Healthy snacks that taste good too:)

By request from my friend... Here are some healthy snacks that are easy to make, yummy to eat and can get you on the right track with you diet and keep up your energy through the day.

First of all, the story about eating snacks. After you have breakfast (and you must eat breakfast, it's the most important meal of the day and will keep your metabolism revved), you should have something to eat every 2.5 - 3 hours after. This will also keep your metabolism going and you won't have the urge to gorge at the major meals (such as lunch and dinner). Ok, eat every 2.5-3 hours, CHECK!

Secondly, you want to aim for you snacks to have a mixture of protein, carbs, and fat. It's key to try and get protein in your snack because protein helps to keep you full and feel full.

Here we go...

* Natural Peanut butter (yes the kind you have to stir) with celery, apples, bananas. Using natural peanut butter is better for you because there are no added oils, which helps to keep it blended.

* Oatmeal (not the packaged kind with tons of sugar) with berries, bananas, chopped apples, dried raisins or cranberries. Adding cinnamon or Stevia helps to sweeten it up just a bit. Oatmeal has 5 grams of protein per half cup and is rich in soluable fiber.

* Low-fat or fat free greek yogurt or cottage cheese with berries, or any fruit that you like. Half a cup of Greek yogurt has 10 grams of protein!!! wow! and you can add so many different things in it to make it taste so good!

* Hummas with crackers, sliced veggies (carrots, celery, peppers). Hummas is made from chickpeas which are high in protein. Also, there are so many different flavors of hummas that I am sure you can find one you like:)

* Low-fat string cheese with a fruit

* Handful of almonds

So here are just a few yummy and healthy snacks that can be easily packed in your lunch box so you can eat them between meals. One more thing, please keep the sugar low. If you eat something with a lot of sugar you eventually get the "crash" that everyone talks about, and doesn't like. You want to maintain your blood sugar levels so your energy is maintained all day.

I hope this helped and please let me know if you have any questions or want advice about the snacks that you like to eat.