Dear Nutritionist,
I’m eating and drinking more because of being locked in and possibly emotional eating. I don’t seem to be able to stop snacking, and eating take-out, and I crave sodas. Can you suggest some healthier snacks? Thank you!
Mike
Dear Mike,
A lot of people I coach have experienced the same since the start of this isolation. In nutrition circles, people have been referring to carb-creep, where even steadfast low-carbers are finding it hard to stay on track. If it was unclear before, this should help us realize that cravings can indeed be induced by emotions and boredom.
As you probably know if you are a regular reader, I don’t advocate routine snacking. Snack foods are unnecessary in terms of calories, deficient in terms of nutrients, and often damage our appetite for proper meals, which are more balanced. So, as a rule I suggest not skipping meals and not snacking, except on occasion. For example, I play euchre with a local group and on those nights I allow myself to snack on things I wouldn’t normally have or bring into my home. And my son knows there is a weekend pass in terms of snacking. Friday nights he can have a special treat of his choice. I have a few suggestions for how to do this successfully:
- Make a standard treat night in the house when everyone gets to bring in something they usually don’t get to have.
- Otherwise, when you shop, don’t purchase items that aren’t healthy. You or someone in the house will be tempted by them and they won’t last till treat night! Instead, go get your treats on the night you will eat them.
- This snack should be minimized in terms of portion size. It’s best not to purchase an extra large bag of chips, for example, if it’s only you eating them and you don’t have the self control to wait until the following week to finish eating them.
Second to these suggestions, you can also try a “this not that” approach. For those of us who want to maintain our health in the long term, I find this approach really helps. It focuses on substituting tempting junky foods with healthier alternatives. It works for take-out fare and snack foods equally. I’m going to list some for readers to try.
Burgers: substitute lettuce leaves for buns, or try mini sliders on cucumber rounds or as a stand alone
Wraps: try using collard green leaves as a wrapper or use these protein up, carb down wraps (Walmart in Bradford carries them)
Pies: try homemade crustless pies made with nut crumble topping and monkfruit or whole earth as a sweetener
Cakes and muffins: try almond and coconut flour cakes made with monkfruit or whole earth sweetener
Breads: try keto egg and almond flour breads (super easy to make)
Jams: try homemade jams made with frozen berries and some sweetener with optional spices like cinnamon or allspice
Rice: try cauliflower rice instead of standard rice
Noodles: try zero calorie shirataki noodles for all your noodle dishes
Chips: try homemade buffalo chips cooked in lard vs store bought chips that are over salted - you can even buy your own seasonings to put on them
Chip alternatives: try kale chips and also seaweed snacks that are light and crisp and full of iodine for your thyroid health. Or try pork rinds.
Chocolate bars: replace super sweet bars with bars sweetened with healthier alternatives like these sweetened with monkfruit and these with palm sugar and these with stevia. Or try nuts covered with low carb chocolate like these. You don’t need to order many of these online, as larger Shoppers (in Toronto at least) have a good variety of these in their specialty bar section.
Candied nuts: Try homemade natural honey covered almonds or nuts instead of store bought
Ice cream: there are great keto ice cream recipes that you can try for lower carb, less processed ice creams that are decadent. You can also turn frozen bananas into ice cream desserts with a machine like this one
Whipped coffee: as decadent as it sounds, you can indulge in this to ease your ice cap cravings
Jello mousse: this is a high protein version of jello mousse that’s super easy to make
Organic haystacks: one of my creations, these super easy, no-bake, drop cookies are bleeping incredible in flavour, nutrient profile, and texture - and curb chocolate cravings like no other. They also freeze well and can be made with added protein powder for an after workout recharge
Lasagna: this low carb, keto lasagna is as good as lasagna gets, so no need to reach for the noodles
Chocolate pudding: this sugar free version is super satisfying when you need something creamy and can be made with dairy or coconut cream
Pancakes: these low carb chia seed pancakes with blueberry syrup are amazing, as are these grain-free banana pancakes.
In addition to these recipes, I highly recommend the Against All Grain cookbooks by Danielle Walker. The recipes all turn out very well in my tests and are crowd pleasers that give an intro to whole food, lower carb, Paleo cooking.
Thank you, Mike, for writing in. I hope you’ve found some recipes you can use as healthier alternatives herein! I welcome readers to send me pics of recipes they try and feedback on their favourites! As always, if you have a health or nutrition related question, I welcome you to write me at [email protected]. And if you’re looking for more specific health information check out my website at nonienutritionista.com, where you can contact me directly. I provide 1:1 health coaching and a variety of webinars online to help people better manage their health holistically. Stay safe and enjoy the beginning of spring - if it ever comes!
Namaste!
Nonie Nutritionista
