I need some more gooder snack/lunch ideas because I get real hungry lately And bored of the old stuff. I need some simple, lowish cal ideas. The important thing for me is to have good, filling snacks because often it is a long day for me, being at uni 8-5 and working til midnight the night before so i get pretty tired and need to stagger my food intake throughout the day. I have been thinking of making wholemeal berry muffins and mini bread quiches, and having fruit with plain greek yoghurt (yum!) but apart from that im a bit stuck. Usually i have leftovers for lunch itself, which is pretty good, I was thinking of getting some pita pockets to stuff with things and salad but it all depends on how expensive they are lol. I've been trying to stay away from processed food which makes snacks even more tricksy, esp trying to stay low cal!

What're you having for snacks?? Lunch?? What about breakfast?? Give me your food ideas of loveliness!

I'm having apples with two tblspns of sunflower seed spread,
vanilla greek yogurt with various fruits but usually blueberries or strawberries and often with ground flax seed
No nut trail mix (I have nut allergy)
Veggies dipped in hummus
1 serving of whole grain crackers with half an avocado, spinach, tomato and fresh basil (I mash the avocado so it stays on my crackers)
Edamame- no salt added in packet, will dip in low sodium watered down soy sauce

Hope this gives you some ideas.

P.s: I love the Billy Connolly quote! I'm from Scotland also, so like most Scots I'm a huge fan of his- he is hilarious!

Hard boiled eggs
Almonds w fruit
instant oatmeal (easy to make....all you need is a paper cup and some hot water)
string cheese

Turkey bacon is a good snack that cooks fast but it can lead to wanting more food.
Peanut butter and banana is a good snack.
Almonds, they make flavored ones now.

My not-so-exciting snacks:

Apples (big fan, they fill me up and taste great)
Muesli bars (I buy Fleming's Body Plus Omega 3 Flavour)
Mini bags of popcorn (would be cheaper to pre-pack yourself, and also less calories, but the supermarket ones are about 55 cal per bag)
Dole Fruit & Oats (154 cal but pretty tasty and good for a quick mini-meal)
Yoghurt (but only when I go to work - need a fridge)
Almonds
Le Snak (haha, I think these must be an NZ only thing, but they're actually pretty good and only 70-something calories per little pack)

And naughty treat snack for when I need some chocolate:
The new mini/bite biscuits from Griffins (I think). I love the Mint Treat ones but they also have Toffee Pops and Squiggles and I can have 2 of those for less than 100 calories and 4 for slightly more than 100 calories.

oooh these are awesome keep them coming! Boiled eggs are always a fav i forget, but bananas i cannot stand!

Whats in turkey bacon? Is it all water and salt injected like real bacon? I've heard it tastes pretty good, whats it like cost wise?

rainbow- apples are awesome Whats in the muesli bars? I was buying pams because they are cheap and lower cal but they tend to be a bit chemically...Le snak reminds me of primary school! Only the cool kids got le snak. I didnt realise they were so low cal, might have to investigate ingredients and consider purchasing... I'm too scared to buy the mini bite things I have a feeling i would just nom straight through them xD

I don't think I have ever come across someone who disliked bananas until now.......heehee. I looooooooooove bananas, it may well be my favorite fruit.

trader joes has a spicy pico de gallo topped guacamole. it cuts the calories while still giving the protein in the guac. i usually eat that with carrots-- its like a healthy version of a hot cheeto!

I like the taste of bananas but the texture makes me want to vomit So unless its in a smoothie or baked or something bananas arent an enjoyable experience!

the guacamole sounds like an interesting idea, easy to make at home too! Or maybe just making a spicy salsa, i hadnt thought of that before

Muesli bar ingredients (I must admit I started buying these earlier on and didn't take much notice of the ingredients, only looked at the fact they were under 100 cal, which at the time when I was comparing packets, was the selling point):
cereals, wheat bran, toasted oats, puffed rice, sugar, sunflower oil, polydextrose, linseeds, flaxseed, wheat fibre, humectant, walnuts, emulsifier, honey, slat, flavour.

I still don't know which, if any of those ingredients, are terrible, but they seem ok to me. Haha yeah and I know what you mean about le snak - I actually used to hate them whenever my mum bought them as a "special" lunch box snack ,but they're not too bad - once again, I don't know the ingredients though. And don't have the box handy haha!

Lets see, todays snacks are:

80 cal Dannon Light & Fit yogurt
Small Honeycrisp Apple - 80ish cals - OMG, honeycrisp apples are AMAZING. Try one today.
1 cup raw Snap Green Beans - about 30 cals (give or take)
1 Cherry Coke Zero - It gets me from 2:30 to 3:20 VERY nicely.
1 Fiber One Bar, oats & carmel - 140 cals

I also had a packet of Low Sugar Quaker Oats, maple & brown sugar for breakfast - 120 cals

Lunch will be a tub of Easy Mac, clocking in at 220 cals.

Other things I snack on:

Mixed veggie bags I make - carrots, cucumbers, celery, green or red peppers, broccoli... anything I have at home I use.
Mini whole grain bagels, they are Thomas's for only 110 cals and they are TASTY toasted with a little laughing cow on them.

I have more, my mind has gone blank... hhm.

-Laughing Cow light cheese wedges on Wasa crisp breads. The crisps are eh, but fiber-y and filling.
-My breakfast this morning: Super exciting maple and brown sugar oatmeal! (I usually like to add a little vanilla almond milk after cooking, but had none today)
- ANY fruit. You really can't go wrong with fresh fruit.
- Or veggies, for that matter.
- A coffee! You can make it better for you (no real cream, decaf, etc) but it always seems to fill me up when I have cup.


Sorry, I'm pretty boring and most people have covered what I'd usually say. Pop into the quick weekly chat, they shared a few interesting snack ideas the other day.

My husband is diabetic, and so mostly follow the ADA diet guidlines. It is just easier to eat the same thing rather than me having to cook 2 seperate meals.

Breakfast - Usually I make a crustless quiche in the weekend and cut a piece of it every morning. Once I run out of quiche, I eat wheatabix with "soy drink". Wheatbix is extremely low in added sugar and the "soy drink" is just fresh soymilk that my local Asian store sells.

Dinner - a serving of Buckwheat or quinoa with some kind of lean meat (chicken or fish), and some leafy vegetable like sauteed spinach, bok choy, etc. For weekends, I usually make some curried lamb or veal or beef stew, just to break the monotony of chicken & fish during the week.

Lunch - Leftovers from previous night's dinner.

Snack - I gorged on plenty of watermelon this summer. It is quite cheap and very filling. I also eat some shredded lettuce with a table spoon of egg or tuna salad. A square of dark chocolate with a cup of coffee also helps me in the late afternoon when I need an energy boost.

Breakfast: Carnation Instant Breakfast Essentials. Most instant breakfasts do nothing for me...this does. I love them and they are a must! If I know I need to go a bit longer in between breakfast and lunch, I also eat a 100 cal Smart Bagel with a bit of cream cheese.

Lunch: Usually Lean Cuisines. Which I know have a ridiculous amount of sodium, so I've been trying to wean myself off of them. But I also drink a ton of water, so I figure ...if a little extra sodium is the worst I'm doing to myself, what the heck. lol They were good to start with, though because I was using them as a substitute for eating McDonalds every day ... so it was justifiable lol. Other than that, I also like to make sandwiches with whole wheat/grain bread or chicken salads with a bit of ranch dressing.

Snacks: FIBER ONE BARS... or Fiber One Cereal (I never eat cereal for breakfast, only for snack lol) Or I'll have a piece of whole wheat/grain toast with some all natural peanut butter and a glass of milk. Orrr... POPCHIPS. Jillian Michaels endorses these, they're like 120 calories a serving. They're AMAZING.