The Importance of Snacking

Snacking is really important. It's how we know we're not depriving ourselves, restricting ourselves. If you 'ban' certain foods like sweets or breads, for example, one day you'll find yourself sitting on the kitchen floor with a package of Oreos or a loaf of Mrs. Baird's eating the whole package! Deprivation diets only work for the few weeks you force yourself to be on them. They're not the kind of permanent lifestyle change you want to make. At least they never worked for me or anyone I know. That's why snacking is important. I try to have a mid-afternoon snack every day.

But I've found there are a couple of keys to snacking. One is to pick something that will really satisfy you. If you're looking for a mouth-satisfying salty crunch, then having a banana isn't going to cut it. Think before you dive in. Really consider what you want at that moment and have it. Don't substitute. Healthy snacking is the wisest, but if you have something because you think it's healthy when you really want something else like a handful of cheese puffs, you'll end up eating both and then you'll go through all that kicking yourself because of no discipline, etc., etc.

The second key, of course, is keeping your snack portions under control. Look at the amount of calories you have decided to allow yourself for snacks. Whether it's a healthy handful of nuts or a bunch of M&M's, keeping it all under control is part of having your cake, as they say, and eating it, too. If it's a prepackaged food, look for the nutrition label and find where it gives the serving size. For most chips and crackers it's going to be about 1 ounce or 28 grams. Before you take that first bite, pour up the serving amount. And yes, crackers you eat before you fold the box shut, DO count. Close the box or package and put it away. Then and only then, should you start eating the snack. It's important to take your time and enjoy it. If you wolf it down, it won't feel like you've had anything and your brain will still be in search of... Remember, the battle you're waging here isn't so much with your stomach as it is with your mind. If the snack you've picked is say, an apple, take a quick glance at your calorie counting book for the size or weight of the fruit. If you've decided to allow yourself a maximum of 250 calories for a snack, and say the apple you've chosen is about 100 calories, have an ounce of cheese to balance it out. The snack will last longer that way and be more satisfying.

Above all, write down your snack on your daily food list and add it into your calorie count. As long as you respect your wants and needs, snacking can be an integral and successful part of your lifestyle change.

No Deprivation, Moderation

The wonderful thing about calorie counting is that you can basically eat anything you want. Nothing is off limits. Of course that's what also brings out its critics. They're afraid you're not smart enough to eat a balanced meal. But it's not that difficult to do. And you'll discover in doing this, that the more healthy variety you have, i.e. vegetables, chicken, pork, the more of it you'll be able to eat and the better you'll feel.

Yes, there is some measuring and counting. But that's really to help you get your portions under control. We have forgotten how much of anything we should eat because over the last 30 years our plates and our portions have grown to ridiculous size.

Looking at your calories for the day as a sort of bank account that you get to write 'food checks' on makes it easy. This diet doesn't say, "no carbs" or "no sugar" or "no fat," although admittedly, cutting down on such foods because they are high in calories, will help. This diet says if you can afford it with the calories you have available, you can eat it! In fact, it's important to eat a reasonable amount of carbs, fats, and sugar, else you will crave what you can't have, setting yourself up for an eventual day (or night) of binging. The body will have what it wants, whether that's bread or chocolate.

Remember, all diets work. They do. Even that awful cabbage soup diet so popular years ago and that all-rice-all-the-time diet I did in my teens. That's because any drastic changes to the body's system for 10-days or 2-weeks will make you drop a few pounds. The problem with fad deprivation diets is that you're not meant to stay on them. And once you're done and have lost the weight you wanted, you go right back to the old habits becuase you didn't learn to make better choices. That's fine if you want to continue doing that awful weight loss and gain see-saw with your body for the rest of your life. I personally don't.

The idea is balance. Moderation in all things serves us best, I believe, and that includes the types and the amounts of food we eat. The good news is that healthy equals more food in the long run.