Helpful Snacks and Meals

htrl877

What are snack and meals that people eat that help them stay on their diet? I am not one for granola bars or little snack food 100 calorie packs (I always end up eating more than one at a sitting). I really enjoy the process of making my food and ultimately I think I eat less because of it. My top snacks and small meals are the following. Does anyone else have top snacks that help them stick to their diet? I am a vegetarian so vegetarian suggestions are welcomed!!

Snack foods:
-1 cup chopped strawberries (or another frozen berry mix)
-go lean crunch kashi cereal (1 cup 190 cal snack food)
-cucumber slices!!
- ticktacks
-waterwaterwaterwater (or crystal light even though artificial sugars arent the greatest!)

Breakfast foods:
-Low calorie breakfast sandwich: 2 egg whites with pepper on a 100 calorie whole grain thomas' English muffin (+50 cals if you put some hummus on it-- it might sound gross for some people but its a much better condiment than ketchup!).
cottage cheese with 1/4 cup fruit.

Lunch foods:
- mushrooms, morning star "meat" crumbles (vegetarian), and low sodium soy sauce (<200 cal per serving)
-spinach and bean soup (two bags spinach, 4 cans beans- 2 small red, 1 can white, 1 can chick pea- wash thoroughly before cooking to remove preservatives, 1 container vegetable stock, parsley, chopped onion, pepper, garlic powder, when spinach cooks through add 1 cup quinoa dry and cook in remaining vegetable stock)-- 1 cup serving of this soup/stew is 257 calories and is very filling! makes about 9 servings total. if anyone was the breakdown of the calories or the in depth recipe lemme know!

dinner:
-lots of spinach, apple slices, tomato, cucumber, and boca burger (original vegan) <200 calories.

turbochris

Not Vegetarian, but Beef Jerky gets me through. Low calorie and full of protein. High in salt however.

Shawnalee0703

Don't forget that a snack is supposed to be a nutrient filled mini meal to get you to your next meal. Therefore it needs to contain carbs, fat and protein. Does not mean it has to be large. It just has to be worth it and be beneficial to your body- that's why we are here right?

llkilgore

Snack foods:
- A mozzarella cheese stick is my favorite quickie snack.
- An apple or banana with a tablespoon of either natural peanut butter or almond butter. I have to be careful with bananas because there's enough sugar in them to trigger rebound cravings if I don't eat something else with them.
- A scoop of whey protein mix in 8 oz of unsweetened almond milk
- A tomato

Breakfast foods:
- Same every day - A serving of steel cut oatmeal with tbsp each of wheat bran and golden flaxseed meal, a couple of tbsp of unsweetened almond milk, and a serving of fruit (whatever's on hand). I'd gotten out of the habit of eating breakfast at all until a couple of months ago and still find it easier if I don't have to think about it.

Lunch and Dinner: Lunch is often a repeat of at least part of the previous night's dinner, generally with smaller portions and maybe different vegetables. I would say I eat leftovers, but that's not quite true as I deliberately make an extra meal's worth. For example, today and last night I had chicken and broccoli alfredo with sweet onions, red bell peppers, and mushrooms and served over a rare serving of white basmati rice. Usually I eat brown basmati. I eat a lot of veggies and one portion of complex carbs at each meal and try to eat the recommended amount of protein. It can be hard because, while I have no interest in becoming a vegetarian, I don't crave meat and it doesn't take a lot to satisfy me.

hanna541

i think u r doing to many calories when it comes to snacks if u realy want to see progress stay away from snack bars cearel, only fruits wich still containe calories but not as much as a snack bar, fruits r more natrual. try to burn the calories u consume each day burn more calories then u eat thats the key. i run for an hour every day + weights gym time lol runing i burn 700 to 750 cal i eat a well balanced meal vegis with a salad tilapia fish. three snaks a day bannana grapes kiwi sometimes i even put a bit low fat benut butter on my small banana, oh and for the morning i drink my slim fast smothie i get the mix powder for it put low fat milk and ice and blend it in a blender a yummmm its so good. i ben on slim fast for 1 week 5 days lost 7 pounds each week will be loosing 5 pounds.
start weight 142
now 135
goal weight 120
loss pounds 7
try this iam soooo shure u will see results a day including my snacks my one meal and my shake i consume about 800 calories sometimes less try running every every day

htrl877

That's a good point. I started cooking in bulk. I like cooking stews and chili mostly. I get a lot of hearty flavor and the most full. fruits like that trigger cravings for me too, so does peanut butter. almond butter surprisingly doesnt. what kind of whey protein is best? whey protein isolate? what times are best? I am not trying to get big muscles I just want something that is relatively lower cal, whey protein based, and doesnt have 109090245890 ingredients. any suggestions?

llkilgore

Are you eating natural unsweetened peanut butter? The Smucker's natural creamy I'm eating has only 1g of sugar in 2 tbsps, or half what Blue Diamond almond butter has. Neither product triggers cravings for me. Regular sweetened peanut butter might, I don't know. The last time I ate any I wasn't worried about cravings.

I need to learn a lot more about whey protein myself.

Shawnalee0703

About whey powders.....
I agree, the shorter the list the better :-D

I use MRM Vanilla whey, it has like 4 ingredients, all natural and is sweetened with stevia.
87cal and 18g protein.

I don't feel like I am eating a bunch of crap when I use it. I use it in oatmeal, milk, shakes, baking, homemade protein bars.... anyway you want :-D
I am not a whey pro by any means lol I was just picky about my ingredients as well and I did some research and compared prices. I am very pleased.