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For women whose most recent experience with hopscotch has
been hopping from one failed diet to the next, snacking (or
having anything to eat outside of a designated three-meals-a-day)
can be a scary, off-limits notion. Avoiding snack time, however,
can do more harm than good when it comes to healthy weights.
According to a recent study, published in the American
Journal of Epidemiology, that looked at the relationship
of eating patterns to weight, those who consumed four or more
meals and snacks a day were 45% less likely to be obese. In
addition, skipping breakfast was definitively associated with
a higher risk of obesity.
Why Snack—and How?
Physiologically, eating multiple, smaller meals may help
suppress hunger and overall insulin concentration. This is
potentially beneficial to healthy weight management because
insulin is one factor in fat storage. Smaller meals regularly
spaced throughout the day also metabolize better than larger
meals eaten at the point of extreme hunger.
It often takes practice to start seeing a snack as an integral
part of feeding yourself well rather than an indulgence.
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Start by tuning into internal cues. At Green
Mountain at Fox Run, participants eat on a regular schedule
so it becomes easier to accurately gauge their "stopping
point" — a place of comfortable satisfaction
— during a meal.
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Remind yourself you can eat when you're hungry
again. Knowing you can have a snack later helps ensure
that each meal is enjoyable and not over-filling. For
example, many women say they are not hungry at breakfast
and, consequently, eat very little first thing in the
morning. But by lunchtime, they're ravenous and
end up eating too fast and too much. A midmorning snack
can help short-circuit that pattern, to make lunchtime
eating more in line with energy needs.
Get What's Missing
Snacking serves another purpose, too. A slice of toast with
a nut butter or a cup of yogurt might help round out the food
groups you miss at other meals.
Snacking is especially a good time to catch up on your calcium
intake. Try a Fruit Smoothie, a Yogurt and Fruit Sundae or
Yogurt Dip with veggies, all recipes found in Green Mountain's
cookbook Recipes
for Living. Or a couple of old standbys, such as
an oatmeal cookie and a glass of milk or a wedge of cheese
and a few crackers and some grapes, are some other yummy options.
These snacks also provide protein, which may help manage your
hunger between meals.
If dairy products are not your thing, in addition to nut
butters with crackers and/or a piece of fruit, try a hummus
dip (again, found in Recipes
for Living) with pita crisps or black bean salsa
and some baked chips.
The science of how food is metabolized certainly supports
snacking, but deciding how much to eat and when is far from
scientific. Rather, the art of snacking takes practice
and a commitment to listening to your body's hunger cues.
For 37 years, Green Mountain at Fox Run has
developed and refined a life-changing program exclusively
for women seeking permanent strategies for healthy weight
loss and health. More than just another weight
loss retreat and spa, Green Mountain combines proven
science with what works in the real world, to offer an innovative
non-diet lifestyle program. Our core weight
loss program offers an integrated curriculum of practical,
liveable techniques that helps women take charge of their
eating, their bodies and their health. Unlike health
spas or adult
weight loss camps, our approach is not focused on just
losing weight but on how to keep it off for a lifetime.
Our participants' long-term weight
loss success is among the highest of any program, as
documented in peer-reviewed scientific literature. Learn more about our women's weight loss program
©2007
Green Mountain at Fox Run, Ludlow, Vermont. This information
is the property of Green Mountain at Fox Run. Permission
to use single copies for personal, noncommercial use is
authorized. For all other purposes, please see details.
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