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Suggestions for meals to avoid afternoon jitters and shakes
Hi, I was wondering if you could give me some ideas of where I may be going wrong, and ideas of how to do it right! ?I have been trying to lose weight for years! I find I can get through the day ok, but by 4pm I am shaking/sweating and end up bingeing-often on things I don't really like. I've tried eating things like porridge for breakfast, thinking this would help, then wholemeal sandwich plus fruit and yoghurt for lunch, but it still happens - not every day, usually when I've been busy or stressed at work. I'm even set on just losing 1/2 pound per week to give me maximum calories. ?Please help!
Our expert says...
Hi
Thanks for your query, it’s a difficult one, but I hope I have some quite specific ideas for you that might help.
Firstly, for some people, dairy products like yogurt can cause quite a strong insulin response, even though they are low GI (raising blood glucose levels slowly), which can in turn cause a drop in blood sugar and boost hunger. So it might just help to have your yogurt as a late morning snack an hour or so before lunch (please don’t take this as me being anti-dairy as I’m not and would strongly advocate you having 2-3 portions a day for their health benefits).
Then, at lunch, choose the slowest releasing bread you can and thinner or smaller slices. Slower-releasing types include Granary, multigrain and rye – basically heavier, denser breads and /or those with whole seeds and grains in them that slow down the bread’s digestion. The filling should be protein packed and quite thick – a decent amount of chicken for example. Then, and this is just a personal tip which I’ve found very useful for myself, around the time you would normally start to get shaky and hungry, or just before, tuck into a tin of tuna in spring water, which only has around 160 calories in a 185g tin (and you can have just half and team with some cucumber chunks or pepper rings if you want).
I’d be really interested if this works for you and forgive me for giving my own anecdotal experience as I realize this doesn’t constitute scientific data! If tuna doesn’t do it for you, you could try prawns or chicken instead, basically any low fat protein source. Pregnant women shouldn’t have more than 4 medium-sized cans or 2 fresh tuna meals a week though, just as a note of caution.
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