Best Snacks For Weight Loss: Trying to lose weight doesn’t necessarily mean sacrificing snacks. The right kind of snacks can actually help you lose weight. Healthy snacks ensure you won’t be ravenous come mealtime. They also keep your fat-burning metabolism revved up.
Here are several of the best snacks for weight loss, with both store-bought and make-your-own snack ideas. Each nosh packs 150 to 200 calories, is filled with good-for-you nutrients, and will make you feel like your diet is about anything but deprivation.
1. Greek Yogurt With Raspberries and Honey
Best Snacks For Weight Loss, Sweet, creamy, and filling, this trio feels completely indulgent. The combination of fiber, healthy fat, and protein will get you over any 3-p.m. slump. Plus, the vitamin C in raspberries may increase your body’s fat-burning ability.
Honey is not only a delicious sweetener, but it also offers a myriad of health benefits. Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties may work to treat several conditions including diabetes and high blood pressure. There is also some evidence that honey can help lower body weight. Yogurt also seems to be related to lower body weight and a smaller waist. It may also prevent you from gaining weight.
This treat is easy to make on your own: Combine a single-serving container of Greek yogurt, a cup of raspberries, and a half-tablespoon of honey.
2. Grapes and Walnuts
No matter how much you love both grapes and walnuts, there are only so many you can eat. That’s because grapes are super sweet and juicy, and walnuts are hardy and filling.
Like other fruits, grapes are super healthy. The water and fiber they contain can help keep your gut happy. Purple grapes also contain a pigment called anthocyanin, which has been associated with weight loss. (This pigment can also be found in other foods like mulberries, blueberries, and strawberries.
If you’re trying to lose weight, walnuts may be the right snack for you. They’ve been shown to promote weight loss in people with overweight and obesity. Walnuts may also benefit your LDL cholesterol levels (the “bad” cholesterol) and blood pressure.
Snack on one cup of grapes and a handful of walnuts to make a powerful combo of natural sugars, fiber, healthy fats, and protein. This combo delivers nutrients that provide long-lasting energy.
3. KIND Healthy Grains Bar
Best Snacks For Weight Loss, The KIND Health Grains bar is a gluten-free snack that contains amaranth, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, and oats.
Although more research is needed in this area, whole grains may also be good for weight loss. Getting the recommended amount of whole grains in your diet seems to be related to lower body weight and waist size.7
4. Edamame Hummus
If you’re craving chips and dip but don’t want to compromise your healthy diet, reach for some buckwheat crackers instead. Paired with edamame hummus, they make a delicious snack.
The starches, proteins, and other substances in buckwheat grains may harbor important health benefits. Buckwheat has been seen to protect against not only obesity, but also high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and gallstones.
Edamame hummus may have some benefits for your waistline. The protein, isoflavones, and fiber in soybeans can make you feel full and discourage your body from producing fat.
5. Wheat Thins and Cottage Cheese
Best Snacks For Weight Loss, Dip 10 Wheat Thins in the cottage cheese, or enjoy them side-by-side. In one half-cup serving of cottage cheese, you can get one-quarter of your recommended daily intake of protein. Rather than a nonfat variety, go for 2% or even full-fat. The fat combined with the protein will keep your stomach full until mealtime.
Plus, dairy like cottage cheese may also help with weight loss. Studies have shown that if you’re already cutting back on calories, an increased amount of dairy in your diet may help you lose fat without sacrificing your lean muscle mass.
6. Mediterranean Hummus Tray
Get your Mediterranean diet on: Cucumbers, olives, and hummus are all high in fiber, low in fat, and pair perfectly for a snack that feels more like a meal.
Whether combined or on their own, cucumbers are a great fruit for snacking. They have a high water content, so they’ll help you keep hydrated and feeling full. In addition, they boast antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, heart-protecting, antimicrobial, anti-aging, and anti-cancer properties.
Hummus made from chickpeas can also be great for weight management. Plus, it will help you regulate glucose and insulin and may help protect against cardiovascular diseases.
Olives are good for you for a number of reasons. Even if they may not help you lose weight directly, olives are high in monounsaturated fat, fiber, and vitamin E. Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant, and the other components in olives may help protect against cardiovascular disease and inflammation. However, olives are also high in salt.12 If you’re following a low-salt diet, you may want to be mindful of consumption.
Your spread should include a cup of cucumber slices, about four kalamata olives, and about four tablespoons of hummus.
7. Oatmeal and Blueberries
Best Snacks For Weight Loss, Oats aren’t just for breakfast—they’re good any time you need a hearty treat. Full of fiber, they help regulate blood sugar levels to keep you from crashing. They can also help you reduce body weight, body fat, and waist-to-hip ratio.
Meanwhile, blueberries add a kick of sweetness (and vitamin C) without any table sugar. While they may only be somewhat involved in helping you lose weight, you’ll still want to include blueberries in your snacks for other reasons.
Blueberries can help reduce inflammation, improve your gut microbiota, regulate blood glucose, boost brain function, and protect your blood vessels. These benefits translate into reduced risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and maybe even Alzheimer’s disease.
Try a packet of plain, microwaveable oatmeal topped with a half cup of blueberries.
8. Banana With Peanut Butter
Spread a tablespoon of peanut butter onto a banana. The carbs will give you a quick mood and energy spike, while the protein will keep the energy going for hours.
Peanut consumption has not been shown to promote weight gain and can even have beneficial effects on triglycerides and other fats in your blood. When you purchase peanut butter, also check the list of ingredients on the label. Sometimes you’ll find added oils or preservatives.
Bananas are packed with potassium, an essential nutrient all cells in your body need. Eating one banana won’t fully meet your daily potassium needs, but it will get you off to an excellent start.
9. Rhythm Super foods Kale Chips
Best Snacks For Weight Loss, Whatever less-than-healthy potato chip variety you like, chances are Rhythm’s kale chips have a similar flavor without all of the fat. The zesty nacho variety, for instance, has 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 5 grams of protein, and seven times your daily quota of vitamin K, which helps maintain strong bones. As an alternative, you could make your own kale chips.
Kale offers great nutritional value and it’s packed with antioxidants like vitamin C. Antioxidants can help reduce inflammation and ward off certain diseases. Foods like kale that are high in fiber may also help reduce your risk of obesity.
10. Apple Slices With Cheese
An apple a day might not necessarily keep the doctor away, but it could help prevent weight gain. There may be some benefits to cheese too. Eating cheese has been associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and may even protect against type 2 diabetes.
Experiment with your favorite apples and cheeses. If you’re not sure where to start, try pairing a Gala apple with a half-inch slice of sharp cheddar cheese.
11. Cheerios and Soy Nuts
Best Snacks For Weight Loss, It’s perhaps not the most obvious pairing, but could easily become one of your favorites. Cheerios have been Heart-Checked and certified by the American Heart Association. The Heart-Check program selects foods based on their nutritional value, which includes fat, cholesterol, salt, and more. Incorporate Heart-Check foods into your diet for heart-health benefits.
Soy may also help you reach your weight-loss goals. Plus, if you include soy nuts in your diet, you could see improvements in blood pressure, blood glucose regulation, and inflammation.
Put one quarter-cup of roasted, salted soy nuts and one half-cup of Multigrain Cheerios together, shake them up, and you’ll be hooked. The sweet and salty combo makes for a scrumptious snack. It’s also a great source of fiber and protein.
12. Pear Slices With Almond Butter
Pears and almond butter make a tasty, healthy treat. Pears boast water, fiber, and fructose. They’ve also got lots of antioxidants to help prevent disease.
Almond butter makes a great alternative to peanut butter. Almonds have been shown to decrease mean body mass and fat mass and promote gut health. Almonds come with other health benefits as well. You definitely won’t want to pass over these tasty nuts in your snacks, whether whole, chopped, or ground into nut butter.
Pair your pear with a tablespoon of almond butter for the perfect carb and protein combination.
13. Turkey Rolls
Best Snacks For Weight Loss, Sliced turkey breast doesn’t need a bun! Lean protein sources like turkey are recommended for people who are trying to lose weight. They can also help reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in people with overweight or obesity.
Roll up five slices of turkey with two roasted red peppers and two teaspoons of spicy mustard. It’s basically a mini meal, and it comes in at only 150 calories.
14. Hardboiled Egg
When hunger strikes, a hardboiled egg has got you covered. This excellent grab-and-go snack is high in protein. The protein will curb your appetite and keep you from reaching for something less-than-healthy. Plus eggs pack nutrients like vitamins D and B12, but contain only 78 calories.
Having an egg a day, or maybe a handful a week, may not be a bad thing. One study found that a high-protein diet with whole eggs could help you keep your lean muscle mass as well as lose some weight.
Save yourself some time by prepping a bunch of hard-boiled eggs at once. You can store them in the fridge for a quick hunger fix and a high-protein snack.
A Quick Review
Best Snacks For Weight Loss, Dieting to lose weight doesn’t have to mean forgoing delicious treats. Sink your teeth into any of these tasty and healthy snacks to stay full while shedding fat. These scrumptious bites will delight your taste buds, and they have the potential to help you meet your weight-loss goals.
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