimized Shakes
Nutrient Optimized Shake is just a fancy name for a smoothie that is jam packed with protein, fiber, essential fats, and other nutrients. Compared to generic meal replacement shakes that you’d find at your local grocery or supplement store (which usually lack essential fats, fiber, quality carbohydrates, and other nutrients), Nutrient Optimized Shakes are the Rolls Royce of meal replacements. The following recipe is for the Basic Nutrient Optimized Shake and is just under 300 calories.
Ingredients
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (<5g carb, <2g fat per serving)
1 1/4 cup frozen blueberries
1 Tbsp walnuts
1 Tbsp flaxseed meal
12-16oz water
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Adding more ice or less water will increase the thickness of the shake.
- Cheese Sticks
Cheese sticks are portioned, high protein snacks that are readily available just about everywhere (even gas stations). In addition to generally packing 8 grams of protein per stick, cheese sticks also contain fat. The combination of fat and protein is a physiological 1-2 bunch against recurring hunger. Both fat and protein stimulate the release of hormones that travel to your brain to let it know that you are full and satisfied.