Is there a specific calorie level at which a snack should no longer be considered a snack and might as well just count as another meal?
You can’t really put a caloric number on it.
A single convenience story honey bun is like 500-600 calories….but a lot of people would call that a snack. 4oz of chicken, 1/2 cup of rice, and 1 cup of broccoli is around 350, but that would certainly be called a meal by most people.
When I’ve done diet plans (written for me then modified as I have access to difference foods) the calories for “snacks” were sub-200cals, with “meals” being \~400+. I’m sure some scientist has drawn a line somewhere but depending on you calorie needs/targets I’d just chalk it up to less then whatever you’re classing as a “meal”. In my funny brain I like to use the rule of “snacks are at least 1/2 of a meal’s cals”.
A snack can have multiple functions, either you wanna maintain a level of saturation, bloodsugar etc. or split your nutrients between meals/snacks etc. and decide f.e. to fuel vitamins trough snacks…
for bloodsugar and vitamins, fruits are the obvious choice, something like grapes isnt too bad…
If you wanna stay saturated or fuel your nerves something like nuts, is great (but also high on calories.) also keep in mind that nuts take about 30 minutes to really affect your hunger… in that time you could eat a ton of them and then they become unhealthy (if obese etc. )
Whenever you want it to - it only matters if it has meaning to you. MFP doesn’t care which ‘meal’ of the day you log something under. You could rename your meal/snack sections in MFP to just 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 (under Diary Settings -> Customize Meal Names) and the distinction between ‘meal’ and ‘snack’ would never appear.
I think most snacks are around 200 calories, no? It seems manufacturers package and advertise “snacks” between 100 and 250 calories. And I think there’s also some expectation that it would include some aspect of your daily nutrition.
Most “meals” would be over 300 and include the bulk of your daily nutrition.
I would classify things like honeybuns as “treats” or “indulgences”. There’s no expectation of nutrition here. Just shear joy 🤤
Snacks is a meal. I don’t understand why people make nutrition so damn complicated. If you can manage to go by eating a single large meal at noon and not touch food through out the rest of the day to that. If not take number of calories and macros and split them into how many meals to prefer to have.
We were discussing this in a Nutrition lecture, because nations will give their nutritional guidance to people, and reference snacks or meals without any clear indication of the difference, making it harder for people to follow nutritional guidance given. It’s completely subjective.
One day I woke up and decided that I would no longer delineate meals and snacks. I took my MFP/Cronometer account and just relabeled everything “Meal 1”, “Meal 2”, “Meal 3”, etc. For me this helps me focus on biofeedback. My energy expenditure varies from day to day. If I’m feeling really hungry, I eat more or even toss in an extra “meal”. On the flipside, I’ll just eat something small if I’m not all that hungry.
I would say the amount of protein determines if its a snack vs meal as calorie-dense food dont usually fill you enough to be considered a meal. If it has more than ~20% of your daily protein -> meal. Below that snack!
I think it’s partly in the preparation and time taken to eat
Eg yoghurt with granola at midday = quick snack on the go before lunch
Vs
Couscous with roasted veg at midday = lunch where you sit down properly and eat
My personal opinion is that a snack is a single or commonly paired type of food that isn’t generally considered to be very filling and/or is relatively small compared to your body weight. Exceptions would be things that are just obviously snack foods according to common sense like a scoop of peanut butter or a small portion of any kind of leftovers. The time of day would also probably play a role as eating a small portion of leftover pasta at 3 pm would likely be considered a snack whereas the same pasta portion could and likely would be considered dinner if eaten at 6 or 7 pm if that’s the only thing you’ve eaten
i’d say when it’s filling but idk about there being precise criteria. If it’s filling, gets a dedicated time slot for eating, and it takes a bit of work to make, definitely a meal imo, but there’s plenty of room for ambiguity
When your partner gets bigger j/k
Ok so there’s probably a point where if you think of a meal as the ‘main’ consumption points of the day, a snack shouldn’t be comparable in size or length of time to eat
“Complexety makes up a meal.” I would say it makes “a meal” a meal if it contains more ingredients and has been cooked/made in the kitchen. If you buy a protein bar/granola bar, or some biscuits, I wouldn’t call it a meal
It’s whatever you want it to be, bro. I have bigger portions of food, usually one of a few things that I like to eat, at the typical morning/noon/evening times for breakfast/lunch/dinner, and basically everything else I eat I consider a snack. 4am and I have 1/2 cup oatmeal with some blueberries and cream, that’s a meal. At 10am if I have a banana, that’s a snack. 3pm and I have a couple scoops of protein powder, that’s a snack. 7pm and I have a few oz of baked chicken, a large pile of baked veggies, a cup of scrambled egg whites, and a few large scoops of salsa… that’s a meal.