How to stop snacking

mkhawaja08

Hope everyone had a nice turkey day - I know I have to spend a few extra minutes in the gym after that day
I wanted to get everyone's opinion on something, I am trying to avoid snacking completely - usually during work I would grab a piece of fruit but to avoid the sugar been avoiding it completely. Any good ideas how to suppress the hunger been trying the cold glass of water - any other tips?

Mycophilia

Chewing gum has worked wonders for me.

JenAndSome

The only way I can seem to avoid snacking is to eat bigger meals that keep me full in between. Maybe the snacking isn't the problem, but the size of the snack. When I plan my day ahead, I plan the snacks too to make sure I don't overdo it.

weatheredcheese

Sorry, not sure I understand, what's wrong with grabbing a bit of fruit?
If you trying to cut out snacking, it will take time for your system to adjust, to no longer expect it.
Chewing gum and drinking water are the 2 ways I would do this, not sure of any others...

ValerieMartini2Olives

Don't keep stuff in the house that makes you eat mindlessly.

esjones12

It will take some time, but you can train your body to not expect the snacks.

I eat every 3 hours! There is nothing wrong with snacking if you are still eating a healthy balanced diet and keeping your deficit. Try healthy snacks like: grapes and cheese, carrots and hummus, yogurt with fruit, etc.

Best of luck.

glevinso

I purposely bring fruit with me to work so that IS what I snack on. Why try to avoid fruit?

JoRocka

I keep my own snacks around- b/c I'm always hungry- I can usually push it off but for so long- so I might as well just have my own. veggies are an easy go to- they keep well- and they can be prepared in advance and are easy to mindless snack on without jacking up the calorie count.

mkhawaja08

Hi everyone, thanks for all the feedback I usually go to fruit but have been trying to keep my sugar levels low so avoiding fruit for that reason

acheben

I haven't tried to cut out snacking, but I'm planning my snacking now. I know that I like to have a mid-morning and an afternoon snack at work, so I make sure that I can fit my snacks in my daily requirements.

Low-Sodium Deli Turkey and a Babybel
Peanut Butter Crackers
Pretzels
Low-fat Yogurt with PB2 and honey or strawberry jam
Nuts

lemurcat12

I prefer not to snack, and I just trained myself out of the habit--at first I ate low calorie things when I felt like eating and gradually I stopped expecting it. But I was never really snacking from hunger and tend to eat 3 filling meals. If I am hungry before the next one (which is rare), I just remind myself that it's no big thing to be a little hungry for a couple of hours.

I'd say that if you can't easily train yourself out of it consider whether your meals are filling enough or if you might be someone who does better with more smaller meals (or smaller meals and planned snacks). I would go nuts on that approach, but many like it.

And I think it's a shame when the sugar fear leads people to avoid even fruit, but perhaps you have health reasons or are trying to low carb.

tomsarno

Raw baby carrots and green beans work well

lolly715

JenAndSome wrote: »

The only way I can seem to avoid snacking is to eat bigger meals that keep me full in between. Maybe the snacking isn't the problem, but the size of the snack. When I plan my day ahead, I plan the snacks too to make sure I don't overdo it.

This. I used to be a major morning snacker. I doubled the calories of my breakfast and suddenly, I no longer feel the urge to snack.

But I don't see the problem with snacking generally. If you do need to watch even natural sugar, change the snacks up to hit another macro. I grab chicken instead of fruit as an example.

esaucier17

Lots of water and gum.
Or I figure my meals to be able to have calories for snacks. Always something small and low in calories.

GingerbreadCandy

Oh, I have the same issue!

The thing that worked best for me was starting to log my snack calories. Now I barely snack or in any case have the snacks very small.

Other tricks included simply not having things I will easily back on around the house (white bread. I can eat an entire loaf in one sitting….), and there is the old wisdom "If you feel hungry, drink a glass of water instead."

Also, I found that having a large meal (not a calorie-intensive one), helps me stay full longer and thus snack less. So I will pile on salad, for instance.

dopeysmelly

I distracted myself with lots of tea, going for strolls, doing laundry (I work from home). ANYTHING to not grab that snack. Every time I didn't grab it, I felt empowered and it got MUCH easier with time and practice. Took about 2-3 weeks in total.

Francl27

There's nothing wrong with snacking if you're hungry. What matters more is the choice of snacks you make.

deksgrl

mkhawaja08 wrote: »

Hi everyone, thanks for all the feedback I usually go to fruit but have been trying to keep my sugar levels low so avoiding fruit for that reason

Snack on some veggies instead? There are a lot of other things you could snack on that don't have sugar.

civilizedworm

I don't know about you, but I hate fasting between meals... and snacks.

missemmapeel

I used to get hungry every couple hours and snack regularly. I saw a naturopath and he recommended changes to my diet to regulate my blood sugar levels. A side effect was I no longer got hungry between meals, so it may help for you if you want to be less hungry between meals. Here's the advice:
1. Eat large meals (my breakfast is ~600 cals)
2. Eat lots of protein with every meal or snack
3. Avoid sugar/overly starchy foods
4. Get lots of fiber

Hope this helps,
Emma

holly55555

You don't need to stop snacking. If you want to avoid the extra calories, just divide your meals up over the course of the day. I do this, as I have to eat every couple hours for a medical problem.

In example, if for lunch, you would have a sandwich and chips, have the sandwich at 12PM and the chips at 3PM.

jim_just_jim

An apple a day ....

AmigaMaria001

I totally get why you want to stop snacking. I didn't get fat from eating meals - I got fat from snacking - plain and simple!
- I now eat only three meals a day without any snacks - been doing this for 10 months but I still want a snack every night when I sit down in front of the TV.
So here is what I've done... I keep several of my favorite sugarless gum flavors next to my chair and chew gum whenever I want to snack. I also keep a pot of freshly brewed tea in the kitchen and drink Iced Tea with saccharine to sweeten it. Both these things really help! But I've been snacking for 61 years so it's going to be a really hard habit to break.

999tigger

Maybe do what the others suggested and try the six smaller meals.
Also eat stuff that keeps you full.
Exercise can earn you the eatback calories.

icrushit

I would like to be able to do the same, and found lemurcat12's post above quite valuable. I shall definitely keep an eye on things here for other good tips.

Right now I am suspecting it shall be like how I gave up sugar for example, where I just cut it back little by little, but with snacking, even when I'm only having something like a single square of chocolate and a dozen almonds between meals, it just seems difficult to make the leap from that to nothing between meals..

SteampunkSongbird

It's not really mindless snacking if you're actually feeling hungry.

LookingBusy

Water and tea really helped me. I found I was snacking at my desk from boredom, not because I was hungry or anything. Now I guzzle my water bottle or make a tea or even bring some apple cider I can heat up to keep me occupied for a little while.

jmido

Fruit is extremely healthy and full of nutrients. Also, natural sugar from fruits and whole foods is different from added sugar like what you get in chocolate and it is even processed differently. You eat snacks because you are hungry, if you ignore that hunger, you will probably overeat at some point which is much worse than having some really healthy snacks.

If you absolutely want to get rid of snacks though, i suggest switching from 3 big meals a day to 5 smaller meals everyday. I wouldnt suggest finding ways to distract your hunger like chewing gum or drinking water. Hunger is a warning signal that your body needs fuel.

chouflour

To avoid sugar, what about:
hard boiled eggs
turkey/chicken or ham wrapped in a lettuce leaf
Pre-portioned cheese (string cheese or cottage cheese might be good choices)
peanut butter, almond butter or cream cheese in celery sticks
nuts (pistachios or other whole nuts will slow you down)
Veggies with dip (hummus, maybe?)
sunflower seeds
Plain greek yogurt (this might be an acquired taste)

gothchiq

Coffee, tea, gum.

Rockerbabe131

The best thing for me to do, is snack every couple of hours. Smaller "MEALS" and calorie and healthy conscious snacks. I have breakfast, and then eat a 100 calories greek yogurt for a snack in the am, eat lunch, eat a fruit/veggie/healthycalorieconcioussnack in the afternoon, and then eat dinner. Dessert is the same. If its within my calorie count (which It should be, if I've been good the rest of the day) I have a snack right before bed. I'm an abnormal person in the fact that if I don't eat RIGHT before bed, I wake up hungry and end up in the kitchen eating a snack at midnight or 1 in the morning. It keeps your metabolism going to keep eating small meals through out the day. Now, if I'm working out, I count my protein shake and/or bar into my calorie counts for snacks. I can't do shakes as meal replacements...I get too hungry.

Someone wrote they chew gum to keep from snacking, and that's a clever way as well, to keep your mouth busy (I'm a Pure Romance Consultant, so that last line has my chuckling). I also chew gum if I'm COOKING! I read that Pamela Anderson did that in the kitchen and though: Huh, Im going to try that. ...and Voila! It keeps me from popping food in my mouth as I'm cooking...food that I wouldn't register I was eating.