Snack info for the weight conscious.

Based in both Rydalmere and North Strathfield at Peter Petrou fitness I want to educate my clients so that they can make smart choices that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

Many people live on snacks and a lot of the weight conscious avoid snacks like the plague and think they are a sure way to put on weight. Yet despite popular belief snacks can be good for you, provided of course you make the right choices (I think that the right snack choice properly timed during the day is a great way to fuel your body and keep your metabolism at an elevated level). Obviously donuts, chocolates and soft drinks are the wrong choices okay. If you do fuel yourself with sweets and fats, putting aside the obvious “they’re fattening” your body will then lack the nutrients it needs for optimal performance. You should try to think of food as fuel for your body rather than just “something to eat”. think about what you’re eating, snacks as well as meals and time them in between breakfast and lunch, then again between lunch and dinner.

Some good snack ideas can be

  • Yoghurt (obviously low fat and with acidophilus is the best).

  • Meusli bars.

  • Sports bars.

  • Fruits.

  • Bagels.

  • Muffins.

  • Dry cereal.

  • Rice crackers

Try to plan for a midmorning and afternoon snack to boost your energy. This will help you to concentrate better by maintaining your blood sugar levels. It will also stop you from getting over hungry and then possibly overeating at meal times. Snacks tend to prevent not only hunger cravings but sweet cravings, you will find that you tend to crave sweets when you get over hungry. When you are over hungry you tend to crave sweets (as sweets have such a high sugar and fat count and sugar and fat is such a high and readily accessible energy source per bite) and that can lead to overeating.

Here are some key points you should know about snacking.

  • Snacks can be an important part of your training diet. They help prevent you becoming overly hungry. Remember that when you get too hungry, you may not care about what you eat and then blow all your good intentions on fatty foods.

  • A sugary treat can fit into a well-balanced diet. There’s nothing wrong with a cookie eaten for dessert after lunch. The nutrition problems arise when you actually eat the cookies for lunch.

  • If you find yourself craving sweets, determine whether you’ve eaten adequate calories to support your activities (remember fat is the richest source of energy). Chances are you’ve let yourself get too hungry. Sweet cravings are usually a sign that you are physically ravenous and your body is craving energy.

  • Prevent sweet cravings by eating more calories at breakfast and lunch (and plan an afternoon snack if you will be eating a late dinner) so that you curb the cookie monster that tends to arise in the late afternoon and after dinner.

  • Although a sugary snack before exercising may result in hypoglycemia and fatigue for a small percent of the population, pre-exercise sugar actually helps most athletes who need an energy boost (I know all of my clients have seen the ice block wrappers in the garbage bin in the training room, that’s because I often use them as a sugar snack while training, plus they taste goooood and I find them very refreshing when its hot).

  • Sugar taken during exercise (about 100 to 300 calories per hour) actually enhances performance if you are working for longer than 60 minutes.

Peter Petrou fitness

Remember it’s easy to get fit, it’s just hard work.

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