If you’re watching your weight, you know diet food can get pretty boring. To keep it interesting, registered dietitian Lisa DeFazio suggests rotating among different healthy snacks. She put together a 7-day diet food menu of two different healthy snack pairings (packaged and fresh) each day for you to pick and choose from. Each diet food snack is between 150 to 200 calories. “Aim for a balance of protein, fat and carbs in your diet food snacks, when possible. This will keep your blood sugar steady, preventing blood sugar spikes and crashes, and keep you satisfied for longer,” DeFazio says. She also notes that each diet food snack should have about 5-8 grams of protein, 3 grams of fat, no more than 5 grams of sugar per 100 calories, and less than 300 mg of sodium per snack.
Fresh Diet Food Snack Day 1
Apple with 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
Packaged Diet Food Snack Day 1
Low-fat yogurt packaged with granola
Fresh Diet Food Snack Day 2
Cut up veggies, such as carrots, celery, jicama and cherry tomatoes with hummus
Packaged Diet Food Snack Day 2
Ready-to-eat container of pretzel thins with hummus (Sabra brand)
Fresh Diet Food Snack Day 3
Spread rice cakes with 1 tablespoon natural peanut or almond butter and top with banana slices
Packaged Diet Food Snack Day 3
Orville Redenbacher's microwavable Smart Pop Popcorn Single serving (100 cal) bags
Fresh Diet Food Snack Day 4
½ cup low-fat cottage cheese topped with pineapple chunks or other fresh fruit
Packaged Diet Food Snack Day 4
Kind Fruit & Nut Bars OR Luna Protein Bar
Fresh Diet Food Snack Day 5
2oz. sliced turkey deli meat wrapped around a dill pickle
Packaged Diet Food Snack Day 5
15 Triscuit Thin Crisps and one stick of string cheese
Fresh Diet Food Snack Day 6
¼ Avocado, mashed with lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt and spread on 1 slice whole-wheat toast
Packaged Diet Food Snack Day 6
16 Terra Exotic Harvest Vegetable Chips
Fresh Diet Food Snack Day 7
Celery sticks topped with 1 tablespoon peanut butter and raisins
Packaged Diet Food Snack Day 7
Baked tortilla chips and salsa
Top Diet Food Snacks
If you’re watching your weight, you know diet food can get pretty boring. To keep it interesting, registered dietitian Lisa DeFazio suggests rotating among different healthy snacks. She put together a 7-day diet food menu of two different healthy snack pairings (packaged and fresh) each day for you to pick and choose from. Each diet food snack is between 150 to 200 calories. “Aim for a balance of protein, fat and carbs in your diet food snacks, when possible. This will keep your blood sugar steady, preventing blood sugar spikes and crashes, and keep you satisfied for longer,” DeFazio says. She also notes that each diet food snack should have about 5-8 grams of protein, 3 grams of fat, no more than 5 grams of sugar per 100 calories, and less than 300 mg of sodium per snack.