A Visual Guide to 15 Healthy Snacks
Most vending machines are stocked full of junk food. With a bit of planning it is possible to replace those snacks with foods that will nourish your body.
The challenge is to balance convenience with nutrition.
Here is a pictorial guide to a selection of healthy snacks - and remember - healthy eating is not just about the number of calories*.
Serving shown: 20 almonds
Calories: 139
Serving shown: 30g / ~1oz
Calories: 178
Serving shown: 40g / 1.4oz
Calories: 97
Note: Dried fruits are more calorie dense (per weight) than fresh fruit - and are easier to overeat.
Serving shown: 180g, 1 medium & 1 small.
Calories: 95
Note: Great packaging. Small portions. Seasonal
Serving shown: 185g / 6.5oz
Calories: 96
Serving shown: 1 medium banana - 118g
Calories: 105
Note: Nicely prepackaged.
Serving shown: 215g / 7.6oz
Calories: 148
Note: Seasonal
Serving shown: 85g / 3oz
Calories: 99
Note: Be wary of tuna in oil - many of the oils are vegetable oils (high in omega-6 rather than omega-3 EFA's).
Serving shown: 25g / .9oz
Calories: 72
Note: Find in bulk bins - often with different seasonings.
Serving shown: 2 cups
Calories: 62 (air-popped)
Calories:110 (oil-popped)
No condiments added.
Note: Avoid pre-packaged popcorn (often contains trans fat).
Serving shown: 170g / 6oz
Calories: 60
Note: Convenient - can buy pre-washed and pre-bagged.
Serving shown: 40g / 1.4oz hummus
Calories: 108
Note: Buy celery pre-cut and pre-washed. Goes well with many other dips.
Serving shown: 150g / 1 Cup
Calories: 27
Note: Seasonal.
Serving shown: 1 cracker + ~45g (1.5oz) cottage cheese (light)
Calories: 70
Note: Aim for crispbreads or crackers that are completely whole grain and have a minimal amount of oil.
80g / 2.8oz
Calories: 90
Functional Fruit
All fruits are great - however many have a very short season (berries, peaches, nectarines) and others can be a bit too messy if you are at work (grapefruit, oranges, melon).*It's Not Just About Calories
Some snacks may be low in calories, but lack in other essential nutrients. Some snacks do nothing to satisfy the appetite. What's the point in saving 20 calories just to be gnawingly hungry 15 minutes later? No vending machine will be safe from you...Not Everyone Needs to Snack
For some people - three square meals works fine. For others, snacking is a way of life - and without a little pre-planning - most of those snacks will not be the best choices.Snacking is a great way to maintain even energy levels and manage hunger and prevent bingeing.
Building Positive Habits
Snacking is habit forming. Switch out bad food choices for good ones - and before you know it - your 3 hourly pilgrimage to the vending machine will be a thing of the past.Need More Ideas?
- See our Healthy Snacks category for many more suggestions.
- What does 100 Calories look like?
- A Visual Guide to 300 Calorie Meals?
NOTE: All items were carefully weighed and measured. Calorie amounts came from the USDA nutrient database or from labels.
Read More
- Almond Butter: The New Peanut Butter? (Diet Blog)
- Smart Halloween Candy Removal Tips (Diet Blog)
- Meet Greg, 155 Pounds Down! (DailySpark)
- 2012 Super Bowl Commercial Winners: Oikos and Belvita [VIDEOS] (Diets in Review)
73 Comments
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Created / Updated: December 7, 2011
MMMMM.... I'm getting hungry.... just one question Note: Avoid microwave popcorn? WHY?
ReplyI don't see where it says to avoid microwave popcorn? If you are referring to where it says to avoid pre-packaged popcorn, I think they are talking about the already popped pre-packaged popcorn in a bag. Microwave popcorn is great now a days...I love the 100 calorie mini bags of smartpop.
Replyyou should never eat microwave popcorn! the teflon in the bags breaks down when heated up and gets into the corn. Also, the fake butter often contains trans fats and has carcinogenic compounds in it. STOP EATING IT!
ReplyAlso, Air Popped Popcorn is DELICIOUS and only takes like 5 minutes in an air popper. Bonus Kids love to watch the "magic"
ReplyAlso, you can easily have air popped popcorn without spending $ on an air popper. All you have to do is get plan paper lunch bags (avoid colors/bleached ones/etc). Put 1/3c. unpopped popcorn kernels in the bag, fold the top of the bag down no more than 1 inch, and staple at each corner. (Because it is a small amount of metal, and far apart, it won't arc - so no worries about blowing up your microwave)
Microwave until there is 1 second between pops (do NOT trust your "popcorn" setting, because this is a smaller amount than pre-packaged popcorn)
Then, tear off the top and enjoy! Great with whatever toppings you'd like - even some smart balance "butter" or peanutbutter, or that sort of thing. :)
(Great for kids/college students)
Also, it's a LOT cheaper. Works out to something like 17 cents per bag instead of nearly 2 or 3 dollars!
ReplyThanks!
Reply2-3 dollars for a bag of microwave popcorn?!?
ReplyWell microwaves heat up the food with bouncing around "microwaves". Heating these "microwaves" is extremely unhealthy. Even eating frozen vegetables which is healthy can turned to be a unhealthy snack if put in the microwave. It lowers you matiblism makes you sick and many more.
Reply...this isn't true at all.
ReplyActually, friction that the microwaves cause between molecules is what heats up the food. It is totally safe and wont make you sick, at all. Cooking things like frozen vegetables in the microwave is better because the vegetables arent exposed to as much heat or liquid which can harm and destroy vital nutrients found in these foods.
Replywell i don't really care what i eat everything is good for me.
Replyyou got that right!
Replyif you buy popcorn seeds and all natural coconut oil and cook it on the stove until popped is all natural and obviously way more healthy than microwave popcorn
Replylove popcorns, it says no to pre-pop corn. I just hope they make vending machines that would dispense these food.
Replysuper yummy
I like nut and legume...
ReplyThis is a great visual representation of some of the great foods we can eat instead of hitting a vending machine for cookies or candy!
Brian
Replywhat i've noticed with microwave popcorn is that they add artificial ingredients that are not really neccessery. they are only preservatives to keep they added flavourings (read: extra unhealthy calories) such a butter, sugar etc from expiring quickly. i think i'd rather just get a normal bag of popping corn to make popcorn out of. i think it's possible to put that in the microwave if it's put in a paper bag first, although i've personally never tried it out.
ReplyPutting regular kernels in a paper bag can cause a fire... I'm speaking from experience there.
There are plenty of fat free, plain microwave popcorns out there, sans "extra calories". Just because there was a recent news story on the problems with the health of people who make the stuff (despite whether or not there was a true correlation between that) the best advice for microwave popcorn is to truly keep the bag away from your face when opening it... but I'm sorry, I've been eating it for decades without any problems, and it's a great way to help stay on track with your diet goals. It's far more filling "per handful" than anything else listed up there for the calories.
ReplyAfter 20 years of doing this without a single fire, I'd say you're pretty safe with microwaving popcorn in a lunch bag.
ReplyI am assuming when you say beware of microwave popcorn, you mean because of the additives, and that popcorn without the additives is fine? I have a special container to microwave plain popcorn in. I got it from cooking.com a few years ago.
ReplyWhy would you make me hungry like that?
Them's good eating that you pictured. :)
ReplySome really great choices. Snacking helps one to make body composition changes, by keeping the metabolic furnace going!
I would add for the dried fruits to look for sulfite-free. You can get that at most health food stores. Dried fruits are much tastier without this preservative, even if they don't look all perfect and plastic with their original color.
Also, a good reason to steer clear of microwaved foods - They are altered at the molecular level. Most of us are frightened of GMO. But this is at the level of the molecules! What a way to kill a food.
Read here:
Replyhttp://www.thehealthierlife.co.uk/article/3568/microwave-ovens.html
yo mamamamama
ReplyThis article contains lots of bad science comparing apples with oranges to try and prove beliefs. It's not a good source.
ReplyThose lovely photographs seemed so much more appealing than what's usually on offer in a vending machine--to us.
But I doubt we're typical. I'm afraid the majority of customers that a vending machine company depends on would just wonder "where the hell did you put my Snickers and my Doritos?"
My guess is that this would work better in environments where the healthy stuff could be subsidized by an employer or school district or something.
Replygosh.not when i'm hungry and all i have are crackers.:-(
Replythe bean salad's good but what about the fart factor??
got a south indian bean salad recipe.
Ingredients: a cup of beans or sprouted legumes, peanuts, mixed nuts (preferably soaked); 1/2 a green chilli; 1/2 a teaspoon of olive/mustard oil;salt.
Method: steam or boil the beans with a pinch of salt.
for seasoning-heat oil and add mustard.after mustard crackles, add the cut green chilly and toss in the beans.stir for a minute and garnish with coriander and curry leaves.
Bean salad is ready to eat.
I'm a stay-at-home-mom now, but when I was working, I used to keep a container of Dove Promises (DARK chocolate... mmmmmmm) on my desk. In fact, I still have that container full on my counter. Sometimes NOTHING will do except real chocolate to satisfy a craving (ladies will get it). Those Dove Dark Chocolate promises are low in calories, they're one-bite, and rich enough to satisfy so you aren't gorging yourself.
Not that fruits and nuts aren't great snacks - I do them all the time - but sometimes you just need that chocolate.
ReplyI'd personally pass on the popcorn and baby carrots (processing, high glycemic index). But these are great snacks (and nice pics!). I think it's also good to be aware of more protein and fat-rich snacks (such as the tuna and nuts depicted) that provide sustained energy and tissue repair: avocado slices, a slice of organic cheese, a small piece of grilled chicken. Although, I will say it is funny that we snack to begin with. I suppose it's more natural to graze throughout the day, but the vending-machine fare of our workaday society leaves something to be desired. :)
ReplyI take time on Sunday evenings to hard-boil a batch of eggs for the upcoming week. Personally, I love hard-boiled eggs whites and find them to be an incredibly satisfying snack during the day. As long as you prepare them the night before and have a place to refrigerate them at work/school, I find they are an quick and delightfuly way to curb hunger before I get home for a real meal (most often, I enjoy them with some carrots or a piece of fruit mid-afternoon).
ReplyWe've got nothing but garbage here. I bring bananas and apples to work. Some nuts might not be a bad idea, too. The added protein would certainly be nice given my current workout regimen.
Reply