Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 5: Take an Inventory of Available Products
• Method 2 of 5: Analyze Your Food
• Method 3 of 5: Examine Yourself
• Method 4 of 5: Shopping Recommendations
• Method 5 of 5: Use Smart Strategies
• Tips
• Warnings

Snacks (snacks between meals) are an important part of a healthy diet. Getting the recommended amounts of all nutrients in 3 main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) is not easy. However, by purchasing the healthy foods you need from the store, you can have healthy snacks that can help you refuel. A little planning and keeping track of your eating habits will allow you to choose healthy snacks for yourself and your family.

Steps

Method 1 of 5: Take an Inventory of Available Products

1. 1 Start by looking in your freezer, refrigerator, pantry, and cabinets. What type of foods make up the majority of meals? How many healthy snacks do you see here?
2. 2 List all the unhealthy snacks you find. This includes all cake boxes, cookies, muffins, and other snacks. Add to this list any snacks you bought or cooked recently.
3. 3 Add all the healthy snacks to another list. This list should contain lots of green vegetables, lots of fruits, whole grains, lean meats, unsalted nuts, etc. Compare the two lists and think about what you do and don't do to stay healthy.

Method 2 of 5: Analyze Your Food

1. 1 Review your lists and consider how much change you need to make to your snacking habits. Do you need to make minor changes or do you have to start a major overhaul of the entire “snack department”? Perhaps you are somewhere in between?
2. 2 Circle any foods that can easily be replaced with healthier snacks and or ingredients. For example, a pack of flavored fried potato cheese chips can be easily replaced with natural baked corn tortilla.
3. 3 Cross out any snacks that are completely unnecessary pampering. Chocolate bars, for example, can be eliminated entirely from the diet, except on rare holidays.

Method 3 of 5: Examine Yourself

1. 1 Consider your snacking habits. You must understand why you are snacking this way, this particular product - this is extremely important in order to change your habits. Do you tend to snack at night? Do you eat when you are experiencing strong emotions? Are you chewing snacks out of boredom? You should also think about how busy you are and make some healthy snacks for future use if you don't have time to cook for yourself when you get hungry.
2. 2 Pay attention to which snacks you choose most often. Knowing your snack preferences will make it easier for you to find a suitable substitute that is healthy and meets your needs. For example, if you find yourself reaching for a bag of fatty potato chips, opt for the less plumping tartilla chips with a serving of salsa.
3. 3 Develop self-control. Focus less on food. If you can't wait to come home and relax with a bowl of ice cream, try replacing it with yogurt or sorbet (fruit ice cream) to help calm you down. Think of food as a need, not a pleasure - only eat when you are hungry.

Method 4 of 5: Shopping Recommendations

1. 1 For starters, make a plan to buy other products the next time you shop. You can discover useful alternatives simply by exploring the supermarket shelves. You may find alternatives that you never thought you were.
2. 2 Read and compare the labels on your snack food packs. Examine all ingredients. If the packaging says that a product is completely natural, this does not always mean that it is a healthy and wholesome food. An example of this is fruit juice. There is too much sugar in the juice, which makes it low in nutrients and more calories than you need - despite the fact that sugar is an all-natural product.
3. 3 Give up pampering. Organic food may be a healthier choice, but it is still unnecessary and unnecessary food. Choosing a packet of cookies just because the product is organic will not improve your snacking habits in any way. Choose healthy, wholesome foods, and avoid foods that you can easily do without.

Method 5 of 5: Use Smart Strategies

1. 1 Time your snacks correctly. Choose snacks that fill you up. High-fiber foods tend to fill you better and are low in calories. Low fat dairy products, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds are all great choices for a quick bite.
2. 2 Think about the energy value of the food. Complex carbohydrates, as well as protein-rich snacks such as nut butter or low-fat cheese, are powerful sources of energy.
3. 3 Watch your portion sizes. Healthy snacks do not entitle you to consume unlimited quantities. Overeating will never be part of a healthy diet. Plus, if you stumbled and ate something unhealthy, don't judge yourself too harshly! It's all about maintaining a balance: both in terms of unhealthy foods and in terms of healthy foods, you should neither be undernourished nor overeat.

Tips

• You must understand what you are buying. Low fat does not always mean low in calories. Low calorie content does not always mean high nutritional value.
• Do not eat "for the company". If you're at a party, skip the appetite-boosting snacks.Small snacks (canapes, sandwiches, etc.) are usually high in calories, especially if you eat them in large quantities.
• Don't forget to eat before you go grocery shopping! If you go to the grocery store hungry, you are more likely to buy unhealthy food.
• Do not forget occasionally reward yourself with delicious treats so you don't regret changes in your diet. We all need to indulge ourselves with something special from time to time.
• Keep chewing gum handy. With just 5 calories, a slice of gum can save you hundreds of calories that you would eat alongside unhealthy snacks. Teas with strong flavors (such as mint) are also very healthy - they relieve you of the feeling of dry taste buds and give you a sense of pleasure in the drink.
• Butter is liquid fat, but it is one of the fats your body needs. It is sometimes listed as “unsaturated fat,” which is the BEST choice over saturated and trans fats - keep this in mind as you study the composition of foods. Organic oils such as olive, grape seed oil, coconut oil, almond oil, walnut oil, and avocado oil are excellent sources of nutrients.
• Diversify your diet. Change your salad dressing from time to time, and buy unusual fruits and vegetables from health food stores and vegetarian stores. Flip through your recipe book occasionally and find new snacks you can make yourself.
• Eat foods from each food category in the recommended amounts.

Warnings

• Ice cream in particular can turn out to be a food for which you find attachment on the verge of addiction. Once you get used to eating it every day, you will begin to crave it all the time. To prevent this problem, remove ice cream from your daily access (i.e., do not keep it in the freezer all the time).
• Avoid corn, cottonseed and canola oils - these are often modified. In addition, peanut butter is often loaded with pesticide residues.
• See your doctor if dietary changes affect your health negatively.
• Stay away from foods high in fructose corn syrup. This is an artificial sugar that poses some health risks.