Have you ever helped yourself to a handful nuts or a protein bar and considered it was a healthy snack and a healthy choice? But for some reason, you are still having trouble losing weight?
What is your snack of choice when you are feeling stressed? Peanut butter crackers, M & Ms, or cookies?
Let me tell you a little tale…Once upon a time, there was a woman who was very health conscious. She thought she ate very healthy 98% of the time. The doctor had told her she was hypoglycemic, so she religiously ate 6 small meals a day as she was instructed, including a healthy snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon. She never let herself get too hungry.
Fast forward 30 years and she could not understand why she had a roll of fat around her middle and she struggled with slowly gaining weight over time. Her fasting blood sugar was always in the normal range, but had slowly crept up over the years. She asked her practitioner to do a hemoglobin A1C test, becaue she has close relatives with diabetes. It tests the amount of sugar that was circulating and staying in her system over a 2-3 month period and diagnoses prediabetes and diabetes. Surprise! The results said she had moved into the pre-diabetic zone.
This was a shock. She would never had suspected, nor had her doctor, that she was prediabetic. Well, that was me 2 years ago and it was definitely a shock. It scared me. I started working with a weight loss coach, because I knew I had to make some changes before I found out I was a true diabetic.
I stopped eating sugar almost entirely and products made from flour. I stopped snacking in between meals, which was a huge change, because I had been having those “healthy” snacks for 30 years! I lost 14 pounds and reached my goal weight. I was finally out of the prediabetic zone.
But, then I started to add certain foods back in my diet. Nuts being one and corn chips is another. A few here and there. 1/2 banana when I got up in the morning. Made gluten free chocolate chip cookies with my granddaughter occasionally. Dark chocolate several times a day. And guess what?
I have found myself back in the prediabetic zone. Those healthy and not-so-healthy snacks had done a number on me. They add up. Luckily it has not moved the needle on the scale up too much. I am glad I did an over-the-counter A1C test again, got the result, and now can examine what I have been eating and make adjustments again.
I am a wellness coach and I am human. I messed up. But I got right back on my food protocol and I will stay on it until I am not prediabetic anymore.
I tell this tale, because it is easy to fall into the habit of eating a handful or nuts here and there, a couple of miniature candy pieces, or a protein bar to take the edge off your hunger and your stress level between meals. Be aware that those choices can easily sabotage any weight loss progress, make you gain and throw your blood sugar off.
How about taking an honest look at the food you eat every day, including snacks? Can’t understand why you are gaining? Keep a food journal. That is what I did and what I do with my weight loss clients. They keep a daily food journal and we review it together. What they think are healthy snacks can actually have very negative results on their body.
If you would like some help quitting the snack habit plus lose some weight, let’s get on a call and talk about your weight loss challenges and your lifestyle. Let’s see if my coaching program is the perfect fit to get you back on track to permanent weight loss. Send me an email at jane@janespringer.com and we’ll set that call up right away.
Talk to you soon.
Jane
P.S If you would like to get a head start on losing weight right now, download my Weight Loss Blueprint for Busy Lawyers here. Then send me that email!
Jane Springer is a certified Life, Wellness and Style Coach who assists women in taking care of themselves, in body, mind and spirit. She coaches women who want to lose weight, avoid diabetes, and feel great. She also helps them thrive after divorce. She also helps them to clear their closets of old clothes and outdated attitudes, so they can shine and feel confident.