food to nibble

[richibeno]

hi guys my trouble is crisps and cholate when im bored i work nights and a lot of weekends what can i snack on which is ok not pile on the pounds im trying to loose
are nuts ok any thing else apart from fruit
thanks

[gunner]

Apparently nuts are very good, probably best to avoid salted ones for obvious reasons.

Yogurt is also a good thing to snack on.

[maverick_15]

Low fat yoghurt, raisins, nuts, a carrot, an apple, a smoothie, low fat cereal bars (you can make those yourself), brown bread with peanut butter, a small jacket potato with tuna, fruit juice, milk, low calorie soup, a slice of malt loaf. Just a few things there. Don't be concerned that you want to snack, it's natural and in many ways is beneficial. It can help keep your energy levels up as well as taking the edge of your appetite when you come to a main meal (thereby discouraging over-eating then).

From an earlier thread I answered http://www.digital-forums.com/showthread.php?t=303101

[Roach-Rampino]

As I always say with good diet regime, preparation is the key. If you prepare in advance a sandwich bag (preferably the resealable kind) full of crudites(sticks of either carrot, celery, cucumber, peppers, baby sweetcorn, raw cauliflower, raw broccoli) it's an ideal healthy way to snack throughout the day.

You can even buy these item already prepared in a lot of supermarkets nowdays, although you pay well over the odds for the luxury.

[ant3b]

exactly, im all well an up for making my own food.. but like you say roach.. i buy fruit at dinner times and well its over priced so i chicken....!!!

[CzarJunkie]

Nuts and seeds (raw and unsalted) are great as they contain high amounts of fat (mostly unsaturated and essential fats omega 3 & 6) which will leave you feeling satisfied for longer.

If you are exercising regulary, also try and eat more protein. I usually have an afternoon snack, around 3pm, which is either a tin of sockeye salmon from M&S (a rich source of protein and omega 3) or a chicken breast.

Again, this will leave you satisfied for longer and you won't get the blood sugar high/low you get by eating refined carbs such as crisps, sweets, chocolate etc. Stay well clear of these if you can.

Also reduce the size of your meals and eat more regulary, try dividing your food intake into 6-7 meals rather than 3. This will aid weight loss as your body is constantly receiving fuel and this in turn leads to greater fuel burning. It should also lead to less snacking......

[big man]

Also reduce the size of your meals and eat more regulary, try dividing your food intake into 6-7 meals rather than 3.

Do you do this? If so, what times do you eat, as i've heard that you shouldn't really eat after about 6 or 7pm as the body has a harder time metabolising food once you've been up for hours?

Or is that all bollocks and just spread the meals evenly?

[CzarJunkie]

Do you do this? If so, what times do you eat, as i've heard that you shouldn't really eat after about 6 or 7pm as the body has a harder time metabolising food once you've been up for hours?

Or is that all bollocks and just spread the meals evenly?

I usually start the day with a smoothie made from all kinds of stuff, from green foods and flax seeds to collagen and bee pollen. However, I don't drink it all at once, if I'm exercising then I drink about 50%, 30-40 minutes before I start exercising.

The rest I leave in the fridge and then top up with water when I've finished exercising, this is then consumed slowly for the next couple of hours to ensure I get the maximum absorption of the nutrients.

I then prepare 3 bowls. Put Strawberries, blackberries and blueberries in one, nuts in another and seeds in the 3rd. Although don't over do it on the nuts and seeds, just a handful of each at the most.

I then snack on these, along with the remains of my smoothie, throughout the day until around 3pm. At which point I have a protein snack of either salmon or chicken.

This does me until around 7pm at which point I have a light meal, mainly protein (fish or chicken, either poached or steamed) and fresh vegetables steamed. Usually broccoli, spinach, kale, cabbage, pak choi and other leafy greens. I usually make this a little more exciting with a fresh sauce made from organic tinned tomatoes, garlic, chili and extra virgin olive oil (although always add the oil when the sauce has been taken off the hob and cooled a little. Heating oils alters the chemical structure of the fats and they mutate to create nasty trans fats and other toxic chemicals.)

That usually does me for the day, but if I get hungry later I usually snack on nuts and seeds.

The eating after 6/7 thing is a myth. Your body constantly needs fuel and you shouldn't deny it food. It really is what you put into your body that counts.

It takes discipline to follow the above regime and I'm no saint. I sometimes have days where I eat fast food or have something I know might kill me. But I know as long as I have a 90%/10% good/bad policy I'm going to improve my health and feel better for it........

[maverick_15]

You don’t eat after 8pm

The theory that you should not eat in the evening gained popularity a few years ago when some nutritionists claimed eating at night results in weight gain because you don’t do any physical activity afterwards to burn off the calories – they will be stored as fat while you sleep. In fact, it doesn’t really matter when you eat so long as you consume the right number of calories over a day. Food is digested and metabolised in the same way, whatever time it’s eaten.

Perhaps this tactic seems to work because most of what we eat at night is comfort food – it’s the classic time to slump in front of the TV and nibble on crisps or chocolates. How often have you found yourself overeating carrot sticks? Equally, if you set yourself a cut-off time of 8pm the temptation is to overeat before you reach that point, so you may have a larger dinner in an attempt to stave off hunger pangs later on, especially if you’ve been to the gym after work and your energy and protein levels need replenishing. Even worse, there will be times when you shatter the rule by devouring a bumper pack of Kettle Chips at 11pm. That’s the trouble with rules – the more you have and the stricter they are, the more likely you are to break them.

Allow yourself an evening snack if you want one, but factor it into your daily calorie allowance and try to make sure it’s a healthy, low-GI food such as nuts, pulses or muesli that will stave off hunger pangs until the morning. The steady release of insulin into your bloodstream is more likely to result in a good night’s sleep than if you either gorge on sugary, high-GI snacks or lie there with your stomach rumbling. It’s also a good time to cram in an extra portion of fruit. Apples, oranges, strawberries and grapefruit are all relatively low GI, although to be honest fruit is so good for you it doesn’t matter when you eat it.

From here. A lot of what's in these magazines is repetitive shit but there's some useful bits and bobs if you're willing to trawl.

[big man]

great - cheers for the info guys

hopefully a more structured diet will help me - i'm a big snacker and over eater and this looks like a good way (with a little will power) of controlling my eating

[super mike]

Also remember that if you are eating 6 meals a day, 7 days a week you are eating 42 meals a week. One or two cheat meals is a small percentage and will provide a big relieef from the strictness but try and keep this mela healthy and high in protein and have it with some veg. Also have it without any guilt!