In my mid-twenties all of that changed, when, seemingly overnight, I put on enough weight that my cholesterol skyrocketed and I could not zip up my Banana Republic flat front pants. Ever since then I’ve been experimenting, trying to figure out which foods make me feel healthy and well without feeling whacko and deprived around food.
It’s a constant work in progress since we are constantly evolving (read: aging) human beings.
Snacking never made sense to me until I worked with a nutritionist a few years ago. Until then, I didn’t plan for it. So I either ate mindlessly and — whoopsie! — the whole bag of pretzels was gone. Or I tried to be austere but those baby carrots just didn’t satiate me. I really still wanted a Frappucino.
This very specific bit of advice I got from my nutritionist colleague, Karyn Duggan, turned it around for me — are you ready? It’s very simple:
“The ideal snack (like any healthy meal) consists of lean protein, healthy fat, and fiber-rich carbohydrate.”
Bam. That’s it. You simply have to remember the acronym, P, F, C and you will compose a healthy, satiating snack. In a blog post that I worked on with Duggan for One Medical Group, she explains why:
“When you eat a snack with each of these components–P, F, and C–your body makes use of each appropriately, slowly converting small amounts of the food into sugar to give you the energy you need. Conversely, in the absence of PFC your body tends to convert the food to sugar more rapidly. As this sugar surges into your bloodstream, it triggers the release of insulin from your pancreas, which in turn causes your sugar level to crash precipitously shortly thereafter. These swings in blood sugar are exactly what you’re trying to avoid.”
Here are some of my favorite P, F, C snacks. Keep in mind that whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are all considered complex, fiber-rich carbohydrates. So, thumbs up on those:
Dates with Goat Cheese & Pecans Yogurt with Berries & Nuts Lemon Hummus with Cucumbers on Whole Wheat Toast Farmer’s Cheese and Fig Tartine Choco-Banana Almond Butter Smoothie Cashew Chia Pudding with Berries Chili Avocado Toast
The number of combos are endless. Duggan has a list of her favorite snacks over on the One Medical Group blog.
By Andrea Ferretti
Andrea Ferretti and Jason Crandell are a husband and wife team who have been teaching, writing about, and living their yoga for nearly two decades. Andrea is the former executive editor of Yoga Journal and is now creative director for Jason Crandell Yoga Method. Jason is an internationally recognized teacher known for his precise, empowering, down-to-earth approach to vinyasa yoga. They live together in San Francisco with their full-time boss, Sofia-Rose Crandell, age 3. To read their blog or to learn more about Jason's upcoming teacher trainings, please visit their web site www.jasonyoga.com