2503: Winning the War Against Snack Attacks by Nancy Clark on Strategic Eating & Weight Management

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[00:00:38] This is Optimal Health Daily Episode 25-03, winning the war against snack attacks by Nancy Clark, a Nancy Clark RD.com, and I'm Dr. Neal.

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[00:01:28] Winning the war against snack attacks by Nancy Clark of Nancy Clark RD.com, I wish I didn't have snack attacks, I eat way too much chocolate.

[00:01:40] I eat only healthy foods during the day, my snacking problem starts the minute I get home from work, chips are my downfall.

[00:01:48] I try hard not to snack after dinner but I have a bad habit of getting into the ice cream.

[00:01:54] Day after day, I hear athletes complain about their seemingly uncontrollable snacking habits. Some believe they're hopelessly and helplessly addicted to chocolate.

[00:02:04] Others believe eating between meals is sinful and fattening, snacking is just plain wrong. Some equate snacking to doing drugs.

[00:02:13] They bemoan that they are addicted to sugar and can't just eat one cookie. Snacking is all or nothing.

[00:02:20] Despite the popular belief that snacking is bad, the truth is that snacking can be helpful for active people.

[00:02:28] Athletes get hungry and need to eat at least every three to four hours. That means if you have breakfast at 7 a.m.,

[00:02:35] you'll be ready for food by 10 or 11 a.m., particularly if you exercise in the morning.

[00:02:42] By 3 p.m., you will again want more food. For those who exercise mid to late afternoon, a pre-exercise snack is very important to provide the fuel needed to have an effective workout.

[00:02:54] The trick is to make snacks a part of your sports diet, preferably with an early lunch at 11 a.m. that replaces the morning snack.

[00:03:03] Why wait to eat at noon when you're hungry now? And then a second lunch instead of afternoon sweets to energize the end of your work or school day.

[00:03:13] A planned wholesome meal is far better than succumbing to sugary snacks or stimulant drinks.

[00:03:19] Stacking problems commonly occur when athletes under eat meals, only to overindulge and snack.

[00:03:26] Inadequate breakfasts and lunches can easily explain why snacks can contribute 20 to 50% of total calories for the day.

[00:03:35] Fingers crossed, those snacks are nutrient rich.

[00:03:38] To easily and painlessly resolve nutrient poor snack attacks, eat before you get too hungry.

[00:03:45] Hungry athletes and all people for that matter tend to crave sweets and fats, and can easily eat too many donuts, chocolate chip cookies, candy bars, foods with sugar for quick energy and fat for concentrated calories.

[00:04:00] That honking big muffin can easily went out over a piece of fruit hands down.

[00:04:07] Athletes who report they quote eat well during the day but get into trouble with snacks at night need to understand the problem is not the evening snacks, but having eaten too little during the active part of their day.

[00:04:20] Snacking is the symptom, getting too hungry is commonly the problem.

[00:04:25] One way to eliminate a mid-morning snack attack is to have a protein rich, satiating breakfast such as three eggs with avocado toast, a latte, all for about 500 to 600 calories, as opposed to say just a packet of oatmeal which would only be 100 to 150 calories.

[00:04:45] Enjoy soup and a sandwich for lunch, which would be between 500 and 700 calories, not just a salad with grilled chicken, which would only provide about 300 calories.

[00:04:56] Identifying hunger

[00:04:59] If you spend too much time thinking about food all day your brain is telling you it wants some fuel, thinking about food nudges you to eat.

[00:05:08] But in order to never think about food you'd waste a weight in nothing.

[00:05:12] Other hunger signals include feeling droopy, moody, cold, bored, I'm eating this popcorn for example just because I'm bored, unable to focus and easily irritated.

[00:05:24] If you fail to honor these hunger signals they will escalate into a growling stomach which means you're too hungry and an all out snack attack.

[00:05:34] Prevent hunger, eat enough during the active part of your day.

[00:05:38] Please remember that hunger does not mean, oh no I'm going to eat and get fat, hunger is simply a request for fuel.

[00:05:46] Just as a light on the dashboard of your car signals when your car needs gas, your brain sends you hunger signals when your body is low on fuel.

[00:05:55] To not eat when you are hungry is abusive to your body and your mind, and it puts your body into muscle breakdown mode which is counterproductive for athletes.

[00:06:06] Losing weight without daytime hunger

[00:06:09] Even if you want to lose undesired body fat, you should eat enough to feel satiated during the active part of your day.

[00:06:16] You can lose weight at night when you are sleeping. This is the opposite to how most athletes eat, they diet by day then attack the snacks at night.

[00:06:26] They eat the whole pint of ice cream, too many chocolates or non-stop chips.

[00:06:31] Winning the war against hunger requires white knuckles which is not sustainable and not fun.

[00:06:37] The better bet is to fuel by day and diet at night by eliminating high calorie evening snacks.

[00:06:44] Dieting athletes commonly report their biggest concern is snack attacks. As one roar complained, I'm hungry all the time.

[00:06:53] If that sounds like you and you feel hungry within the hour after you eat a meal, experiment with eating heartier meals.

[00:07:00] For help figuring out a food plan that works for you, I encourage you to meet with a registered dietitian who specializes in sports nutrition.

[00:07:08] The referral network at www.scandpg.org can help you find a local sports nutrition professional.

[00:07:18] Winning the war against snack attacks.

[00:07:21] I encourage my clients to convert snack time into meal time. Instead of reaching for cookies, candy, caffeine and other typical snack foods, they opt for a peanut butter and banana sandwich for an early lunch at 10 or 11.

[00:07:36] As long as they have a flexible eating schedule, no need to eat a donut just to bridge the gap to the more traditional eating time of noon.

[00:07:44] These athletes can also enjoy a later second lunch at 2 or 3 pm-ish which gives them enough energy to be productive throughout the last hours of the workday.

[00:07:54] By enjoying two lunches instead of snack foods plus one lunch, they generally end up eating more quality calories and fewer sweets.

[00:08:04] If their meal schedule is inflexible, I nudge them to at least snack on many meals instead of sweets. Consider for example consuming a whole grain English muffin topped with nut butter or oatmeal cooked in milk topped with dates or hummus with baby carrots.

[00:08:22] The benefits of being well fed are fewer snack attacks, more energy and easier weight management.

[00:08:30] You just listen to the post titled Winning the War against snack attacks by Nancy Clark, a Nancy Clark RD.com. Then I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:09:53] Dr. Neil here for my commentary today's author Nancy actually mentioned one of my most favoritest go to snacks when I'm hungry, but not quite craving a meal.

[00:10:03] The peanut butter and banana sandwich that's usually my mid afternoon snack. My mid morning snack is usually some Greek yogurt. Anywho Nancy mentioned something else that I want to go back to she said that even if you want to lose undesired body fat,

[00:10:18] you should eat enough to feel satiated during the active part of your day. This is perfect advice, but we need to be able to tell when we're satiated versus when we're full.

[00:10:29] Think of feeling satiated as the feeling when the hunger has gone away. You don't feel hungry anymore, but you're not full either.

[00:10:38] Feeling full is when you consume too much food. That's when you may feel uncomfortable like a little sick and the belt around your waist may need a little loosening.

[00:10:48] These are all tells that we may have consumed too much food, so the sweet spot is eating to the point where the hunger has gone but we don't feel full.

[00:10:59] Try it out I know it takes a little practice, but try and stop eating once that hunger has gone away.

[00:11:06] Alright, that'll do it for today. Thank you so much for listening and being here every day. Thank you for sharing this show with someone.

[00:11:13] I hope you have a great rest of your weekend and I'll be back here tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits.