When I’m out shopping or even just strolling around town, I’m always coming up with new ideas for low carb snacks. A lot of people tell me that this is the part they find more challenging than anything else, because all they see is the carby goodness they had gotten used to and they are having trouble thinking outside of the box. But with a little ingenuity their are thousands of low carb snacks that you could be enjoying instead of those killer sweets and bready delights. Here are just a few of my favorites (click to buy):

EAS AdvantEdge Carb Control Nutrition Energy Bar	Atkins Endulge Caramel Nut Chew
Atkins Advantage Chocolate Chip Granola Bars	Atkins Advantage S’mores Bars
Buffalo Bills Low Carb Lovers 6-Pack Gift Cooler (filled with 20 assorted packs of Buffalo Bills low carb meat snacks)	Buffalo Bills Low Carb Supreme Backpack Cooler (filled with 40 assorted packs of Buffalo Bills low carb meat snacks)
Carba-Nada Low Carb Egg Fettuccine Pasta	Dreamfields Healthy Low Carb Penne Rigate Pasta
Hi-Lo Vanilla Almond Low Carb Cereal	7″ La Tortilla Factory Garlic & Herb Smart & Delicious Low Carb High Fiber Tortillas
Sugar Free, Low Carb, Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies	Sugar Free, Low Carb Belgian Dark Chocolate Almond Clusters
Mini Crisps - Aged Parmasan Gourmet Cheese Crisps	Just the Cheese, Popped White Cheddar
Alaska Smokehouse Wild Salmon Stix	Alaska Smokehouse Smoked Pepper Garlic Salmon
Sugar Free, Flourless Low Carb Chocolate Chip Cake	Pork Chocs - Sugar Free Milk Chocolate Dipped Pork Rinds (Seriously–try them!)
Big Train Low Carb Chocolate Chip Brownie Mix	Low Carb Cranberry Almond Biscotti By Peggy’s Biscotti
Sugar Free, Carb Free Marshmallow Cream	Sugar Free All Natural Belgian Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Just the Cheese Pizza Mini Rounds	Organic Pumpkin Seeds Dry Roasted Spicy
Kay’s Naturals Non-Gluten Protein Chips, Chili Nacho Cheese	New Hope Mills Low Carb Pancake & Waffle Mix

The thing to think about is just what experience you are looking for. Don’t think about the food itself, because that’s where you can get stuck. But if you think of the eating experience, you’ll soon find yourself overflowing with low carb snack ideas.

For example, the other day I was walking down the street and I saw someone eating an ice cream cone. It made me want one really bad; after all, it was a hot summer day, and what could be more luscious than a creamy, crispy ice cream cone? But instead of just lamenting the fact that I couldn’t have the ice cream without breaking my diet, I started instead trying to think about what type of low carb diet snacks I could put together that would have a similar taste and texture.

I always keep some carbsmart low carb ice cream on hand, because that’s just a must have snack for low carb dieters. But I also wanted something nice and crispy to go along with it. I looked through my cupboards and found that I had some cinnamon almonds that I keep around even though they have just a few more carbs than I wish they did (still only about 7 per serving), and I choped them up a little bit coursely to spread out over the ice cream. To stick them on there, I used some delicious sugar free chocolate sauce.

The result was a totally satisfying low carb snack idea! You can apply this sort of logic to any type of food you are craving. Don’t try to directly replace the snack food items that you are coveting. Instead think about what are the basic flavor components and what are the basic textural components. You may not be able to find low carb tortilla chips (but if you shop at Trader Joe’s try out their spicy flax seed chips, which weigh in at a mere 9 carbs!), but you can certainly find something that is crispy and crunchy and savory. That’s the basic idea behind the way that I formulate all of my best low carb snacks.