Small Steps to Health

Surround Yourself with Snack Food for Weight Loss

January 25th, 2008 by asithi · No Comments

It is great to have healthy food at home, but unless you are on house arrest, there will be times when you need to leave the house. You should always have a snack and water with you at environments within your control, such as at work and in the car.

By having these two things easily accessible at places where you spend a lot of your time, you enjoy these two important benefits: 1. you save money from having to buy snacks and 2. you can control your calories intake from your snacks.

If you eat mostly home cooked meals and brown bag your lunches at least 3-4 days a week, then most of your excess calories is probably coming from snacking in between meals. That is the case with me. I used to hit the vending machines at work every so often at approximately 3:30-4pm. I tried to pick healthy options such peanuts, but since I was at the mercy of the vending machine stocker, sometimes I walk away with M&Ms or Snickers.

Try to keep you snacks under 200 calories. I prefer packaged snacks such as the Free Tuna Salad with crackers (150 calories), a granola bar (typically 100 calories), or yogurt (60 calories). I am lazy. I do not like to spend the time processing veggies such as celery sticks, though that is one of the best foods to eat as a snack (you use up more calories digesting celery than you are taking in). But the main reason why I like packaged snack food is that you do not always have to eat it on days that you do not need a snack. Do you feel compelled to eat your snacks when you bring them to work or keep them in your purse? Whenever I bring something fresh in such as fruits or veggies, I always feel obligated to eat it because it would not be as good the next day after sitting at my desk the whole day. Whereas, I can consider package snacks as part of my emergency plan for when hunger strikes, but remain hidden and out of sight.

Thanks for stopping by. I will see you tomorrow.

Tagged Healthy Eating

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