Healthy Eating: What about snacks?
To have heavy snacks in between two meals will definitely mar our healthy eating plan. We plan out a very carefully calibrated low-fat, fiber and protein rich meals for our lunch and dinner. And we start enjoying such healthy meals. But when it comes to snacking, all our plans go haywire. We tend to think that with such a carefully planned main meals, we can afford to relax our norms while snacking. But we can have alternatives for snacking also.
Look for the alternative
Our longing for salty chips can be satisfied with a handful of nuts instead. The yearning for sugary candy or cake can be met with apples or bananas. Our craving for carbonated drinks can be satisfied with cold yoghurt. Ice cream consumption can be avoided with whipped banana yoghurt.
Why not go for small and frequent meals?
Having smaller and frequent meals are the ideal solution for in-between snacks. Instead of larger three meals a day routine, we can try for a number of smaller meals during our waking period. We can have a two to two and half hours gap before every small meal. That adds up to a total of 5 to 6 small meals a day. Fine. This will take care of our urge to eat between large meals, isn’t it? The stomach load will be lighter; the pressure on the bowels will lessen. Moreover, the expectancy that we are anyway going to have our small meal in about two and a half hours will deter us to think about any other food stuffs. Smaller meals should be like light snacks – one bread toast, or a apple and two bananas, or a bowl of fruit salad, or banana and yoghurt shake etc
Drink plenty of liquids
Drinking plenty of liquids will not only keep our hunger away, but these liquids will also help detoxify our system. One stays healthy and radiant. Fresh fruit juices, yoghurt shakes, smoothies etc. It is better to avoid caffeine rich brews such as coffee etc.
Snacking and viewing Television
Television viewing and snacking go hand in hand in so far as comfort levels go. We don’t tend to check the quantity and quality of our snack intake while deeply engrossed watching our favourite sports program or a reality show. This is where our carefully calibrated healthy eating habits go awry. Butter-free pop corn or nice bowl of fresh fruits is the ideal accompaniment while enjoying your favourite program on television.
Having low calorie and protein rich snacks in between major meals is a very welcome addition to the overall healthy eating strategy. Nature has provided a huge repertoire of foods and fruits to choose from. It will be an exciting habit to look for alternative foodstuffs that keep us stay healthy. Snacking is good, good snacking is better, better snacking is the best!
No comments:
Post a Comment