Snack suggestions? your favs

Was reading another post and saw the discussion about pickles which
seemed like a good snack.

I am trying for a whole grain-good fiber-lean meat-small meals diet
that worked for me before but I have trouble with thinking of and
eating snacks that are good and good for you too!

Also anyone have experience/opinion about many small meals versus 3
meals a day???
Thanks

On Jun 18, 2:09 pm, DestinyintheDark wrote:
Was reading another post and saw the discussion about pickles which
seemed like a good snack.

I am trying for a whole grain-good fiber-lean meat-small meals diet
that worked for me before but I have trouble with thinking of and
eating snacks that are good and good for you too!

Also anyone have experience/opinion about many small meals versus 3
meals a day???
Thanks

How many calories per day are you consuming on average?

After losing around 10 lbs, I started having some minor trouble. It
seemed like somehow, I'd let some high-calorie "nothing to worry
about" snacks slip into my daily consumption, actually stimulating a
mild gaining trend. It was obvious that I was snacking because I was
genuinely hungry, not because I was bored, etc.

Based on that, I decided to restructure my meals, taking a few
calories from my lunch and opting for an even lower calorie meal, and
putting those calories into a MANDATORY snack in the evening, a few
hours after dinner.


Personally, I just found myself having a yogurt (Weight Watchers
yogurts in particular...it's a bit of a racket, but they're the only
100-calorie yogurt I can really find without a hassle) with granola
mixed in every single night. It wasn't much, but the granola gave the
meal some fiber, and forced me to slow down some and spread it out
more (I can seriously destroy a yogurt or any creamy-type snack in a
very short time).

As far as meals during the day, it makes NO difference to your actual
weight when you eat your meals. The only concern about WHEN you eat
is the fact that your hunger is based on your blood sugar. If you
don't eat often enough, it'll drop and you'll feel hungry (and weak
and with a headache if it's bad enough). So, if what you have works,
stick with that. If it doesn't, you can try either adjusting the
contents of the meals themselves, or breaking the meals up into more
small meals.

If you're trying to make your meals better, go for the green. Pretty
much any vegetable will always do. My favorites, in no particular
order:

Broccoli
Asparagus (with cajun seasoning is an easy way to tame me)
Green Beans
Sweet Potato (gotta be careful here, lots of sugary dishes)
Baked Potato (I avoid butter and sour cream altogether most of the
time. I really like the way Red Lobster and Bennigans salt the skins,
though, I might start imitating it some day. If you can't stand the
texture, pour a little water on top of the potato to make it a little
more palatable. It sounds ridiculous, but trust me, it actually does
improve it some)
Corn (on the cob, canned sweetened, whatever)

As far as snacks go, I try to make sure it's something sweet or
"junky" and not a "meal." I make it a real treat. I try to keep mine
within 100 calories, so I go for:

Yogurt (w/ granola)
Strawberries (the juicier the better, in my opinion. They aren't bad
half-frozen either)
These new 100-calorie snack packs. It's trendy, but some are actually
quite nice. Especially the chex mix ones.
Some diet-friendly frozen snacks. You can usually find a chocolate
popsicle or small icecream snacks for 100 calories.

Freezies. I don't really know what the 'proper' name for these is.
They're basically just sugar and colored water. You buy them in a
large (usually connected in a roll) bundle, take them home, and stick
them in the freezer. A few minutes later, you can chow on a tasty
slender piece of ice. I just happened to make the happy discovery
that these wonders can be found for 45 calories apiece. At that
price, I can have TWO and still come up under my normal snack!


Experiment, see what you usually like, and try to shrink the portion
and the calories. Eat what you like, but just be mindful of what
portions, brands, and methods of preparation go into it!

On Jun 18, 11:09*am, DestinyintheDark wrote:
Was reading another post and saw the discussion about pickles which
seemed like a good snack.

I am trying for a whole grain-good fiber-lean meat-small meals diet
that worked for me before but I have trouble with thinking of and
eating snacks that are good and good for you too!

Also anyone have experience/opinion about many small meals versus 3
meals a day???
Thanks

Apples, carrots, celery maybe. If I'm home, I usually eat some cereal.
My problem with snacking is that for some reason it is not satisfying,
but just makes me want to eat more, so I don't snack. Many people seem
to do very well with 6 smaller meals a day. I often eat my last food
for the day at noon and it is a very large meal, and my diet has been
successful. The point is that many ways work, but the concensus seems
to be the 6 smaller meals. Somehow people equate snacks with either
salt or sugar though. To me a snack is just food I would normally
include in my diet.

People talk about eating something every 3 or 4 hours to regulate
blood sugar among other things and to never get too hungry. This works
for some people, but for a healthy person, it doesn't matter much if
you eat 6 meals a day or 2. Your body does just fine. Afterall, most
people go from perhaps 8 PM until 7 AM without eating and often are
not hungry for breakfast. There is a huge psychological element to
eating...when, what, how, where, how much, and so people have very
strong opinions about it. Just count calories and stop eating when
you reach your quota. If somehow a small piece of chocolate or a small
bag of chips...essentially junk food....would allow you to feel good
and not wreck your diet, then I might even do that. I don't, simply
because the very small quantity of something is NOT satisfying to me
and afterward I would think what a waste. Instead that small bag of
those chips, I could have eaten two HUGE bowls of oatmeal, so I just
don't snack on what most people call snack food. dkw

On Jun 19, 3:39*am, " wrote:
On Jun 18, 11:09*am, DestinyintheDark wrote:

Was reading another post and saw the discussion about pickles which
seemed like a good snack.

I am trying for a whole grain-good fiber-lean meat-small meals diet
that worked for me before but I have trouble with thinking of and
eating snacks that are good and good for you too!

Also anyone have experience/opinion about many small meals versus 3
meals a day???
Thanks

Apples, carrots, celery maybe. If I'm home, I usually eat some cereal.
My problem with snacking is that for some reason it is not satisfying,
but just makes me want to eat more, so I don't snack. Many people seem
to do very well with 6 smaller meals a day. I often eat my last food
for the day at noon and it is a very large meal, *and my diet has been
successful. The point is that many ways work, but the concensus seems
to be the 6 smaller meals. Somehow people equate snacks with either
salt or sugar though. To me a snack is just food I would normally
include in my diet.

People talk about eating something every 3 or 4 hours to regulate
blood sugar among other things and to never get too hungry. This works
for some people, but for a healthy person, it doesn't matter much if
you eat 6 meals a day or 2. Your body does just fine. Afterall, most
people go from perhaps 8 PM until 7 AM without eating and often are
not hungry for breakfast. *There is a huge psychological element to
eating...when, what, how, where, how much, and so people have very
strong opinions about it. *Just count calories and stop eating when
you reach your quota. If somehow a small piece of chocolate or a small
bag of chips...essentially junk food....would allow you to feel good
and not wreck your diet, then I might even do that. I don't, simply
because the very small quantity of something is NOT satisfying to me
and afterward I would think what a waste. Instead that small bag of
those chips, I could have eaten two HUGE bowls of oatmeal, so I just
don't snack on what most people call snack food. dkw

Thanks for the ideas---found a thread about 101 ideas for fat free
cottage cheese toppings and some other stuff. I haven't counted
calories. Just been planning 3 healthy meals and some snacks but I
usually don't eat all the food I have planned. The worst is going to
bed hungry but I will get back in the groove.

On Jun 19, 2:39*am, " wrote:
People talk about eating something every 3 or 4 hours to regulate
blood sugar among other things and to never get too hungry. This works
for some people, but for a healthy person, it doesn't matter much if
you eat 6 meals a day or 2. Your body does just fine.

When the last Olympics were around I remember reading an article(s)
about the timing of foods.
They took surveys of athletes who ate regular smaller meals verses
those who ate larger once in awhile
meals or regularly skipped meals. The skippers and large meal people
carried the most bodyfat, whereas the
small regular meal people were much lower in bodyfat. So altho it may
seem its just about calories (altho of course
they do count) its also about how your body uses or stores those
calories and I think thats why
the 5 to 6 smaller meals a day has become a given method to
weight(fat)loss.


joanne