Snack time

You've probably read about the importance of eating 5 to 6 small meals throughout the day, rather than following the outdated 3 squares approach. I know, with a good deal of certainty, that if you've read my rants here on That's Fit, you've heard this information before. Following a meal plan of this kind prevents your body from ever becoming hungry, helping to keep your metabolism firing throughout the day.

Small meals; what exactly constitutes such a thing? Well, a meal, in the traditional sense, is what you think it is. The difference this time around is that it should be comprised of healthy sources of protein, fat, and carbohydrate, and should be a controlled portion size. However, your 5 to 6 "meals" won't all be served on plates. This is because at least 2 of those "meals" should actually be healthy snacks.

Going almost full circle, we now arrive at yet another point of confusion. Healthy snacks; what exactly constitutes such a thing? More or less, a healthy snack is something that will tide you over until your next meal, keeping you properly satiated until then. It is also something that is relatively low in calories, but still has a good amount of nutritional value.

Well, rather than continuing to talk about what makes a snack healthy, I'm sure you'd prefer to instead learn about some actual healthy snacks!! Read you loud and clear, mate. Try these on for size (each contains 200 calories or less):

• 2 graham cracker squares with 2tsp of natural peanut butter and apple slices
• Cereal bar and 1 cup of light yogurt
• Mozzarella cheese stick, 5 baby carrots and 5 celery sticks with 1/4 cup of fat-free black bean dip
• 1/2 egg salad sandwich made with 2tsp of light mayo
• Reduced-fat popcorn and 1/3 cup of dried fruit
• 1/2 cup of low-fat cottage cheese and 2tbs of low-sugar jelly or jam
• Single servings of many different types of fruits