I'm starving - what do people eat for snacks?

pvju

Hi All,
I've been fighting to lose those few extra pounds for years and what always gets me is plain old hunger. Raw veggies don't stop the hunger pains. Dairy makes me break out like crazy even at my old age (52) and a piece of fruit is unsatisfying if my stomach is really growling. I end up grabbing nuts - which I know are highly caloric unless I eat like 8 or something even worse.

It's only midday and I'm hungry enough to eat all the calories I have left for the day - plus my workout is happening later, which is sure to add to my hunger.

What are your go to snacks?

Thanks!

sanfromny

unsweetened apple sauce

Aetheldreda

I usually go for cottage cheese, Greek yogurt or avocado.

diannethegeek

String cheese, wasabi peas, fudge pops, cottage cheese, hard boiled eggs, hummus & veggies, protein bars, Greek yogurt, beef or turkey jerky, popcorn, apples & peanut butter

Generally, I look for snacks higher in protein to hold me over between meals. But others find different things satisfying, so play around and see what works for you.

majigurl

oatmeal, yogurt, fuits ( what is a piece of fruit? have an apple with peanut butter), veggies, and LOADS of water. I eat constantly during the day. I have 15 mins till my greek yogurt and water snack lol What else, mixed nuts, homemade granola bars, smoothies, anything that fits into your count for the day. Usually I have my day already broken up so I know how many calories i'll be eating when. I may not know what I'll eat but I know what my breakdown of calories are also.

make sure you are eating enough carbs and proteins during your regular meals to carry you. if you are still starving, something isn't right. Look at what your meals look like.

katemckenna5

I'm out of ideas too! Diabetic, so I try to stay low carb.

kommodevaran

pvju wrote: »

Hi All,
I've been fighting to lose those few extra pounds for years and what always gets me is plain old hunger. Raw veggies don't stop the hunger pains. Dairy makes me break out like crazy even at my old age (52) and a piece of fruit is unsatisfying if my stomach is really growling. I end up grabbing nuts - which I know are highly caloric unless I eat like 8 or something even worse.

It's only midday and I'm hungry enough to eat all the calories I have left for the day - plus my workout is happening later, which is sure to add to my hunger.

If you are truly hungry, and not just craving, chances are you are under on calories, fat, and/or protein, and/or your timing of meals is off. If you only have a few pounds to lose, you need to set your goal to no more than 0.5 pounds per week, this will give you more calories/food than if you go for 1 or 2 pounds a week. You don't have to snack, but you have to hit your nutritional goals - calories, fat, protein and carbs. It is no wonder if just veggies or fruit don't stop the hunger, they are mostly carbs. Add some fat and protein to them. Eat the nuts, fruit and vegetables together. Instead of dairy, you can build up your meals with oil, eggs, fatty fish or fattier cuts of meat, along with grains and potatoes.

clevelandkat40

Hey, stop saying you're old! I'm "only" 43, but my husband just turned 51, and I'm sure as heck not married to an old man! LOL :-)

I find that especially when I'm eating healthy food, I need to make sure I have frequent snacks. In fact, I set my Outlook calendar at work to remind me to have a snack mid morning and a snack mid afternoon. When I'm at my best, I rarely have that "I'm starving" feeling that causes me to want to eat things I DON'T really want to eat!

I base my snack decisions on what my planned calories are for the rest of the day. If my breakfast is rather light, I'll have a heavier mid-morning snack to tide me over until lunch. If I know dinner's going to be on the later side because I have errands after work, then my mid-afternoon snack will be more substantial. But if I know I'm going out for lunch with colleagues, I might select one of my lighter snacks since I know I love a particular dish at the Mexican place close to our office, and getting a salad instead probably isn't going to happen. :-)

Here are some of my favorites:

• One or two low or no-salt rice cakes with natural peanut butter. Each rice cake, before PB, is only 35 calories. This is an absolute go-to for me.
• Unsalted roasted almonds - 22 nuts is a serving - with fruit. I find I need the combination....fruit alone doesn't do it, but neither do the nuts.
• Hummus and raw veggies (the hummus is nice and filling)
• Hard-boiled eggs, sprinkled with a little bit of sea salt
• An avocado half, also sprinkled with a little bit of sea salt
• Popcorn. I used to think I didn't like it until we started buying locally grown popcorn from our Farmer's Market. My husband cooks it in peanut oil - I know, everyone loves their air popper, but the amount he uses is minimal per serving, and the few extra calories are well worth the flavor.
• Halved cherry tomatoes with a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar and fresh basil. (I'd also add a little feta or fresh mozzarella, but you said dairy bothers you.)
• A serving of those Blue Diamond nut crisp crackers - I love the pecan ones. They feel like such a treat!
• I tend to prefer more savory food (dessert really doesn't make me feel satiated) but I just noticed these Dole banana slices covered with dark chocolate in our freezer at work, and it looks like a serving of four slices was about 100 calories. I don't tend to buy processed food, but this piqued my interest.

Hope that gives you a few ideas!

pvju

Thank you for the ideas everyone!
Maybe I am being too ambitious - I want to lose around 13 lbs - I'm trying to do a calorie count that would have me lose 1 lbs a week, so maybe I need to dial it back to a half pound. I also definitely have a hard time incorporating protein and I'm sure that would be more filling than my usual choices. Thanks again!

Francl27

Well first you need enough protein, fat, and fiber, for your meals.

Then snacks for me are usually fruit plus nuts/nut butter or some yogurt or cheese.

harrybananas

Eat what you crave. It's much easier to sustain a diet that way.

hopeandtheabsurd

Hard to fight that kind of hunger. I would figure out your TDEE then gradually step it down. If you went from TDEE+ to 1200 that might have been too big a decrease.

melonaulait

Recently I've been having gluten free crispbread with peanut butter + jelly or vegetable cream cheese + nutritional yeast. Very satisfying and I can have 3-4 slices for a low calorie count.

As for the fruit snack part, I recommend having more than 1 piece of fruit at one time (2-3 are much more filling!) or you could try a portion of dried fruit. Also while vegetable snacks aren't the most satisfying, you could try making a huge bowl of salad to snack on. Using a combo of lettuce, cucumber, tomato and whatever else very low calorie veggies, you can eat a lot of volume for a snack.

clevelandkat40

harrybananas wrote: »

Eat what you crave. It's much easier to sustain a diet that way.

This. I crave peanut butter, salt and savory creamy things, so I devise snacks that play to my tastes. Then I actually look forward to them! As long as the nutrients and calories balance out at the end of the day, I'm good.

pvju

What is TDEE? And where do you find gluten free crisp bread - I'm also gluten free and that sounds great. I'm thinking I just eat way under the recommended amount of protein and this is the biggest reason behind my hunger. It's really quite a challenge to get 60-70 grams of protein a day - I don't get anywhere close - I'm going to really work on that and see if I'm feeling fuller.

Lounmoun

I prelog my food for the whole day and usually have 100-300 calories for snacks.
You could try hard boiled eggs or combine fruit/celery with peanut butter.
I have things like popcorn, apple, orange, carrots, celery, cheese, pickles, cheese, fruit, trail mix, deviled eggs, peanut butter, granola bar, chocolate, or yogurt.

yaninabb

Smooties (Greek yogurt, water, frozen fruit, splenda) (almond milk, splenda, cinnamon or vanilla +ice or plain Greek yogurt) (just 1 can of peaches in light syrup or Splenda, ice and water, blend, thick consistency it is better)
Frozen fruits (grapes, bananas, pineapple, cherries, blueberries w/wo sugar free or fat free cool whip
Stir fry, low calories BallPark Turkey hot dogs, 45 cals each)
Sugar free jello
Turkey Jerky
Baked apple (diced apple cooked in the microwave, add cinnamon, splenda and cool whip
Crust less pie, made pudding packet(sugar free if possible) cooked w water, add 1 pack of strawberry jello (sugar free), mix well, when it room temperature add fruits
Joseph Lavash (flat-bread) toasted w lemon pepper seasoning

k_nelson_24

- whole pickles
- two flavored rice cakes
- spoonful of PB
- mini box of dry cereal (usually around 100 cals)
- granola bar
- pretzels with mustard
- celery and PB
- animal crackers

I have found that if I have a cup of coffee or lots of water with my snack it makes me feel more full.

Psychgrrl

Depends on what I feel like. I love Quest protein chips (cheddar and sour cream are my fav), or I have a mini protein shake (ice cream consistency) with Quest salted caramel protein powder, unsweetened soy milk and ice. I also like Chef Jay's cookies and frozen fruit (Trader Joe's Very Cherry Blend). Oh! Also Ak-Mak crackers with a little hummus.

k_nelson_24

Oh! I almost forgot my all time favorite- turkey pepperoni! :P

tkphotogirl

It varies a lot. Fruit, hard boiled eggs, crispbread with pumpkin seeds and cream cheese or avocado, cereal bars, small protein bars, a slice of toast with marmite, spoonful of PB, instant porridge pot, small portion of dried apricots... I tend to have smallish main meals and break things up with snacks, and eat five or six times a day. I'm always more hungry in the mornings (probably because I walk the four miles to work before I eat breakfast) and usually have way more than half of the day's calories between 8.45am and 1pm.