When I started eating healthier recently, I started having chicken or turkey sandwiches for lunch. And I'd buy large bags of Baked Lays and just snack on them with my sandwich. Well, when I realized that I was probably eating 300 calories of them with my sandwich, I cut back to just one serving. Then I switched to pretzels, thinking they might be a little lower in calories.

But I'm starting to realize that even those are just salt and empty calories.

So what's a good alternative to go with a sandwich?

I bring veggies - things like baby carrots, celery sticks, etc. I find that most bread/chip based products are too many calories for the nutritional bang for me.

It's not the same and sometimes I do "splurge" on a bag of baked chips, but overall I just sub crunchy veggies and deal with it.

I like sliced cucumbers myself. veggies FTW!

I love cucumbers! I remember when I was a kid eating them right out of my grandmas garden.

I could still eat a whole one (peeled) just at a sitting.

I eat the 'english' variety, with the thinner skin, whole - skin and all. I usually peel the common variety though.

I love cucumbers, but my wife isn't a fan. She is slowly developing a taste for them.

I get roasted edamame (soy beans) or have some almonds. Although 100 calories of almonds is 'only' 28 almonds or so Both are good sources of protein and fiber, and almonds have good fats.

Or sometimes I'll have an apple. But I almost always need some sort of dip for raw veggies, even though they'd probably be the healthiest

Almonds or an apple sound like a good idea. I also picked up a bag of little bits of broccoli, cauliflower and baby carrots at the store tonight. And some chickpeas, which I've heard you can bake with a little olive oil until they're toasted and they're supposed to be pretty tasty too.

Mmmm ... baked chickpeas are good, but for me they're almost as bad as chips. I'll eat an entire can's worth in a sitting. Then I'm right back at 300 cals of crunchy stuff. At least it's a bit more nutritious than chips.

lol I guess I didn't think about that. Maybe I'll try the raw veggies tomorrow.

Raw, crunchy vegetables or a seasonal fruit, like an apple, are some good choices. Or, how about just eating the sandwich--maybe make it a little bigger. I was always a person who had to have chips or fries with a sandwich. But then I realized it was mostly just out of habit than anything else. So, when I get a sandwich or a burger for lunch now, I just get the sandwich or the burger without anything on the side. Really helps to cut down on unnecessary calories.

The raw veggies weren't bad. I just made a small bowl of baby carrots, broccoli and cauliflower to snack on with my sandwich...