The No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal

I’m always wary of stories with headlines like 7 Foods Under 100 Calories You’ll Love. Normally those lists involve mostly foods I don’t like to eat, such as nuts.

Eating watermelon doesn't fill me up, although it's high in water content. — *A fun snack, although I don’t find it filling at all given its high water content.*

But this list from LoseIt! actually has six things I do like to snack on — six out of seven, not bad. The only loser for me is hard-boiled eggs.

The rest — cherry tomatoes, yogurt, edamame, oranges, popcorn and watermelon, are all items I turn to when I don’t want to eat junk food.

Watch for them on sale at your local supermarket and then try them. Pints of cherry tomatoes and watermelon cups tend to be on sale regularly where I live, for example.

Any list about healthy snacks always gets my attention because normally those words — healthy and snack — are a conflict in terms. Anything you want to snack, i.e. binge, on generally is not healthy because it contains high amounts of salt, fat or sugar, or perhaps all three.

That’s why a recent list of so-called healthy snacks at Trader Joe’s caught my attention with one list, crispy broccoli florets. I eat a lot of broccoli, but had never thought of it as a snack, or as crispy for that matter. So I bought a bag and gave them a try.

The result was mixed. Salt-wise, they’re ok with only 15 mg a bag. Fat content seems high at 20 grams, about half what I’m supposed to have every day on my heart-healthy diet. And there’s 5 grams of transfat, again about half what I can have.

Taste-wise, they taste like broccoli, but having that cold and crisped up somehow just didn’t seem right. The taste of them actually became less palatable the more I had. So I guess that would preclude binging on them.

So my search for healthy snacks goes on, sans broccoli.

My recent American Heart Association 5k gave me a chance to speak with some representatives of the Meijer chain when I was done. They were handing out healthy eating tips at the end of the event. I picked up a sheet titled Easy Healthy Snacks and a second called More for a Healthier You.

Me with the heart mascot, sporting my survivor's cap and beads for each year since my 2012 surgery. — Me with the heart mascot, sporting my survivor’s cap and beads for each year since my 2012 surgery.

I found the healthier snacks online in the form of a video too:

http://newsroom.meijer.com/meijer-healthy-living—-sensible-snacks

Many of the 15 snacks on the list appeal to me, surprising given what a picky eater I tend to be when it comes to anything called healthy. Apple slices, baby carrots, peach slices and whole grain English muffins all are snacks I have these days on my low-fat, low-salt, low-sugar diet. Continue reading “Healthy snack ideas from Meijer’s” →

Snacking on anything I used to snack on has become impossible on my low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet. I’ve written about how I’ve found a way to make my own potato chips with no fat and no salt. But they take a great deal of time, so are hardly a handy snack.

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, once considered a healthy snack, really aren't for me. — Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, once considered a healthy snack, really aren’t for me.

I was reminded of the snacking challenge recently when a candidate for office in our area was handing out bags of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish at my train station one morning. When my children were growing up, Goldfish were considered the healthy snack, better than chips or ice cream or other normal kid fare. Continue reading “Goldfish and snacking challenges” →

Tag: healthy snacks

Seven 100-calorie snacking options

Pandemic Snacking: Crispy Broccoli at Trader Joe’s

Healthy snack ideas from Meijer’s

Goldfish and snacking challenges

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