Safe Snackin'

Low Fat Dairy

Vegetables, unfortunately, rarely fully sate your appetite. So you might want to include low fat dairy products. This could be as simple as a tall, cool glass of 2% skim milk or a low fat drinkable yogurt. These items tend to have more calories, so limit to smaller servings once or twice per day at most. Use them when you really feel hungry and can’t eat a normal sit-down meal at your regular time.

These products come already prepackaged so are super convenient and, thanks to more intelligent eaters, are more and more appearing in vending machines and quick stop stores.

Be careful to choose only the very low fat dairy items, because regular dairy will have you looking like their source – a cow.

If you’ve been off dairy for a long time because it bloats you up, try the new products without lactose – they really are just as tasty.

High Protein

Proteins can be a great source of calories because they give you energy, build muscle and fill you up. But, like dairy, it’s important to choose your protein source wisely since proteins often are accompanied by unhealthy levels of fat.

Tuna is a great protein source but can provoke complaints from co-worker because of the smell. One trick is to make some tuna sandwiches – with only a very small amount of low fat mayo – on 100% whole wheat. Add tomatoes and lettuce to your heart’s content. Then, cut the sandwich into four bit sized sections and place in a regular Tupperware container. At work, you can eat these tiny sandwiches quickly and, although your coworkers will still smell them, they will be hard pressed to catch you red handed. - the furtive snacker strikes again!

Chicken breast is another nice alternative with the added benefit that it can’t be so easily detected.

High-tech has also come to the rescue with Whey Protein powder. This product is cheap – about $30 for 5lbs, filling and great for those who need to build muscle. It comes in chocolate, vanilla and strawberry flavors, has no fat, almost no carbohydrates and tastes great mixed with low fat milk. Just one glass gives you half a day’s protein and leaves you feeling sated and content.

The protein powder itself does not build muscle - only heavy resistance training can do that, ladies - so have no fear of using it to supplement your diet.

The great part about the powder is it can be consumed at 3 PM in the afternoon and allow you to hit the gym at 5PM on you way home without getting light headed from lack of food.

When to Snack?

The best time to snack is when you feel hungry. Make sure it’s real hunger and not avoidance of some other issues. Many people eat when stressed, depressed or bored. If this is your problem, you need to address it first.

You should try to eat something light every 2 to 3 hours during the day at work. At night, maybe a bit less since your activity levels go down. But don’t starve yourself – this just provokes an eating binge down the line.

Don’t forget to eat your regular meals – they can be smaller, but they are important. Snacks should not be a substitute for a hearty, low fat breakfast, high-protein lunch and a sensible light dinner.

Also don’t forget to exercise – a better diet is only half of the equation needed to burn fat effectively. Snacks can help you have that extra energy to get to the gym however, so they do help.

Be sure to plan for your healthy snacking needs in advance to avoid feeding on the fattening food that may come your way at work. And be active as well – ask your work place or vending machine salesmen to stock healthy snacks instead of Twinkies and HoHos. You’ll be doing everyone a favor.

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