With the onset of spring, you can see that people everywhere are desperately trying to shed their winter weight.  Summer is just around the corner, and there are gorgeous bikinis to be had!  Have any of you started working on your summer bods?

I admit – I haven’t been exercising NEARLY as much as I should.  I shed around 10kgs in time for my wedding in July, but since then I’ve slacked.  And I’ve most definitely put on some of that weight.  Marital bliss for us has meant delicious food and lots of wine and G & T’s.  The carb-ban was lifted and trust me, I tucked in.

With the warmer weather already here (although not today.. today is miserable again), I’ve realised that I need to get my butt into gear.  Last year in the summer I was too shy to put on a bikini, so I didn’t get any semblance of a tan and that made me even more embarrassed of my lily-white bod.  I know, I know, one shouldn’t body-shame themselves, but my self confidence was at an all-time low.

The last month or so however, I’ve tried to balance out my meals.  I’m back into limiting carbs (not cutting them out, just limited what carbs I choose and when I eat them), and trying to eat healthy food for the most part.  I find if I meal plan for the week on a Sunday, it’s a lot easier to make good choices for the rest of the week.

But… Has anyone else found that it’s easy to plan the actual meals, but not so much the snacks?  I know that snacking on something in between is the key to keeping your metabolism working at it’s best.  But I just get bored with the old apple and peanut butter, or cheese on a rice cake.

In today’s post, I grabbed three different healthy snack options found in my local KwikSpar, to see if they were any good.  I went for two ‘bar’ type snacks and one sachet of a nut butter that you can either squeeze out and eat indulgently like that, or spread on a rice cake or cracker.

Nakd Pecan Pie

These bars are gluten, wheat and dairy free, as well as being completely raw and vegan friendly.  This particular bar is made purely from pecan nuts, dates and almonds.  These bars come in a variety of other flavours such as Cashew Cookie, Berry Delight, Cocoa Delight, Peanut Butter Delight and Ginger Bread.  You can also purchase it in a Nibbles variation, where you get little nut and fruit balls in flavours such as Salted Caramel or Strawberries and Cream.

These are absolutely delicious as well!  This bar totally managed to satisfy my sweet tooth and it kept the hunger pains at bay for a good couple of hours.

You can find these Bars in assorted flavours at your local Dischem for around R14.95 or the Nibbles for R16.95, and online HERE. They can also be found on Faithful to Nature for a little bit of a higher price point, but if you like to do all of your health food shopping online in one place, then it’s still a viable option.  They’re around R22 for the Bars and R25 for the Nibbles HERE.

Wholesome Earth Chia Bar Coffee

This bar is packed with Chia seeds, oats and nut butters.  Chia seeds are a popular super food right now, as they’re packed with fibre, protein and omega 3’s.  So good for you!  These bars are gluten-free, non GMO, contain no MSG and vegan friendly, as well as being filled with additional fibre.

This was absolutely divine, I loved the light coffee flavour, but do yourself a favour.  Check your teeth after eating!  Those chia seeds are sneaky little buggers, and stick EVERYWHERE.  You only realised they’re there when their outer coating becomes jellied.  And you freak out thinking your gums are falling apart.  Yes, I did that.  I’m a drama queen!

Despite this, these are super tasty and super filling.  Definitely a worth while snack option, especially if you want to include more fibre in your diet.

These are available on Faithful to Nature in a variety of flavours, but the different flavours are different prices (not sure why?), and on Takealot for around R18.

P.S. You can read more about the benefits of Chia seeds HERE.

ButtaNutt Honey Almond Butter Squeeze Pack

I love nut butters.  So these ButtaNutt ones that come in a variety of flavours really caught my eye.  Honey Almond sounds almost unhealthily delicious!

I ate this one straight from the pack like a little piggy and it was so damned good.  I think spread on some toasted seed bread or on a rice cake it would be super tasty as well.

Almond butter is packed with protein and good fats, and this definitely filled the gap in my stomach between breakfast and lunch.

You can find these squeeze packs in a few other flavours at Clicks for about R13.95 on their online store HERE.   You can also find the whole range of squeeze packs, jars and tubs at Wellness Warehouse HERE.

If any of you live in the KwaZulu Natal area, and are near the KwikSpar in Hillcrest, go and browse their health section.  It’s massive there, and they have SO MANY other healthy options available.  I found all of these products there, and it took me a good 20 minutes or so to narrow the options down to these three.

Have you tried any of these healthy snacks, or do you have any others I should try?