snack attack!

Do you ever feel like you’re full from snacking by the time dinner makes it to the table? Are you snacking throughout the day as well as eating full meals? According to recent research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, we are eating 276 more snack calories per day than we did in 1977. We are also eating and drinking about 123 more calories per day at meals. Such increases hardly make our world’s ongoing battle with overweight and obesity a mystery. Nor do they make it an easier fight to win.

Keep a lid on your between-meal nibbling by planning ahead and having healthy snacks on hand that will not only fill you up but also provide some worthwhile nutrients, good flavor and textural appeal.

Here are a few “out of the box” healthful snack ideas to keep your tank filled throughout the day:

• Stash edamame in your freezer for a healthy treat.
• Buy bags of jicama strips (or burn some calories and cut your own) for a crunchy bite.
• Thirsty? Slash calories and decrease the volume of fruit juice by cutting it with seltzer water for a sparkly hydration break—or just put a slice of citrus in the seltzer and skip the juice.
• Need a midafternoon wake-up call? Try spicy wasabi peas. Hello!
• Slow down the snacking with half a cup of pumpkin seeds in the shell. You can’t just gobble them down that way.
• Try dried figs, apricots or apples to satisfy a sweet yen and get some fiber.

What is your favorite go-to snack? Tell me at content@ideafit.com.