Annette
Choose Your Country Australia USA
Symply Slim & Healthy Mentoring Program

Healthy Snacking

Have you ever thought that what you eat in between meals could be your downfall? Those couple of bickies, that small block of chocolate or the kids little packets of chips could be creating those extra bulges or rolls around your waist? It may not be the meals that are causing the problems but instead all the little snacks consumed throughout the day that may have caused your weight gain over the years. I wonder are you hungry when you snack or is it out of habit, possible boredom, loneliness or are you feeding an emotion.

Some people eat like a rabbit during the day and then become ravenous in the evening, bingeing on high fat snacks. Such patterns can cause difficulty in controlling your weight. Snacking itself is not a problem, if anything it can help keep your insulin levels even but you need to be aware that all those bits and pieces can really add up. The best way is to plan your snacks into your day and make time to shop for the right type of snacks so you can embrace snacking as part of your weight loss journey, instead of hindering it.

Having healthy choices in the fridge/cupboard will help avoiding eating things that you really don't want.

Here are a few snacking tips:

- Biscuits, cakes, doughnuts, pastry, ice-cream, chocolate and chips have very little nutritional value, are very high in fat and kilojoules. They can also be too tempted when feeling hungry or upset.

- If you crave sugar, this could be a sign that your body may need protein, not a Mars Bar. Instead of grabbing chocolate, why not have a slice of low fat cheese on a rice cracker or Ryvita, and add some slices of tomato or Vegemite for variety.

- Have a healthy breakfast each day and avoid the morning munchies. Having breakfast will also kick start your metabolism for the day.

- Drink lots of water and stay hydrated. This in turn will stop you being confused with the signs of being hungry vs dehydration.

- For a sweet snack, have raisin toast or a high fibre cereal with skim milk - both are ideal for the afternoon or evening munchies. Diet yoghurt, low fat custards and diet jellies are good sweet snacks as well and the best snack of all is fresh fruit.

- Pretzels, rice crackers, roasted chip peas, nuts, low fat popcorn, celery and carrots are healthy snacks that have a bit of a crunch to them.

- Make a skim milk fruit milkshake, a great way to fill that empty tummy.

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After having 4 babies in 4 years I hit the scales at 108kg! With help from your fantastic recipes, exercise and changing my eating habits I was able to lose 39 kilos and maintain it. I now weigh 69kg. From a size 18 to a size 10 in 2 years, cholesterol down from 8.9 to 4.1 and a more confident, happier and healthier person.
Colleen
Greenbank Qld