Should you snack?
I am a snacker. I enjoy eating, my favourite thing to do after a long day is collapse on the sofa, throw Netflix on, and relax with a few tasty snacks. Does that mean I’m eating chocolate and ice cream every night? Absolutely not! I am very consistent at hitting my daily calorie goal and I honestly believe my approach towards snacking helps with this consistency. In order to eat snacks and stay within your caloric intake, you must first ensure that you have spare calories for them. To do so simply reduce your portion size on one or more of your meals, or choose a lower calorie meal option. If you don’t feel you need to snack, or you’re just not a ‘snacky’ person, then feel free to skip them, so long as you’re reasonably close to your caloric intake for the day (you don’t want to go drastically under your calories either!).
I have learned through experience that most people will probably have the desire to snack after their evening meal, especially if you eat early (5pm-6pm), however this varies from person to person. I have had great success with clients by encouraging them to save calories for a snack or two when they feel like they need them most. If you tend to have a long time between training and your most recent meal, eating a snack 1-2 hours before exercise is generally a good idea.
The following snack ideas are a few of my personal favourite low-calorie options. Whether I’m dieting or eating to gain muscle I’ll eat one or two, sometimes more of these, depending on how many calories I’m eating at the time, and how many calories I’ve eaten elsewhere that particular day.
Enjoy, but remember that you must stay within your daily caloric intake, as set by your Roots coach, or yourself if you have used our calculations to work them out!
Head Coach Andy.
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Roots Approved Low Calorie Snacks
The following snacks are all around or below 100-150 calories, at Roots our main focus for weight loss is eating the correct amount of calories. If you are following one of our meal plan suggestions you can swap one of your snacks out for one of the following. We strongly recommend you have fruit as your other snack if you do this.
1. Goodness Knows Snack Bar
157 Kcal, 20g Carbs (1.6 Fibre), 6.8g Fat, 2.6g Protein
2. Fiber One Brownie (All Flavours)
87 Kcal, 12g Carbs (5.2g Fibre), 2.8g Fat, 0.8g Protein
3. Nature Valley Salted Caramel, Almond & Pretzel Popcorn Bar
92 Kcal, 10g Carbs (2.8g Fibre), 4.4g Fat, 1.8g Protein
4. Popchips- 28g Bag, around 20 crisps (All Flavours)
120 Kcal 18g Carbs (1g Fibre), 4g Fat, 2g Protein
5. Nakd Blueberry Muffin/ Banana Bread Bar (one, not both!)
130 Kcal, 19g Carbs (1.4 Fibre), 4.6 Fat, 2.5 Protein
6. Alpen Light Bars (All Flavours)
66 Kcal, 10g Carbs (4.6 Fibre), 1g Fat, 1g Protein
7. Mini Twister Ice Lolly
45 Kcal, 9g Carbs (0g Fibre), 1g Fat, 0g Protein
8. Weightwatchers Toffee & Honeycomb Sundae
119 Kcal, 18g Carbs (5.8g Fibre), 2g Protein, 2g Fat
9. Hartley’s ‘10 Calorie’ Jelly (All flavours)
4-7 Kcal, 2g Carbs (0g Fibre), 0g Protein, 0g Fat
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Roots Approved High Protein Snacks
1. Boiled Egg
71 Kcal, 2g Carbs (0g Fibre), 7g Protein, 5g Fat
2. 175g 0% Fat Greek/Icelandic Yoghurt
114 Kcal, 7g Carbs (0g Fibre), 19g Protein, 0g Fat
3. Beef Jerky
107 Kcal, 9g Carbs (0g Fibre), 16g Protein, 1g Fat
4. 175g Low Fat Cottage Cheese
105 Kcal, 8g Carbs (0g Fibre), 16g Protein, 1g Fat
5. Protein ‘Pudding’ (Protein Powder mixed with around 3 tbsp of milk or water, creating a thick, soup-like consistency)
113 Kcal, 19g Protein, 4g Carbs (0g Fibre), 2g Fat