Snacks and Fats
 

1.What snacks do you guys swear by, that help you get over hungry humps? I crave carbs, so I'm trying to avoid them as I am certainly a cheese and cracker gal.

2.Also, I keep seeing conflicting ideas about full fat vs low fat. I heard that full fat has more calories, but low fat has less nutrient value. Can anyone shed (ha) light on that?

3. What is good fat vs unhealthy fat?


As for snacks, I've come across:
-hard boiled eggs
-nuts and grains
-veggies and low fat dip (what dip?! Hummus? Guac?)

Any other ideas for snacks?

What type of food are you talking about? For nut butter, choose full fat. For dairy and meat, choose low fat.

Some of the healthiest sources of fat are olive oil, avocado, nuts (e.g. almonds, pecans), and some types of fish (e.g. salmon).
Avoid deep fried foods. Avoid trans fat.
Saturated fat is bad if you eat too much of it, but you do need some saturated fat in your diet.

Hummus and guacamole are healthy (as long as nothing bad is added to them), but they're not low fat. Other possible choices are greek yogurt or pesto. Always look at the list of ingredients.

Yes Meat and Dairy is where I've read and heard conflicting reports. My doctor (GP) said always choose low fat, but the nutritionists at my old place of work (and ED recovery residential facility) taught that full fat was healthier because there are more beneficial nutrients... also they wanted to teach the patients not to always run to "low fat" foods because it was "part of their disease."

Thank you for your reply :) I love greek yogurt! Great idea!

1. Right now I love a piece of fruit and a spoonful of peanut butter. Keeps me full for hours.

2. Do whichever one makes you feel more full and less cravings. But if your doctor told you to do low fat for a health reason and not a weight loss reason, then do what she says for sure! As far as weight loss, it really depends on the person. I do better with full fat - it makes me less hungry.

Also, full fat does have more calories because 1 gram of fat has 9 calories, while 1 gram of carbs or protein has 4. However, for me, fat is filling, so I need less of it to feel more full. This may or may not be true for you.

3. "Unhealthy fat" is fat that, in too big of quantities, isn't good for our bodies. It's usually solid at room temperature (like butter or lard). "Healthy" fat is usually not solid at room temperature (olive oil, etc.). It's important to have some of both in our diets.

Overall, I recommend doing what works for you. If you don't like the snacks, you won't eat them and will find something else probably less healthy. So go for a balance of healthier yet tasty. Like fruit and nut butter instead of cheese puffs. ;) I tend to balance it by going for volume (low fat foods, which I can eat more of for fewer calories) when I'm starving, and tastiness (full fat foods, which I must eat less of in volume because it's higher calorie) when I'm not really hungry.

Don't stress too much about it. It'll be fine. Unless, once again, you have a medical and not weight loss related reason to limit your fat intake.

Chanticleer Thank you as well. Great idea to vary the snack based on intensity of hunger! That makes sense. I'll have to experiment to see what type of snack keeps me fuller, longer.

I guess I should mention that 3 years ago I had endometriosis, and my GP and OB/GYN told me to avoid full fat dairy and meats... something about estrogen.. I can't fully remember. Maybe I should stick to that advice. I haven't had a flare up recently, but once you get it, you are prone to it your entire life!

I've never been a fan of fruit. Not sure why. Apples, maybe. I detest bananas! Would say, celery and nut butter be a good alternative?

tinypixie if two of your doctors suggested you eat lower fat meat and dairy, I would definitely follow their advise! Personally I think most people should eat the full fat stuff as there's less added sugars (esp for dairy products), but you have a medical reason that makes the low fat options better for you, and I would stick to the doctors' advise.

Celery and nut butter is great! I actually can't eat celery though so I like carrots with peanut butter too...sounds weird, but it's delicious!

abbilutz91 Interesting! When I think carrots, I think ranch! Major no-no for me! And yes, it was smart that I was asked about a medical reason. I had no idea low fat had additives...

Checking in: I just had a hard boiled egg with pepper for seasoning. My hubby is eating some of the pulled smoked pork we smoked yesterday. I'm holding off.

Snacking keeps the metabolism going, right? Isn't that why people say "6 small meals a day is better than 3 large ones?" Does that include snacking as a "small meal?"

I've lost a lot of water weight since curbing carbs and alcohol. So I've lost 4 lbs in 6 days. I can't expect to keep that up. I want to change my eating habits, and we finally FINALLY cleared the exercise room! I can use the treadmill and watch netflix! Hooray!!!

Yes, there have been various studies with different results. One reason is that it depends what you replace it with. According to this paper, replacing the saturated fat with refined carbs is bad, but replacing it with polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fat lowers both LDL and HDL cholesterol. It also depends on the rest of you diet. If your diet is already low in saturated fat, then I think full-fat dairy is ok. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 7% of calories from saturated fat. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends no more than 10%.

If you eat greek yogurt, be sure to choose one that doesn't have added sugar (if you don't like the taste, you can add fresh fruit).

There are lots of fruits to choose from. Hopefully you can find one that you like. What about mango, blueberries, pineapple, or melon?

Yes, celery and nut butter is healthy, but try to eat a variety of vegetables. Look for nut butter with 1 or 2 ingredients (nuts, and optionally a small amount of salt), and avoid nut butter with added sugar. You should be eating a lot of vegetables, so if you dip every vegetable in nut butter, it might be difficult to eat enough vegetables without overeating on the nut butter. Do you like green leafy vegetables, like spinach for example?

It might help a little bit, but what you eat is more important than when you eat it, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Another good way to speed up your metabolism is to do weightlifting. The more muscle you have, the faster you'll burn calories.

tinypixie: Then absolutely listen to your doctors about the low fat animal products - your health is important. Again, as far as weight loss, full fat or low fat generally doesn't by itself make much of a difference for most people. Definitely work with your doctor. As for the snacks, you don't have to have nut butter or fruit. You can do veggies or eggs or whatever else works for you. Although if you do use nut butter, I recommend portioning out however much you intend to eat and don't keep the jar near you (I measure out 1 tbsp and eat it with my snack because nut butter is easy to overeat - it's got lots of calories in small volume).

Eating many small meals works great for some and not so great for others. I eat three meals a day and one snack only if I'm hungry. It's a personal preference - your body will have to burn a certain number of calories to keep you alive no matter how often you eat.

abbilutz: I like peanut butter and carrots, too! :carrot:

I’d offer low fat string cheese - one stick or 10-15 almonds (unsalted but roasted) as two protein based snacks if you must. I second finding a fruit you may like or add to trying out. You said your in the Midwest so our choices are dependent on other places (sometimes other areas of the worlds dirt makes them taste different - so don’t give up on them immediately try again when they come into season in the US - example Chilean grapes always taste metallic to me so I avoid and that’s usually what’s in season now). I did the 3 meals 3 snacks a day but that was when I had gestational diabetes and I was to keep my blood sugars in check and when I’d have a carb I’d always have to pair with a protein during my snacks. I agree do what feels right for you; if eating these extras seems too much, drop one and see what happens.

Good luck! The others have offered some good info.

I think, usually, low-fat natural foods (meat, dairy), don't have additives. It's when you start eating low-fat or fat-free premade snack foods that things are added to make it taste better.
I love non-fat plain greek yogurt and I add fruit.
You definitely need some fat in your diet.

No snacks! Better green salad!!