We’ve all found ourselves fighting that 3 pm hunger and the vending machine our only option. Today, I am sharing my guide to healthy snacking on the go and some of my favorite snack options. Snacking is such an important way to get the nutrients that we needs and to keep our hunger at bay during meals. However, if we don’t have a good balance, excess snacking can lead to excess energy intake, weight gain, and fatigue. When done the right way, snacking can be one of our most important decisions of the day.

1. Focus on protein.

Always try to choose items with more grams of protein than sugar. Protein keeps you satisfied and decreases the chances of needing another snack in a hour.

2. Keep the ingredients list less than 10.

I encourage you to always check the ingredients list when choosing packaged foods. If there are things that you can’t pronounce, you can probably bet that ingredient is an additive or preservative and not something that necessarily promotes health. Lara Bars are a great example of a packaged food that are made of a few whole ingredients and make a great snack.

3. Limit sugar.

Sugar is hidden e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. The really tricky thing is, it’s not always on the ingredients list at “sugar”. Sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, barley malt, dextrose, maltose, and rice syrup are all sugar. This is another reason that it’s important to limit the number of ingredients in packaged foods.

4. Make the best choice you can.

I always tell my patients, when you have the choice between two foods, try to choose the option that is more real or came straight from the ground or straight from an animal source. Even if a processed foods is low-fat, sugar-free, and low-calorie, it probably isn’t going to nourish your body as well. However, we don’t live in a perfect world and might not always have the most ideal options. So do the best you can, and remember to enjoy your food and the people you are sharing it with.

My Favorite Snack Options:
Apple and Barney Almond Butter
Trail Mix (no sugar added)
Fage Greek Yogurt + Grain Free Granola or purely elizabeth Probiotic Gluten-Free Granola
High Quality Cheese + Whole Grain Crackers or Fruit
KiZe Raw Energy Bars

What are some of your favorite go-to healthy snacks?