Choose a Healthy Snack

If you choose healthy foods when grocery shopping with your child, you will help them to make healthy decisions on their own when eating.  If you
choose healthy snacks to eat, you show your child good healthy habits. Here are some tip ideas on choosing a good healthy snack, not only for your child but yourself.

#Eat before you leave. When you go grocery shopping, make sure you ''are '''not''' hungry''!  If you are hungry when you go grocery shopping you are more prone to buy junk food.
#Add healthy ideas. If someone else shops for your household, politely suggest a list of healthy foods to guide their shopping decisions.  This list should include many green vegetables, a variety of fruits, whole grain foods, lean meats, unsalted nuts etc.
#Cut down on the junk food. If you find the transition from junky food to healthier food too extreme, begin by buying less unhealthy foods.  For example, instead of Pringles™ buy baked tortilla chips; instead of ordering take out pizza, make a home made veggie pizza.
#Avoid buying or accepting sweet and fatty foods!  If these things aren't in your house then you can't be tempted by them!  Especially dangerous foods that should be avoided are ice cream, cookies, any leftover desserts,pie, and candy.
#Develop a routine of self control. So now that you have striven to keep unhealthy foods out of the house to begin with, you must focus on developing a strong sense of self control because you will not always be in controlled situations.  Start by focusing less on food.  If you look forward to coming home from wherever you have been and having a nice little snack; stop this destructive habit!  The more you think about food, the more you build up a temptation to overeat.  Think of eating as a necessity, not a comfort thing.  Drink tea, coffee or water to soothe yourself on returning home.
#Match the healthy psychology about snacking with action.  You can still allow yourself eating snacks, but eat slightly less and less frequently.  A self-test to see if you're really hungry: if you search around the refrigerator and pantry, you are not really hungry; you're just eating compulsively.  If you have a particular snack in mind, like eating an orange, you probably really do need nourishment.  This is not to say, however, that just because you are craving ice cream it is alright to eat it.  Remember to observe the distinction between mouth-hungry and stomach-hungry.
#Keep the content of your snacks healthy.  Try to balance them according to your meals.  For example, if you ate cereal at breakfast, a cheese sandwich at lunch, and macaroni and cheese for dinner, you shouldn't have yogurt as a snack.  Your best bet is to have a piece of fruit, snack bar, or a tasty vegetable, like carrots or baby tomatoes.
#It might be easy to transition from eating junk food snacks to eating healthy snacks if you replace and change the current snacks you enjoy. For example, replace potato chips and french onion dip with apples and peanut butter or carrots and ranch/Italian dressing. Replace soda with mineral water, malts/shakes with smoothies, and fruit snacks with an assortment of berries.
#Remember the crucial steps in eating spur-of-the-moment healthy snacks: first, be sure you buy predominantly healthy foods.  This means avoiding anything the has a lot of trans fat, calories, or starch (especially sugar).  Second, try to exercise self-control.  Too much of anything is bad for you, so don't eat huge snacks.  Third, don't focus or depend on your snacks.  Only eat them when you are actually hungry.  Fourth, when you do eat snacks, eat something that will supply you with nutrients lacking from your meals.  Finally, you can always count on whole grain foods, fruits, vegetables, and most unprocessed foods to be relatively healthy.