5 Healthy and Convenient Game Day Snacks
Struggling to find easy, healthy, quick, and convenient snacks to pack for game days or dance competition? As dancers and cheerleaders we need healthy snacks that we can:
Conveniently pack in our game day dance bags (and sometimes they can get pretty full!)
Easily snack on throughout the game (even with some lipstick on!)
Comfortably snack on without making a mess (we have important uniforms to keep clean, of course!)
Snack on throughout high-intensity cardio environments - keeping our snacks light and simple.
After almost a decade of games, dance practices, and dance competitions - this list is created solely around our profession as pro cheerleaders and are some of the top choices for healthy snack ideas for dancers!
GRANOLA BARS AND PROTEIN BARS
Because you can never go wrong with a small, easily portable, and napkin-free tasty snack that can take care of a growling stomach! They are easy to eat, convenient to pack in your cheer bag, and they are nutritious!
Although splurging on a desert-type granola or energy bar is not the worst for a game day full of dancing and cheering, you want to be conscious of the types of bars that you are fueling your body with.
Not all bars are created equally. Some being loaded with more sugars than a candy bar, low in fiber, and lacking the protein we thought we were sneaking in.
Look for healthy granola bars and healthy energy bars that are low in sugars - unless they are naturally occurring sugars (such as fructose and lactose.) Make sure to check the ingredients label before just picking the first brand that you see on the shelf.
No need to go searching far and wide for the energy and granola bars that fit in with our ideal diet, here are a couple of our top picks:
My absolute favorite Quest bar! Not too sweet, yet still drool worthy!
This energy bar is packed with protein cookie crumbles and a sweet-tasting coating:17g protein, 3g net carbs, and 1g of sugar. Does it get better?!
A favorite among the granola bars (because well, most are packed with 6+ grams of sugar!)
A delicious, naturally flavored bar with 5g of sugar, 6g of protein, and a good source of fiber.
DRIED MANGO SLICES
Dried mango is another great, healthy snack to bring along in your dance bag. They are easy to pack, snack on, and they are highly nutritious.
Since dried mango can be high in naturally occurring sugars already, it is important to make sure you are buying the right kind of dried mango slices to add to your snack list.
Here are some buying tips for getting the most nutritious choices:
Find a brand with all-natural ingredients and where mango is the only ingredient.
Read the ingredients label to make sure there are no added ingredients or juice concentrate.
Avoid candied dried mango (an added sugar coating).
Here are a few of our favorite go-to dried mango brands:
“Dried mango provides vitamin C, which promotes healthy skin and a strong immune system by acting as a powerful antioxidant — a compound that fights free radicals to protect you from cell damage and chronic diseases (5Trusted Source).”
In a hurry? The best spots to pick up unsweetened and natural dried mango slices: Trader Joes, Sprouts, and Whole Foods!
In-case you do not have the time to order online, go pick up a bag!
ENERGY BALLS
Energy balls tend to be a staple among dancers! They are small and easy to eat, while giving you all of the nutritional value you need to keep up your stamina during practice and performances.
Although you can purchase these pre-made online - they are super easy to make at home with simple pantry ingredients you most likely always have in the kitchen. Plus they are a fun way to prep for a big game and dance performance! There are so many different recipes that you can find online, simply consisting of sometimes, no more than 5 ingredients.
They are easy to roll up and make into small bite size energy balls or you can save some time by pressing the mixture into a baking dish covered with parchment-paper and cut them into energy bars.
Here are a few of my favorite quick and easy, yet delicious dancer friendly recipes:
No Bake Energy Bites by Cooking Classy
Or make it easy and buy them pre-packaged & ready to throw in your bag:
RICE CAKES
You can never go wrong with packing a couple of rice cakes in your dance bag as an easy and healthy snack. They are low in calories, fat, and offer a healthy alternative to other crunchy snacks you may be thinking about packing. You can even make them extremely nutritionally filled by added toppings or spreads, such as a nut butter.I pack them without any toppings but generally go for the flavored ones! (It is about easy and non-messy snacks, after all!)
Make sure to check the ingredients list to make sure you are purchasing rice cakes that are not packed with extra sugars and so forth.
Here are a few go-tos that you can buy online or look out for next time you go on a hunt for rice cakes at the store (but you really can not go wrong with any brands):
MULTI-GRAIN CRACKERS
Multi-grain crackers can be a great, quick option for a dance snack. When we say crackers, we do not mean just any kind of snacking cracker that you would find on the grocery store shelf. As with all of the other snacks listed above, you want to be health conscious - checking the ingredients labels.
Ideally you want to go with crackers that have the least ingredients and no refined grains. You always want to gravitate towards options that are higher in fiber, low in sodium (especially since our goal is to also stay hydrated), and of course low in sugars!
Here are some go-to nutritious crackers that make the list for healthy snacks to buy:
Follow us on INSTA for further dance and cheerleading food/snack INSPO!
Let us know in the comments if there are dance snacks and dance snack ideas for games, practices, and competitions that you like - that we did not mention in the article!
XO,
The Sideline Secrets