SNACK

I find that I snack a lot. What are your suggestions as to how I can tide myself over between meals?

 

If you're trying to reduce the amount of food you eat between meals, there are several things to consider.

 

Snacks should provide a balance of nutrients

 

The first is to make sure that your meals contain an appropriate amount of protein, fiber, and accompanying nutrients. This will help to satiate your appetite so that you will be less hungry between meals.

 

You also want to make sure that your meals don't contain an excessive amount of fat or simple sugars. Excessive fat can slow down your digestion to the point where it takes too long for you to derive energy and nourishment from your food. Excessive sugar can digest too quickly and leave you too quickly ready for more food.

 

Timing of snacks

 

You'll also want to ensure that you don't wait too long between meals because it's difficult to avoid overeating if you go longer than four to five hours between meals. It is best to have smaller meals more frequently throughout the day rather than larger ones two to three times a day (please remember this means mini-meals filled with nutrient-rich foods rather than eating nutrient-depleted junk food snacks every several hours). If small frequent meals won't work for your schedule, you'll want to ensure that the snacks that you eat between meals are filling and nutritious.

 

Vegetables and dips make healthy snacks

 

Vegetable crudités are some of the most healthy and easy snacks to prepare. Cut up small pieces of your favorite vegetables and enjoy them with a small amount of dip made with extra virgin olive oil or low-fat yogurt. I like the idea of a low-fat yogurt since it boosts up the protein content and increases the "holding power" of the snack. Bean dips would work in this exact same way, and are even higher in protein and fiber than dips made using yogurt. Small amounts of nut or seed butters-like almond butter or sesame seed butter (tahini)-would also help to build the fiber and protein content of a dip as well as bring small-to-moderate amounts of dietary fat into your snacks. From my perspective, when kept moderate, this added fat can be a good thing for slightly slowing the digestive process and stretching the snack's impact. But it's also important not to overdo things, and push your snack calories upward all the way to meal level.

 

Ideas for vegetable selection include (but are definitely not limited to) zucchini sticks, baby carrots, bell pepper slices, and cauliflower and broccoli florets. Even though it is not highly time-consuming to do the cutting and chopping of these vegetables yourself, you might want to consider the added convenience of pre-chopped and pre-sliced vegetables. Many stores offer organically grown, pre-cut vegetables that could provide just the right amount of extra convenience to get you going on some improved snack options. In any case, you'll get a variety of nutrients from these vegetable-plus-dip combinations and have your appetite satisfied by a reasonable number of calories.

 

Other considerations

 

Also, design your meals so that you experience them as pleasurable and relaxing (for example, eat more slowly, light some candles, and unplug the telephone). If meals are a chaotic experience and not enjoyable, you are less likely to be satiated both physically and emotionally and you will more likely want to eat again soon afterwards.

 

I'd also like to add one last set of observations about individuals who find they snack too frequently. It's important to think about the pattern of your entire day in terms of enjoyment and activities. You may or may not want to make healthy snacking the solution to a daily pattern that just isn't working for you in terms of balance and enjoyment. In some cases, planning a larger, more nourishing meal before a difficult snack period time-and then shifting activities to turn a former snack period into a period of time focused on other enjoyable pursuits-can be a more effective way of "tiding yourself over" than experimenting with your snack content.

 

 

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