List of Healthy Snacks

Healthy snacks are important to incorporate into your healthy eating plan. Whether you are an avid “snacker” or not, snacks are an important part of any meal plan. It is essential to eat small meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism going. Snacks are part of the “small meals”.

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The problem with snacks is that there are a lot of “unhealthy” snacks that are “convenient” and therefore, people eat them. They have no nutritional value, do not make you full and are loaded with ingredients that are bad for you.

So, the first rule with snacks is finding snacks that are healthy for you, that you will “actually” eat. I find the problem with most healthy eating plans is people don’t like the food, so they end up falling off the wagon.

The next rule with snacks is to try to incorporate a fruit or vegetable in at least one snack a day. This way you maintain your %’s of each type of food on the food pyramid.

The goal of this article is to provide you some healthy snack options that you can incorporate into your healthy eating plan.

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To see the items to add to your grocery list, see the list at the end of the blog!

1. Lindt® Dark Chocolate

Do you have a sweet tooth? I don’t have a sweet tooth per say, but after dinner I always like “just a bite” of something sweet. I am a firm believer in the 80/20 rule where you eat healthy 80% of the time. It is nice to enjoy things in moderation. If you can figure out how to successfully do this, you have won.

Some of you work best by following the “all or nothing” rule. This is okay too (obviously) but this requires a different mindset. Your new healthy eating plan is more of a lifestyle change. There are other factors besides eating that will most likely come into play if this is your situation. For the sake of this topic, we will stick with reviewing healthy snacks!

I will not tell a lie, if you are looking for the taste of sweet chocolate, this is NOT what you will be getting here. This healthy snack has the same properties as chocolate, but do not be fooled, it does not taste like what you are used to. The higher % of cacao, the less like chocolate it will taste. Find a % that works for you but try not to go below 70%. I really like Lindt® Dark Chocolate. A couple squares of this after a meal satisfies my taste buds.

This is a good time to also incorporate the idea that you may have to adjust your taste buds. Once you start acquiring these new tastes, you will get used to them, trust me. You will get excited eating things that resemble the things you used to eat, but are much better for you. This will be another hurdle you will climb to get to where you want to be. Adjusting your taste buds is just another part of conquering your healthy eating plan.

2. Kind® Bars

Kind® Bars come in a variety of flavors. Pick one that you like and stick with it. A couple of my favorite are the Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Pecan and the Madagascar Vanilla Almond! YUM! Kind® also has Kind® Fruit Bites and also Pressed by Kind® Fruit Bars if you are more of a fruit lover.

3. ProGranola® Vanilla Cinnamon Clusters

ProGranola® Vanilla Cinnamon Clusters This is a great cereal to snack on or even eat for breakfast with some skim milk! This cereal is Paleo compliant and is loaded with protein and organic fiber. Not only is this cereal delicious but it will fill you up and empty you out 😉! It has the secret formula that balances protein and fiber.

4. Terra® Chips

If you love the feeling of grabbing a bag of chips and opening them at your desk, then skip the vending machines and opt for some Terra® Chips These chips are non-GMO veggie chips that include parsnips, taros, sweet potatoes, yuccas and batatas. You are welcome 😊.

5. Garden of Eatin® Blue Tortilla Chips-No Salt

This healthy snack checks all the boxes. Garden of Eatin® Blue Tortilla Chips No-Salt is a non-GMO, Gluten Free, Organic and tasty healthy snack. The touch of sea salt is the perfect addition to these healthy corn chips. They also have tortillas for dinner tacos as well!

6. SkinnyPop® Popcorn

SkinnyPop® Popcorn is the way to go. It is convenient, nicely packaged and tastes “out of this world”. My only caution with these is that you can eat A LOT of SkinnyPop® popcorn and not be full. Stick with measured bags or smaller snack size bags so you do not overeat 😊.

7. Saffron Road® Chickpeas

Saffron Road® Chickpeas are a great healthy snack if you just want a handful of something to “sustain” your hunger until your next meal. They are non-GMO and Gluten Free so another great healthy snack.

8. Pepperidge Farm® Baked Whole Grain Goldfish

There are no artificial flavors or preservatives in this healthy snack. Do NOT buy the cute pink or colored goldfish. Any time something is “dyed” with a color, I would question that. Pepperidge Farm® Baked Whole Grain Goldfish are a great healthy snack that are good to give to your kids as well. Fun for the whole family 😉.

So, now that I have listed some easy to grab, convenient snacks, here are a couple more snack ideas that are easy to make and super healthy!

9. Plain Greek Yogurt

Stay away from the yogurts that have sweeteners in them. Choose plain Greek Yogurt and add some flavor by incorporating  some almond butter and cinnamon or even the fruit of your choice. Another warning, you will probably not like the taste of plain Greek yogurt at first, but I promise you, you will acquire a taste for it and never go back.

I swear every time I take a bite out of a yogurt with sweetener, I feel like I took a bite of sugar. Plain Greek yogurt also makes for a great substitute for sour cream! We use plain Greek Yogurt on our tacos and it tastes great!

10. Celery

Celery is a great staple to have in your refrigerator. Not only is it like negative calories, but it makes a great base for some tasty healthy snacks. I will be the first to admit, I do not like celery by itself. I will say that if you slap on some almond butter or some light cream cheese and onion powder, it is delicious!

11. Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

This is the perfect grab-n-go healthy snack again to sustain your craving. It is by no means filling but it will satisfy you for a little while until your next meal.

12. Unsalted Mixed Nuts

We ONLY have unsalted mixed nuts in our home. If you have been downing salted nuts for some time, this will be an adjustment but, again I promise you will acquire a taste for them and never go back.

13. Rice Cakes

Rice Cakes are another good alternative if you are looking to curb your carb intake. They do not have a lot of calories and they offer less carbs. I will say however, that they do lack other nutrients as well, so it’s always good to pair rice cakes with some cheese or almond butter.

14. Hard Boiled Eggs

Eggs are very beneficial in moderation. Just be careful because they are loaded with cholesterol so it’s not a good idea to eat eggs every day. They make for an excellent snack choice a few times a week because they really do a great job of filling you up.

15. Hummus

Hummus is another great staple that should be in every fridge. Pairing hummus with some healthy chips or vegetables is the way to go. It may actually get you to eat your vegetables 😊. I also like to spread some hummus on a sprouted whole grain tortilla with some arugula and beets and it makes for a tasty lunch!

Summary

When creating a healthy eating plan, it is good to compartmentalize foods into buckets and start with changing one “bucket” of food at a time. It is good to experiment for a bit to see what works for you and what you will actually eat. Once you figure out one bucket, then move on to the next.  This article focuses on healthy snacks. For ideas on how to eliminate “bad” condiments in your healthy eating plan, see my article, List of Healthy Condiments.

For a list of healthy snacks needed for your grocery list, see the list below!

 

1. Lindt® Dark Chocolate (85% best)
2. Kind® Bars
3. Kind® Fruit Bites
4. Pressed by Kind® Fruit Bars
5. ProGranola® Vanilla Cinnamon Clusters
6. Terra® Chips
7. Garden of Eatin® Blue Tortilla Chips No-Salt
8. SkinnyPop® Popcorn
9. Saffron Road® Chickpeas
10. Pepperidge Farm® Baked Whole Grain Goldfish
11. Mozzarella cheese sticks
12. Unsalted mixed nuts
13. Hummus and carrots
14. Celery and almond butter
15. Rice cakes
16. Greek yogurt
17. Cottage cheese
18. Hard boiled egg

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