An ex-smoker shares her favorite keep-the-weight-off munchies.
Years ago while kicking my cigarette habit, I chowed down like crazy on carrot and celery sticks to keep from gaining all those pounds so often put on by ex-smokers. This worked so well, I pretty much continued on with slimming snacks to keep unwanted fat at bay. In addition to low calories, these snacks had the advantage of being healthier and less expensive than the highly processed snacks laced with sugar, salt, and chemicals I had consumed when less enlightened.
All these years later, those celery and carrot sticks are still at the top of the low calorie, low cost snack pyramid. Right up there with them are cucumber spears and tiny grape tomatoes. All four veggies, in plastic bags, make good travel companions.
Equally good low cost, slimming travelers among fruits are whole apples, pears, and plums along with chunks of refreshing watermelon, cantaloupe and pineapple sealed in plastic containers.
Apple slices, sprinkled with cinnamon, a few cloves and a little sugar make both a yummy snack and desert. Boil this combo with a little water till the apples soften and you’ve got a delicious quick bite to store in the fridge for days.
For snacks with more gusto (and a few more calories), combine apple slices with paper thin shavings of Romano cheese. And when you’re absolutely starving, a few dried apricots should fill the bill nicely. Packed with vitamins, plump, and intensely flavored, the dried apricots I currently eat are from Turkey and in no way related to those rock hard, flavorless apricots I remember from my youth.
Yogurt in 32-oz tubs is the most economical size you can buy. The low fat, plain flavor has the least amount of calories, but it’s a little too dull for my taste. For a visually appealing snack and dessert treat, I like vanilla yogurt combined with berries. For a straight snack I usually eat about four tablespoons of strawberry or vanana yogurt (a fabulous Trader Joe marriage of vanilla and bananas). For variety, a few tablespoons of low fat cottage cheese will also keep you on the straight and narrow slimming path.
