Winter can pose challenges to those trying to make healthy eating choices with its abundance of carb-rich comfort foods. Then summer comes along with a host of extra temptations, like ice cream, poolside snacks, and picnic meals that simply don’t fit in with your well-intentioned eating plan.
Fortunately, you don’t need to deprive yourself if you love to snack. It’s not necessarily how much you eat that can get in the way of your wellbeing goals, it’s more about what you eat.
With volume eating, you can nibble more, as long as you don’t overshoot your daily kilojoule requirements. That means snacking isn’t completely off the cards!
These snacks are the perfect fix for those who love to nibble in between meals and avoid the starvation mindset that often prompts your body to hoard every kilojoule it encounters.
Popcorn
Air-popped, lightly salted popcorn is one of the healthiest and tastiest snacks around. It’s a whole grain food, which means it’s high in fibre, so it helps you feel fuller faster too.
That doesn’t mean you can treat yourself to a huge bucket of popcorn at the movie theatre though. Cinemas add oil to their popcorn machines, which increases the kilojoule count considerably. Rather make your own and get all the benefits of a homemade snack.
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Crudités
This is a fancy name for raw vegetables, sometimes eaten with a dip. Think raw carrots, broccoli, beans, baby corn or bell pepper strips – they provide an appealing crunch, and contain loads of vitamins and minerals too.
To maximise this veggie snack, mix it up with a yoghurt dip for extra gut-boosting benefits. A mouth-watering platter of crudites is all in the presentation, so take a little time to lay your snacks out in a beautiful way.
Fruit
In the warmer months, some of our favourite fruits come out to play. Indulge on fruits like mango, peaches, nectarines, and melons. Berries are a particularly good choice if you’re looking for a high-volume, low-kilojoule snack. They’re also packed with antioxidants, so make sure you add them to your snack rotation.
You can snack on fruit as it is or combine some of your favourites with a protein shake for a seasonal treat.
READ MORE: 4 Healthier homemade alternatives to breakfast cereals
Protein chips
Sometimes you’re in a hurry and don’t even have time to peel a piece of fruit, let alone make your own popcorn. Thank goodness there are ready-made snacks available, allowing you to indulge without the empty carbohydrates, sodium, and fat.
Protein chips are the answer for chip-loving snacksters since they have half the kilojoules of ordinary chips, but with all the taste, plenty of protein, and just the right amount of crunch.
These nibbles are made of air-fried pea protein seasoned with all your favourite flavours.
Salads and bowls
A cool, crisp, refreshing salad is just what you need when you’re lounging around the pool or picnicking in a favourite spot.
You can really get creative when you build your salad by mixing and matching different colours, flavours, and textures. ‘Bowls’ are uber trendy and are heartier alternatives to a salad, usually comprising greens, beans, and grains to create a colourful and healthful combo meal.
The key to a high-volume, low-kilojoule salad or bowl is to add greens like spinach to bulk up your dish.
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Live it up this summer
With just a few easy tweaks, you’ll soon start to enjoy finding clever ways to satisfy your cravings without blowing your kilojoule budget.
With so many healthful and delicious options available, it’s easy to enjoy the best of both worlds when it comes to summer snacking.
ALSO SEE: 5 easy tips to keep that heart healthy balance
