Snacks

allwildgirl

allwildgirl

Cathlete
All right ladies. I need some help. I eat lots throughout the day when I'm at work. Forget five small meals a day. I eat about every hour. And I eat a lot of fruit. For example, today I have an apple, pear, banana, some melon chunks and a plum. I'm pretty good with meal planning, but I need some ideas for snacks. I'm wondering if I'm eating too much fruit and should I substitute with something else. The question is what? What does everyone eat for snacks?
 
We have a snack machine here at work that dispenses a small handfull of almonds for a quarter. I hit that machine at least once a day. Otherwise I snack on carrots or mini bags of low fat microwave popcorn.
 
I eat apples (with p/b sometimes), bananas (again with p/b), melon, nectarines, tangarines, granola bars, l/f cottage cheese, protein bars...

ETA: A ziplock full of dry cereal is also a great snack!

~Wendy~

I smoked my last cigarette on March 17, 2004 at 10:00 pm!

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?WENDYMIN

http://lilypie.com/days/050519/1/0/1/-5/.png[/img]
EDD: 05/19/05
 
I should be the "Dairy Queen" as I eat alot of cheese and sprinkle cheese on everything like on Salad and in my Chili.
I also snack on...
sunflower seeds
almonds
yogurt
trail mix
tortilla chips with my homemade salsa
cottage cheese
salads
Watermelon, Honeydew, Cantaloupe, Pineapple, etc.

Charlotte~~
 
How about celery w/peanut butter, carrot sticks, or soy nuts? I keep a box of frosted shredded wheat cereal in my bottom drawer at work for a mid-day snack.

Angie
 
I've been on a red/orange/yellow pepper kick lately. The nice thing about these is that you can eat them like an apple, so they're a portable and unfussy snack.
 
Okay, further to this, and I KNOW this has been done before so I sincerely apologize to you for asking you to repeat it, but what is a typical day of eating like for you? I think I'm eating too much and I'd just like to compare.

My day is:

Breakfast: Cup of mixed cereal (Bran Flakes, All Bran, Kashi Go-Lean Crunch and Oat Squares) with skim milk; one piece 7 grain toast with pb.

Morning snacks: apple, pear, usually one other piece of fruit

Lunch: Big salad, or whole wheat tortilla with veggies and cheese, or brown rice with veggies or whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce; low fat yogurt

Afternoon snacks: banana and one other piece of fruit; whole wheat crackers

Evening meal: Pretty much the same selection as above, except on weekends, I'll make fish and have steamed veggies with it, or some kind of veggie pasta. I will admit that often I will have cereal for dinner.

I don't eat snacks after dinner.
 
B: kashi cereal with skim milk and a cup of coffee

S: 1 banana with p/b

S: another piece of fruit

L: a turkey sandwich on ww bread w/either a small salad or a piece of fruit...OR....a big salad with a piece of fruit and no sandwich.

S: 1 apple and 1/2 C l/f cottage cheese

S: protein bar or granola bar

D: fish, chicken or lean steak with a veggie and a carb

after work out snack: fruit and l/f cottage cheese

I don't always eat that many snacks...it depends on how hungry I am on any given day but I always eat my 3 meals w/1 snack between each meal and the after w/o snack religiously.


~Wendy~

I smoked my last cigarette on March 17, 2004 at 10:00 pm!

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?WENDYMIN

http://lilypie.com/days/050519/1/0/1/-5/.png[/img]
EDD: 05/19/05
 
I eat just about what you eat for breakfast, let's see...

B-Total Protein Cereal with a slice of Rye Bread w/butter
S- about the same or something from my snack list
L-Big Salad and a piece of turkey lunch meat..nothing else. Today I had a meatloaf sandwich
S- same as snack above
D- meat and green beans


Charlotte~~
 
You may want to cut back on the fruit just a bit, if only because it ends up being a lot of sugar (albeit nature sugars). Try adding more veggies to your diet. For example, right now I'm snacking on baby carrots and grape tomatoes that I'm dipping (lightly) in hummus. Yummy!! I also do the low-fat string cheese that another poster mentioned earlier. I do that particularly late afternoon as a protein boost for before I workout. I also like whole-wheat mini-pitas when I need carbs, or as part of lunch. Luckily I'm not a big snacker. If I'm not careful I can totally forget to eat lunch! I actually probably need to eat more.
 
That was my thought too, about the too much fruit thing. But I'm getting some good ideas here. I can forget to eat lunch too, if I'm busy, but work is quiet right now, and when I get bored, I eat. The veggies dipped (lightly) in hummus sounds delicious!
 
I think the sugar content of all that fruit might not be great. Maybe substitute one with some carrot sticks? Although...carrots have a lot of sugar too, don't they?

Nuts are good. Oatmeal. Yogurt. Whole grain crackers. OH yes, the suggestion of grape tomatoes is a good one. I love those things. And hard-boiled eggs (sans the yolk). I give the yolk to the dog. It's good for his coat.

I'm not one who pays a whole lot of attention to my sugar intake, so I don't know so much about it.
 
Hi Shelley! On looking at your menu, if I may be so bold as to suggest you make these changes:

Breakfast: McCann's oatmeal w/either blueberries or honey & raisins made w/either Rice Dream vanilla or 1% milk (your choice)
Snack: apple w/piece of cheese or ff yogurt w/fruit mixed in
Lunch: chicken/turkey or fish (your choice) w/brown rice or quinoa or some other grain that you like w/veggies + fruit--this should be your largest meal of the day
Snack: small salad w/protein
Dinner: protein + veggies
As you get closer to evening, you have to remember to make this meal your smallest & lightest as your metabolism slows up as evening approaches.

These are just suggestions. HTH, Kathy:D
 
I wouldn't worry so much about the fruit, yes they have sugars (some more than others and you may want to take that into account) but they're also LOADED with phytonutrients, antioxidents, vitamins, fiber,and water. All of which work together to nourish your body and keep you feeling satsified and full. I would cut down on the whole grains just a little and try adding in some beans (homemade hummus is a great way to do this, make it low fat and add in your own other veggies/herbs, or try soup for a snack with beans and veggies--way filling and delicious. I agree, replace the whole grain crackers with vegetables, dipped in lowfat salad dressing or hummus.
Happy Snacking!
Mattea
 
Hi Kathy!

Thanks for the great suggestions. I have a couple of questions. First, what is McCann's oatmeal? Is it different from other oatmeal (I'm in Canada, so we may not be able to get it here).

I don't eat turkey or chicken or any other meat. I do eat fish, but it's difficult to do at work. I can't do canned tuna. Would some kind of beans do for a protein at lunch?

The protein is the part I have a hard time with. I can't process meat or soy protein very well and finding replacements can be challenging.

Any thoughts?
 
Hi Shelley

I wouldn't compare what you eat with others because we're all different. I probably eat more than you!

I do think you should try and get some more protein. Even though I am veggie and tend to eat a lot of carbs, I do eat a lot of protein as well. I find that it keeps me full and I don't suffer from low blood sugar attacks anymore. When my protein intake is inadequate I end up feeling hungry every one and a half hours.

You could try all kind of beans for snacks. You can boil them and toss them with some lemon juice, onions, tomatoes, paprika and herbs. I use chick peas, mung beans and black beans. I will even sprout them if I have time. Nuts and seeds are great too.

I don't know if you can tolerate dairy but cottage cheese is a good protein source. I skip skim milk in favour of cottage cheese as its higher in protein. The sugar in fruit doesn't bother me if I combine it with protein. So I will have blueberries and apples mixed in cottage cheese or silken tofu with some splenda. But I do limit fruit to two servings per day.

Egg whites are great too. You can make a huge frittata with veggies and eat a slice for a snack. Oatmeal and protein powder tastes good too. As far as steel cut oats go, I live in Toronto and I get mine from Bulk barn. They have a great selection of whole grain cereals.

Getting protein can take a lot of planning and preparation but it becomes easy once you get into the habit. Hope this helps and happy snacking.
 
PRFitness was right on the money for you! Shelley, I would stick w/beans just b/c there so easy to put into everything and someone else also mentioned hummus which is great too! Just eliminate some of the fruit & up the veggies w/the beans that oughta do it as well as all the other advice from prfitness. Happy eating! Kathy:D
 
Thank so much for taking the time to put that reply together. I'm going to try all those suggestions. The huge adjustment for me is going to be not bringing fruit as a snack. It's just so easy, being "ready to eat" and all:) But I've known for a while that more protein would be better for me, just wasn't quite sure how to go about it.

Thanks again!
 
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