Snacking For Weight Control

Incorporating healthy snacks into a meal plan can be easily done when worked into the whole day's meal plan. Snack foods, like all foods, should be eaten in moderation. The serving size and type of snack are the most important parts when choosing what to snack on. Snacks that are low in fat and high in complex carbohydrates can be healthy.

Here are some healthy foods that make tasty snacks:

• fresh fruit

• raw vegetables

• pretzels, rice cakes, lowfat crackers, or air-popped popcorn

• nonfat or lowfat yogurt or frozen yogurt

• frozen fruit popsicles or

• lowfat cookies such as vanilla wafers, animal, or graham crackers

One way to eat snacks while trying to lose weight is to save parts of your meals to eat as snacks later on.

The sight of certain foods can trigger a desire for the foods you are trying to avoid. Keeping snack stashes of high fat cookies or candy around may only increase the desire for such foods, making it difficult to resist snacking on them. Removing the temptations allows for healthy snacking while trying to lose weight. Maintain a variety of low-fat, healthy snacks that can be eaten when the urge to snack hits. Also, planning for snacks and preparing them ahead of time may reduce the temptation to snack on high-calorie choices.

Snack time can also be more enjoyable if you are doing nothing while snacking but concentrating on the enjoyment of eating. Know the times when you are most likely to snack. Add a snack to your daily food plan to correspond with this time. Planned snacking allows you to adhere to your plan and avoid empty calorie snacking or overeating. Also, by not skipping meals, the likelihood of snacking on high-calorie foods will be reduced.

For further information about weight control and snacking, contact a registered dietitian or your healthcare provider.

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