Help me out here please! I am on a 1250 cal. a day diet, and I am dying for some snack food around 4pm. Yet, all the 'diet' food is well over 100 cals, and those that were under 100 calories (and not by much, let me tell you!) had portion sizes of 6 crackers. Seriously, when one finds oneself muttering "what the mofo!" at the grocery store while reading the nutrition labels, something is very wrong. Either that, or I am getting really crabby.....which means its working.
So please, share with me what do you like to snack on that has ridiculously low calories.
Last night I had the munchies at about 8 pm and really wanted something crunchy. I would of preferred a whole bunch of wheat thins or something bad like that but instead I ate 3 huge stalks of celery. It took me along time to chew and it satisifed me and no carb hangover in the morning!!
I find snacking on grains (which is what it sounds like you've considered) to not be as satisfying as vegetables, fruit, or protein. Also, one thing to take into account is what your total nutritional goals for the day are. If you're getting all your macronutrients (fat, protein, carbohydrate) during meals, that leaves just vegetables. They can be raw or cooked, remember, and you have to eat a boatload to get anywhere near 100 calories. If you can't stand them plain, try lemon juice, vinegars, etc. Use lowfat plain yogurt or cottage cheese and you'll get some protein along with it. I like Breakstone's 2% cottage cheese. A half cup is 90 calories and goes well with all kinds of vegetables.
100 calorie bags of popcorn: crunchy and they last a long time.
Ryvita crackers with 1/8 oz cheddar or gruyere (I use the carrot peeler) 45 cals each.
Rice cakes. 35 cals each. I put a schmear of peanut butter on them, but I'm thinking of trying low-fat cream cheese instead.
There is some lo-cal fruit, too. We have tangelos at my grocery store at the moment. They are delicious and only 60 or so calories each.
-ditto on the 100-cal popcorn bags...so much crunch for the buck!
-Fruit (especially apples and oranges...they fill me up for a low calorie buck)
-My all-time favorite 100-cal snack - 2 Ak Mak whole grain crackers (40 calories), 2 tbsp of Trader Joes Tzatziki (30 calories) and 1 cup raw broccoli florets (approx 25 cals). For just under 100 calories, you get to dip and crunch and munch your way through quite a bit of food!
Hmmm... snacks 100 calories or less... these are my faves:
-string cheese (~80 calories, I think)
-hard-boiled egg (~80 calories, unless you don't eat the yolk, then it's like, 30, and they're super-satisfying)
-low fat cottage cheese (100 calories per 1/2 cup)
-veggies (red peppers, mushrooms, snap peas) with 2 TBSP hummus (70 calories per 2 TBSP, and healthy)
-edamame (raw soybeans - I just discovered these yesterday and LOVE them! 100 calories per 1/2 cup)
-sugar-free jello (8 calories per 1/2 cup)
I'm a salty snack fiend and I'm in love with the 100-calorie packs of Cheese Nips, lol. I find that's fine with me either as a snack to a sandwich or on its own. True, you pay as much for a 6-pack of those as you would for a full size package but the portion control really works for me...I can stop at one baggie but you put a box in front of me and I'll munch away.
Certain pretzels you can have quite a few. Oh, I had a coupon for a free bag of Nature's Promise tortilla chips so I tried them. Not bad. They're 140 cals for about 14 chips. Obviously, they're not salty like regular ones but they were still good. And I'm not madly, madly in love with them so I stop even before the 14, lol.
On the non-salty snack front I do love seedless grapes. The fact they have a laxative effect on me is sort of a benefit, I guess.
Last edited by trekkiegirl; 03-07-2007 at 02:13 PM.
Ellie- I used to buy the 100 calories packs too. I recently bought a box of snack sized ziploc bags and I now buy the larger (cheaper) boxes and bag up my own packages. I use the lable to determine the serving size and put that amount in the bag. When I want a snack I get one of my handmade snack bags. There is no way I could stoop at 27 crackers if I have the big box on my lap.
The snacks I enjoy are almonds, fruit, or just a spoonful of natural peanut butter.
As for me, I dislike almost all veggies, so they are not even close to being a satisfying snack for me. Instead, I go for fruit (I have bananas, apples, and oranges right now, but I LOVE seedless red grapes when they're on sale, and strawberries or watermelon or even canned pineapple chunks--I'm not quite adept at cutting up raw pineapple myself ), a 100-calorie cup of soup, or a packet of lower-sugar instant oatmeal (about 130 calories). If I need something that really just feels more like junk food, I go for a 40-calorie no sugar added fudgesicle or sugar-free jell-o with fat-free cool whip.
Maybe if you're so hungry around that time, you could re-evaluate your entire day's eating schedule? I used to eat about 1200 calories a day, and I broke it up into 6 small meals of about 200 calories each. Eating 6 times a day, I was very rarely hungry, and I never had to worry about squeaking in a snack of 100 calories of less.
I love mixing protein with veggies for snacks. Here's a list of my favorite combos:
Veggies:
2 stalks celery sliced into 3 inch sticks
5-6 grape tomatoes
1 roma tomato
1/2 cucumber sliced into circles
6 baby carrots
1 regular carrot sliced into 3 inch sticks
1/2 zucchini sliced into rounds or 3 inch sticks
Protein
1 string cheese packet
1 wedge Laughing Cow cheese
1 Tbsp hummus
1 Tbsp all natural peanut butter
1 slice turkey breast
1 slice ham
1/2 handful of peanuts, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds or any other kind of nut
Mix and match the above until you find what you like. I prefer to use a 2:1 ratio of veggies to protein for any given meal or snacks. So my typical snack will consist of something like:
Also...if you are consistantly getting hungry at 4 pm, budget a larger amount than <100 calories for that time...I usually have a pretty substantial snack around then otherwise I am ravenous while cooking dinner and tend to taste.
I'm pretty much going to say everything everyone else said. I usually go for something high protein and some fiber;
String Cheese - 80 cals
Hard Boiled Egg - about 80 cals
Deli sliced meats (turkey, chicken, etc)
Wasa Crackers w/ some hummus
Apples
Also in the hungrygirl newsletter today, she was answering a question about snacks, and one snack she brought sounded really good. You take 3 oz of sliced turkey and wrap it around baby pickles. They're high protein and under 100 cals.
ideas for low cal snacks?
Seriously, when one finds oneself muttering "what the mofo!" at the grocery store while reading the nutrition labels, something is very wrong. Either that, or I am getting really crabby.....which means its working. 
True, you pay as much for a 6-pack of those as you would for a full size package but the portion control really works for me...I can stop at one baggie but you put a box in front of me and I'll munch away. 
The fact they have a laxative effect on me is sort of a benefit, I guess. 
