• Air-popped or 94% fat free popcorn
• A handful of pistachio nuts or almonds
• Carrot sticks with a small amount of your favorite dip or dressing
• A small amount of dark chocolate – it will satisfy your chocolate craving and it’s healthy too!
• Yogurt
• A piece of fruit
• A spoonful of peanut butter
• A small bowl of whole-grain cereal
• A protein shake
• A tablespoon of raisins or other dried fruit

While this is by no means an exhaustive list, there are some guidelines you can follow when selecting snacks. Try to stay away from foods that are high in sugar or salt. These foods can cause you to crave more foods and retain water.

For example, it’s better to have a handful of nuts than a granola bar. Most granola bars are low in fat, but they have a lot of added sugar that you don’t need.

Also make sure that you keep your body hydrated. Hunger and thirst often feel the same. If you feel a little hungry, try drinking a glass of water and then wait a few minutes. You may find that you don’t really need a snack after all.

On a low-carb diet, you eat fewer carbohydrates in your diet. If you’re borderline diabetic (or full-fledged diabetic), then a low-carb diet can help you keep your blood sugar levels stabilized, and it also helps you lose weight in the process.

Breakfast meals are usually the hardest on a low carb diet because many people like to have their donuts, muffins and toast – but these are found to be high in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates turn into sugar within your body and then your energy crashes, sending you on a hunt for more food.

Some alternative breakfast options for you to try instead consist of low-carb muffins, low-carb cold cereals and hot flax cereal. Even eggs are an option! There are many recipes for low carb muffins and cold cereals like Special K now have specially marked boxes for their low carb varieties.

Some of your favorite recipes call for potatoes, which are also high in carbohydrates. One option you could consider trying instead of potatoes is cauliflower. It sounds a bit odd when you hear it, but it’s actually quite similar to a real spud if you mash it up and prepare it as you would any other low-fat version of mashed potatoes.

If you’re a dessert lover, there’s no need to give up desserts on a low-carb diet. There’s a low-carb recipe for almost any dessert you can think of – including strawberry shortcake, cheesecake, brownies, Bundt cakes and even pies!

Some people love to eat rice. The white rice that’s normally used in our favorite dishes is high in carbohydrates. If you use brown rice instead of the white, you’ll be eating fewer carbs – and eating healthier too.

Eating out at restaurants, it can be difficult to discern what’s high in carbs and what’s low. Many restaurants have low-carb menu sections, but if they don’t, just try to steer clear of the foods you know are laden with carbs – and load up on healthy proteins instead.

Low-carb diets are a safe way to lose weight, but you have to remember not to overdo it. You will still need to have some carbohydrates in your diet – low carb is very different from no carb. By trying to cut out all carbs, you’ll only succeed in putting yourself in an unhealthy state.

It is possible to have both and be happy. You can still enjoy some of those favorite melt-in-your-mouth dishes. All you need to do is to replace some of the more fattening ingredients with healthier alternatives and you have yourself a healthy dish! The dishes will still taste good. Here are some examples of ways you can make your favorite dishes healthier by substituting certain ingredients:

Bacon – A lot of our favorite recipes have bacon in them. You can still use bacon, but try a healthier version of it. Turkey bacon is healthier for you and most people like the taste of it. Another option is to use fake bacon since it has fewer fat grams and calories.

Eggs – Eggs are in numerous recipes – from pancakes to quiches and desserts! Too many eggs isn’t considered healthy for you. An alternative would be to try using egg substitute products or even egg whites instead of the egg in its entirety.

Flour – Try using whole wheat flour instead of the usual bleached white flour. Whole wheat flour is very healthy for you and it can add a little extra something to your favorite dishes. Whole wheat noodles are better for you too if you’re a pasta junkie.

Olive Oil – Olive oil is a healthier option you can use to cook your food than the normal oil and lard we use or that our food is cooked in at a restaurant. Use it as a substitute in your dishes in place of the corn oils. A few less calories add up to increased weight loss!

Chicken – Use chicken in your dishes, but makes sure to take the skin off. This is the unhealthiest part of the chicken. Chicken can be a great protein for you, but only when it’s without the skin.

Cocoa – Using cocoa instead of real chocolate for some dishes will be a healthier choice to make. It also gives you more control of what amount of sugar you want to place within the dish.

Honey – Sometimes honey can be used in place of sugar in your favorite recipes. It still gives you that sweet taste, but it’s better for your body. Of course you can also use artificial sweeteners if you like, but they don’t help you like honey does and some people don’t like the taste of them.

Eat healthier, but don’t give up all of your favorite dishes before you find out if there are healthier alternative ingredients you can use instead of some of the unhealthier ones that you normally put in your recipes.

Unfortunately, those ads can sabotage us when we’re trying to stick to our diets. One effective advertisement and you can cost yourself too many calories or fat for the day, but more important is the mental damage it does when you decide to give up your whole diet just because you had one bad day.

It may seem like the only answer to this situation is to stay away from fast food and not watch television commercials for the rest of your life, but that’s not realistic. There are some other ways to keep your willpower intact when you do go to places that have tempting images of diet-killing foods.

What you see isn’t really what you get – Keep this in mind. How often have we seen the image of the perfectly thick hamburger and ordered it – only to find that what you get is a smashed up mess? The temptation is in the perfection. Think not of the image, but what it will really look like when you get it. Most of the temptation will be gone.

Get it your way – Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want or don’t want. If you decide you need a burger, then order it with no cheese or mayo as an open-faced sandwich. A regular hamburger can satisfy your hunger and will have less fat.

Use drive-throughs – Many times, you plan ahead what you’re going to order, but then you’re hit with large, tempting images on the menus inside the restaurant. Drive through menus have some images, but not as many – and it’s easier to divert your eyes away from the board if you already know what you want to order.

Drive throughs are also helpful when the smell of the fries boiling in oil tempts you to order the biggest size available. When you go through the drive through, the smell isn’t as apparent as it is inside.

Deliveries – If a restaurant delivers, use it to your advantage. You can plan what you want and order it without having to go to the establishment to see all of the tempting pictures on the wall. If they don’t deliver, ask someone else to go get your food for you.

Sometimes paying a little extra money to someone for doing you a favor can keep you from falling off the diet wagon. Let’s face it, temptations are out there and are noticed more readily by those who are on a diet. Take steps to prepare yourself for those situations ahead of time.

Unfortunately, most of those foods are fattening choices that hold little nutritional value for their growing bodies. Children can be a handful at restaurants and they can be finicky eaters as well, but you can make their meals healthier and more nutritious.

If you must go to a fast food restaurant, try to avoid the kid’s meals unless they offer healthy substitutes like fruit instead of fries. They usually contain fattening foods like chicken nuggets and fries.

If they want the double cheeseburger, downsize it to a junior burger and don’t let them add all of the mayonnaise and fried bacon so that you can eliminate some unnecessary fat while keeping their diet more in the nutritious range.

Take the meal to a park (or to your home) to avoid having them be tempted by seeing what other kids are eating. Sometimes parents give in to their children’s demands and buy fattening fries just to avoid the embarrassing tantrums they can throw in the restaurant.

Many restaurants where you sit down to eat have healthier menu options. If your child is rambunctious, go to one where the kids can color on their menu. Or play games with them until the food comes, like, “ I see something that starts with the letter A” – and let them have fun trying to guess what it is.

This helps encourage them to eat healthier choices for their meals because they don’t develop a reliance on drive-through fare. Try to make compromises on their food choices.

See if they’ll go for toast with jam instead of the fattening pastry treats they usually like to have. A little extra sugar-free jam on whole grain toast is still better than a sugar-laden donut.

Children can eat healthy if you try some unique ways to sway their choices from the non-nutritional items they’ve grown accustomed to ordering. Be persistent but flexible as your child navigates a new way of eating healthy.

There’s nothing wrong with letting a restaurant cook for you – as long as you do some thinking ahead and special requesting when you order. Here are some tips to keep in mind for a healthier meal out.

Choose a healthier restaurant – Try going to the places that advertise healthier menu choices. Some restaurants have special sections on their menus specifically for low calorie or low fat food choices. Don’t be afraid to speak up and request something off the menu.

Dressing on the side – Salads are healthy choices, but some places put too much dressing on their salads, which can cost you unnecessary calories and fat. Simply order the dressing to come on the side and you can control the amount that goes on to your salad.

Choose places that cook with olive oil – Most restaurants will cook with fattening butter, because it’s less expensive for them than healthier olive oil. Don’t be afraid to ask whether a restaurant uses butter or olive oil to cook with – and request that your meal be prepared without lard or butter.

Omit items – If you just have to have that juicy burger, consider ordering it without the cheese, bacon or mayonnaise (or even the bun)! Sometimes, omitting the cheese alone can save you as much as 25g of fat.

Avoid Buffets – The foods that you see in the buffets are ones the restaurants can easily make in bulk. These usually turn out to be fattening fried foods or pasta dishes. If you think you can easily steer clear of the fattening items and stick with healthier salads and foods, then go ahead and enjoy the buffet!

There’s nothing wrong with eating out once in awhile as long as you don’t overdo it. Don’t just watch what you order, but consider the size of the portions, too. Ask for a to go box right when your food comes and put half of the food in it for you to eat as leftovers the next day.

Who has time to slave over a hot stove making a meal for the family when you work an 8-10 hour day? Although the convenience of fast food restaurants is definitely appealing, they’re not the best choices for nutritious meals. Let’s explore some facts about the fast food meals you might order for your family’s dinner:

McDonald’s – Juicy hamburgers with a side of fries sound delicious. But if you take a regular Double Quarter Pound Cheeseburger with a side of medium sized fries, you’ll see that you’re consuming approximately 60g of fat and 1,100 calories total for the fries and the cheeseburger (not to mention whatever you wash it down with). If you’re on a 2,000 calorie diet, you would have met over half of that with only one meal.

Kentucky Fried Chicken – Their chicken is a popular choice for a quick and easy meal. But one original recipe chicken breast is approximately 21g of fat and 360 calories. If you have 2 chicken breasts from one of their popular family bucket meals, you’re looking at 42g of fat and 720 calories. This doesn’t include any side dishes that might come with the meal, such as mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, or potato wedges.

Pizza Hut Pizza – It’s so easy to come home exhausted and fall prey to the convenience of pizza delivery. A Large Pepperoni pan pizza has about 14g of total fat and 270 total calories per slice.

If you eat 2 slices of that pizza, you will have consumed around 28g of fat and about 540 calories total. Add extra cheese or other toppings and you’ll cost yourself even more fat and calories.

Subway – You think you’re eating healthy, but it depends on what menu item you choose. A 6” Chicken Parmesan sandwich is approximately 18g of fat and around 500 calories. This doesn’t include any sides. If you add more sauce to your sandwich, you’ll need to figure more calories into the equation.

It’s best to steer clear of fast food eateries, but if you’re forced to go to one for convenience, try to scout out the menu ahead of time on the Internet to find out what menu options they have that won’t blow your diet plan for the entire day.