There seem to be so many rules and regulations popping up surrounding food and eating habits; whether that be when we eat, what we eat, how often we eat.. You name it, there’s countless magazine articles, social media posts and whatever else telling us how and what we should be doing with our food. I mean, some of these might be science based and could very well have elements of truth to them, but I personally think that food and eating habits can really vary depending on the individual. Everyone’s body is different and therefore I think that we can sometimes thrive off different diets and eating patterns. For example: what might make one person feel great and full of energy could cause another to feel sluggish and even unwell if they were intolerant to it. Food can be a very personal thing and learning to listen to your body is something that I consider to be rather important.
I’m not really going to delve into that matter much deeper, as that’s not really what I wanted to base this post about.. instead I want to talk about snacking. This links in with timings and the frequency of meals and eating. For me, I find that I need to eat little and often throughout the day; I would typically tend to have around 6 meals and I find that this is what works best to keep me feeling energised for the duration of the day. If I don’t eat for long periods of time, I find that my concentration and energy levels really suffer, so I like to try and be prepared and carry snacks/meals around with me if I know that I’m going to be out of the house for a long period of time. Again, this is just what works for me, I know lots of people who swear by eating three larger meals per day and that’s what they enjoy and what works for them.
I also suffer with low blood pressure and have episodes of feeling faint, which I find can be effected by food and my eating habits. If I’ve gone for long periods of time without eating or haven’t eaten enough that day, then this can cause me to feel unwell. It’s all about knowing your body and really just doing what you can to take care of it. Okay, so we’re not all always super organised and have food ready and prepped to take out with us.. In fact, probably 8/10 times I haven’t meal prepped any snacks or meals either because I was in a rush or had just forgotten. Prepping your food is something that’s highly recommended by lots of people, to help you stay on track with your meals and also save money- but lets face it, there are times when even the most organised of us haven’t done so.. but that doesn’t have to mean you’ve messed up and can’t still stay on track with your eating without breaking the bank!
The problem that I find when choosing on the go snacks, is that people often get drawn to the highly processed convenience foods. Now, I’m not saying that you should never eat these things.. In fact, I’m not telling you what you should or shouldn’t eat at all. But I find that I feel my best when I stay simple with my nutrition and try and fuel my body with as many whole food ingredients as possible.. but of course I still treat myself to some chocolate and popcorn if I’m feeling it! I wanted to share with you some of my favourite snacks to pick up in the supermarket if I’m out and about and need something quick and convenient and in particular one product that I’ve been loving at the moment. Some of my go to snacks include: almonds, boiled eggs, carrot sticks, berries, cooked chicken breast pieces, nut butter sachets and small pots of greek yoghurt or skyr. Recently, I’ve found myself really getting into snacking on skyr- perhaps because the weathers getting a bit warmer, I don’t know! But, I’ve been really liking the vanilla Skyr Iceland ones. They come in a really handy little pot, that also has a little fold up spoon in the lid.. what more could you want right?
My favourite kinds of yoghurt are either Greek yoghurts or Skyr because they’re really thick and creamy and I just prefer the taste of these kinds. Skyr isn’t actually classified as a yoghurt and in fact, there’s 3x more milk in skyr than yoghurts. They’re also a great high protein snack, which I find helps to keep me full and satisfied for a longer period of time. I’ve been able to pick these up at lots of Waitrose stores (I think they’re around £1.20-1.40) around London, so they’re pretty easy for me to get hold of and something that I can eat whilst on the go with very minimal fuss. The vanilla flavour is definitely my favourite and I’ve also been loving including it in my nightly dessert bowls consisting of Skyr, frozen raspberries and a good dollop of almond butter (you need to try this trust me!). They’re also really handy to add into smoothies, to help give them that velvety, creamy texture and up the protein content too.
I thought I’d share with you a really quick and east blueberry lassi recipe that would make a delicious breakfast, snack or even dessert and literally takes less that five minutes to whizz up in a blender. Smoothies like this are so delicious now that the weather’s getting warmer and are really handy to drink if you’re always on the go or if you don’t have a lot of time to sit down for breakfast in the morning.
