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Snacking


Robinson

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Hi, my wife was reading in It Starts With Food that it is best to avoid snacking. She finds that she snacks more than she thinks she should. All good whole 30 approved food though. Her biggest problem she finds, is because we get up at 6am and eat breakfast straight away, it is a long time till lunch and she is usually very hungry again by 10:30am.

Then again we work till 5, go to the gym and don't get home for dinner until after 8pm. Again, ravenous. 8 hours between meals is too long.

What can she do? Or is it okay to snack in that case?

Any help appreciated.

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In her book Melissa says "We'd rather you have a snack than spend hours being cranky, tired and hungry. Make sure your snacks are just smaller meals and include both protein and fat - don't snack on veggies or fruit alone, as they're not ery satiating all by themselves."

She does point out that, in general, snacking isn't a good idea as it can lead to grazing and can disrupt the normalfunctioning of leptin, insulin and glucogen. She also says that once the body becomes fat adapted, it's easier to avod snacking.

Now my tuppence worth, I'd say 'do what you have to do'. You're not likely to stick lon term to any eating plan if it can't be adapted to your lifestyle. A small snack halfway between 2 meals that are 8 hours apart is still giving you 4 hours between eating. I'd say the main worry would be to make sure you don't end up eating too much once you add up the meals and snacks.

For what it's worth, the longer I eat like this (I'm on day 31) the easier I find it if I have to miss a meal 'cos I'm out and can't find anything compliant. Good luck to both of you.

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Kirsteen is right. Snacks, especially mini-meals with protein and fat are okay.

Sometimes it helps to eat more at breakfast in order to make it all the way to lunch. I can go happily for 6 hours without eating when I eat a frittata made with five eggs, veggies, and covered with mashed avocado for breakfast.

To help with the afternoon stretch, a pre-workout meal sounds important. And we recommend a post-workout meal of lean protein and maybe some carbs within 20 minutes of completing a workout. By adding pre- and post-workout food, things should be more comfortable.

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