Overcoming the Hangry: 10 Wholesome, Under 250 Calorie Snacks to Save the Day (and Night)
It’s 3pm and I'm getting hangry. Dinner feels really far away and maybe I’m just tired but my brain is hearing “Starving. Must. Eat. Now”. When my blood sugar is dipping, I need to put something in my mouth and fast. If my toddlers’ leftover blueberry muffin is within arms reach, game over.
As I’ve learned (and continue to learn over and over again) small, filling snacks are the #1 tool to prevent overeating and eating crap. They are a huge help in regulating my mealtime and late night eating rhythms and the absolute key is food that is easily accessible.
Here are some ideas -- in order of preference and all under 250 calories -- for the in-between mealtime, soon-to-be hangry moments.
Note: I am a pescatarian and this list is vegetarian. No doubt there are some great meat options as well.
1. Pre-cooked sweet potato: this is my #1 go-to. It fills me up and it’s delicious. I over-bake sweet potatoes because the more they’re cooked, the sweeter they tend to be. So picture the sweet potato virtually exploding in your oven. That’s the point where I finally pull it out. 450 degrees for at least 1 hour. Bonus that my toddler loves it too.
1 cup of cubed sweet potato = 114 calories
2. Beets and feta: You don’t even need to cook the beets yourself. Almost all supermarkets now have packaged, pre-cooked beets. Love Beets is a good, organic option. Trader Joe’s has a good version too, though not organic. And any crumbled feta will do.
2.5 beets/45 calories and ½ cup feta/198 calories = 243 calories
3. Hard-boiled eggs: Sprinkled with salt, of course. I try to keep a few in my fridge at all times. And eat the yolks! Tastier, more filling and as we are learning more and more, have unnecessarily gotten a bad rep in the health world.
2 eggs = 156 calories
. Thin-sliced whole wheat bread, almond butter, banana: Sometimes I really just need BREAD. It’s the only way to get me to the satiated feeling. But no need to go crazy. 1 slice of the delicious thin-sliced Dave’s Bread with crunchy almond butter and ½ sliced banana is perfect.
1 thin slice Dave’s Bread whole grains & seeds/60 calories + 1 tbsp almond butter 98 calories + ½ banana/52 calories = 210 calories
5. Popcorn: Because sometimes you just need the “crunch.” You can opt to pop your own with some coconut butter, which gives it a nice flavor. But usually by the time I need a snack fix, instant gratification is a requirement so I usually turn to Skinny Pop, preferably the white cheddar.
3.5 cups = 150 calories
6. String cheese: I started pilfering these from my toddler's stash and quickly realized that eating 2 of them is the perfect tied-me-over. This snack is more protein and less calories than most protein bars (more on that later). And the operative number is 2. 1 doesn’t seem to do the trick.
2 sticks full fat = 160 calories
7. Smoothie: Not quite as instant and requires more clean-up, but my go-to smoothie snack is 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk, half scoop of 365 brand whey vanilla protein, a big handful or two of spinach, a few frozen strawberries and a frozen (or not) banana. Sometimes I add avocado for extra nice texture and good, filling fat...but then we’re starting to enter meal-substitute territory.
1 cup unsweetened almond milk (365 brand)/40 calories + ½ scoop 365 protein powder/45 calories + 4 strawberries/16 calories + banana/105 calories + 1 cup spinach/7 calories = 213 calories
8. Pre-cooked, flavored tofu or seitan: I admit this may not be for everyone. But most grocery stores have so many options now for pre-cooked and flavored meat-substitutes and I often find them tasty and satisfying for munching on the run. I love Trader Joe’s Organic Baked Tofu - teriyaki flavor. Admittedly, these foods can contain a ton of sodium, so there’s that.
½ package baked TJ’s teriyaki tofu = 160 calories
9. Whipped cottage cheese & date honey: I know, the idea of cottage cheese may make you wince. But I promise the whipped stuff is different. The absolute tastiest I’ve found is the Friendship brand. And the only Amazon review I’ve ever taken the time to write (and I order from Amazon almost daily) was for Date Lady Pure Date Syrup. It’s that good.
1 cup whipped cottage cheese/180 calories + 1 tbsp date syrup/54 calories = 234 calories
10. NuGo Slim Protein Bar: The world of protein bars is vast and many (most?) are packed with sugar. I was finally able to find a protein bar that I enjoy which has less than 200 calories (not so easy), less than 5 grams of sugar (definitely not easy) and a decent amount of protein (you would be surprised how many “protein bars” contain barely any). My favorite flavor is the toasted coconut, which contains 16 grams of protein, 3 grams of sugar, 7 grams of fiber. Not too shabby. Good for satisfying a sweet tooth too.
1 bar = 190 calories
Snack-asides:
*Remember how Barack Obama famously eats only 7 almonds as a snack? Well I need to eat about 47 almonds to feel satiated, which is obviously why I’ve never been president (yet). I am generally not a fan of snacking on nuts or trail mix, despite the conventional wisdom that these are high-protein, good fat options. My reality is that in order to actually satiate my hunger, I need to eat way more than a serving size of these things, which packs on calories super fast.
*People often talk about fruit being a good snack, but it just doesn’t fill me up enough. If I eat an apple, no matter how delicious, I am back for round 2 shortly after and end up eating the thing I wanted in the first place. I.e. not fruit.
*I always choose full fat or 2-4% dairy options, because they taste better and fill me up. More often than not, when I opt for fat-free, I am basically opting to be hungry again within an hour.
