Instead of torturing yourself by forgoing treats and snacks altogether, there are choices you can make to satisfy your cravings that won't add to your waistline. Try these 10 high-volume snacks that contain enough fat and protein to keep you content through the holiday season.
Cheese Triscuit
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A single deli slice of muenster cheese contains about 100 calories. Each garlic Triscuit cracker contains 20 calories. Five crackers and the cheese evenly divided among the crackers yields 200 calories. The crackers are displayed on a 10.5-inch plate with a normal teaspoon on the plate for reference. Gratification includes fat, salt, crunchy and protein.
Cheese Triscuit On a Small Plate
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If the cheese and cracker snack is placed on a smaller plate, a 7.75-inch plate, it looks like more food. Placing food on smaller plates helps the volume of food look larger.
Coffee and Nuts
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If your drink is a 16-ounce latte with two percent milk (no whipped cream), it's 190 calories. Next to it, for visual reference, is 1/3-cup of mixed nuts that weighs in at 213 calories. You can have one or the other—not both—to stay around 200 calories. If you want the nuts, switch to plain coffee or tea for your beverage and you'll only add a couple of calories. A hot beverage can satisfy a cold body. Remember that specialty drinks contain more calories.
Nuts On a Large Plate
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When 1/3-cup of mixed nuts are placed on the large plate, the serving size seems smaller. If you're at home, measure your serving of nuts and go find a great place to enjoy the treat. If you're at a party where the serving opportunity is endless, imagine that about four teaspoons would cover the same area as the serving of mixed nuts on a flat surface. Nuts are typically long-lasting gratification and include fat, salt, crunchy chewing and protein for the palate.
Chips and Salsa
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When 12 tortilla chips (140 calories) and 6 tablespoons (or about 1/3 cup of salsa, 30 calories) are prepared on a plate, even a big plate, it looks like a lot of food. At 170 calories, this snack is visually large, salty, spicy, crunchy and contains fat for long-lasting satisfaction.
Chocolate
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Sometimes you just want something sweet. Five individually wrapped Dove almond dark chocolate pieces total 210 calories. If your party doesn't happen to serve this type of chocolate, estimate serving size by knowing that two pieces are roughly the size of a teaspoon. Or, one piece of chocolate (42 calories) is about the diameter of one quarter, and roughly the thickness of five quarters. Rich, sweet, crunchy and creamy at the same time, this snack will satisfy the sweet tooth.
Cookie Plate
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Half of a Starbuck's chocolate chunk cookie covers roughly the same visual area as three teaspoons and is 185 calories. The assumption here is that you share the cookie with a friend. You can use the same visual estimation for home baked cookies at an office party. When a cookie is what your taste buds crave, joy is found with this sweet, chewy treat. Do be mindful that it does include a fair amount of fat along with some protein.
Cookie and Coffee
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For visual satisfaction, notice how much bigger the half cookie from the previous photo looks when it is placed on a napkin. With a 16-ounce cup of plain coffee, the snack totals 187 calories.
Yogurt Apple Plate
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A snack that's sweet, crunchy, visually satisfying and long-lasting is the yogurt-apple plate. Half of a medium apple sliced (45 calories) and half a cup of two percent plain Fage Greek Yogurt (85 calories) topped with one tablespoon of Bonne Maman's Cherry Preserves (50 calories) is only 180 calories. Compared to some of the full-fat and high-sugar-content yogurts that are over 200 calories for a single serving, this is a bargain snack.
Veggies and Meat
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The snack that wins the award for visual satisfaction is the meat and veggie plate. This snack satisfies the crunchy, chewy, salty and high-belly-volume categories. Fat and protein included, this snack is sure to comfort hunger pangs. Totaling 207 calories, it includes one cup of chopped fresh broccoli (30 calories), six baby carrots (24 calories), six cherub tomatoes (18 calories), one ounce (two slices) of thin sliced deli turkey, one ounce (two slices) of thin sliced deli ham, and one tablespoon of low-calorie ranch dressing. Bon app?tit!
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