Optavia Snacks?!
Are you looking for Optavia approved snacks to help you stick to your weight loss plan? If so, you have come to the right place! It’s important as you follow any of the Optavia programs that you make informed food choices. That’s why we write articles like this and our recent post about understanding fat burn. There is more to your lean meals, your Optavia lean and green, and your next fueling for Optimal health. But you may not have all the client answers your are looking for when it comes to healthy meals, is olive oil a healthy fat, or how much lean beef vs an other cooked lean protein makes a good green meal? It can all be very frustrating!
We’ve Got Your Back
In this post, we will share some of our favorite Lean and Green approved optional snacks including a couple tips for creating variety. These approved snack recipes are perfect for those on the 5&1 plan but as always, check with your Optavia coach. These snacks are healthy, delicious, and easy to prepare. So what are you waiting for? Start snacking smart today!
The Difference Between Optavia Snacks and Fuelings
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between an Optavia Fueling and a snack? A lot of clients look at the portion size of a standard d fueling packet n and think, “This must be the snacks they are talking about!” Well we have news for you. It’s not.
What are Optavia fuelings?
An Optavia Fueling is one of the five Optavia meal replacements you’ll eat each day. There that are designed to give your body the proper nutrients and hunger-satisfying protein it needs to lose weight, control blood sugar, and fuel your day. optavia fuels are low in carbs and calories and high in protein and fiber, which helps you feel fuller longer.
There are a variety of Optavia fuelings to choose from, including soups, chili, stews, oatmeal, brownies, and shakes. You can also create your own custom fueling by mixing and matching different flavors.
Optavia fuelings may seem small but they are designed to be the perfect combination of lean proteins, healthy fats, and low glycemic (low sugar) to prepare your body for rapid weight loss.
Some of our most favorite fuelings include:
- Chicken Flavored Soup
- Penne Pasta
- The Deccadent Chocolate Brownie
- Optavia Bars
- Sour Cream and Chive Mashed Potatoes (Check out this post on ways to “hack” these fuelings)
All of these and the 30+ additional Optavia diet plan meals are designed to help you achieve your desired body weight and optimal health. Optavia advises eating exactly 5 fuelings and one of the many lean and green recipes each day to achieve Optimal healthy weight goals.
How most of us think
We look at meals as full size plate portions of food. The best way to think of your Optavia fuelings is as one serving made just for you. Optavia food is real food. It’s not a food replacement but a meal replacement. You eat five Optavia fuelings each day and then you get one of your lean and green meals each day as well. Remember, an Optavia fueling and a lean and green meal are still meals in themselves.
Also remember that your lean and green meals aren’t the only meals you’ll eat during your Optavia diet. Stop thinking that if it comes out a packet, it must not be real food. The Optavia diet doesn’t give you fake food with the exception of your lean and green meals each day. Your Optavia packaged foods are meals too.
Plus, there is nothing special in your Optavia diet fuelings that’s causing the weight loss you are seeing or are about to see. It’s real food on the Optavia diet which has the ability to help you shed pounds and hit your optimal weight. But only if you do it right! That’s why we are writing this post because adding extra non starchy vegetables, fresh fruit, extra healthy fats or even more cooked lean protein is no the right way to see greater weight loss.
Utilizing Optavia approved snacks is an option as long as it falls in line with Optavia recipes and you don’t use it as a substitute for your lean and green meals during the day.
What About Plan Approved Optional Snacks
On the other hand, snacks are designed to tide you over between meals. They are sugar free but can sometimes satisfy that sugar craving. Optional snack recipes also tend to be low in protein and fiber, so they don’t do much to keep you feeling full. Even a stick of sugar free gum is considered your optional snack on the Optavia diet so it’s important you understand how to use these optional snacks daily.
So, if you’re looking for a way to fuel your day and lose weight, opt for an Optavia Fueling over a snack. Your body will thank you!
What Are the Optional Snacks on the Optavia Diet Plan
We’ve created this infographic to help you visualize and take with you on the go. There are a couple items on the list we recommend using sparingly. Specifically anything in the nut category. Healthy fat is good but remember we only want so much healthy fat in our daily diet.
The info graphic shows all the approved optional snacks including:
Celery Stalks
You’re allowed three celery stalks. Celery is a non starchy vegetable that’s used in a lot of lean and green meals. It’s perfect for healthy recipes including snacks because of it’s low calorie and low everything else too!
On of the Optavia recipes we’ve seen for this snack is to spread one wedge of lite Laughing Cow cheese onto your celery (1 condiment) to give it a little flavor.
Dill Pickle Spears
You can have 2 dill pickle spears as well. This is no meal replacement but it can really help with the headaches we sometimes get on day 2. No don’t get high blood pressure on us! We aren’t offering medical advice. It’s just worked for us. Or maybe those headaches are all in our head.
Nuts
Obviously this section limits those of you with food allergies.
Almonds (10)
These are a go to for a lot of clients trying to make it between one fueling and their next lean and green but you’ve got to be careful here. It’s only ten but nuts are high in fat. It’s not fat like olive oil but it’s still fat. Optavia suggests choosing this snack and all the other nut options sparingly.
Pistachios (20)
If you’re trying to go for optimal weight then follow the same advice from the Almonds above. Again, this is better than eating another lean and green or adding more lean protein to your day but you need to be cautious.
Walnuts (7 halves)
We’re going to break our own rule here. Sometimes people will use this snack to hack a fueling healthy recipes. You can crumble a walnut half on top of a blueberry muffin fueling for some extra texture in your meal. It’s better than adding low fat dairy products to like a tall glass of milk right?
Keep count. In fact, we say put them in a snack sized bag because we’ve seen too many clients who can’t stop once they get going.
Fruit Flavored Sugar Free Gelatin (There’s always room for Jell-O)
It’s not the same as eating a strawberry but sometimes a serving sugar free gelatin like Jell-O is just what you need. Remember it’s only a one cup serving, sugar free!
Yes, jello has food additives. But compared to what most clients were eating before this program (you know it was more than egg whites) this jello is the perfect lean and green recipe delay option!
Fruit flavored Sugar Free Popsicle
Who doesn’t want to “splurge” with the kids?! That’s what this feels like. So when you’re making them eat your lean and green recipe for a fifth night in a row and you want to celebrate… Break one of these out!
Then you can remind them when they complain about the lean and green meal that you did them a solid last Saturday!
What About Popcorn?
Popcorn is a favorite filler for so many people. To maximize your weight loss we recommend only using Optavia’s snack popcorn you can add to your next premier order. It’s the perfect portion and has two flavors. We’re big fans of the cheese.
If you like those types of snacks look into the puff snacks too. They’ll remind you of the mix of a cracker and a chip and the flavors are great!
Why Optavia Approved Snacks
There are a number of reasons why using the right snacks is important, especially if you’re following an Optavia diet plan. For one thing, using Optavia approved optional snacks helps to ensure that you have a little something extra to keep you going when you feel hunger coming on.
These snacks also give you fewer unwanted calories if you just can’t make it. so you can reach and maintain your weight loss goals more easily. And by supporting your weight loss efforts, these snacks help to keep you motivated as well.
It’s better than the alternative
Some coaches in Optavia talk about warning their clients on the Optavia diet to avoid the snacks but here’s what we’ve learned from our experience. It’s better to use an Optavia diet plan approved optional snack than to grab some random processed foods or eat an extra chicken breast at dinner.
We’ve seen our clients on the Optavia program go from extreme to extreme. When they decide not to use any of the approved snack recipes they load up on a random cooking method like whole grain bread or starchy veggies topped with lemon juice. Okay that’s extreme but you know what i mean.
If you are struggling to make it between your lunch fueling and your lean and green meals, we’d rather you have one of these Optavia approved snacks recipes than jump completely off the Optavia diet and give up on your weight loss goals.
How Often To Use Optavia Approved Snacks Recipes
While it’s an optional snack, that doesn’t mean it’s unlimited. The Optavia diet allows one optional snack each day as a maximum. We do see a lot of clients enjoying to many of these healthy snacks recipes in one day. That’s important to remember as you’re chewing on your fifth piece of sugar free gum.
Why only one?
Remember, we are shooting for transformation above weight loss. There are lots of scientific reasons we need to stick to our five fuelings and one of our lean and green meals each day. But let’s focus on the transformative for now.
The Optaiva diet was never intended to just help you lose weight. It was designed for you to tackle those unwanted habits. There may be better ways to deal with what we call hunger than eating more of these Optavia approved snacks recipes. There’s definitely better habits than reaching for another lean and green meal.
We choose to believe that the reason for only one of these plan approved optional snacks per day is because we are stronger than we give ourselves credit for and we can do this!
When to Use Snacks on the Optavia Diet
We have found the best way to utilize the Optavia snacks is during times when you feel real hunger. This is typically in the morning between fuelings or right before your lean and green meal.
The best way to use Optavia approved snacks is when you feel real hunger. This is typically in the morning between fuelings or right before your lean and green meal. We have found that by using these snacks, you can reach and maintain your weight loss goals more easily. Remember, while they are optional, try not to exceed one snack per day. And most importantly, have fun with it! There are so many delicious Optavia approved snacks to choose from. So go ahead and enjoy!
What are some of your favorite Optavia snacks? Let us know in the comments below! Happy snacking!
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