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5 Tasty, Portable, Healthy Snacks for Gorgeous Globetrotters

Peter Greenberg Worldwide

Business Women - Healthy Snacks For TravelersWhether you’re a frequent flier or an occasional vacationer, nothing can derail a health and beauty regimen faster than traveling.

That’s why Debbi Kickham, author of The Globetrotter’s Get-Gorgeous Guide, set out to poll travel experts, beauty pros, and celebrities to get their tips on staying on top of their “tour of beauty.”

Check out some of the healthy—and portable—snacks that she discovered along the way.

1. Powdered Peanut Butter, Hold the Jelly

I am absolutely crazy about this product, and let me proclaim it the best miracle diet food ever. Why? Because this powdered peanut butter really lets you have your peanut butter and eat it, too.

Here’s the 411 behind PB2: Say sayonara to Skippy. The folks at Bell Plantation in Georgia were asked by the FDA to come up with an easy, emergency meal replacement that could be shipped overseas, and while working on this project, they discovered peanut powder.

PB2 From Bell Plantation - Just Add Water For Peanut ButterYou can’t beat it—if you love PB, but don’t eat it because of the high calories and fat, PB2 is for you. It will change your life, as it has mine! Two tablespoons have just 53.2 calories, and a mere 1.87 grams of fat.

Debbie Layfield, Bell Plantation’s COO, puts the powder in a plastic bag, then adds a sliced-up banana and shakes it all around to cover the fruit, for the perfect snack.

Another brand to try is FitNutz powdered peanut butter, which is gluten-free with no trans fats and no added hydrogenated oils. Use it as a topping, in shakes, as a flavoring or just by the spoonful.

The regular flavor has just 50 calories in two tablespoons, and 1.5 grams of fat. There’s also a chunky version, with 60 calories and 2.5 grams of fat in two tablespoons.

Either way, it’s a shame-free snack that’s easy to transport in a Ziploc bag—just add a few teaspoons of water and it’s incredible and spreadable!

2. Figs n’ Prunes

Just about every day … I eat five Cherry-Essence Sunsweet Prunes for about 100 calories.

Sunsweet Cherry Essence PrunesI get the feeling that I am eating mountains of (highly caloric) dried cherries, but I’m not. That’s the beauty of these little babies – they’ll put a tiger in your tank.

I love Sunsweet prunes, and the folks there would like you to make the “Sunsweet Swap.” For example, instead of having microwave popcorn, the prunes will slash your calories almost in half and save you 14 grams of fat. Prunes also have almost five times the amount of potassium, and double the required daily amount of copper. They also will give you an alluring antioxidant blast – all that potassium gives me the energy boost that I crave.

If you crave chocolate, you’ll also love Figamajigs—fine little fig bits coated in chocolate goodness. The Original Bites, for example are coated in cocoa and dark chocolate, and you get 17 pieces in a bag for only 150 calories. Sweet!

Candy-coated bites have a crunchy candy exterior (like an M&M) and have about 150 calories per bag. Also available are mint bites and candy-coated mint bites, if you prefer a little peppermint. The best snacks, bar none, are the dark-chocolate-covered fig bars—in original, raspberry, mint, and almond, for 130-150 calories per bar.

3. Nuts About Almonds

Blue Diamond Smokehouse AlmondsYes, I know I should eat unsalted raw almonds, but please. Have you ever tried Blue Diamond Smokehouse Almonds? They’re addictive—I have to control myself to eat just 14 nuts—adding up to 85 calories and a paltry 8 grams of fat.

Ounce for ounce, almonds have more calcium than milk, more protein than eggs and more fiber than any other nut.

They’re practically sinful, but a really smart snack that fills you up … I can promise you this: Eat your share of these protein-packed powerhouses, and you’ll get so svelte you won’t have to pray to Saint Cellulita anymore, to rid your thighs of their thunder. (Saint Cellulita is the Patron Saint of Thin Thighs.)

Another nut-tastic choice are Diamond Foods’ Cocoa Roast Almonds—the sweet snacks are roasted with a baked-on cocoa flavor, for a mess-free dark chocolate taste without added guilt. They also come in 100-calorie packs. If you compare the label with plain almonds, they’re the same. (One ounce, about 24 almonds, has 150 calories.) Cocoa added in for no extra calories!

Sargento String Cheese Packs4.  String Cheese, Please

And the cheese stands alone—because it’s outstanding! Sargento, for example, makes strings of cheese that weighs in at 50 calories each, with 2.5 grams of fat, and 6 grams of protein.

Have two for a mere 100 calories and you’re sure to feel full. Also great to pack in your carry-on.

5.  Freeze-Dried Fruit with Pizzazz

Sometimes you want a piece of fruit, but a piece of fruit that’s more fun to eat than your ordinary apple or banana. You know, a piece of fruit with pizzazz.

That’s where Funky Monkey snacks come in—made with 100 percent real fruit, with no added sugar, preservatives, colors or fl avors. Using an original and proprietary freeze-drying process, 97 percent of the moisture content of the fruit is removed, producing a crisp, crunchy, go-anywhere snack that contains three of the four daily recommended servings of fruit.

Funky Monkey snacks are gluten-, wheat- and dairy-free, and certified kosher parve. Flavors? Bananamon (banana and cinnamon); Carnaval Mix (banana, pineapple, apple, papaya and raisins), Jivealime (pineapple and lime juice) and Purple Funk (banana and acai). They are scrumptious and a proud addition to my gym bag and carry-on.

Honorable Mention

I also must give an honorable mention to gluten-free Jungle Grub snack bars for kids—because we adults love to eat them too. Each bar has twice the protein of a granola bar and less sugar than a glass of milk. And for only 100 calories per bar!

There’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (my favorite), plus Peanut Butter Groove and Berry Bamboozle. These little organic wonders also register just 2 points on the Weight Watchers diet program. Nutrition bars disguised as a snack bar? You bet!

By Debbi Kickham, excerpted from The Globetrotter’s Get-Gorgeous Guide: Diet and Beauty Secrets of Travel and Beauty Pros, Traveling Executives and Celebrity Travelers.

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