7 Top Snack Foods to Help You Lose Weight and Stay Healthy

Looking for a few good snacks to have when trying to lose weight?  Here are my top 7 snacks that not only help you stick to your diet, but also help you lose weight!

By: Ed Scow, NSCA-CPT: Certified Fitness & Nutrition Expert to the True Superheroes - Busy Moms & Dads and author of Fat Loss To Go

You know how difficult it is to get your kids to eat healthy snacks – it’s about as difficult as me getting you to eat healthy snacks (I say that with love in my heart).

They want the "sweet treats" as Maren calls them. Or they want the Scoobie Snacks, or other cracker-like snacks found at the grocery store (which is a good reason to keep the kids at home come shopping time, that way you don’t have to hear "I need that!").

We try to keep Maren’s snacks as healthy as possible and usually find that if we eat the same thing she does, she’s much more likely to eat healthy snacks – and to be quite honest, kids have fewer hang-ups about eating fruits than we think. We come pre-programmed to enjoy real foods and we screw that up as we age.

Here’s a quick list of some of my favorite weight loss snacks both for home and "on the go". They’re easy, nutritious and will help you lose fat and keep it off.

At home:

1. Broccoli and hummus – This is actually a snack I was just eating with Maren at her tea party table.

Broccoli is one of the BEST foods you can eat, whether it’s a snack or an side-dish for lunch or dinner. It’s loaded with fiber, "good" carbohydrates and vitamins and minerals. You absolutely have to add broccoli to your daily diet if you want to lose weight and be healthy.

The hummus is loaded with healthy fats, protein and fiber, not to mention being loaded with vitamins and minerals. It is a very powerful food and makes a great vegetable dip so the next time you’re thinking of adding ranch dressing to your veggie tray give hummus a try.

2. Apple slices and natural peanut butter – The key to this one is the Natural Peanut Butter.  The kind of peanut butter you’re probably used to is loaded with sugar and has the healthy fats taken out (then they sell them off). Natural peanut butter is a rich source of protein, healthy fats and vitamins and minerals – but be careful because it still packs a calorie punch…so don’t go crazy with the dipping.

3. Homemade granola (or a good store bought kind) and strawberries – I have told you countless times that I’m not a chef, so I'm not going to give you a granola recipe (Google is great for that), but Andrea has made it in the past and it’s quite tasty.

As a side note, if you’re looking for a healthy alternative to store-bought breakfast cereals, try a homemade granola recipe and mix it with some fruit slices and yogurt – it tastes awesome and is a great way to start your day.

If you find yourself constantly on the go and need to have a snack that’s a little more convenient, here are a few great snacks to have while at the office or in the car:

1. Almonds and a Pear – Pears are pretty similar to apples in their vitamin content and they’re loaded with fiber – just like my favorite fruit (apple) and you should know by now the pedestal I put almonds on for a killer on-the-go snack (I eat them daily).

2. Organic string cheese and carrots – Just like the natural peanut butter, the key here is organic cheese, or at the very least skim (no fat).

You probably know that carrots are loaded with Vitamin A, but they’ve also got lots of other vitamins plus they’re low in calories and have a decent amount of fiber.

3. Low-fat, no sugar added Yogurt (although not so great in the car) and red grapes – Yogurt is a great on-the-go snack because it’s easy to transport, high in protein, low in sugar (if you get the no sugar added variety) and adding the red grapes gets you lots of vitamins and cancer-fighting phytonutrients (that way you can stop drinking red wine for the "health benefits")

4. Cashews and Green tea – Most people overlook the good ol’ cashew when it comes to adding healthy nuts to their snack list, but they’re a great nut. I love cashews. They’re high in healthy fats, protein and magnesium (which is important for bone health). They don’t have as much fiber as almonds, but they’ve still got some, which is better than most snack foods.

If you’re afraid of eating cashews, or other nuts, because of their calorie punch (190 calories per ¼ cup), you should know that a recent study published in the journal Obesity showed that people who ate nuts at least twice a week were much less likely to gain weight than those who almost never ate nuts.

There you go. There’s a great list of 7 healthy, fat fighting snacks that are easy to make (if they take any preparation at all) and easy to take with you and really pack a punch when it comes to weight loss and keeping you (and your kids) sane.　

Have a great day!

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