Healthy snacking is an option, even when you’re busy

When you’re busy, it so easy to forget all about your diet. Whether it’s not eating at all or snacking on the worst possible diet offenders, time crunches get in the way of making smart choices. Who has time for that? I say that jokingly! You have all of the time in the world to prepare yourself for making wise choices when the minutes on the clock just don’t seem to add up.

The simplest solution is pre-planning. More than the staple meals breakfast, lunch and dinner — it’s the snacking that can hit you the hardest. Those bit-sized meals can pack a mean calorie punch. Here are a few ways to avoid the pitfalls of over-snacking.

•  Prepare mini snack bags of healthy options at night. That way you don’t have to worry about your snacks when you’re rushing around to get dressed in the morning. Good choices include baby carrots, celery sticks, grapes, peanuts, almonds, strawberries, hummus and lots of other things along those lines. There are some great snack ideas available in this article.

• Say NO to processed, vending machine temptations. My recommendation is that you avoid them all together. I’m not even going to lay out any options, because I want you to follow tip number one. Lurking behind that bag of unsalted pretzels is a iced Danish calling your name. And what does that do for your fat and calorie counts?

• Eat breakfast. It gets your metabolism rolling in the morning, gives you an early boost, and sets the tone for a balanced day of eating. You don’t want to allow your body to get so hungry that you scarf down way more than you need to in one sitting. It’s all about balance.