Lunchtime snack attack - Food

Eating just one packet of crisps per day for a year is the equivalent of drinking almost five litres of cooking oil. This is a really easy habit to get into; a sandwich, a packet of crisps and a drink every day for lunch and meal deals which offer you exactly that don't exactly help the UK population to stay healthy. The problem with most articles about how to cut down on snack foods is that they tell you to replace your daily crisps, chocolate bar or muffin with a piece of fruit or a low fat yoghurt but we all know that those are not like-for-like swops and they are unlikely to hit the spot.

More useful advice is to tell it straight, that healthy eating and dieting are not supposed to be easy and they're not, after all if losing weight, toning up or getting fit were easy, we would be a nation of slim, trim and beautiful people. Healthy eating and beating that lunchtime snack attack or your weekend binging comes down to willpower and mental strength, it's about changing your lifestyle and committing wholeheartedly to this change. There is no one correct way of making a change, some people make the change 'cold turkey' as it were, in other words they cut out all crisps, chocolate, fatty foods and takeaways and replace them with healthy alternatives whereas some people choose to cut down slowly until their diet is balanced and healthy.

The one thing not to do (due to its high failure rate) is to say to yourself or others that you'll start a diet on such and such a date in the future, even if it's a Friday and you decide to start it on a Monday, you'll more than likely not stick to it because there'll always be an excuse not to; a birthday dinner, a work's night out, some other special occasion or even a stressful day at work. Once you've decided to go healthy, start it that day and simply familiarise yourself with what you currently eat and work out what's good and what's bad and therefore what you need to change.

Expert opinion differs on snacking, with some saying that eating little and often keeps your metabolism at a fast rate and reduces the risk of binging or experiencing sugar highs and lows which can account for periods of low energy throughout the day. Others say that it's important for the body to experience hunger so that excess calories and fat are burnt throughout the day and small regular meals or snacking even healthily between breakfast, lunch and dinner can tell the body that it's never hungry and to store these fats and calories. The truth is that every body is different and what works for one person may be completely wrong for the next and it's a case of trial and error. What is the same for everyone however is food that is considered to be healthy and food that isn't so it's time to swop the crisps, chocolate and junk food for fruit, vegetables and good home-cooked meals.

So we've established that snacking can actually be a good thing for the body just as long as it's not constantly on crisps and chocolate. Visit the biscuit aisle of your local supermarket and you'll be amazed at how delicious healthy food can be, so delicious you might think you're being naughty!

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