Healthy Snacks at Christmas

Contrary to popular belief it is still possible to have a great time over Christmas with out putting on weight as a result of eating lots of unhealthy meals and snacks.

Here are ten healthy snacks which will ensure that your Christmas celebrations can be enjoyed more than ever without putting on the extra pounds or kilos (depending on what side of the world you are on!).

1. Instead of a turkey sandwich made with thick slices of bread and lashings of butter replace the normal bread with pita bread and leave out the butter. Try replacing the butter with a spread of avocado. You can get small size pitta breads for the children and they taste absolutely delicious. Garnish with a small amount of salad and they will prove to be a popular treat.

2. It is surprising how filling a bowl of salad can be. Most people just associate a salad with boring old lettuce and cucumber but it may surprise you to know that a tasty salad made with chopped up capsicum/peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes and chopped up grapes with some croutons on top make an absolutely delicious salad and completely different to the more traditional salads that most people are used to.

3. Take it easy on the salted nuts. They are very high in calories and a few small bowls of pumpkin seeds in their place will satisfy the same needs but are far less moreish.

4. Fruit. A fruit salad comprising lots of juicy grapes, cherries, berries, apple, banana, kiwi fruit and orange makes a refreshing snack which your body will thank you for.

5. Here is a snack that not many people think of but a fruit or vegeatable smoothie can easily replace a meal and is so very good for you. A smoothie is often just considered to contain fruit but that is not the case. You can extract the juice from carrots and spinach for example and then add in some fruit and you are left with a snack that is absolutely bursting with goodness. Of course you don’t want to overdo the sugar so make it a small serve particularly if using fruit juice. Of course you should try to get some protein with your meals so adding some choc or vanilla protein powder to some low fat milk, some chopped frozen banana and a bit of nutmeg will keep your muscles happy too.

6. Perhaps one of the most delicious snacks I can think of are our protein pancakes. Very simply blend together 1/3 to 1/2 cup of oats, 4 egg whites and 1/4 cup of cottage cheese to form a batter. Add a little sweetener. I like to add some berries then pour the batter into the pan and cook as you would normal pancakes. Serve these delicious pancakes with some sugar free maple syrup and I guarantee that these will be the only kind of pancakes you eat from now on!

7. A baked potato with a filling of low fat cottage cheese is another of my favourites. A mistake many people make is to include a generous helping of butter or sour cream in the potato which really defeats the purpose of a healthy snack, doesn’t it? It is quite often included out of habit and once you get used to your baked potato without the butter you will hardly notice the difference. In place of sour cream try some low fat natural yoghurt.

8. A bowl of low fat natural Greek yoghurt is absolutely sensational, especially when mixed with some berries (yes, I am a big berry fan!) and leaves a fresh taste in your mouth which assures you that you have just eaten something wonderfully healthy.

9. A bowl of muesli (untoasted of course!) or oats does not have to be only eaten at breakfast and it makes a perfect healthy snack which can be eaten at any time during the day (watch the carbs at night if you are dieting though). Feel free to chop up some fresh fruit and add that to give it your own unique twist. Add some cottage cheese for your protein serving, and top with sugar free syrup.

10. Lastly, please remember that it is Christmas and you are entitled to enjoy yourself. A little bit of what you fancy won’t do you any harm!