There are many studies out there saying that one should eat six small meals a day to lose or maintain weight. Experts believe eating smaller meals, more often, helps to prevent overeating and encourages people to eat smaller portions. It also helps boost metabolism and regulate blood sugar levels, helping people to keep their energy levels steady.
Eating that way is definitely a great way to eat if you are mindful of how much you are eating at one time (it’s easy to eat more than you think you’re eating so be careful!).
However, eating that way isn’t for everyone. And that’s okay. Personally, I tend to eat three bigger meals throughout the day, with a couple of snacks in between.
Depending on how big my meals are, sometimes I will have a snack between meals and sometimes I won’t. I listen to my body and if I’m hungry, I’ll eat something, but if I’m not, I don’t. I don’t (or at least I try not to) just eat for the sake of eating.
Snacking itself isn’t bad if you choose healthy snacks. Unfortunately there are lots of unhealthy snacks out there trying to lure us (like those 100 calorie snack packs—those are not healthy so don’t be tricked!). And be careful because many snacks that appear to be healthy have lots of added sugar. Check the ingredient list to be sure sugar (including brown rice syrup, evaporated cane juice, etc.) isn’t one of the first ingredients.
Today I thought I would share with you some of my favorite snacks to help give you some ideas for healthy options when you need something to tide you over until your next meal.
In order for the snack to tide you over, it is important that it have some combination of carbs (which are not only grains, but fruits and veggies too), healthy fats (i.e. nuts, avocado), fiber, and protein. Fiber, fat, and protein take longer to digest so they will help tide you over for longer.
23 Healthy Snack Ideas for Mindful Eating
- Protein Energy Bites (Sesame Almond and Chocolate Cherry)
- Homemade Popcorn (There are so many fun toppings you can add that won’t add a ton of extra calories—check out my blog post on it
).
- Sliced apple with nut butter of your choice (You can dress it up with raisins and/or coconut!)
- Small handful of nuts and dried fruit (Be careful the dried fruit isn’t sweetened with sugar. Check the ingredients because sugar is often listed!)
- Lara Bars/Kind Bars/18 Rabbits Bars
- Granola with Almond Milk (Homemade Granola and Chock Full of Nuts Grain-Free Granola)
- Frozen Grapes
- Raw Veggies (Carrots, Celery, Pepper Slices, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cherry Tomatoes) with Red Pepper & Walnut Pesto
- Whole Wheat Pita (or Pita Chips) or Raw Veggies with Hummus
- Hummus Served Hot–Two Ways
- Half an Avocado with seasoning salt or Balsamic Vinegar and EVOO
- Sliced Tomato with a little bit of mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, and a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar (A mini caprese salad!)
- Roasted Chickpeas (Toss with olive oil and seasonings–my favorite is with cumin seeds and cayenne–and roast at 425°F for about 20 minutes)
- I also love chickpeas roasted with squash!
- Fresh Fruit Salad (but don’t add any sugar!)
- Half a Banana with nut better of your choice (For a special treat add mini chocolate chips )
- Light Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls
- Homemade Kale Chips
- Clementine and Small Handful of Walnuts
- Grapes and 1 stick of light mozzarella string cheese
- Whole Grain Tortilla Chips or Black Bean Chips with Salsa
- Small bowl of cereal with almond milk (Make sure the cereal has less than 10 grams of sugar per serving)
- Mini berry smoothie with 1/4 cup of juice, 1/4 cup of yogurt, 1/4 cup of berries, and 1/2 a frozen banana (For an extra healthy boost add some spinach! I promise you won’t even taste it ).
- Hard boiled egg mashed with a dash of light mayo, mustard, and salt on a slice of whole-wheat bread
What’s your favorite healthy snack? Leave me a comment and let me know. I’d love to hear your ideas!!
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About Kristen
great ideas! i’ve been meaning to make popcorn forever. maybe tonight.
Lindsay @ The Lean Green Bean recently posted..Sweet & Spicy Roasted Chickpeas
Thanks, Lindsay! You should definitely make popcorn tonight….such a yummy snack!
Kristen recently posted..Foods to Cure Common Ailments, How to Get More Vitamin D, and GMOs {MT&N}
Twitter: everydaymaven
says:
Great post! My favorite snack is a piece of fruit and 2 teaspoons of chunky peanut butter (usually an apple or banana). I eat this at least 1x a day!
Alyssa @ Everyday Maven recently posted..GBOTW: 10 Healthy “On the Go” Snacks by Snack Girl
I love that snack too, Alyssa! I’m actually eating it right now (apple with pb)
Kristen recently posted..23 Healthy Snack Ideas
I’m addicted to popcorn – and your pesto recipe looks delish!!
Thanks Jeanne! And thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment
. I looove popcorn too! You should definitely try the pesto. It’s so yummy 
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I basically eat the same way as you do..three larger meals and then snacks! Usually my snacks consist of almonds, apples, mangoes, and/or bananas but I’m definitely going to have to try out some of these!
Joanne recently posted..Recipe: Salted Caramel Bundt Cake
I eat a lot of fruit and nuts too, but sometimes I get bored with those
. I like a lot of variety! I looooove mangoes, but they are usually so expensive.
Kristen recently posted..23 Healthy Snack Ideas
My favourite is the carrot spiced muffin
jamie recently posted..Here is where you begin
Jamie, the carrot spiced muffin is so good. It tastes like you’re having a treat even though it’s healthy. I love snacks like that!
*drool* *slobber* In from SITS
Student Mom (Jenn) recently posted..Putting Family First
Haha I like your commentary
. Which snack appeals to you most?
Twitter: mrs_KarenC
says:
i love giving my son healthy snacks instead of store bought, processed snacks. So this is great, gives me more ideas. I am thankful that he loves hummus, guacamole, and hummus.
karen recently posted..All out of flour
I love that you give him such healthy snacks and how fortunate that he is such a good eater. I think kids can definitely learn to be good eaters if you start them that way from a young age. I’m so glad you found some new ideas from this post. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back again soon
.
Twitter: emilybwebb
says:
So many great ideas! I’ve been trying to cut out processed sugar too. It’s a challenge with snack ideas for the kids and me. Thanks for your post!
Emily recently posted..Lunchbox memories
I think cutting out processed sugar is much harder with kids because they see so many other kids eating processed things. Good for you for giving it a shot. I hope some of the snacks in this post gave you some new ideas
. Thanks for stopping by!
these look and sound delish!
Happy sits day
Thanks Bonnie and thank you for stopping by from SITS. It means a lot to me!
Twitter: ashleytaylor76
says:
YUM! What a great list! I really feel like there are options for every kind of eater on this list!
Can’t wait to try some of these suggestions! Happy SITS day!
thedoseofreality recently posted..Is It Really All You Thought It Would Be?
Awww that’s so sweet. I tried to target all kinds of eaters with this list so I’m so happy to hear you think it would accommodate many food preferences
. I hope you enjoy some of these snacks. Thank you again for stopping by!
{Melinda} I am a HUGE healthy eater! Love all these ideas because I tend to get in a rut and eat the same things over and over again. I LOVE smoothies. Never get tired of them! Avocados are so good too. Thanks for giving my diet a creativity boost!
Subscribing to your feed. Happy SITS Day!
Mothering From Scratch recently posted..new motherhood starts today
Hi Melinda! Thanks for stopping by from SITS
. I loooove smoothies too. I’m glad you found a few new healthy snack ideas from this post. I hope you stop by again soon!
Twitter: chicshadesgreen
says:
Hi, I am visiting form SITS, I’m so glad I found your site. It looks like you have lots of good, healthy recipes; I’m always looking for different snack ideas. I rarely make food with sugar; I’ve had a container of whole cane sugar on the shelf for a long time— although sugar (sucrose) has a Glycemic Index (GI) of 2 while honey’s is 169 and maple syrup’s is 126. Whole cane sugar is at least less processed and GMO-free. I use raw honey and stevia (GI=0) on all my recipes and working toward only using stevia. I can’t wait to check out some of your recipes.
Lyza May recently posted..Let’s All Jump on the Health Food Band Wagon
Twitter: chicshadesgreen
says:
I had my numbers wrong— the serving size wasn’t the same. For 100 grams: Sugar is 70, Maple Syrup is 39 and Honey is 50. So, they are all basically the same, maple syrup being the lowest. Sorry for my oops!
Lyza May recently posted..Let’s All Jump on the Health Food Band Wagon
Thanks for the update, Lyza and nice to see you back so soon
. I can’t wait to check out your blog too…love the title of your latest post!
Hi Lyza! How fun to meet another like-minded blogger
. I have also experimented with whole cane sugar and other less-processed sugars. I love that whole cane sugar is GMO-free too! The thing that I really like about honey and maple syrup are that they are naturally much sweeter than sugar (sucrose) so you don’t need to use nearly as much of it. I hope to see you over here again soon 
.
Twitter: chicshadesgreen
says:
Yes, I’m happy to meet another like-minded blogger too. You make a good point about using less honey or maple syrup for recipes, that’s why I use them too. I can usually use half of what a recipe says.
I do the same thing Lyza and it usually turns out really well. Sometimes I can even use less than half, depending on what I’m making so I love that! I’ll be stopping by your blog soon
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Kristen recently posted..What Is Your Workout Personality?
Twitter: anotherjenb
says:
The roasted chickpeas sound so good! I’m going to have to try those. Happy SITS Day!
Another Jennifer recently posted..Recovering from #BlogHer12
Oh they are sooooo good Jennifer! I hope you try them and love them as much as I do. Feel free to experiment with the flavors too. One of my friends loves to make hers with rosemary. Yum!
Great snack ideas! We stock up on Lara bars here but get into a snack rut sometimes. Love having new ideas. How about some tiny pretzels dpped into mashed avocado? Stopped by from SITS and look forward to exploring your blog.
Pam recently posted..Compassion Bloggers
I’ve never thought about dipping pretzels into mashed avocado, but I loooove avocados so I’m sure I would love it. Thanks for the idea and thanks for stopping by from the SITS girls. How fun to meet so many other bloggers!
What a great list! I’m going to have to look into nut butter. Is that actually made from nuts? Do you have any recipes for it here? BTW, hope you are enjoying your SITS day!
Joanne recently posted..How to Savor Late Summer
Hi Joanne! Thanks for stopping by. Nut butter is a great alternative to peanut butter and is made from any kind of nut–almond, cashew, pecan, walnut, etc. I’ve tried all of those flavors and love them! I don’t have any nut butter recipes yet, but I’m getting a VitaMix in a few weeks and then I’ll definitely post some nut butter recipes (you can make it in your food processor too if you have one).
Great ideas! I’m going to bookmark this page! Happy SITS day,
Kristi recently posted..Sunday Hymn – Jesus I Am Resting
I’m glad you like these ideas Kristi! I always enjoy getting new healthy snack ideas. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you over here again soon
.
Kristen recently posted..What Is Your Workout Personality?
Hello from St. Louie! Happy SITS day to you. I love your blog! My friend’s dad is a beekeeper. I can’t wait to share your recipes with both of them. Also, my kids LOVE homemade popcorn so I love your topping ideas. Thanks!
Hi Andrea! I’m so glad you love my blog–what a great compliment! How fun that you’re going to share some of my recipes with a beekeeper
. Homemade popcorn is one of the easiest and best healthy snacks out there, but so many people forget about it. I hope your kids love the toppings! I have a board on Pinterest called “The Food Matters Project” with lots of other ideas for homemade popcorn if you’re interested 
.
Twitter: classicnycgirl
says:
As a compulsive snacker myself, I have to reinforce how important it is to have healthy snacks hanging around the house. Because it will be that or Doritos, haha!
I’m totally going to check out that carrot muffin recipe, because those look goooooood.
Dropped in from SITS. Happy SITS day!
Classic NYer recently posted..On an orange dress
I completely agree on the snacking front! I love to eat snacks and it’s soooo much better when I know it’s something healthy and I don’t have to feel guilty about it
. Thank you so much for stopping by today. I’m loving my SITS day! Please come back again soon!
Twitter: akaleistar
says:
These look like great ideas! Happy SITS Day
Thank you! I hope you try some of these snacks. They are all so yummy. Thanks for stopping by on my SITS day and please come back again soon
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Twitter: fiercedivablog
says:
I thought I made the best ever home made granola until I checked out yours. Excellent idea. Happy SITS day!
ilene recently posted..Learn to Meditate in 92 Seconds
I bet your granola is awesome too Ilene! I loooove homemade granola
. Thanks for stopping by on my SITS day! I’m having so much fun “meeting” so many other bloggers! Please come back again soon!
Twitter: marisoldahl
says:
these are awesome ideas! definitely going to try making my own homemade granola!
Marisol recently posted..Sleepy Bear
Thanks, Marisol! Homemade granola is so much better than store bought and it’s really not that hard. I hope you love it as much as I do. Thanks for stopping by on my SITS day
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