Fat Loss Jump Start Day 16

How are you? Are you staying motivated, keeping your fridge and pantry full of good food, and resisting the sugary temptations outside of your home? I hope so! And I hope you’re seeing that what you’re doing is so worth it at this point.

TODAY’S TOPIC IS SNACKING

One of the things I struggled with at first when I started eating this way was snacking. All I could think of to eat if I was hungry between meals was trail mix.

Well, trail mix is really easy to overeat (I learned that the hard way), and it’s not that filling. I had to come up with alternatives that fit my lifestyle (ie they’re easy to prepare) and that kept me satisfied until my next meal.

Let’s talk for a second about the purpose of a snack.

When should you snack?

Snacking is awesome when you’re legitimately hungry and maybe your last meal just wasn’t quite enough.

It’s great when you’re working out in between work and dinner and you need something to tide you over until dinner.

It’s good if you’re working out in the morning and you need a little something for energy before your real post-workout breakfast.

A snack is something you eat when you’re legitimately hungry and your blood sugar is dropping.

Snacks aren’t a necessary part of your day, though. In fact, in order to lose weight, you might have to stop snacking altogether, except in those rare times like I mentioned above.

For a lot of people there are certain times every day when you think you should be eating. It’s 8am – breakfast time. Ok, now it’s 10:30am – time for a snack and a coffee break (remember what I told you about coffee? 😉 Now it’s time for lunch, now an afternoon snack, now dinner, and now dessert. Or something along those lines.

But that’s maybe just what were taught when we were kids. Or maybe we picked up these habits as adults.

THE GOLDEN RULE ABOUT SNACKING

I have one major rule about snacking. Well, about eating in general:

Only snack if you are truly hungry.

That means we have to check in with ourselves every single time we eat. Take a full body scan. Is your blood sugar low, or could you go an hour or two more without food? Is your stomach growling?

Or are you just “hungry” for something? I used to eat loads of food because it filled the boyfriend void I had. I’d eat when I was lonely. In fact, I’d eat when I was bored, sad, or angry, too. Eating kept my mind off things and filled that empty space in my soul. It kept those neurotransmitters firing because I was eating the addictive types of food that make you feel blissful in a weird, drug-like way (sugar, grains, gluten, chocolate). You know what else eating loads of food did?

It made me fat.

So try to reach for something else to distract you from those emotions you’re uncomfortable with. Better yet, acknowledge the emotions and journal about them, even if it’s only for 3 minutes. Get them out so they’re not locked up inside of you causing you to eat when you don’t need to!

Don’t eat in response to your emotions; eat in response to your body’s true hunger cues.

That’s a big rule for me, and it’s one of the only reasons I maintain my weight now. So, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s talk about what to eat when you truly, really need a snack.

SNACK IDEAS

We’re so used to eating granola bars, candy, chips, baked goods, or other grain products for snacks that it’s hard to imagine anything else. What do you eat on Paleo, continue losing weight, and satisfy hunger between meals?

Snack Recipes

There are a ton of recipes online, and here’s a compilation of 53 Paleo Snacks that PaleoGrubs.com put together. They cover their bases, and have linked to 53 of the best recipe blogs on the interwebs. But my personal favorite snacks are these:

My Favorite Snack Recipes

Ok, so onto my personal favorites, which I pretty much have in my house all the time. My eating schedule is pretty random, since I eat only when I’m hungry. So some days I snack and some days I don’t, but on the days that I do, below are the snacks I eat!

Sweet potatoes – I usually have one or two already baked in my fridge and then I’ll eat a portion of it smashed up with coconut oil, cinnamon, and sea salt

Bulk Meals. Just make more of whatever you make for dinner so you always have leftovers in the fridge (chili, soup, stew, any meal…).

Leftover meat with avocado or guacamole smeared on top. You can just roast a pound or two of any kind of sliced meat in the oven for 13 minutes or so and then you have all that meat for snacks and meals for the week. Or make a big roast of some kind and pre-slice it up for meals and snacks through the week.

Paleo “yogurt” –This is just whole fat canned coconut milk mixed with unsweetened applesauce, a little splash of lime juice, and sliced fruit (and maybe a little honey or a few dark chocolate chips if you can tolerate the carbs). It sounds weird, but it’s good!

Fruits or veggies – Sometimes I’ll eat a big carrot, a small piece of fruit (apple, peach, nectarine), or a couple of figs or dates. You can eat whatever kinds of fruits or veggies you want.

Banana or apple with coconut butter or almond butter smeared on it

Deli turkey and/or salami slices rolled up with avocado

Hard boiled egg – Sprinkle it with salt, smear it with guacamole, dip it in mustard, or mash it up with some mustard and olive oil mayo and eat it as a dip for veggies. I usually hard boil a whole dozen eggs ahead of time for the week so I have them on hand.

Banana tapioca crepes – Eat them plain or add some almond butter, coconut oil, or coconut manna to it.

Paleo Muffins – (just google “paleo muffin recipe”). I know that sounds naughty, but I’ve made these with protein-rich coconut flour and almond flour with only fruit as a sweetener, and they’re really good. Individually wrap them in your freezer with aluminum foil and pull one out as a snack. They thaw out quickly, or eat them frozen like I do when I’m in a hurry

I’m a busy girl, and I don’t like to be in the kitchen that often, so these are pretty much as quick and dirty as they come.

As you can see, I use a lot of the same ingredients to make my snacks, but all of the different combinations of foods keep me interested.

Pre-Made Snacks

There are tons of Paleo food vendors nowadays selling truly healthy snacks and meals. They can be sort of expensive, but check these out if you don’t feel like making your own.

PaleoPax.com

Pete’sPaleo.com

AMRAP Bars

Lara Bars (in any grocery store)

Jerky

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for now! I hope this helps you on your snack quest a little bit.

Until next time!

Yours,

Neely

neelyquinn.com

P.S.

Don’t forget about your downloads! They’ll really help you understand this diet more thoroughly, as well as make it easier and more do-able for you.