The Snack Attack!

You know what I'm talking about. It happens when you try to lose weight or decide that you want to eat healthier. You know, you start out really good, eating fruits and vegetables, good protein. Then comes the attack of the snacks!

You start craving your favorite junk foods; chips, cookies, donuts, sodas and just about anything fried. The drive to cheat becomes unbearable then, bam! Another one bites the dust.

Okay, lets be honest. No one ever really overcomes the desire to snack. We've been hardwired to snack. In fact, our metabolism works better when we snack. The problem is not snacking, but what we are snacking on.

So, the secret to gaining control over the snack attacks is not fighting it, but changing your choices of snack foods and drinks to give your body the boost and nutrients that it needs.

Tips On Snacking

• Give healthy snacks a chance. If you try some of the healthier snack alternatives out there, you may find that you enjoy them.
• Avoid trans fats. You've no doubt heard of the trouble with trans fats by now (they raise "bad" cholesterol and lower "good" cholesterol). Anything with "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" listed among the ingredients on the label is suspect.
• Be a label detective. Check out the Nutrition Information label on the back. This will tell you what the company calls a portion of that food. If the label says a serving is 1 ounce of chips and you eat 2 or 3 ounces, double or triple the nutrition information numbers.
• Don't snack if you aren't really hungry. Research has shown that when people who aren't hungry eat a snack, they tend not to reduce the number of calories they eat at dinner. The researchers believe this is evidence that snacking can play a role in obesity.
• Avoid high-fat snacks. There are lots of reasons to avoid fatty snacks, including the possibility that they actually encourage overeating.

You are not helpless when it comes to the snack attack. Follow these healthy tips and you will be well on your way to taming, if not totally controlling, your urge to dive into that tub of pudding. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!