Snacking to Lose Weight

by Renee Dietz | More from this Blogger

13 Oct 2006 07:45 PM

Usually when someone wants to lose weight, he or she will immediately start cutting out foods and even meals. However, hundreds of studies show that while you do want to reduce the amount of calories and eat healthy foods, cutting out too much could actually have the opposite effect. You see, the body needs its metabolism to be working strong to help burn fat and calories. When a person begins to dramatically, reduce food intake, the body sees this as a warning sign that the person is starving, which then slows the metabolism way down.

Again, to lose weight, it is important that you cut back on calories and change your current eating habit of hamburgers and French fries to lean meats, fresh vegetables and fruits, and whole grains. In addition, rather than eat three normal sized meals, even those consisting of fewer calories and healthier choices, it is highly recommended that you begin to eat between four and six times a day.

Keep in mind that eating more frequently does not mean full sized meals but smaller meals with a few snacks. The truth is that the snacking of the right foods in between meals could be the very thing that keeps your metabolism working hard so you do lose weight. For this reason, I suggest you snack, usually about two hours prior to your meal. In addition to speeding up the metabolism, snacking will also help you feel satisfied so you do not overindulge.

To give you an idea of healthy choice snacks that offer no more than 25 calories, you could have a small, six-ounce glass of tomato juice, 12 ringed pretzels, one cup of air-popped popcorn, or a single serving pack of sugar-free gelatin. Then for 50 calories, you could enjoy a small handful of animal crackers, one cup of seedless green grapes, one-quarter cup reduced fat cottage cheese, one cup of air-popped popcorn with about one-quarter cup peanuts, or one-half cup of fruit cocktail.

Snacking is an important tool in the process of weight loss. You do not want your body to think it is being starved, thus shutting down the all-important metabolism. You could have a small breakfast of one-half cup oatmeal, small glass orange juice, and one slice of wholegrain toast. Then around 10:00 am, enjoy one-half of an apple with two tablespoons of peanut butter spread on top for 100 calories.

For lunch, a small dinner salad or tuna salad would be ideal. Around 3:00 pm, treat yourself to another snack, something in the 25 to 50-calorie range. Then at suppertime, you could enjoy four ounces of garlic roasted chicken, fresh bean salad, and baked potato with cheese. Sometime around 8:00 pm but preferably no later, you would have another 25 to 50-calorie snack. While this might sound like more food than needed to lose weight, you are eating healthy and boosting your metabolism at the same time for excellent results.

Learn more about Renee Dietz

I have been a successful, published writer for the past 26 years, offering a writing style that is informative, creative, and reader-friendly.

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