Snacking Is Making You Fat
Growing up, we always ate big meals. I remember going to a friend’s house after school one day. We were hanging out in the afternoon and I was going to stay for dinner. I would have been around 13 at the time – these days the age when girls start worrying about how they look and watch what they eat. Well this family was your average family – couple of kids, working parents – none of them in that great shape, especially the kids! So dinner was served. I was wondering why they were serving me first – it didn’t look like they were intending to eat… then I realised!
The dishes set out on the table were intended to feed five of us! The dishes containing corn, peas and the main dishes were so small. I could not believe it was supposed to go around 5 of us. The family all took tiny portions and I followed suit – not wanting to embarrass myself. They ate their small meals and pronounced themselves full – to me it was like an entree. I was hungry so I finished off the rest of the dishes – and they couldn’t believe it. There I was, a slim, normal figure – eating twice or three times as much as they.
Over the years I kept wondering why this was. I was confused why they were overweight, yet seemed to eat surprisingly little meals. Slowly I began to realise that they were simply following the culture of the day. Eat what you want when you want.
These guys didn’t eat big mains. Dessert was nearly the same size as dinner. But it wasn’t the evening meal that was the biggest problem – it was the in betweens. My friends would ‘feel hungry’ and head to the kitchen to pull out potato chips, grainwaves, chocolate bars, cookies – etc, etc, etc. Not once did I see them heading for the vege drawer or slicing up an apple. It was all processed, packaged food.
I used to get teased at school for eating a whole raw carrot. I ate more than the other kids did – but I ate raw foods. They were the ones who were overweight and struggled with PE. I felt fine.
I still practise the same habits today. The thought of a chocolate bar during day is tantalising, but when I think about all the sugar and the processed ingredients and the plastics – it almost makes me retch. I cannot eat food like that with a free mind – its not that I feel guilty because of the calories or high fat or whatever – its the fact that it is posioning my body. SLowly but surely, a little bit at a time.
So my point is – avoid snacking in between meals if you feel hungry. More often than not, you’re actually thirsty. So throw that chocolate bar or packet of chips into the bin and fill up your glass from the tap. Drink some water then try a healthy snack instead. I believe that it is the snacking in between meals on ‘junk’ food that is causing obesity problems today.
Popularity: 2% [?]
