17 Feb To Snack or Not to Snack
Last week, we discussed goal setting around healthy habits and the notion of incorporating accountability to help you reach your goals and ultimately stick with them. While there are a variety of healthy habits to choose from in various ages and stages of life, one habit that we talk about often with people is snacking.
More or less meal times are standard for most Americans with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Despite the simple template, we have people who eat less often than others who add snacks into their day. So today, let’s talk about snacking.
First of all, a snack is a snack, not an additional meal – so for the most part we can figure out if our portion is snack-size by aiming for 100-200 calories and/or 15-20 grams of carbohydrate.
Next, we consider our goal for snacking. Is it to stay satisfied and not hungry? Or is it to fuel for a workout? Or stress or boredom?
Then, we look at the types of food we are snacking on. Is it packaged/processed or a whole food? Are we aiming for certain categories of food: protein, carbohydrate, veggies, etc. Working the buddy system with foods that primarily contain carbs can help us stay fuller for longer. For example: an apple with peanut butter or nuts or cheese or a jerky stick as opposed to the apple on its own. If we’re eating a bar of some kind, can we read the ingredients list? The simpler the better. Additionally, do we have time to get in some veggies with our snack – perhaps a smoothie or raw veggies to munch on?
All in all, snacking can be a great idea for some and a not-so-good one for others. It totally varies on the motivation behind snacking and the intake and physical activity balance for the rest of the day.
Interested in 5 anti-inflammatory snacks? Check out this article here.
Are you a snacker? If so, what are your go-to snacks? We’d love to know.
By Victoria Emmitt RD
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