Plan Ahead for Healthy Snacks

Remember last spring? If you spend any time near water over the summer months it most likely included some form of diet to get into better shape, don’t waste all that hard work now. With a few simple steps you can help keep yourself in better shape, save time through the week and become an example for those around you.

We all know that four o’clock feeling. Lunch was light, breakfast didn’t happen and now it is four in the afternoon and you stare longingly at those chips in the vending machine, or perhaps you don’t even think, you just go right for them. Failing to plan is planning to fail, as they say. A little extra effort on the weekend can help you and your family make smarter choices when it comes to snack food. Purposely picking up a few vegetables and having them pre chopped in the fridge can make for an easily accessible snack through the week.

What you choose is completely up to you. Carrots, celery, peppers and cucumbers are all commoners in my kitchen. The task is not meant to be challenging, simply purchase those items you know you enjoy, and have them on hand and available for consumption when required.

You do not need to be a nutritionist to know that it would be a wiser choice to eat a bag of carrots rather than a bag of chips. The added nutrition you receive from vegetables and fruits can help keep you healthy year round. Come cold and flu season your immune system will thank you. After all, when it comes to food our bodies need nutrients more than calories.

All of us get, are and stay busy pretty well year round these days. Taking a few minutes to prepare a few snacks for the week has more benefits than drawbacks. If for some reason those prepared foods do not get used for their intended purpose it is quite easy to include them into a fast weekday meal. Steamed, boiled or even left raw on the side of a chicken breast there are countless ways to use up ready-made vegetables at mealtime.