Snacks are an important part of the Impromy Program. They are generally healthy foods which you can eat between meals. Snacks should be healthy, low fat options used to prevent unwanted hunger and provide stable energy levels throughout the day. An Impromy program snack is based on approximately 500kJ or 120 calories.
Choosing the right snack between meals can help you stay focused on your goals longer. The key to snack success is in the planning. Planned snacks help you to avoid unnecessary hunger and avoid the slumps in your energy levels and hold off any major cravings until the next meal.
SNACK OPTIONS & IDEAS
(1 snack is equal to)
Fruit
• Any medium piece of fruit
• 2 small pieces of fruit (e.g. plums, mandarins, peaches)
• 1 medium apple or pear
• 1 cup canned fruit (in natural juice) or fresh fruit salad
• 1 cup of berries, strawberries
• 2 cups of melon (any variety)
• 140g of pureed fruit
• 1 medium banana
Dairy
• 1 tub low fat, diet yoghurt
• 1 mug skinny latte
• 1 cup (250ml) skim/low fat milk
• 2 thin slices (30g) cheese
• ½ cup reduced fat custard
• ½ a cup of reduced fat cottage cheese
• 40g of extra light Philadelphia cream cheese
• 140g of reduced fat ricotta
• 50g of Haloumi cheese
• 50g of reduced fat feta
Grains/Seeds/Nuts/Avocado/Olives
• 1 small handful (20g) unsalted/uncoated nuts
• 2 Tablespoons of seeds
• A handful (30g) roasted chickpeas
• 60g Avocado
• 20 pitted olives and crisp bread
• 2 Ryvita or sandwich size Vita Wheat biscuits
• 1 Salada biscuit
• 4 premium hi-fibre biscuits
• 30g Hommus or Tzatziki, low fat dip
• 15 small rice crackers
• 3 cups of unbuttered air-popped popcorn
• 30g high fibre cereal
• ½ sachet quick oats
• 1 slice of raisin or plain toast with 1 teaspoon jam
• 5 thin rice cakes
• Small pita bread with 10g of peanut butter (2 tsp)
• 1 medium bagel (55g)
• 25g of trail mix (no chocolate bits)
• ¾ cup of porridge (made with water)
• 1 wholegrain crumpet with a teaspoon of honey
• 1 reduced fat Mission tortilla wrap
• 4 cruskits
Bars and Snack foods
• 1 health or muesli bar (~40g)
• 1 single serve of packet soup (i.e. Continental Cuppa Soup)
Are you getting bored with meal replacements for your main meals? Try using some of the snack and free food combinations to consume as main meals and have your meal replacements in between meals instead of snacks. For example on Motivate 3 (2 meal replacements, 2 snacks and one higher protein meal), you could mix up your plan as follows:
Breakfast: Half a bagel with 20g of extra light Philadelphia cream cheese and ½ cup of berries
Morning tea: Meal replacement
Lunch: Salad wrap
Afternoon tea: Meal replacement
Dinner: High-protein Meal
CREATIVE SNACKS
One of the biggest obstacles to following a healthy eating program is not having enough variety. Below are some suggestions for different snack combinations.
Don’t be afraid to get creative and come up with some of your own ideas – if you are unsure if they are appropriate call the Impromy Helpline on 1800 608 511 and check with one of the Impromy Dietitians.
COMBINED SNACKS
To make things interesting you can combine your snacks simply by making them two smaller snacks.
(equal to 1 snack)
• 1 Vita Wheat biscuit with 1 slice of cheese
• 30g of low fat dip with 10 rice crackers
• 1 small piece of fruit and ½ tub of diet yoghurt
• 1 small skinny latte and 10 almonds
• ½ a bagel with 20g of extra light Philadelphia cream cheese and ½ a cup of mixed berries
• 30g of Haloumi on two cruskits, with sliced cucumber drizzled with sweet chilli sauce
• Watermelon salad; 1 cup of watermelon, 25g of feta chopped up, few slices of red onion and chopped mint
• ½ a bagel with 70g of reduced fat ricotta and ½ a cup of strawberries
• Banana ice-cream; 100g of frozen yoghurt blended with 1 small frozen banana
• 1 cruskit with bruschetta (40g of avocado, diced tomato, red onion, capsicum, basil), drizzle of balsamic dressing
• Vegemite on 2 rice cakes topped with 40g of avocado
• Herbed popcorn; 2 cups of unbuttered popcorn tossed with ½ tsp of sesame oil, Thyme and 2 Tbs of shaved parmesan
• 100g of frozen yoghurt with ½ cup of fruit
• 2 cruskits with ¼ cup of cottage cheese with sliced tomatoes
SNACKS AND FREE FOOD COMBINATIONS
Combine a snack with anything from the Free Foods list.
• Tzatziki dip (snack) and carrot sticks (free list)
• Free list veg soup with a Vita Wheat biscuit (snack)
• 2 thin slices of cheese (snack) on cucumber slices (free list)
• ½ English muffin (snack) topped with sliced tomato (free list)
• 1 piece of toast with sautéed mushrooms, onion and capsicum with a drizzle of Worcestershire sauce.
• 1 medium bagel with spinach, tomato, cucumber and some English mustard.
• Celery sticks with 30g of hummus spread over them topped with sliced pitted olives.
• Tortilla wrap with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, capsicum, red onion and a tomato chili jam.
• Greek salad with 50g of reduced fat feta.
• 4 Cruskits with cucumber and light mayonnaise.
• Pumpkin and Coriander soup from the Simply Well recipe book and a piece of bread.
• Lettuce cups filled with sauteed vegetables and cauliflower rice.
• Roasted pumpkin salad with 2 teaspoons of toasted pine nuts.
Snacks and free foods don’t need to be consumed separately. Having a free food salad or soup with a meal replacement is a good way of preventing hunger later in the day.
MAKING VEGETABLES INTERESTING
Your free food vegetables don’t need to be plain and boring. Try some of the suggestions below;
• Konjac Asian rice; add peas, corn, diced onion, beans and carrot and some reduced salt soy sauce.
• Roasted pumpkin salad; cup of chopped pumpkin roasted in the oven added to a small bowl of spinach leaves, sliced red onion, capsicum, cherry tomatoes and cucumber.
• Vegetable bake; slice thin and layer in a small loaf tin, pumpkin, carrot, zucchini, eggplant, spinach and pour a tin of diced tomato over the top, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and bake in the over. Portion into small serves.
• Zucchini spaghetti; Use a julienne peeler to peel the zucchini into spaghetti. Heat up a tin of diced tomato, add some herbs, garlic, additional vegetables (olives, celery, carrot) and add to the zucchini.
• Cauliflower rice; Remove the hard core, chop into quarters and put into a food processor. The cauliflower can be added to salads raw or can be put into a microwave proof bowl and depending on cooking time heat on high for 3 mins or longer in the microwave depending on desired texture. Herbs, spices, additional vegetables and sauces can be added for taste. This can be consumed as a side or as a free food snack.
• Vegetable stir fry; select your favourite vegetables and make a stir fry Tip: try the cauliflower rice as an accompaniment.
