How to Pick the Perfect Healthy Afternoon Snack.

Oh hey friends, it’s snack-girl comin’ atcha bright & early on a Monday morning!

This weekend was quite a busy one between apartment hunting, catching up with friends, working a bit, getting my fitness on, and prepping for the week ahead. Can I just tell you – packing my bag (as in my work bag + gym bag) the night before is SO stinkin’ helpful. It’s one less thing to worry about in the morning and that way I know I have absolutely everything I need to have a productive day. One of the things I’m hell-bent on packing is my lunch (because helloooooo buying lunch out every single day gets crazy expensive!). I’ve been doing this for years, even when I was in college and grad school, but I’ll literally fill my lunch bag to the absolute brim with my lunch and extra snacks. You know me, allllll about those snacks 😉

Since my schedule varies most days in terms of what I’m doing that day at work or afterwards, what’s in my lunchbag will look different, too. For example, if I know I’m taking an intense workout class when I leave the office, I’ll make sure I have a bigger lunch and a heftier snack with a ton of protein to get me through my workout and last me until dinner. If I’m planning on going straight home after work, however, or even just to the gym for an easier sesh, my afternoon snack may be a little lighter and just something to tide me over. Enter my new obsession: Shine Organics superfood pouches.

As if being able to get these babies at Target weren’t easy enough, they actually don’t need to be refrigerated, either. Do you know how hard it is to find a healthy, real-food snack that doesn’t need to go in the fridge?! That is literally HUGE and means that if you’ve got class for 3 hours and can’t pack 5 ice packs in your backpack because it’s already breaking your back (been there!), no worries. Or if you’re usually in your car going from place to place and need fuel on the road, NO worries. Shine Organics pouches taste shockingly good when they’re room temperature, and I’m not just blowing sunshine. I was kind of super impressed with the taste here, if I’m being honest!

I picked up two of their four flavors at Target when I was running other errands last week and here’s the deal: the pouches have an applesauce kind of texture (which explains why you can find them in the aisle with the applesauce…) and they’re packed with organic superfoods like chia seeds, real fruits, and real veggies. They range in calories from 70-130, which is part of the reason I love them so much. Like I said earlier, if I know I don’t need to fuel myself for a long afternoon, then I just grab one of the 90-calorie pouches called PURIFY, that gives me a dose of nutrients from the kale, parsley, chia, apple, strawberry and guava. I especially love this flavor since it’s not too sweet, but you can’t taste the greens at all…and that’s saying a lot from this parsley-hater!

On the flipside though, the 130-calorie pouch called CALM is amazing for when I want something a little more substantial or am craving sweets. This flavor was so good and reminded me more of a smoothie because of the banana and coconut. It also has pumpkin, passion flower, vanilla, blackberry and chia (of course!) so the flavor profile is kind of unreal. You know what, actually? I didn’t even think about it until now, but I bet this pouch would be AWESOME for dessert…

Although, that’s totally not the point of this post. The point is to tell you that when you’re picking the perfect healthy afternoon snack, you want to choose something that is not processed, has nutritional value (step away from the cheez-its my friends), and will give you the right amount of fuel you need. Like okay, did you know chia seeds contain omega-3’s, fiber, healthy fat, fiber, protein, potassium and calcium? The list actually goes on but YEAH. Those tiny little seeds are legit powerhouses. So including these in your afternoon snack is going to give you maaaaaajor benefits. And again, convenience is such a huge factor too, which is why people tend to reach for the not-so-healthy stuff. Shine Organics takes the effort out of making healthy choices so you can easily grab them on your usual Target run, keep them in your pantry or desk (or even car when the weather gets cooler!), and reach for them when you need that post-lunch snack.

For a coupon for $1 off your next 4-pack, head over here. And guys, I really hope you love these as much as I do. If you try them, let me know your favorite flavor!! I seriously can’t wait to try the other two 🙂

xo Jordan