Well that was nice, went out with just the husband last night as both kids had ‘plans’ (one of the major advantages of the kids growing up!) and I was having a monster pasta craving so it was very much time to scratch that itch! For the record I also had a cheeky Prosecco sharpener and then two glasses of pinot grigio with my meal, not my fave Italian wine but they only had two white wines by the glass (weird!) so it was either that or a big, ballsy chardonnay. I try and stick to the 80:20 rule and this was most definitely my 20!
Thankfully I didn’t pay too much for the booze this morning, well nothing some healthy pancakes and a strong cup of coffee couldn’t deal with. Quick pancake tip – I make mine just with an egg and a ripe banana – squish up the banana, whisk the egg, combine well, plop palm-sized dollops (all the technical language today!) in a hot non-stick pan for a few mins on each side and there you have it - the healthiest pancake you’ll ever eat. Very nice topped with fresh fruit.
And now on with the blog …
I’ve had a couple of people ask whether snacking is a good thing or not so here's the StealthHealth why, when and what of snacking:
Why snack? Well the obvious answer is because you’re hungry but this assumes that we are properly tuned into our body’s hunger signals. This is where Eating with Awareness (see post DAY 2) comes in; are you really hungry? could you just be thirsty, bored, needing a break? Assuming you aren’t an athlete, a child or have any medical conditions then snacking is probably not necessary from a purely nutritional point of view, if you are eating 3 good meals a day. That doesn't mean however, that you won’t feel hungry in between meals. I seem to have some days when I am hungrier than others (it can be hormonal) but I try not to snack on a Light Day (see post DAY 17) because those are the days I’m making weight loss a priority and I want to save all my cals for meals. Of course, you could choose to have a number of snacks in place of a meal and still achieve a calorie deficit.
When to snack? I tend to want a snack:
after exercise
when the afternoon munchies hit
if I get a sweet craving after dinner
I suspect everyone is different in this regard so it’s worth identifying when you have your snack attacks and develop some Food Strategies (see post DAY 22) for dealing with them. Otherwise it's tempting to snuffle around in the fridge or reach for the nearest doughnut.
What to snack on? This depends on your hunger level and what other foods you have eaten that day, but it’s a good idea to make your snacks satisfying so they keep you going until your next meal. For a list of my fave snacks see also the post from DAY 22.
Sorry about all the references to earlier posts but I don’t want to repeat myself and I suspect that people who have subscribed recently may have missed some of my earlier ramblings. I’ll be back tomorrow with my DAY 28 round-up and a little taste of things to come on StealthHealth, and if you make those pancakes - enjoy!
Sam xx
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Yes absolutely. It totally depends on your goals and lifestyle. If you are trying to lose weight then snacking may make it hard to achieve a calorie defecit so you need to build snacks in to your total food spend. If you are very active or have a high metabolic for example then snacking is a good idea. So individual context is needed.
Whether one needs to snack or not surely depends on how much one eats over the rest of the day. I eat 3 meals and 2-3 snacks, but I build them into the day. If I didn't include the snacks I wouldn't be eating enough and would lose serious weight, which I don't need to do. I guess I could eat more at meals instead, but I prefer to spread it out. I successfully lost weight eating this way and have maintained it for over two years, so am not inclined to alter something that's working well for me.