Snack Ideas for Losing Weight

Many people find their diets ruined when they gorge themselves on sugary or fatty snacks. Snacks are a good way to fight hunger cravings, but you have to make healthy choices when deciding what to snack on. When you're on a diet, it's a good idea to not have any unhealthy snacks in your home. If you have to drive to the store in order to fulfill a craving for chips or chocolate, you're much less likely to do so compared to when you have some sitting around. Keeping only healthy snacks in your home is a great way to reduce the temptation to eat unhealthy food.

Fruits and vegetables are a great healthy snack option; however, the idea of eating raw vegetables isn't appealing to most people. Some vegetables lend themselves well to snacking, such as baby carrots; others, such as romaine lettuce, aren't as attractive. A good way to improve the taste of vegetables is to roast them; you can always do this in advance so you have roasted vegetables on hand. Roasting vegetables caramelizes some of the natural sugars in the vegetable, creating a more complex and rich flavor. You can even try roasting vegetables like onions which you wouldn't even consider eating raw.

You should consider always having a prepared salad on hand in the refrigerator to eat if you get hungry; lightly dress it with olive oil and vinegar after taking it out of the fridge. Be careful not to go too heavy on the dressing when eating salads as a snack; most processed salad dressings are full of fat and preservatives. A homemade dressing consisting of olive oil and vinegar is the healthiest choice; olive oil is high in monounsaturated fats, which help to balance your cholesterol levels and can reduce your risk of heart disease. However, you should still go light on the dressing since it's still fat, and adds quite a bit of calories to your salad.

Fruits are a tasty and nutritious snack options; apples, pears, and oranges are all great to keep on hand to fight cravings for sweet snacks. In addition to tasting good, fruits also usually have a good amount of fiber in them, which helps you to feel fuller after snacking and will regulate your digestive system. A good way to increase the appeal of fruits is to slice them up and hit them with a touch of salt; it brings out the natural flavors of the fruit without adding calories or a significant amount of sodium.

Nuts are another great option for healthy snacking, but you should eat them in moderation. They contain high amounts of fat, and are thus higher in calories than other snacking options. It's easy to end up overeating nuts and consume a lot of calories as a result. However, they're still a better option than most processed snacks, as they are high in essential vitamins and minerals and have a more heart-healthy balance of fats than other snacks such as cookies made with mostly saturated fats like butter and shortening.

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