5 Healthy Protein Snacks for Busy Moms

High in protein snacks are a great way to stay energized and feel full during a busy day. When you’re a busy mom on the go all day, it’s easy to forget to eat and enjoy the moment. You need to take care of yourself by making sure you eat the proper nutrients.

Out of the three macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, and protein) protein is the one you absolutely need. Having a diet low in protein is a recipe for disaster. There’s a reason very few successful diets are low-protein. It’s always low-fat or low-carb. The reason for this is because your body is made up of different proteins and is fueled by protein.

If you don’t get enough protein on a daily basis, you will feel tired, sluggish, and weak. Long-term you will begin to lose muscle mass and become sick more easily.

If it sounds like any of those effects apply to you, then there’s a good chance you are protein deficient. In fact, most people are protein deficient today. Especially if you’re someone with a tight schedule, such as a busy mom.

You can eat way more protein than you think you can, and there’s no negative side-effects to consuming too much of it (besides a stomach ache from eating too much food maybe).

Good news is there’s a great way to get a lot of protein in that’s tasty and quick.

Protein filled snacks

We put together a list of five different snacks for you to try out. Each one is PACKED with protein to help you get through your day feeling good and energized, while being convenient enough to carry with you in a small bag.

Some of these snacks are things you might have heard of before, but we tried to include a few snacks you might not of thought of as being high in protein. A couple of items are even vegan friendly protein filled snacks, an extra important consideration if you’re a vegan or vegetarian.

Nut Butters

Who doesn’t like nut butters? Now more than ever there’s so many different tasty kinds of nut butters to choose from. Good old peanut butter, almond butter, hazelnut butter, cashew butter, and more. And they’re all vegan!

What’s really awesome about nut butters is how you can eat the butter by itself, or pack some other little pieces of food to dip into the butter. Something low-cal like celery is great, or you can use whole grain crackers to give you the extra boost from the carbs.

Also, some grocery stores and convenience stores sell little packets of different nut butters now. So, you can get a little pack that will help make you feel full until you can get your next meal in.

Trail Mix

Well, here’s an old stand by.

Another great idea is to make your own trail mix. This way there’s less sugar and less of what you don’t like (there’s always one item in store bought trail mix you won’t like) and add more of what you do like.

For the most protein packed trail mix you can make, put almonds and pistachios in your mix. Those two are very high in protein compared to other nuts.

Shakes and Smoothies

This one will require a good blender or shaker bottle. We recommend a blender for shakes with the best consistency.

You can make shakes your own too.

If you can drink milk, a standard milk and high-quality whey protein will work just fine and top in at around 30g of protein per shake/smoothie.

If you prefer almond milk or soy, the protein will be less but you can compensate with a brown rice or pea protein which has more protein per serving than regular whey protein.

Although you shouldn’t be using shakes and smoothies as meal replacements long-term, they make great supplements to a healthy but busy lifestyle and diet.

Protein Bars

In terms of most protein on the go for your money, without a doubt protein bars are the best deal.

Not all protein bars are made equally, however. You want to find one low in sugar, with good ingredients and a lot of protein, and that tastes delicious.

Luckily, we live in a time of many great protein bars that you can buy even at regular gas stations.

One of the best protein bars we’ve tried is ThinkThin. It’s got a healthy mix of different proteins in it: soy isolate, caseinate, and whey protein isolate. Also, there’s no sugar added. And ThinkThink comes in many delicious flavors like peanut butter and chocolate! Can’t go wrong with that. Here’s a great review that talks more about it.

Cheese, Meat, and Crackers

Putting together whole grain crackers, and preferred meat and cheeses is a tasty way to eat on the go. Put together the three ingredients into a tupperware and you’re set to go.

You can experiment and try out some different cheeses and meats aside from the standard cheddar and pepperoni combo. You might just find a new favorite cheese or meat!

Final Thoughts

For a busy mom, you don’t have time to sit down and cook big pieces of steak or chicken multiple times a day. You probably find yourself outside of the house most of the time anyway. When you’re running around picking up kids, shopping for the house, and working you don’t have time to sit and eat a full meal all the time either.

Packing up some of the suggested snacks is the best way to get some much-needed protein in your diet, along with keeping you full and energized to take on your day.