Ask Dr. Gourmet

My Dr. Gourmet Diet meal plan does not include any snacks. Do you recommend building in morning and afternoon snacks?

Dr. Gourmet Says...

Thanks for your great question.

The Dr. Gourmet Diet Plan software doesn't have specific provisions for including snacks. I do think that snacks are an important part of your meal plan, however. On the Food Diary page we've included some instructions on how to make snacks part of your plan.

Adding Snacks

There are days where your meal plans will not always add up to exactly the number of calories requested. You are encouraged to snack and snack sensibly on those days and when you feel hungry. Here's some suggestions for great snacks that have been proven to be satisfying and are really healthy.

Fruit

I want you to eat more fruit and nuts. But I want you to also know about the right portion sizes. Here's a guide and calorie counts. It's interesting to compare these to a Hershey bar with 210 calories. That's the equivalent of almost three apples!

	Serving Size	Calories
Apple	2 3/4 inch diameter	77
Applesauce (sugar free)	1/2 cup	84
Banana (6 inch long)	one	90
Blackberries	1 cup	62
Blueberries	1 cup	84
Cantaloupe	1/4 large melon	69
Cherries	15	77
Cranberries (dried/sweetened)	1/4 cup	92
Cranberries (fresh)	2 cups	94
Currants (dried)	1/4 cup	102
Grapefruit	1 cup sections	74
Honeydew Melon	1/6 large melon	86
Mandarin Oranges	3/4 cup	78
Mango	3/4 cup	80
Orange	3 inch diameter	86
Papaya	1 1/2 cups	82
Pineapple	1 cup	82
Plums	1 cup	76
Raisins	1/4 cup	15
Raspberries	3/4 cup	96
Strawberries	3/4 cup	73
Watermelon	2 cups	92

Nuts

There's no doubt that nuts are better for you than junk food. There's research that shows you won't gain weight having nuts for snacks (where you will having processed snack foods). That said, there are a lot of calories and even though they are great quality calories you want to be cautious.

	Serving Size	Calories
Almonds	1/4 cup	206
Cashews	1/4 cup	187
Peanuts	1/4 cup	205
Pecans	1/4 cup	188
Pine nuts	1/4 cup	227
Pistachios	1/4 cup	171
Pumpkin seeds	1/4 cup	187
Sunflower seeds	1/4 cup	67
Walnuts	1/4 cup	191

Thanks for writing,

Timothy S. Harlan, MD, FACP, CCMS
Dr. Gourmet