To snack or not to snack?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Often times, it feels like there\u2019s a wide variety of opinions when it comes to \u2018eating healthy\u2019.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s keep it simple.<\/p>\n

When we have snacks planned throughout the day, we\u2019re not as hungry when we arrive to our next meal. And when we\u2019re not as hungry, we\u2019re less likely to overeat.<\/p>\n

Ok, ok…pretty straight forward. No surprises there.<\/p>\n

But what we often forget, is that snacking has the power to also stabilize our blood sugar from going too high or too low between meals.<\/p>\n

And while this all sounds good on paper, sometimes the most difficult part is knowing WHAT to eat as a snack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

We have enough to think about each day, let\u2019s not overcomplicate something that\u2019s intended to be enjoyed, while providing great benefits to our health.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

$\"\"$ <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Here\u2019s exactly what we need to know about snacking when it comes to diabetes…<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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1. ASSESS.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a number of reasons why we get hungry throughout the day, so it\u2019s good to be aware and to listen to our body. Sometimes we may not be as hungry as we think, but we tend to eat out of habit, boredom, or stress at work.<\/p>\n
I like to assess with a test…by first drinking a glass of water. Strange advice, right? Well, slight dehydration (which is very common) can make us feel hungrier than we actually are.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Another consideration is to think about how well-balanced and satisfying your previous meal was. If you were hungry one hour after eating, you likely didn’t eat enough protein and\/or fat, which both take longer to digest than carbohydrates.<\/p>\n
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2. TIMING.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The types of snacks we choose can be better determined based on the time of our last meal. If it has been less than 3 hours since we ate, we\u2019ll want to choose a snack that contains non-starchy vegetables, healthy fats, and proteins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Good options to try:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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2 cups of sliced cucumbers and bell peppers with 1-2 tablespoons of guacamole.<\/li>\n
\u00bc cup of unsalted nuts or seeds (almonds, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds)<\/li>\n
1 hard boiled egg + 1 cup chopped veggies of choice<\/li>\n
String cheese<\/li>\n
Plain Greek yogurt<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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If it has been more than 3-4 hours since your last meal, we can create a balanced snack by combining a serving of carbs (~15 grams) with a healthy protein.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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$\"Diabetes-Friendly$ <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Good options to try:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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1 tablespoon of natural almond butter with 1 small apple<\/li>\n
1 cup of blueberries and \u00bc cup almonds<\/li>\n
1 ounce of natural cheese with 1 serving of whole wheat crackers<\/li>\n
\u00bd turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with tomato and lettuce<\/li>\n
1\/2 cup of shelled edamame<\/li>\n
1\/2 cup of roasted garbanzo beans<\/li>\n
1 cup of strawberries with 1 hard boiled egg<\/li>\n
1 cup of sliced vegetables with 1-2 tablespoons of hummus<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
And what about the mysterious \u201cbedtime snack\u201d?!<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve all probably been told, at one time or another, that eating after dinner is a bad idea…but it actually depends on what<\/em>\u00a0we\u2019re eating.<\/p>\n
It’s best to not\u00a0go more than 10 hours between the last time we eat in the evening and the first time we eat the next morning.<\/p>\n
With that in mind, a bedtime snack (about 1-2 hours before we go to sleep) can actually help reduce fasting blood sugar levels.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
Bedtime snacks should have 10-15 grams of carbs and include a healthy protein source (refer to options above).<\/p>\n
We each have different schedules and unique needs, so be sure to evaluate your individual meals throughout the day to determine which snacks work best for you.<\/p>\n
But most importantly, don\u2019t forget to listen to your body and eat if you\u2019re hungry \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re craving some additional snack ideas, these\u00a0Spring Strawberry Salad Wraps<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0 Sweet Potato Fries<\/a>\u00a0are a couple of my crowd-pleasing favorites!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
And if you haven’t already, be sure to download my free 7 day diabetes meal plan<\/a>, that includes more great meal and snack ideas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To snack or not to snack? Often times, it feels like there\u2019s a wide variety of opinions when it comes to \u2018eating healthy\u2019. So let\u2019s keep it simple. When we have snacks planned throughout the day, we\u2019re not as hungry when we arrive to our next meal. And when we\u2019re not as hungry, we\u2019re less […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,215,218],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3477","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-diabetes","7":"category-recipes","8":"category-snacks","9":"entry","10":"has-post-thumbnail"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3477"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4798,"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477\/revisions\/4798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}