Do you get lost with choosing small meals often?
It’s the challenge of nutrition that we must master, and it’s all down to personalising your nutrition goals and understanding the energy requirements of your body. It doesn’t help that the word snack has a bad connotation.
What is a snack?
Snacking is the small meals that we have in-between the largest meals, typically they can be around 200 calories and keep us going until the next meal.
Why are you snacking?
Is it because your meal didn’t give you adequate energy?
For example, good fats such as nuts & avocado give you a slower release of energy as compared to highly processed foods containing sugars like, for example, a biscuit, that may leave you feeling hungry again shortly after.
Are your meal sizes adequate for the energy your body needs?
If your goal is weight loss its very easy to reduce portion sizes and increase exercise and then leave your body deficient of the nutrients it needs to fuel you, this is not good.
If you procrastinate, are bored, or exposed to social pressures in your life it’s easy for you to be lead into temptations that don’t serve you well nutritionally. Or maybe, you just hadn’t considered the impact of those nights of less than 7 hours sleep which create the cravings. These are just some examples of why you may not be able to wait for that next meal.
So, wouldn’t bigger meals less frequently be better?
Ultimately you should all aim to eat full & nutrient dense meals that contain a great balance of good fats, high-quality proteins and vegetables that provide a wide range of nutrients including carbohydrate content. If you find that we are hungry before the next meal the most important step is what we decide to eat.
You can ‘top-up’ with something that serves your body well and provides a valuable nutrient source, and therefore promotes good health, better focus & energy, or we can fuel with something that still leaves your body void of essential nutrients, despite your tummy feeling full in the short term.
Your body is a uniquely created structure that, if listened to, will tell you what it desires!
A constant need to snack is the first sign that there is an imbalance.
Start by eating smaller meals that offer greater nutrient density and you will be off to a great start!
Contact me to get high level personalised support for your nutritional needs.