How To Eat Snacks And Lose Weight

Sure, losing weight is a careful balance of eating healthy, exercising, getting enough sleep, and managing stress. But what does eating healthy mean, exactly? You could be eating plenty of food you think is good for you only to find out it's sabotaging your weight-loss efforts.

Finding the right foods to eat can just be a matter of making simple swaps. As these photos show, you don't even have to give up your favorite foods — just make these tweaks, and you can save hundreds of calories, dozens of grams of sugar, and take in more healthy vitamins and antioxidants.

These supermarket staples may seem healthy enough: salad dressing, orange juice, and iceberg lettuce. But some bottled ranch is made with added sugar and canola oil. Instead, try Paleo ranch from Primal Kitchen for more natural ingredients.

Healthy Late Night Snacks For Weight Loss

Orange juice, even if it's made from 100 percent juice, is packed with sugar and calories and lacks the filling fiber from the actual orange, so eat the whole fruit instead. And while iceberg lettuce is low-cal, it doesn't pack the same vitamins and nutrients as other dark leafy greens like spinach. Here's a helpful guide to leafy greens that breaks down the nutrition so you can make the healthiest choice.

Sushi can be a healthy option and is still a pretty low-calorie meal when made with white rice. But if you're looking to cut back on carbs and calories, swap the rice for lettuce. You'll still get the taste of the fish and other veggies for about half the calories.

Granola bars are one of those foods that have a health halo: they seem healthier than they are. Most are packed with sugar and have little fiber. Almonds and dark chocolate, on the other hand, have eight grams of fiber and just four grams of sugar. You can always make your own, and control the amount of added sugars, with these easy granola bar recipes.

Foods You Should Never Eat If You Want Weight Loss And A Healthy Life

Your daily Starbucks run could be sabotaging your weight-loss efforts. Swap your Venti Iced Vanilla Latte for a Venti Iced Coffee with sugar-free vanilla syrup to save over 250 calories (and almost $2!).

Although whole wheat pasta is a healthy vehicle for your favorite pasta sauce and has an impressive eight grams of protein per serving, you can save nearly 150 calories by switching to carrot noodles. Both are healthy options, but the carrot noodles may be better if you're looking to cut back on calories and carbs. Try our favorite carrot fettuccine recipe, and see for yourself.

Both crackers and veggies are great when paired with hummus, cheese, or your other dip of choice. But plain flour crackers aren't nutrient dense, don't have much fiber, and can be up to 100 calories for just a few. Cut-up veggies, on the other hand, are full of filling fiber, and you can get more bang for your buck calorie-wise. If you're looking for an afternoon pick-me-up, grab some veggie slices and enjoy with hummus.

Snacks For Your Weight Loss Goals

These photos prove you can still enjoy the taste of your favorite seemingly healthy foods with a few simple swaps. Instead of banana chips, which are calorie-dense and easy to overeat, grab an actual banana instead. If you are looking for a tasty carb, swap your bagel for two rice cakes. And don't be fooled by bottled smoothies, which are sugar bombs; drink kombucha instead, which is full of gut-healthy probiotics.

If you like a salty crunch in your salad, swap your croutons for a handful of popcorn. You'll still get the same texture for fewer calories. And croutons aren't the only culprit — here are five salads toppings to skip if you're looking to lose or maintain your weight.

Some healthy swaps aren't just good for weight loss but are better for your overall health as well. A portobello mushroom cap has more fiber and antioxidants than a nutrient-poor hamburger bun. Lettuce has vitamins and phytonutrients compared to a white tortilla. Regular fruit has less sugar per volume of dried fruit, and full-fat Greek yogurt has much more protein and less sugar than frozen yogurt.

Steps To Lose Weight And Keep It Off

Making small tweaks to your snacks and food orders can have a huge impact on your weight-loss efforts. If you're craving a salty snack, have popcorn instead of chips. Change up your Starbucks order by getting coffee and coconut milk instead of a sugary Frappuccino. And you can still enjoy a hamburger — just get it with lettuce instead of a bun.

Yes, potato chips are delicious. But you only get a handful for 100 calories. If you want a salty snack that's more satisfying, opt for popcorn. You can eat three cups for just 100 calories. You can dress up your popcorn in in a variety of ways and still keep it healthy.The word snack has become synonymous with foods that are unhealthy or unnecessary, yet that is not the case at all! Snacks are an important part of your daily nutrient intake and, when thoughtfully consumed, can help you effectively lose weight, without turning you into that ‘hangry’ friend that everybody avoids. In this blog, we explore 5 ways you can make better snack choices.

Healthy snacks are like stepping stones between meals. They are not meant to be a complete meal that totally fills you up. Jaclyn Reutens, expert dietician and Aptima Nutrition and Sports Consultant says, “Healthy snacks can keep energy levels up, curb hunger pangs and give you needed nutrients.”

Snacking Mistakes To Avoid If You're Trying To Lose Weight

Your feelings of hunger are regulated by hormones that are affected by your levels of blood glucose. So, pinpointing an ideal time to snack is not realistic. Often, the time you feel hungry will be related to the glycaemic index (GI)  of your previous meals. But, if we are brutally honest here, when was the last time you actually experienced hunger? Most of us have turned into mindless snacking zombies!

We are bombarded with an abundance of ‘snack’ foods and often eat because our other senses are charmed (think: that yummy aroma of fresh baked mooncake or the glossy look of kacang). Jaclyn points out “Knowing when to snack is a matter of listening to the signals your body gives when you are hungry”. This may be tummy rumbles or that pulling sensation in your stomach. She adds, “However, if you can adequately function on three meals a day without feeling lethargic or going crazy hungry, you may not need a snack.” One time you do want to avoid snacking is right before bed. This can lead to disturbances in your sleep  and is often associated with weight gain.

The obvious answer to better snack choices is to avoid the highly processed foods that have high sugar and fat content. But, that is easier said than done. We are often misled into thinking some snacks, such as muffins and sushi are healthier than they actually are. Unfortunately, the trap with these snacks are they give you that instant fuel fix but their high GI leads to you wanting more snacks, more often .

The 15 Best Healthy Snacks For Weight Loss

Try to avoid creating the bad habit (or look at replacing it) of telling yourself you ‘need’ a sugary snack to get through the afternoon lull. This is an association you have built with fatigue not hunger. While reaching for a sugary snack may momentarily snap you out of your lethargy, it spikes your blood glucose and starts a vicious cycle of mindless snacking. Jaclyn recommends “Acknowledge that a craving is a want not a need. It reaches a peak and then subsides, just like a wave. Recognise what you’re feeling, pause or distract yourself with another non-food related task, and learn whether you are feeling hungry or something else.”

Remember that a snack is like a stepping stone between meals. Regulating the portion size is just as important as choosing a healthy option in making better snack choices. Ideally a snack will be:

✓ Nutritionally dense foods – generally whole foods with a good mix of protein, low-GI carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals eg. Mung bean noodles soup with chicken.

Can I Eat Snacks And Still Lose Weight?

✓ High in fibre  – this will mean you can satisfy your hunger with smaller portions and prevent overeating eg. Vegetable sticks with a Salsa dip.

✓ Low in fat, salt and sugar – be careful with automatically choosing ‘low fat’ options as they may have double the amount of sugars to compensate for the low fat. Eg. Low fat flavoured yoghurts are often packed with calories from sugar. Try natural or greek yoghurt instead.

✓ Convenient  – We all know it is so easy to wander into a hawker centre or warung, so make sure you have better snack choices at hand to help you win in the snacking department. Have snacks that are easy to make, peel or carry with you. Eg. Crackers with sliced tomato or a tub of yoghurt.

The Best Way To Eat Snacks When Losing Weight

✓ Chewable – this might sound strange, but it a good reminder to aim for a snack that takes time to chew and digest as this overcomes mindless, high calorie snacking. Eg. Portions of Jackfruit vs a bag of jackfruit chips.

Making any changes  in your life isn’t easy, especially if it’s