Healthy snack?

[Mojooo]

I am going on a bit of a diet next month.

One of the main things I need to just back on is the unhealthy snacks I have randomly during the day at work, can usually things like tics tacs, choclate peanuts, choclate bars or a whole host of other things.

Can anyone thing of nibbly snacks that are either

a) not majorly unhealthy
b) actually provide a bit of energy for the gym after work?

The best i got is grapes, and i dont partcularly love grapes, lol

[AlpineWhite]

Bananas. Nairns oat biscuits, come in different favours, fruit, spice or ginger I think.

[CerbitonFlyer]

I find dried fruit really helps. Things like raisins or dates are choc full of energy and the energy is released slower than something like chocolate so you don't get a sugar rush. Banana's are also good.
I've gone from eating 3 or 4 bars of chocolate/crisps a day to none. It does take will power to stop. Good luck

[ambuletz]

fruits, nuts, dried fruits/raisins. although, if you eat something with complex carbs such as wholegrain foods(brown rice, whole pasta etc..) it'd sustain you more until the next meal. so you'd feel less likely to want to snack.

[Henry Hawthorne]

Personally my day goes like this:

Breakfast - protein shake, oats and eggs (whisk eggs, add oats, take's 45 secs in the microwave)

Mid-morning - chicken wrap (whack chicken breast in George Foreman night before, slice, then just add to a wrap in the morning)

Lunch - usually a sandwiich with banana, pineapple juice and a yoghurt

Mid-afternoon - chicken wrap

Late afternoon - a pitta with cheese/ham/chicken/tuna whatever I feel like

• gym*

Post-gym - protein shake, one raw egg

Late evening - usually a pasta dish (home-cooked bolognese etc)

If you space out your eating correctly with a decent-sized portions (not massive, but not so much you get hungry), then you won't feel the need to snack on crap throughout the day. As mentioned above, try and go for wholemeal if you can to give you sustained energy release, and you'll feel fuller for longer.

[Pferdestarke]

Henry Hawthorne said:

Personally my day goes like this:

Breakfast - protein shake, oats and eggs (whisk eggs, add oats, take's 45 secs in the microwave)

Mid-morning - chicken wrap (whack chicken breast in George Foreman night before, slice, then just add to a wrap in the morning)

Lunch - usually a sandwiich with banana, pineapple juice and a yoghurt

Mid-afternoon - chicken wrap

Late afternoon - a pitta with cheese/ham/chicken/tuna whatever I feel like

• gym*

Post-gym - protein shake, one raw egg

Late evening - usually a pasta dish (home-cooked bolognese etc)

If you space out your eating correctly with a decent-sized portions (not massive, but not so much you get hungry), then you won't feel the need to snack on crap throughout the day. As mentioned above, try and go for wholemeal if you can to give you sustained energy release, and you'll feel fuller for longer.

How many calories is this approximately? I'd guess at 3300+.

[Henry Hawthorne]

Pferdestarke said:

Henry Hawthorne said:

Personally my day goes like this:

Breakfast - protein shake, oats and eggs (whisk eggs, add oats, take's 45 secs in the microwave)

Mid-morning - chicken wrap (whack chicken breast in George Foreman night before, slice, then just add to a wrap in the morning)

Lunch - usually a sandwiich with banana, pineapple juice and a yoghurt

Mid-afternoon - chicken wrap

Late afternoon - a pitta with cheese/ham/chicken/tuna whatever I feel like

• gym*

Post-gym - protein shake, one raw egg

Late evening - usually a pasta dish (home-cooked bolognese etc)

If you space out your eating correctly with a decent-sized portions (not massive, but not so much you get hungry), then you won't feel the need to snack on crap throughout the day. As mentioned above, try and go for wholemeal if you can to give you sustained energy release, and you'll feel fuller for longer.

How many calories is this approximately? I'd guess at 3300+.

Ye I think around 3.5k. I guess the OP is actually looking to lose weight so maybe I haven't been as helpful as I first thought... I also cycle to work so I need to take in more calories.

I think maybe better would be:


Breakfast - porridge

Mid-morning - half a chicken wrap (whack chicken breast in George Foreman night before, slice, then just add to a wrap in the morning)

Lunch - sandwich, yoghurt, juice

Mid-afternoon - other half chicken wrap

• gym*

Post-gym - meat/fish/maybee bolognese-type sauce, a small portion ofboiled sweet potato/cous cous/brown rice/wholewheat pasta, lots of boiled veg/salad

Late evening - cottage cheese or something low fat/low carb (beef jerky, biltong)

Think that prob brings it down to around the 2.5kish and will still keep you feeling relatively full. Might even be able to miss out the late eveing snack.

[shakotan]

Henry Hawthorne said:

Late evening - usually a pasta dish (home-cooked bolognese etc)

I would have thought that carbs late in the evening would be counter-productive?

[Mojooo]

I am going to have a month of aggresive dieting and gym work

breakfast usually consists of a cup of tea and some chocolate biscuits - now to be rich tea biscuits!


lunch is usually a sandwich with cheese etc and crisps/chocolate bar. I am going to cut this down to brown vread with butter and maybe cucumber - no cheese at all. maybe a yoghurt and an orange juice. + whatever snack i choose.

only worry is that it might not be enough energy for the gym

in terms of night food, i am less restricted,i just wont be eating fried chips/chicken and pizza.

Edited by Mojooo on Saturday 30th October 15:08

[Wadeski]

bananas
popcorn

are both good snacks. so long as you pop corn yourself (so you control the oil) its very low fat, and filling.

[Pferdestarke]

Wadeski said:

bananas
popcorn

are both good snacks. so long as you pop corn yourself (so you control the oil) its very low fat, and filling.

And fun!

(Leave the lid on)

[Henry Hawthorne]

shakotan said:

Henry Hawthorne said:

Late evening - usually a pasta dish (home-cooked bolognese etc)

I would have thought that carbs late in the evening would be counter-productive?

I did reply to this but apparently it didn't work. My answer was no not really - I'm currently on a "bulk" so putting on a little extra fat (which is watching having carbs late on will do) doesn't bother me too much. Once we get to late Feb/early March, I will cut out carbs after six PM so as to help lose the fat I've put on.

[Zeek]

Malt loaf should become your best friend! Leave out the butter!

[ritmo]

ambuletz said:

fruits, nuts, dried fruits/raisins. although, if you eat something with complex carbs such as wholegrain foods(brown rice, whole pasta etc..) it'd sustain you more until the next meal. so you'd feel less likely to want to snack.

aren't nuts high in fat ?

[Matt_N]

Mojooo said:

I am going to have a month of aggresive dieting and gym work

breakfast usually consists of a cup of tea and some chocolate biscuits - now to be rich tea biscuits!


lunch is usually a sandwich with cheese etc and crisps/chocolate bar. I am going to cut this down to brown vread with butter and maybe cucumber - no cheese at all. maybe a yoghurt and an orange juice. + whatever snack i choose.

only worry is that it might not be enough energy for the gym

in terms of night food, i am less restricted,i just wont be eating fried chips/chicken and pizza.

Edited by Mojooo on Saturday 30th October 15:08

Rich tea biscuits are probably no better for you than chocolate biscuits, full of sugar no doubt and will leave you hungry within a few hours.

A much healthier option would be porridge made with skimmed milk or brown toast with an egg of your choice (not fried) or something else with good complex carbs and a decent serving of protein.

A mid morning snack could be a small portion of nuts, plain and unsalted though or some dried fruit.

Lunch, brown carbs (bread, pasta, sweet potatoes) and some lean meat, chicken, tuna, turkey and some salad / veg.

If you go to the gym after work, have a banana before you go for some fast releasing energy.

For tea, have something similar to lunch, don't go mad on the carbs and try and eat before 7pm, earlier if poss.

If you're looking to loose a bit of weight I'd try and stick to circa 2000kcals a day, 2500 at the most on your active days.

If you eat the right stuff at the right times you wont feel hungry or lacking in energy.

[Matt_N]

ritmo said:

ambuletz said:

fruits, nuts, dried fruits/raisins. although, if you eat something with complex carbs such as wholegrain foods(brown rice, whole pasta etc..) it'd sustain you more until the next meal. so you'd feel less likely to want to snack.

aren't nuts high in fat ?

Good or essential fats though. Like most things, ok in moderation and aslong as they're not covered in salt, chocolate or yoghurt.

They are high in carbs though which you have to watch.

[Mojooo]

Day today was pretty basic

breakfast - tea and 3 rich tea biscuits

lunch - 4 slices of brown bread with butter and cucumber. a muller yoghurt and a bannana

gym for 25mins of cardio

cheese and onion pasti with beans

--

In the end I took large sandwich and ended up eating some att 11 and some at 1 which got me through the day. i think its mind over matter in a large part.

I am looking to lose weight so I hope replacing all the crap i used to eat at work with less nasty stuff and my take up of gym will combine to lead to results. i will give up the pizzas and fried chicken/chips but fir night time food i will probably resort to things like pasties, quiches, jacket potatoes and roasted chicken.

---

to some of the above posters

a) can rich tea biscuit really be as bad as something like maryland cookies?

b) i spose i can go for brown bread toast and a boiled egg. is a boiled egg any good for energy?

c) is wholemeal bread better than brown bread?

[Matt_N]

Mojooo said:

to some of the above posters

a) can rich tea biscuit really be as bad as something like maryland cookies?

b) i spose i can go for brown bread toast and a boiled egg. is a boiled egg any good for energy?

c) is wholemeal bread better than brown bread?

a) I would guess there isnt much in it, compare the sugar values per 100g on each label. Maybe try replacing with some healthier biscuits if you must have biscuits, ones with oats and minimal sugar in?

b) Boiled egg isn't great for energy, but it is good for protein, the brown or wholemeal bread is for energy.

c) Unsure, would guess it's very similar.

I probably don't need to say this but pasties and quiches aren't the healthiest of things either, cheese is very high in fat and the pastry will be full of butter.

[Mojooo]

Matt_N said:

I probably don't need to say this but pasties and quiches aren't the healthiest of things either, cheese is very high in fat and the pastry will be full of butter.

ndeed, but I am not SOO desperate to lose weight that I will give up absolutley everything I like! I will look into some more healthy meals though. I think I have the same problem as most - I dont have time to prepare and cook stuff when i could just stick something in the oven.

I did by some nuts today from the healthy section at the supoermarket and i have gone for kellogs fruit n fibre for breakfast - i guess its better than cornflakes?

not sure i can stomach porridge in the morning.

[grumbledoak]

Breakfast cereals are much of a muchness, really. There is a reason for the 'five added vitamins' crap. I stick to a 'nana and milk if I've got it for breakfast.

Four slices of bread and some cucumber? Be careful you don't bore yourself off this diet!

As for snacks: fruit, nuts, olives, seeds, even raw vegetables with a dip (decent mayonnaise is made from olive oil) are all pretty healthy.

It's not just protein/fat/carbs.

ETA- try www.graze.com - 4x random ~200kcal snacks each week with full nutritional info and you can set preferences. I can give you a voucher code for a free trial.

Edited by grumbledoak on Tuesday 2nd November 13:35