Since I started my journey to clean eating almost 10 months ago, I have incorporated snacks into my daily routine. That's because it's way better for our metabolism to eat 5-6 times a day instead of only 3. I was never a snacker before. I just ate breakfast, lunch and dinner. I really wasn't hungry between meals. But my metabolism was also slow as molasses. At first it was tough for me to remember to eat every 2.5-3 hours, so I had to set an alarm on my phone to remind me when it was snack time. But as soon as my metabolism started to increase, I no longer had to rely on anything but my hunger reminding me to eat. I am almost always hungry at snack time now, especially because my body is used to that schedule.
So you might be thinking that adding two snacks per day would only make you GAIN weight, since you'd be adding more calories. But NOPE! You aren't going to really add more calories, you will just be adjusting your meals to be fewer calories to accommodate for your snacks. Plus, if your metabolism starts to increase, you'll be burning more calories too. So, a few extra will not matter-- you'll come out even and never be hungry!
Honestly, in addition to helping you burn more calories more quickly, eating more often also prevents you from having that panicky "I'm starving" mentality when dinnertime does roll around. And we all know what happens when you start to feel your painfully empty stomach growling, your blood sugar drop, and your mood start to deteriorate-- you want to eat anything in site! Forget your plans to eat a healthy dinner! You start either gorging your face with whatever is closest (is that a Taco Bell over there?) or else you eat too fast and too much, resulting in that oh-so-familiar stuffed feeling that leaves you with the need to unbutton your pants. Ring a bell? I thought so.
So try it. Seriously, try it for a week. Try eating more often and see if you don't feel more energy without the blood sugar highs and lows. See if you don't have more control over eating healthy and sticking to proper portions. And see if you aren't more satisfied overall. But don't just snack on chips and cookies. That defeats the whole idea.
So what should you snack on? Here is a list of my 20 favorite clean eating snacks. I always include a protein and a complex carbohydrate so that my body takes longer to process the carbs, resulting in fewer blood sugar spikes. The protein is also more satisfying, meaning you will stay full longer.
1. apple slices dipped into 2 Tbsp natural peanut butter
2. strawberries and 12 cashews
3. cucumber slices and cherry tomatoes dipped into hummus
4. nonfat plain greek yogurt with mixed berries and 1 tsp honey
5. string cheese and handful of grapes
6. 2 hardboiled eggs with the yolks removed, filled with hummus
7. Ak-Mak crackers topped with turkey and cheese
8. 1 piece of Ezekial toast topped with natural peanut butter and 1/2 banana sliced
9. celery sticks stuffed with either natural peanut or almond butter and topped with raisins and cinnamon
10. Lara Bars (my fave is apple pie)
11. Quest Bars (my faves are chocolate chip cookie dough and strawberry cheesecake)
12. Trader Joe's spicy egg white salad with 5 whole grain crackers
13. romaine lettuce leaves wrapped around turkey, avocado and bell pepper slices
14. mini sweet peppers dipped in guacamole
15. 1 cup edamame salad (shelled edamame, corn, black beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers all tossed in a mixture of olive oil, lime juice, cilantro and cumin)
16. 2 no bake peanut butter oatmeal energy balls
17. Shakeology
18. veggies dipped into ranch or onion dip made with greek yogurt (instead of sour cream)
19. 1 cup quinoa strawberry feta salad
20. frozen banana/peanut butter "sandwiches"
I hope that some of these snack ideas are helpful to you! What would you add to this list?
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