Recently a mom asked me what do I do when I have cravings (naughty I took it).  Fat, caffeine and sugar are all the things we tired, stressed moms crave.  When I shared a Pop Tart with my son last week, I started to think about what to write in this article.  I hadn’t had a Pop Tart in over 20 years!  I was at the mercy of the YMCA vending machine, so I indulged my son.  Still, it was not a good excuse.

Fat, caffeine and sugar are what we moms crave when we are stressed and sleep deprived.  I try to head off hunger before reaching for the “bad stuff.”  Also, I try not to buy it to have it in the house.  Typically, I find when I get too hungry,  I will grab a sugary carbohydrate along with fat like cookies.  Unfortunately, we keep them in the house for my son and his playmates.  That’s not all bad, but not a good choice when you need long-range stamina.

Give your body what it needs, protein, a little fat, and complex carbohydrates – though not the refined sugary kinds.

Here are some foods that may satisfy your sweet/fat tooth, when you really need that burst of energy:

Dry-roasted Almonds – only  a handful
Peanut Butter – my daily intake of 2 tablespoons either as a sandwich or on crackers
Soymilk – 1 cup before eating anything (usually satisfies me)
Olive Oil- 1-2 tablespoons on tomatoes with crusty bread or whole wheat pasta
Flax Seed Oil – 1 tablespoon in the blender as a shake
Cereal – Good grains, mix in fruits, raisins, nuts to satiate you
Seeds – Pumpkin and Sesame in a mix in a baggie, kept in the car
Veggie Burgers – 2 micro-waved plain,  if avoiding starchy carbs

At night, if I’m particularly hungry before going to bed, and knowing I’ll be up nursing several times during the night, I’ll eat another mini-meal.  A big bowl of cereal and milk, or fig cookies with milk, sometimes a peanut butter sandwich and milk does the trick.  Studies show that calcium ingested before sleep actually is absorbed better in the body.

Contrary to what we hear and read, snacking isn’t bad if you make the right choices.  If you choose pastry, candy, fried chips and sugary soft drinks, you’ll fill up with sugar and fat that does not provide the necessary nutrients your body needs.  Remember, your body is like a machine.  Not only does it require calories for energy, but calories dense with vitamins and minerals found in whole foods.

Some smart choices can be convenient as well.  Since I am not in any one location during the day, I plan for snacks to maintain my blood sugar level for job performance.  I can better concentrate and be ready to take a client for a jog without worrying about becoming hungry and light-headed later.  I pack a cooler with breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner with a few snacks in-between.

You may find if you don’t snack, you’ll get too hungry between meals and eat anything and everything in front of you.  Many of us think that snacking is a bad habit.  Through experience, snacking healthfully prevents sweet cravings, curbs appetites and prevents us from overeating at mealtime.

Since sugar (found in fruit naturally or refined in candy)  raises your blood sugar level,  it can also drop to a low level once you  start to workout – referred to as rebound hypoglycemia.  This may cause you to have to stop exercising and interfere with your performance.  In this case, try to eat steadily throughout the day balancing calories at each meal.  Spread out your daily caloric expenditure, of approximately 500-700 calories for an average  meal (a cup of starch like rice or potato, a serving of protein and a large portion of vegetables) and 150-300 calories qualifies as a snack (a cup of juice and  half a bagel, a piece of fruit and yogurt.

Healthy Snacks to Pack

• Cereal - Mix it with dried fruit, seeds, nuts (about a handful of each).  Try any of the wheat biscuits, Chex or low-fat/low-sugar granolas.  (Save the M&M’s for a long hike).
• Bagels - These pack major calories.  Eat half with a teaspoon of peanut or almond butter and save the other half with a slice of low-fat cheese for later.
• Veggies - Mini prepared carrots,  celery hearts, cauliflower and broccoli florets with walnuts and golden raisins or dried apricots are a great combo in a zip-lock bag.
• Potatoes - Sweet or plain are terrific stuffed with lowfat cheese, salsa or cinnamon and nutmeg in a yam.  Simply microwave, slice down the middle, stuff and wrap.
• Fruit - Make a big bowl of fruit salad on your day off and fill up a container every day for a sweet treat.  Whole wheat fig bars are also yummy.  Frozen grapes are a cool treat for summer at home.
• Munchies - Unsalted pretzels, air-popped popcorn (with fat-free butter buds, chili, garlic and onion powder) in a bag smuggled into the movies.
• Baked Goods - Low-fat muffins are okay.  Remember the oversized ones pack a lot of calories, not to mention the sugar, butter, oil and eggs used in their preparation.  If low-fat is not available, slice in half and look for bran or corn instead of anything too high in sugar.
• Yogurt and Cottage Cheese - Choose plain, low-fat and use your imagination for mix-ins.  Whole, fresh berries, sliced kiwi, vanilla extract, and Grapenuts are some of the things I like.  Cottage cheese is good with pineapple chunks (the real ones) or great on stoned-wheat crackers.
• Sports Bars -  These are easy, but an expensive way to snack.  All of their nutrients can be found in any one of the above snack combinations.  If you like them, cut them in half and drink with plenty of liquid, as they can be high calorie and on the dry side.

1. Finally,  snacks play an important  role in your diet.  Eat before you get too hungry and you’ll make smarter choices (like fruit or veggies instead of the fried dough).
2. Sugar is okay in moderation.  Keep total grams of sugar per serving equal to or less than half of the total carbohydrate grams (e.g. a supplement bar with 14 grams of sugar and 30 grams of carbs is a wise choice vs. 23 grams of sugar with 40 grams of carbs). A dessert after lunch or dinner rather than instead of.
3. Before  you eat,  think first if you’ve had an adequate meal in the past 1-3 hours.  Beyond that time, it’s okay to snack.
4. To prevent those sugar lows, sneaking in sugar during exercise may increase your performance if training over 90 minutes.

To keep the jitters at bay, I’ve been pouring my coffee in a stainless “to go” cup, and steadily sip over the course of a few hours.  That way I won’t “crash” after my initial caffeine “high”.

Remember, that all of these foods have calories, higher in the fats like nut butters.  The thing they don’t have in common with the fast foods and snacks are the saturated fats found in butter and oils that are processed differently by our heart’s arteries.

It’s okay to have the occasional Munchkin or handful of Goldfish, but try to eat something healthy FIRST.  Most times, you’ll find it’ll curb your appetite for that bit of “bad stuff”.

I don’t recall how many times my sleep was interrupted by my teething baby last night, but my morning coffee, pancakes, fruit and water throughout the day will sustain me (hopefully) through another night of peering into the eyes of a baby growing up too fast!  This too shall pass………….

Lynne Leary-Khater is the mother of almost 9 month-old Erika and almost 4.5 year-old Colin.  You can email her at fitmama.lkhater@comcast.net for more nutritional tips, fitness information or to chat about baby waking!