I never spent too much time thinking about snacking until I was in residency. I had horrible eating habits in high school and college. I didn’t do much better in medical school, where half my calories came from coffee, milk, and sugar. Once I started residency, snacking became key because I would never know if and when I could sit down for a meal and where that meal would come from. It also became evident to me that not eating for 6 hours in a row was no longer an option. I felt dizzy and cranky and I definitely wanted my brain to work at its best. That’s when I became more interested in eating healthy and exercising as part of my self-care.
If you have read other blog posts on my page, you may have noticed a theme. The key to maintain good habits, such as healthy eating, working out, getting enough sleep, and any other habit you can think of is planning and consistency. If you are constantly making decisions when you are busy, tired, or hungry, there is a higher chance you will pick whatever is the easiest. Unfortunately, the easy choice is often the unhealthy meal or skipping the work out.
Snacking is no different. Below are some rules I live by in order to make good choices for my snacks. These include things you should definitely do and things to avoid. After the rules, I will have some suggestions for great snack options for adults (spoiler alert: Goldfish did not make the cut!).
Top Ten Snack Rules
- Do not keep unhealthy snacks in your house. If you don’t have them, you can’t eat them. I love cheddar and sour cream chips, which is why I never buy them. I indulge in them every once in a while for special occasions.
- Plan your snacks. When I go food shopping, I have in mind the snacks I want. This way, there are always available in the house.
- Make it easy. Chop up fruits and veggies in advance. Divide any items you will take ahead of time. Every step that is taken care before a busy day increases the chance you will stick with the plan.
- Eat often. I advise my patients that are prone to headaches to eat every 2-3 hours. We should all try to do this. I like to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with snacks in the morning and afternoon.
- Do not eat from the bag or container. We have all eaten a full bag of chips or container of hummus by accident. By dividing the snacks into appropriate serving sizes, you will know how many calories you are getting and also avoid having too many.
- Keep snacks small. Snacks should be around 200 calories (can be more if you are very active or need a lot of calories).
- Choose the right type of snack. Protein, protein, protein! Pair protein with healthy fats and/or whole grains for a winning combo.
- Be mindful of drinks with calories. It is easy to ignore the calories we drink. A specialty drink from your favorite coffee shop can easily be several hundred calories. Even things like iced-tea or sports drinks can add up. I like to stick with water, regular coffee, and the occasional tea.
- Stay seasonal. Fresh berries in the summer. Everything pumpkin in the fall. Dark chocolate in the winter. You will save money by buying food that is in season and it will look more appealing since it is fresh!
- Don’t forget to indulge every once in a while. If you generally live a healthy lifestyle, it will be very easy to fit in the snacks that don’t make the every day cut every once in a while!
Snack Ideas
- Veggies: grape tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers (be sure to have them cut and pre-packaged!). This list is not exhaustive by any means.
- Fruits: berries, apples, clementines, grapes (I keep them rinsed and separated in a bowl in the fridge), watermelon, mango, avocado. You can use fresh or frozen.
- Hummus with veggies or whole grain crackers, be sure to serve yourself the right amount and not eat from the container.
- Kind bars: this is my favorite brand since it has less sugar than others but I am sure there are other options for healthy granola or protein bars. Read the label for all the nutrition information.
- Greek yogurt: lots of protein and there are fat free, low-fat, or full fat options depending on what you need. Yogurt can always be layered with fruits, cereal, or granola.
- Nuts: any kind without added salt or sugar.
- Pop-corn (no butter or extra salt).
- Peanut butter or other nut butters: pair them with fruits or celery.
- Low fat cheese.
- Trail mix: make your own by combining whole grain cereal, nuts, seeds, and dried fruits.
- Hard-boiled eggs (make ahead with your Instant Pot!).
I didn’t include recipes for healthy snacks since I wanted to make this guide for snacking about easy, quick, and healthy options but will have a separate blog post in the future with some of the recipes I use. My favorite is for strawberry oatmeal bars, which are delicious, healthy, and can be easily frozen if you make large batches. This also comes in handy for when there are extra berries that need to be used.
Snacking can sometimes have a bad connotation. I hope this post can help you get started or give you more inspiration to continue on a path of healthy eating.