Hello Friends! From the start of my blog, I have tried to simplify what a healthy diet should look like. We have talked about what to eat at what should be your 2 largest meals, breakfast and lunch. Now I want to take some time to address a very important topic, snacking. There are many different opinions on snacking. Some believe that snacking is only going to lead to too many calories and therefore weight gain. Others believe that 3 meals and 2 snacks a day is the key to weight loss/maintenance. I personally believe that it is all dependent on your daily schedule, and that you need to eat every 4 to 6 hrs to increase your metabolism, maintain your blood sugar/energy level and achieve optimal weight.
The Keys to Snacking light and Snacking Right are the following:
1. It is all about the timing.
As I said earlier, you should eat every 4 to 6 hrs while awake. This means that the decision on whether or not to snack is all dependent on your daily schedule. If breakfast is at 7 am, then lunch should be between 11am to 1pm, a snack should be between 3pm to 5pm and then dinner between 7pm to 9 pm. If you are someone that stays up into the early morning hours then you could potentially be eating a snack again between 1am to 3am. This is why research shows that there is a correlation between being overweight and sleeping less than 6 hrs a night. It is because people have a tendency to eat more the longer that they stay awake. Also, if you are feeling tired all day you have a tendency to crave more Carbohydrates, which provide blood sugar for energy and release our happy/feel good hormones into our brain.
2. Choose the snack food wisely.
Make the snack count towards improving your health. Make your snack at least 4 grams of fiber per serving or more. A high fiber snack will help fill you up while lowering your cholesterol, lowering your weight and balancing your blood sugar. Snacks that are high in fiber also have a tendency to not be as calorie dense and are usually lower in fat and sugar. Also, use your snack to fill in any nutrient gaps that you have in your diet. For example, if you do not get enough calcium in your diet you could add a low fat dairy snack like yogurt or a glass of milk to your day.
3. Think of snacks as being mini meals.
The problem with snacking is the amount of extra calories that one can potentially add to their overall daily intake that they do not technically “count” as calories. As a result, I want you to think of your snacks as mini meals. A snack should be no more than 15-30 grams of Carbohydrate, 5 grams of fat and 7 grams of protein. A snack should be no more than 250 calories. Remember, in order to lose weight you will have to cut the calories back at another meal in order to have extra calories to snack. Just 150 more calories a day can put on an extra pound a month so you have to be careful!
4. Plan Your Snacks Ahead of Time.
You have to plan ahead if you are going to snack. This will stop you from getting caught some where eating an unhealthy, calorie dense snack that does nothing but add unnecessary calories to your diet. The best thing to do is keep healthy, high fiber snacks at work, in your car, in your house and in your reach. Decide when you are going to snack during your day so that you know which meal you need to decrease the calories at to make room for the snack. Planning ahead also helps you to make better choices because you have already thought out what you want to eat instead of letting the moment’s wants guide you.
5. Satisfy your craving.
Find a healthy snack option that will help satisfy whatever you are craving/wanting. I would rather you eat what you are in the mood for in moderation, than force yourself to eat something that you really do not want. I routinely tell my clients to take the sweets off of the peddle stool. Denying yourself what you really want only makes things worst. You have a tendency to overeat calories of another product to try to squash your craving of the product you want. Now days, there are many healthy snack options that satisfy your hunger for something sweet/salty while still being lower in calories and higher in fiber. Great examples are the Fiber One Brownies or Fiber One High Fiber granola bars.
What do you think? Can you snack light and start snacking right? Let me know what snack items you have found that you feel are healthy and satisfy your need for salty/sweet. Please feel free to email me or post any questions or comments you might have. I am here to help you accomplish your health goals.
XOXO! The Dietnista
