Top 5 snacks to curb cubicle cravings

Jenna Drew, the Gluten Free Lifestyle Coach and Celebrity Fitness Chef, shares her five favorite ways to fight office munchies.

t

Photo credit: BakiBG/iStock/360/Getty Images

t The 2 o’clock unhealthy snack craving… we’ve all been there. You started the day with a healthy breakfast and chose a salad for lunch instead of that juicy cheeseburger with bacon. Then, you smell your co-worker’s freshly popped and extra-buttery popcorn and can’t help but want to dive into a sweet or salty snack.

t Here are five snacks that won’t derail your diet, and they are even gluten free.

1. Hummus with carrot and zucchini sticks

t Carrots are loaded with beta carotene. When you’re at the grocery store, remember that the deeper the orange of the carrot, the more beta carotene you’ll get when you’re eating it. The antioxidants in carrots can even make them a potential cancer-fighting veggie.

t Not only is zucchini filling, but it is also full of vitamin C, phytonutrients like lutein and zeaxanthin and manganese, an essential mineral that protects your tissues from harmful free radicals.

2. Green tea

t Green tea is delicious and one of the best appetite suppressants available. Green tea also increases your metabolism, helping to burn fat. Talk about a win-win situation for you.

3. Sunflower seeds

t At first glance, sunflower seeds might seem like a bad choice if you want to lose weight. A 1-ounce serving of sunflower seeds has 165 calories and 14.12 grams of fat. A closer look at the nutrition label shows only 1.4 grams is saturated fat. The rest is made up of monounsaturated polyunsaturated fats, which are both considered heart-healthy.

4. The Gluten Free Bar

t This isn’t your average protein bar. With flavors like Coconut Cashew Crunch and Cranberry Toasted Almond, the Gluten Free Bar has revamped the possibility of protein bars being both healthy and delicious (TheGlutenFreeBar.com, $28 per case of 12). These bars are packed with 11 and 12 grams of protein, respectively.

5. Canned tuna on sea salt lentil crackers

t If fruits and veggies won’t curb your appetite, then it’s time to turn to tuna. A can of tuna in water spread over Lentil Crackers is another good source of lean protein and healthy omega-3s. Even the crackers have 5 grams of protein in a serving.