Discover how mindful snacking can become a powerful tool for achieving your weight loss goals in this insightful exploration of calorie consumption and nutrient-dense snacks. In light of the Transform in 28-day challenge being in full swing – lets use this blog to step up our snacking game. Snacking can be the barrier to weight loss for many due to high calorie snacks. It is easy to lose track of portion sizes or mindless eating occurring from eating while distracted. Read on to find out how to use snacking to its full potential on your transformation journey.
SNACKING – WHAT IS HURTING US IN OUR DAY TO DAY?
Snacking may be negatively affecting your calorie consumption, and in turn, hurting your weight loss efforts. If you consume less calories than you expend, you will lose weight. Sure, you may have prepped a healthy breakfast within your calorie goals, followed by a high protein lunch and dinner, but if the problem is the 800-1000 extra calories that you have not accounted for in snacks, it will be hard to lose weight.
MORNING
For example: Your overnight oats were prepped just as in the recipe – a 400kcal / 25g protein breakfast…PERFECT. But now you need coffee, so you head to Starbucks on the way to work and you pick up a small caramel macchiato – (thinking a small one will make no difference). Now your satisfied. What you haven’t taken into account for however is the 156kcals in the SMALL coffee…Maybe you should have just added the honey to the oats and got your sweet fix there – with a black coffee and skimmed milk on the side!
Per serving: 156kcal 6.1g protein 6.7g fat 3.9g sat fat Sugars: 16g
Per serving: 5kal 1g protein 0g fat, 0g sat fat Sugars 0g
MID-MORNING
11 o’clock strikes and its time for the coffee break. This time you have a black coffee to go with the snacks you brought. An Uncle Toby’s cereal bar that was on special and a strawberry yoghurt that looked appeasing.
Surely healthier than the chocolate your college is eating along with the ‘protein’ yoghurt they have? As you’ll see below, the second snack options will benefit your weight loss journey more. The Uncle Toby’s bar and strawberry yoghurt = almost 300kcal, while the ‘chocolate thing’ + protein yoghurt = 190kcal. This is with 25g of protein which will keep you satiated and stop you from overeating at your next meal! Adding some form of fruit to your snack will also help with this satiating.
Per serving: 122kcals
2.2g protein
3.6g fat, 1.4g sat fat
5.4g sugars
Per serving: 99kcals
9g protein
3.5g fat, 1.9g sat fat
0.2g sugars
Per serving: 94kcals
15g protein
0.4g fat 0.3g saturated
Sugars: 5.2g
Per serving: 170kcals
5.4g protein
9.4g fat 6.2g sat fat
Sugars: 15.40g
LUNCH
Then comes lunch which has been prepped last night. A chicken and quinoa salad with lots of colourful veggies. When you finish your food, you are proud of your healthy eating efforts today however you don’t refuse the biscuits that are being passed around in the office as you finish drinking your tea – what’s 2 digestives going to do anyway? 170kcals is all….
Per biscuit: 82kcals, 1.2g protein, 4g fat-2.10g sat fat, 4.7g sugars
DINNER
After the commute home, its 6pm when you get in the door and you are hungry again. Straight to the cupboard we go for the crackers and cheese. Sometimes you don’t even realise yourself eating them and could have 5 or 6! You could easily prep yourself some hummus and carrots stick for this time instead which will provide healthy fats and fibre that will hold you out until dinners ready without feeling the need to go back for more and more
5 crackers and cheese 205kcal
9.80g protein
12.60g fat, 8g sat fat
1g sugars
90g carrot + celery sticks from Aldi 73kcal
1.9g protein
4.3g fat, <1g sat fat
3.8g sugars
Dinner is full of protein and veggies and it keeps you full for the evening. You think you had a fantastic day of eating and cannot understand why your weight is not going down.
Yes, breakfast lunch and dinner may have only equated to 1400kcals however your choice of snacks could be adding up to 1000kcals per day leaving you at maintenance or above.
Making sure the snacks are within your calorie range ALONG with being filling is important so that you don’t overeat later in the day. Other options not mentioned above include:
- Any sort of vegetable stick and hummus (pepper, cucumber, celery, carrots etc)
- Greek yoghurt and berries
- Apple slices and peanut butter
- Rice cakes with cottage cheese and tomatoes
- Hard boiled eggs
- Edamame
- Low cal popcorn
- Cucumber + tuna
SNACKING & MINDLESS EATING
Other things to keep in mind with snacks is mindless eating. Often, we snack when we are distracted such as watching TV or working. This can lead to not thinking about what you are consuming. You may end up eating more calories than you realise as you are not paying attention to portion sizes or fullness. Yes, even if you eat the full share bag of popcorn this counts…
To overcome these barriers and make snacking work for weight loss rather than against it, it’s important to choose nutrient-dense snacks, practice mindful eating and pay attention to portion sizes. Incorporating balanced meals and snacks into your overall eating plan can help support weight loss goals while keeping hunger and cravings in check.
SNACKING – A SUMMARY
This blog emphasizes the importance of mindful snacking for weight loss during a transformative journey. It highlights common pitfalls like underestimating the calorie content of snacks and indulging in mindless eating, offering practical examples and alternatives to high-calorie choices. By making informed snack choices within calorie goals and practicing mindful eating, individuals can effectively support their weight loss goals and curb unnecessary calorie intake.
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