How to Pick a Healthy Snack

Eating right is something I strive for, but it’s not always the easiest promise for me to keep. Wandering through the grocery store undoubtedly always lands my kids and I in the chip aisle, pining for those salty, crunchy snacks. Heck, sometimes I completely forget what is healthy and what isn’t! How can we as a family stick to a healthy snack plan?

Balance is Key

After a long while of telling my children they’re not allowed to have cookies and candies, I found that they were sneaking them from friends at school and trading away their entire lunches just for a small, sugary morsel. I realized that I too have the same problem when I diet – once I remove a food I love entirely from my diet, I crave it all the more and ultimately “binge” on it. Having a cookie or some yogurt isn’t the end of the world, just as long as you eat these more questionable or downright “unhealthy” things in strict moderation.

Do NOT Shop on an Empty Stomach

You’ve heard it before, and you’ll hear it from me again: DO NOT shop on an empty stomach! This leads to far too many impulse purchases and bad food choices. Having a full tummy and good blood sugar levels will help keep you and your kids away from the “bad food aisles”.

Now to Stay Out of the Bad Food Aisles…

Visit any grocery store and make note of their center three aisles. These aisles undoubtedly hold pop, chips, candy and other goodies that you should keep your hands off of. Make no mistake, people, this is done on purpose. Though we may get lost trying to find the dairy section, it is impossible to not be able to find those center aisles. I must remind all parents out there (and myself) to stick to the “outer limits” of the grocery store. These are where the wise food choices are.

Remember the Four Food Groups

When planning snacks, try to keep what you had during your meals in mind, too. For instance, if you had a lunch and a dinner which contained a lot of cheese and pasta, go for a fruit & veggie snack. If you had a salad for lunch, go for a more carb-filled dinner by choosing a pizza, pasta or sandwich.

If it’s Neon and Doesn’t Go Bad in 7 days, it’s Probably Bad for You.

No foods that are good for you are in brilliant shades of orange, green, yellow – you name it. Consider the food’s shelf life, too; the longer it’s “good” for, the more jam-packed with nasty preservatives it is. Aim for foods that you need to eat within a few days and stick to natural, hearty-toned foods (i.e. a deep red apple and forest green broccoli). That blazing orange tone on the crunchy cheese snacks may try to fool you into thinking it’s real cheese, but I never knew of a real cheese that could glow in the dark like those things do.

photo by Risto Pommer