What are some healthy and satisfying snacks for the 7:30-8pm munchies that wont wreck my diet?

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beepnorunning

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What are some healthy and satisfying snacks for the 7:30-8pm munchies that wont wreck my diet?

I'm a very picky eater. While I'm working to make myself eat them, I'm not a big fan of most vegetables. I have tried a variety of things that have been suggested to me such as downing a couple glasses of water, low/reduced fat snacks (reduced fat cheese sticks etc), cottage cheese, yogurt, low-fat deli chicken and cheese "roll ups" and other such things. I cannot conquer the evening munchies and feel that I need to if I am going to reach my weight loss and life style changing goals.

Related Topics: Snack, Vegetable, Yogurt, Diet, Weight Loss

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Hansa D Bhargava, MD, FAAP

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Medical Editor, WebMD

33 Answers
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All of your choices are good ones. Have you tried trail mix eg almonds, dried fruit, walnuts. Nuts are full of nutrients but have protein as well so that just a few can be 'filling'. Also a fiber based cereal with low fat milk is a snack that I often have when i have the munchies.

Here's a great article http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/snack-attack

Also, remember that sometimes if a person is stressed or tired, he or she may think they are hungry but really it is a stress response. Additionally, if you are not drinking enough water during the day, you may be thirsty and this may feel like hunger.

In any case, drinking 6-8 glasses of water is key to be healthy. Glad you're doing so well with healthy eating. Keep up the good work!

This answer should not be considered medical advice...This answer should not be considered medical advice and should not take the place of a doctor’s visit. Please see the bottom of the page for more information or visit our Terms and Conditions.

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Mark Kaelin

Fitness

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It seems like this is a tough time for everyone but these are some of my go to snacks

1. Plain Greek Yogurt: it's high in protein and really fills you up. I sweeten it with a little bit of fruit or 1 packet of splenda.

2. A bowl of steel cut oats withs almonds, cranberries, and honey.
These take about 20 minutes to prepare but are well worth the wait.

3. No calorie sparkling water. I don't know why but it tastes good and somehow seems to help quell my hunger.

4. Peanut Butter or Almond Butter and Banana sandwich on whole
wheat. It's a great treat. If my belts a little tigt I'll only have half a
sandwich. Make sure you measrue your peanut butter serving
(1 to 2 tablespoons)

5. 2 slices center cut bacon and apple slices. I don't eat this alot because of the saturated fat in bacon but it definitely fills you up.

6. Trail mix: almonds, pecans, raisins with mini-chocolate chips be sure to measure your serving and pair with some raw veggies to
fill it out

7. Sliced apple with 1-2 tablespoons of peanut or almond butter

8. String Cheese, Almonds, and a serving of fruit

9. My all time favorite is paleo granola. It's very high in calories so you have to keep your servings small but it's delicious. I'll also add a cut up banana to it as well.

The recipe below makes 14 servings which comes out to about 300 calories/serving

Ingredients

Directions:
1. Grind nuts and seeds and add to a large bowl
2. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray
3. Add 1/4 of cup canola oil and 1/4 of cup honey to small pan and heat
4. Add vanilla extract and cinnamon to pan and bring mixture to boil.
5. Remove from heat and pour over nuts and seed mixture in bowl
6. Mix well and pour onto cookie sheet
7. Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees (watch closely)
8. Take out of oven, add coconut flakes and dried fruit.

Sometimes I'll also add some chocolate to the recipe as well. Friends have told me they like it better with 1/3 cup of oil and honey. But that will increase the calories.

This is not an original recipe but one I got of the internet and modified to suit my taste.

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Dan Jaris

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Health Coach, WebMD

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Late night snacking is difficult for many people. Before having a snack, I always suggest that you first analyze whether you’re actually hungry or just eating out of boredom. There’s nothing wrong with late night eating as long as it’s a mindful, deliberate snack instead of mindless eating.

Try not to eat too much food before you go to bed. Your last full meal of the day should be no less than 2 hours before you go to sleep. Eating too much before going to bed may cause indigestion, acid reflux, or could lead to insomnia and trouble sleeping. Make sure that if you do snack that you’re only eating at most between 100 to 300 calories shortly before going to bed.

For many people, late night snacks often tend to not be very healthy. Be sure to keep healthy alternatives readily accessible so that you can make the right choices. Check out this article for some great low calorie snack ideas from a dietitian: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/beyond-snack-packs-22-healthy-bites.

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Pamela Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP

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Nutrition

Peeke Performance Center

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Hi and thanks so much for your question. Sounds like you're a nocturnal eater like so many people out there. Here are some thoughts and recommendations:

Look beyond your eating: What time are you going to bed each night? The later you stay up, the more likely you are to be wandering into the kitchen and munching away. Try to get to bed no later than 11 and get a full 7-8 hours of sleep each night. It really helps. Are you doing things at night that cue you to eat, like watching TV and then being enticed by the ads? You have to rein in all cues to eat. These trigger you to knee jerk into your default bad habits. Watch out for stress at night as stress overeating is yet another cue.

Eating throughout the day: Try to eat every 3-4 hours starting with breakfast. That means you'll need to have a satisfying mid-afternoon snack like a protein smoothie (fresh or frozen fruit, 1-2 scoops of protein powder, water/skim milk), or some combo of protein and fiber like peanut butter and apple slices or hummus and carrots. If you mind that mid-afternoon snack, this helps control your dinner portions. This is important because nocturnal eating can happen when you come home way to hungry, and/or when you eat too much refined sugar and fat at dinner further stimulating your appetite for more food. Lean protein, serving of grain like quinoa and veggies that you like really help.

Night Eating: If you're truly feeling some hunger, a nifty trick is to drink warm water--- like tea--- along with a tsp of some nut butter like peanut or almond butter. It's a great balance of fat, sugar and carb.

Finally, stay away from the kitchen after dinner when at all possible. Get to the other side of the house and keep your bedroom sacrosanct with no food allowed.

Good luck!

Dr Peeke

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http://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-100-calorie-snacks

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xtracrispy

14 Answers
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I think cottage cheese tastes so gross! So I feel your pain.

I like dips like hummus and guacamole, which you can eat with veggies like carrots or celery or cucumber. You can buy hummus made with garlic or red peppers, it tastes really good! I've also been eating a lot of almonds lately for snacks... there are some almonds at the store that are flavored with wasabi that are amazing.

This slideshow has a bunch more ideas for low calorie snacks:

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