Babe Daddy cracked up when I told him I’d signed up for the Snack Happy: 21 Days challenge**, in association with California Almonds.
‘What, you? Eat nothing but almonds for 21 days?’
Not quite hon, I’m not completely insane!
The plan is that I attempt to alter my snacking rituals by choosing something healthier instead. I’ve already made efforts to curb my chocoholic tendencies, a move that hasn’t gone unnoticed by my husband.
‘Chocolate misses you babe,’ he teased. ‘Chocolate put out an APB for you.’
Ha bloody ha. Just you wait, I’m going to become a lean, mean, almond munching machine before the end of June.
To be fair, it’s not that hard as I love almonds anyway and California Almonds are seriously some of the crunchiest, most delicious almonds I’ve tasted. In fact I can’t help but wonder if I’m being suckered into a lifetime addiction — after all, they say it only takes 21 days to form a habit.
Zoe Ball is the face (or mouth) of this campaign and after the 21 days, she says:
‘In a nutshell, I feel fantastic! I’ve got a lot more energy, so I’m going to keep up my new almond snacking habit.’
Almonds are one of those superfoods you keep hearing about — they can fight heart disease, diabetes and cancer, help weight management, give you lush skin and hair, provide extra calcium for your bones, the list goes on.
I’ve got a funky little tin to keep just the right amount of almonds in and I’m all set to go. Keep an eye on this post after 21 Days to see how things went.
The main obstacle I’ll have is the boys, who instantly pounced on a packet and declared them ‘the best almonds we’ve ever tasted’.
Sorry little dudes but they didn’t provide me with 63 days worth of almonds! Get your own.
THE VERDICT!
So, one week later, how did I feel about the 21 days of the #SnackHappy Challenge? I LOVE California Almonds and I actually looked forward to eating them daily. The snack tin is cute and compact, so it was easy to slip into my pocket on the school run (around the time my snack urges really kick in).
I didn’t forgo other treats entirely, especially at the weekend when we let all our standards slip. However it certainly made me more conscious of how much I was eating and what I was putting in my mouth. After snacking on almonds, I was much more likely to reach for a piece of fruit than follow up with something fattening.
I’m a slow eater anyway but restricting myself to a handful of nuts made me really savour each almond and not just munch on something out of boredom or stress. Interestingly, I found the kids also became slightly obsessed by my little tin of goodies.
Even though I often let them have a couple of biscuits as a tea time treat, both of them would actually prefer my almonds! Since I didn’t have many to spare, I would give them one or two and smile to myself as they crunched on almonds like I’d given them the best chocolate in the world!
I don’t tend to diet or weigh myself, but I’m hoping that adding this habit to my lifestyle has had a positive impact on my waistline. I did feel more energetic although, since running out of my stash, I’m suffering almond withdrawal symptoms!
**I was offered a gift voucher to say thank you for taking part in this challenge.
Sound right up my street… I’m a serious nut-a-holic so I’m definitely up for the challenge!
You should try it, these nuts really are tasty and another friend told me she eats almonds every day with a salad, so loads of options ;-)
I’m sure I have an Almond tin somewhere – goody bag item from some event or other. Not a huge nut eater but this challenge sounds interesting. Might give it a go!
Hey there! Yeah we all got them at last Britmums I think but they were empty! These days, mine is stacked with yummy almonds. Enjoying the challenge so far, join in :-)