Snack Attack!!!

It’s said by so many people who are trying to lose weight, that often it’s not their meals that cause problems, it’s the extra’s in-between! Most of which can be high calorie, high fat and high sugar which can then set up the craving to have even more. Which then usually leaves you feeling guilty, disappointed in yourselves and frequently abandoning healthy choices for a week or until you attend your next weekly meeting.

When you consider the images above, it’s important to know what your weaknesses are!

Which type of food are you most likely to reach for and when! Are you a sweet or savoury person? Remember if you would normally reach for something savoury then a bag of sugar free sweets isn’t going to cut it!

If it’s mid morning, maybe its worth looking at your breakfast, is it filling? Satisfying? If not why not! You could change it!

If it’s always just a coffee and a biscuit mid-morning, do you need to change the drink? A biscuit doesn’t taste the same in a fruit tea and you can’t dunk a biscuit in a can of diet pop!

Even the sort of biscuits you have available can be a challenge, you are more likely to over indulge should it be your particular favourite ones!!

Or is more likely to be around 4 ish when the urge to snack hits?

Children home from school. they need a snack, a quick sandwich? And of course one for you while you’re making them, after all it’s an hour or 2 till you all eat together…….

Consider the alternatives, what other snacks could be chosen that might be a healthier option, after all, you ARE having your evening meal shortly, maybe a glass of water or a mug of home-made soup might tide you over??

Finally to the part of the day that causes the most issues with unplanned snacking, possibly the worst as it’s near the end of the day when you are least likely to be doing any activity to burn it off!

Having a dessert can help to put a full stop at the end of your meal, thereby giving the signal your eating time is over.

Or PLAN to include a supper, if it’s planned earlier in the day odds are it’ll be a wiser choice rather than a spur of the moment decision! If all else fails try cleaning your teeth, its another prompt to cease eating and everything tastes wrong!

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There are as many healthy snacks as there are unhealthy ones, the main difference is availability. Often the quick fix is to hand, whilst the wiser choice has to be bought in or prepared and that takes forward thinking. But if you know mid-morning/afternoons/evenings are your downfall and it’s every day it shouldn’t be a surprise! So be prepared!!!

A snack box is an idea that’s worked well with members in the meetings. You decide how much of your daily allowance you want to spend on snacks in advance and load it according – obviously your snack box would be fuller with low calorie treats but sometimes it can be more useful for you to put in it a controlled amount of something you fancy – remember a little bit of what you fancy! All you have to do is to bear in mind that when the snack box is empty that’s

We often ask our members who are finding snacking a challenge to use their food diary just to record snacks, usually that does make a difference as the only ones we tend to see are healthier ones, accountability does make a massive difference.

Lastly remember the habit of snacking isn’t necessarily a bad habit, the problem lies in what you are having as a snack and your control of the portion.

S. N.A. C.K

Something

Not

Actually

Counted

Kcalorie wise

JACKIE AND SONYA