Eating Snacks can help you be leaner

It’s a fact: eating snacking can help you lose those extra pounds or maintain your ideal weight; but busy people find themselves with little or no time to eat. When our stomachs sit empty, without food, for long periods of time, our blood sugar levels drop.

. You feel tired and lethargic
. Sugar cravings increase
. Hunger levels go through the roof
. Your metabolism actually slows down.

As a result, our bodies look for the next sugar fix. We reach for the vending machine and that chocolate bar or bag of chips (it’s hard to choose healthy when you’re hungry). And we tend to overeat at our next meal.

It makes more sense to keep your stomach busy digesting all through the day and burning calories.

SNACKS ACT AS MINI APPETITE SUPPRESSANTS:

Having midmorning and midafternoon snack allows us to eat less and also sneak in extra fruit, vegetables and healthy fats to our diet. The key is to choose filling snacks that contain fiber and protein in order to slow digestion and stabilize blood sugar levels.

SNACKS TO AVOID

Stay away from high sugar/starch/fat kind of snacks. Reaching for candy bars, chips, cookies and soft drinks starts a vicious cycle in which hunger creates even more hunger; and sorry, you have to avoid those 100-calorie snack packs: they are fattening and very deceptive since they promote even more cravings.


To be continued.

Check out http://twitter.com/#!/Snack_Girl_ for healthy snack ideas.
I will also be giving you more good snack ideas this week in my next blog. Let me know how you are doing - what kind of snacks do you eat? Do you eat a balanced, healthy diet every day? Let's connect at info@gaiaadventures.com.

Catherine D'Aoust at GAIA Adventures
http://www.gaiaadventures.com
An invitation to love your life