FitSugar

Holiday Survival: 10 Healthy Snacks For Road Tripping

FitSugar — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:00:00 PST

"Over the river and through the wood, to grandmother's house we go." I love a Thanksgiving road trip, but I don't love the unhealthy food options on the road. I could splurge a little and order a Whopper, but truthfully, I know if I eat it, I'll feel like crap. With a little planning, you can avoid the dieting pitfalls associated with road tripping. The trick is to have a travel-size cooler with you since healthy foods often need refrigeration. Here are some of my faves.

Edamame: Take the bag out of the freezer the night before and put it on the fridge. It'll be defrosted but not soggy and ready to pack in the morning.
Veggie sticks: Chop your own the night before and place in ziploc baggies, or buy precut carrots, celery, and broccoli florets at the store. Pack a container of hummus in the cooler for dipping.
Apples and cheese: A simple snack packed with protein and fiber. You can preslice them or bring a knife with you. If you're not into apples, pack some whole grain crackers like Kashi TLC party crackers or Doctor Kracker flatbreads instead.
Fruit slices and yogurt: Cut up apples, pears, pineapple, and nectarines and place them in a container. Pack them in the cooler with vanilla yogurt for dunking.
Banana and peanuts: This is always a satisfying combination and very convenient since you don't need utensils. Just stick the peanuts in the banana before you take a bite.

To see more healthy snack ideas

Trail mix: Make a big bowl of your favorite nuts, dried fruits, dark chocolate chips, and granola. Then place half cup servings in individuals baggies.
Cereal mix: Choose whole grain cereals that have at least three grams of fiber per serving. Some of my favorites are Kashi Go Lean Crunch, Barbara's Shredded Oats, Kashi Honey Sunshine, and Barbara's Puffins. Mix them up, measure out serving sizes, and bag them.
Rice cakes with almond butter and cinnamon: These can be premade right before you leave. Place them in a plastic container so they stay fresh and mess-free.
Air-popped popcorn: It'll satisfy your crunchy, salty cravings. Pack a bag; it's easy to munch on whether you're the passenger or driver.
Energy bars: These are so convenient and satisfying, but be sure to choose ones that contain nuts, fruit, and whole grains. Some great choices are Larabars, Luna Sunrise Bars, Bora Bora bars, or Odwalla Bars.

Source

Snack Attack: Chocolate Ice Cubes

FitSugar — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 04:00:00 PST

We are always looking for yummy and healthy things to snack on but it is easy to run out of our own ideas. Sick of the same old thing? Well, thanks to user, mandiesoh, you can try a new snack! Her light snack idea for Chocolate Ice Cubes is so simple, yet sounds so good. Chocolate ice cubes are something that make you think, why didn't I think of that?

"Here's something i do just in case i get a sudden craving for something cold, icy and chocolate-y.

Buy a carton of low-fat chocolate milk (it's only 150 calories per 200 ml), pour into an ice cube tray and freeze it!

Seeing as you'll only eat a few at a time (I THINK!) you'll only consume very few calories while eating something so delish!"

Thanks mandiesoh! Great idea so when you're reaching for ice cream, reach for a few chocolate cubes!

Do you have a snack that is healthy you'd like to share? Maybe bumps on a log or rice cakes with natural peanut butter are your thing. If so, share your ideas and recipes in the Snack Attack Group! I'd love to feature your fabulous ideas on FitSugar's upcoming healthy snack post!

Do You Pack Healthy Snacks For Your Road Trips?

Leta Shy — Sat, 26 May 2012 03:44:05 PDT

It's finally here - the weekend where you pack up, suit up, or eat up to celebrate the start of warmer weather. For many, that also means packing up the car and heading somewhere to celebrate Memorial Day.

Staying healthy on vacation, no matter how short, can be difficult, especially when you're on the road. It's so easy to pull over and grab fast food or gas station fare instead of searching out healthier options, and sometimes packing your own snacks can take too much time to prepare.

If you're taking a road trip this weekend, will you be bringing healthier options with you, or will you be stopping for fast food? (If you need quick snack ideas, then check out these 150-calorie travel snack packs you can make fast!)

Nighttime Fasting: A New Way to Lose Weight?

Shape — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:09:52 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian with master's degrees in both nutrition science and public health.

If you couldn’t let anything cross your lips from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., but you were allowed to eat anything you wanted for eight hours a day and still lose weight, would you try it? That’s the apparent bottom line of a rat study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, which recently stirred up the weight loss pot.

Top 50 Summer Diet Foods for Weight Loss

Scientists put groups of mice on different diet regimens for 100 days. One group of rodents ate healthy food while animals in two of the groups chowed down on high-fat, high-calorie feed. Half of the junk food eaters were allowed to munch whenever they wanted to while the others only had access to feed for the eight hours they were most active. The conclusion: even though they ate a fatty diet, the mice who were forced to fast for 16 hours were almost as lean as those who ate the healthy fare. Interestingly, the round the clock junk food eaters became obese and developed health problems, even though they consumed about the same amount of fat and calories as the time-restricted junk food fed mice.

See if a nutritionist thinks nighttime fasting works after the break!

What 100 Calories Really Looks Like: Nuts

Susi May — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:11:04 PDT

Nuts are one of our favorite foods. Convenient for snacking, they're loaded with protein and healthy fats. But nuts are also high in calories (and some more than others), making it necessary to watch portion sizes when noshing on these nuggets of energy. From almonds to walnuts, we've created a visual breakdown of the most popular nuts so you can see just how many it takes to hit the 100-calorie mark.

How to Make Award-Worthy Oscars Popcorn

Michele Foley — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 07:52:30 PST

This Sunday I'll be celebrating the Academy Awards in style at an Oscars party. Besides a large spread of food, my friend is supplying each guest with a bag of popcorn - it's the perfect snack for celebrating the film industry. And if you can skip the butter bath, it's also an ideal healthy snack because it's low-calorie, high in antioxidants, low-fat, and filling.

Since my friend's Oscar party leans closer to a fancy affair, she's glamming up her popcorn with creative toppings like a sprinkle of pepper and Parmesan cheese. But before even thinking about what goes on top, make sure you make it the old-fashioned way: on the stove with a little canola oil. It tastes better, is healthier for you, and doesn't contain all the junk found in store-bought microwave popcorn. If you're worried about calories, try our fat-free popcorn or use an air popper.

For a glammed up event like an Oscars party, I like sprinkling healthy toppings like nutritional yeast or seaweed onto my popcorn, or dried spices like rosemary, garlic, and cayenne. If that doesn't sound good to you check out YumSugar's popcorn recipe roundup. How do you like to dress up your popcorn?

Source: Flickr user ThomasLife

Ditch the Dippin' Dots For These Favorite Healthy Snacks

Angelica Marden — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 03:45:29 PDT

When temperatures heat up most of us flock to the movies (or stay indoors where it's air conditioned) for some refreshing down time. Traditional theater and TV snacks like popcorn, candy, ice cream, and chips can wreck your mindful eating habits, so we offered up some simple, nutritious, and satisfying snack ideas recently and asked readers to share their favorites. The suggestions are all scrumptious. If you're headed to see a blockbuster this weekend, pack these reader-tested treats.

Pick something that takes effort: Gabriela Une Vie Saine says, "I love snacking on cherries or pistachios while watching TV. They're more difficult to eat than most finger foods, so I eat them more mindfully!"
Get creative with flavors: Reader tea-bag snacks on roasted cauliflower heads dusted with Stevia and cinnamon! She reports the snack is addicting and "strangely reminiscent of kettle corn!"
Take a sip!: FitSugar Senior Editor Susi May likes to have a big cup of Rooibos tea while watching TV. She says, "It's hot, so I drink it slowly and it's naturally sweet . . . I know tea is not food, but it sure is a good replacement for dessert." If it's hot out, put your tea on ice for an antioxidant-filled treat.
Trade white for green: Andrennabird recommends kale chips. Even her Doritos-loving friend asked for the recipe. Ready to make your own? Try this kale chip recipe.

Need more snack ideas? Check out our Snack Attack: Healthy Snack group.

Source: Flickr User La Grande Farmers' Market

Office Weight-Loss Tip: Set Up an Eating Schedule

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:21:07 PDT

Busy nine-to-fivers have schedules that don't leave much wiggle room for anything but work. Getting wrapped up in a project often leads to skipped snacks and meals. A growling stomach, headache, and fuzzy brain make you realize you should have eaten lunch an hour ago, and since you're famished, you reach for the first (and probably not-so-healthy) food you can get your hungry hands on. Prevent work weight gain and keep your productivity levels high by setting up a schedule for snacks and meals. After having breakfast at home, here's a basic schedule you can follow once you reach the office.

9:30: Morning snack
12:00: Lunch
3:30: Afternoon snack

Be sure to eat breakfast a couple hours before your morning snack and dinner a couple hours after your afternoon snack. Adjust the schedule to meet your needs and stick to it. (It may help to set up reminders on your computer or phone so you don't forget.) Before heading to work, prepare healthy snacks - like these 150-calorie DIY snack packs - and lunches -here are some tasty vegetarian sandwiches - so you can avoid grabbing greasy fast food or that homemade brownie your co-worker brought in. An eating schedule may seem a little too rigid (or like you're back in elementary school), but planning ahead is the best way to keep you on the healthy eating path.

Source: Flickr User SweetOnVeg

Save Money, Help the Planet With These DIY Healthy Snacks

Jenny Sugar — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:28:48 PDT

Eating healthy isn't always cheap, but it's a must if you want to improve your overall health. If you choose to buy organic or exotic options like dried blueberries - $13 for a small bag! - snacks can quickly eat up your food budget. Find out how to nosh on healthy nibbles and still have money left in your wallet.

Cheese sticks: Instead of buying individually wrapped cheese sticks, save money and avoid plastic packaging by making your own. Buy a block of your favorite cheese for a few bucks- mozzarella and monterey jack work well - and cut the block into long wedges for a grab-and-go snack.
Nut butter: Nut butters are great on toast, crackers, or sliced fruit, but if you buy organic jars, you can spend almost $8. Try this instead: buy huge bags of unsalted raw nuts, pour a cup in the food processor, and make your own. You can even make mixed nut butter with a few of your fave nuts and seeds. Spoon the creamy mixture into a glass container to store in the fridge.

Keep reading for more money-saving snack tips.

6 Handy Tips For Packing Work Lunches

Emily Co — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:28:28 PDT

Bringing lunch to work every day sure does save more than a few bucks and keeps you healthy at the same time. It's such an easy everyday saving trick, and it's a great option for those trying to cut costs on their daily expenses. Here are a few tips that get me through the week.

Mental Meal Plan: What do you want to eat for the rest of the week? Give it some thought before you make a trip to the grocery store to buy some ingredients. For inspiration, flip through Yum's list of delicious work lunches. While you're grocery shopping, read our savvy tricks for saving money at the supermarket.
Prep on Sunday: Buy all the ingredients you need on Sunday so that you won't have to desperately scramble around the night before. If you're planning on making one dish that you'll be eating all week (such as soup), you can either keep it refrigerated or, depending on what type of dish it is, you can also choose to freeze it in five ziploc packets that you can ration out throughout the week.
Keep It Separate: If you want to keep your lunch fresh, try to keep the pieces separate and assemble it right before you're having lunch. This works best for meals such as salads and sandwiches - soggy bread and vegetables are not appetizing!

Read on for more tips.