I’m often asked by people how many times a day should they be eating. While this really varies for everyone individually based on your metabolic needs, the fundamentals behind it are the same. Snacking on healthy snacks that have combined macronutrients (more on this below) is super important in order to rev up our metabolism and keep it burning our fuel all day and night. I like explaining the need for eating throughout the day by using the “campfire” method.
Now, let me disclaim that I have never been camping nor have I ever started my own fire. I can rock the perfect Spotify playlist at a bonfire and point at you across the fire ‘cause this is “OUR SONG!” but, that’s about the extent of my “help.” So, I apologize if I’m a little off in explaining the amount of wood needed/process of burning wood in a fire to all of our seasoned camp-fabulous readers…
With that disclaimer in place: Your metabolism is a campfire. You have to start it in the morning and as we spoke about before, breakfast is important. Our metabolism is what helps our body burn our food as fuel/energy. Without the metabolism ignited, we wouldn’t have the energy from our food to do daily activity, process thoughts, or even do things on a cellular level like rejuvenate our cells and burn fat. When you think of it like that, it’s clear that our metabolism is extremely important and we need to keep it burning.
Once the fire is started, if we leave it alone, it will eventually burn out. Not good. Especially if we want to be active, or lose weight. You see, if we don’t give the fire more wood (or in our case, our metabolism more energy from food) there’s no fuel for the fire and it dies. This is where snacking comes into play.
We want our metabolism to be as fast as possible and we do this by making it as strong as we can. Like a raging fire, our metabolism craves fuel and energy. You may be thinking, “I’m trying to lose weight. Why would I add MORE calories to my diet when I can workout to increase my metabolism?” Good question. Yes, your metabolism can get a great boost from physical activity but where do you think the energy comes from to workout? From food. Additionally, there are many other benefits to eating healthy snacks throughout the day. Some of these benefits include, but are not limited to; decreased cravings, more energy overall, increased and improved digestion, and better absorption of nutrients
So, you see, it’s a fact that it’s a good idea to eat snacks in between. It’s also important, however, that we have a balance of macronutrients in our snacks. Macronutrients that we want to balance properly, are our proteins, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. The reason for this balance is that they maintain an even blood sugar level in our bodies, which is essential to keeping our energy.
To give you an example, although we know a piece of fruit as a snack is healthy, if you eat it by itself it can raise your blood sugar level too much. This ultimately leaves you hungry 30 minutes later and give you a sugar high (even though the sugar in fruit is natural.) As we know what goes up must come down and therefore we are left with a sugar low and completely drained of our energy. Our fire/metabolism is now burnt out. Merely a flash in the pan. Sure, our metabolism was high right after we ate the fruit but unfortunately the fruit alone has done more damage than good.
How do we prevent this from happening? By combining our macronutrients to slow down the absorption of sugar and other components that affect our body. For instance, I would suggest a snack that contains a peach, some almonds and ¼ cup of low fat cottage cheese or a piece of skinless chicken from last night’s dinner (any complete protein about half the size of a deck of cards).
The macronutrients work together to slow the breakdown process and ultimately feed your body the way it should be fed… s l o w l y. This will help you keep homeostasis and fuller longer.
In addition to keeping your snacks balanced, it is important to be aware of their frequency. Ideally, it is important not to let more than 3-4 hours go by between meals, but like I said before, this is just an example and is different for everyone. However, if you start off by snacking/eating every 3 hours, after a few days of following this schedule your body will naturally get hungry at certain times.
If your body knows that it’s going to be fed throughout the day, it will communicate with you when you’re hungry and then you can adjust your schedule to those times as needed. If you feel your body getting hungry within the 3 hours you’re waiting, that may be an indication that your body needs more energy and you’ll need to “tweak” your snack to make sure you’re balancing your macronutrients properly.
I’ve put together a list of my top 20 snacks under 150 calories. Some can be made and taken on the go, and others will require you to be home, but that’s what it’s all about. Balance, variety and moderation my friends!
If you’re less hungry
1. Mini PB&F: One fig Newton with 1 teaspoon nutbutter of choice.
2. Chocolate PB Banana: Half a banana dipped in 1 square of melted dark chocolate and 1 tsp PB.
3. Honey-nut Frozen Yogurt: ½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt, a dash of cinnamon, 3 walnuts chopped and 1 teaspoon honey. Freeze for 30-45 minutes.
4. Berries n’ Cream: 1 cup blueberries, 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt and 1 graham cracker square crushed.
5. Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries: Two strawberries stuffed with Cheesecake Mix (¼ tsp vanilla, 1 packet of sugar or sugar substitute and 2 tablespoons reduced-fat ricotta.) Sprinkle with cinnamon.
6. Chocolate Milk (hot or cold): 6 ounces skim milk mixed with 2 teaspoons chocolate syrup.
7. Tropical Juice Smoothie: ¼ cup pineapple juice, orange juice, and ¼ cup almond milk (or any milk!), blended with ice.
8. Skinny S’more: 1 graham cracker sheet broke in ½ with one large marshmallow, 1 tsp nutbutter of choice and 1 square dark chocolate.
9. Pretzels & Cream Cheese: 15 mini pretzels with 2 tablespoons fat-free cream cheese.
10. Tiny Trail Mix: Eight almonds, four chocolate chips, and 1 tablespoon raisins.
If you’re more hungry/The “I’m so hungry I could have another lunch before dinner” snack
1. Oats n’ Berries: ⅓ cup oats (cooked) topped with a dollop of Greek yogurt, dash of cinnamon and ¼ cup fresh berries.
2. Maple-Pumpkin Yogurt: ½ cup non-fat regular yogurt (go Greek for extra protein!) with 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie mix and 1 teaspoon maple syrup.
3. Banana Cream Pie: ½ cup vanilla Greek yogurt, ½ sliced large banana (or 1 sliced medium banana), 1 “sheet” original graham cracker broken up, and ½ cup lite whipped topping.
4. Banana Smoothie: Blend ½ cup sliced banana, ¼ cup nonfat vanilla yogurt, and a handful of ice
5. Banana Chips: One sliced large banana dipped in lemon juice, sprinkled with cinnamon and baked at 200 degrees F for 1.5 hours. Can dunk into 1 TB. Melted nutbutter of choice.
6. Baked Apple: One tennis ball-sized apple, cored, filled with 1 teaspoon brown sugar and cinnamon, and baked at 375 degrees in a pan with ¼ cup of water for 30-40 minutes or until tender with ½ cup yogurt.
7. Pizza Tomatoes: 1 tomato sliced and topped with 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs, 2 slices of cheese, and sprinkle with garlic powder. Microwave in 20 sec. intervals.
8. Cheesy Popcorn: 2 cups air-popped popcorn sprinkled with 2 teaspoons parmesan cheese. (This snack does not have protein in it so I usually have it with ½ cup Greek yogurt or a glass of almond milk.)
9. Sweet Potato Fries: One light-bulb sized sweet potato sliced, tossed with 1 teaspoon olive oil, 5 crushed pecans, and baked at 400° for 10 minutes.
10. Cucumber salad: One large sliced cucumber tossed with ¼ chopped red onion and 2 tablespoons apple-cider vinegar. (This snack does not have protein in it so I usually have it with ½ cup Greek yogurt and dil or a glass of almond milk.)