In order to shed a little fat and get a tad more lean, I’m currently tracking my eating and am in a slight deficit. This means I’m always in need of some low calorie snacks! If I’m wanting to trim down I’ll never go into a deficit of over 300 cals. I find that if I consistantly eat around 200 cals per day below my maintainance, it’s a good and maintainable pace.
My meals do usually leave me feeling satisfied, but I’m always reaching for a snack if I get up super early meaning I have my breakfast around 6am and can’t wait til lunch at 12. Or in the evening when I’m watching TV I always crave something to snack on. Usually after my dinner I leave myself 100-200 cals for evening snacks.
Here’s some of my favourite low calorie snacks which mean they don’t take away from me having bigger meals and still hitting calories and macros.
1. Cereal and Almond Milk
I love a good bowl of cereal. Try find one that is not overly packed in sugar and has a decent 6-8g of protein so you’re atleast slightly contributing to your macros there. In order to keep the cals down I will always have cereal with a milk substitue. Almond is my favourite but sometimes I’ll have soya. 100ml is only around 15 cals so doesn’t contribute to your total allowance that much. Coconut and oat milk tends to be slightly higher calorie.
2. Yoghurt
Yoghurt is super handy for when you are out and about and if you pick wisely, often fits your macros well! Go for a greek or high protein yoghurt to get that protein in. If you have a plant based diet, the alpro on the go protein is so good! I literally had it every day at uni. If you’re looking to cut costs, buy a big pot of plain greek yoghurt then use a jam or syrup on each serving to make it nice and sweet!
3. Pop Chips
When I’m craving crisps I will always go for pop chips! They are only around 100 cals per serving and taste amazing. I tend to go for the BBQ flavour which you can get pretty much everywhere, but I saw a tonne of different flavours I didn’t know about in Waitrose the other day! In terms of crisps and carby snack, they one of the best low calorie ones you’ll get!
4. Popcorn
Again, if I have a carby snack craving, popcorn hits the spot! You get a lot more volume with popcorn for the same amount of cals you would if you were to have crisps. If you’re out and about, the Proper Corn sweet and salted is lovely. If you’re feeling adventurous, buy a bag of kernals and cook them in a little coconut oil in a pan on the hob. Then you can flavour it exactly how you want!
5. Veg and hummus
Hummus does tend to be slightly higher calorie, with a third of a pot being about 150 cals usually. In order to keep the other part of this snack low in cals, slice some carrot or pepper to dip in!
6. Low Calorie Ice Cream
This has literally been the best food invention in recent years!!!! I tend to just go for whatever is on offer, but my favourites are the Halo Top Peanut Butter or the Ben and Jerry’s Moophoria chocolate one. I’m not too big a fan of the Bruyers ones as they don’t have much of an ice cream texture and aren’t as big on flavour.
7. Ice Lollies
This is a recent discovery of mine. Most fruit lollies are only around 40 calories! Have a look at some of the ice lollies next time you’re at the supermarket and I’m sure you’ll be surprised! I’m currently making my way through some of the fruit rocket lollies from Sainsbury’s.
8. Options Hot Chocolate
Perfect in the evening if you are wanting something sweet and chocolately. So many hot chocolates just made with water are so rubbish, but the Options ones work! I tend to put in a little splash of almond milk to make it a little more creamy. Only 40 cals per serving.
9. Fruit
I probably wouldn’t be being a particularly good PT if I wasn’t advising you to get some micronutrients in. I absolutely love bananas, and usually have one in my proats every morning. However, when I’m cutting I’ll substitue them for tangerines, kiwi or a lower cal fruit. Sadly bananas are around 100 cals :-(. I tend not to have fruit by itself as a snack as I feel it just doesnt fill me up. I try and encorporate fruit into my other meals though eg, in my oats, in yoghurt or with pancakes.
10. Protein Pancakes
I love pancakes so will make a big batch of protein pancakes so I can have some for lunch then some for snacks the next day. I tend to use one egg, 2 scoops of protein powder, 2 scoops of flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder and then around 200ml of almond milk. Four pancakes are around 240 cals. I’ll tend to use a chocolate whey and a chocolate spread on top to make them feel like a proper treat! They are amazing with fruit too!