Smart Snacking - how to make the right choice
Mission Nutrition Blog - 31st August 2011
This week I was on the hunt for a healthy savoury morning snack when I remembered I had some edamame beans in the freezer at work! I posted this on our Mission Nutrition Facebook wall and it started a whole lot of conversations about what is a genuinely healthy snack – so I guess it is time for a mini 101 on smart snacking. Firstly, what is a snack? Well despite the social norm of a snack being a monster-sized muffin, chocolate coated muesli bar or a large milky coffee, from the health and wellness angle, a snack is an opportunity to get some good nutrition in and fill a hungry gap before your next healthy meal.
Based on an average requirement for an adult of about 2100kcals (this is 8700KJ if you work in these units**), when you divide this up to allow enough kcals for each of your 3 meals, 1-2 snacks (with a few kcals left over for beer and vino!), it works out that you have about 150-200Kcals for a snack. Of course, this will depend on the individual, if you are sitting on your bum most of the day and needing to lose the love handles, less would be appropriate, if you are running marathons, you might need more.
But as a starting point, ideally we are looking for 150 – 200kcals/snack, less than 5-6g of total fat with as little saturated fat as possible – preferably choose something that ADDS value to your day (fibre, vitamins and minerals) without being packed with sugar and salt! A snack with whole grains, vegetables or fruit is often a good starting point. Highly processed, sugar coated items – less than ideal.
Here are my TOP 5 snacks of the moment:
- EDAMAME BEANS - 80g serving (a handful of beans) has 135kcals, 10.4g protein (which is great!), 6g fat.
- HANDFUL MINIWHEATS or MINIBIX - Great to eat at work for an afternoon snack before heading to the gym or to fill that gap between lunch and dinner – have with a splash of milk if you can!
- VEGGIE SOUP - if you are making a batch of soup at the weekend, make extra and freeze some. When I freeze soup I put it in mini resealable plastic bags and will do LUNCHtime portions and a few smaller serves (snack size) – this week when I have got home from work STARVING hungry – I have grabbed a mini soup serve – in the microwave, 4 mins – done – and it’s all veggies!
- SUSHI – If I am out and about, hungry and in need of a snack – I will pick up 3-4 pieces of sushi, one of those ½ sushi rolls or the sushi triangles (Onigiri) which you can pick up from most sushi shops. Around 200kcals and mostly less than 6g fat, so – a winner.
- YOGHURT– get into it! Protein, calcium and it is low GI – more people need to be packing a low fat yoghurt to take to work! I have unsweetened yoghurt with fruit, or you can try the lite yoghurts (about 60kcals, <1g fat), your regular low fat fruit yoghurt, like fresh and fruity – around 150kcals, <2g fat. Just be aware of the new premium, thick and creamy style yoghurts – they can be over 200kcals and more than 5g fat/serve – not ideal for everyday.
**NOTE: 1 kcals = 4KJ. Kcals and KJ mean the same thing, they are just different units like cm and inches. To convert KJ to Kcals divide by 4!
Want to get into a good eating routine? Call us - we have the answers!!!
- Consider attending one of our upcoming seminars in Howick, Kingsland & Pakuranga - at only $20 these are great value!
- Why not invite Mission Nutrition to do a Workplace Wellness session at your offices. These are great to boost morale and get everyone working together towards healthy eating!
- Or, for your own personalised nutrition assessment and plan, call us today and see how we can help you sort out exactly what to eat and when. We are a team of qualified and experienced Dietitians and Nutritionists who can help you be your best! Contact us today on 09 948 7999 or email us today.
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