Keep Healthy Snacks in the Fridge

One of the biggest reasons why people put on so much weight is because they have to snack.

And when we snack, we tend to reach for the potato chips, ice cream, cookies, chocolate, popcorn, and sodas, or the dreaded "left overs".

It's the snacking that ruins peoples' diets.

So help yourself by keeping your refrigerator stocked with low-calorie snack foods.

• Look for low-calorie foods that you really love to eat, primarily the fruits and vegetables, and keep plenty of them on hand.


• Tomatoes, blackberries, strawberries, sweet peppers, and oranges are all low calories foods, yet are packed with anti-oxidants like Vitamin C.


• When you visit the grocery store, spend more time in the produce section identifying what they have available, and refrain from buying the high-fat snacks.


• Just about any kind of fruit or vegetable is still going to lower in calories on a pound-for-pound basis than other fatty snack foods.


• Don't drink diet sodas! Buy a case of bottled water, and get some kind of flavoring, like powdered drink mix, or lemon concentrate. I found that I was able to lose more weight by weaning myself away from the chemicals in sodas, and focusing on natural food products.


• Look for high-fiber snacks. Get whole wheat alternatives to enriched white flour. Fiber will bind up some of the fat and carbs in food, and pass them out of your body, effectively reducing the calories you've consumed. The more fiber, the less calories you'll absorb.


• If you like the taste of V8 Juice, get the low sodium variety. The low sodium V8 has double the potassium than its regular counterpart. When people diet, they tend to become deficient in potassium, and thereby end up losing muscle mass. Low sodium V8 is only 70 calories per can, and is loaded with vitamins and minerals.


• If you crave frozen snacks, keep a bag of frozen blueberries, or other frozen fruit in the freezer.


• If you like to eat nuts, get almonds. Almonds are very high in magnesium, which is a necessary mineral your body needs to metabolize food into energy. Count 24 almonds for about 160 calories, and eat that much.


• If you need to snack on something while watching television, I suggest a package of strawberries. They're very high in Vitamin C, and relatively low calorie compared to other fruits. They're mostly water, which will fill you up, but you'll eliminate easily.

It's tough not to snack, so instead of trying to hold yourself back, give yourself some low-calorie options by keeping your favorite fruits and vegetables well-stocked.

If you can manage to do this, and make a habit of it, you'll find yourself losing the craving for fatty snacks, and taking another step closer to a healthier lifestyle.

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