Choosing the Right Snacks to Help You Lose Weight

If you feel the need to snack while trying to progress with your weight loss, do so with something that is low in fat yet still tasty. There are certainly enough options out there to choose from. Fruit, rice cakes, low-fat yoghurt and mixed unsalted nuts or seeds all offer low-calorie alternatives to the cakes, crisps, chocolates, biscuits and sweets that we all crave from time to time, even more so when trying to maintain weight loss.

Of course, many companies offer what they claim to be low-fat snacks, such as flapjacks or cereal bars. But be careful of these. Claims like “90% fat free” still mean “10% fat”, which isn’t very low in fat at all, while cereal bars and branded “low fat” snacks can often be crucially high in sugar. Thus, while you’re trying to make some progress with your weight loss, you could still be eating the wrong things.

High sugar snacks like these can give you a boost during the post-lunch slump at the office, but the blood sugar high will soon be followed by the equally punishing blood sugar low you hit as little as an hour later – when you feel hungrier than before, tempting you to snack yet again.

So look carefully at the packaging. The truth is, if it sounds too good to be true, it might well be. But the story isn’t all doom and gloom. There are plenty of good snacks out there that will keep you going through the afternoon. Try a handful of fresh, unsalted almonds; they’re full of healthy antioxidants and high in “good” fat, the stuff that’ll put a gloss on your hair. Weight loss doesn’t have to be the huge thing that many people make it out to be.

Losing weight can be a great learning experience as well as making a huge difference to your life and wellbeing, and you really can make a positive difference to your weight even before you embark on a diet plan. The best weight loss advice should always start with what you can do for yourself!