Snack Time!!

Wait, wait - before you reach for the chips, salsa and margaritas!

We're talking a different type of snack here but it can still be exciting.  Especially when it's guilt free and contributes to your
overall healthy change in eating habits.

A typical day for me when losing weight started with breakfast about 6 AM with my "saved protein/dairy" item at about 10:00 AM followed by lunch around noon with snack time at 3:00 PM.  In that way I was never more than a few hours between meals.  Dinner typically was about 6:30 PM and I saved my dessert until about 9 PM.  This is a structure that I've pretty much maintained to this day because it works for me to eat "constantly"!

So what's in a snack?
Here's where you pick up another fruit serving and another healthy protein/dairy item.  A cup of yogurt with fruit might fit your bill or for me a piece of fresh fruit like a small apple or a handful of strawberries or whatever is low glycemic and in season is what I reach for.  A small wedge of cheese is great especially if it's low fat but other protein like low fat cottage cheese or sandwich meat as long as it's low fat works too.  If I'm really having a hard time I'll cook a zucchini since it's a free food and use 2 tbsp. of Parmesan on the top - it's filling and with the fruit is like another meal. 

I also meant to mention that I'm not a protein shake person but I know that there are some really great products out there that are meant for substitute lunch entrees that are protein loaded and there are some snack foods like that too.  Some of the mainstream junk food manufacturers have gotten on board with 100 calorie packs of things but again I'd get my portion expectations under control before I started adding back that stuff.  It's too easy to slide back into old habits. 

I also took some time in the grocery store this weekend and want to recommend you stay away from the "health" or "protein" bars in the cereal aisles.  Most of those have high carbs - like 29 gms and maybe 2 gms of protein - they can think they're healthy but not on my planet.  You'll want to go to the aisle that's usually somewhere near the pharmacy and has all kinds of protein bars, shakes, vitamin supplements and stuff like that.  The better choices are there but again read the labels.  If you can manage things like 10 gms of protein and 13 gms of carbs that's a great bar as long as the calories aren't ridiculous.

SNACK TIME
One serving of fruit
One protein/dairy item


There are also some free foods that can help you that are your typical diet things - for instance any flavor of sugar free jello makes a great addition to snack time - it doesn't count really in the calories you're consuming and there are tons of flavors.  You can have a fat serving once a day so one of mine was to eat a small portion of nuts but we're talking really small here like 4 walnut halves or 10 peanuts or 6 almonds.  You're still drinking water too and that will help fill you up.

The great thing is that you're pretty much putting whole foods or foods that are recognizable from nature into yourself and if you're eating all these smaller meals your blood sugar is staying relatively stable and the satiation from the protein is helping you to not feel like you're dieting.  These things have stayed with me since I lost the weight and is part of why I'm able to maintain my weight loss even though my menu now includes things that aren't on this list.  I've learned how to eat normally, how to add some splurge items and recognize the danger signs that I need to pay attention again.  The high protein, low fat, lower carbs and lots of fruits/veggies works though so hang in there.

I also want to take a minute to talk about expense because food costs are incredible and there are savings to be had here.  When I used to go to the grocery store, coupons in hand or to the places like Costco or Sam's, the cookie/bread/bakery/Pillsbury doughboy stuff always jumped into my cart.  Then there was the puddings for dessert or the cake mixes or the ice creams not to mention anything alcoholic while I spent as little time as possible looking at the fruit and veggies because while it looked good it was expensive and it always seemed like half of it went bad before we ate it.  Well D'uh!  My entire family was reaching for the goodies/snacks/breads, etc., first and even if I could get them to drink juice or milk instead of soda which was a rule in our home I wasn't spending the money on the right things and I was buying too much of it at once which resulted in spoilage.  When you stop and add up what you're spending on snacks that aren't healthy and how much you're spending on a healthy snack instead I think you'll see some savings.

Then there's the whole portion thing.  When I didn't pay attention to how much cereal I was eating and was using the bowl as the unit of measure I'd go through a box of cereal in a week or a week and half.  The box always said there was some ridiculous number of servings in it like 20 but not for me.  Well guess what - when you actually eat one serving at time the box lasts a long time - same thing with boxes of raisins, fruit, etc.  When you realize the five apples you bought will actually last five days they kind of get less expensive.  If you're only eating 5 medium strawberries at each serving or 15 grapes they last longer so the key is understanding how much you need and how much to buy at one time to help you manage the costs.  Maybe that's intuitive for you but it wasn't for me.

We'll talk about dinner next time. and guess what - I eat dessert every day!  So stay tuned and stay on track.  Your blood pressure, your joints and your cardiovascular system will love you never mind your brain.  After you've tried eating healthier choices if your brain feels any clearer or you feel better let me hear from you!  Success is contagious and I hope everyone catches it!

'til next time,
HV 13