I’m always looking for healthy snack ideas. I think this is one area of my nutrition that I really need to work on. I think a lot about being able to snack healthfully involves being prepared. Having an apple and peanut butter with you at work. A baggie of date and almond snack balls in your purse. A chocolate milk ready to go for after your workout. I also want to stay away from relying on pre-packaged bars if at all possible so that I can be in control of what ingredients I’m eating.
Pinterest is great for finding all kinds of recipes, including some healthy snack recipes! I was pretty surprised to see this “smart snack” being promoted by Shape magazine today though…
The pin links to an article for healthy airport snacks under 150 calories. Are M&Ms a smart snack because you can snack on a few for under 150 calories? Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate. I really love chocolate. I’m just not sure if promoting a bag of pretzel M&Ms is really a healthy snack option though. After all, just because it meets some calorie count that doesn’t mean that it is the most nutritious thing for you. The article also tells you that a coffee and donut holes, or some mini Three Musketeers bars are good options too. I think people turn to Shape Magazine for ways to incorporate healthy changes to their lifestyle. They showcase exercises to help tone up and shape up, and include recipe ideas since a healthy lifestyle is more than about just working out. I think there were some good snack ideas in the article, but its important to tell people that there is more to a snack than its calorie content.
Enough of me on my soap box, I’m interested in knowing what your favourite things are to snack on? Like I mentioned above, there is room for improvement in my snacking habits and I could use all of the ideas I can get!
Much I could say, but the Blogger iPad combination makes commenting hard, but snacking is near and dear to my heart, maybe will address in a post.
I don’t buy health/fitness magazines anymore because of things like this.
My favorite snacks have to be veggies with hummus or granola. I make my own granola with dried cranberries – it’s so good!
I am baffled by some of the things that are promoted by magazines and fitness organizations as “great choices.” Yes, I’ll snack on M&Ms sometimes…but I know I’m not choosing the healthiest option when I do that…(unless my other option is poutine). Like you, I agree that there’s nothing wrong with having chocolate, but promoting it as a great option seems odd to me.
I like almonds and yogurt as a snack. Which reminds me – need to get to costco to replenish my almond supply.
Interesting debate. I think maybe it should have been labeled a lower cal snack instead of a healthy snack?
My favorite snack right now is 1tbsp of natural peanut butter mixed with 3 tbsp greek yogurt. Mix up and use as a dip for apple slices! So good, and if you prefer it a little sweeter, add in a little bit of honey 🙂 Keeps me full for a long time!
When I work, I bring lots of snacks. Usually fruit portioned into containers, veggies, cheese portion, yogurt, popcorn, rice cakes. I find these things aren’t really what you call “portable” snacks, so it makes it challenging. It’s not so bad in the winter, but in the dead heat of summer, I can’t leave a container of fruit and a yogurt in my car while I go for my run or run my errands. I know some of my friends are really in to the green smoothies, which are awesome. However, I read somewhere that in order to get the full nutritional value, you should consume it within 30 mins of being blended, so that makes it hard to take as a snack you can take with you. Of course for me, a LOT of the prepackaged stuff is out due to my multitude of allergies, which sucks. When I was hiking a couple summers ago in NL, I just packed some sandwiches, fruit and cheese and threw an ice pack in my bag and that seemed to work. Of course, it wasn’t overly hot either, only about 15 degrees or so. I like dark chocolate as my night time snack. After supper if I am wanting to mindlessly snack, I take 2 squares of dark chocolate (about 100 cal) and that totally satisfies me and prevents me from going off the rails! (Or I snack on carrots)
These kind of things are likely results of somewhat automated pinning processes, search for healthy airport snacks, pin without reading what they suggest. Pretzel M&Ms are delicious, just not what I’d call healthy!
Oh, definitely surprised that M&M’s (no matter how yummy or how many calories!) are being promoted as a “healthy snack”!
Some of my favorite snacks are pretzels (I REALLY love pretzels!), almonds, granola bars, edamame, whole wheat toast with peanut butter or a piece of fruit…those are usually my go-to’s!
well you know i love m&m’s… but i do not claim they are healthy!
snacks… sweet potato chips, fruit, granola bars (homemade for me due to allergies), boiled eggs, a lot of people do nuts (i just can’t).