I recently had a friend ask me about snacking. Specifically, why she could wolf down a whole package of ice cream bars in one sitting without even flinching. I asked her if in her lifetime she had ever felt the inclination to eat an equivalent amount in salad? She quickly responded no. Now why do you think that is? (if you’re thinking “well Heidi, that’s because salad is gross” then shame on you. You are clearly doing something wrong in the kitchen, but not to worry… Recipes are coming!) It’s actually because at the time of your snack you are at least hungry – if not starving because you didn’t get enough food in you throughout the day – and the one thing your quick binge satisfaction is devoid of is… Wait for it… NUTRIENTS! Remember those pesky non-foods I told you about? Your non-fat-skinny-cow-carb-smart ice cream bar is an empty calorie fest. Even if its “only 200 calories!” wouldn’t you rather indulge in a reasonable serving size of what you were really craving in the first place?
Think about it, even if you wanted to you could not consume half the amount of healthy, nutrient dense, delicious whole foods in one sitting as you could of any junk of your choice. When you are hungry, your body is signaling to you that it is in need of one or more nutrients, vitamins, and/or minerals. We have conditioned ourselves to believe that fast food and processed junk counts as food but if that were true, at some point (before your esophagus was about to burst from sheer volume overload) you would feel satiated after eating them. You will notice that you feel comfortably full quite quickly after eating a healthy, balanced meal or snack – basically – because your body got what it was lacking. Although in this example, serving sizes can also depend on a variety of factors such as stomach size, previous eating habits (binging, the “eat until the plate is empty” mentality, or if you were ever in the army “eat everything – as fast as you can – and load up, because we don’t know when our next chance to eat will be – if it even happens today” mindset), the gist of what I’m saying is sound – so go with it.
On a related note, it is also worthwhile to mention that often times when you think you’re hungry you are actually thirsty. You will only feel true thirst once you have actually become dehydrated. Often times that nondescript “I’m hungry but I have no idea what I want to eat” feeling is pre-dehydration thirst. So… The next time you find yourself feeling ravenous right after having a meal, reach for a glass of H2O before hitting up the pantry for your next fix. Despite the fact that it might not be what you want, you might just find that it’s exactly what you need.
