Health happens when we’re adequately prepared; it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about meal planning, healthy snacks for the road, or listening to your favorite tunes during your evening run. Preparation is the key to health success; there’s no two ways about it.

This rule also applies when you’re selecting snacks for you and your loved ones.  You can walk down the center aisles of the grocery store and choose amongst thousands and thousands of prepackaged items, but at what cost? While the prepackaged items may be convenient, they tend to be filled with unnecessary sugars, fillers, food coloring and preservatives that negate health in our body.  Take time to prep healthy snacks for the whole family. You’ll receive health benefits, boost your immune system and provide the body balanced nourishment for all-day energy.

Consider these three tips when creating a snack:

1. Balance your macronutrients:  Be sure your snack contains healthy carbohydrates (fruit, vegetables, greens, beans, whole grains), protein (beans, nuts, seeds, eggs, meat, fish) and healthy fat (olives, hummus, avocado, nuts, seeds, coconut milk, coconut oil)
2. Fiber is your friend:  Snacks should contain a good amount of fiber to help digest any available sugars, keep you satiated and provide enduring energy.
3. Snacks should be colorful:  If you select cheese and crackers for your snack, you might get some protein, carbohydrates and even a little fat but you’re missing out on all the beautiful nutrients, vitamins and minerals that can support you in health.  Select bright vegetables and fruits to start and pair them up with a protein and fat source to balance things out.

Create these snack items at home and bring them to work/school to nourish the body between meals! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Apple slices, almond butter and coconut flakes
• Stove-top popcorn made with coconut oil and tossed in clarified butter, sea salt and rosemary
• Homemade trail mix: nuts, dried fruit, seeds, coconut flakes & dark chocolate
• Veggie sticks and hummus
• Roasted garbanzo beans: rinse and dry beans, toss in olive oil, salt, pepper and roast at 400°F
• Homemade Granola served with full fat goat milk yogurt or organic Greek yogurt & berries
• Organic tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa
• Small side salad with vegetables, feta cheese and dressing
• Tuna or chicken salad with chopped carrot and celery served in ½ avocado
• Hard-boiled egg with organic whole grain crackers
• Brown Rice Cake with sunbutter and sliced strawberries
• Cup of soup
• Celery sticks with peanut butter and dried cranberries
• Clementine and a handful of pistachios

Make the commitment to prep healthy snacks for you and your family.  Habits are hard to break, I know, but in time it will become second nature. Just take the leap and get started. Challenge yourself to stay out of the center aisles of the grocery store (except for whole-food necessities like beans, grains, etc.), invite the whole family to come up with healthy snack options for the week and let everyone help you with the prep and packing of the snacks. The more involved the kids are, the more willing they are to eat what you’ve prepared.

Here are some of my favorite snacks to give you some ideas for healthy summer snacking!

Health happens when we’re adequately prepared; it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about meal planning, healthy snacks for the road, or listening to your favorite tunes during your evening run.  Preparation is the key to health success; there’s no two ways about it.

This rule also applies when you’re selecting snacks for you and your loved ones.  You can walk down the center aisles of the grocery store and choose amongst thousands and thousands of prepackaged items, but at what cost?  While the prepackaged items may be convenient, they tend to be filled with unnecessary sugars, fillers, food coloring and preservatives that negate health in our body.  Take time to prep healthy snacks for the whole family.  You’ll receive health benefits, boost your immune system and provide the body balanced nourishment for all-day energy.

Consider these three tips when creating a snack:

1. Balance your macronutrients: Be sure your snack contains healthy carbohydrates (fruit, vegetables, greens, beans, whole grains), protein (beans, nuts, seeds, eggs, meat, fish) and healthy fat (olives, hummus, avocado, nuts, seeds, coconut milk, coconut oil)
2. Fiber is your friend: Snacks should contain a good amount of fiber to help digest any available sugars, keep you satiated and provide enduring energy.
3. Snacks should be colorful: If you select cheese and crackers for your snack, you might get some protein, carbohydrates and even a little fat but you’re missing out on all the beautiful nutrients, vitamins and minerals that can support you in health.  Select bright vegetables and fruits to start and pair them up with a protein and fat source to balance things out.

Create these snack items at home and bring them to work/school if you’d like to nourish the body in between meals.  Notice I said “in between meals”, snacks are not to replace any meal in the day.

Healthy Snack Ideas:

• Apple slices, almond butter and coconut flakes
• Stove-top popcorn made with coconut oil and tossed in clarified butter, sea salt and rosemary
• Homemade trail mix: nuts, dried fruit, seeds, coconut flakes & dark chocolate
• Veggie sticks and hummus
• Roasted garbanzo beans: rinse and dry beans, toss in olive oil, salt, pepper and roast at 400°F
• Homemade Granola served with full fat goat milk yogurt or organic Greek yogurt & berries
• Organic tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa
• Small side salad with vegetables, feta cheese and dressing
• Tuna or chicken salad with chopped carrot and celery served in ½ avocado
• Hard-boiled egg with organic whole grain crackers
• Brown Rice Cake with sunbutter and sliced strawberries
• Cup of soup
• Celery sticks with peanut butter and dried cranberries
• Clementine and a handful of pistachios

Make the commitment to prep healthy snacks for you and your family.  Habits are hard to break, I know, but in time it will become second nature.  Just take the leap and get started.  Challenge yourself to stay out of the center aisles of the grocery store (except for whole-food necessities like beans, grains, etc.), invite the whole family to come up with healthy snack options for the week and let everyone help you with the prep and packing of the snacks.  The more involved the kids are, the more willing they are to eat what you’ve prepared.

What are some of YOUR go-to snacks for the busy weekdays?

Connect with me  to learn more about ways to make healthy foods an everyday part of your life!