Snacking is a controversial topic. Some say it’s great while others say it’s not. At the end of the day, snacking depends on your personal needs and your ability to listen to what your body essentially necessitates.
If you eat enough at each meal to sustain you to the next, snacking should be prohibited. Some days you’ve eaten enough at breakfast to hold you to lunch, and so on, and you really don’t need those extra bites. But, there are some days when this isn’t the case, and actually some cases where you feel better eating small meals throughout the day. Listen to your body and give it what it needs.
Snacking can be a great tool to keep you in check with your health and help you not make yourself sick with overeating. If you choose to snack during the day, stick with a Protein + Fiber rich combination of food. Some good snack options include:
- Apple with nut butter (1 small apple, 1 tablespoon of nut butter--almond butter/hazelnut butter/peanut butter)
- Yogurt with chia seeds and oats (1 small container of yogurt with 1 tablespoon of chia seeds and oats)
- Brown-rice cracker with avocado and lemon juice (1 rice cracker with 1/4 avocado spread on top)
- Turkey, mustard, whole-grain bread (1 slice of whole-grain bread, 1 slice of turkey)
The combination of Protein and Fiber will keep you full long, give you energy, and stabilize your blood sugar. Eating fiber slows down the process of digestion, which helps prevent spikes and dips in blood-sugar that lead to binges and hunger surges. Thus, snacking is a wonderful way to stabilize blood sugar, but make sure to stick with this good quality protein and fiber combinations.
It’s important to control portion size when it comes to snacking. Your snack should be about the size of the palm of your hand. For example, stick to one portion size of crackers, one apple, or one small container of yogurt, and a tablespoon of nut butter. Keep your snack considerably smaller than your meals; remember, snacking should help you avoid overeating, not promote it!
If you have any questions about snack ideas and appropriate portion sizes, feel free to contact me at thetaralist@gmail.com and visit TheTaraList.com. Remember, your health is in your hands and you can indeed unlock the tools to attain optimal wellness!
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