Snacks with proper nutrition, what and when to eat

Why is snacking so important?

Eating a lot and in large portions is harmful to the body. When a person eats 3 times a day and overeats heavily, the metabolism can slow down. Food that enters the body very slowly and is poorly absorbed. A person thinks that he is enriching his body with vitamins, but in the end he only harms it.

It is much easier for the body to process food that comes into the body gradually. For example, it is advisable to eat about six times a day, but in small portions.

With six meals a day, the volume of food decreases and the stomach does not stretch. Here's a simple example. A man came home from work hungry. I didn’t eat anything in the morning and didn’t have time to have lunch. He eats a large portion of food, and the body stores a certain amount of fat in reserve. And then the person is perplexed and indignant about why there are sides on his waist, a sagging stomach, because I only eat once a day.

With a healthy diet and snacks, there will be no painful feeling of hunger, especially since you will always have a light snack on hand.

A person can plan his own diet. So that it is both healthy and tasty.

Video with tips from nutritionists

I’ll share a short video that describes the features of a pp-snack, and also gives good examples of snacks, pp-sandwich recipes, etc.:

Irina Polyanitsa My name is Irina, I am the owner and admin of the site, as well as the author of most of the recipes and articles. I love to cook simple and healthy delicacies. Certified gym instructor, personal trainer. She completed a course on nutrition and health at Stanford University, Stanford Introduction to Food and Health, as well as a course at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) Nutrition and Lifestyle in Pregnancy (about nutrition and lifestyle during pregnancy).

When is the best time to have a snack?

You need to snack correctly. This is done when you are already hungry, or between breakfast and lunch. For people who might forget to eat, you can use small reminder stickers, or simply set an alarm on your cell phone. It is not necessary to allocate too much time for a snack; 5-10 minutes will be enough for you. Even if you have a lot of work, you need to be distracted and this way you will rest and replenish your body with useful substances and vitamins.

Approximate power supply:

6:00-9:00-breakfast
11:00-snack (second breakfast)
13:00-15:00-lunch
16:00-17:00-snack (afternoon snack)
18:00-19:00 - dinner
21:00-snack (second dinner)

Cauliflower Omelette

You will need:

50 g rice flour;
200 g cauliflower;
100 ml skim milk;
6 eggs;
parsley, pepper and salt.

How to cook:

Whisk the milk with the flour and throw in the chopped herbs.
Beat the eggs a little and combine with the previous mixture, mix again.
Place the cabbage in a mold and pour the resulting mixture over it, bake at 200 degrees for 15 minutes.

First snack or second breakfast or lunch

If in the morning, in a hurry to get ready for work, you did not have time to have breakfast and your breakfast consisted only of a cup of coffee, then during your snack you should definitely eat something substantial. The ideal option in this case would be to eat oatmeal, cheesecakes or omelet. But if the breakfast was hearty, then you can snack on some fruit, fresh or in the form of dried fruit. They are good for snacking. For people working in an office, or in a crowded place, these products will be very appropriate, since they do not disturb others with unnecessary odors.

A good snack option is boiled corn. It is healthy and satisfying. During heat treatment, corn does not lose all its beneficial properties. People love to snack on a couple of apples. It is better not to do this, since apples cause the secretion of gastric juice, and you may feel hungry. If you have enough free time, you can prepare snacks for yourself in advance. Apple baked with cottage cheese and honey; cottage cheese balls with dried fruits and nuts; milkshakes with berries and cottage cheese and much more. Let your imagination fly and you will be surprised to see how many delicious and healthy snacks she will give you.

Healthy snacks at work: recipes for everyone

People who have never thought about losing weight are usually used to making snacks from what they can buy at the nearest fast food outlet or corner store. Fast food, chips, candy, donuts or cake - all this is definitely not included in the list of useful things, as it is a real storehouse of those harmful fast carbohydrates that cause sharp spikes in blood sugar. At the same time, the pancreas begins to produce insulin, which directs glucose to those places in the body where it is really needed. The rest turns into fat and “settles” on the sides and stomach. Therefore, it is not recommended to snack on anything like this, especially if you are planning to lose weight.

Dried fruit bars

The right snacks for weight loss at work should be healthy and tasty. There is a separate material on how to make protein bars on the pages of the site, you can see them separately. This recipe suggests making delicious muesli loaves with dried fruits, which are perfect for a pre-dinner snack.

Ingredients

Juicy pear (medium size) – 1 piece.
Banana (ripe) – 1 piece.
Juice of one lemon.
Dried apricots – 30 grams.
Prunes – 30 grams.
Figs – 30 grams.
Dried apples – 30 grams.
Brown sugar – 50 grams.
Hercules flakes – 2 cups.

Preparation

Mix a pear (it is better to take juicy varieties, like Bere Bosc or Alexander), banana and the juice of one lemon. First, the fruits must be peeled and the pulp gently but very thoroughly mashed with a fork. Pre-measured oatmeal must first be toasted either in a frying pan or in the oven so that it acquires a slightly caramel color and a pleasant, strong aroma.

Finely grate or chop the dried fruits with a sharp knife until a more or less homogeneous mass is obtained. Mix with cooked fresh fruits, add sugar, toasted Hercules. All this needs to be mixed thoroughly.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for baking, and persistently compact the resulting mass on top of it, distributing it evenly over the entire surface to form a layer 1-1.5 centimeters thick. It is recommended to immediately make an impromptu “notch” with a knife, thereby dividing the solid sheet into improvised bars. This will make it easier to break into individual pieces.

Preheat the oven to 160°C, place a baking sheet inside in the middle position, bake for 25-30 minutes. After completion, wait until your energy snack has cooled down, break it into portioned pieces, it is most convenient to store in a paper bag so that they do not get damp.

A good snack option would be dried bananas or banana chips, which you can make yourself - they will last a long time.

Jungle Turkey Sandwich

Sandwiches can be considered the most controversial of all healthy eating snacks at work, since their caloric content, the presence of gluten (bread), is absorbed differently by our body. However, even when losing weight, you can and should consume bread, the main thing is that it is in moderation, and you should choose whole grain varieties, of course, if there are no allergies. Turkey is considered a dietary meat. Such a snack will relieve the feeling of hunger for a long time, it is tasty and gives a good boost of performance, vigor and energy.

Ingredients

Turkey fillet – 200 grams.
Carrot – 1 piece.
Cauliflower – 3 inflorescences.
Tomato (medium) – 1 piece.
Sweet pepper – 0.5 pieces.
Olives or black olives – 7-12 pieces.
Whole grain bread - 2 slices.
Mustard - to taste.

Preparation

Boil or steam the fillet and wait until it cools completely. Finely chop all the vegetables with a sharp knife and mix together. Season the resulting mixture with a small amount of olive oil, let the products brew and soak in each other’s aromas.

Chop the turkey very finely or grind it through a meat grinder. Lightly dry two slices of bread (you can do it in a toaster or oven), but you can do it this way. Lubricate them on one side with a thin layer of mustard, if desired.

Place some lettuce on the surface, add boiled turkey on top of it, then lettuce again and a second slice of bread. If you let this sandwich sit for a while, which will inevitably happen when you go to work, it will become even juicier and more flavorful.

Sandwich with anchovies and cheese

Ideally, fresh anchovies, boiled or steamed, should be used in such a snack for proper nutrition. However, fresh fish can hardly be easily found in the first supermarket you come across. Therefore, you can use canned ones.

Ingredients

Whole grain bread - 2 slices.
Anchovies – 2-3 fillets.
Soft cheese (brie, goat) – 20-30 grams.
Greens - to taste.
Fresh cucumber – 0.5 pieces.

Preparation

Place pieces of fish on pre-prepared slices of bread (you can choose diet bread if you wish). Usually anchovies from a jar are quite salty, so it’s better not to use more than three for one sandwich. Place the selected cheese, cut into layers, on top, and then cucumber and herbs. Cover all this with a second piece of bread or crispbread.

Overnight oatmeal

This simple, low-calorie snack at work will definitely appeal to all fans of Hercules cereal. In the cafes and culinary shops of business districts of New York, such a dish is not new, so why not adopt a truly useful experience. You can adjust the quantity and quality of the two main components, depending on the severity of the weight loss diet, as well as personal preferences. You can pour oatmeal with yogurt, kefir, milk or even plain water.

Ingredients

Hercules flakes – 1-2 cups.
Kefir (1.5) – 1-2 glasses.
Any berries – 0.5 cups.
Dried fruits - optional.

Preparation

Pour Hercules flakes into a pre-prepared container that you can take with you to work in the evening. Fill it all with milk. Without stirring or shaking, place the container in a dark, cool place. A refrigerator is ideal for this purpose.

Remove the container, add berries and dried fruits to the resulting swollen flakes, and mix. This preparation is complete, all that remains is to cork the bottle and take it with you to work.

Salmon with buckwheat and tomatoes

Not everyone likes to refresh themselves at work with sweets and “snacks”; many want something more substantial. Our recipe calls for buckwheat porridge to satisfy hunger, but if desired, it can be replaced with rice, oatmeal or barley, whichever you prefer. You need to boil the porridge in water without salt in the evening, just like baking or boiling fish, but mix the dish for a snack in the morning before work.

Ingredients

Buckwheat (oatmeal, rice, pearl barley) – 150 grams.
Boiled or baked salmon – 80 grams.
Tomatoes – 1-2 pieces.
Greens, salt, pepper - to taste.

Preparation

In the evening, bake or boil fish and cereal. In this case, you do not need to mix them, but leave them to cool outside the refrigerator until the morning. In the morning, chop the fish into pieces, lightly salt and pepper the porridge, and finely chop all the greens. Mix buckwheat with herbs, place fish pieces on top. You should choose tomatoes that are fleshy, with a small amount of juice. Chop them into cubes and add to the dish. Mix it all up and eat it during your first and second snack at work.

Nut and berry cottage cheese

Fermented milk curd has always been considered another “standard” and correct snack at work for weight loss, if it does not contain additives, sweeteners, emulsifiers, preservatives and other unpleasant chemicals. Therefore, it is better not to buy store-bought curds, but to prepare your own from ingredients that are easy to find on store shelves.

Ingredients

Low-fat cottage cheese – 0.3 kilograms.
Any berries – 150 grams.
Oat flakes “Hercules” – 50 grams.

Preparation

Wash and sort the berries, especially if you are using fresh and not frozen. Place them on a paper towel and dry them from moisture. Place the cottage cheese and cereal in a deep bowl, and add the berries there. Mix it all well, but being careful not to crush the filling.

Preheat the oven to 160-180°C. Form bars from the resulting mixture, cover a baking sheet with baking parchment, and place your culinary creations on top of it. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

"Fruit Joy"

What can beat fresh fruit for snacking at work? This is simply a vitamin explosion, which not only provides energy for a long time, but is also pleasant in every sense. It is very simple to prepare such a dish, and there will actually be a lot of benefits from it.

Ingredients

Apple (sweet) – 1 piece.
Persimmon (hard) – 1 piece.
Strawberries – 2-5 pieces.
Grapes – 1-3 pieces.
Natural yogurt (no sugar) – 70 grams.
Coconut flakes – 50 grams.
Lemon juice – 1-2 teaspoons.

Preparation

Peel the apple, persimmon too, peel the strawberries from the stalks and leaves, wash the grapes. Cut the fruits into small cubes and carefully mix together in a deep bowl. Sprinkle the mixture with lemon juice and then pour over the yogurt.

Lightly toast the coconut flakes over low heat or dry in the oven. It will add a light tropical flavor to your snack. Sprinkle the fragrant shavings over fruit and yogurt, put it in a lunch container and you can safely go to work. The salad will infuse and by lunch time it will be fragrant and tasty.

Apple chips for those with a sweet tooth

This dish is perfect for those who cannot see their life without sweets. You just need to select sweet apples for it, otherwise the delicacy will turn out bland and slightly tasteless. It is very convenient to take such a snack with you to work in a regular paper bag; it does not get dirty, does not smell, and you can eat it even while working, without being distracted from important matters.

Ingredients

Apples – 2-4 pieces.
Brown sugar – 100 grams.
Mineral water – 250 grams.
Cinnamon - to taste.

Preparation

Wash the apples thoroughly, as they will cook together with the peel. Using a special device or a regular knife, remove the core of all fruits without disturbing the integrity of their surface. Chop the fruit into thin slices, with a hole in the middle. You should get some kind of rings.

Pour sugar into a stainless or enamel container, fill it with water, stir thoroughly so that the sand is completely dissolved. Place on low heat and bring to a boil, then add the apples. Turn off the heat immediately, cover with a lid and leave the apples to marinate for 25-35 minutes.

After the required time has passed, take out the apple discs and place them on cheesecloth or a paper towel to drain all the liquid. Preheat the oven to 100-110°C, line the baking sheet with parchment for baking. We lay the blanks under the chips in one layer, making sure that they do not touch. Dry for half an hour on one side, turn over and repeat the same on the other. When the apple chips are ready, you can lightly sprinkle them with cinnamon to taste.

Chia yoghurt - a drink and snack for the soul and body

The right snacks for weight loss at work will make life much more enjoyable, and you won’t have to suffer and choke on boring vegetables and oatmeal. Natural yogurt is considered one of the best, dense and satisfying options that will not affect your figure. If you dilute it with additives such as chia seeds, it will become simply invaluable in losing weight, despite the fact that it can provide energy for the whole day.

Ingredients

Natural yogurt – 200-250 grams.
Chia seeds – 0.5-1 cup.
Banana – 0.5 pieces.
Raisins – 1 tablespoon.
Nuts of choice (peanuts, hazelnuts, cashews) – 2 tablespoons.

Preparation

In your drink container or just a plastic lunch container if it closes tightly, add chia seeds and cover them with yogurt. Rinse the raisins thoroughly, or even better, soak them in boiling water in advance, chop them with a knife or grind them in a blender. Peel the banana and cut into small cubes. Remove the shells from the nuts and mash them with a rolling pin or a regular bottle on a cutting board.

Mix all the resulting ingredients with yogurt, which already contains seeds, stir, and cover tightly. Place the container in the refrigerator overnight, and just take it with you to work in the morning.

pumpkin drink

This snack is also more like a thick drink, but it fills you up well, so it’s beneficial to use. In addition, it contains many vitamins and minerals, which is especially important in winter.

Ingredients

Sweet pumpkin (pulp) – 150 grams.
Natural yogurt – 200 grams.
Banana – 1 piece.
Walnuts – 30 grams.
Cinnamon – 0.5 teaspoon.
Nutmeg – a small pinch.

Preparation

Cut the pumpkin pulp (you need to choose fruits of soft, juicy and sweet varieties) into pieces, place on a baking sheet and bake in the oven, preheated to 180-200°C. After 25-30 minutes, take them out and place them in a blender bowl. Add banana, pre-peeled walnuts, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour the yogurt over it all and beat for a few minutes until the mixture becomes fluffy. If desired, you can not add cinnamon to the main composition, but sprinkle it on the drink before drinking.

Second snack or afternoon snack

A second snack is very important for people who adhere to proper nutrition. It is especially important for those who have a habit of having dinner late or often stay at work until late. It is thanks to this snack that you will not be overtaken by the feeling of hunger by surprise. It will allow you to stretch out the feeling of fullness until dinner and will prevent you from eating too much. Protein and carbohydrate foods with a high fiber content are good for an afternoon snack. Lovers of fermented milk products can please themselves with kefir, fermented baked milk, yogurt or low-fat cottage cheese. A vegetable salad with cheese and olive oil, a vinaigrette with minimal potato content, will serve as a source of fiber for your body.

Protein pancakes

¼ cup cottage cheese;
¼ cup oatmeal;
3 squirrels;
½ spoon protein powder.

How to cook:

Move products carefully to avoid lumps.
Pour the batter into the frying pan in portions and bake each pancake on both sides until brown.
You need to fry without oil in a non-stick frying pan.
This dish can be eaten with walnut urbech.

Evening snack

An evening snack is the last meal before bed. Adhering to the principles of proper nutrition, it is advisable to use predominantly protein foods for an evening snack. You need to have a snack no later than three hours before bedtime. It is advisable to go to bed with an empty stomach. A glass of low-calorie kefir or unsweetened yogurt is perfect for an evening snack. You can snack on boiled egg whites or make an omelet from them by mixing a couple of egg whites with 40 grams of milk. Dairy lovers can indulge in a glass of warm milk as a snack. If in your refrigerator there is only milk with a high percentage of fat content, you can dilute it with warm boiled water in a ratio of 1 to 1.

What to snack on: choosing low-calorie foods

The main condition for losing weight is a calorie deficit. Those. You need to consume fewer calories than you burn in a day. In this case, you need to eat less, but more often than usual. The frequency of meals for those losing weight ranges from 5-8 per day. Of these, 2-3 may be snacks.

During the first half of the day it is useful to consume:

fruits and/or fruit smoothies;
vegetables and/or vegetable purees;
berries and berry purees;
porridge with added fruit (it is better not to cook it, but to fill it with water in the evening);
salads with fruits and vegetables;
cereal (can be with natural vegetable or fruit additives);
dried fruits;
seeds;
diet bread;
"green" cocktails.

In the second half of the working day it is useful to consume:

low-fat cheeses;
nuts (be sure to watch the portion, since the product is fatty, the optimal portion is several whole nuts);
nut milk (no more than 1 medium glass);
lean meat;
skim cheese;
low-calorie protein supplements – protein isolate;
kefir with whole grain bread (you can eat the products separately);
tomato juice (preferably without salt);
homemade fruit bars;
homemade fruit chips;
eggs and/or omelettes;
homemade yoghurts;
low-fat sandwiches.

At work, it is best to eat seasonal vegetables and fruits and berries, since they are less likely to cause food poisoning.

Wrong snack

The 21st century is the time of information technology. A time when people have less and less free time. The time when food materializes on your table in a matter of minutes. All you need for this is a smartphone with Internet access. But unfortunately, this food can hardly be called healthy. And the wrong snacks are harmful to our health. They give us a short-term feeling of fullness and after some time our body demands to satisfy its needs again. All those who care about their health and their figure should avoid such foods as

fast food
soda
cakes, pastries, sweets and cookies
sausages
noodles, potatoes and instant soups
crackers, chips, salted nuts and salted fish

The right snack can not only preserve health, but also a person’s figure and nerves. By sticking to a certain diet and not forgetting about the right snacks, you will feel full of energy day after day. The extra pounds will go away and your health will be much stronger. Therefore, you need to eat right and enjoy it at the same time.