Living Well Snack away Santa health

Not to break up the Santa fun, but it's tempting to wonder if all those cookies and-milk snacks won't send St. Nick on a sugar crash rather than his appointed rounds.

Bah, humbug to that notion, say a couple of local nutritionists.

"The milk is a good addition to the cookies," said Emily Edison, who operates the Momentum Nutrition and Fitness practice in Kenmore. "You get some protein with the snack, not just carbohydrates and fat."

"Hey, come on, Santa is out there burning a lot of calories," said Kathleen Putnam of the NutritionWorks practice based in Seattle. "And we sort of want him plump."

In fact, both dietitians said snacking, or eating "mini-meals" as Edison likes to call them, can be an effective step to a healthier 2008.

"Mini-meals get people to think more about healthy options than something out of a vending machine," said Edison, whose practice offers nutrition counseling, personal training and fitness consulting. "Mini-meals are more like half a turkey sandwich, a tortilla rolled up with ham and cheese or soup."

Edison said variety is best for your soup choices. "You can look for soups with beans or veggies, ones that are broth-based. Minestrone is a great choice."

She didn't rule out clam chowder. "I'm a big fan myself, so I would never say don't have some chowder. Just not every day."

Santa might not have time for soup, but a half-sandwich might well hit that jelly-belly spot.

Putnam offered other healthy "smaller meal" ideas to get us thinking outside of the vending machine or prepackaged foods aisle.

"You want to look for where you can add protein," she said. "You can get carbohydrates anywhere. So have some nuts with dried fruit. Or cheese and fresh fruit, maybe cheese and crackers. Half your lunch now, then the other half in two hours. Or think portable, like a hard-boiled egg, apple and bun."

The half-lunch idea sounds good, but Putnam acknowledged some clients -- and a former editor friend of mine -- always struggled not to eat the rest of the sandwich.

"Make it three-quarters if you must," she said. "But you want to eat to energize, not until you are overfull. Stop short of that. The reason why your editor wanted to eat the rest of his lunch sandwich is probably because he didn't have a mid-morning snack."

"Lots of people don't get or trust the frequency thing," Putnam said. "They are sort of scared of snacking, especially if they have tried (restrictive) diets. It takes some work on that behavior to get over those beliefs that snacking will add weight."

Edison said there is no evidence that eating at night puts on pounds.

"It's more that we gain weight when eating at night even when we are not hungry," she said. "That's why I am a huge fan of TiVO. You don't get in the habit of going for a snack (during commercials)."

Edison said that adding protein to your snacks can lead to more clear-headedness and less thinking about being hungry. She talks regularly to clients about eating three mini-meals between a hearty breakfast and a lean protein, whole grain, at least two vegetables dinner. Pull out those half-sandwiches or yogurts with a handful of almonds at the first sign of personal hunger -- not when you are shaky, feeling lightheaded, headachy or irritable. Stomach growling? You waited too long.

"You probably never want to go more than three hours without some food," she said. "And skip the big lunch. Unfortunately, the siesta system doesn't really work in this country."

Both nutritionists emphasized the value of breakfast to not only start the day but help curb mindless eating and "empty calories" snacks.

"A hearty breakfast is three or four foods, while a snack is two foods," said Edison. "Oatmeal with raisins and walnuts, a glass of milk and a piece of fresh fruit is a healthy breakfast. A cereal alone, like Cheerios with nonfat milk, is not going to satisfy you."