David's 5 favourites: healthy snacks

nestle diet yogurt

For me snacking is a very important part of my training, if I don't snack regularly throughout the day I lack the energy to perform at my best during my training sessions and I don't recover as quickly following exercise. For a snack to work for me it has to meet the following convenience and nutritional requirements:

• easy and quick to prepare and portion
• able to take with me to work or training
• able to store for a couple days
• contains approximately 10g or more of protein
• contains unprocessed or minimally processed carbohydrate
• contains no or minimal saturated fat and sugar

1. 200g low fat and no added sugar yogurt & 1/2 cup of melon salad (watermelon & rock melon)

nestle diet yogurt



Yogurt is one of the easiest snacks. It comes already portion controlled at roughly 200g and it is easy to throw in the bag on the way out the door. I look for varieties that have less than 10g of sugar per 100g. Nestle Diet fits the bill and tastes good too. I don't add the melon salad to the yogurt, I eat it as a side but there is no reason why you couldn't add them together if you like. Watermelon and rock melon are both low sugar fruits with less than 10g sugar per 100g and they stay good for a couple days after cutting and storing.

2. 1 serving of protein powder & a piece of fruit

protein powder

Sometimes you just can't argue with convenience. I strongly believe that getting the majority or all of your protein requirements from 'real food' is best, but sometimes a supplement just has to do. I throw a serving in the bottom of a shaker and I can take it anywhere I go - all I need to do is add water. EASY! Choosing a low sugar, good tasting and easy to mix variety is the key to a good protein shake. I am presently using Ultimate Nutrition ISO Cool. I would typically include this snack as the first thing I eat / drink after training just because I often don't feel like anything too substantial after exercise.

3. 1/2 cup of mixed raw, unsalted nuts & 1/2 cup of strawberries

strawberries

Nuts are easy to portion and they stay good for a long time. I like to keep a small container of nuts at work and in my gym bag so I don't even have to worry about taking them with me, I just know that I always have  a snack on hand if required. Nuts are high in fat so I am always careful not to exceed my portion with this snack. The fat in nuts is not saturated but it is still fat none the less so it contributes heavily to energy intake. Strawberries are a low sugar fruit (all berries are) with less than 10g of sugar per 100g.



4. 4 whole grain crackers & 40g low fat cottage cheese

vita-weats

Keeping a small container of cottage cheese and a pack of crackers at work is easy. It takes me no more then 3 minutes to spread the cottage cheese on the crackers and eat them - snacking finished, back to work! I choose vita-weats original but any wholegrain option will do, just remember to look for low sugar, low saturated fat and whole grains. You could get a bit more fancy with this and add other toppings such as tomato but I tend to keep it simple, that way I don't have to worry about keeping anything else at work.

5. ? I've got nothing...
I tried to think of a 5th snack that I would eat regularly but nothing came to mind. I have to admit that if I am not prepared enough to have one of the above listed options available to me I generally would end up snacking badly. Baked treats are my weakness when I'm hungry with no healthy snacks available. Goes to show how important being prepared is.

These snacking options are fairly simple and low maintenance but that's the way I like my diet to be, especially my snacking. In the past I have attempted to include snacks that take more effort but I find if they require too much planning and preparing it just doesn't work (for me). If they are simple they are easy to shop for, easy to prepare, easy to pack and they are more likely to be available to me when I need them (2-3 times per day). Of course, I do snack outside of these options but I try to stick to the top 4 above  9 out of 10 times. I try not to include the same snack twice in one day, but sometimes this is unavoidable if I am not well prepared. By snacking regularly on the above options I find I am rarely hungry between meals, I have good energy across the day and during training, I recover well from training and my weight is controlled.

Related articles: Calculating and achieving daily protein requirements | What foods are high in carbohydrate? | David's 5 favourites: exercises

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