Top Ten Tuesday – Snacks for the Reader Who is Also Dieting
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is actually Favorite Things to Eat/Drink While Reading (submitted by Jana’s mom). While I would normally love that topic because I definitely have plenty of favorite reading snacks, I had to tweak it for this week. Why? Because about three weeks ago, my doctor put me on a low-carb diet and I basically had to eliminate all of my favorite foods to snack on from my diet. Since then, I’ve spent much of my time trying to find low-carb alternatives to the chips, cookies, and ice cream I would typically be indulging in while flipping the pages. As you can tell, I’m not much for healthy snacking and I also have no interest in anything that involves prep time, so this has been a challenge. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far. And by all means, if you are on a similar diet and have suggestions, I’d love to hear them!
10 Snacks for the Reader Who is Also on a Low Carb Diet
1. PEANUTS. Peanut butter would normally be a go-to reading snack for me, but it has way too many carbs. I’ve switched to these individual packs of peanuts, which only have 8 grams.
2. CHEESE. Cheese and crackers were another favorite reading snack of mine, so I just ditched the crackers and now snack on cheese only. I usually go for either string cheese or these little individually wrapped pieces of sharp white cheddar from Cabot.
3. YOGURT. Yogurt can be challenging because so many of them have a lot of added sugar, but I like this one. It’s Dannon Light and Fit Original Greek and it comes in a lot of different flavors. It’s only 80 calories and has 12 grams of protein and only 8 grams of carbs.
4. HARD BOILED EGG. Even though these obviously involve some prep time, I like that I can make several at once and then have a few days worth of snacks. I just chop the egg up and sprinkle it with a little salt and pepper.
5. CARROTS. I can’t eat many of these because they still have a fair amount of sugar in them, but I’ll buy the baby carrots since it’s easy to see the serving size to help me keep track of the carbs. I like to dip the carrots in a light Italian dressing I found that has minimal carbs per serving.
6. KIND MINI BARS. I actually just found these at the grocery store over the weekend. They’re very small, no more than a couple of bites worth, but they are delicious and a mini bar only has 8 grams of carbs. I usually nibble on it a little at a time to make it last me a few chapters, lol.
7. ATKINS CHOCOLATE CANDIES. Peanut M&Ms are my all-time favorite reading snack but since I can’t have those anymore, I purchased some of these Atkins candies to see how they compare. They’re clearly nowhere near as good as real M&Ms, but they will do the trick in a pinch.
8. ATKINS CHOCOLATE COVERED ALMONDS. A Snickers candy bar was also a favorite of mine, so I picked up these dark chocolate covered nuts. Like the Atkins candies above, these would do in a pinch if I really wanted something sweet to snack on.
9. COFFEE WITH SUGAR FREE CREAMER. I also have a couple of go to beverages when I’m reading and I’ve tweaked those so that I can still have them. I swapped my usual coffee creamer for this sugar-free French Vanilla from Coffee Mate. It has a lot less carbs and it tastes good so it’s a win.
10. HERBAL TEA. My doctor told me that I shouldn’t eat anymore for at least 3 hours before I go to bed. She recommended having a cup of herbal tea instead of a snack. I’ve taken her advice on this one and bought this caffeine free mint tea that I really like. I put a packet of stevia in it, which has 0 carbs, and it’s really nice.
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What are some of your favorite foods to snack on while you read?
One of these days I need to try mint herbal tea! I’m sadly not a tea fan, but I do love mint. I feel your pain – I’ve admired how many healthy snacks have been on people’s lists this week, because I’m a complete chocoholic.
I’m a chocoholic too so the struggle to eat healthier has been real.
Oh, yes to cheese! And nuts and OMG, what I would not give for that size coffee creamer at home. or I would get people to smuggle it into Australia lol! The Atkins nuts and candies look delish!
LOL! We have even bigger sizes of that flavor of creamer here. I don’t know how many ounces it is but it’s almost as big as a gallon of milk.
Trying to eat low carb and snack would be difficult for me. I’m a huge fan of dairy, so I might be able to take that route. It looks like you have found lots of great, low-carb accompaniments to your reading.
It has been very challenging but I’m trying my best.
I don’t really eat/drink when I’m reading. I get so sucked into the book that I literally forget where I am. So of I had food or drink, it’d grow cold lol or warm, whichever I’m drinking.
I truly wish I was that way too because it would make following this diet so much easier, lol.
I love string cheese, great pick.
I love eating boiled eggs, I should eat them more if I’m honest haha.
Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/
I should too. I don’t make them often just because I’m lazy, lol.
My husband is doing low-carb right now – me, not as much! It’s so hard! Basically everything I love to eat is full of carbs. But you have some great choices up there! Cheese is always good! My husband has been eating this yogurt called.. Two Good, I think? It has only 2 grams of carbs in each container. And yes for sugar-free creamer – that’s all I’ve ever used since I started drinking coffee, really cuts down on the calories.
I’ll have to look for that yogurt. It was really challenging to find a low carb one that actually tasted good.
hard-boiled eggs and nuts were on my list, too. They’re such under-appreciated snacks.
My TTT.
I feel you, my husband had to go on a low carb diet which means I basically joined him! Nuts are one of the things his doctor pushed him to start eating, and I kind of caught on and love them now too. Also avocados are amazingly healthy (also delicious!)
Oh my, a low carb diet sounds like my own personal brand of hell. Ack! Seems like you’ve come up with some good alternatives, though. I love cheese… but they go hand in hand with crackers so that probably wouldn’t work for me. Peanuts and hard boiled eggs are good ones, though. And you can even buy already cooked eggs at the store so there’s zero prep time.
String cheese – I can’t believe I forgot to put it on the list! I love string cheese…and now I want some 🙂
This would be a challenge for me as well–I love my carbs! :/ I love the options you have listed here, though, and have eaten most of them fairly regularly! I love those Kind Caramel Almond & Sea Salt bars, haha, they’re somehow super good. I’m also a pretty big fan of the Light and Fit Greek yogurt and hardboiled eggs (the latter would shock picky childhood me!).
I’m trying not to eat later at night, but it’s tough because I do get hungry. I don’t like warm drinks either, so tea doesn’t work for me. LOL Thanks for these ideas though – I’m always trying to find healthier snacks. I love string cheese, and I want to try some of those Atkins products.
-Lauren
Something about boiled eggs I just can’t get into. The smell is a turnoff(lol) But those Kind bars are addictive, and I can eat them all day. This is a great post because I used to eat way too many potato chips back in the day while binge reading.(lol) Thanks for the tips! Hugs, RO
I like what you did here. A lot of posts are all about the sweets. This gives some other great options!
String cheese is one of my faves! I need to get some now that you reminded me about it <3
I love the Adkins Keto chocolate and peanut butter cups.
This made me want hard boiled eggs!
I don’t tend to eat or drink as I read, but almonds are my goto snack at work, and beef jerky. I love salty stuff.
I love peanuts as a snack. They’re kinda salty without being TOO salty, I guess? lol. Healthy snacking is a challenge for me too. And we buy the Cabot sharp white as well- we love it around here haha!!
I do like tea and need to drink more of it instead of a can of soda when I read!!
I should absolutely be heading in the same direction of low carb snacks, especially considering how little I think about what I consume 99% of the time 😅 Honestly though, these all look like great snacks! I love a good carrot stick munch and those Atkins choccies don’t look bad (the almond ones look great)! I think I’m going to mix some of these into my own snack list now (… after I eat the snacks that I just bought for lunch, of course)! 😂
I’m not much of a snacker while I’m reading, I read mostly in bed or if I’m relaxing on the weekend, I might snack on a little bowl of M & M’s. These are great ideas for those wanting something light and nutritional. I’ve only just started seeing the Atkins diet range on the shelves in supermarkets here and will be looking out for the chocolate candies, they look delicious!
So far I’ve had pretty good luck with the Atkins ones. The biggest problem is that they’re often sold out at the stores around here.
I think that I’m an odd one in that I never sweeten my herbal or fruit teas… Heck, I don’t even sweeten my black tea. Tea is my favourite reading/lazing about food item. I’m not a huge snacker but I always have a beverage. 🙂
Good luck with the low carb diet!
I’m usually more of a coffee drinker but I have enjoyed that mint tea I shared and then another one called Lemon Zinger that we have at work.