Quit the Snacks Habit for Weight loss – Body Synergy Fitness
We have all heard the info that says says, ‘Choose healthy options for your snacks’. Instead of a chocolate bar choose an apple, instead of crisps have nuts and yogurt…. etc etc.
Well maybe just maybe even those healthy snack are keep your middle a little squoodgy and the bottom more wobbly than you’d like. Now I am not an advocate of obsessing about looks and size and fat % but one thing I learned about my metabolism is that if my leptin has gone on holiday I am not going to have healthy blood sugar levels and any wobbliness reduction I was hoping to see from a focussed effort to de-wobble myself will be negligible.
I will back it up a moment here and explain LEPTIN. Leptin is the hormone that lets you know when you have had enough to eat. The saviour chemical messenger that whispers quietly, ‘put your fork down or lose your jeans button!’. It works in conjunction with insulin to regulate fat storage and use of calories. Now if you have too many unused calories roaming around your blood this slows the free movement of Leptin from the fat cells to the brain and so the message gets a little lost in transit and you become Leptin resistant because your body is overproducing leptin and not getting a response. So you end up eating more food than you need and become numb to the messages of being full.
There is a proven link between FRUCTOSE and leptin resistance, insulin resistance and liver problems. Fructose is fruit sugar, it is in all fruits to varying degrees. It is also in a lot of processed products, even if they are presumed savoury. Check out the back of the packet on the next thing you pick up in the supermarket and most likely there will be an ingredient ending in OSE (meaning with sugar).
If sugar is in first 6 ingredients – PUT IT DOWN. If there is an OSE ingredient and you are trying to lose weight – PUT IT DOWN
But why give up snacking then? For sure getting rid of fruit for a while will help to reset your leptin levels because of the effect of fructose on leptin and insulin, however most snacking done between meals is not because of hunger and even more rarely because of low blood sugar levels. (there is loads more science behind this but I won’t bore you in this post)
Firstly let me address the snacking for anything other than hunger. If you feel the need to munch on something but are not actually hungry enough to eat a whole meal then step back and ask yourself, ‘WHY do I need to eat this?’. Most likely snacking has become a habit or an emotional crutch of sorts.
Secondly low blood sugar levels are rarely so low as to be life threatening, well not your own life anyway but perhaps that of the person that gets in your way when feeling like you have low blood sugar. Unless of course you have type 1 diabetes and then yes you do need to closely monitor blood sugar. If you are getting slumps in between meals that require pick me up snacks then it is best to look at your meal contents and improve the protein content and add some good fats to your meals to level your energy out for longer. SIMPLE. No one need die in the race for a chocolate bar!
BTW resetting your leptin and insulin and how effective it is in your metabolism is KEY to losing and maintaining weightloss.
What to do if the snack habit is as ingrained in you as 11’ses is for a hobbit. MOVE MORE! Add Movement Snacks to your day.
If you have improved the levels of protein and fats in your meals but still feel the need to habitually snack – then perhaps try and swap the food snack for a movement snack and a glass of water. Now I would love to say that the term MOVEMENT SNACK was my invention, however it came into my awareness from a company called MOVNAT. They (AND I) recommend getting up regularly during your day and moving around in ways you are not likely to do in your everyday routine.
For example,
Well maybe just maybe even those healthy snack are keep your middle a little squoodgy and the bottom more wobbly than you’d like. Now I am not an advocate of obsessing about looks and size and fat % but one thing I learned about my metabolism is that if my leptin has gone on holiday I am not going to have healthy blood sugar levels and any wobbliness reduction I was hoping to see from a focussed effort to de-wobble myself will be negligible.
I will back it up a moment here and explain LEPTIN. Leptin is the hormone that lets you know when you have had enough to eat. The saviour chemical messenger that whispers quietly, ‘put your fork down or lose your jeans button!’. It works in conjunction with insulin to regulate fat storage and use of calories. Now if you have too many unused calories roaming around your blood this slows the free movement of Leptin from the fat cells to the brain and so the message gets a little lost in transit and you become Leptin resistant because your body is overproducing leptin and not getting a response. So you end up eating more food than you need and become numb to the messages of being full.
There is a proven link between FRUCTOSE and leptin resistance, insulin resistance and liver problems. Fructose is fruit sugar, it is in all fruits to varying degrees. It is also in a lot of processed products, even if they are presumed savoury. Check out the back of the packet on the next thing you pick up in the supermarket and most likely there will be an ingredient ending in OSE (meaning with sugar).
If sugar is in first 6 ingredients – PUT IT DOWN. If there is an OSE ingredient and you are trying to lose weight – PUT IT DOWN
But why give up snacking then? For sure getting rid of fruit for a while will help to reset your leptin levels because of the effect of fructose on leptin and insulin, however most snacking done between meals is not because of hunger and even more rarely because of low blood sugar levels. (there is loads more science behind this but I won’t bore you in this post)
Firstly let me address the snacking for anything other than hunger. If you feel the need to munch on something but are not actually hungry enough to eat a whole meal then step back and ask yourself, ‘WHY do I need to eat this?’. Most likely snacking has become a habit or an emotional crutch of sorts.
Secondly low blood sugar levels are rarely so low as to be life threatening, well not your own life anyway but perhaps that of the person that gets in your way when feeling like you have low blood sugar. Unless of course you have type 1 diabetes and then yes you do need to closely monitor blood sugar. If you are getting slumps in between meals that require pick me up snacks then it is best to look at your meal contents and improve the protein content and add some good fats to your meals to level your energy out for longer. SIMPLE. No one need die in the race for a chocolate bar!
BTW resetting your leptin and insulin and how effective it is in your metabolism is KEY to losing and maintaining weightloss.
What to do if the snack habit is as ingrained in you as 11’ses is for a hobbit. MOVE MORE! Add Movement Snacks to your day.
If you have improved the levels of protein and fats in your meals but still feel the need to habitually snack – then perhaps try and swap the food snack for a movement snack and a glass of water. Now I would love to say that the term MOVEMENT SNACK was my invention, however it came into my awareness from a company called MOVNAT. They (AND I) recommend getting up regularly during your day and moving around in ways you are not likely to do in your everyday routine.
For example,
- Get down onto the floor and back up again 10 times.
- Sit with your chair backwards and swing your legs around.
- Climb onto the kitchen counter to get something form high up rather than using a chair.
- Hang upside down from something sturdy or even lie half hanging off a sofa upside down.
- Crawl across the floor on hands and knees
- Crawl across the floor on stomach and elbows
- Crawl across the floor on hands and feet only.
- So many options – be creative and think movement not exercise.
Oh and also have some great improvised excuses ready for when people in your workplace ask what the heck you are doing army crawling across the office!
I guarantee this will either stop the hunger feelings or make you to scared to admit you want a snack.
Check out the Facebook page for my movement snack in May and to get more info on the BEND AND STRETCH AND BREATHE WORKSHOPS for more confident movement.
http://bodysynergyfitness.co.uk