Do you ever find that you make great, healthy choices at mealtimes; only to have it all fall apart at snack time? You start your day with a healthy breakfast and a salad for lunch, only to find that you are fatigued and craving snacks mid-afternoon? Or you make it to dinner, but then you are starving and find that you are snacking all night?
You are not alone. Knowing what to eat and when can be a real challenge. But with a few simple tweaks, craving unhealthy snacks can be a thing of the past. If you see yourself in this situation, try some of these strategies to support your healthy eating habits both at mealtime and in between.
Eat Enough of the Right Foods at Mealtime
We often have it backward on when we eat the majority of our food. We eat less in the morning when we are getting our bodies up and going, and then we eat more at the end of the day when our bodies just want to wind down and relax. We would do ourselves a favour and reduce our afternoon and evening craving if we ate more of the right foods earlier in the day.
Stay Hydrated
When we are dehydrated, we feel fatigued. And when we feel fatigued, we often grab a snack because we misinterpret our fatigue for hunger. So, the next time you want to grab a snack, have a glass of water first, then wait 15-20 minutes and see if you still feel hungry. Often the water can satisfy the body’s needs. And as a bonus, it will keep your skin looking its best!
Choose Satiating Snacks
When we let ourselves get too hungry, our blood sugar drops and we tend to grab something that will bring it back up quickly. Unfortunately, this sudden rise in blood sugar comes with a subsequent crash leading to further fatigue and cravings. By selecting snacks that are nutritious, delicious and satiating, we can keep our energy strong throughout the day.
Here are some great snack ideas. Some are just grab-and-go and others are linked to a quick, easy recipe that I have personally tried and loved!
- Nuts or seeds – either raw or roasted
- Hard-boiled eggs – easy to make ahead of time and have handy in the fridge
- Avocado – the healthy fat in avocado is satiating and energizing
- Salmon salad and julienned vegetables wrapped in a nori sheet
- Kale chips
- Homemade beef jerky – recipe to come! (store bought has too much sugar)
- Low carb flax bread – I make mine as sandwich bread in a loaf pan (greased with coconut oil) which needs a bit longer in the oven. I bake mine for 35 minutes.
- Sunflower seed crackers
- Vegetable sticks with a low carb dip
