In the mid-1970's, the average American ate 2,090 calories per day which increased to 2,400 calories per day in the mid-1990's which increased again to 2,500 calories per day during the period of 2003-2006. That is over a 400 calorie increase per day.
Snacks went from 200 calories/day in the 1970's to 420 calories per day in the 1990's to a whopping 500 calories per day from 2003-2006. Five hundred calories is close to a small meal. Between eating more at meals and snacks, no wonder we are gaining weight. Snacks can be great tool to stave off hunger until our next meal. They can even prevent us from overeating at the meal but a snack should not be a meal itself. A snack should be just that - a snack. Merriam-Webster defines a snacks as "a light meal : food eaten between regular meals". I usually recommend not more than 200 calories for a snack.
Not only do we eat more, we eat more often than we used to. Time between eating occasions shrank by 1 hour. It follows logically that if we eat more often, we probably eat more calories. Another reason to watch your snacking calories.
Here are some 200 calorie or less snacking ideas:
8 oz nonfat fruited or plain yogurt8 oz nonfat yogurt with ½ cup mixed berries
8 oz nonfat yogurt with 1 Tbsp slivered almonds, ground flax or wheat germ
4 oz nonfat or 1% fat cottage cheese with
½ cup canned fruit in own juice
4 oz nonfat or 1% fat cottage cheese on 1 slice whole grain bread or English muffin
½ cup nonfat pudding
1 oz part-skim mozzarella string cheese and 1 medium apple
6 oz skim or reduced fat milk and 2 graham crackers
8 oz skim milk or reduced fat milk and 1 piece of fruit
1 oz nuts
2 Tbsp peanut butter on 2 celery sticks1 medium pear with 1 oz of cheese
2 oz smoked salmon with 1 oz of nonfat cream cheese on 1/2 medium bagel
1 trail mix bar
I'm sure you can make your own 200 calorie inventions to add to this list. If you have any ideas, please pass them along for others.
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