Best every day snacks

I am a great believer in small meals, low GI and having a healthy snack on hand for those emergency moments or just every mid morning and mid afternoon.

My thing for small meals is a comment on how all of us somehow bought into ‘More is More, Supersize is such great value so let’s order that, I NEED more otherwise I am deprived or not getting value for money.’

Thank goodness for the French and their Nouvelle Cuisine and their entirely unattached, non emotionally hooked up way of looking at food. Food is their passion, but not the devil on their shoulder – big difference. It is an education to watch them eat and see how (sorry about the generalisations) they order, are revolted by too much on plate or an unattractive looking meal, eat sooooo slowly, love the company and all the big family and friends food outings, leave half of it on their plate and never worry that this is their last meal on earth. They know that soon they will be sitting down again to another small, delicious, beautiful meal washed down with a small glass of wonderful wine.

I spent time in the fresh markets and had never seen yellow courgettes before. Every fresh basket was a masterpiece of art.

One of the bonuses of visiting Antibes in May was the opportunity to observe this healthy and normal relationship with food. The best bonus to me was that with this kind of mindfulness, I have lost 4kg (8.8lbs) weight myself since then and the food devil on my shoulder has gone into retirement.

My favourite low GI snacks are ONE of the following:

A crunchy green apple

A delicious green pear – they are in season and wonderful at the moment

A grapefruit

A handful of fresh cherries

A fresh plum

Chickpea dip with celery sticks and a raw carrot or a few baby marrows

A small handful of walnuts or almonds (raw, unsugared and good for the bones)

I have also always had my own story about having a biscuit mid afternoon. When I started in June, I had 3 plain ryevita which did the trick. Now that I am more sorted, I have something from the list above.

There are so many great websites that help with low GI food choices, many of them from well known universities so do a search and inform yourself.

Yours in health.