When you make changes in your eating habits, one of the struggles you may face is that the little, unconscious calories you consume throughout the day add up. Whether it’s the candy jar at the office or sodas while you’re running around doing errands, these calories can hinder your progress towards achieving the results you are looking for.
Many quick and easy snacks you may find throughout the day are typically high in sugar and calories, and also often lack protein, fibre and other important nutrients. Given what we know about the lack of nutrients seen in many typical snacks, it’s important to plan ahead and take healthy snacks with you during the day.
Counting calories accurately takes a lot of practice and an understanding where things can go wrong.
There are a few things you can do that will help to make your calories counting more accurate and help you to feel less out of control.
- Know when to weigh and when to measure – if your not very familiar with portion sizes, measure and weigh. Invest in a scale, measuring cups and measuring spoons.
- Count everything you eat – one of the big mistakes people make is that they only write down the major items that they eat and omit the extras. Write down everything that passes your lips no matter how small. It may seem trivial, but even things like breath mints.
- Log everyday – to many people abandon their food diaries. Keep track of what you’re eating as the day goes along. If you wait till the end of the day, its unlikely that your remember every thing you ate. Find a system that works for you and stick with it.
If you find yourself caught without snacks often, then its time to plan for healthy snacking.
Not packing enough snacks could lead you to binge on whatever is around, and often those choices aren’t the best.
Have nutriton bars on hand. It’s a good quick snack and it’ll keep you full until your next meal.
Aim for a protein bar with 10 to 20 grams of protein (the higher the better) as well as fibre with low levels of sugar. Protein bars will not only help keep you feeling full, but will also provide your body with the amino acids your muscles need. Keep these bars wherever you spend the most time. For some people its in the car, for others it’s in the office. Regardless of where that space is, what’s important is that you’re never caught without a nutritious snack.
It could be the difference between essential nutrient calories, or empty calories which provides little to no value to your total calorie count and could just possibly hinder your efforts.
