I’ve been a snacker my entire life. My siblings and I were the kids who ate through the groceries immediately after they were unloaded into the pantry (sorry mom from all of us. sincerely, your 7 children). I truly do not understand people who just “aren’t hungry.”  I had a friend growing up who couldn’t even finish an entire bagel and I almost cried when I slept over her house because I had a bigger appetite than her DAD and had to sneak down in the middle of the night for the other half of her bagel. It scarred me for life but also, I haven’t changed. Mama likes to eat. Let’s talk all things snacks and dive into what I always have on hand for healthy eating on-the-go.
Before I knew what it meant to truly eat healthy, I thought eating less was the key. I felt I needed to eliminate snacks unless it was a bar of some sort without taking ingredients into consideration whatsoever. At my thinnest and least healthy, I was tossing a Special K bar and Cheddar Bunnies in my bag as a lifeline. I was under eating and now that you know my history of overeating my entire childhood, I thought the only way to be thin was to eat less than I wanted to. I didn’t count calories, I didn’t pay attention to anything like grams of sugar or fiber or carbohydrates- I just followed that one rule: eat less than I want to.

Friends, that is not health.

As a 5’11” woman teetering between 175-178lbs, by appetite has always looked different from many of my friends but we all require the same things in our food: balance. The issue with the special k bar and the ziplock of cheddar bunnies was that they were one trick ponies. Empty carbohydrates and excess sugar. These were filling for about ten minutes but eventually left me hungrier than before somehow.

Once I started eating in a way to heal my gut last year, I learned the importance of not spiking insulin throughout the day. I’m going to go ahead and give a disclaimer here and now: I often make a batch of Sweet Laurel brownies and call one or two my snack. I’m not the girl clutching my celery juice and wheatgrass and shunning all else. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, here is a reminder of my food restrictions: dairy free, legume free, gluten/grain free, corn free, refined sugar free.

The grain free restriction completely changed the snacking game for me because my options became reeeeeal slim. No grains means no oats (goodbye, all my favorite granolas and bars) no rice (sayonara pretty much every  gluten-free cracker and pretzel and bread on the market) and no corn (you’d be shocked at how much corn is weaseled into every snack- say no to maltodextrin, guys.) Giving up legumes was also a big one too because peanuts are one of my first true loves and they were in nearly all my favorite snacks, along with things like lentils, beans and chickpeas. It was a sad goodbye, but if you’re also eating for an autoimmune disease or gut healing- FRET NOT. I’ve done the hard work for you! Without further adieu-here are my favorite delicious snacks that fuel me and follow my food restrictions:

ºCrackers/Chips/Puffs:

Jilz Crackers (the ‘Everything’ flavor and ‘Southwestern’ are my favorite)
Simple Mills Crackers (Original and Black Pepper are my go-to’s)
Vegan Rob’s Cauliflower Puffs
Jackson’s Honest Apple Cider Vinegar Chips (cooked in Coconut Oil)
Plantain Chips (I try to avoid oils aside from Olive Oil + Coconut Oil)
Siete Chips (I enjoy pretty much every flavor with the exception of Ranch. If you’re really missing Doritos or spice, the Nacho and Fuego is your winner)

ºBars/Jerky

RX Bars (I only eat the black one, to be honest.)
Bulletproof Collagen Bars (the vanilla shortbread one is my favorite)
Primal Kitchen Bars 
The New Primal Lightly Peppered Organic Turkey Stick (this is the best thing ever. I’m sort of weirded out by most meat still but this is delicious and a great hit of protein)
The New Primal Beef Jerky

ºNon-Packaged (I always make sure to have fresh things on hand)

Nut mix I make myself (I prefer cashews, almonds, dried cranberries and maybe some Lily’s chocolate chips which are refined sugar free and vegan)
Apple slices (I often carry a little glass bowl of cashew butter to make this snack more exciting, but you can’t go wrong with an apple)
Hard Boiled Eggs (I keep these in my lunchbox with an ice pack. I always sprinkle some pepper on them and only eat the egg whites because the texture of hard boiled yolk is a hard no for me.)
Carrot Sticks (I just peel whole carrots and slice them into sticks, storing them in jars of water in the fridge which keeps them fresh much longer.)
Red Pepper Slices (don’t ask why, but red is the best.)

I’ve talked about Thrive so much in the past but it’s a company that saves you tons of money on healthy food items- its’s essentially like Costco and Whole Foods had a baby. All my favorites are there for 15%, 20% and even 30% off. They deliver to your front door in 2-3 days and I never want to go back to life without it! You can also search by diet- Keto, Vegan, Paleo, Gluten-Free and so on. Every item I’ve linked today is from Thrive and if you’re a new member, you save 25% off your entire purchase. You’re welcome!

Those are my current favorites! I’ll be rounding up my favorite sweets soon since you’ll never catch me without a treat in my purse. I’d love to know your favorite snacks too.