When to eat snacks: avoid weight gain

I was thinking to talk today about snacks … or cravings…. or whatever we call them. These are healthy (or less healthy) habits that are part of our daily diet. We may know that it is recommended to have up to 2 snacks a day, with 3 main meals, under normal physical activity (30-60 min per day). In different situations, when we can no longer run, go to the gym, or no longer have the same level of physical activity we were used to, what is preferred to do?

Let's start with the technical part, generally valid…

What is a meal and when do we have a snack?

Even a hazelnut is considered a meal. Why? Even though we are talking about a main meal, or a peanut, the body begins its digestion process once we prepare to eat the food . The brain picks up the information just before the food reaches the mouth and prepares the body for what follows.

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Therefore, it is preferable to have snacks in an organized manner, 2-3 hours after a main meal : either after breakfast or lunch, and to eat snacks with a lower caloric intake than a usual meal - 10-15% of total daily calories. Now, our body's daily energy needs drops with the decrease of physical activity, which is part of the equation. And if you are curious about your total daily energy needs, but approximately , go here.

If the only occupation we have now is to go to the fridge and back, we must automatically reduce the number of calories we consume and not eat the same amount of food as before, or even more, due to lack of occupation or stress. So, in case of sedentary lifestyle, it is preferable to skip snacks, or have a low-calorie snack, such as a fruit, some vegetables with a little hummus, or yogurt.

Why do we tend to eat more than necessary and how does this affect us?

We eat more than we need when we are stressed, when we hide a dissatisfaction, or some personal needs that we do not want to recognize. This is known as emotional eating !

If we snack all the time, the first detail we notice is that we gain weight . Extra pounds are not a normal thing for a person, but a modern disease that can be solved, in more severe cases, only in parallel with a psychologist. Attachment to food can often reveal internal trauma and problems that we are not aware of.

Shall I say that too much food also leads to premature aging and fatigue ? This is because we do not allow the body to breathe, detoxify and regenerate. When we ingest food, the body sends 60% of the body's blood to digestion , the remaining 20% remaining in the brain and only 20% is free to focus on other basic functions: immunity, regeneration, etc. Snacks in the evening, before bed, or even at night, when the body needs to regenerate, are extremely harmful to the body.

Recommendations

- When you're hungry and it's not meal time yet, try eating an apple or other fruit . When you are hungry, you would eat anything! When you only have an emotional need, you will clearly refuse the apple and turn your attention to the food you crave for, which brings you pleasure. This is an easy process by which we distinguish hunger from cravings;

- Drink tea and sweeten it with a little honey / syrup if the sweet tooth is persistent;

- Try to have dried fruit in the house (be careful, not candied = sugar ) and eat only a handful of them. Be careful, they are also high in calories, and too many are not recommended;

- Eat hydrated nuts / seeds (almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, etc.). But, like dehydrated fruits, they are high in calories and we need to reduce consumption to one handful a day;

- Don't eat snacks if you're not hungry , just for the sake of eating, especially if you're not physically active. When you see yourself heading to the candy closet or the refrigerator, stop for a moment and ask yourself if this is really what you want and how it will make you feel after. If, however, you are hungry, choose a snack rich in nutrients (fruit, yogurt, an avocado toast, chia pudding, even a piece of dark chocolate) and not empty calories (biscuits, pastries, other sweets )

- Use a food anchor . Choose 1-2 fixed days a week (eg, Tuesday and Saturday) in which to taste "sinful" foods. This is a procedure often used for people who suffer from binge-eating , at least until they have a healthy relationship with food and, above all, with their own person;

- Meditate, exercise, listen to quality music, or do an activity that brings you a good mood from somewhere other than the pleasure of taste.

Sources::

• Cum împaci slăbitul cu poftele alimentare fără să te frustrezi?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a441wegXmDY
• Digestion: From Brain to Bowl: https://www.stephgaudreau.com/digestion-from-brain-to-bowl/

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Lavinia Dinca

Nutritionist