Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Snack Attack

My name is Kate, & I am a late night eater & a TV snacker. 


I have ALWAYS heard that snacking after a certain time is bad... That it will make you fat. So, I did some research. 


This article from ABC News (here) pretty much paints all night eaters as fatties, "And remember that regularly eating at dark initiates a vicious cycle. If you go to sleep full, you wake up fuller that you might have been otherwise. In response, you skip breakfast, which drives you to eat more later in the day.". Now, I am not bashing this article in any way, as it did have some valid points: "Plan a healthy late-evening snack. If snacking at night is a regular routine, "planning an evening snack is the easiest way to get eating back under control and the easiest way to control the size of the snack," says Baker.", I am all about meal planning. And while this is great advice, it is still kind of a slap in the face. Not everyone who eats at night commits gluttony. All in all, helpful, but a bit too generalized for me. 


Another article I read (found here) talks about swapping greasy and fatty foods for healthier options. Some of the foods listed, I never thought about, it was a pretty good read. The author is witty as well! Always a bonus!


Over at thatsfit.com I learned that while it is ideal to take in most of your calories during the day, that is also normal to feel hunger before bed. Most of us do not go to bed immediately after dinner, thus we become hungry; "However, many of us don't go to sleep right after dinner so feeling a little hungry closer to bedtime is completely natural. So is raiding the fridge really that bad? Not if you limit your intake to less than 150 calories. Don't go for the ice cream or cake either. Go for something unprocessed like fruit or cereal." 


So, it can be bad or good. Bad, if your snack is high in sugar or fat, or over 150 cal; good if healthy & unprocessed. I know that I personally love popcorn y'all! I eat it almost daily; half a bag, all natural. It is my go to night time snack because it is light. I also enjoy a fresh smoothie from time to time or some toast or yogurt. All of which are pretty healthy. It also occurred to me  that I don't normally work out until 8 or 9, which means I am burning the most calories right before bed, so without a snack I would wake up crazy hungry. The way I see it is like this... As long as I am eating 3 meals a day with a mid-morning snack, an afternoon snack & a small night time snack I am doing pretty good. I am going to sleep satisfied and waking up ready for breakfast & I am getting 64 oz of water daily. I think I will be ok! Now I just need to get the TV eating in gear. =] 


Today for breakfast I just had a banana with some hearbal tea. For my lunch I enjoyed 2 slices of lean roast beef with 2 slices of cheddar cheese & 10 wheat thins. For my snack I had a small apple & 2 tbsps of all nat. peanut butter on 2 Wasa crackers. It held me until dinner just right. 
The inside view of my lunch bag!


For dinner I made Teriyaki pork chops with brown rice and some squash & zucchini (the squash was from our garden!!) Dinner was AMAZING!!! 
I always eat off of a salad plate, for portion control.
Also, I gave my son the other portion of my pork chop. 
I also made some blueberry muffins tonight, to have for breakfast through out the week.They are extra yum. I love that the recipe called for greek yogurt & almond milk. How cool?! <3 it! I only used part of the sugar (1/4 cup less) & I didn't have any oil, so I added more milk & a splash of cream. You can find the recipe here! This is how mine looked:
YUMMO!!!

To end, I want to share with y'all the work out plan I have been following at night. Oh my, can I feel it! You can check it out for yourself at getting-fit-for-me.tumblr.com. I plan on adding Pilates &/or jogging to the AM. 

Wish me luck y'all!

No comments:

Post a Comment