let's talk healthy snacks

[emmasmommy]

dh and i have been on a get healthy kick since the beginning of the year (those of you who are my fb friends know this lol).
so, tell me, what are some of you favorite healthy snacks? we're both trying to cut out carbs so ixnay on the crackers and the like.

thanks :)

[dailydwellin]

Fruit... :)

I've been going to WW meetings and that's become the best snack for me. I try to just have fruit for my snacks.

[jacinda]

Roasted almonds. Yum!

[Jenn Barrette]

here are my usual snacks -
hummus and veggies
1% cottage cheese and some fruit
oatmeal with nuts and cranberries
hardboiled egg and some veggies
banana and a tbsp of peanut butter
avocado with a little cheese (broiled for 4 mins) with siracha sauce
chickpea salad with lime and cilantro
homemade muffins (use this recipe - http://www.marthastewart.com/339779/healthy-morning-muffins and add some zucchini, some ground flaxseed, dried cranberries)

[BrattyMeg]

celery sticks/pb
turkey/cheese rollups

Turkey and Cheese Roll-Ups
Cut one part-skim mozzarella cheese stick in half lengthwise. Roll about 1 ounce of sliced roasted turkey breast around half of a part skim mozzarella cheese stick and repeat with the remaining cheese and turkey to make a total of two roll-ups.

[Darcy Baldwin]

Jenn has a lot of what we have for snacktime
handful of nuts or stick of cheese
green smoothie
banana/chocolate ice cream (frozen banana and some ovaltine in the blender)
(feels like we're eating something decadent)
kale chips/dehydrated veggie chips - doesn't fill us up but it lets us feel like we're having salty/crunchy which is a weakness for all of us which we find is a huge issue in our family - feeling deprived of a kind of food more than hunger.

[MamaBee]

celery and hummus
celery and peanut butter
apple and cheese
string cheese sliced in disks and then nuked in micro for 20 sec - great cracker alternative
pecans, dried cranberries, and dark choco chips - that is my when I need something sweet...
oranges

[carriesmom]

apple and some almonds
greek yogurt and a piece of fruit
strawberries and a piece of two of dark chocolate
whole wheat toast and some peanut/almond butter
Apples and peanut butter
veggies and hummus
turkey and some cubed cheese
a Lara bar in a pinch.

[Milmomma]

veggies, any and all. No dips for me.
Pistachios
tuna

[mrshobbes]

apples and peanut butter
dried mango (not sure if it's sold over there)
trail mix (dried cherries, raisins, almonds, pistachios, dried blueberries)

[Jenn Barrette]

mmmmm....Larabars. I used to buy a big box of them, but I totally binge on them if I do!

[Nettio]

I try to avoid sugar, dairy and grains which can make it tough so this is what I mostly eat:

Fruit - whatever looks decent and isn't too expensive
Dried fruit (like craisins) - great for on the go or as a back up if you run out of fresh stuff
Celery & hummus
Fire ants on a log - celery with peanut butter and craisins
Lunch meat - I try to find the more natural stuff so it's not so processed
Adam makes his own nut mix with almonds and raisins

[BrattyMeg]

I try to avoid sugar, dairy and grains

Paleo? I thought of trying it but man..no dairy? I do love cheese lol

[Nettio]

Paleo? I thought of trying it but man..no dairy? I do love cheese lol

Yep, Paleo. We aren't super hard core about it (like I still eat Multi-Grain Cheerios for breakfast most days because I'm lazy, haha) but we've been doing it for a year now. We started it as a challenge for Lent last year which we're doing again this year. I actually think I like it more than Adam even though he was the one who had to convince me originally. :D

And I too love dairy & bread but honestly? I don't miss them even though I thought I would. If anything it's weird to me to eat them now. Plus I feel SO much better when I don't eat all of that stuff. Over Christmas we didn't worry about it and OMG we both regretted it because we felt horrible!

[BrattyMeg]

I've really cut out my sugars and on Thanksgiving I had a tiny sliver of pie and felt so sick

I don't really eat a lot of bread..mine is more dairy. I have a small bowl of cereal everyday for a snack since we eat dinner pretty early..

I might read into it more..I saw a blog of a guy that lost so much weight and toned up with exercise and eating Paleo..almost motivated me to try it lol

[Nettio]

Well I've always eaten cereal dry so that wasn't much of an issue with me. But we also buy almond milk which is what we use instead on the rare occasion we need milk for something.

This is the only diet Adam's had good success with in terms of losing weight - especially when he was really hardcore about it. And while I'm pretty petite already and wasn't trying to lose weight when we first started, even I saw a clear difference - like that little ab pooch that never would go away from exercising totally disappeared. It was kind of like everything toned up without me having to do all the work, haha.

So yeah, I'd definitely recommend it! It takes a little getting used to just because it can be pretty restrictive but there's a ton of recipes out there now. That's partly why we did the Lent challenge - because it was easier to start by only committing to 40 days than to be like, I'm going to eat this way forever. And most of the time now we aim for about 80% Paleo which gives a little wiggle room. I know a ton of people pair it with Crossfit and have AMAZING results!

[BrattyMeg]

funny you mention crossfit..bought it at a local gym on Groupon yesterday lol

p.s sorry Laura to hijack your snacks thread lol

[carriesmom]

mmmmm....Larabars. I used to buy a big box of them, but I totally binge on them if I do!

They are so addicting! I have to limit myself to 1 a day. Tops. I love Cherry Pie, Chocolate Cream Pie, and Chocolate Brownie.

[Nettio]

LOL, Crossfit scares me. I know Adam looked into since it's really popular in the military crowd here but it was expensive - like $160 a month for one person.

[mariewilcox]

I always make sure I have protein and a complex carb (as in fruit, vegetable, or legumes not grains) together but I don't eat any processed foods either, so protein bars, etc. are out for me. I snack on:

Apples with all natural nut butter (almond, cashew, or peanut)
Homemade granola with plain greek yogurt (no sugar)
Homemade hummus with vegetables
All natural turkey breast slices wrapped up in romaine leaves with hummus
A handful of nuts (unsalted, unroasted)
85% cocoa square with a few raw almonds
Roasted chickpeas
Kale chips
Small piece of fruit or berries with plain greek yogurt
Smoothie

[BrattyMeg]

it looks so hard..not mentally ready for it right now but the groupon has a pretty long date span lol

it was too good of a deal it's 4 private training sessions and 1 group class after for $25! You could buy up to 4..it's a $220 deal

[KateD]

My hubby's doing crossfit at a local gym and he's trying to talk me into doing it, too. I think it might just kill me if I tried to do it right now! And, yes, it is expensive. I don't want to spend that much to torture myself :)

[YepBrook]

I'm thinking of going Paleo as well... I've been researching it and it seems like it would work for our family. The only thing really holding me back is dairy. :p I love yogurt and real milk in my coffee! Since starting WW, I'm finding less & less cravings for grains & sugar, so that's good.

My snacks are:

Fruit (orange, apple, kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, and mango are my fave lately)
One babybel cheese
A roll or 2 of sliced Boars Head meat (ham or chipotle chicken usually)
Veggies (sliced bell peppers, carrots, cucumber, sugar snap peas, and celery)
Fage greek yogurt

[coopert]

For healthy my oldest eats fruit, any kind. My youngest likes a plate of cashews, string cheese and apples or berries. Youngest also loves apples slices dipped in sunflower butter. My kids have bread for sandwiches, but otherwise our house is gluten and carb free. It can be hard coming up with snacks.

[coopert]

Just read all of the other comments about paleo. I've been mostly paleo for almost a year and recommend it to everyone. Take things out slowly. And as for the cheese, I thought I would miss it. But after taking it out of my diet and then reintroducing it after 6 weeks, it gave me terrible intestinal problems. Also I wasn't trying to lose weight, just feel good with more energy. I ended up losing over 20 pounds.

[tanyiadeskins]

I dont think there is not anything that hasnt been said Laura... but if you really like a dip...like hummus or something but want to avoid crackers, use slices of cucumber. Those are our new crackers ;)

[Nettio]

My hubby's doing crossfit at a local gym and he's trying to talk me into doing it, too. I think it might just kill me if I tried to do it right now! And, yes, it is expensive. I don't want to spend that much to torture myself :)

LOL, exactly! When he told me how much it would be, I was like, I think I can find other ways I'd much rather spend that money. :D But I'm much more of a pilates/elliptical kind of girl, haha.

[emmasmommy]

I dont think there is not anything that hasnt been said Laura... but if you really like a dip...like hummus or something but want to avoid crackers, use slices of cucumber. Those are our new crackers ;)
oooh! good suggestion!