8 Healthy, Pre-Packaged Snacks Perfect for Losing Weight or Building Muscle

Quick, healthy, and tasty snacks are an easy and enjoyable way to meet your dietary numbers every day.
We all wish we could always have fresh, delicious, low-calorie foods within arm’s reach…but that’s just not the case. Packing fresh foods and transporting them around every day is a hassle, and especially so among those of us that travel quite a bit.

Therefore, I decided to put together a list of my 10 favorite pre-packaged snack foods…and all are under 150 calories, so you can decide how much to eat based on your weight goals.

1. Fage Total 0%

100 calories, 18 g protein, 7 g carbs, 0 g fat

I’m pretty much obsessed with this stuff. Rich, creamy, delicious, and nearly 20 grams of protein and 0 grams of fat per serving. How do they do it? Magic, I tell you. Mix in some honey or agave and it tastes like dessert.

2. StarKist Ready-Made Albacore Tuna Salad Packet

90 calories, 10 g protein, 5 g carbs, 3.5 g fat

Tuna packets rock for quick, easy protein. You can mix it with all kinds of stuff to give taste. Here’s a simple recipe from my cookbook The Shredded Chef that I particularly like:

Spicy Tuna:

Mix 6 ounces tuna with 1 tablespoon diced pickled jalapenos, 1 teaspoon hot sauce, 4 tablespoons diced tomatoes, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper.

3. Stretch Island Fruit Co. Fruit Strips

45 calories, 0 g protein, 11 g carbs, 0 g fat

Carrying around fresh fruit isn’t always feasible, but all-natural fruit leathers are a great alte
ative. A couple of these is the same amount of carbs as a piece of fruit, and satisfies your sweet tooth.

4. Sweet Potato Pop Chips

120 calories, 1 g protein, 20 g carbs, 4 g fat (per serving)

Sweet potatoes are a tasty, healthy option for carbs, and I like this brand a lot. They’re all natural–no fake colors or flavors, no preservatives, no GMO ingredients, and no trans fats.

5. Bare Fruit Cinnamon Apple Chips

29 calories, 0 g protein, 8 g carbs, 0 g fat (per serving)

How is this for simple ingredients: organic apples, and organic cinnamon. And it’s delicious. Great on-the-go carb option.

6. Barney Butter Squeeze Packs

90 calories, 3 g protein, 4 g carbs, 7.5 g fat (for .6 oz packet)

If you haven’t experienced the heavenly taste of good almond butter…watch out–it’s addictive. Almond butter is one of my favorite snacks, period. It’s high in protein and fats and low in carbs, and it’s downright delicious. Highly recommended.

7. Eden Foods Brown Rice Crackers

120 calories, 3 g protein, 22 g carbs, 2 g fat

Brown rice crackers are the next best thing to eating the grain itself, and I like this brand. They don’t use any artificial ingredients or trans fats, and they’re quite tasty.

8. Organic Valley Stringles

80 calories, 7 g protein, 0 g carbs, 6 g fat

I don’t eat much dairy, but these are a healthy, easy source of protein if you’re on the run.

What do you think of my choices? Do you have any snacks you think I should add to the list? I'd love to hear from you at my site, www.muscleforlife.com!