Healthy snacking can actually be advantageous to your health and weight loss plans. That snack attack can often be your body telling you that its hungry. At that point its a good thing to have a light snack than to wait until the appropriate time, such as lunch or dinner, when youre extremely hungry and more likely to overeat. Its always a good idea to stop by the vending machine before youre ravenous.
For many people its difficult to break the three-meal a-day cycle. However, in order to maintain a proper body weight, its important to only eat when youre hungry. Not when the clock tells you that you have to eat, nor when youre bored, happy or sad – emotional eating can quickly lead to obesity. Healthy snacking helps you to keep your blood sugar levels normal and your brain chemistry in balance.
Of course, resolving your snack attack with doughnuts, smoothies, or other high sugar snacks will just end up as body fat. However, there are plenty of alternatives. Pretzels, granola bars that are low in sugar and high in fiber, popcorn, fruits, and vegetables are all great snack alternatives. If you crave something sweet, dont be afraid to have a small package of sweets. Its quite natural to like sweets and wont do any harm as long as its only occasionally and in moderation.
Thats the real secret to healthy snacking – watch the portion sizes. We all know that too much of a good thing isnt always a good thing. Be careful to eat sparingly. Remember that your body takes about 20 minutes, after eating, to signal that its full, so dont binge.
Lets take a closer look at some of these snack options.
If youre feeling hungry, then a small bag of pretzels is a good choice. While the nutritional benefits arent great, they dont have trans fat and typically have just one gram of fat per serving, which makes them a sensible alternative to other snacks.
Granola bar ingredients, such as oats, grains, nuts, dried fruits, and so on are all healthy, making a granola bar a good snack choice. Do be careful to ensure that you dont damage your good intentions by choosing granola bars that are baked with lots of added sugar.
Many people may be surprised to find that popcorn can also be considered a healthy snack, but, as long as its not laden with butter and salt, it can be a good snack alternative. Popcorn, which is a vitamin-rich whole grain, is also a good source of fiber. Additionally, recent studies have shown that its also high in antioxidants.
Of course, nobody will argue with the health benefits of including more fruit and vegetables in your snacking habits. These are known to lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease, balance blood sugars, help with digestive problems, and much more.
Vend One is committed to working with companies to increase wellness awareness through healthy vending. We will work with you to choose healthy vending alternatives, keeping the snacks interesting and balanced. Contact us know to find out how we can help you with your healthy vending machine services. Contact Vend One for more information on Healthy Vending.
