When you’re trying to lose weight, it’s important to have healthy snacks on hand to tide your appetite. If you’re too hungry when you get to your next meal, you may be more likely to overeat. Plan your snacks as carefully as you plan the rest of your meals, and you’ll be much closer to weight-loss success.
Features
Good diet snack foods are healthy and low in calories. In general, a snack should be around 250 calories or less and contain some protein. Foods that are low in nutrition–such as chips or candy–may satisfy you for a few minutes, but you will crash about an hour after eating, leaving you hungry again. Instead, you want foods that will keep you full for a long time, even though they are low in calories.
Benefits
Nobody wants to feel hungry, and, if you don’t have a snack between meals, you may become irritable. Snacks offer you the ability to give your body the nutrition that it needs so that you have the energy to make it through the day. If you constantly feel hungry on a diet, you may be more likely to give up.
Types
Fresh fruits and vegetables make ideal snacks for dieters because they are low in calories and high in fiber, which can help you to feel full longer. Pair these foods with something that has more protein for a more complete snack. For example, you could eat an apple with peanut butter or carrots with hummus. For those times when you really want something unhealthy, look for the 100-calorie snack packs. These allow you to have a taste of the food that you desire, without adding a lot of calories.
Considerations
Portion control is one of the key factors in successfully choosing good diet snack foods. For example, almonds can make for a great snack, but you should limit yourself to just a handful. If you eat more than that, you’ll be adding a lot of calories. You should always pay attention to the size of your snacks when you eat them. If you are eating something that doesn’t come in a portion-controlled package, measure out your serving and eat only that.
Warning
When looking for good snack foods, carefully read the nutrition labels. Foods that seem healthy at first glance aren’t always the healthiest choices. For example, you may quickly glance at the nutrition label and think that you’re making a decent choice–only to find out later that the package contained more than one serving and you ate two or more times the amount that you thought you were eating. Granola bars are a good example of a food that looks healthy but isn’t–one of the main ingredients is usually sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.
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