Careful Snacking

Hi to the best women's networking group in Southwest Florida!

I had the opportunity to spend some time with some very young people the other day and I noticed something troubling. There didn't seem to be any set time for meals, it seems that a lot of young ones just go through the day grazing, like it is constantly snack time. Then I will hear parents say that their children won't eat healthy meals when they are prepared. Well, no wonder, just an hour before they had a sugary, fatty snack!

I did some research and it was noted that in the 1970's the average American ate 200 calories a day from snacks, in the 1990's it was 360 calories and now we average 500 snack calories.

What to do? The first thing would be to plan meal and snack times. Make sure meals provide a good mix of protein, carbs and fiber, then a small (100 calorie) snack about two hours after a meal will get you to the next one without being so hungry that you will eat anything you get your hands on.

Some examples of a 100 calorie snack can be: 1 med piece of fruit, a few cherry tomatoes with about an ounce of low-fat cheese, even a slice of whole-grain bread with a few thin slices of turkey breast. What can you do if you are too busy sometimes to plan for your snack times? Of course if you know me, my program has all the portion controlled meal replacements that are about 100 calories apiece. What is good about my meal replacements when using them as snacks is this: all of our products have about 100 calories, 10 grams of protein and are low-glycemic so they satisfy hunger. We have everything from brownies to honey-mustard pretzels, now that is what I call healthy fast-food!

Whatever you choose to do, try and get a game plan for meals and snacks on days when there is no time to prepare. When you make a meal, try and make extra to freeze so that you have a ready-made meal for your family on days when you just don't have the time. Try and keep low-sugar cereals and frozen fruit in the house for snack time.

So, whether you are out doing women's networking this week or are a stay-at-home mom, I hope you will make wise snacking choices!