Why can a day’s worth of snacks be considered a fourth meal? Because, according to research, snacking accounts for more than 25% of Americans’ calorie intake everyday.
How Many Calories Do We Snack On A Day?
Between 1977 and 2006 Americans averaged about 580 calories each day for their snacks — which basically turned those snacks into “a full eating event,” or a fourth meal.
Maybe we snack on so many calories because eating and drinking while we’re doing something else has also increased. Between 2006 and 2008, the amount of time we spent eating our main meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner – was about 70 minutes. Secondary eating, the kind you do when you’re doing things like working on the computer, driving, or walking down the street, doubled from 15 minutes in 2006 to nearly 30 minutes a day in 2008. There was nearly a 90% jump in the time we spent on secondary drinking: from 45 to 85 minutes. (Ever wonder why Starbuck’s is so crowded?)
Come On, Be Honest
Haven’t you ever chowed down on a whole bunch of food — maybe the equivalent of a meal — around 5PM and then tried to convince yourself that it’s just a snack?
Although nearly 100% of Americans of all ages snack every day, there isn’t a standard definition of what a snack is or what motivates us to snack. So, what happens is that it’s left up to each one of us to “self-define” what snacks and snacking mean, leaving plenty of room for us to blur the line between snacks and meals.
How Much Do We Spend On Packaged Snacks?
We spend about 12% of our total food money at the supermarket on packaged snacks. Kids are learning to replace meals with snacks – a lifestyle that is likely to continue when those kids grow up and have their own families. And food companies are smart – they’re making health claims and highlighting things like fiber and nutrients on the snack packages which often make them sound more appealing and even healthy. That packaging, with the illusion of health, could even ease the guilt people might have when they reach for a caloric prepackaged snack that may or may not be made of real food.
So, What’s A Snack?
There’s an increase in snacking across the board, but beverages make up 50% of snack calories. those calories in drinks — including the sugar and cream in coffee — can add up to a pretty significant number.
A snack shouldn’t be a fourth meal. Most recommendations are that an individual snack, like the one so many of us have mid-morning or mid-afternoon, be between 150 and 200 calories and have some protein in it for satiety and to help keep your blood sugar level stable.
Do You Work Or Watch TV While You’re Eating?
Where do you have your breakfast? In the car or train while you’re going to work? Maybe while you’re walking down the street juggling that plastic topped paper cup of coffee, a muffin, your books and papers, your open jacket flapping in the breeze.
Where do you eat lunch: at your desk; standing in front of the kitchen sink; in front of the computer – or maybe with your open laptop competing for lap space which then gets blessed with drips and a chunk of tomato that’s oozed out from your sandwich?
A poll of more than 1500 people (Wansink, Mindless Eating), found that:
- 91% usually watch TV when eating meals at home alone
- 62% are frequently too busy to sit down and eat
- 35% eat lunch at their desk
- 26% often eat while they drive
Distraction Vs. Weight
When you multi-task you’re distracted and distraction is the enemy of weight management (and tasting your food). Any kind of distraction can lead to:
- eating too much — a procrastination method used by many
- forgetting - or not being aware — of what you’re eating
- not knowing how much (the quantity) you’re eating;
- why you’re eating – of even if you’re really hungry.
Mindless Eating
When you’re distracted your focus is not on your food but rather on about a hundred different things. That’s the classic recipe for mindless eating.
What Can You Do?
Everyone is busy. Everyone eats. Putting the two together can lead to mindless eating and creeping weight gain (and maybe indigestion). How about making your own personal set of eating rules?
In good conscience I can’t really suggest eating without doing other things. That’s the classic recommendation but I frequently eat while I work. While that “rule” won’t work for me maybe it will for you.
Create Your Own FoodMAP
If you’re like me, perhaps you can set a rule that you’re going to serve yourself a set portion of food and that’s all you’ll eat. No seconds and no squeezing so much on your plate that you essentially have seconds without getting up for more.
Perhaps you set a snacking rule – one snack only and not before 3PM — or not before you finish whatever project you’re working on. Just do it mindfully so the whole afternoon doesn’t turn into one long episode of coffee drips and food crumbs all over your keyboard. Once relieved from unrelenting snacking you may figure out why you haven’t been hungry at dinnertime (which you would eat anyway – while checking your emails — because it’s time for dinner).
Perhaps you want to turn over a new leaf and solely concentrate on your meals. The choice is yours. The challenge is to do what is right for you, your body, and your lifestyle. Create your own FoodMAP. Just try to make mindful choices that work for you.
What’s your plan?
Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages. In the US the first commercial Valentine’s Day cards were created in the 1840s. February 14th has come to mean red hearts, candy, flowers and gifts all in the name of St. Valentine. But who was Saint Valentine?
Who Was St. Valentine?
The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different martyred saints named Valentine. One of them, a priest in third century Rome, defied Emperor Claudius’ decree outlawing marriage for young men and continued to perform secret marriages. When his actions were discovered he was put to death. Other stories suggest that Valentine was killed for trying to help Christians escape from the harsh Roman prisons.
In another legend Valentine sent the first “valentine” message to himself. In prison he fell in love with his jailor’s daughter. Before his death, legend says he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine.” Whatever the story, they all emphasize Valentine’s sympathetic, heroic, and romantic appeal.
Why February?
Some think Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate Valentine’s death around 270 A.D. Others think the Christian church decided to celebrate Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an attempt to “christianize” the pagan Lupercalia, known as the beginning of spring festival.
British Valentine’s Day celebrations started around the seventeenth century. By mid eighteenth century all social classes exchanged tokens of affection or handwritten notes. Americans probably began exchanging handmade valentines in the early 1700s and mass-produced valentines in the 1840s.
Valentine’s Greetings
Women buy about 85% of the estimated one billion Valentine cards sent each year. Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the US, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.
Over 50% of all Valentine’s Day cards are bought in the six days before the holiday (hedging bets?) and more than half of the people in the US celebrate Valentine’s Day by buying a card.
Teachers get the most Valentine’s Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, then sweethearts. Children from 6 to 10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine’s cards with their teachers, classmates, and family.
And Flowers
110 million roses, mostly red, are sold and delivered within the three day period around Valentine’s Day. 60% of American roses come from California but the majority of the roses sold on Valentine’s Day are imported, mostly from South America.
15% of American women send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day although 73% of the people who buy Valentine’s Day flowers are men.
Happy Valentine’s Day
In the US chocolate candy outsells all other types of candy combined, by 2 to 1. Around seven billion pounds of chocolate candy are manufactured each year in the US and during the week before Valentine’s Day about 1.1 billion boxed chocolates, about 58 million pounds, will be sold.
There are 2300 calories, 140 grams of fat, 270 grams of carbs, and 31 grams of protein in a pound of milk chocolate. A lot has been said about the heart healthy benefits of chocolate, especially dark chocolate, but it’s important to remember that chocolate is still a high calorie, high fat treat.
But Isn’t Chocolate Good For Me?
In moderation—and, depending on the type—the answer is yes. Chocolate’s health benefits come from cocoa and dark chocolate has more cocoa than milk chocolate. White chocolate, without any cocoa in it, isn’t really chocolate. German scientists studied 19,357 people for a decade and found that those who ate the most chocolate (average 7.5 grams a day) had lower blood pressure and a 39% lower risk of having a heart attack or stroke than people who ate the smallest amount (1.7 grams a day).
Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, contains flavonols which have antioxidant properties. Those Valentine’s chocolates can be caloric and moderately high in fat, one-third of it the type of saturated fat that is not heart healthy. Extra ingredients like crème and caramel fillings can add lots of extra fat and calories.
If you see “Chocolate Liquor” in the ingredients list of chocolate candy, it is not alcoholic but a thick paste of ground cocoa beans, or nibs. The higher the amount of chocolate liquor, the greater the amount of beneficial flavonoids and in chocolate vocabulary, “cocoa” and “cacao” are synonymous as are “beans” and “nibs.”
Just So You Know
A treat is something that’s usually associated with pleasure and on Valentine’s Day, with love. To celebrate the occasion it’s just fine to enjoy a piece or two.
- Hershey’s Kisses, 9 pieces: 230 calories, 12g fat
- Hershey’s Special Dark Hearts, 5 pieces: 220 calories, 7g fat
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Hearts, snack size: 170 calories, 10g fat
- Russell Stover boxed chocolates, 2 pieces: 150 calories, 4g fat
- Dove Dark Chocolate Hearts, 5 pieces: 210 calories, 13g fat
- Godiva boxed chocolates, 4 pieces: 210 calories, 12g fat
“Be Mine,” “Kiss me,” “Sweet Talk.” Sweethearts Conversation Hearts, the small heart-shaped pastel colored candy with the familiar sayings have been a Valentine’s Day treat since 1902. Their manufacturer, NECCO, the New England Confectionery Company, in business since 1847, produces more than 8 billion of the candy conversation hearts a year.
In the 1860’s the New England Confectionary Company began printing sayings on candy like “Married in Pink, He will take to drink,”or “Married in White, you have chosen right,” and “Married in Satin, Love will not be lasting.” (Not such a good send-off for being married in pink or satin!!!)
The conversation heart sayings have been updated over the years with new ones added periodically. The candy is quite popular — NECCO sells out of their hearts — 100,000 pounds a day — in six weeks.
A few years ago NECCO asked the public how they wanted to express their love and in 2010 they introduced new flavors and sayings. The new flavors are strawberry, green apple, lemon, grape, orange, and blue raspberry new sayings include “Tweet Me,” “Text Me,” “You Rock,” “Soul Mate,” “Love Bug,” and “Me + You.”
Although you’d be hard pressed to call them nutritious, candy hearts are fat free, sodium free, and a caloric bargain at about 3 calories apiece for the small hearts and about 6 calories apiece for the larger “Motto” hearts.
In my mind, candy hearts and paper Valentines are absolutely linked with elementary school Valentine’s Day celebrations. How about you?
Do you have your own set of “food rules” — your own roadmap to healthy eating — or do you “roll with the punches” and eat whenever and wherever? Stop being traumatized by the food you love to eat, prepare, and share with your family and friends. My foodMAPs gives you research-based practical information, tips, and strategies (along with a touch of whimsy) to understand your body’s unique food needs, to save calories, manage your weight, and eat out while eating well.
Penny Klatell, a former college professor, is a registered nurse (BS, Skidmore) with an MA and PhD (NYU), a nutritional health counselor (Institute for Integrative Nutrition/Teachers College), and a certified life, health and wellness coach. Learn more...Follow Us
