A lot of fitness and nutrition experts say that it is best if you eat something every two hours. I have found this to be true for myself. Eating small frequent meals keeps your blood sugar steady, and helps keep me sharp all day long without that midafternoon slump. The challenge becomes, what to eat? You can't have a cheeseburger every two hours. Obviously most of these meals will be snacks. And since I am sticking to a low carb/high protein diet, the task is to find enough high protein snacks to round out a day's menu plan.
Almonds and Walnuts
Out of all the nuts, almonds are the ones I most often see recommended. They give you the most protein for the fat content, and are packed with nutrients. Walnuts are a good second choice. The most cost effective way to buy almonds and walnuts is from the bulk bins. If your store doesn't have a bulk foods department, they are more affordable by the bag in the baking aisle.
Image courtesy Flickr/I Believe I Can Fry
Hard Boiled Eggs
It's easy to hard boil an egg, although eggy snacks take a little bit more planning ahead than some of the other snacks on this list. To make things easier on yourself, peel the egg before packing it in your lunch.
One disadvantage to hard boiled eggs is that they should be kept refrigerated. If your workplace doesn't offer easy access to a fridge, or you don't have a place to put an insulated lunch cooler with an ice pack, then you might want to skip this one.
There are a lot of ways to eat hard boiled eggs, but my favorite is to just slice it in half and add salt and pepper.
String Cheese
The main benefit to string cheese is that it comes in handy pre-packaged units, typically one ounce per stick. This makes it easy for those of us who are carefully portioning out our food intake. However many ounces you want to allot for your snack, just pull out that number of cheeses, and you're ready to go.
String cheese also does not require refrigeration as much as other forms of cheese. It does get a little sad in high temperatures, but because of the way it is packaged, it's still edible.
Lowfat string cheese is indistinguishable from the full-fat version. I'm not sure if this is something for string cheese to be proud about, exactly. I think it speaks more to the fact that it's just not very good cheese. Nevertheless.
Image courtesy Flickr/Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos (ClintJCL)
Beef Jerky
I like beef jerky, but I have a hard time finding any that doesn't have soy sauce (I'm gluten intolerant) or sugar (there's that low carb thing again). Beef jerky is also pretty expensive, as far as snack foods go.
That being said, jerky gives you a good dose of protein in a relatively small package. And it doesn't require refrigeration, which is great for people who are on the go all day.
Protein Powder
This is stretching the definition of a "snack," but as one of the mini-meals I eat in the course of a day, I have a one-scoop portion of Zero Carb Isopure. It comes in a lot of flavors, but I have only had the Creamy Vanilla, which is surprisingly good.
Protein powder is low in fat, high in protein, and it usually only requires water and a jar with a lid to make it. You can keep a big tub at your desk, if you can deal with your office mates constantly commenting on it. Or you can buy some of those small condiment sized plastic storage tubs and pack a single serving with you at a time.
Image courtesy Flickr/ny156uk
Cold Chicken
Roasted chicken breast can be cut up into chunks and toted along, although it will need to be stored cool during the day. Add a dollop of mayonnaise if chicken salad is your thing, or just eat the chicken chunks on their own. This is a good savory snack, although it is one of the few on this list that requires actual silverware. (Unless no one is looking, in which case, just eat them with your fingers.)
Lunch Meat
Along the same lines, those little packets of lunch meat make somewhat decent snacks. They are cheap, but they tend to be flavorful (if very salty).
Main image courtesy Flickr/Shelby PDX
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