Snacks are a very important part of a healthy diet if they are done right. The same guidelines that apply to a regular meal should also apply to snacks.

The ideal snack would be nutrient rich veggies with a low fat dip. But since variety is the spice of life I also have others.

Here is some information provided by The American Dietetic Association.

Follow these guidelines to help make snacking work for your health:

* Plan ahead so that you have the desired food at hand when you need it. You don't want to be forced to choose from the limited selections in a vending machine, convenience store, or a randomly stocked refrigerator.

* Instead of munching absent-mindedly, make snacking a conscious activity. Ideally, this means eating without doing anything else at the same time (for example, watching TV). Otherwise, you can easily overeat without realizing it.

* Choose lower-fat snacks:

Try: Baked tortilla chips
Instead of: Corn chips

Try: Pretzels
Instead of: Potato chips

Try: Bagel with fat-free ricotta cheese or fruit preserves
Instead of: Doughnut

Try: Spiced applesauce
Instead of: Apple pie

Try: Nonfat frozen yogurt
Instead of: Ice cream

Try: Low-fat string cheese
Instead of: Cheddar cheese

Try: Soft pretzel
Instead of: Croissant

Try: Fruit smoothie or nonfat yogurt shake
Instead of: Milkshake

Try: Salsa
Instead of: Sour cream-based dip

Try: Frozen juice bar
Instead of: Ice cream bar

Try: Gingersnaps or vanilla wafers
Instead of: Butter cookies

Try: Angel food cake
Instead of: Pound cake

* Choose Nutrient-Rich Foods. These are foods that have the most nutrition, bite-for-bite, but are also low in fat. This is easy to do by choosing snacks from the daily food guide.