Posted by kathryn in Snacks

Do you eat really well all morning, have a good lunch and then fall into a nutritional hole in the afternoon?

People know about the importance of breakfast and most have lunch, but then around 3pm your energy slumps and the cravings start. It’s the time of day when you raid the biscuit tins, the vending machine or any chocolate in the office gets sniffed out and rapidly consumed.

Does this sound like you?

This is a common phenomenon and something I regularly talk to clients about. A lot of people have their lunch at midday or 1.00pm, but are not having dinner until 7.00 or 8.00pm. Trying to watch what they eat, people assume that lunch is enough and they shouldn’t be eating again until dinner.

However, this doesn’t work. About three or four hours after your last meal, your blood sugar levels start dropping. This usually coincides with the middle of the afternoon boredom, when you’ve had enough of work and are starting to feel a bit tired. Your brain converts this into a craving – you need sugar / salt / fat – and all those good intentions fall over.

The way around this is to actually plan to eat something in the afternoon. Bring something from home, or buy an afternoon snack when you’re out at lunch-time. Then aim to eat it half an hour before the cravings usually hit you . By pre-empting that energy crash, you’re stopping the cravings before they really take hold.

Moreover planned food, ie something you’ve thought about, is almost always better than something you grab when you’re hungry and will eat anything.

Do you have an energy slump in the afternoon? And if so, what do you do about it?

Having written that post, I’m off to have some fruit and yoghurt!

20 June, 2007