NEED SNACK AND FOOD IDEAS... PLEASE HELP!

Rjsmith07

I need to figure out some low calorie healthy snacks that will allow you to eat a good bit of bc some days I am hungry before my snack and then my snack is too small bc I am buying like the little packs of 100 calorie things at the grocery store. I know there are filling things I can make but I don't know what????
My breakfast, lunches and dinners consist of Weight Watchers frozen meals and snacks are the 100 calorie bought at the store or like a clemetine. I know I can't eat microwave food for the rest of my life!

PLEASE HELP!
What are your choices of snacks and the calorie sizes?

langsyne

My favourite snacks are some grapes, raw almonds and a small piece of cheese,
or an avocado with a sprinkling of soya sauce, or some celery sticks with peanut butter,
or apple wedges dipped in almond butter. I try to add some healthy fat to each snack it helps stave off the hunger.
Also, those weightwatchers meals just don't cut it for me. I tried them and they just leave me starving.
My dinners usually consist of a piece of meat or fish about the size of my hand and then I heap the rest of my plate with steamed veggies - as much as I can eat.

Phoenixchichima

12 raw almonds
1 piece low fat string cheese
oatmeal no milk, no sugar. you can get some instant w/soy protein
aprox 4-6 oz no fat greek yogurt
high protein (10 grams or more) granola bar
1 slice deli turkey or chicken wrapped in lettuce

I eat big spinach salads w/bell peppers & protein at lunch.
i"m a little top heavy w/protein but it does keep me from getting too hungry

quietmama

I like spinach dip with veggies instead of bread, apples sprinkled with cinnamon, apples and almond butter, cheese and pickles, kale chips (lots of recipes on line), roasted chickpeas.

mdogden

Recently I found a recipe for home made granola bars (alton brown/food network)

Not a huge fan of granola bars, but I like these. They are pretty cheap (after you buy the ingredient the first time...) pretty big and satisfying...coming from a chronic snacker!

bothur

I pack apple, bananna, pear, grapes, etc
sandwitch bags filled with nuts, cranraisin, raisin.
Veggi slices with - hummus
yogurt
cheese with tomato on cracker
Hard boiled eggs
Sardines

I try to keep premade snacks in my bookbag and fridge so I am able to grab and go...makes life easy if you are busy

Laura_beau

- cup a soups with melba toasts
- rice cake with laughing cow & sliced tomatoes
- veggies with home made dip (Fat free yoghurt, garlic powder & herbs is good) or salsa
- fruit salad
- home made smoothies (Buy a book, get creative!)
- home made skinny milkshakes
- rice cake with peanut butter
- yoghurt
- oatmeal/ ceral bars
- olives
- nuts/ seeds
- hard boiled eggs/ devilled eggs
- snack sized cheeses
- low fat hot chocolate sachets

you can still have the 100 cal snack packs but try to balance your diet with fresh fruits, veggies, nuts etc.

As for the microwave meals, they would also leave me starving so I would try to ditch those too. If you are not a confident cook then invest in some good cook books, watch youtube tutorials, ask for advice on here. One of my quick, easy simple go to meals is putting fresh chicken breast fillets or fish fillets in a baking bag with a seasoning (I use loads of different ones - jerk, lemon herb, garlic, chinese, teriyaki, mexican, cajun) and you can add your veggies in there too if you like (carrots, sweet potato, onion wedges, peppers, butternut squash) and bake for about 25 mins. The chicken comes out perfect and you can have a huuuuuuge plate of food.

Add different salads to your meals too, keep the dressings varied and use different toppings

envy09

As for the microwave meals, they would also leave me starving so I would try to ditch those too. If you are not a confident cook then invest in some good cook books, watch youtube tutorials, ask for advice on here.

Agreed. Microwave meals are not going to keep you full.

Dreajewkes

I usually go for fruit or vegetable and combine that with a source of protein.
Vegetables- carrots, cucumber, tomato, celery, radishes etc
Fruit- oranges, apples, grapes, kiwi, pear, etc
Protien- almonds, cashews, cottage cheese, string cheese, etc

Brittany3914

Most of my snacks are super clean and healthy. I find I feel fuller longer and have more energy if I keep them raw vs. frozen, sodium-packed, pre-packaged options:

Medium apple (obsessed with granny smiths lately)
String cheese
Bananas
Orange
Baby carrots
Raw green beans (one of my favorites)
Broccoli
Tablespoon of PB
Can of Starkist chunk light tuna in water (no mayo or any other additives).
Almonds

LifestyleGuru

When staying within 230-300 calories for your meals and your in between snacks are raw veggies, 2 fruits a day and a milk serving, then you can range your favorite snack from 100-150 calories. This can give you variety of choices like any wt watchers desserts/snacks and high fiber snacks will keep you fuller, longer. Hope this helps!

sundaywishes

I found that when I was trying to eat 5-6 times a day with 200-300 calorie meals and then 100 calorie snacks, I was never full (don't know if that's what you're doing but that's what it sounds like). It felt like I was constantly eating, but never satisfied, and that annoyed me. Then I decided to change it up. I eat around 1400 calories a day and eat 3 large meals with *maybe* a snack after lunch/before dinner. I don't eat until around 10:00 or 10:30 (I do IF) in the morning, and my breakfast is about 375-400 calories (I usually have a little of that leftover for my lunch, but still count all the calories as consumed during breakfast). Then I have lunch around 11:45-12:00 (still pretty full from breakfast) and that's around 325-350 calories. Sometimes I will have a small snack (half ounce of chocolate dusted almonds for 75 calories) around 2:00, but usually my breakfast and lunch keep me full until dinner, when I usually end up eating around 650 calories or so. And it's great because the evening is when I like to eat the most--I can have a "traditional" dinner (meat, carb, veggie combo) after my workout (about 6:45) and still have a bowl of cereal, or some ice cream, or some pita bread and hummus, etc before I go to bed (disclaimer: I don't eat after 8:00, again for IF, not because of myths that if you eat after a certain time, those calories get stored as fat more easily).

Switch it up if you prefer to eat a large amount for breakfast or for lunch (although as you can see, my breakfast and lunch pretty much run together, and I like it that way). I bought into the "broscience" of eating 5-6 times a day and while it sounded like a great idea, it didn't work for me, so I figured out something that would. Remember, "A successful plan is a sustainable plan."

And yes, as mentioned by another commenter, microwave "meals" will not keep you full. I would have to eat at least 3 of them to be anywhere close to satisfied (even before changing over to such large portions for meals), and depending on the brand, that could end up being 750-900 calories. My breakfast is homemade sorbet (fruit and milk smoothie with a scoop of protein powder, frozen just long enough to get the sorbet consistency when mashed up) and string cheese or yogurt. Lunch is mainly protein, usually a tuna sandwich mixed with roasted red pepper hummus (instead of mayo, which I used to use) and some of my leftover sorbet that I couldn't finish, or leftover dinner from the night before (chicken, chili, taco soup, etc) with a veggie or whole grain like brown rice (again usually with some of the leftover sorbet...for some reason in sorbet form it's more filling than in smoothie form). Already mentioned what my snack is if I feel the need to have one, and then my typical dinner. All 3 of my meals are super filling and I don't feel deprived--I actually feel like it's a "holiday meal" every day, only without the weight gain :laugh:

Like I said, find what works for you.

1newcat

Ingredients

Cooking spray
1/2 cup finely chopped onion 
2/3 cup chopped reduced-fat ham (about 2 ounces) 
1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat extra-sharp cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 large egg whites 
1 large egg 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add ham; sauté 3 minutes. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Add ham mixture, stirring with a whisk. Spoon mixture into 24 miniature muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until set

If you have a nook account, i can lend you the 100 calorie snack cookbook i downloaded last week. Pretty yummy, simple stuff... here's one recipe i like... also helps me on those crazy mornings when there's no time for anything but grab and run.

Kayciemae02

My snacks usually consist of:
almonds
fruit
veggies
laughing cow cheese wedges paired with wheat thins or veggies
greek yogurt

My breakfast is usually a Body By Visalus shake mixed with milk and fruit. Lunch on a work day will consist of half a pita filled with turkey, banana peppers and some greens or a 1/2 turkey sandwich on bread paired with one of my snack items. Dinner may vary but is usually some sort of marinated chicken paired with some sort of steamed veggie and/or a 1/2 sweet potato. I live by myself, so I usually cook quite a bit of food so I have leftovers for suppers or lunches.

Also - this helps me keep on track a ton! When I get home from the grocery store, I take my bulk items and bag them up into serving sizes so it's easy to quick grab on the way out. Snack sized baggies are awesome for this!

kmchambers64

I love hummus and cucumber slices, grape tomatoes and or mini sweet peppers. This is sometimes a snack and sometimes a lunch. Always have a piece of fruit with me if I am going to be running a lot of errands.

dancerintraining

I have to go low fat, and my snack options are:
baked cheetos ( one of my favs)
cugino's chicken enchiladas soup (only 100 calores)
roasted vegetables....you can pretty much roast any fresh vegetable, but if you are busy I recommend doing this on the weekend
fruit......frozen or fresh....plus they are free

My breakfast is a Special K meal bar and a glass of light chocolate silk. Lunch is usually an omelet or a salad or a sandwich.
Dinner usually consists of chicken or fish for the meat. Roasted veggies and some sort of starch for the side. And of course the worst time of the day for snacking; night time. I usually save enough calories for a serving of pretzel m&ms or if I don't have anymore calories, crushed ice. Hope this helps

inezbruce

any fruit frozen, taken out and left to warm for about 10 mins is a yummmy good alternative to sweets

Trilby16

I made a yummy dinner tonight, a stir fry of onions (lots), celery (lots), 1/4 cup petite peas, and the cooked meat of one chicken thigh. I sauteed it in 1 TBS of sesame oil and after it cooked a while, I added 2 packets of soy sauce and some red pepper flakes. I ate it with hot Chinese mustard. It was outstanding, filling, and low in calories.

erinr73

bump

mamaof3grlz

bump

susan_skipper

My favorite snack is shredded carrots and shredded cukecumbers, then roll them up in rice paper. About 28 calories for each rice paper and practically no calories with the vegetables. As a special treat I then dunk them in Hoisen Sauce, a sweet chinese dunking sauce. That only adds an extra 30 calories or so for a tablespoon. Really delicous.