Snacking all day long can be very bad for your body and weight. But can it also be the reason you aren’t losing any weight?

Can snacking actually help you lose weight?

When we snack out of habit or as a way to deal with stress, usually the snacks are high in saturated fat, preservatives and high contents of salt. None of that is good for your body. Imagine putting in pure lard into your cars engine. My goodness what a mess that would be! The heavy lard would melt some and travel through the entire car system, causing major damage. Eventually the car would give out and burn up. The same is for your body. Snacks with saturated fats and oils cause so much stress on your body as they’re harder to digest and raise blood pressure.

Putting that much stress on your body raises your cortisol levels and therefor causes weight gain. The weight gain settled in the abdomen and it’s almost impossible to lose. Stress causes fat, being fat causes stress, stress increases the need for snacking to stress relief. What a conscious cycle.

But what if I told you the right kind of snacking can actually help you lose weight?

You see, when we skip meals and don’t eat at regular intervals, our bodies go into survival mode. When the body is in survival mode, the cortisol levels increase. And when the cortisol levels increase, so does fat. So where do you win here? You snack with healthy snacks!

By snacking all throughout the day with good snacks, you’re increasing your metabolism and burning calories throughout the day. You are also keeping your body out of starvation mode and into rest and digest mode. This phase is exactly what you need to start losing weight.

Also, by snacking with items that help your body, you are keeping your blood sugar levels optimal. High blood sugar levels can cause such issues with your whole body. It’s not uncommon to become pre diabetic after years of constant high stress. If you are pre diabetic, you can experience a multitude of problems including shaking, sweating and ravenous hunger with a blood sugar drop. You can prevent this by keeping your levels optimal with snacking the right way.

I used to have the entire world on my shoulders as a single mom. I was so full of stress that I didn’t realize I stopped getting hungry. The severe stress caused me to not feel hunger at all. I would forget all day long to eat and then eventually be starving or extremely exhausted. I would shove down whatever food was fastest and then that would be the one mela I ate all day. It was either that or I would binge eat everything in sight, telling myself I deserved to reward myself with all of my hard work.

Not only was this absolutely terrible for my body, it caused long term damage that was awfully hard to repair. It took me years of trying to find out what was wrong with my body to discover my mistakes. After that, the damage has been so hard to correct. I never realized that my stressful life and terrible eating schedule were breaking down my body.

I though the whole time I was being a tough fighter and an amazing warrior. When, the reality was that my body deserved me to slow down and live a simple life. I didn’t need to overachieve and take on the entire world. I needed to face my problems and learn to love my body and myself.

When I learned to keep up with my health and nurture my body, my complexion changed. My mood changed and began to be more stable, my ravenous “hangry” attitude started to disappear, my cycles regulated and my energy level increased. What if you could keep your snacking and it would actually help you feel better instead or worse? Sounds like a dream, right?

You can keep your “bad habits” and use them for good. When you don’t change much or your habits, it increases chance for success too. If you change too much of your lifestyle at once, the chances you’ll fail and go back into the old lifestyle is high. Stay satisfied and just change what you’re snacking on. There’s no need to change the snacking itself.

Here are the easiest and quickest snacks I use as Go-To options in my house.

Feel free to get your own ideas and adapt these to make them your own.

10 GUILTLESS SNACKS

1. Peanut Butter

If you are allergic to peanut butter, you can use sunflower butter or almond butter as well. Peanut butter is a great source of protein and will prevent any crash that you might experience after snacking. It can keep your blood sugar sturdy and keep you going without crashing and feeling exhausted. Peanut butter is an excellent source of protein and vitamins. If you use sunflower, it even has a wonderful source of iron in it! You can pre-pack tiny bits of peanut butter for snacking. Or you can add peanut butter to granola and honey with chocolate chips for premade granola bars. If you don’t like peanut butter, you can just get peanuts instead as well.

Another way to use peanut butter for snacking is by adding it to a smoothies or crackers. You can make a peanut butter cracker sandwich and coat in dark chocolate for some extra sweetness. Freeze the crackers and enjoy a delicious treat after frozen! This also works on rice cakes.

2. String Cheese or Cottage Cheese

String cheese is a great source of protein and can keep you satisfied. It is also conveniently sized for on the go, snacking! This easy snack keeps you fuller and can also be paired with nuts, fruit or crackers. I always loved the convenience of prepackaged cheese to throw in my lunch box or cooler. This is especially great when the kids are in sports. It’s a healthy snack that keeps them going and helps them from crashing or feeing starving in between school and sports.

Cottage cheese is a great source of protein and can be used as is or mixed with other things. You can get convenient cottage cheese cups to throw in your bag or portion them out yourself. Add some fruit or eat plain. You can also blend cottage cheese and freeze in a sheet pan with fruit, chocolate or nuts on top. Simply break into pieces once frozen. It makes an amazing late night snack that you don’t have to feel guilty for!

3.Baby Bell Cheese

My kids love baby bell cheese. They are so little and fun to unwrap. Baby bell cheese are a softer cheese and great for toddlers. My kids always loved them when they were little and I didn’t worry as much about choking. It’s a more creamy cheese than string cheese.

It’s great because you get your source of protein and you can pair it with some nuts or dried fruit for a really quick and easy snack.

4. Smoothies

Smoothies are one of my favorite ways to get nutrients without any hassle. You can simply make smoothies ahead of time and freeze them into ice cubes. Just add your favorite milk and blend! These are great for a quick breakfast before work or sports. If you add some oatmeal, they will keep you full longer. Not to mention, drinking something from a straw can be a stress reliever you don’t realize. I use reusable silicone straw because I can bite them and fidget with them throughout the morning.

Smoothies are also an easy way to hide vegetables and protein with a fantastic taste. It almost tastes like you’re cheating! You can add some cocoa powder and whipped cream for a guilt free dessert.

5. Almonds and other nuts.

Almonds are a fantastic source of protein and packed with other vitamins and minerals. They do not need refrigerated and they have a longer shelf life. Nuts are an easy way to get a healthy snack without worrying about sacrificing time.

The crunching and cracking of eating almonds can be satisfying too. You can snack on them and not even realize you’re helping your stress levels go down. Try some pumpkin seeds too for an excellent source of vitamins and minerals.

Use sunflower seeds for snacking if you need more iron in your diet as well. Low iron can effect your energy levels so make sure you’re watching that if you have trouble with energy or have had previous issues with low iron.

6. Oatmeal Bars

Oatmeal bars are fantastic to keep your digestion regular. When your body is full of stress, digestion can be a really tough issue. Everything will run slower than normal, causing all sorts of discomfort. Oatmeal is fantastic for keeping bowel movements regular.

By snacking on oatmeal bars or oatmeal bites, you can regulate your digestion and keep full. You can make them yourself or buy them in the store. If you make some yourself, you can add any ingredients that you’d like. You could add honey, peanut butter, chocolate chips, or dried fruit.

Here is an easy and simple recipe for no-bake oatmeal energy balls. These are great bite sized snacks for easy and sustainable snacking.

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup flaxseed meal aka ground flaxseeds
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Simply mix all ingredients and roll into bite size balls. Freeze or store in refrigerator.

7. Hummus and Vegetables

I personally love hummus because it taste so creamy and smooth like you’re eating chip dip. It has a lot of protein in it and can be paired great with baby carrots, or celery. You won’t feel guilty, eating it, and it taste absolutely delicious!

One of my favorite types of hummus is chocolate brownie hummus. Once I find it in a store I get so excited. Chocolate hummus tastes amazing and can be eaten with crackers, vegetables or on a bagel. It’s an excellent source of protein and will keep you full and keep your blood sugars steady.

8. Rice cakes.

Before you cringe at the thought of rice cakes, hear me out. You can make them into a delicious treat for on the go snacking! Simply lather the top with peanut butter or any nut butter and then dipped in melted chocolate and freeze. It taste absolutely delicious!

I love mine for night snacking. You can use them as a guilt free way to enjoy something crunchy too. You can add hummus to them, nut butter or cheese. I love using them for tuna fish too.

If you crave salt, see if you can find some with natural sea salt. Or make your own dip that has fresh sea salt. This salt is much better for your body, helps your body instead of hearts it and provides nutrients.

9. Peanut butter cups.

If you like peanut butter cups and like to snack, you can pre-make your own protein packed peanut butter cups.

It doesn’t matter the shape of mold you get either just get a silicone mold. Line the bottom of the mold with melted chocolate, and then freeze.

After the bottom layer is frozen, you can add in peanut butter, nut butter, or protein powder mixed with peanut butter.

Fill the top of the mold with chocolate and freeze again.

That’s it! Perfect protein packed peanut butter cups for snacking.

*If you want to make your own chocolate, simply melt some coconut oil and mix with honey or maple syrup and cocoa powder. This kind of chocolate is way healthier but it melts fast when snacking. So just be aware of the mess before taking it in your lunch.

10. Protein powder shakes

You can add a scoop of protein powder to any of your smoothies and you have extra nutrients. I personally don’t like protein powder by itself. I have to add mine to peanut butter cups or smoothies. But you do what works for you.

Add collagen protein powder for even more benefits. If you like the protein powder by itself, you can just mix it with milk for on the go nutritious shake.

Don’t feel guilty snacking on the go! Keep snacking to keep your metabolism up and skip the crash!

Remember, you are worth the love you put into yourself and your body.

Thrive don’t just survive!