It is best to eat a snack between meals. In this way, you can avoid getting hungry at the main meals. Being very hungry will cause you to start eating greedily, which makes it difficult for your body to process everything. This often leads to overeating and the excess fuel is converted into fat.

Examples of snacks:

• Cereal bar
• Fruit (salad)
• Yoghurt
• Soup
• Cake
• Biscuit
• Waffle
• ...

Morning

Between your breakfast and lunch you can go for a snack with a few more calories, if you wish. You still have more than half a day ahead of you and plenty of time to use these fuels.

When choosing your snack, consider your schedule for the rest of the day. If you do not have the opportunity to exercise a lot, choose a low-calorie (calories = energy) snack (cereal bar, fruit, yoghurt, soup, etc.). But if you're going to do a lot of exercise, there's no harm in going for a high-calorie snack (cake, biscuit, waffle, etc.).

Afternoon

Between lunch and dinner, choose a snack that gives you just enough energy to last until dinner. So choose a low-calorie snack (cereal bar, fruit, yoghurt, soup, etc.), because the day is almost over.

Exception: if you are planning to exercise intensely in the late afternoon or evening, you can of course opt for a high-calorie snack.

Don't overdo it

The idea is that you get most of your energy from your meals. So make sure that your snacks do not contain more calories than your meals, otherwise you are doing the wrong thing. Snacks are not complete meals, they are meant to bridge the time between your meals. Always bear in mind that as the day progresses your energy needs will diminish. So make sure that your afternoon snack contains fewer calories than your morning snack.

- Translated from Dutch by Tamara Swalef -