
Simply Snackin
Need a snack fix? Try some jerky.
Want to munch on satisfying snacks that taste great but don’t add lots of extra calories and fat grams to your daily diet? Try these smart suggestions from Lisa Lillien, host of “Hungry Girl” on the Food Network, and stick to your diet resolution!
Simply Snackin Dried Gourmet Meat Snacks
- Sad to say, jerky is not all that popular, but it should be. This jerky not only tastes great, but it's extremely unique, filling and satisfying!
- Individually portioned/wrapped, perfect for on-the-go or travel, with a good shelf-life.
- Six varieties total: three beef varieties and three chicken varieties. Includes fruity and sweet flavors like Beef Sirloin with Cranberries & Blueberries and unique savory flavors like Chicken Breast with Black Bean Salsa & Wisconsin Cheddar. All varieties are lower in sodium than traditional jerky varieties.
- Availability: Only available online at healthysnackin.com, but worth it!
- Nutrition per serving (one stick): 50 calories; 1-2 g fat; 7-12 g protein.
- All-natural, no preservatives, no cholesterol. Comes in 2 flavors: Classic Original and Spinach Garlic.
- Made with both soybeans and chickpeas, not just chickpeas like most hummus products on the market.
- Availability: Look for it near the tofu section in produce or in the dairy section.
- Nutrition per serving (2 tablespoons): 50 calories; 3 g fat; 4 g protein. (This is twice the protein and half the fat of the leading packaged hummus.)
To help keep your weight loss resolutions, "Hungry Girl" Lisa Lillien shares a few tasty treats that will satisfy hunger pangs, but aren't filled with tons of extra calories.
Amy's Cheese Pizza Toaster Pops
- Some frozen pizzas can be very high in fat and calories, but this product is not. Just have ONE pop only. (The box comes with four.)
- Like a savory pop tart! These toaster pastries are perfect for a filling snack or part of a light meal, and they’re an easy go-to for an after-school snack for both kids and parents.
- Filled with organic tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.
- Availability: Available at most major food store chains nationwide.
- Nutrition per serving (one 1.94-ounce pop): 160 calories; 6 g fat; 5 g protein.
Microwaveable soups
- Lots of varieties, available everywhere! Portable and easy – just pop them in the microwave for an office lunch or unconventional snack for any time of day.
- SO FILLING and people who eat soup take in 25 percent fewer calories throughout the day!
- Check the stats for the low-fat varieties (3 g fat or less per serving) because not all are. Also, be sure to check the serving size.
- Availability: Available at most major food store chains nationwide.
- Nutrition per serving (1 cup): Anywhere from 60-200 calories and 0-10 g fat.
Cheese: Weight Watchers Smoked Flavor Mozzarella String Cheese and Cabot Vermont Serious Snacking Reduced Fat Cheese Snacks
- 2 great options with great flavor for cheese-lovers out there who want to get their fix without the high fat and calorie counts.
- Both products are individually wrapped for easy portion control – a much smarter option than chomping on a big block of cheese, and it’s easy to throw in your purse.
- The Weight Watchers product is new. It’s a fancy twist on regular cheese, but a lot lighter and full of flavor.
- Cabot Cheese Snacks come in three varieties: Sharp Cheddar, Pepper Jack and Hanabero Cheddar (spicy!). These taste great!
- Availability: Available at most major food store chains nationwide.
- Nutrition per serving (One stick/wedge): 45-50 calories; 2-3.5 g fat; 6-7 g protein.
Perfect Foods Bar, Cranberry Crunch Lite
- These all-natural bars taste like chewy PB&J with honey. They are delicious, satisfying and gluten-free.
- Cranberry Crunch is the only Lite variety, and the other bars have much higher stats.
- Need to store the bars in the fridge because they don’t have any preservatives added, but they can be kept out of the fridge for at least a week so you can travel with them or keep them at work.
- Availability: Look for it near the yogurt in the refrigerated section of Whole Foods or other natural-foods stores nationwide.
- Nutrition per serving (One bar): 199 calories; 10 g fat; 2 g fiber; 10 g protein
Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds, Dark Chocolate, 100-calorie packs
- Calories and fat grams can add up quickly with nuts, so if you can’t be trusted to portion out a serving, these bags are for you! (They also come a multi-serving canister.)
- Like all nuts, these have “good” fat (unsaturated fat), which can help to lower bad cholesterol and reduce risk of heart disease.
- Filling, unlike many 100-calorie packs (such as cookies and chips).
- Great for a chocolate fix – lightly dusted in cocoa!
- Availability: Available at most major food store chains nationwide.
- Nutrition per serving (One pack): 100 calories; 8 g fat; 2 g fiber; 3 g protein.
Blue Diamond Natural Nut Thins
- Gluten-free baked snacks made from nuts and rice. These crunchy thins are great with added toppings for a wonderful appetizer, or good on their own for an afternoon pick-me-up.
- Eight unique varieties: Six almond-based flavors (Original, Barbeque, Hint of Sea Salt, Smokehouse, Country Ranch and Cheddar Cheese), as well as Hazelnut and Pecan.
- Four servings in a box (each serving is 16-17 crackers), so don’t just mindlessly munch – count out your serving!
- Availability: Available at most major food store chains nationwide.
- Nutrition per serving (1 ounce): 130 calories; 2.5-4 g fat; 2-3 g protein.
Kellogg’s FiberPlus Antioxidants Eggo Chocolate Chip Waffles
- A great breakfast or sweet snack to help satisfy your chocolate fix.
- Each serving has 35 percent of the recommended daily fiber intake! Fiber helps to keep you feeling full. They also have a good amount of vitamins and minerals: 25 percent daily value of calcium, 20 percent vitamins A and E.
- Availability: Available at most major food store chains nationwide in the freezer aisle next to the other breakfast items.
- Nutrition per serving (2 waffles): 180 calories; 7 g fat; 9 g fiber; 3 g protein
More from Bites:


OMG Ann Curry, STOP crunching food. It's incredibly rude, distracting and just a bit disgusting. Crackers, nuts ... don't you know that your mic picks up all those sounds?
Hey Ladies. Commute by bike, job more, go kickboxing.
Fit is sexy. Calorie counting is not.
Want to go on a 50+ mile scenic road ride? Excercise, conversation, beautiful views... And we can have a chocolate shake, a giant salad with hard boiled eggs and bacon and nuts and a nice balsamic vinaigrette, and some steak and potatoes afterwards. And some dessert.
Get into the sport enough you might start start counting calories the other way :)
<3
*oops. Jog. not Job.
Play, not job.
Find something active you can do every day, and enjoy.
The whole "you might start counting calories the other way" thing definitely happened to me! Exercise outside rocks!
exercise without calorie restriction in some way usually doesn't result in weight-loss since people tend have an increased metabolism along with increased exercise, then again, dieting rarely ends in sustained weight loss either..
I agree Andrew. So boring and restricting to count calories. It is much more fun to do something active. I cycle to and from work 3 days a week, swim at least once a week, and go for a walk after dinner. I never was a sporty person, but that activity alone allows me to eat (within moderation) what I want.
Most of the crap they are pushing in this article is artificial and full of non food fillers and chemicals. Try regular real food, whole foods that you cook yourself, and be totally surprised that you don't have to count calories because you are getting the nutrition you need, not the empty calorie fillers / cancer causing fake foods you are paying way to much money for in the first place. Whole foods - no refined sugars (including honey) and no refined flours (no white pasta) or processed / canned foods (white rice is processed - try long grain brown rice). And eat a whole egg - not just the white (that is just gross anyway.) The entire thing is so good for you. And stop drinking cow's milk. It is for baby cow's. You'll get plenty of calcium in the other healthy foods you are eating. And when you add weight training, you will build your bones too. This country is so brainwashed about what to eat, it is not surprising most of us are elephants. Stop reading and believing nonsense frankenstein science like this article and get real.....
I guess people would rather eat anything than apples, tangerines, carrots, celery, or anything that is compact, tastes good and is good for you? These aren't snacks, they are trash. Under 200 calories. 2 apples and apples will fill you up a lot faster and longer than anything mentioned above.
Most of the crap they are pushing in this article is artificial and full of non food fillers and chemicals. Try regular real food, whole foods that you cook yourself, and be totally surprised that you don't have to count calories because you are getting the nutrition you need, not the empty calorie fillers / cancer causing fake foods you are paying way to much money for in the first place. Whole foods - no refined sugars (including honey) and no refined flours (no white pasta) or processed / canned foods (white rice is processed - try long grain brown rice). And eat a whole egg - not just the white (that is just gross anyway.) The entire thing is so good for you. And stop drinking cow's milk. It is for baby cow's. You'll get plenty of calcium in the other healthy foods you are eating. And when you add weight training, you will build your bones too. This country is so brainwashed about what to eat, it is not surprising most of us are elephants. Stop reading and believing nonsense frankenstein science like this article and get real.....
Most of the crap they are pushing in this article is artificial and full of non food fillers and chemicals. Try regular real food, whole foods that you cook yourself, and be totally surprised that you don't have to count calories because you are getting the nutrition you need, not the empty calorie fillers / cancer causing fake foods you are paying way to much money for in the first place. Whole foods - no refined sugars (including honey) and no refined flours (no white pasta) or processed / canned foods (white rice is processed - try long grain brown rice). And eat a whole egg - not just the white (that is just gross anyway.) The entire thing is so good for you. And stop drinking cow's milk. It is for baby cow's. You'll get plenty of calcium in the other healthy foods you are eating. And when you add weight training, you will build your bones too. This country is so brainwashed about what to eat, it is not surprising most of us are elephants. Stop reading and believing nonsense frankenstein science like this article and get real.....
Most of the crap they are pushing in this article is artificial and full of non food fillers and chemicals. Try regular real food, whole foods that you cook yourself, and be totally surprised that you don't have to count calories because you are getting the nutrition you need, not the empty calorie fillers / cancer causing fake foods you are paying way to much money for in the first place. Whole foods - no refined sugars (including honey) and no refined flours (no white pasta) or processed / canned foods (white rice is processed - try long grain brown rice). And eat a whole egg - not just the white (that is just gross anyway.) The entire thing is so good for you. And stop drinking cow's milk. It is for baby cow's. You'll get plenty of calcium in the other healthy foods you are eating. And when you add weight training, you will build your bones too. This country is so brainwashed about what to eat, it is not surprising most of us are elephants. Stop reading and believing nonsense frankenstein science like this article and get real.....
This is pretty much overprocessed bad food that is being recommended in this article. Microwaveable soup? Ich! The microwave will destroy most of the nutrients, but there probably arent many to worry about. Look for foods that are not processed so much. Whole foods are best, or foods that only have a few ingredients. Amys is usually a brand that is better than most.
Yeah I was surprised too by the food mentioned in this article...I bring carrots with hummus or celery with peanut butter for snacks at work and although I don't mind snacking on stuff like that, I'm always looking for other combinations so that they don't get so monotonous...was hoping this article would provide that insight, but guess not...