Check out this list of game changer healthy foods from a registered dietitian. Photo courtesy Getty Images.
SALT LAKE CITY — A month into 2019, a registered dietitian is offering her best advice for how to stick with a New Years Resolution — or recommit to it if you’ve fallen off the wagon: game changer snack foods.
Melanie Douglass, co-host of the Really Healthy podcast, says adding some “game changer” healthy foods to your diet can be extremely motivating.
Listen to Douglass describe what constitutes a “game changer” for her.
Douglass describes pasta made from chickpeas as a game changer because of its high protein and fiber content. Each serving includes 25 grams of protein and 13 grams of fiber, compared to 13 grams of protein in traditional wheat pasta.
Douglass says as a bonus, Banza makes their chickpea pasta in all of the pasta shapes kids and adults love like spaghetti, elbows, rigatoni and more.
It tastes like regular pasta, it’s so good … I’m telling you, this pasta has changed my life! – Frozen actress, Kristen Bell.
On days when she’s running behind and breakfast is out of the question, Douglass says her secret weapon is a G2G Protein Bar. She keeps spares in her car or purse to avoid the temptation of hitting a drive-through.
They come in flavors like almond coconut and peanut butter chocolate chip. Douglass says she appreciates the natural ingredients that she can both recognize and pronounce. They’re mostly made of almond butter, whey protein and they are lightly sweetened with honey.
Fun fact: G2G Protein Bars is a Utah-based company.
Simple Mills makes a few different products but Douglass swears by their almond flour crackers. She said she always keeps them in her pantry as her go-to if she needs a salty snack.
One serving, 17 crackers, spurred a discussion on the podcast about portion sizes. Douglass said to keep yourself only eating 17, it is smart to make small baggies with the correct portion as soon as you get home from the grocery store.
Smoothies, Douglass said, are a great way to pack in vitamins and they taste great. The only problem is that a lot of store or restaurant smoothies are full of hidden sugars. Making a smoothie at home is always your best option, advised Douglass.
Dietician tip: Add a few extra handfuls of Spinach to your smoothie pack to get in our daily recommendation of leafy greens.
And finally … a dessert.
“If you eat these and then go eat a sugary, chocolate covered almond it is going to taste so heavy … it kind of makes you realize how over-sugared everything is,” said Douglass. She pointed out that dark chocolate is full of antioxidants and healthy fats.
Skinny Dipped makes four flavors Douglass loves: peanut butter dark chocolate, chocolate raspberry, chocolate espresso and plain dark chocolate.
For more tips, check out Really Healthy Podcast where Scott Mitchell and Melanie Douglass have teamed up to find real health, it the real world. You can find it on Apple Podcasts, the KSL Newsradio App or wherever you get podcasts.
Watch the entire episode here: