Healthy Snacking

My BFFs and me at the beach. Its like whatever. Via

Alllllllright so this quest of ours to look like the models above be healthy (or whatever) is not without its challenges. Exercising is one part of the challenge but for today's chat, I'd like to focus on eating right. Specifically, snacking right.

As you can see here, I love me some junk food. Well to be fair... I love all food. Period. So no sort of "starvation diet" is going to fly for me. No, I want a plan that is satisfying and sustainable. What that means to everyone is different, but to me, I want to be able to eat foods that are good, good for me and foods that fill me up. This philosophy very much applies to snacking as well as full-on meals.

Healthy can be delish too- I swear!

I have always been a big snacker. While my snacking used to be less-than-healthy (read: fun-size Snickers and Cheez-Its), I'm trying to substitute healthier options as part of my quest. There are of course many theories out there as to whats best but I've found for me, a diet low in sugar and complex carbs and high in protein (and the "good" fat) works best. Since I don't eat meat, most of my meals aren't high in protein so I love having snacks that do that heavy-lifting for me.

Hard-boiled egg and avocado mash. I legit look forward to having this every day!

I've tried a variety of options and I find these snacks to be both healthy and delicious. 

• Hard-boiled egg and avocado mash (if you don't like avocado you can just have hard-boiled eggs)
• Edamame (in shell)
• Carrots and hummus
• Cottage cheese, blueberries and slivered almonds
• Raw almonds (just a handful)
• Celery sticks or an apple with almond butter
• Greek yogurt (beginners add a little bit of honey, pros add stevia to sweeten as its bitter at first)
• Strawberries, raspberries and blackberries (I know these are sugar but its a much better alternative to reaching for a couple of candies)

UPDATE: Since you all shared so many wonderful ideas with us, I wanted to make sure everyone benefited from your wisdom. Here are the reader submissions for even more healthy snacks!

• Boar's Head honey roasted ham or turkey roll-ups
• Grilled Chicken in BBQ sauce
• Cottage cheese and cherry tomatoes
• Pomegranate seeds
• Chocolate smoothies: avocado, banana, cacao powder, almond milk, and dash of stevia
• String cheese
• Tuna mixed with avocado, feta and lemon juice
• Avocado with pepper and feta

Thanks again for all your contributions! Feel free to share any other ideas in the comments section below :)