Hi, all. I'm giving the whole weight loss thing another go. A few years back I lost over 80 pounds on Weight Watchers, but over the past two years, I've put about half of that back on. I can't afford Weight Watchers, so I'm just counting calories these days.

I'm great at planning meals, and have all kinds of different ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that are on my calorie target (usually around 300 for breakfast and 400 each for lunch and dinner). Snacks, though, are the worst. I'm at school all day, and can never think of anything to bring for a snack, or else I do bring something and by the time it comes time to eat it it doesn't seem so appetizing (certainly less appetizing than the tasty cookies at the cafeteria). I have two snacks in my plan: one in the afternoon, and one in the evening.

I wonder if anybody has any ideas for simple, fast, portable, filling, and delcious snack ideas. My total calorie target is 2000 per day, and so I try to shoot for around 300 - 400 per snack. So far I all can come up with is sandwiches, but I'm also trying to lower my bread intake, and since I already have a sandwich for lunch most days, I don't know if I want another one for a snack.

The only thing that is really off limits is peanut butter (not because of any allergies or anything, but more because if I buy a jar, I know I WILL binge on it).

Thanks!

Hi and welcome back! I know the dilemma of snacking - having something satisfying, healthy, and without going over calories - can be quite frustrating to figure out. Some things I've found that seem to work:

- a wedge of laughing cow cheese and some of the yummy whole-grain crackers that are out

- some flavored yogurt/pudding

- the 100-calorie packs of (whatever), along with a piece of fruit

- there are some great low-fat potato chips (not the ones with Olestra, either) - check calories and put a handful in a ziploc bag

- english muffin w/ - YES - a tablespoon of peanut butter or if you dont' want to add the calories, apple butter

hope these help!

what about some of those single serve fruit cups (I make my own, I buy a can an measure them into ziploc bowls) , granola bars, If you can take a lunch sack type thing with an ice pack... some yogart, some turkey lunch meat and low fat cheese rolled up... veggie sticks, apples, bananas, pears, peaches, my goodness with 300-400 for a snack the possibilities are endless! I am on a 1600cal a day plan and eat up to 300 for breakfast and lunch, 600 for dinner, 2 150cal snacks and 1 100cal snack. If I can fill up on those numbers you can surely eat like a queen with 3 or 4 hundred!

If you are out an about ..try the fruit and yogurt parfait from Mc Donalds. I had one today and it was great..and only 160 calories.
there are some 100 calorie packs of beef and turkey jerky at the check outs at walmart. They are loaded with sodium but a nice treat sometimes.
Nuts are also a good snack.......serving of almonds is 1/4 cup and 170 calories. ( i cant control myself with nuts so i dont buy them often)

A good idea is a protein/carb combo:

String cheese and fruit

A small can of tuna or chicken with some whole wheat crackers

How about those little tuna or chicken salad kits, ready for you to mix together?

You could also consider Zone or Luna bars, the stats on those are pretty good, and are the least 'junky' out of all the meal replacement bars out there. The calories on those 2 brands are 180-210 per bar. These are good if you are craving something sweet for a snack.

fiber one bars! 140-150 cals

I personally LOVE the bumblebee tuna salad and crackers packs! They are filling and relatively low calorie as long as you eat them in moderation Also can't go wrong with the price. 95 cents each

I have access to a refrigerator so some of these may not work for you unless you have a small cooler or insulated bag. Also I've found it helps for me to have at least one extra snack so I have choices and I never feel like I don't have anything left to eat. Of course I have to make sure I don't allow the "extra" snack to be something I will eat just because it is there.

Raw fruits or veggies, some favorites are:
Cherry tomatoes/Grape tomatoes
Pre-cored and sliced apple, dipped in slightly diluted lemon juice, put back together and wrapped in foil.
snowpeas/sugar snap peas
Red or orange pepper strips
strawberries, sliced and ready to eat
black seedless grapes
cherries
Radishes, trimmed and ready to eat
celery with hummus

7 triscuits with 3/4 oz of low-fat cheese
Babybel low-fat cheese rounds
2% cottage cheese

Hi - I'm calorie counting too and sometimes I end up the day with not enough.. I need to plan it out better and add some of these things into my day.

All of the choices sounded great! Believe it or not, tuna never even entered my mind! And - I love tuna!

Thanks for the tips!

Karen

You have enough cals to put a snack in between breakfast and lunch, if you can sneak one in between classes, or use a meal replacement drink/shake there? (just thinking you could have that at your desk)

Other ideas:
cottage cheese (with fruit? I like it with peaches myself)
soup (watch the sodium content, if using prepackaged/canned soup)
fish (cooks up fast in the microwave, or cook at home and reheat)

Everything else I can think of has already been mentioned.

I like to take 1 serving of sliced deli turkey, the oven roasted kind which is between 50 - 65 cals per serving and spread 1 triangle of laughing cow light cheese on the slices then roll them up. Very tasty! There are 6 slices per serving and approx 8g of protein right there.