Snacking while losing weight, you can just. Tip of the week 12
Snacking while losing weight. Can just. Right? Well. No. It is mainly learned behaviour that you can very well unlearn. Of course, you don't have to deny yourself everything, but when you feel the urge to snack, first ask yourself whether it is out of habit or out of boredom. Usually it is.
Yet sweet cravings also often have a physical cause. After all, why do we crave sweets so often while losing weight? Usually it is because we have not eaten anything for a long time or have skipped a meal. Blood sugar levels drop, causing the body to ask for extra energy.
The sugars in sweets and cakes are absorbed directly by the body which can give you a jolt of energy at that moment.
Unfortunately, there are no 'good' nutrients in them, which means the body cannot digest them either, and the excess sugar in regular snacking ends up being stored as fat.
We must, of course, avoid this!
Snacking while losing weight: what to do when sweet cravings arise?
First, of course, it is important not to skip meals and to eat as regularly as possible, preferably at fixed times.
This also applies to your responsible snacks!
All this keeps blood sugar levels up.
Besides, 'sweet cravings' are learned and in fact nothing but a form of addiction. Snacking raises your blood sugar levels, giving you more energy. You can compare this to a kick you get from drugs. Immediately afterwards, your blood sugar drops, making you feel languid and tired again.
You start snacking again to get that energy boost again with the result that your blood sugar is constantly exposed to violent fluctuations.
Of course, it's hard to leave sweets and biscuits out for a while (compare it to kicking the habit), but eventually your body gets used to them and the craving decreases.
If you still have the occasional irrepressible craving for sweet, preferably choose sweet fruits like, for example:
- strawberries
- a mango
- an apple
- pineapple chunks
- melon pieces
Or choose sweets that last a nice long time but are low in calories, such as:
- up to five liquorices you can suck on or chew for a long time
- up to five tic tacs or smints
- max. two sours
- max one chup-a-chup lollipop
- dark chocolate
Hypoglycaemia
If you really have extreme cravings for sweet throughout the day, it is advisable to get checked for Hypoglycaemia. This is the opposite of Diabetes. In Diabetes (diabetes), the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, causing blood sugar levels to be too high.
Hypoglycaemia actually involves too much insulin being produced, causing blood sugar levels to fall too low or fluctuate. A constant craving for sweet (or sometimes savoury) is then the result.
Often we can control this ourselves. Skipping meals, stress and/or excessive workload, extreme obesity , pregnancy or other physically exhausting activities can certainly be a cause of fluctuations in blood sugar levels.
In some cases, it is caused by medication use or, in the most serious cases, a disease of the liver or adrenal glands or an insulin-secreting tumour in the pancreas.
Symptoms of Hypoglycaemia include:
- fatigue
- yawn a lot
- be unpleasant
- Difficult to get going in the morning
- restlessness
- nervousness
- about reacting emotionally
- dizziness
- (feeling about to) faint (or even pass out)
- nausea
- vibrate
- rapid heartbeat
- tinnitus
- excessive perspiration
- low blood pressure
- cold hands and/or feet
- mood swings
- sudden anger
- anxiety
- confusion
- poor concentration
- blurred vision
Either way, always listen to your body as well as your intuition. If you feel something is wrong, always visit a doctor!
This week you may also weigh yourself! Click >HERE for handy weighing and measuring tips.
The above text previously appeared in the Balance book. The book is now sold out, but may still be available to order second-hand via the link below.
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