Top 10 Best Snacks to Help You Eat Healthy
Trying to find snacks that taste good and are good for you isn’t always easy so here are my Top 10 Best Snacks to help you eat healthy. It may take a little time to transition to these but if you are planning and prepping these will be handy right when you need them and it will make it easy to make a good choice. Your focus should be on avoiding packaged items in general and snacks in particular. The way you can avoid these is to have these healthier snacks on hand.
Try to combine some protein, fat and carbohydrate into your snack choices and you’ll find yourself feeling full for longer periods of time. For help with overall meal planning see this post and for help with shopping see The Ultimate Grocery List.
1. Sliced or chopped veggies. You already know this is a good option but you may have forgotten how good a fresh vegetable tastes, especially when paired with a good dip such as hummus or a homemade yogurt ranch. Switch it up so you don’t get bored – maybe one week it’s cherry tomatoes and cucumbers with dip and the next week it’s carrots with guacamole or celery with nut butter then switch to bell peppers with dip. Raw cauliflower is a favorite! To help with meal planning, I will sometimes just buy a little extra of whatever veggie I’m cooking for dinners, prep all at the same time but leave some uncooked for snacking.
Note: My favorite blender to use is the NutriBullet for a budget friendly choice. If you would like to use a higher quality, more professional blender, you can invest in the Vitamix but be sure of your commitment as this is an expensive tool.
2. Fruit with some fat & protein. This is a great option when you want something sweet. Good options are apple or banana with nut butter.
3. Edamame – we buy frozen edamame that we thaw when we want something fun to eat and add a little salt if it doesn’t come already salted.
4. 100% whole grain crackers with nut butter or cheese (cheese cubes or slices, not a cheese spread!). Be sure to read the label to make sure you aren’t getting something that says whole grain on package but doesn’t really contain 100% whole grain.
5. Popcorn is the go-to snack in our house. I highly recommend the whirly bird popcorn maker. Add just a bit of salt and that’s it – no butter needed. Air popped is great as well but I find it a bit dry and not as satisfying, especially for the kids.
More of the Top 10 Best Snacks to Help You Eat Healthy
6. Nuts and Seeds are an important go-to snack, especially for travel. I try to carry some with me at all times. I love roasted (non salted) almonds but often mix a few varieties together. Pistachios are good as well, but a little harder when you are on the move. I don’t recommend them out of the shell unless you are very good about managing your total intake as it can be easy to overdo the amount when you don’t have to worry about the shell.
7. Hard boiled eggs often get a bad rap. These are a good protein and fat source and really help conquer cravings and can help keep your energy up.
8. Cheese is another good protein source and can help keep you feeling full longer. Eat it alone or pair it with crackers or nuts for a well-rounded snack.
9. Greek yogurt (unflavored) with some fresh or frozen chopped fruit and some sliced pecans or almonds. You may want to drizzle a bit of honey or maple syrup at first but you will get used to having just the sweetness from the fruit.
10. My favorite snack option is a bento box with a selection of the above options. Pick your 2-4 favorites and add a little to each section. This way you don’t get bored and have fun with snack time! By planning ahead, you can create multiple bento boxes and have them ready to grab from the fridge or pantry.
I hope this has provided some good food for thought about how you can transition to healthy eating or reinforced those good decisions you’ve been making. To dive more into this healthy eating journey, here are a few of my favorite resources:
- My favorite blender to use is the NutriBullet for a budget friendly choice. If you would like to use a higher quality, more professional blender, you can invest in the Vitamix but be sure of your commitment as this is an expensive tool.
- https://drhyman.com/ has a great podcast and several good healthy eating books. I like his concept of Pegan eating which is a focus on vegan but supports some meat as well.
- Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food
- Forks Over Knives Cookbook ….and Documentary on Amazon Prime
- Whole30 – Program Overview and great Cookbooks
- My favorite healthy eating cookbooks:
Leave a comment below – I would love to hear from you what your healthy eating journey looks like and your favorite healthy snack.
Good information here for those that are looking to snack healthier, and just as importantly, make healthy snacking as appealing as possible. After all, snacking shouldn’t be seen as a chore or something that absolutely must be done.
great tips
Love this guide. Healthy eating is so important! 🌿
Thank you for some new ideas. I am always looking for snack ideas for my family
Great ideas, it’s sometimes too easy to reach for a sugary snack, instead of something healthy.
Thanks for the tips
Pippa
Great suggestions! Love the Bento box concept. It’s like a gift to yourself, and a healthy one!
Nuts and harboiled eggs are a couple of my favorite snacks! The protein helps you stay full.
I’m always looking to be more healthy but sometimes snacking can break the habit, good to know about more healthy snacks to stay on track!
This is a wonderful post that put me in a snacky mood! I’m dying to eat some berries, nuts & seeds now. 😅 thank you for inspiring me to eat healthy!
I’m definitely a mixed nuts and smoothies girl, both are easy and yum! Another one I love is peanut butter on apple slices 🤩
Really enjoyed this post! Nuts, fruits, seeds and popcorn is on my list as well 😉
Excited to try the frozen edamame, usually buy them fresh, but good point to get the frozen ones!!
This is a good post. Sometimes, you don’t know what to have as a snack, when there are so many options. Thanks!