Yummy yummy - SNACK TIME!

There is no way I would get through my work day without my drawer of snacks.  I am gone 12 hours a day and my firm doesn't eat lunch until around 2pm even though we open at 8:30am.

I typically have 2 snacks a day.  I always try to have one of them be a fruit such as a banana, blueberries or apples.  Usually between breakfast and lunch I have my first snack.

Snack drawer of goodies

I *LOVE* cottage cheese.  I always have.  Hood has these awesome single serving packs that come in different flavors such as chive or pineapple (my favorites).  This is a great source of protein (see, even the label agrees), vitamin b-12, calcium (18% of your recommendation daily portion), and phosphorus.  This stuff would also make a great dip if you want to add some raw veggies like celery or carrots.

However, one must be wary of the sodium content.  This cottage cheese pictured below has 650mg of sodium!  I didn't even realize it myself until making this post.

A better alternative (which I also love) is the 100 calorie Breakstone Doubles.  These also come in great flavors such as raspberry and mango.  This alternative saves you about 75 calories and only has 1/4 of the sodium that the Hood version has.

I know I will be switching from now on!

Hood Cottage Cheese with Chives - 650mg of sodium

Next on my favorite snack lists is Emerald's 100 calorie packs of nuts.  Nuts are a great addition to any diet.  The Mayo Clinic states that nuts are good for your heart, easy to store, and fun to eat (ok I added that third thing in there).  The type is typically not that important.

People who eat nuts as part of their diet have a lower count of their LDL or "bad cholesterol."  I know I in particular have seen this too high in my blood tests in the past.  My overall cholesterol is fine, but the bad cholesterol is too high and my good cholesterol is too low.  By adding nuts, which I love anyway, more regularly in my diet I am hoping to change this.

This particular cinnamon roasted almond 100 calorie pack from Emerald that I love is surprisingly low in sodium, only 25mg per serving.  I would recommend being careful (again) of the sodium levels as people love to add all sorts of things to these otherwise healthy snacks.  This one though is a good one.

low in sodium, high in taste!

The last snack I am going to discuss in this post is the fiber one brownies/cookies, in particular the Cinnamon Coffee Cake flavor.  This one has to be my favorite flavor of this brand.  It's tasty, and it feeds my carb cravings without being totally terrible for me.  While yes this is a processed food, and you should try to limit those in your life, I have not gone 100% eating clean.  So for those of you that try to be, this isn't for you.  For the rest of us that are just trying in baby steps, like me, to become better at this, then this might be a tasty treat for you.

It has 5 grams of fiber and is only 90 calories.  That seems like a win win.  And when you open the package, a burst of cinnamon slaps you in the face and you fall in love.

Fiber One Cinnamon Coffee Cake - only 90 calories!

So there you have a small tour of my snack drawer.  It changes often and this is what I am enjoying this week.

Remember every change, if it is small, counts and helps makes a difference.