Five Easy and Healthy Snacks

It's a new year, and with it comes a multitude of resolutions and goals. So you want to eat healthier? Popular American diets (such as The Zone and South Beach Diet) actually encourage snacking, especially low-carb, high protein snacks. (According to these diets, complex carbohydrates such as grains and rice convert to sugar quickly in the body. This sets you up for an insulin crash soon afterwards, and also encourages weight-gain. They emphasize simple carbohydrates such as fruit and vegetables.)

Instead of running for that bag of chips or dipping your hand into the cookie jar, try a healthier alternative. There are four things to keep in mind while snacking:

Read the ingredients. Take a pass on anything with a lot of added refined sugar, artificial ingredients (including artificial sweeteners such as aspartame), and hydrogenated oils. Normally, fewer ingredients mean it's healthier. If you can't pronounce the ingredient, you might want to choose something else.

Keep it simple and easy. Realize that for most people that the more complicated the snack, the less likely they are to make it. Stay with 1-3 food items and you'll do fine. Make it easy to assemble and eat.

Portion control. Keep in mind that a snack is not a full-fledged meal. You want to satisfy your hunger and cravings, not stuff yourself like it's a Thanksgiving meal.

Realize your temptations (and avoid them). Candy bars and most packaged snacks are waaay to easy to eat, and usually filled with unhealthy ingredients. Get them out of the house. Avoid them at the grocery store. Ask God to deliver you from your temptations.

Below are five easy and healthy snack ideas to get your imagination running, and your body working more smoothly:

1. Cheese and fruit. You can create many combinations here:

* Cottage cheese mixed with mandarin oranges

* Cheddar cheese chunks and grapes

* Orange slices and string cheese

* Brie and cut-up kiwi

* Peanut butter and cutup apples (OK, peanut butter is not a cheese,

but it is a good source of protein)

2. Yogurt and fruit. Look for a yogurt brand that has a low sugar content. (Which can be listed as sucrose, fructose or corn sweetener)

3. A "mini"meal. Who says a snack can't look like a meal, only much smaller? Try a small portion of fish or chicken with fresh veggies.

4. Hard-boiled eggs. Boil up a dozen at the beginning of the week, and you've got snacks for every day. Here's the easiest way to hard-boil eggs: Put eggs in a saucepan. Cover with water and add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a hard boil (for you non-cooks, that means a lot of rolling bubbles in the water). Turn off heat. Cover and let stand for � hour or longer. Rinse in cold water. Enjoy!

5. Bars. These are super-easy snacks, which means you are more likely to eat them. Look for Zone bars, Clif bars, South Beach bars. Make sure you read the ingredients and watch out for anything you can't pronounce.

Remember the easy healthy snack rule of thumb: a few simple ingredients, make it easy, and most of all - enjoy!