What should I snack on?

It’s a common question, you think your diet is pretty good but every day you experience a slump in your energy levels. You feel hungry, bored or you just need something to nibble on after your workout.

So what do you pick, fruit, a piece of cake, chocolate bar, some nuts or how about a nice cup of tea and a biscuit?

Here are some simple snacking rules to follow when you don’t know what to choose.

Eat regularly Snacks help to evenly distribute calories throughout the day meaning evenly distributed energy. If you spread meals rather than leaving the largest energy intake of your day until the evening meal, you will better control sugar cravings, be less likely to reach for fatty processed food and your energy will be far more consistent across the day.

Where is the protein? Including protein at every meal is important, including it in your snacks is vital. If you are regularly exercising and therefore building muscle your body needs protein to support this. Balance your nutrients throughout the day.

Embrace the fat Fat is usually thought of as a bad thing. But your body does actually need some. For one thing, it’s a valuable source of energy. Including some fat in your snacks can help improve your energy levels and increase your body’s ability to function optimally.

Nourishing? Ask yourself this question, is this snack going to nourish me? If the answer is no don’t eat it!

So what makes up a good snack? Here are a few ideas...

Fresh or dried fruit and a handful of Nuts

Oat cakes with nut butter/houmous/Cottage Cheese

Rice cakes with nut butter/houmous/Cottage Cheese

Chopped raw veg with nut butter/houmous/Cottage Cheese

Mixes seeds

Apple slices with nut butter

Banana with nut butter

Natural (full fat) Greek yoghurt with mixed nuts and honey

Egg muffins – combine omelette ingredients, grease with butter and preheat a muffin tin then pour your mixture in and bake until eggs are set. Good ingredients include chopped spinach, mushrooms, feta cheese and any leftover cooked veg.

Smoothies/Shakes

Protein powder is a great place to start if you are post workout, add whey protein (milk based) or a hemp protein (plant based) powder to some coconut or almond milk and blend along with a combination of any of the following to make a shake or smoothy:

Banana Berries (frozen or fresh) Pineapple or Mango (frozen or fresh) Any chopped nuts Mixed seeds Greek (full fat) natural yoghurt A spoonful of coconut oil Ginger Cinnamon If you don’t have any protein powder just add extra nuts and seeds and yoghurt!