Cheryl Forberg, RD. Biggest Loser Nutritionist

What about snack bars?  There is no doubt that they're convenient, portable and don't need refrigeration.  I think some of them are ok as a back up ONLY.  Please do not become reliant on these as a regular part of your diet.  I can't stress enough the importance of the whole food snacks such as different combinations of lean turkey, fruit, yogurt, veggies, nuts cheese stick etc.

As I wrote in the The Biggest Loser Complete Calorie Counter book, the ingredient list on a food label gives an awful lot of information.  First of all, the more ingredients listed, the more processed it probably is, including added chemicals and preservatives.  Additionally, the ingredients are listed in decreasing order of the amounts found in the product. That means if the first couple ingredients are sugar (such as corn syrup, fructose, etc) or fat, then those ingredients are present in the largest amounts and are a clue that you should leave that product on the store shelf.

I pasted a label below from a snack bar to show you what I mean. This is the label of a product you DON'T WANT to buy

Ingredients:
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Protein Blend (see product details for ingredients), Corn Syrup, Sugar, Glycerin, Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Roasted Peanuts, Gelatin, Maltitol, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Contains 2% or less of: Natural Flavor, Roasted Ground Peanuts, Peanut Flour, Nonfat Milk, Calcium Caseinate, Cocoa, Soy Lecithin, Water, Salt, Canola Oil, Monoglycerides, Soybean Oil, Fractionated Vegetable Oil (Palm and Palm Kernel Oils), Beta Carotene, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Calcium Phosphate, Ferric Orthophosphate (Iron), Vitamin E Acetate, Phytonadione (Vitamin K1), Thiamin Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Niacinamide, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Potassium Iodide, Magnesium Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Copper Gluconate, Manganese Sulfate, Chromium Chloride, Sodium Molybdate

Again, this isn't to say that you can never choose a snack bar.  It's ok now and then when you just can't pull over or you don't have anything else in your backpack. I really like the Jay Robb Fudge Brownie bar because it doesn't contain sugar and it's absolutely delish. But try to stick with whole foods most of the time

Over time it will be easier for you to plan ahead, and to know what to keep on hand.

Fruit is easy and portable, but don’t forget to have protein with each snack.  Cheese sticks, sliced turkey and/or yogurt may be less popular in the summer when refrigeration is a concern.  Nuts may be a good option then.

A few protein serving suggestions to have with a piece of fruit might include:

·       1/4 cup unsalted roasted soynuts = 106 kcal 7g carb 8 g pro 5 gram fat

·       2 tablespoons walnuts                98 kcal  2 g carb  2 g pro  10 g fat

·       2 tablespoons dry roasted pistachios – 91 kcal, 4 g carb, 3 g pro, 7 g fat

Another plan ahead idea is to hard boil a dozen eggs to keep in the fridge. (They will keep 3 or four days with refrigeration).  Place eggs in pan.  Cover with cold water.  Bring to boil.  Immediately reduce heat to simmering and slow boil for 11 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Pour off boiling water.  Immediately fill pan with cold water to stop the cooking process.  This also prevents the yolks from having a dark ring.  Refrigerate eggs.

One large hard boiled egg has 78 calories, ½ g carb, 6 grams protein and 5 grams fat.  It’s ok to have the whole yolk once a week.  Other days, just eat the whites.

Three large hard boiled eggs (whites only) has

52 kcals  < 1 g carb, 11 g protein and 0 fat

Again, adjust the serving sizes according to your daily calorie budget.

Happy snacking!