20 Healthy Snacks

* This is part of a year-long series called "52 Weeks to Eating better than Ever". Click on the side bar for more information and to read the previous essays.
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If you’re active, then you’ll be hungry.  You must be creative and have some good snacks on hand to regularly choose, to tide you over until it’s time for a bigger meal.  Otherwise, when you do eat, you’ll end up overeating.  The following snacks contain between 200-400 calories, are very fast to prepare, and taste good.  Keep this list on hand to give you some ideas for healthy snacks.  Remember, our goals are:
 

• Taking in nutrients we need- protein, carbohydrates & healthy fats.
• Consuming plenty of foods which are high in vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and antioxidants.  
• Moderating caloric intake, and adjusting it according to our activity levels and goals.
• Moderating our intake of simple sugars, unnecessary carbohydrates, and unhealthy fats.  
• Enjoying what we eat.  
• Basing our diets primarily around healthy fruits and vegetables, lean sources of fish, chicken and other proteins, as well as unsaturated sources of fats like nuts and olive oil and slowly digesting carbohydrates like beans and brown rice.

 
Keep in mind that these are snacks that I personally use and I am extremely active.  You may not be very active, and may sit all day at work, so you may need to severely limit your portions sizes on these.  Adjust accordingly.  The key is to have a good battery of things you routinely turn to when you need some nourishment fast, in order to avoid empty calories.  
 
Avoiding Empty Calories is the Name of the Game

So here they are...
My 20 favorite snacks:
 

1. Lowfat greek yogurt with a small handful of nuts.
2. 2 Slices of whole grain bread with almond butter and an apple.
3. Glass of skim milk and a banana with peanut butter.
4. Low fat cottage cheese and grapes.
5. Carrots, celery, and hummus.
6. 1 medium serving of popcorn, sea salt and no butter.
7. ½ - 1 can of tuna with pickles and 4 whole grain crackers.
8. Apple slices and 1 TBSP of peanut butter.  
9. Turkey sandwich with whole grain bread, tomatoes, and mustard.
10. Cold al dente pasta with olives, olive oil, parmesan, and tuna.
11. 1 can of sardines, 2 pickles, and ½ a cup of blackberries.  
12. ½ cup of Sauerkraut, 1 slice of cheese, 1 prune.
13. 1 cup of dry whole grain cereal, a tablespoon of cashews, and a peach.
14. 1 smoothie with whey protein, 1 cup of strawberries, ½ tbsp. of almond butter.
15. ½ of an avocado on 4 whole grain crackers.
16. 1 serving of oatmeal with one boiled egg.
17. Medium salad with dark green lettuce, black beans, olive oil, and sunflower seeds
18. 1 can of low sodium soup or chili.
19. 1 serving of cottage cheese with pecans.
20. 1 green apple and a low-fat piece of swiss cheese.   

 
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