Attack the Snack

We have one month of clean eating under our belts...which I'm happy to say have been tightened a notch! Before we began I did a ton of online research and downloaded several Kindle books to educate myself. The majority of the framework for our clean eating lifestyle came from Tosca Reno's book The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged.  She recommends eating 6 portion controlled meals/snacks each day.  The diet includes healthy fats and drinking lots of water.  She recommends the meals/snacks be a combination of lean protein and complex carbohydrates.  You can find more detailed information HERE.   Planning is key to success and to avoid "falling of the wagon" due to hunger.  I have found that the only time I'm tempted to eat something unclean is if I'm out and about with no plan for a snack. The hunger pains make my brain shut down and I forget my goals.  Here is a list of mid morning/afternoon snacks that we have enjoyed:

hummus and any cut veggies

apple and almond butter

tuna/sardine and ry-krisp or whole wheat cracker

Ezekiel Bread and low-fat cream cheese or almond butter

small handful of almonds and sliced apple

cottage cheese and fresh fruit

mason jar salad HERE is just one of many online resources

Greek yogurt smoothie

Greek yogurt dip with cut veggies

I'm sure I'll keep adding to this list as we discover new treats. Once you have a craving for clean it is fun to see how creative you can get and stay within the clean boundaries.  One challenge that I have found is that it is very easy to find snacks which include complex starchy carbs but veggie/protein combos can be a bit trickier on the run.  Let me know if you have some tried and true go to snacks!