From the Weird but True Snack List

What not to eat when craving a snack.

Yeah, but no. I don't live my life on a diet ... life isn't about food, but it becomes that when we are trying to lose weight, or for that matter, even trying to maintain our weight.

Have you ever noticed how you tend to focus on the food you can't have (and then really want when you think about it)?  Yep. There are foods sometimes that I think about, or see on Facebook or in commercials that looks really good, and I want it ... but it's also very weird because a lot of it seems to be food I wouldn't have eaten before dieting. And I don't mean veggies and healthy stuff.


I mean all those yummy, swimming with carmel or chocolate sauce desserts. Most of those would normally make my teeth hurt just looking at them, but when I get in one of those phases where I really want to stuff just anything I can find into my mouth, those things look delicious.

Healthy Fruit

How to avoid that? Well, not fad dieting helps. Not really dieting at all helps a little too. Eating regularly helps (don't skip - something I still have a hard time with sometimes).

My "go-to diet" is really simple - pretty much based on Weight Watchers (which I used to lose a lot of my weight), and WW isn't a diet as such. Oh, I suppose some will consider it a diet but it isn't meant to be used that way.

You're supposed to be learning how to change your eating habits for a lifetime. Meaning you teach yourself to eat food:

• when you're hungry and the old tummy's grumbling
• not when you're watching TV or reading
• when you need to fuel your body
• not when you love the way that butter tart looks

The Raw Alternative

There are lots of healthy foods you can eat if you need a snack during the day - yummy foods.

Who calls raw veggies yummy? Not me. Seriously.

Don't get me wrong, I like veggies (some anyways, and I'm still learning to try new ones) but I like them cooked, and some fruits. But they aren't usually what I crave when I want a snack. I nearly always want some oomph ... and something that tells my belly it's got something to do besides grumble. Satisfying what your brain says is harder ... especially if your brain is yelling SWEETS all day long.

So when I crave a snack just because I feel like snacking I try to think about it first - what makes a good snack? Am I hungry? Do I just want to eat? What is making me want to eat?  Sometimes I don't know. Others it's really because I'm hungry.

If I'm hungry - I toast one slice of thin-sliced whole grain bread (about 45 calories, 9grams carbs) I put about half a cup (to 3/4) of cooked spinach (yeah, sorry folks, I've loved spinach since I was a kid) on top, and sprinkle with a small bit of grated parmesan or romano, and maybe a quarter cup of raw nuts or seeds on the side.

Instant snack for me, and that nearly always satisfies my craving. My husband always grimaces at my spinach toast ... but hey, he grimaces at my spaghetti toast too (not going there right now, maybe another post).

Weird but true.