5 Easy Snack Swaps For Healthier Living

We all love to snack, but what we decide to eat when we're feeling a little bit hungry between meals can be less than beneficial to our waistline. However, with just a little bit of creativity, a couple simple swaps can end up saving you hundreds of calories and won't force you to sacrifice flavor. Here are five to get you going; from there you can use your imagination!

Replace Crackers with Fruit and Vegetables

Instead of grabbing pita chips to dip into hummus, use thin slices of cucumber. In the mood for some cheese? Use apple or pear slices instead of crackers, and don't forget watch out for portion size on the cheese.

Replace Milk Chocolate with Dark Chocolate

Milk chocolate has twice the sugar of dark chocolate, and dark chocolate also has a much richer flavor that can take longer to enjoy.

Replace the Frappuccino with Iced Coffee

A 16-ounce Frappe contains more than 300 calories and nearly 70 grams of sugar. Opt for an iced coffee instead, which you can keep under control by adding skim milk and only one or two sugar packets at most.

Swap Bagels for English Muffins or Pumpernickel

Bagels are calorie and carbohydrate bombs. Instead of the bready gutbuster, go for an English muffin (which pairs very nicely with cream cheese) or pumpernickel bread (which serves as a great vehicle for lox).

Swap Nuts for Edamame

Nuts are heart-healthy, but they're still very high in calories. If you're looking for something to nosh on besides nuts, opt for shelled edamame, which has fewer calories and even more protein than most nuts.

This story was originally published December 2, 2014.