Sunday, 02-04-23

Morning, everyone.

In comments yesterday, Anonymous (sorry, I'm not sure who you are.  Rachel?) asked:

What, apart from fruit, do you have as snacks? I get the munchies mid afternoon, and speed fruit doesn’t do it for me, although a couple of bananas does.

Good questions.  One of the very helpful things about intermittent fasting is that, assuming you're still having three meals, they are so close together that one tends not to feel hungry between times.

However, a lot of snacking is not hunger, I think.   The munchies is often a habit and one that's really very hard to break, I found.  I've worked so hard at not snacking but it has been challenging and I find it best to only have 'healthy' stuff in the house.  So right now I don't have biscuits, cakes, crisps, sweets around at all.  I find that sort of stuff very addictive and best to be avoided.

However, like you, I often get the munchies around four thirty.  What I do is always plan fruit as a lunch dessert but don't have it until later and that seems to work for me and, because it's not an additional thing but part of a meal plan, it feels OK.  It doesn't have to be speed although it often is; sometimes it is a banana or something like mango or pineapple.   Something I really like anyway.  Sometimes, just having a diet fizzy can help - I often pour it into a posh glass and sip it slowly!  (daft, I know)

Would munching on protein help or are we talking sweet stuff here?  Some people swear by a hard boiled egg or some lean chicken or ham, or maybe a babybel, either as part of an A choice or synned/counted.

For me, best of all is being busy - then I don't seem to want anything until I stop.  Meal prepping can take away my munchie feeling; I'm not sure why, you would think it would do the opposite but it doesn't.

That was a long answer to a simple question, sorry.  The short answer is usually fruit, sometimes a drink, very occasionally a nibble of part of a healthy A or B.  And my feeling is that if a couple of bananas works for you, then go for it!  I often have a banana before a workout class and they work for me too in terms of energy.
I try to remember to eat these late afternoon snacks very slowly.  It is said that it takes about twenty minutes for the brain to register that the tum is feeling fuller and snacks are often eaten fast and on the move. 

If any of you lovely followers/readers has a question, please do ask in the comments and I will answer.

Yesterday's photos:

Apple waffles are very, very nice indeed, I have decided.

I just used unsweetened stewed apple (I have some pots in the freezer) with the flour and egg and added sweetener and cinnamon.

Mmmmmmmm . . .

It's on the planning again for the Easter weekend, maybe as pancakes rather than waffles.  I might add some dried fruit and some bits of candied peel and call it hot cross bun pancakes or waffle.

I used Gizmo's panini plates to make this toastie and it worked very, very well indeed.  The cheese melted beautifully and the outside was good and crunchy.

Later on, I had a couple of easy peelers and a plum.

If you got a 'Say Yes to Success' booklet at SW group this past week, do have a go at the chicken, leek and mushroom bake on p7.  Very easy and really tasty although I added some thickening granules to the chicken and veg mixture to thicken the sauce a bit.

You can add any veg you want really.  I went with leek and mushroom as it said, but others would be fine.  Also, the potato topping would make an nice sort of hash brown type of thing.

Rather than turn on the oven, I used Nellie on bake, 170C for twenty five minutes and it was just right.
I cut the amounts to one but it still made two portions so that's today's evening meal sorted out!

I was full so no dessert.

Today's plans:

B:  avocado toast with poached egg, tomatoes and mushrooms

While shopping in Aldi, I found a pot of smashed avocado and though 'why not'.  Avocado is quite a 'thing' at the moment but I've never had it so now I can try it and see.

SW:  the toast is one B and one level tbsp of the avocado is one and a half syns - I'm estimating three syns for that

L:  roast beef, Yorkshire, roasted veg, steamed veg; fruit

Last week's Sunday dinner was so very nice that I want exactly the same this week too.  The fruit might be a fruit salad as I have some nice fruit after my shop yesterday.

SW:  the Yorkshire is, I think, two and a half syns and one tsp horseradish is one syn

D:  chicken, leek and mushroom bake, maybe salad, maybe veg left over from lunch; yogurt

I think I might make sure there's some veg left over from lunch!  I could sort of mash it all together and make a patty, perhaps.

SW:  one syn for some thickening granules and half a syn for yogurt

Ex:  A Shimmy Snippet.

Summary:

no healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

eight syns

I've just popped back in to add this, posted by Jen in our local SW group page on Facebook.

Made me smile!