How to Snack Without Worrying About Your Weight

What do you mean by a snack?
Although there are several definitions given for a ‘snack’, there is no approved definition yet. According to a review done by the Centre for Food Research (CFR), Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, a ‘snack ‘ is defined as ‘any food taken out with a regular mealtime (namely breakfast, lunch and dinner) or snack item taken in place of such meal.’

Nowadays the majority of the population, especially the teens, think about their weight. They worry about their appearance rather than their physical health. So, they follow various diets and most often the diets do not work. In fact, some result in a weight gain instead of losing weight.

However, studies have shown that you can accommodate to snack daily even while you are on a diet plan but remember this can only be done if you are following a low calorie diet. Studies have shown that a low calorie diet which included a daily dark chocolate snack or a non-chocolate snack resulted in a decrease in body weight, hip circumference, waist circumference, fat mass, and body fat percentage.

This majority of people do not follow a well-balanced diet and hence feels hungry towards the evening and at mid night. When this happens, what they do is have a small snack. What can a small piece of chocolate do to my weight, right? This is how they think.

Most of us crave fore snacks in the evenings and late in the night. The one and only reason behind this is that what we eat for our breakfast and lunch is not right. A well-balanced diet should contain just the right amounts of proteins and healthy fats. They will improve your satiety and give you a feeling of fullness a lot better than the foods which with carbohydrates and sugars.

Eat a well-balanced meal at regular intervals to avoid the need of an evening or mid night snack. The regular meals you take are all that matters.

Pick the right snack
There are 2 reasons why most people snack – one is, it helps us to feel full and also provides us energy. So, whenever you feel hungry or get the craving to bite something, choose something healthy, something rich with fibres such as a fruit like a banana. A banana will make you feel full instantly and also energize you. Another snack you can try is high protein yoghurt which does not have a lot of sugar and will also make you full.

Avoid sugary snacks – They just make you hungrier!
When I say a snack, most of us refer chocolates and other sweets as snacks. This is what we all crave fore. Isn’t it? But did you know the amount of sugar loaded in one just chocolate bar? Yes, it is quite a lot more than you imagine. They do make you full quickly but only for a small time. As soon as you eat something sweet, your blood sugars shoot up and depending on this, the insulin levels also rise up in order to normalize the sugar levels. This is a rapid process and therefore quickly brings down your sugar levels and sometimes may even be lower than normal. This is known as a hypoglycaemic rebound. Therefore sugary foods will only make you more hungry.

Read More: Healthy Eating Plan

Choose your snacks according to the exercise you do.
If you are in the gym doing weights to improve your muscles, your one and only target should be to improve the muscle mass. For this, you need proteins. So, after a good work out, what you really need is something rich in proteins like a protein shake. So decide the right snack depending on the workout you do.

The golden rule: Never ever ever snack before bed time.

The reason most of us feel hungry before bed is that we do not have the regular meals properly. There are several reasons why you should not snack before bed time but the main reason is that snacking affects your quality of sleep.

If you get your 3 main meals right, you won’t get hungry at night.

Conclusion
Snacking is considered as a predisposition to being overweight and obese. Most people following a diet avoid snacking and reduce the amount and frequency of meals they take in a day. Studies have shown that it is possible to snack while maintaining your weight. A snack is not always something sweet or oily, it could be something that is healthy and this is what’s best. Avoiding sugary snacks and taking more fruits as a snack will help you to maintain your weight while snacking. Additionally, choosing the right snack and avoiding a snack just before bed time can also help you to maintain your weight.

References
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8968697
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/health/how-to-snack-without-worrying-and-get-away-with-it-too/