Looking to power up your weight loss efforts? Perhaps you’ve incorporated these underrated weight loss tips that work into your lifestyle, loaded up on these foods to lose your gut, and versed yourself on the worst eating habits for belly fat.
If you’re wondering “now what?” A good place to start is to turn to your snacking habits. Even if you’re eating a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner, many people sabotage their weight loss efforts by eating potato chips, candy, and cookies galore come snack time. No more! Readers, it’s time to slim down your snack routine.
“I always advise my clients to choose snacks that include a protein, a healthy fat, and a complex carb,” says Kim Yawitz, RD. Her signature combination for a weight-loss-friendly snack? A small handful of nuts with a medium apple.
The best snack combination for weight loss is as simple as nuts and an apple.
“Nuts may seem like a surprising choice, given their relatively high fat content. But studies suggest that people who eat more nuts tend to weigh less and have less belly fat than people who don’t eat nuts,” she says, noting that pistachios are her favorite, partly because the shells serve as a visual reminder of how much you’re actually eating.
“In one study, people who ate in-shell pistachios consumed 41% fewer calories than those who ate shelled pistachios,” she elaborates.
Yawitz is a fan of 100-calorie packs of nuts, “which can help you keep your portion sizes in check if you don’t love pistachios or don’t feel like shelling them.”
To round out the snack, pairing the nuts with an apple is an excellent option: “Apples are a great source of dietary fiber, which can help you to feel satisfied until your next meal,” says Yawitz. “One large study suggests that eating an apple a day promotes modest weight loss, and another study indicates that eating up to three apples per day could be helpful.”
Even if you’re not eating three apples a day, every crunchy, refreshing bite counts, so be sure to load up on apples — and pair ’em with nuts — for a wholesome, slimming snack that has a nutritionist’s stamp of approval.
READ MORE: The #1 Best Snack to Crush Your Hunger Cravings, New Study Says.
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