Recently, a friend of mine asked my advice on picking out some healthy snacks. This question caused me to contemplate whether snacking was good or bad in general. I have come to these three conclusions. Hope this helps you make great decisions for your health.

Snacking is OK when a person firsts starts a low-carb diet. 

It is a major improvement when someone stops eating the standard American diet. Generally, those first 20 to 50 pounds come off quite quickly. Because of this, snacking is for the most part fine. Just as long as they do not exceed 35 carbs a day.

Another good reason for snacking during this time is to avoid starvation mode. This is when a person restricts their nutritional intake too dramatically. As a result, the body holds onto fat reserves rather than releasing them. Snacking is a great way to avoid this state.

You may need to stop snacking if you have hit a plateau.

Everyone who is trying to lose a significant amount of weight will eventually plateau. There are many things that you can do to re-start your metabolism. One of those things is to stop snacking.

Please do not misunderstand me at this point. A person should still eat if they are hungry. If you are hungry between meals and desire a snack, then by all means eat something. However, you should only eat when you are hungry. Or to put it another way, if you are not hungry do not eat. Even low-carb snacks are not good during this process.

As a side note, if you feel compelled to eat when you are not hungry, this is a good time to find out why. For many, eating when one is not hungry is a way to fill a void in ones life. Personally speaking, I use to snack because I was bored. It was not food that I needed but excitement. Next time you are tempted to eat when you are not hungry, ask your self, “what void am I trying to fill”?

Snacking can be OK if you are in maintenance.

If you have already reached your goal weight, snacking can be fine. Just as long as you carefully monitor your weight. It would be a sad event if you gained back the weight you worked so hard to lose.  But generally speaking, after you have reached your weight loss goals, you have much more liberty to eat when you want. This is due to the fact that your body is now a fat burning machine.