0:00:00
  Oh, hey everyone and welcome to today's episode of No Wellness Wankery. I'm Lyndi Cohen, your co-host. I'm a dietician and nutritionist and today I'm joined by Jenna D’apice, my lovely co-host.

0:00:42
 Hello. We were chatting before and we wanted to do an episode on snacks. While we were having a snack we thought, what do people have for snacks? You can get in the biggest snack rut. Such a snack rut, let's break free from those snack ruts. Because I think you know it's nice to have fresh ideas of like healthy snacks that you can always turn to. Sometimes I go to my pantry and I look in there and I'm like there's nothing to eat and then I start rummaging for all the things. So I think that just also just knowing, oh, I really feel like having something specific can really be quite helpful. I think this is the thing because snacking can so easily get out of hand. So if you know what snack you want or even if you don't know what snack you want, if you have a snack that's really satisfying, then you can just move on with your life. That is a key aspect of it. Okay, so diet culture is like, yeah, have 12 almonds and you're like, that's not going to touch the side of my stomach, or you have that whole like under 100 calorie or 150 calorie kind of snack category where I'm like, if the reason you're having a snack is because you're hungry, then 100 calories is not gonna tick the box.

0:01:53
 And I think we just need to really accept that. That satisfaction when it comes to snacks is really integral. In fact, I think the primary issue we get is when we don't give ourselves permission to eat enough at snack time. This creates a sense of I don't feel satisfied, I don't feel physically full, and I don't feel emotionally satisfied. Both these things are missing. And as a result, I just can't wait to keep eating. And this can end where you go from like one snack to another snack, and then you realize it's dinner time and you haven't stopped eating because you should have just eaten something that was really satisfying and enjoyable in the first place.

0:02:25
 This is it. One snack that I used to not be able to cope with well, as I'm getting better with food freedom and more relaxed around food, I'm really enjoying snacking on nuts again because I find that now I can get a bowl out, actually put a decent amount of nuts in there that I think are going to satisfy me and then you can eat that. Whereas before I was getting a small really small amount of nuts, this really didn't satisfy me and then you want more and more and more. And I bet you, if I did a scientific experiment, I was probably ending up eating more nuts than the initial bowl that I make for myself.

0:02:57
 Yes, that is typically what ends up happening is when you, sometimes you need to eat more to eat less. Not that the game is to eat less, but just to eat according to how much you actually need and sometimes you just need to give yourself permission to go, I'll just eat as much as I really need right now. There's also some research to show that people have like two handfuls of nuts, they tend to weigh less, whereas we always had this idea that there was a certain amount of nuts that you were allowed. I know, my friend had this container that said the healthy handful and like you had to put the nuts in that container and they had to just fill that container. The container was tiny, it was basically like the mints.

0:03:31
 Two thimbles, no, it's a few thimble size, but it was small, everyone had one of those. We have thrown them out now. We have thrown them out. We do love nuts, I do think they're a fabulous thing. I think, which is a little fun fact about nuts, when you look at the calorie amount of a nut, it doesn't really take into consideration how much calories you absorb from something like nuts. So nuts are incredibly high in fiber. A lot of it tends to pass through you without actually getting absorbed.

0:03:56
 So they've kind of been trying to get something called the adjusted calorie amount on things like nuts. So the adjusted calories is not how much calorie it contains, but how much you would actually absorb from eating that, which is probably a far more important metric than going, well, how much does it contain, but you don't actually absorb it. Like corn, right? You can see corn when you go to the toilet. You didn't absorb it all. Okay. So the corn comes straight back out. Yeah. So the adjusted calorie thing, I don't know if it'll ever get off, but that's scientifically a lot more robust. And so when you look at like the calorie value of something like nuts, you're always going to assume that they have more calories but you're not going to absorb it all. That is an interesting thing to note. I didn't even know that. Another snack I've been loving recently is I like getting yogurt and adding peanut butter to it. What kind of yogurt? Well just it really only works with like plain or vanilla type flavors, not fruits. It could, it could. I haven't tried it. I can't knock it, I haven't tried it.

0:04:52
 But like vanilla-flavored yogurts with a blob of peanut butter and then some nuts or seeds and mix it around. It's delicious. Do you know what I like about that as a snack? It really sounds satisfying and enjoyable. You know, the peanut butter is giving you more of those healthy fats. There's lots of flavor and taste there. I dig it. And does it feel satisfying to you? Yeah.

0:05:15
 And now that I'm not worried about how many calories in this snack, sometimes I might add a few more nuts. Maybe I might add some peanut butter and then some crushed peanuts or some honey or something. You can mix it up all the time. Because sometimes, like yogurt is a great snack, but just plain yogurt by itself gets a bit boring. And I don't think it's enough for most people. As I said, if you are hungry, I think we've been told you have to have this small amount of yogurt. But I think that sometimes you almost need to create this mini meal so that you actually end up feeling like I'm completely satisfied, I can walk away from this.

0:05:45
 I think that through combining, so having yogurt with something, is a really good solution. So if you're going to have a handful of nuts, maybe you have it with something else. I think that way you might be able to feel a little bit more like you're getting your value. Like an apple or something with nut butter on top. So that's one of mine that I love. I don't like green apples unless they've got nut butter and then I freaking love them. Apples are in season right now, it's winter, but you can typically always find apples. You thinly slice them. I get a good dollop of the nut butter that I want, whatever I have.

0:06:17
 It doesn't matter, you eat peanut butter, you eat almond butter, cashew butter, whatever is available. Oh, can I just tell you this quick fun fact? If you've got nut butters and they separate while in the pantry, right, so the oil comes to the top and all the solids go to the bottom, a simple solution for this is every time you store your nut butter, just store it upside down. And then you rotate it the next time so that you're constantly up and downing because what happens is they separate because of gravity. So let's just fight gravity a little bit with that trick. I've tried this trick and it really worked and I was amazed because the peanut butter, like the bottom fourth of the jar is so hard.

0:06:49
 It's unusable. It's unusable. The other option if you've reached that point and you want to savor it is to pop it into a blender. You could add a little bit of peanut oil to it, which is what it is, and just remix it up and you're going to refresh that peanut butter. Wow. Okay. What other snacks do you like? I went through a phase of liking protein powder, which is not something I actually like or eat normally, but I added chocolate protein powder to yogurt and I got a bit obsessed with it.

0:07:16
 I wasn't trying to hit protein things or anything. I just really liked how it tasted like a chocolate dessert. And now I'm really off it. But then I've also tried that with like drinking chocolate. Oh yeah, drinking chocolate. Not like protein powder chocolate, but just like hot chocolate mix. Yeah, and you add that in. That is delicious. That is so tasty, which is sometimes I'm like, if I don't have chocolate pudding, and I'm like, you got a hankering.

0:07:39
 Plus you got the probiotics and the yogurt, tick, tick, tick. Another snack I'm loving, I'm really back on the crumpet train. Crumpet? Oh, crumpets. Crumpets make me think of dieting, because I was- Oh, really? Think of like a Weight Watchers thing, and like I was allowed a crumpet as an afternoon snack. No, I think of English muffins as dieting.

0:07:57
 Oh, that too. Yeah, that is a lot. But crumpets, okay, so what's the situation? I like crumpets just like, it was like, again, I know a little bit of peanut butter, I just said that before, or like some cheese. The sweetness? Or is it, these are savory? Savory. Or like cheese and avocado. I just like the meltiness through the crumpet.

0:08:19
 Do you feel like one satisfies you or do you need two or three? I don't know. I think generally, I reckon it really depends on the day. Sometimes for breakfast I could have two crumpets, or sometimes for a snack I could have two crumpets, and sometimes I'll have it too, and I'm like, I don't really feel like eating this other one. I switch between. That's such a nice take-home message. Someone DM'd me and they were like, am I allowed to have two slices of bread?

0:08:42
 And I was like, well, it depends how you feel that day. Some mornings you wake up, you're like, I need two pieces of bread, and sometimes you're like, I don't. One is gonna just satisfy me. I think we get into our heads around how many pieces we're allowed, what's a direct portion size. It all comes down to your hunger, your fullness, how much energy do you need on that day and if you can try to tune into that. Some days you'll need three crumpets, sometimes you'll need one. And it's such a new sensation when you get into this. I remember this morning I actually did have crumpets for breakfast and I'd eaten a crumpet and a half and then I was like I actually don't want these extra half of a crumpet and normally, me a year ago or any time before, I would just keep pushing through but I was like, oh, I'm actually full.

0:09:20
 So what do you do with the leftover crumpet? Well I actually just gave it to my boyfriend because he's a bit of an incinerator and just takes it all. Or the dog might get it. But also, it's that whole idea of if you're hungry for the food, I know you're trying to avoid food waste sometimes with leaving food but it's wasted if it goes in your body and you don't need it. And it's wasted, you know, so either way, you just have to accept that it's like a sunk cost. It is what it is, but also I feel like, say, if I have crumpets again tomorrow, I could just make one, see how I feel, then make another one.

0:09:49
 If you're getting into this habit of like, sometimes I want another one, sometimes I don't, you can kind of get in tune to yourself. Spot on. But you need to get to the point where you've given yourself permission to have the two, where it was assumed that you were going to have two, so you can be the one who goes, I only needed one, as opposed to me saying, you're only allowed to have one crumpet, where you're like, no, I need all the crumpets. And it seems so crazy that we have to talk for multiple minutes about how many crumpets you're allowed, but it takes up so much space in people's heads, in my head. Oh, everyone's.

0:10:18
 This is big stuff, and this is the stuff. So I think it's very interesting on this intuitive eating journey is how you do need to go through a period where you learn to trust that food is allowed. And sometimes we go a little bit crazy at this period because suddenly these forbidden foods are now allowed and we can just eat and eat and eat. But now you've said like you're reaching a point where you're like, I trust food is allowed. I know it's not gonna run out. I know I can come and have crumpets this afternoon or tomorrow, there's always more crumpets.

0:10:45
 And as a result, you're able to actually turn into your hunger and go, I'm good, I'm good. What other snacks are you liking? Okay, so what we were just chatting over was Ravitas with avocado. This is what spurred this whole conversation. Avocado, which I haven't had Ravitas in a long time. If you're not from Australia, it's a whole grain, whole meal kind of cracker. And they're crispy and they can be a bit dry.

0:11:07
 You don't eat them by themselves. Like a bigger cracker. A big cracker. Yeah, a big cracker. Like half a size of a slice of bread. And we had avocado on it, you can have feta, we had chili oil on top of it with some salt, and it was so good. I feel very satisfied after having that. And for me, that felt like a really substantial snack. An equivalent of that would be just a slice of whole grain toast with some avocado and the feta and the chili oil, whatever you want to add to it, because I just feel like that is proper, yummy, tasty snack where you're actually going to walk away going, I ate.

0:11:40
 I ate something good. Another snack that I like sometimes is just to have a smoothie. I think I used to be in the frame of smoothie is for breakfast and it needs to be all these things in a huge smoothie jar because you've got that many powders and nutrients and vegetables that the smoothie is so big. You know what I mean? Sometimes it can literally just be a glass size. Yeah, a snack. And sometimes if I do make a smoothie, I don't know why I always get the volume wrong. I'm always making a smoothie.

0:12:09
 It's like why so much smoothie? I now have smoothie for weeks. No, then I put them in little glasses and that might be my afternoon snack that day. Other snacks that I like, I used to go through a phase of having ricotta cheese with honey on it and I just eat that. And it's like you got some protein, you got some calcium and it's delicious. It's like pudding and I just felt like that really satisfied my needs. That's also a really good toast combination that I like. Ricotta, honey, strawberries.

0:12:39
 Oh yeah, we could do that on a ravioli. Yeah, okay, now I'm getting some inspiration. The other thing I do do is let's say I'm feeling like I'm not hungry, but I definitely want to nosh on something. I do find that I go into the fridge and I get myself a carrot. And this could be, this isn't diet-y. Like I'm not trying to like not eat. I'm not hungry and I'm just like, I feel like chewing. Yeah, but sometimes you just feel like eating.

0:13:07
 And it's nice to have something crispy to eat sometimes or some cherry tomatoes, whatever's in season. Sometimes I'll just eat a cucumber with nothing on it. But you were saying before that you really like things like a dip. Yes, so sometimes I get into a stage where I really like like cottage cheeses whipped up into dips. There's so many things, there's something you can do if you get like a can of tuna and add like cream cheese or some mayonnaise, something like make it more into a dip type vibe and then dip it in carrots or things like that. Even just using regular dips like hummus or whatever you want to buy. Dip is a fun thing. And I also, I like mixing it up.

0:13:43
 It's not like you can only have vegetable sticks. It's like, have a few crackers, have some vegetable sticks, and mix it up. Yeah, I can't lie. I feel like eating vegetables with dips still feels like diet world to me a little bit because I haven't transitioned away from that because it's only something I ate then. Yes. But I feel like I need to maybe explore that as like maybe I could truly enjoy it and not make it feel like it's something I have to or should be eating as a healthier choice. I feel like dieting for me in the vegetable dip thing was like salsa because it's zero calories. You know what I mean?

0:14:13
 Free food nonsense. The sugar-free jelly. Oh, yeah, sugar-free jelly was a very very big thing. The chokehold that had on our generation. Wow. We won't even go into that. Sugar-free jelly. If you like jelly, I love jelly. Go for it. But it's not like the only thing you must eat. So the only dessert is a zero-calorie sugar-free jelly. The other thing I do like, sometimes it's also like, am I hungry? I don't quite know what's happening. I have those little like kombuchas in my fridge and sometimes I'll just grab one of those. And I don't know, it seems to hit a place that I just really like. And I don't know, it's helping to hydrate me at the same time.

0:14:57
 I do like a kombucha these days. I've gotten used to the flavor. But anyway, that's just another option that I like to have. And another thing I just thought of with the jelly, one thing I do like with jelly is if you make the jelly, you can have whatever type of jelly you want. Doesn't have to be sugar-free, just jelly in general, jello, and add a yogurt to it. Oh, like a parfait. And then you mix it in at sets. Sometimes I like that to spice up the way that I have yogurt.

0:15:23
 It makes like, it's kind of like a mousse. I don't know, so you mix it in. It's not like layered. No, no, no, you mix it. Oh, I've never heard of that, and that sounds very interesting. It's nice. Also, by adding the yogurt, the protein and the fat from the yogurt actually help the way your body digests the jelly which is normally just like a sugary thing so it would change that how that reaction is in your body and that's I like that. And there's other things you can add in this is my nan used to do this all the time we used to call it joget. Jelly yogurt. Oh joget! And you can add fruit in there as well and it sets pineapple doesn't set. Noted. Pineapple doesn't set in jelly. Something I like to eat sometimes as I make my homemade muesli, which is like, you can find it on my website.

0:16:06
 It's called Best Homemade Muesli, I think. And I always have that in my house, but I'll sometimes just have like a little bit of muesli with milk. That's if I'm feeling hungry. Like if I'm like, okay, I need, it's almost like I'm having another breakfast in a way. But I used to very much binge eat on things like cereal, bread, peanut butter. These used to be, these are very common binge foods as well.

0:16:28
 Also, people can often binge on things like carrots and yogurt. These are all, everything's kind of binge foods as well, so unhealthy stuff. And I just found that introducing it to be an allowed, something I was allowed to eat was really helpful. So I'm like, I'm allowed to have the cereal and it's satisfying, it's filling. Whereas I think before I was kind of like trying to always go, I have to limit how much I have or when I have it and Nowadays now that I've created a much healthier relationship the food. These aren't these are no longer binge foods and This is the perfect time for me to mention that I do have a program called keep it real So if you are binge eating if you can relate you're like hey, I feel out of control your foods I feel like I start snacking and then I can't stop snacking Definitely look into keep it real to my website, lyndycohen.com.

0:17:15
 It's a step-by-step program and I've been there so I really get it. I really want to be able to help you. I've helped thousands of people at this point with Keep It Real and if you use the code podcast via the website, lyndycohen.com, then you can get 20% off Keep It Real and it's a full money-back guarantee. So give it a go. I'm excited about it because I know it's a really good program. Also if you're on the website, there's some free courses you can jump into if you want to. Linnea has a free five-day course on binge eating just to kind of get you maybe like how could this course even help me.

0:17:47
 So it kind of gives you a little bit of insight of what Keep It Real is all about. It's a good little taste tester. Yeah. I feel like I added some really good stuff in that. So if you like that free five-day course, you might be interested in Keep It Real. Do we have any other snacks that we can share that we get excited about. Any other snacks? Or with the yogurt, if you get yogurt and add frozen raspberries and mix and mix and mix and mix, you've got to have commitment to the mix, it becomes like frozen yogurt. You've got to mush it down because it's so frozen.

0:18:16
 Oh, I see. So you're mushing up the raspberries. Yeah. Because I've done that, but with cherries, frozen cherries, and so the yogurt kind of goes around the cherry and then you get these like frozen cherry yogurt balls. Yum! Really good. Can we talk about Bliss Balls as an option? Okay, so I am on the fence about Bliss Balls. Yeah, Bliss Balls don't really work for me because...

0:18:36
 They don't fill me up. I want 10 Bliss Balls. I want 10 Bliss Balls and you didn't satisfy me like you're delicious, but I'm not eating you out of hunger. If I'm eating a Bliss Ball, it's because it's delicious. Correct. I feel like you either buy Bliss Balls and you pay $4 or $5 a Bliss Ball and you want 10 and you're like, well, I'm not spending $50 on Bliss Balls. And the second option, if you make Bliss Balls, you've seen all the ingredients that go into it and you're like, well, I can't eat all of those ingredients in one day.

0:19:03
 So next minute, you have. There is like you could freeze the ones so you don't like all eat them all at the same time. But personally, I'm like, I don't think that works in my lifestyle. I don't know if I'm a Bliss Ball kind of girl, so therefore I don't have them. Chia pudding is something that I'm kind of reviving recently, which it sounds a bit wanky, but it's not. I just have milk and chia seeds make the thing. I have a whole big container, Tupperware container that's in my fridge. And when I feel like having something, I just dish a little bit of out, a little out. I do add a little bit of berries with a bit of sugar, so it's a bit of a reduction that I have, and that's the acidity and the sweetness.

0:19:39
 And then I go in with some nut butter and like the combination. Yum! Oh, so good. It ticks every box. In terms of like bought snacks, I really like like your roasted chickpeas or fava beans or those type of things. They've like got fiber and they're tasty, but they do like such nice little like flavors on them that they're just like things I can have in my bag and they're really nice. Yeah, so the chicknut things. Yeah, I really like those as well.

0:20:07
 They're really fun. I also like having popcorn. Popcorn, love popcorn. So Cobs have their, there's like a sweet and salty popcorn. I really like it. I like how it's got more fiber in it. I think it's really delicious. That's tasty. What else do you have? I really like cheese and crackers.

0:20:25
 Do you buy those little snack packs that you can get or do you just? I just do it myself. I feel like snack packs, they're a lot of money. They're a lot of money and more plastic as well. More plastic and I feel like if you just get some crackers you like and then if you just buy, I just get like square pieces of cheese and then like they very easily cut into four with the exact size of a cracker. Amazing. Cheese and crackers are the most satisfying thing. Noted. I'm more of a sweet girl but I hear you. Yeah, I'm more savory. I like more savory snacks.

0:20:52
 So then it's like finding out what's your vibe and kind of sticking within that. Finding snacks that truly satisfy you and make you go, oh, that was great, is the key to mastering how to snack without being like, oh, I'm not hungry now for lunch because I've snacked all morning. And if you aren't hungry for lunch, giving yourself permission to be like, you know what, fine, I'll just push lunch back until the afternoon. You don't have to just eat a meal because it's mealtime. If you're not hungry, simply wait a little bit longer. And on the topic of hunger, one more tip I just want to throw out there. I have muesli bars that I keep in the glove box of my car so that if anyone in my family, myself included, becomes hangry, we have emergency food that's ready to go.

0:21:35
 And that way it's just like, because sometimes if you forget to eat or you get ravenously hungry, you need that option there. In my son's backpack, he's got little snacks squirreled away everywhere. I just think you do need a few emergency snacks. Yes, being hungry is not the go. And if you want any more snack inspiration, Lindy has an app called Back to Basic. It has so many good snack ideas, recipe ideas, snacks, and so many things. The thing that I love the most about it is some of the snacks are so easy. It's like you don't even need a recipe for it.

0:22:07
 You're like, just why didn't I think of this? Of course, this is something amazing I could be snacking on. But jump online, do a seven-day free trial. See if you like it, get some inspo. You'll love it. Thanks for listening, guys. I hope I've given you a little bit of juicy inspiration for your healthy snack time without any deprivation or guilt. If you like the podcast episode, please review it. Say something nice.

0:22:26
 I'd love to read it and leave us a five star review and of course subscribe share it with a friend all that good stuff anyways guys we'll speak to you next time bye do you feel like you know what you should be eating but like you feel completely out of control with food you're either eating perfectly or your face planting into the fridge well if you've got binge eating or you're struggling with emotional eating, I can help. Check out my program, Keep It Real. I've got lots I can teach you and hey, you don't have to be a binge eater for the rest of your life.

0:22:57
 You can get 20% off Keep It Real when you use the code podcast when you check out via the website. And because I don't want this to be just another failed attempt for you, I'm offering a 30-day money-back guarantee because you know what? You've just got to give these things a go, no risk. Give it a try. Check out Keep It Real.