jonner

lets say your at home. maybe your not going to have your full meal or maybe your between meals. your hungry.
what are some things that you can have for a snack thats good? what can you stock your house with? maybe even something thats not good, but not that bad

what i imagine are some good snacks?
please add some of your snacks or tell me which ones might be bad

yogurt
toast and jam
slice of cheese
bowl of fruit
veggies
nuts
frozen yogurt
bowl of raisin bran

TJ Cline

Water
Natty PB



toast and jam...NOT!!!

jonner

how about toast and margarine

(dont know which is better margarine or butter?)

TJ Cline

Both are bad, Whole wheat toast alone is ok in moderation.

drew_c

I guess I'm going against the idea of your thread here but with properly timed and well planned meals why would you need to snack? Your list of snacks is pretty bad too, save for the veggies. The nuts and yogurt and fruit can be fine, but they can also be detrimental to your fitness if they aren't the right types and amounts worked properly into your macronutrient ratios for the day....

Just improve your meals and figure out how not to be hungry in that window between

good luck

"Knowing is not enough we must apply." --- "Willing is not enough we must do."

-B.L.

Tom_B

It all going to depend on your goals and how strict you are on your diet.
Obviously 'snacks' for someone how is dieting down are going to be different than someone's 'snacks' who are bulking or just maintaining. Although I do agree with Drew .. you shouldn't be feeling a need to snack inbetween meals, there are just those days where your hungry as hell
Like I said depends on your current fitness goals, but if yoiur jsut maintaining or trying to bulk than the snacks you listed are fine. Just be aware of their calorie content and know that some more calorie dense than others (e.g. Nuts compared to a bowl of fruit).

Yogurt - Just make sure it's FF and SF (if you want extra taste add some crystal light or SF syrup
Toast and Jam (Yes you can have this!! If you being really strict on your food choices or just lookign for optimal health/fibre/vitamins & minerals, go for sprouted ezikel bread or mana bread with some SF jam)
Slice of Cheese - Just make sure it's FF
Bowl of Fruit - good
Veggies - The more the better!
Nuts - I personally wouldn't be snacking on these .. way to many calories.
Frozen Yogurt - once again depends on how strict you are on your diet
Raisin Bran - I'd personally go for Fibre 1 cereal. More fibre.
Then there's always stuff like SF jello, FF mini bags of popcorn, FF SF popsicles, Diet soft drinks etc.

Obviously some of this stuff isn't ' healthy ' but if the rest of your diet is good 90% of the time, at the end of the day a little bit of 'junk' isn't going to kill you.

Valias

raw wheat bix imo.

: / a trend i've been into lately.

GoalGetter

yogurt - Fat Free, or Low Fat, Plain - add your own fresh fruit

Toast and jam - Like valias said, choose smartly - sprouted grain bread over any other kind, and low sugar or sugar free jam, OR you can use hummus instead. That's delicious. If you've never tried it, I suggest you go out and get some or try to make your own (Hummus) - not too hard to do with a blender or food processor.

Slice of cheese - By itself? Hardly a nutritious or fulfilling snack. Pair it up with some fruit, or cook it up with some egg whites in a nice little omelette. Stick with fat free or low-fat cheeses.

Bowl of fruit - Pair it up with yogurt or some cottage cheese (fat free or low fat)

Veggies - can be a great thing, from salads, to sides, to veggie omelettes (i love omelettes, can you tell?), and even some veggies with fat free cheese or with yogurt or cottage cheese for "dipping"

Nuts - not a good idea as a snack all by themselves, unless you can metabolically afford to eat a ridiculous amount of calories a day. A small handful of nuts can easily pack in 200-250 calories or more depending on the size of your hand. Pair up a serving of nuts with some yogurt, or a fruit, or toss some nuts in a salad or in your rice, but don't count on nuts as ONE SNACK on their own. You'll surely overeat.

Frozen yogurt - tough one. You can make your own in an ice cream maker, but I'd reserve this for a treat/cheat or PWO if your diet and goals afford you that luxury.

Bowl of raisin bran - not bad, with some fat free milk or fat free yogurt. Be careful with these, because the typical mainstream brands have sugar-coated raisins and such. Just read the ingredients and stick to the brands that have the least number of ingredients, or the most BASIC ingredients (easy to pronounce, usually hahaha).

Other snack ideas

Beef or TUrkey Jerky
Cans of Tuna (low sodium, packed in water)
Cans of Salmon (same)
Cans of Chicken
You can pair these up with a slice or two of sprouted grain bread or mix them up with the appropriate serving size for your diet of EFA Mayonnaise, or Olive Oil Mayonnaise. Spectrum brand has some healthy mayonnaise options.

You can also mix them up with hummus.

You can ALSO eat your veggies with the hummus.

Cottage Cheese singles - I know breakstones sells little snack-sized containers of fat free cottage cheese.

You can add a tbsp of peanut butter, nuts, dried fruit, cereal/granola to the cottage cheese.

*Though I don't think you shoudl rely on these things - shakes and decent-sized meal replacement or protein bars (not the 500-cal monsters, with tons of crap in them).

calalily1972

BINGO!

GoalGetter

heh heh... and i turned all his snacks into meals in my reply, but that's what i meant, too.. hahaha. Sometimes i miss the forest for the trees.

Lexluther

Nuts - not a good idea as a snack all by themselves, unless you can metabolically afford to eat a ridiculous amount of calories a day. A small handful of nuts can easily pack in 200-250 calories or more depending on the size of your hand. Pair up a serving of nuts with some yogurt, or a fruit, or toss some nuts in a salad or in your rice, but don't count on nuts as ONE SNACK on their own. You'll surely overeat.

So nuts are an asset for a weight gainer???

GoalGetter

If you already eat a hell of a lot of calories and are still having a hard time puttin gon weight but can't fathom the idea of eating MORE - foods that are calorically dense help you add more calories without feeling like you're eating metric tons of food per day.

nuts
dried fruit
nut butters
oils
low fat milk instead of skim
low fat cheeses instead of fat free
4% cottage cheese instead of fat free
lowfat yogurt (or full fat) instead of fat free
whole eggs or combination of whole eggs + whites instead of ONLY whites
fruit juices (natural, unsweetened, fresh squeezed/pressed whenever possible)
doubling up on your protein powder/MRP servings per shake

etc
etc
etc...

TJ Cline

dried fruit would be my last choice for a healthy snack

GoalGetter

I never said in and of istelf, BY ITSELF, it was a healthy snack. However, it is still fruit, it is still whole and it if you get the UNSWEETENED UNSULPHURED KIND it is a healthy source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

What i said in my most recent post in this thread is that they are a good way to add a bunch of calories to your bulking diet if you are having a hard time getting in enough calories because you are stuffing your face as it is and not gaining. They pack a big caloric punch in a small amount of food.

I wouldn't suggest that an obese person or someone who is overweight and trying to lose weight, go buy a big bag of Craisins and keep it at their desk as a snack. However, a tablespoon (or less) of dried fruit in your salad, oatmeal, or yogurt or cottage cheese, or protein pancake or whatever the hell you're making is a portion-controlled way to incorporate them into your meals and be able to enjoy them if you like them.

Lexluther

Dried fruits, like trail mix send me to the can in a hurry! I think I will start snacking with various nuts, but will avoid dried fruit.

studen77

Celery + 1% fat cottage cheese + natty peanut butter...

I had the combo yesterday! Absolutely great!

PWGriffin

Mmmm....craisins in the oatmeal.....lol....that sounds GOOD.

yeah, that shit!!!

MySpace

911=InsideJob

Tortilla chips and fresh salsa are good. Almonds alre also very good for you, taste like shit if you eat a lot, but very good for you.

Good Day

GoalGetter

Tortilla chips are NOT a good choice. Salsa, yes, a generally safe condiment, but tortilla chips are usually processed, super duper high in sodium, and are fried or made from tortillas that were made with lard. You'd have to play detective and read the labels carefully, and there are better choices for a carb in a meal than a tortilla chip.

911=InsideJob

I agree. I eat that healthy stuff from Trader Joe's where it's made out of ground corn and has sea salt instead of table salt. Forgot to mention that.

Good Day

IainDaniel

Still wouldn't consider that a healthy snack. Corn on its own is a shitty carb.

But hey whatever.

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

Michael Jordan

GoalGetter

The only "pro" about corn tortillas...
(at least the kind used for burritos and wraps, not tortilla chips after undergoing the "chip" process)
... is that they are usually not made with lard, as opposed to a lot of the flour tortillas. Or at least, that's what I've heard. I haven't gone to check because i don't like corn tortillas to begin with.

IainDaniel

Mmmmm Lard *drools*

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

Michael Jordan