I was a night time snacker. I used to sit in front of the TV every night with candy, ice cream, or chips and I would mindlessly eat and eat and eat. This was probably the most difficult habit for me to break. When I started changing my lifestyle, I went cold turkey with my after dinner snacks. However, I found myself unable to focus after dinner during the time I normally spent snacking. I’d sit and obsess about what snack I wanted. I knew that if this continued, it was a perfect recipe for disaster. I wanted to be successful and healthy more than I wanted to see big drops on the scale. To do this, I replaced my old snacks with new, healthier ones. And after about a month and a half, I found I didn’t need after dinner snacks at all anymore. This worked extremely well for me and I encourage you to do the same! One note of encouragement: I’ve found that if the change is too radical (i.e. going cold turkey on an unhealthy craving), it’s hard to stick to it long term. If the changes are gradual and if we are replacing instead of just taking away, it’s a much easier transition.

I hope this printable helps a few of my fellow after dinner snackers, who, like me are looking to find a few healthy replacements for their after dinner cravings. If this is not an area that you struggle with, ALL of these snack replacements are great for mid day, healthy snacking!

Wishing you wellness on your health journey and lots of yummy food! Brittany

1. POPCORN I love chips! I love chips so much (specifically Hot Cheetos)! I’m more of a salty snack person than a sweet snack person. Because of this, I found myself craving chips several nights a week. For a healthier option, I replaced my late night bag of Hot Cheetos with a yummy bowl of air popped popcorn coated in melted coconut oil and sea salt. I’d limit myself to two cups of popcorn and it satisfied my salty snack craving every time.

2. VEGGIES AND HUMMUS This goes back to kicking the chip craving. If there’s one thing I love more than chips, it’s chips and dip. I’ve replaced my chips and dip habit with a veggies and hummus habit. I make my hummus homemade or I buy organic hummus from the store, make sure to read the label. I buy hummus with minimal ingredients, all words that I can pronounce. My favorite veggies to dip are bell peppers, cucumbers, celery, cherry tomatoes, and carrots.

3. NUTS AND CHOCOLATE To combat my occasional sweet snack cravings, I combine a handful of nuts with a handful of dairy free chocolate chips.

4. ICE CREAM I was never a big ice cream lover until after I married my husband. He always kept it in the house and we both got into the habit of eating it straight out of the carton while watching our favorite shows. I replaced our ice cream habit with another ice cream habit, just one that’s healthier. I make dairy free ice cream in our ice cream maker and popsicles/fudgesicles in our ice cream molds. I also make sure to have a couple frozen bananas on hand. I can toss those in my food processor and amazingly, it’s the same consistency as a banana soft serve!

5. SHAKES (SMOOTHIES)I like to make “milk” shakes for my kiddos all the time. Dairy free, we use almond or coconut milk to make the right consistencies. The kids favorite “milk” shake is a frozen strawberry, vanilla almond milk, banana, and spinach blend that I process in our high power blender. My favorite is a replica of a Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshake. It consists of almond milk, almond butter, cacao powder, and banana.