Just the words “snack food” sound tempting. Snacks are delicious and fun to eat, and they’re just a snack after all, right? Except poor snack food choices can shipwreck even the most disciplined, healthy, balanced diet.
The following fast, healthy snack food ideas will not only let you avoid the added sugar, salt and unhealthy fats of processed snacks, they’ll help you keep your weight management on track too.
Try These Quick and Easy Low-Calorie Snack Ideas
It’s not always easy to surrender your chips and cheesies, but try one or more of the following snack ideas, all of which are 200 calories or less, and start yourself down the road to healthy snacking and better weight management.
- Edamame – If you’ve heard of the health benefits of soybeans, you know how good edamame is for you. Edamame beans are whole, immature soybeans. They are high in dietary fibre and protein-packed with all the essential amino acids. One cup of edamame contains 18.5 grams of protein and 200 calories. You can enjoy them from straight from the pod (it’s fun getting them out of the pods) or shelled.
- Hummus & Raw Vegetables – This one can make you forget potato chips forever. Whether you use store-bought hummus or make your own, you’ll get about 200 calories from four or five tablespoons, not to mention healthy fat, protein and fibre. The delicious mix of blended chickpeas, olive oil, tahini, lemon juice and spices to taste, is a perfect contrast for the healthy flavours of carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, celery sticks or cherry tomatoes. So it can be a different snack every time.
- Hard-Boiled Eggs – Sometimes the easiest healthy snacks are staring you in the face every time you open the fridge door. Each egg comes in at 60 calories and is a great source of high-quality protein and a long list of vitamins and minerals. Boil a half-dozen eggs at the beginning of the week and enjoy them straight out of the shell throughout the week.
- Pistachios – While most nuts, including almonds, walnuts, peanuts and cashews make for healthy snacks, few deliver the flavour, healthy fats, protein and fibre of pistachios. And eating two and a half ounces will keep you under 200 calories.
If you’re looking for more healthy snack ideas, visit your nearest Herbal One location and talk to one of our nutritional consultants.
If you enjoyed this post, check out our recent article about what happens to your body when you stop eating sugar.