Quick Fix - Healthy Snacking
A series of short, to-the-point chats with the industries best. No intro, no small talk, no wasting your time, just the answers you want & need to ensure you feel, be & look your best.
With Dietitian, Abbey Sissian from The Clean Kweens.
EC. I would love to get your thoughts on whether you think it's a good idea to introduce snacks throughout the day for women wanting to improve their health and ultimately their relationship with food?
CK. I love the topic of snacking! As you know Lish (and anybody else who follows Clean Kweens), we are all about snacks. In terms of whether snacking is important is really individual, and it comes down to whether you feel like you're hungry or feel like it's needed to tie you over until the next meal.
Many of our clients can get through with three meals a day, but me personally, I would be so irritable if I only had three meals a day and you wouldn't be able to look at me. That's where healthy snacks can come in handy, not only to regulate your blood sugar levels, manage appetite hormones and tie us over to our next meal, but all of that combined can help reduce overeating later in the day too, rather than be strict, eat small meals at the start of the day, skip snacks and come 3pm you feel like you can eat everything in sight.
I like to view snacks as a good opportunity to get in nutrients or food groups that we don't get in at our main meals. For example, I'm a savoury person at all main meals, so for snacks, I might have yoghurt to get in some dairy, a serve of fruit or some healthy fats like a handful of nuts.
You can look at snacks in a really positive light to meet those macro and micronutrients, tie you over between meals, prevent overeating later on and also they're delicious. You can look forward to them and make them exciting.
EC. Snacking is often one of the first things to go when my clients want to reduce their calories throughout the day, however it's important to remember that if you were previously having a protein ball/ bar, that snack was also increasing your protein intake for the day too. Do you agree that if you're going to reduce or remove snacks, to be mindful about increasing your protein and fibre in your main meals to ensure you're still meeting your minimum requirements?
CK. Yes, definitely, that's a great point. Snacks can be so helpful in meeting protein and fibre needs, but also boosting up the fullness factor as well, by including high protein and high fibre choices. If you are getting rid of snacks, ask yourself - Is removing this snack doing me any positives? Does avoiding a muesli bar or piece of fruit mean that come lunch, you eat 2 sandwiches or 2 serves of lunch? Sometimes we feel really good about not snacking, but sometimes it means that we're overindulging and eating large portion sizes at main meals. I think that's really important too.
Sometimes it can be helpful for weight loss to manage the size of your meals and then introduce a snack to allow smaller, more frequent hits of energy throughout the day, but yes - that's a really good point Lish! If you're not having those snacks, it's important to make sure you are trying to get all micronutrients and macronutrients squeezed into those main meals throughout the day too.
EC. Let’s chat about after dinner snacks … 99% of my clients struggle with overeating after dinner and I absolutely love your snack plate approach. Can you share this approach with us?
CK: Absolutely, this has been so beneficial with all of our clients. I personally can't go to sleep unless I've had something sweet. It's part of my night-time routine. So what I always recommend is asking yourself after dinner - What do I really feel like right now? What am I craving and what will satisfy me most?
This is where mindfulness and the combination of both intuitive and deliberate eating come into play. For example, if you really feel like a scoop of ice cream or a bar of chocolate and you do still feel physically hungry, what we encourage you to do is to get a little plate (or a little bowl), then add a bit of what you're craving (eg. chocolate bar). From here, think - OK, that's satisfying, but if I'm still hungry, that's not actually going to fill me up, so what can I now add to this plate to keep me feeling both full and satisfied?
That’s the perfect combination for a snack at all times during the day, but particularly after dinner.
That could be adding berries or another fruit, some yogurt, some peanut butter and carrots or a handful of nuts to give the plate that real fullness factor, and also enjoy this mindfully! Often after dinner, we're sitting on the couch, watching TV and it’s easy to eat a whole block of chocolate. Try to minimise distraction and focus on the food. Focus on the flavour, texture & experience. Are you enjoying this? How’s this making me feel? Am I feeling full? Am I satisfied? That increased mindfulness just prevents overeating but also boosts satisfaction, so that we feel at peace with foods and we're allowing ourselves to enjoy foods that we love.
EC. A lot of the joy that comes from eating comes within the first couple of bites. For instance, if you're eating pizza, a lot of the joy or excitement comes within the first two slices - after that, the joy tends to taper off, so I think the snack plate approach really tunes into that and allows you to fulfil that excitement and joy, but then also nourish your body with a lot of other nutrients, minerals and vitamins.
CK. Yes, definitely and it's not something that you can only implement after dinner, but afternoon tea and morning tea is really good for this approach too.
EC. I have five quick, rapid-fire questions for you. My first one is preference-related, which you’ve actually just touched on - savoury or sweet snacks.
CK. Definitely sweet! Easy decision that one.
EC. DIY snacks or store-bought snacks?
CK. Often in the morning when we're mid client and it's busy, we grab a bought snack (a muesli bar or a protein bar). In the afternoon, we'll often make a snack plate. So, cheese and crackers or veggie sticks and dip or a homemade baked good that we would have cooked throughout the day and enjoy that. So it’s a combination, but often morning is convenience and afternoon is something that we whip up.
EC. When it comes to store bought snacks, are Fobdbods your go-to?
CK. Definitely! I can honestly say that I've had a Fodbods Protein Bar every day for at least three years now. In terms of snack bars, we always choose ones that are higher in protein (so above 10 grams of protein per serve). Regular bars like Carmans and Sams Pantry, they're all really good, tasty and keep you full if they've got that hit of protein in them too.
EC. If somebody is struggling with mindless overeating, particularly when it comes to after dinner, would you suggest snacking by the clock? As in forcing yourself to have something to eat or would you be more inclined to suggest intuitive eating? A lot of women avoid that afternoon snack to reduce their calories, but come 5pm they're ravenous and then they snack both before and after dinner time.
CK. This is a really good question and I think it depends on what your previous experience has been. If you're somebody who come 5pm is ravenous, then introducing that 3pm snack as a bit of a preventative for overeating (if it’s become a common theme for you) would be really helpful. I guarantee if you've had lunch at 12 o'clock and wait 3 hours, you will have some appetite and physical hunger.
If you're someone who has had a really big lunch and can get through until dinner, then eating by the clock would be more of a waste and that's where I would encourage intuition, in terms of - Am I hungry today? Do I want a snack right now? Is my hunger different to yesterday? Just because it does fluctuate so much.
EC. Buying chocolate - do we go single serve or the whole block?
CK. That's always going to be the whole block and I feel like this can be overwhelming at first, but what this does is encourages you and your brain to understand that chocolate is safe, it's accessible, it's in abundance and it's always going to be there.
Knowing you've got the whole block, or a couple of blocks in the pantry just allows you to be a bit more intuitive with it, because you can have a row (or have a few pieces) and think - Do I actually want more or am I just eating this because I think it's going to grow legs and run away? Do I want this because I think I'm not allowed to eat it on my diet or because it's a novelty to me and I never have chocolate in the house? Getting used to having more copious amounts present will be really helpful long term in managing that overeating and mindless eating of that food too.
EC. Calorie counting - yay or nay?
CK. Nay, and I think that's because I'm an Eating Disorder Dietitian, so I see all of the negative consequences of my lovely clients who have been calorie counting for many years, but I honestly encourage a combination of intuitive and deliberate eating. That is, what would you like for your main meals and snacks, but what's also going to fill you up and serve a purpose and provide some nutrition?
If we're eating regular portioned breakfast, lunch and dinner with snacks in between to tie us over, regulate our appetite and prevent that overeating, then calorie counting is never necessary to reach our goals.
EC. You're amazing. Is there anything that you want to touch on with regards to snacking?
CK. Snacking is very individual, so try not to compare yourself to anybody else when it comes to snacking. For example, I sometimes have 3 snacks between main meals, whereas I've got friends who never snack at all and that can cause some people quite a lot of stress.
Comparing themselves and thinking - why do I need this snack? Why don't they need anything? Why am I more hungry than others? Also not comparing yourself from yesterday to today … because you were extra hungry yesterday, may mean that you can be satiated with one snack today. So just remember that!
Stay in your lane, do what feels right for you and try not to be influenced by external influences & pressures.
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