Snacks

[jms0310]

Since I am new here I have not contributed much yet (except asked a few questions!) but eventually I'm sure I will! I enjoyed reading the posts about what everyone ate for breakfast and I got a lot of really great ideas. What is a typical day of healthy snacks for you and how many do you usually eat? I try to eat about 5-6 small meals a day and have a difficult time thinking of new snacks so this may help me. At the moment I rely heavily on Luna bars, fruit, & nuts. It just seems so boring sometimes though!
Jessica

[JHolcomb]

I try to keep protein snacks around, since they seem to sustain me longer than carbs. I love Hormel Turkey pepperoni and part-skim string cheese. Bananas are another fave of mine, 'cause they're easy to carry with me. Nuts, too. I have to snack kind of a lot because I have problems with low blood sugar and I get EVIL if it gets too low.

[Marsha]

My favorite snack is light microwave popcorn in the snack size - it is very filling without being high in calories. Orville & Pop Secret make the small snack size bags in "light".

[kwormann]

In the am, I take a cooler to work and have a V8...I teach 1st graders and I found they have no desire for that snack! In the pm I need more, so I have cheese and crackers, p.b and crackers, peanuts and raisins, popcorn and peanuts...I too need the protein (hypoglycemia).

Kim

[donleyk]

I too have a problem with low blood sugar. I get positively nasty when it's low. I have been trying to find protein snacks but that hasn't been easy. I have yet to try the Luna bars, altho' it is on my list. I did buy a bag of trail mix, and I have been trying to eat a handful 45 minutes before my noon work-outs. This has helped. The snack pac yogurts are convinient, oranges (but they're messy). The strawberries have been yummy the last 2 weeks. I also have the occasional bowl of cereal. It is easy for me because I have a fridge at work.

Kim- the V8 helps with your hypoglycemia? I may wait too long to before taking anything in. Juice usually isn't enough for me.

[tiffanyh]

I eat lots of apples, raisins and pretzels for snacks. I also just discovered the Stonyfield Farms Squeeze Yogurt. It's a little tube of yogurt that you eat almost like one of those Flavor-Ice popsicles. Only 60 calories and it's really good! I also like taking the small cans of Del-Monte Light Mixed Fruit and Jello cups.

[SandyM]

Tiffany, I LOVE Stonyfield Farms yogurt - it's the only brand I've found that I like. I haven't seen the squeeze yogurts yet - hopefully we'll get them soon. Thanks!!

[beccathebaker]

For sweet snacks I love to chocolate pudding made with Silk soymilk instead of the milk, and fudgesicles. Trail mix made with Kashi Good Friend cereal, nuts and chocolate chips is also a favorite of mine. I also love to slather my sourdough bread with a good nut butter. I am trying to gain weight after chemo and radiation and am always looking for healthy and energy dense snack ideas. Pass them on if you all have them!! -Becca

[JHolcomb]

donleyk-
As I posted above I have probs w/hypoglycemia. When I was waiting tables in college I would wait too long to eat (we weren't allowed to eat on our shifts, so I'd have to go 5-6 hrs w/ nothing to eat) and that's when I found out juice is never enough for me, either. On my next to last shift as a waitress, I my blood sugar got so low that I didn't know where I was or what I was doing there. I also get very mean. Once, I threw a stale baguette at my husband because I was having a spell and found out that he had eaten the last good bread in the house-that was when I had to instate a serious snack plan.

Try carrying a peanut butter with jelly or honey on whole wheat. PB seems to bring me right out of a spell. It's like magic. String cheese works well, too and is easy to carry. Plus it tastes good with apples. Yum. Wow. I didn't know so many people had this problem.

[Norma]

If you like soynuts, they're good protein. They are so easy to take. If I'm going to be gone from home for any length of time, I grab my soynut/seed mixture and my water bottle, and I'm fine. It doesn't take many to satisfy me either...about 1/2 tablespoon maybe. This is my current favorite.

[Cindy Rafferty]

Hi: I'm another with low blood sugar/hypoglycemia. It's hard for others to know what the conditon is like, worse in the a.m. for me than the p.m. No, juice won't cut it, some kind of protein is needed. I bring yogurt or some cheese and crackers and have a mid-morning snack. Eating smaller portions more often really does help! I know about the nastys, and also get a headache if I wait too long to eat. Lunch: it's got to be early.

[kwormann]

donleyk

The v8 works only in the morning because I eat a protein/fiber breakfast around 6:30-7:00, have the v8 at 9:30 and lunch is at 10:50, so all the food is close together. Between 11:20 (end of lunch - also protein and fiber) and dinner (between 6:00-7:00), is a LOT more time and is why I need a much more subsantial snack....sometimes I am so needy by 3:30 I could actually eat dinner then!

I inherited this condiditon from my grandmother....she used to keep peanuts next to her bed because she would wake up in the middle of the night with an attack....Ive never experienced this.
I do, however, ALWAYS have peanuts with me for emergencies, especially in the classroom..can you imagine teaching in that condition??

DO any of you have friends that think you are wierd for eating mini meals through the day? My friends dont understand my need for this, or the need for consistency in my meal times!

Kim

[This message has been edited by kwormann (edited 02-16-2001).]

[donleyk]

I am worried that my co-workers think I am a oinker because I am always eating. Of course, both of those statements are exaggerations but you get my point. I have had problems with this, my husband has always said that I get grumpy when I don't eat (we've been married for 18 years)but I am just amazed at how pronounced it is since the beginning of the year, when I got serious about losing weight again.

It has been a lot of hit and miss for me so far. Yesterday, as an example, I had a serving of bran flakes with a banana at 10am. By 12:20, during aerobics, I had problems.

I did by Luna bars yesterday and want to try those at 11 to see if that will get me through. I think I will go the nuts and peanut butter route, like suggested.

Thanks to everyone that commented. This is really helpful and I do appreciate it!