Strategic Snacking

A key to a healthy lifestyle is strategic snacking. Snacking has been shown to help with weight management, prevent overeating at your next meal, helps to keep your energy level high all day, helps you focus better in class and subsequently scoring higher on tests. Snacking has also been shown to be successful to help control blood sugar levels for those with diabetes. 

A healthy snack should contain:

• 100-200 calories
• 5 grams protein
• 15-30 grams carbohydrate
• 3 grams fiber

It is also important to choose items that are low in fat and sodium. Remember that snacks are meant to be a SNACK...not a meal. Use my 5 strategies to smart snacking to be a smart and effective snacker:

1. Check your HUNGER level. Are you actually hungry? Or are you tired? Bored? Lonely? Happy? Or did you just see a food commercial on TV? If you are not hungry, skip the snack until you are.

2. Check your FLUID level. Are you thirsty rather than hungry? It is easy to confuse the signals for hunger and thirst. Try drinking a glass of water before you dig into a snack.

3. Prepare healthy snacks in advance. Cut up fruit and vegetables and put them in “grab and go” baggies in the fridge. Make your own trail mix – you can control the ingredients and bag them in small zip lock baggies. Being prepared will prevent you from purchasing something unhealthy when a hunger attack strikes.

4. Satisfy your cravings with healthier options. Healthy snacking does not have to be boring. Try to choose items that are lower in fat and sodium. Check out some healthy substitutions:

Instead of….                        Try…                                                                        

Chips                                    Pretzels with spicy mustard

Pop Tart                               Rice cakes with peanut butter and raisins

Ice cream                              Low fat ice cream or yogurt ice cream

Chocolate bar                       Sugar-free hot chocolate

5. Remember PORTION CONTROL. What looks like a small package of cookies or chips can contain 2 or more servings — which means double or even triple the amounts of fat, calories, and sugar shown on the label. Make sure you look at the serving size on the package or try taking 1 handful of chips or pretzels and then putting the bag away. This will limit your temptation to go back for more.