Everyone has been guilty of eating unhealthy foods at one time or another.
It doesn’t help that whenever you try to commit to eating healthy regularly, there are lots of obstacles that seem to get in the way. Whether it’s time, cost, cravings, or peer pressure, there are many reasons why you might not eat enough fruits, veggies, and other healthy foods every day.
Getting your daily recommended dose of nutrients and vitamins is crucial – not just for your long-term health, but for daily energy creation, alertness, and an overall feeling of well-being and balance. If you regularly struggle with integrating healthy food options into your daily diet, it can have a negative impact on your quality of life.
Our team has had our fair share of healthy eating struggles – we get it. So we’ve put our heads together and come up with the best solutions to your biggest healthy eating challenges!
Check out the tips below to start snacking fresh today.
Top Healthy Snacking Challenges We All Face (And Solutions!)
1. You don’t have enough time to snack healthy
There is never enough time in the day – our lives always seem to be busy with work, family, sports, and social gatherings. And when we feel like we have time to commit to preparing healthy snacks for the day ahead, things always seem to come up – like a dentist appointment you forgot about, or a family friend who stops by for a surprise visit. With all these activities on the go, how do we possibly have time for healthy eating?
What’s important to remember is that eating nutrient-dense foods doesn’t need to take a lot of time – there are plenty of quick and easy ways to get your daily dose of fresh when snacking! Here are a few tips that will help you take advantage of the small amount of time your busy life permits:
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- On your busiest days, choose snacks that don’t require a lot of cutting to prepare. This will cut down your prep time so you can easily pack your snacks and hit the ground running! We recommend TOMZ® Snacking Tomatoes – they are poppable, delicious, and oh-so-healthy.
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- Eat healthy snacks that require minimal to no re-packaging. This includes things like bananas, apples, and pears. You can easily throw these in your bag before you head out in the morning!
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- Incorporate healthy ingredients into your snacks and meals. If you’re looking for a quick recipe idea, check out this Tomato Watermelon Salad by Noelle Martin, RD. It’s an easy recipe with only 3 main ingredients and a healthy dose of lycopene!
2. Eating healthy is too pricey
Money is an important asset that people want to save and use wisely. This means that, when people assume eating healthy costs a fortune, it sounds less and less appealing. It also doesn’t help that fast food and other unhealthy snacks usually cost very little in comparison to healthy, nutritious food options.
We have some good news for you: the idea that it’s more expensive to eat healthy is not true! There are lots of ways that you can eat healthy snacks without exceeding your budget. Try some of these tips:
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- Swap fast-food meals for homemade ones. Buy your own food at the grocery store and limit the amount of times you buy snacks on the go! You can throw together a pretty delicious (and nutritious) range of snacks at home that costs half the amount you would pay while you’re out for the day.
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- Repurpose your leftovers to get more miles out of your food. If you are preparing snacks, throw some leftover odds and ends together to use up food and create healthy eating options! Don’t be afraid to get creative.
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- Peruse the flyers and see what healthy foods are on sale that week. If you make your grocery store purchases based on sale items, you’ll be amazed at how much you save! Just don’t forget to plan your meals and snacks according to what you buy.
3. Your cravings for sweet & salty are just too real
Cravings for something sweet or salty can often seem impossible to overcome. All you want to do is reach for the nearest bag of potato chips, or grab a chocolate bar at the grocery store checkout. It’s easy to get addicted to these super sugary, super unhealthy snack items.
Resist. Breathe. Try some of these tips to avoid giving into those powerful cravings for unhealthy snacks:
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- We often crave unhealthy snacks when we are feeling stressed. By keeping your stress levels low, you will likely be less inclined to eat those sugary or salty snacks! Find lots of healthy ways to de-stress here.
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- You will often crave unhealthy snacks at certain points during the day. If you notice that you always crave chocolate or chips just before dinnertime, or about an hour before lunch, try to keep yourself occupied so you’re distracted from your cravings.
- Don’t sacrifice healthy eating when you’re craving something sweet. Bell Peppers and Snacking Tomatoes are full of natural sugars that are sure to satisfy. We recommend trying our TOMZ® Red Cherry Tomatoes if you’re looking for a quick burst of sugary goodness – many have claimed they’re as sweet as candy!
4. Healthy foods aren’t always easy to find
Convenience stores are only convenient for certain things – chocolate bars, chips, gum, and soda. They are rarely the place to go when looking for fresh, healthy snacks. If you’re looking for a convenient source of fresh, you may need to get creative.
Although it may be hard to find healthy food options, it isn’t impossible. We’ve listed a few different sources you can look to for easier access to fresh foods:
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- Grow some of your own fruits or veggies. You’ll have easy access to fresh, nutritious foods as soon as your plants mature! Taking care of plants is also a proven way to de-stress, helping you limit your unhealthy stress snacking.
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- Buy some fresh, greenhouse-grown produce. Greenhouse-grown products are always in-season, so no matter what time of year you are buying greenhouse produce, it will be fresh and tasty! You can find greenhouse-grown produce in a variety of grocery stores. Send us a quick email if you’re curious about what retailers carry our products!
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- Visit your local farmer’s market. They will only be selling fruits and vegetables that are fresh and in-season. Although farmer’s markets aren’t open year-round, you can take advantage of them when the market season starts!
5. You had good intentions, but you couldn’t eat it fast enough
We’ve all been there – you had grand plans to make nutritious meals and snacks to last you all week, but when life got in the way, you forgot to prepare things or you ran out of time. Either way, the fresh foods that you bought, unfortunately, started to spoil. It’s a sad reality that many of us face – almost everyone seems to struggle with successfully overcoming this fresh food hurdle.
The NatureFresh™ team thought long and hard about solutions to keep your foods fresher longer and reduce the food waste from your good intentions. Try out these tips:
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- Know how to store your fruits and vegetables. If you store your fruits and vegetables properly, you’ll be able to get more use out of them! We recommend checking out our Veggie Storage Guide to learn how to properly store Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, and Cucumbers.
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- When buying fresh snacks, only buy what you know you’re going to eat. Buying more food than you need is one of the main reasons that food spoils or is wasted! Have great intentions, but be realistic about how much you can consume.
- Even if some of your foods are on their ‘last leg’, you may still be able to use them! You can roast ‘tired’ veggies or blend them into a soup – they will still be delicious and nutritious snacking options, and you’ll save them from being wasted.
6. Everyone else is eating unhealthy foods… so why can’t you?
Peer pressure. When we were kids, it was always hard not to follow someone else’s lead on the playground. Unfortunately, when it comes to unhealthy snacking, adults still struggle when their friends, family, or coworkers are munching on junk food and they are offered a taste.
Although it may seem impossible to resist, you can avoid succumbing to social pressures to eat unhealthy snacks. Here’s how:
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- Avoid getting over-hungry. When that happens, your willpower weakens and you’re more likely to say yes to that delicious-looking (but super unhealthy) donut. Make sure you pack on-the-go healthy snacks so you have nutrient-rich fuel for the whole day (and no excuses to have ‘just one’)!
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- At social gatherings, take the lead and bring healthy snacks for everyone! Everyone loves free food, right? The fact that it’s healthy is just a bonus for your friends (but keeps you on track with your healthy snacking goals). Find some healthy appetizer and snack ideas here!
- Remind yourself of how eating healthy versus unhealthy snacks makes your body feel. It may be tough sometimes, but if you remember how eating healthy gives you substantially more energy, greater alertness, and a satisfying sense of wellbeing, it will be easier for you to pass on unhealthy snacks so you can enjoy your social time!
Eating healthier doesn’t have to be hard. Get even more healthy eating tips by reading 5 Easy Ways To Eat More Vegetables (And Enjoy Every Second Of It) and 12 Tasty (and Healthy) Alternatives to Your Favorite Junk Foods.