Curb Hunger and Avoid The Costly Binge

Everyone's been there - you miss a meal or you are getting used to a lower calorie phase of your nutrition plan when the munchies hit. You grab the nearest and quickest food available - usually a high carb snack food - and you chow down. And to add insult to injury you find yourself hungry again just as quickly as someone who didn't snack!

The best thing you can do to avoid this is to plan ahead and always have a meal ready to go quickly. Sure, this can't always be done but it's your best bet to avoiding binges.

When hunger pangs hit - DO SOMETHING! And I don't mean eat. Drink water, go for a walk, etc. You'll find that the hunger pangs subside in about 10 minutes or so - unless you've missed a meal and are really hungry.

If you must snack, make sure to always have high protein food available. You'll stay fuller longer as it takes your body more time to digest protein.

Try to keep some of these things handy -

Cooked kitchen strips - one cup has 38 grams of protein and only 180 calories

Lowfat cottage cheese - one cup has 28 grams of protein and 168 calories

A three ounce can of white-meat chicken has 14 grams of protein and 70 calories

Two sticks of string cheese has 14 grams of protein and 160 calories

A full can of tuna packed in spring water - 37 grams of protein and 175 calories

Reach for the nuts. Keeping nuts around will keep you from binging on high carbohydrate junk food because they are just as convenient for when you have to eat something now!

Nuts supply you with good fats that can lower your cholesterol as well as fiber and important vitamins and minerals. Make sure to select dry roasted and unsalted. And don't forget, even though it's high in good fats, that still translates to 9 calories per gram. Don't every eat.

Gregg Gillies