Weight Loss - Snacking the Right Way

Wow, we can snack! Yes if you snack the right way you can control your weight!

This information is aimed at the person who is only a few pounds overweight and not to the really large people out there {it will help you but if you have more than a few pounds to lose you might want to go on a proper diet in conjunction with the healthy snacking ideas below.}

We all generally eat moderate size meals but tend to get a little peckish between them and head for the bad but tasty snacks we all love - chips, candy bars and of course that lovely chocolate and chocolate cake. These snacks are what put us over the edge as far as our calorie needs are concerned. Now we need to get into a good snacking habit - not easy but oh so good for the hips.

Snacks are usually full of all the wrong stuff and not usually helpful in a normal diet. Most contain a high calorie count, salt, sugar, the unhealthy kind of fat and of course those dreaded additives. So by changing our "yummy" snacking habits to a more healthy snacking habit we can and will avoid harmful additives which are potentially dangerous to our health and well being and slowly start losing the extra weight we are carrying around.

Healthy snack foods

We all love that tasty snack between meals and knowing you dont have to rely on chips, candy or fizzy drinks to help with the hunger pangs is a bonus as there are plenty of healthy snack foods out there that we can consume.

A few examples are:

Fruit and Veg

Not only are these foods good for the body but they are extremely easy to take with you wherever you may need to go, be it work or play these edibles will help increase your energy and start you on a healthy snacking habit.

Below are a few examples:
Apples
oranges
bananas
carrots or carrot sticks
celery sticks
etc

Cereals & Nuts

These are fun to eat and a very healthy snack. Start snacking on these while watching TV or on front of the computer, not only will they help with the hunger pangs but eaten in place of the chips or candy your weight will probably decrease, remember though do not overindulge as you are trying to change your snack habits to assist with losing weight and over indulging will probably make you put on a little weight.

A few examples of these:
Granola bars
trail mix
nut mixes
dried fruit with nuts
etc

Some delicious concoctions

For the sweet tooth out there here are some delicious healthy snacking ideas.

Fruit smoothies - using low fat yogurt and the fruit of your choice you can blend the fruit to a liquid and add it to your yogurt making a easy smooth drink that satisfies even the hungriest of person - I personally use and mix these fruits - oranges, apples, peaches, pineapple, paw paw and carrots in my smoothie - basically this is the only way I eat fruit and carrots:-) I also tend to drink this about 4 times a day just cause the smoothie tastes so good.

Yogurt Sundae - Using low fat yogurt, cut up some of the fruit you love into little pieces, add to the yogurt with granola and/or nuts, put into a glass and sprinkle some crushed nuts over the top. This is yummy:-) but for me it is to much hard work, I would rather just blend all my fruits together and store in the fridge. This makes it easier for me as I take half a large glass of the fruit mixture and half a glass of low fat yogurt, mix and enjoy. For a little bit more sweetness you can add a tablespoon of honey into the blended fruit.

So remember healthy snacking is pretty easy and because you are cutting down on unhealthy calories, salt and lots of unneeded processed sugar, you will slowly start to lose the unwanted weight with out actually going on a diet and you will receive a healthy kick of energy as well.