The great snack debate, to snack or not to snack, that is the question? Believe it or not, snacks can help speed your weight loss.
Snacks have a bad reputation
Snacks have a bad reputation of adding excess calories, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Yes, consuming the wrong snacks or eating the wrong portion of snacks can easily derail your efforts to lose weight.
If you aren’t making the progress that you want or feel stalled, consider tracking what you eat for a short time to gain a realistic picture of what your calorie consumption is like and why you ate what you did. Add as many details as possible. Include serving size, time you ate, how hungry you were, and what you were doing/feeling when you ate. This exercise is always an eye-opening experience that allows me to adjust my habits.
Rather than present all sides of the debate. Could I suggest that you think about the following:
You may want to add a snack if
you’re overly hungry at mealtimes
you have a hard time fitting enough nutrition into your meals (fiber from veggies, calcium from diary, etc…)
You might want to eliminate a snack if
you’re not hungry at mealtimes
you eat for emotion reasons (distraction, bored, stress)
you snack because you’re tired or low on energy
You might want to change up your snack choices if
you still feel hungry after snacking
you snack on “trouble foods” that are easy to overeat
Watch for these “trouble areas” in weight loss snacking
Late night snacking
lots of times this is a habit or an attempt to satisfy a craving. If I feel hungry late at night I try to carefully consider if I’m just thirsty or bored. I stop and think about it, have a big drink of water and reconsider. If my stomach is growling and I feel really hungry then I try and have a healthy small snack. My go to snack late at night is a ½ of a protein bar.
Portion free snacking
I try very hard to not snack directly from the packaging. If I open a bag of something, I quickly take a healthy sized portion and set it aside, and then work very hard to only consume that set aside portion. Not always possible… but I’m trying!
Snacking instead of meals
This is one that is sometimes difficult with a busy schedule. But if you find that you are snacking instead of eating your meals, it’s a habit that you might want to consider changing. Snacks often don’t have enough nutrition to replace meals, also for me personally it feels like I am not taking the time to focus on eating well, which is an important part of my self-care.
Healthy Snack Ideas for Weight Loss
A healthy snack is one that gives you energy and keeps you satisfied until your next meal. The right snacking combo will keep your insullin and blood sugar even. I like to include a protein or a fat with a healthy carb. See this chart for some of my favorite combinations
I hope this post was helpful. If you’re just getting started and and want to know my best tips that helped me lose 60 pounds, read this article.
