I love watching TV (currently enjoying “Ray Donovan”) but the trouble is I also enjoy munching whilst watching. Do you guys have any great suggestions for snacking on something that lasts a while but doesn’t contain nuts? I currently have popcorn (59-78 cals per bag depending on the brand) and they’re really good – but I know we need to change the things we eat from time to time don’t we? To shake things up a little?

Look forward to your great suggestions! I’ve bean doing this BSD for about 3-4 weeks now and am thoroughly enjoying it!

Bean xx

BEAN, i agree. I really love to snack while watching tv
Its a hard habit to break! I think i’ m starting to get used to it now but it isnt much fun!
If we werent low carbing, i wd suggest cutting up some apple,pears and narnas into slices and grazing on them.
Its difficult isnt it coz we need those precious cals for our lunch and tea ( and for brekky if you eat it)
They cant stretch very far!
We could have carrot sticks and celery sticks tho,with a little hummus? I do enjoy crunching celery..makes me feel like my jaws have somehting to do – but celery is a bit marmitey..people seem to love or hate it.
Sugar free sweeties to suck? ( with stevia) or a square or two of good dark chocco ( i know you like that but i guess it doesnt last v long)
Even things like Snack a Jacks which i used to have are high in carbs.
Nothing quite beats a cuppa with biccies/ vino with nibbles/ that big bar of choc/ a bag of sweets! * sigh..*
BUT what can really be better than feeling light / getting back into clothes that have sulked in the wardrobe for maybe years/ feeling nourished by eating proper food..i guess we have to bear this in mind when we miss those goodies!
Maybe popcorn is still your best bet Bean x and hey when youre at the weight you want to be, you can occasionally have a tv plus treats night!
Its infuriating isnt it when you see others mindlessly tucking in,no thought for cals,or carbs,just pleasure…but we will have the last laugh..we wil be the healthy well ones,and no diabetes for us! X
Ps ! Have you ever seen those sesame snap bars in the heqlth shops! Lovely to nibble on..think i will check them out and report back to you x

Whoahhhhh! Sesame seed snacks per 30 g:- 163 cals,18.5 g carb 😱😱😱

I’ve stopped feeling the need to eat as much whilst watching movies etc now so if you try to ignore it for a while it does get easier. I make lots of cups of herbal tea 🙂

However if I must eat… I make crackers most weeks with almond flour (elana’s pantry website for recipes) and sometimes I will add chilli powder so they are a bit nacho-like… those with some sliced cheese and sliced tomatoes fills me up and keeps me happy. I sometimes have that for lunch so if I want to I can keep that meal for when I want to chill watching tv as the calories will still add up – unless you are on 5:2 or just following the principles in which case – feel free to munch. You could make a meal of anything nibbly – cheese, pickled onions, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, chunks of ham or chicken. Cauli pizza might be good too.

I also used to make salt and vinegar chick peas but I’ve not done those for a while – easy to eat too many so be sure to divide them into portions that suit you.

http://ohsheglows.com/2010/08/03/easy-salt-vinegar-roasted-chick-peas/

Alternatively a ‘luxury’ drink feels indulgent to me, so I’ll make a shake (see recipe section) or hot chocolate with almond milk.

Hmm, sadly there’s a lot of nuts involved in those lovely sounding snacks. I can’t have anything like coconut oil or almond oil, which is a shame because I feel I’m missing out!
I have to say, though, last night I’d run out of calories so I just had a pot of tea for one (green tea!) – and d’you know what – I was quite happy! Its just getting out of that mind-set isn’t it
Thanks Yowzer and Izzy – I appreciate your suggestions! xx

What really??

This sounds interesting – I haven’t tried it but it looks intriguing! I just ordered a massive cauli from Tesco for my cauliflower fried rice on Friday so I might try this at the weekend and report back 🙂 The recipe is roasted cauliflower ‘popcorn’ (before you go yuk, it says that roasting it in the oven like that brings out a whole different flavour). I checked in MyFitnessPal and it comes out as 164 cals, 13g fat, 11g carbs, 4g protein per portion (1 large cauliflower equals four portions). So depends on how many carbs you’ve already had during the day… you could always lower the cal count and use less oil/butter too or have a smaller portion (1/4 of a cauliflower sounds like a lot)

http://wholelifestylenutrition.com/recipes/appetizers-snacks/organic-roasted-cauliflower-poppers-recipe/

I love these suggestions of recipes everyone is throwing up in the air. ME THINKS all these suggestions are helping all of ourselves with wisdom on healthy living! Pretty soon STAYING ALIVE won’t be the song we sing to ourselves;

Soon it would be 30 years later in The New Millenium:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxZp4VEopcE

Olives!

Also, found today in Tesco – maybe ore of an “out and about” snack than at home – dried beetroot, sort of crisps
– but not fried, so bit carby 17g in a bag, but less than 100 calories.

I enjoyed them – and eating half a bag and putting the rest aside for later was easy (can’t ever remember doing that with a pack of crisps.
there were other types, I have some sweet potato ones to try later, similar nutrition values
there were also carrot and apple varieties, but they were carbier.

Also in Tesco, my favorite Graze deconstructed cherry tart, on special offer in large packs.
I have purchased very occasionally in Sainsbury at around £1.20 for a single portion.
this was £1.99 for 128 grams – so 4 portions, 50p instead of £1.20
– At some point when I’ve eaten (so not hungry and attempted to stuff it all) I’m going to open the bag and divide it into 4 portions (or even 5 smaller ones)

Hello Frog:

I feel like giving you a Ben-Hur Style BEETing! Do you know one of the crops granulated sugar is made from?

http://www.sugar.org/images/docs/how-well-do-you-know-sugar.pdf

Maybe you should read that PDF. I can always tell a city slicker when I see one, even 5,000 miles away! 🙂

Get a dehydrator and make your own dried veggies. Who knows what else UniLever puts in their food?

Florida is King Of Sugarcane in US, if not Western Hemisphere. Have quite a few business contacts in that crop and orange juice.

PrincetonianStud

One of the downsides of living in central London is a tiny kitchen!
There was a thread about ‘air fryers’ the other day, and I did wonder about whether they would make the beetroot crisps – but really no room at all for gadgets in my kitchen sadly.
According to the ingredients list on the packet, the only think added to the beetroot is concentrated lemon juice – and additionally, this is Beetroot as opposed to sugar beet.
I could ask how well do you know your beetroot.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/277432.php

Beet roots are first cousin of Swiss Chard and Spinach. Go for it if you enjoy it. Watch the carbs, though.

Manhattan is just like London: Damn tiny apartments for moocho dinaro! It kind of made me buy a winter home in THE ROCK instead for 1/10th the price. But, so wierdly, they drive on the right side of the road there. Strange, isn’t it? Malta, South Africa, Aussies all on the wrong side of the road! Or is it the right side? Who knows!

Take a look at what happens when I eat Swiss and especially my Spinach:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcOrSWr2HLU

Hehe touche FROG! 😎
Do you know,ive never eaten beetroot..ithink i’ m a bit scared of it..so often seen it dousedin vinegar which i hate and havenever tried it anotherway,..tho its meant to be incredibly healthy i think,so i should! X
Ps i have a friend who’s similarly scared,but of strawberries! Yes i know,we must be bonkers!

Hi Izzy
I’ve only started eating it in the last few years, and really like it.
First time I had it at home, Waitrose do tiny beetroot in lime and chilli – really good – I ate the whole box. Was extremely concerned the next day that I had blood in my urine – no just pink pee from too much beetroot 🙂
It is a bit carby, but really adds flavour to salads – and I love it with oily fish too.
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/superfoods/Pages/is-beetroot-a-superfood.aspx

I discovered wakame today (japanese seaweed), it was the bed for salmon sashimi – initially I thought it was cabbage or kale, but tasted amazing, and allegedly excellent nutrition, tons of vitamins and minerals.
Have now discovered where I can buy it – and it’s dehydrated, you soak it to use it, so will be great to keep in the cupboard.