Good snacking
QOTA meal plans incorporate snacks during the day to supplement the main meals of the day. The important item to note is these small meals during the day need to be calorie controlled to ensure your weight loss progress is maintained. We need to make smart choices for our snacks and this article will provide some strategies you can employ.
Make Friends with Fruit
We recommend you include at least one snack of fruit in your diet plan. Choose a fruit that you love to eat - apple, banana, grape, kiwi, strawberry - and buy up a week’s worth to have on hand. Fruit juice is not a replacement for a piece of fruit and shouldn’t be included in your weight loss diet.
Fruits are simply the best snack because they provide psychological satisfaction during the consumption including peeling the fruit and eating it. Fruits are low in calories and high in fibre and that combination helps with giving you a feeling of being full after the meal.
Fruits - Dealing with cravings
Fruits are also your get out of jail card if you have a serious craving attack and start reaching for a tub of ice cream. Even if another piece of fruit isn’t in your diet plan you can use fruit to stave off cravings, so we suggest buying a few extra pieces of fruit and have them around for when you need them.
Protein Bars, Balls or Cookies
QOTA meal plans include protein bars as snacks and we suggest them because protein throughout the day helps by giving you a feeling of satiation and keeping those hunger pangs at bay. Check the nutritional label and choose a product that has around 130-150 calories per bar. With protein balls we don’t recommend buying these in bulk bags as it’s too easy to overeat.
Other Pre-Packaged snacks
There are a dizzying number of snacking choices available and the competition and availability is only increasing. We like pre-packaged snacks because it’s clear how many calories are in the serving - just be careful to ensure they contain around 130-150 calories per serving.
Some good options for snacking are: Nut mixes (almonds), Edamame (roasted soybeans), pumpkin seeds (high in good fat), popcorn (plain low-butter), corn thins, tub of greek yogurt, hemp seeds, dark chocolate (4 squares only!), seaweed, dehydrated broccoli or beef jerky.
Snacking summary
QOTA meal plans include snacks as they are a good way to psychologically keep on track with a weight loss journey. It’s important to consider that the snacks are just a small meal to keep you engaged and most of your calories should be consumed in the main meals of the day. We recommend fruit or pre-packaged snack foods to ensure you don’t consume too many calories and slow down your overall weight loss.
Here’s to healthy eating.
Taking Action:
Work out what snacks you would like to incorporate into your daily diet (making sure the snack is around 130-150 cals) and stock up on these so you have some to hand for your snack meal times.
Remove any trigger foods from your pantry and don't buy any more of those foods while you are dieting. For example: potato chips, chocolate biscuits, ice-cream etc. It’s much easier to stick to your healthy snack options if your trigger foods have been removed.