Nutritionist Fiona Hunter and Life Coach Jenni Trent-Hughes offer exclusive tips on kicking your snacking habit for good!
Are you a serial snacker? Do you find yourself reaching for the biscuit tin between meals? If so have you noticed what time you’re doing it? Research has revealed that 5 o clock is the time we are most likely to have a dip in the diet. The average woman consumes an additional 73,000 calories over a year due to snacking on unhealthy foods. So the big question is, what can you do to avoid the 5 o clock snack attack?
To give you some exclusive advice we’ve got top nutritionist Fiona Hunter and Life Coach Jenni Trent-Hughes dropping in to give you new solutions to self-sabotaging snacking. Fiona is going to be talking about what snacks you can eat without destroying your diet and which foods you should definitely steer clear of if you want to stay on track. Jenni will be telling us how to approach weight loss on a psychological level and what kind of things you should keep in mind when trying to stick to a healthier eating plan.
The ladies will also be discussing the results of a recent Slim.Fast survey, which as well as uncovering what time we are most vulnerable to snacking also tells us which snacks are our biggest downfalls. If you want to get back on track with your new year health kick, and get an early start for a perfect summer body, why not tune in and ask a question? All of your diet dilemmas will be addressed and you’ll gain some valuable advice on how to stick to the straight and narrow when it comes to choosing your nibbles.
Nutritionist Fiona Hunter and Life Coach Jenni Trent-Hughes join us on Monday 11th February at 5 o'clock to discuss snacking and dietary advice.
H: Lis Speight, Host
F: Fiona Hunter, Nutritionist
J: Jenni Trent-Hughes, Life Coach
H: Hello and welcome to the Lifestyle Show, brought to you today by Slimfast Hunger Shots, I’m Lis Speight. Now, are you working just that little bit too hard, snacking on all those office biscuits and not really eating a well-balanced diet? Well if that sounds like you, don’t despair because here with some really helpful hints on how to keep your waistline trim, I’m pleased to say here in the studio we have with us nutritionist Fiona Hunter, and life coach Jenni Trent-Hughes. Welcome along to you both ladies
J: Hello
H: Now snacking, we’re all a bit guilty of it aren’t we, it’s a bit more common than we think really isn’t it, new research has shown?
J: Absolutely the new research from Slimfast suggests that 30% of us are eating two or more snacks a day, and it can amount to quite a lot of calories. The average snack is about 200 calories
H: 200 goodness!
J: And that works out at 73,000 calories a year which at the end of the year amounts to about a stone and a half extra weight, so –
H: Wow, that’s quite scary isn’t it?
J: Yes
H: That’s a lot of packets of crisps isn’t it?
J: And you’re right it’s crisps that we tend to be snacking on crisps and muffins and you know those sort of foods that really we should be keeping as treats, not having as snacks
H: Ok now we’ve had lots of your questions coming in and we’ll get cracking with those right away. Mrs Garvin from Somerset wants to know “why does the body seem to crave certain foods at certain times? I suddenly find myself with a craving mid-morning and mid-afternoon and I’m not actually hungry.” Jenni, what’s all that about?
J: Well I know exactly what you’re talking about and there’s two different kinds of snacking. There’s snacking that you do because you’re hungry and your body needs the fuel and then there’s also emotional snacking, and one of the things that you’ll find sometimes is that you reach for certain types of food at a specific time, and like you say you’re not hungry, and so one of the ways to stop doing that is to come up with a substitute activity. I’ve been losing a lot of weight recently and I have a bit of crocheting, and whenever I feel the need for a biscuit, because I’m a biscuit kind of girl, I run and I crochet for 5 or 10 minutes and then I say to myself ok if you still need the biscuit then you can have it, and of course I don’t
H: But you’ve got lots of lovely scarves!
J: Because it’s an emotional thing rather than my body needs more calories at this point in time
H: But a lot of lovely scarves
J: Oh yes
H: But not so many biscuits. Now Gloria wants to know, similar sort of subject actually – “is there any way of combating the body’s internal clock? I get to about half past 3 and ping my body just starts craving sugar and I have to have a choccie bar or biscuit.” 3 o’clock –
F: Well I’m sure Gloria’s not the only one that’s craving chocolate at 3 o’clock, it’s naturally a time when we feel quite low, it’s to do with our circadian rhythms, our ancestors slept in the afternoon, so our body is feeling tired, if we’ve had lunch early and we haven’t eaten enough at lunch time our blood sugar is also dipping and that will make us feel hungry. The answer is to make sure that you eat enough at lunch, many of us don’t particularly if we’re watching our weight. We tend to think or a couple of slices of toast or a sandwich will be enough. Try and put a bit more in at lunch, so a sandwich and a yogurt or a piece of fruit and then schedule a snack, but a healthy snack, for 3 o’clock – fruit is a great choice, fresh fruit or dried fruit
H: So we’ve got some of the things on the table actually – talk us through some of the good and bad things
F: Well ideally what you should be looking for in a snack is something in the region of 50-100 calories, and what you want to avoid are things like the muffins here and the biscuits because even if you choose something like a skinny muffin that a lot of those coffee shops are selling these days, they have a scary number of calories in. Skinny muffin has about 350 calories in
H: Crikey
F: So plan ahead and choose a snack that has about 100 or 50 calories in. Something like a Slimfast Hunger Shot would be ideal
H: Ok so should you be keeping things in your desk drawer then? Packets of things and –
F: Absolutely
J: Yes but –
H: Does that just encourage you?
J: Well packets of things are one thing, but you know packets of crisps and chocolate bars and all of that – no
H: Right
J: So what you really should do is make sure that whatever the selection is that you have it’s a healthy snack, because there’s nothing wrong with snacking, that’s the thing that people need to understand, there’s nothing wrong with snacking, it’s just what you are snacking on, and also becoming an educated consumer so that you know that just because something says “skinny” or “low fat” doesn’t mean that it’s good for you
H: No – could be loaded with sugar and salt and all those other nasties
J: Exactly
H: Ok. Now moving on to some more of your questions actually, and Jeanette wants to know “is a lot of this down to people’s different metabolic rate? I just seem to burn off calories so slowly and I do a lot of exercise, but that just makes me even more hungry.” That’s really rotten actually isn’t it, she’s obviously making the effort
F: Yes that is – that’s really bad luck. I mean different people – you have to listen to your body, some people don’t really need to eat huge amounts of food, whereas others have a big appetite, if you know you’ve got a big appetite choose foods like vegetables, fruit that don’t have very many calories, and you can fill your plate with veggies. No one gets fat eating vegetables, or fruit really
H: As long as you don’t put too much butter on them!
J: Or melted cheese!
F: Soup is another great choice, anything that fills you up
H: Oh right, with some bread but again not too much butter on it
F: Exactly
H: So you’ve got to be thinking about your main meals so that you’re not snacking on the bad things
F: Yes
H: And getting really hungry. And Lee’s written on, he wants to know – he or she – “should I just eat as soon as I get home from work to save me nibbling to make up time until my husband comes home for supper?” That’s quite a good one isn’t it? You get in, you just think ooh I’ve had a bad day, you just fancy something don’t you to keep you going
F: That’s a real danger time for many women, they get back from work, they’re probably hungry, their blood sugar is dipping, and they find before they know it, you know half a packet of nuts has gone
H: Yes
F: Or half a pack of biscuits. What I find works really well is if you’re working in an office, have a small, healthy snack before you leave the office, so you don’t arrive home hungry, then get on with cooking the meal. If you’re cooking – if you start cooking the meal and you’re hungry, you then often end up eating as many calories when you’re preparing the food as when you do to actually sit down and eat it
H: Ok
J: And also there’s something to be said for putting in a relaxing activity because if you eat as soon as you come home
H: good tip
J: you’re stressed and you’re just sort of doing this number
H: It’s a mood thing – you think I deserve this
J: Absolutely and so if you do something like, you know have a bit of a soak in the tub or a shower, take off your work clothes and put on your at home relaxing clothes, quite often that will remove the need that you feel to eat something bad right away
H: Yes that’s a really good tip actually
J: So calm yourself down before you eat
H: A lot of it’s up here as well as down here isn’t it?
J: Yes
H: Ok now Ros wants to know, we’ve sort of talked about this before actually, but “are there vulnerable times of the day when sugar levels drop and we need to be aware?” I suspect we’re talking about mid-morning and mid-afternoon, that the research showed Jenni didn’t it that the 5 o’clock was the time?
J: Well one of the things that we found out is that 5 o’clock is the time when most people find themselves snacking, and it can be for a variety of reasons, sometimes you’re in the office and you’ve been working hard all day, it’s the first time you’ve taken a breather, or you’re trying to just think about your long journey home and you want a burst of energy before you do it, and sometimes it’s also an emotional thing, so you know it’s determining which one it is, but like Fiona said, one of the best things you can do for yourself is have a healthy snack before you leave the office
H: Ok just to set you up for that long commute home battling on the train if you have to, or through all those cars. Now Liz has written in and she wants to know “hi I know we’re supposed to eat fruit if we eat a snack between meals but it always gets so boring eating apples and bananas every time I get peckish. Surely everything in moderation still applies, and as long as you don’t pig out on crisps and cake, the odd one isn’t going to damage your diet, is it?”
J: Well, well – that’s not exactly true. One of the things that I have learned from Fiona that I think is, you know is incredibly, incredibly helpful, is just sort of learning what is a quote a ”good snack” and a “less good snack” but basically, Fiona separates the world into snacks and treats, and that’s what people like you and I need to understand, because crisps, muffins, cake, ice cream – those are treats. They’re never snacks, those are treats, so you should have say two snacks a day that are between 50-100 calories, but a treat is something that you’ll have once a week, and ne’er the twain should meet
H: Aha, so don’t stuff yourself with muffins just as soon as you feel like them. Now we’re nearly out of time actually, but just before we go, top tip Fiona on how to stop snacking, or how to do healthy snacking?
F: My top tip would be to be prepared, to plan your snacks. If needs be, set an alarm clock so that you know, oh 10 o’clock I need to have a snack, oh it’s 3 o’clock I should have a snack. Eat regularly but choose your snacks carefully
H: Ok, good tip there. Jenni?
J: Become an educated consumer, and also don’t – think of it as something you’re doing for yourself, rather than depriving yourself
H: Right, ok there we hope that’s been of some help. Thanks very much Fiona and Jenni for coming in and talking us through all those snacks. Good luck at home if you’re trying to slim, trying to lose a few pounds, and instead of reaching for those crisps, why not try a banana instead, you never know, it might satisfy those cravings. If you want any more information at all about how to have a healthy, balanced diet and how to have healthy snacks, you can go to our website which is www.slimfast.co.uk and there’s plenty of advice there on how to eat a balanced diet, there’s lots of recipes and also help and advice from Jenni on how to manage your mental cravings as well. Well that’s it from us on the Lifestyle Show for today, thanks very much for watching and we’ll see you next time, bye bye
