Afternoon Snacks

average_runner

So a new year is here and i was wondering what do people eat for healthy snacks in the afternoon? Where do you buy the healthy snacks etc?

chinguetti

Bananas, Nature Valley bars, Nakd bars and 9 Bar, the latter is tough to find but some Tescos have them. Always have a box with a couple of bars in them as it stops you buying chocolate i find.

meijin

some of my "snacks": meat, salad (various leaves and veggies), nuts, apple, avocado
you can buy it anywhere, but getting organic ones would be probably more healthy

RacoonQueen

When I'm not being a fat mess like I am currently.

I buy carrot 'batons' and eat them, sometimes with red pepper humous to dip them in, slice peppers + humous, boil a piece of ham/roast turkey/chicken and slice it grab a slice for your munchies, fruit > I slice apples, kiwis etc and store them in a lunch box, put some natural yoghurt in another small container and dip the fruit into the yoghurt.

All that actually sounds much nicer than the 100g tub of munchies I just ate.

TFBubendorfer

I tried all kinds of afternoon snacks, including fruit, and eventually came to the conclusion that the only way for me to lose weight is to go hungry instead.

Mind, I don't run in the evening, which would make this not an option.

BobMac104

I think the "carmens" muesli bars are great. expensive but really filling.

huskerdu

My favourites are

Fruit
nuts
Ryvita
Oatcakes
Wholemeal bread

average_runner

What kind of nuts do people buy?

9 bars look nice, will try tesco if not will order online.

ecoli

Aldi do great fruit, nuts and seed mixes that are quite cheap.

another option peanut butter on wholemeal toast with sliced banana if you want to get fancy if you have a toaster on hand

green tea to wash them down

average_runner

Do drink tea or coffee or milk unless on a cereal.


I have fruit always with me but find i always get hungry at 4 still

For example today i had the following:

Breakfast:
Cornflakes( not the best but no porridge left) at 8.30 am

Lunch:
Banana, activia yogurt and cully and scully soup 400g

4pm
Will have apple.

But i get hungry around 3 so lucky for something else in there

meijin

average_runner wrote: »

What kind of nuts do people buy?

walnuts, almonds, brazil, cashew, hazelnuts, pecan, macadamia, pistachios, sunflower or pumpkin seeds - without any additions of course, in as big bag as possible - cheaper per kg

average_runner

meijin wrote: »

walnuts, almonds, brazil, cashew, hazelnuts, pecan, macadamia, pistachios, sunflower or pumpkin seeds - without any additions of course, in as big bag as possible - cheaper per kg

All these nuts are healthy enough to eat on as i get hungry?

Nutrtion not my best area

BTH

Fruit (Grapes/Melon/Plums/Nectarines) with natural yogurt and cashew nuts. (Could also do with pumpkin/sunflower/other seeds but these go in my porridge)

Multiseed bagel and cheese

Banana

Flahavans oaty flapjacks! Eat Natural bars. Nature Valley bars.

huskerdu

There is little or no protein in your diet during the day. A lot of people, like me, find protein fills them and keeps them full for longer.
Try a protein snack like nuts to see if it works for you.

Try any of the nuts mentioned. Very healthy, but a small portion goes a long way.

You should be aiming for a snack in the middle of the afternoon but only enough to keep you going til dinner, unless you intend running or taking other exercise before your evening meal.

I dont know if you need to lose weight, but one of the problem areas for some people can be eating too much in the afternoon and still eating a big dinner that you dont really need.

shels4ever

ecoli wrote: »

Aldi do great fruit, nuts and seed mixes that are quite cheap.another option peanut butter on wholemeal toast with sliced banana if you want to get fancy if you have a toaster on hand

green tea to wash them down

ah now thats why I couldnt find them in Lidl yesterday

average_runner

huskerdu wrote: »

There is little or no protein in your diet during the day. A lot of people, like me, find protein fills them and keeps them full for longer.
Try a protein snack like nuts to see if it works for you.

Try any of the nuts mentioned. Very healthy, but a small portion goes a long way.

You should be aiming for a snack in the middle of the afternoon but only enough to keep you going til dinner, unless you intend running or taking other exercise before your evening meal.

I dont know if you need to lose weight, but one of the problem areas for some people can be eating too much in the afternoon and still eating a big dinner that you dont really need.

Not a weight issue, jsut wondering on the snacks, will get some nuts in aldi at weekend

Thanks

shels4ever

I've started with Carotts and pineapple slices in the fridge, find it stops me eating crap in teh evening. Free food in work is a bad thing so have to make sure that double dinners dont happen.

meijin

average_runner wrote: »

All these nuts are healthy enough to eat on as i get hungry?

They work for me... to give you some better idea, see my current diet below, but you need to find out what works for you and how much you need to eat. Nuts alone may not be too healthy and may not fill you enough till next meal

7am - portion of meat, porridge (60g) with water, dark chocolate (10g) and milled nuts mix (I mill them myself) (30g), kiwi
10am - half portion of meat, mixed salad leafs or spinach with tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, olives, cheese (feta or mozzarella), olive oil, handful of nuts, apple or other fruit
1pm - meat with veggies/salad, quinoa or brown basmanti rice (I skip carbs if it's lunch out though)
4pm - similar to 10am meal
7pm - some green veggies with portion of meat or scrambled eggs, quinoa or brown basmanti rice

Some extra banana, berries & yogurt smoothie after training.
I drink water or green tea. No sugar/milk.

In general, I think the less processed food you eat, the healthier

Pronator

I think snacking is a bad idea. Eat a good breakfast, lunch, resist the snacking monsters at 3pm and eat a good dinner. I try not to eat after 6-7pm. It depends on work really. This won't be an option for a lot of people. Like most things in life diet is a habbit, if you fall into bad habbits it can be tough to break them, says he who ate all around him at Christmas and is paying for it now. :rolleyes:

BobMac104

meijin wrote: »

They work for me... to give you some better idea, see my current diet below, but you need to find out what works for you and how much you need to eat. Nuts alone may not be too healthy and may not fill you enough till next meal

7am - portion of meat, porridge (60g) with water, dark chocolate (10g) and milled nuts mix (I mill them myself) (30g), kiwi
10am - half portion of meat, mixed salad leafs or spinach with tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, olives, cheese (feta or mozzarella), olive oil, handful of nuts, apple or other fruit
1pm - meat with veggies/salad, quinoa or brown basmanti rice (I skip carbs if it's lunch out though)
4pm - similar to 10am meal
7pm - some green veggies with portion of meat or scrambled eggs, quinoa or brown basmanti rice

Some extra banana, berries & yogurt smoothie after training.
I drink water or green tea. No sugar/milk.

In general, I think the less processed food you eat, the healthier

fair lash of meat there meijin. Would you have that most days?

pgibbo

Why do people eat the same volumes every day? Surely your food intake should follow your training pattern? Eat less on rest days or easy days.

I'm a fan of Kelkin peanut butter with Nairns Oat Biscuits. Also nuts (almond, cashew, walnut, brazil and hazelnut) with dried fruit (apricots, figs and raisins).

meijin

BobMac104 wrote: »

fair lash of meat there meijin. Would you have that most days?

Yeah, I know. I was told it's not enough and should have full portion each time! Beside running I do body weight strength training at home 6 days a week.
See http://exercise.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/protein_2.htm for some recommendations on protein needs.

BobMac104

meijin wrote: »

Yeah, I know. I was told it's not enough and should have full portion each time!

:eek:

whats a full portion amount to?

meijin

BobMac104 wrote: »

whats a full portion amount to?

for example chicken fillet or piece of salmon - about 100g

G-Money

RacoonQueen wrote: »

When I'm not being a fat mess like I am currently.

I buy carrot 'batons' and eat them, sometimes with red pepper humous to dip them in

I hope you're happy. I'm going to be obsessing over having these until I get to Tesco!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

I find a glass of unflavoured whey protein mix fills me nicely and helps me avoid the goodie drawer!!

dna_leri

Pronator wrote: »

I think snacking is a bad idea. Eat a good breakfast, lunch, resist the snacking monsters at 3pm and eat a good dinner. I try not to eat after 6-7pm. It depends on work really. This won't be an option for a lot of people. Like most things in life diet is a habbit, if you fall into bad habbits it can be tough to break them, says he who ate all around him at Christmas and is paying for it now. :rolleyes:

I'm with Pronator on this one. Even when I do a session in the evening, I will try to avoid a snack and if I am not running before evening meal, definitely no snacks.

meijin

dna_leri wrote: »

I'm with Pronator on this one. Even when I do a session in the evening, I will try to avoid a snack and if I am not running before evening meal, definitely no snacks.

Depends what you really consider a snack; I see no harm if it's just another healthy meal, maybe smaller, if that's what your body needs to be well fueled throughout the day and maintain the weight - so as always, listen to your body

kennyb3

average_runner wrote: »

Do drink tea or coffee or milk unless on a cereal.


I have fruit always with me but find i always get hungry at 4 still

For example today i had the following:

Breakfast:
Cornflakes( not the best but no porridge left) at 8.30 am

Big bowl of sugar really, could you maybe have an egg or two and cut it down to half a bowl. As you say porridge is a better option too.See point on protein below.

Lunch:
Banana, activia yogurt and cully and scully soup 400g

Doesnt seem to be any protein here and although cully & sully is better than most soups you ll generally find soup is full of salt. (off my head id say the figure on the side of carton says 20% of daily allowance for 200g so your prob having 40% in one go there)

4pm
Will have apple.

But i get hungry around 3 so lucky for something else in there

Overall it seems like your getting little or no protein from one dinner to the next (assuming you have some for your dinner and not pasta).

No one else has picked up on this so i will. See bolded bits

kennyb3

As a sample here average runner, here is what i ate yesterday (and im very far off having good diet compared to others):

Breakfast (7.15am)

2 eggs, half bowl of porridge with 6/7 brazil nuts

11 PM

Banana

Lunch (1PM)

One brown bread sandwich, as much chicken as fits in, small dolop of mayo, tiny bit of light cheese

Apple & Handful of almonds

Dinner (7pm)

Large piece of fish & stir fried veg

8pm
One small choc bar

9pm

Protein shake mixed with super milk.


I'd love to get rid of the bread at lunch and replace it with some form of chicken salad but its a work in progress.

The eggs is something i've added in last few months and really enjoy.

pgibbo

kennyb3 wrote: »

No one else has picked up on this so i will. See bolded bits

The first question I ask myself with each meal is "where is the protein"? I was at a great talk given by Barry Murray last year and it made me realise I didn't eat enough protein.

pgibbo

kennyb3 wrote: »

I'd love to get rid of the bread at lunch and replace it with some form of chicken salad but its a work in progress.

The eggs is something i've added in last few months and really enjoy.

Have you tried Rye or Spelt bread to minimise the gluten effect?

+1 on the eggs - love them and average 10 a week at least

kennyb3

pgibbo wrote: »

Have you tried Rye or Spelt bread to minimise the gluten effect?
+1 on the eggs - love them and average 10 a week at least

No havent but will give it a shot now (cheers for suggestion). Have worked on breakfast and dinner over last year. Next its defo lunch.

For comparison a year ago it would of been more like

- fruit & fibre and handful of nuts and glass of OJ
- Dinner of largely pasta (which is still okay but often had no chicken or mince mixed in).

I was a pure carb monster.

huskerdu

Pronator wrote: »

I think snacking is a bad idea. Eat a good breakfast, lunch, resist the snacking monsters at 3pm and eat a good dinner. I try not to eat after 6-7pm. It depends on work really. This won't be an option for a lot of people. Like most things in life diet is a habbit, if you fall into bad habbits it can be tough to break them, says he who ate all around him at Christmas and is paying for it now. :rolleyes:

True, but I think you have to avoid mixing up snacking as a bad habit i.e, picking and grazing all day, and having a mid-afternoon snack, as part of a healthy diet.

I have never seen any evidence that eating your entire daily intake of calories in 3 meals in always better than having in in 4 meals. It works for some people but there is too much variation in peoples lives to make it the best thing for everyone.

For a lot of us, we don't have the luxury of deciding exactly when we eat - The routine of daily life like working hours, breaks at work, when you exercise, length of commute, timing of dinner with the rest of the family dictate when we eat. There is nothing wrong with having a mid-afternoon snack if the alternative is 6 hours between meals and this doesn't suit you.

Just make sure that it is part of your plan for a healthy daily intake of food.

BTW, I did not come close to practice what I preached over Christmas, but that is part of the joy of Christmas.

meijin

pgibbo wrote: »

Have you tried Rye or Spelt bread to minimise the gluten effect?

+1 on lowering gluten, I try to avoid it as much as possible; rice or quinoa would work even better.

+1 on the eggs - love them and average 10 a week at least

I read that eating them every day could lead to developing allergy. Same with meats/nuts - better to cycle them - different every day (easier said than done though... I need to work on this).

pgibbo

meijin wrote: »

+1 on lowering gluten, I try to avoid it as much as possible; rice or quinoa would work even better.



I read that eating them every day could lead to developing allergy. Same with meats/nuts - better to cycle them - different every day (easier said than done though... I need to work on this).

I have switched to corn pasta for recovery meals as it's close to white pasta for recovery but without the gluten. When having pasta on a normal day I have spelt or buckwheat as they are better than normal pasta - trying to cut gluten as much as possible.

Cheers for the info on cycle. Easier said than done as you rightly point out.

Diet is crap at the moment so I need to start getting back in to the habits I had last year leading up to my A race.

meijin

kennyb3 wrote: »

I was a pure carb monster.

Good progress! It takes a while to change. I still remember my breakfasts not so long ago made of 2 danish pastries, bowl of fruit salad and glass of coke... :eek: and the snack was twix with can of coke :eek:

dahat

kennyb3 wrote: »

As a sample here average runner, here is what i ate yesterday (and im very far off having good diet compared to others):

Breakfast (7.15am)

2 eggs, half bowl of porridge with 6/7 brazil nuts

11 PM

Banana

Lunch (1PM)

One brown bread sandwich, as much chicken as fits in, small dolop of mayo, tiny bit of light cheese

Apple & Handful of almonds

Dinner (7pm)

Large piece of fish & stir fried veg

8pm
One small choc bar

9pm

Protein shake mixed with super milk.


I'd love to get rid of the bread at lunch and replace it with some form of chicken salad but its a work in progress.

The eggs is something i've added in last few months and really enjoy.

Can i ask the benefit of this so late in the night plus for what reason do you take it?
Curious more than anything.....

kennyb3

dahat wrote: »

Can i ask the benefit of this so late in the night plus for what reason do you take it?
Curious more than anything.....

At the moment im off injured lower body wise (MRI later today after 4+months off) so am doing alot of weights, core work, stetching, rolling etc. Sometimes before dinner sometimes after. Its mainly a recovery aid and to help build a bit of core and upper body strength. To be honest i mainly take it then as it avoids me snacking more before bed.

dahat

kennyb3 wrote: »

At the moment im off injured lower body wise (MRI later today after 4+months off) so am doing alot of weights, core work, stetching, rolling etc. Sometimes before dinner sometimes after. Its mainly a recovery aid and to help build a bit of core and upper body strength. To be honest i mainly take it then as it avoids me snacking more before bed.

Can see why you take it now...thanks...

Often tempted to start taking one after a hard run or race...

average_runner

If that was all I ate during the day, then I'd be starved too. I'm not sure if that represents your average daily intake, but it looks fairly insubstantial.

Here's what I have on an average day:

Breakfast: Bowl of All Bran/porridge with a banana and honey, two slices of toast with honey or jam, a yoghurt (soya) and a big mug of tea.

11am: A cup of coffee, a muffin and a banana

Lunch: Usually a sandwich, a piece of fruit and a juice. This keeps me going until I train, usually in the evening.

Dinner: Meat, a load of spuds or pasta and plenty of veg or a salad.

Dessert: A big mug of tea, five Jaffa Cakes and another yoghurt.

For me, breakfast is key. If I don't take the time to sit down and have a big feed in the morning then I'm struggling for the rest of the day. At the weekend I'll train before breakfast and then add two eggs to the above breakfast. Sometimes you might have to get up 15 minutes early, but for me it seems worth the effort.

average_runner wrote: »

Do drink tea or coffee or milk unless on a cereal.


I have fruit always with me but find i always get hungry at 4 still

For example today i had the following:

Breakfast:
Cornflakes( not the best but no porridge left) at 8.30 am

Lunch:
Banana, activia yogurt and cully and scully soup 400g

4pm
Will have apple.

But i get hungry around 3 so lucky for something else in there

mloc123

A muffin every day? :eek:

Here is my average day, currently trying to drop weight and am at a rate of about 1-1.5lbs a week.

Breakfast

200ml low fat milk
45g Porridge oats
Cup of tea

Mid Morning

Cup of tea
Whhetabix Cereal bar (junk I know)

Lunch

Chicken breast
Lettuce
Tablespoon of Ceaser dressing
5g cheese
Small slice of brown bread
Tea

Snack

Tea
Slice of brown bread maybe

Dinner

Meat, Pasta/Rice(wholemeal),Lots of veg(Onion, carrot, pepper, courgette etc..), Some sauce usually tomato based jar.

Post Training

Tea
2/3 biscuits - 30-40kcal biscuits, not 120-150kcal biscuits

mloc123

Yup, I'll have one with my coffee at least four days a week. Running 60 miles a week and having a naturally high metabolism means I don't put a pick on. A few Jaffa Cakes aside, it's the only junk I eat.

mloc123 wrote: »

A muffin every day? :eek:

Here is my average day, currently trying to drop weight and am at a rate of about 1-1.5lbs a week.

Breakfast

200ml low fat milk
45g Porridge oats
Cup of tea

Mid Morning

Cup of tea
Whhetabix Cereal bar (junk I know)

Lunch

Chicken breast
Lettuce
Tablespoon of Ceaser dressing
5g cheese
Small slice of brown bread
Tea

Snack

Tea
Slice of brown bread maybe

Dinner

Meat, Pasta/Rice(wholemeal),Lots of veg(Onion, carrot, pepper, courgette etc..), Some sauce usually tomato based jar.

Post Training

Tea
2/3 biscuits - 30-40kcal biscuits, not 120-150kcal biscuits

pgibbo

Deleted User wrote: »

If that was all I ate during the day, then I'd be starved too. I'm not sure if that represents your average daily intake, but it looks fairly insubstantial.

Here's what I have on an average day:

Breakfast: Bowl of All Bran/porridge with a banana and honey, two slices of toast with honey or jam, a yoghurt (soya) and a big mug of tea.

11am: A cup of coffee, a muffin and a banana

Lunch: Usually a sandwich, a piece of fruit and a juice. This keeps me going until I train, usually in the evening.

Dinner: Meat, a load of spuds or pasta and plenty of veg or a salad.

Dessert: A big mug of tea, five Jaffa Cakes and another yoghurt.

For me, breakfast is key. If I don't take the time to sit down and have a big feed in the morning then I'm struggling for the rest of the day. At the weekend I'll train before breakfast and then add two eggs to the above breakfast. Sometimes you might have to get up 15 minutes early, but for me it seems worth the effort.

Maybe the reason you'd be starving is due to the nature of the food you eat. Looks like a lot of sugar spikes happening throughout your day.

pgibbo

I think you've picked me up wrongly pgibbo. I certainly never go hungry - I was just suggesting to another post that they probably don't eat enough if they are in training - and I don't think a muffin in the morning and a few Jaffa Cakes at night are going to give you sugar spikes! I go easy on the jam and the honey too.

pgibbo wrote: »

Maybe the reason you'd be starving is due to the nature of the food you eat. Looks like a lot of sugar spikes happening throughout your day.

meijin

Deleted User wrote: »

and I don't think a muffin in the morning and a few Jaffa Cakes at night are going to give you sugar spikes! I go easy on the jam and the honey too.

it's still almost pure simple sugars

Mr Marenghi

I find where I fall down is the fact - and I think it's the same for others - that there's free tea/coffee and biscuits available in work so at any feeling of hunger or even boredom, it's an easy fix.

My daily intake – I’m vegetarian by the way. 5ft 11inches. About 13stone – post xmas of course but I usually hover closer to 12 and a half.

Up at 8.30
Breakfast in work at 9.30 or 10 – porridge with milk. – used to just be coffee

11am – piece of fruit/carrot sticks with hummus or maybe a smoothie. – I used to have a Danish and a coffee.

LUNCH – Brown bread sandwich or wrap- veg. Packet of crisps.

4pm – piece of fruit/carrot sticks with hummus – use to just be coffee / crisps / biscuits

Training

8 or 9pm – main meal – curry/veg lasagne/falafel or something. Brown rice sweet potato options where possible.
9pm maybe tea, maybe a few biscuits but not every day.

Throughout the day lots and lots of water. Maybe tea but generally not. Been on green tea a bit lately.
Overall I really fell down in the month or two before xmas with lots of crap, generally what’s above in bold. And at the weekends there’s some booze in there too !

meijin

Mr Marenghi wrote: »

My daily intake – I’m vegetarian by the way.

I think as non-vegetarian I eat more veggies than you Also not much proteins it seems? Any iron sources?
PS I actually like the idea of being vegetarian, but getting the diet right seems a bit tricky to me at the moment. Maybe in few years.

woodchopper

Whilst it is very commendable that athletes take great care with their diets, there is only one real way to improve your athletic performance, and that is by plenty of running. As Canova pointed out in a thread there is no point for a 20 minute 5k runner talking about how diet and core is going to increase performance when their aerobic system is "extremely weak" (I dont want to offend anyone hence the reason why I didnt say pathetic).

For some, rather than looking to get your back patted over your diet it may serve one better to spend their time out running.

The OP seeks to find good healthy snacks but the thread has turned into a ' oh look at how my diet is' It may well indeed be great but if I were a developing athlete Id pay more attention to the athletes who have done it on the running track.

I must stress that I appauld those athletes who look to improve their diets but not at the expense of neglecting the must crucual element to athletic performance, RUNNING.

huskerdu

woodchopper wrote: »

Whilst it is very commendable that athletes take great care with their diets, there is only one real way to improve your athletic performance, and that is by plenty of running. As Canova pointed out in a thread there is no point for a 20 minute 5k runner talking about how diet and core is going to increase performance when their aerobic system is "extremely weak" (I dont want to offend anyone hence the reason why I didnt say pathetic).

For some, rather than looking to get your back patted over your diet it may serve one better to spend their time out running.

The OP seeks to find good healthy snacks but the thread has turned into a ' oh look at how my diet is' It may well indeed be great but if I were a developing athlete Id pay more attention to the athletes who have done it on the running track.

I must stress that I appauld those athletes who look to improve their diets but not at the expense of neglecting the must crucual element to athletic performance, RUNNING.

You must be reading a different thread than me.

A number of people replied to the OPs question and the thread veered off into discussing other peoples diet.

I have no idea who much or how fast any of these posters run and I don't care, the thread was about food, not running. Not one person discussed how their diet affects their running or even looked for praise for their diet.

I have reread the thread and I honestly cant see where anyone said anything that would lead you to think that they are "neglecting" their running because they took a few minutes to discuss diet.

Maybe they dont think about running all the time, but thats OK, you know.

ecoli

huskerdu wrote: »

You must be reading a different thread than me.

A number of people replied to the OPs question and the thread veered off into discussing other peoples diet.

I have no idea who much or how fast any of these posters run and I don't care, the thread was about food, not running. Not one person discussed how their diet affects their running or even looked for praise for their diet.

I have reread the thread and I honestly cant see where anyone said anything that would lead you to think that they are "neglecting" their running because they took a few minutes to discuss diet.

Maybe they dont think about running all the time, but thats OK, you know.

I think the fact that it is a regular ART poster putting it up in the ART forum as opposed to the Nutrition one allows us to make the assumption that looking for food advice in relation to there running (i.e fueling for training etc)

Woodchopper makes some good points in that as long as the quality of food is generally good and common sense is applied the diet should take care of itself somewhat and the training should be the primary focus

I look at alot of the diets here and am impressed I dont have the discipline that the majority seem to have. I eat a fair bit of crap I am not gonna lie and if most people saw my diet for a week they would be in shock.

The only times I look to adjust it is when I am not feeling great (i.e too many take aways etc) try to keep a balanced enough diet however sweets, crisps, takeaways chocolate etc all come up regularly enough and I dont mind as long as i keep them in moderation the training balances them out

(I must add that been running all my life practically and as such have always been quite light so my situation/opinion might not be applicable to everyone)