Isn't Healthy Snack an Oxymoron?

When I was told that I should eat snacks in between meals I thought people were crazy.   How can snacks be healthy? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?  After a little bit of research I found out that snacks in between meals actually help you to keep your energy throughout the day.  Oh...so maybe that's why I always used to crash and feel like napping around 2:00pm everyday.  So, in the name of health, it looks like I was supposed to eat more.  Oh no!!  I've never been one who's afraid to eat.


So Kevin and I needed to figure out what was healthy and what wasn't.  What was going to actually help us and keep us full.  It turns out that a snack should be 200-300 calories at the most. In other words, the King Size Almond Joy that we used to be so fond of...probably not a good choice.  But we were shocked to find that there are so many things that are good for you, filling, and actually taste good (shocking, I know)   

To save you time, here are a few of our favorites.

-Pistachios.  You can have 49 pistachios and it's only going to cost you a between 100-150 calories.
-Special K Meal Replacement Protein Bars - Chocolate. Peanut Butter. What else do I need to say.  And less than 200 calories.
-Baby Carrots - Dip them (no I didn't say smother them) in some fat free ranch and you're looking at less than 100 calories.
-Planter's Nut-Rition Heart Healthy Mix - pre-packaged for easy snacking and about 180 calories.
-Mini Rice Cakes - Caramel flavored? And healthy? Yep.
-Cottage Cheese w/Pineapple - You can get fat free cottage cheese with pineapple in it for less than 150 calories.
-Apples, Oranges, Pears,Pineapple - Turns out I like fruit.  Who knew?
-Celery with Cream Cheese or Peanut Butter - You can have several sticks of celery with fat free cream cheese or peanut butter for under 150 calories.
-Dried Fruit Mix - I created a dried fruit mix with dried bananas, dried pineapples, yogurt raisins, dried blueberries, and some cashews for 225 calories.

Let me know if you have any others.  I will continue to post more in future posts.