The holiday season is a time for celebration with family and friends. Unfortunately, there is one unwanted guest that comes sneakily and unannounced, (no, not your crazy Aunt Jean)- weight gain. As we all know, it’s common for people to put on some weight around the holidays, but you don’t have to be one of them!

One of the best ways to avoid overindulging is to keep healthy snacks on-hand. By staving off hunger with nutritious, lower calorie snacks, you can be sure that those mall food court pretzels or that slice of pumpkin cheesecake at the office party won’t make you their next victim. Plus, our healthy snack ideas provide you with an extra punch of energy so that you can check off all the activities on that never-ending to-do list. Keep reading for snack ideas that are at the top of the “Nice List”.

• Cut up vegetables like peppers, celery, carrots, squash and cucumbers and put them in Tupperware on the top shelf of your refrigerator. This is the first thing you’ll see when you open your refrigerator and it should be your first line of defense for healthy snacking. It will fill you up with fiber and nutrients and with very few calories.
  • If you want to dip them, use low-sodium bean dips, low-fat yogurt dips or salsa. Just be sure to limit the portion size of the dip to several tablespoons. Our favorite is red, yellow and orange bell pepper strips. We both snack on them daily and they’re so sweet that no dip is needed!
  • Psssst… Get more healthy veggie recipe ideas in our book, The Nutrition Twin’s Veggie Cure.

• Keep low-sodium deli slices of turkey and chicken breast in your fridge. It just takes a minute to wrap them around a low-fat string cheese or put a few slices of fresh sliced poultry in a whole wheat pita pocket.
  • The poultry is a lean source protein and is really satisfying.

To get the inside scoop on some more of our healthy snacking tips, check out our post on ModernMom. Snacking smart will keep that winter weight from creeping on, and keep you energetic throughout the busy winter months. From shopping sprees to family gatherings, you will need all the energy you can get! There is no better (or tastier) way to fuel all your activities than to get some wholesome nutrition from some lean and clean snacks. Consider it a present to yourself this holiday season- you deserve it!