Snacking Is Killing Me
kidrow21
Posts: 67 Member
I do well for the most part on my daily counting of the calories but I've noticed that my snacking is not how I want it to be any suggestions? Would be helpful.
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Replies
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Don't do it. That was the killer for me too! I eat two or three large meals a day and am full until the next meal.13
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If you know you arequire going to snack, plan snacks in your goal? I love olives as a snack bug you could plan popcorn, carrot stocks. ..whatever fits. Just don't have surplus avaliable2
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Try planning and prepping easy and healthy snacks, such as: cottage cheese & an apple, Greek yogurt & blueberries or a pear & string cheese. A little mix of carbs and protein is a good snack combo.2
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I was a heavy really bad snacker (new word alert). When you start learning about calories and nutrition that makes is worst because I really wasn't feeling the healthy snack thing. I started by playing games with myself . . . I would have my snack after doing a small task (sorting mail, putting away the dishes, cleaning out a drawer, etc.) or sometimes I would set a time 15 minutes from now and if I still wanted it I could have it, sometimes I would forget. I also always made sure my snacks were served, weighed or measured and on a plate or in bowl, etc and I had to take the dish back into the kitchen. Sometimes pre-logging the snack can make it not so interesting.
You have to play with ways to trick your mind so to speak.
Best wishes!13 -
Snacking is just a habit. I used to stock up a lot on beef jerky, multi flavor ice creams and my favorite hot cheetos and spicy chips. I really thought I couldn't drop them.
Again, it's just a habit. You just have to learn to drop it. The first few weeks will be hard. It helps if you are not bored with your time or most of the time feel non-hungry, non-craving. Look to vitamin water. I recommend Emergen-C.
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I agree it is only a habit. Since I started using MFP, I almost never snack. Just eat my 4 meals.5
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I keep fresh snack-cut veggies nearby at all times. Celery even has an automatic scoop for hummus or tabbouleh or yogurt dips.1
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gum helps me sometimes.5
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I also used to be a big snacker.
Now I just eat meals. It keeps me satisfied until my next meal.
Also I close the kitchen after dinner. I go for a walk instead of watching TV and snacking.3 -
oh also those flavor water drops sometimes help2
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Thanks everyone all good points., after reading this I also thought about adding more fiber for a snack.3
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I do well for the most part on my daily counting of the calories but I've noticed that my snacking is not how I want it to be any suggestions? Would be helpful.
I eat 5-6 small meals during the day, which do include snacks. It is not sustainable for me to not have snacks. However, my snacks are things left leftover spaghetti squash, yogurt, and other foods that keep my satiated. At night I have either ice cream or homemade popcorn, but I also weigh my foods and log so I am sure to stay in my calorie goals.
However, if snacks are difficult for you to manage, then you need to follow your gut on what your next step is. You can do this!1 -
I save 200-300 calories for evening snacks...I need them more at night than during the day time7
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I plan the snacks into my daily calories. If I DON'T eat them, I'm too low for the day.2
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I wonder what you mean by snacks.. It they are small portions of fattening junk food.. all that will do is make you crave more.
So ditch those kind of snacks and go for healthy snacks that are good ..but not so good.. if you know what I mean.
For example.. i have some bird seed kind of protein bars in the trunk of my car for when I'm desperate for something before or after I work out. I don't crave the things at all. So, I only eat them when I must. If they were super tasty.. they'd be gone.2 -
elisa123gal wrote: »I wonder what you mean by snacks.. It they are small portions of fattening junk food.. all that will do is make you crave more.
So ditch those kind of snacks and go for healthy snacks that are good ..but not so good.. if you know what I mean.
For example.. i have some bird seed kind of protein bars in the trunk of my car for when I'm desperate for something before or after I work out. I don't crave the things at all. So, I only eat them when I must. If they were super tasty.. they'd be gone.
There is no such thing as fattening fooood, there is just food that is more calorie dense than others. Those foods are fine in moderation. I don't understand eating anything that you don't find tasty. 5 -
Log those snacks accurately and you may just be motivated to stop eating them (or at least eat a lot smaller portions).1
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Eat when youre hungry. No matter how small, you should feel satiated after each meal. Change up your snacks. 10 almonds and a large orange is just over 100 calories.2
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Chilli7777 wrote: »Eat when youre hungry. No matter how small, you should feel satiated after each meal. Change up your snacks. 10 almonds and a large orange is just over 100 calories.
1) Most people don't know what hunger actually feels like.
2) When cutting calories a large number of people will not feel satiated after every meal
3)There is no need to change up your snacks
4)You could also have 0.4 of a slice of Dominos Meat Feast pizza for 100 calories. I know what I would prefer.
All of that aside; the best way to control snacking is to pre-log your food for the day including snack.2 -
queenliz99 wrote: »Don't do it. That was the killer for me too! I eat two or three large meals a day and am full until the next meal.
Same. I simply took away snacking also. It was a simple solution in addition to cost cutting. Snacks have gotten expensive! If I snack between meals I only add calories to my day because my meal size doesn't get smaller. Plus it stimulates my appetite and craving for more when I snack.6 -
All have some good info and points., If anyone wants to take a look at my log and give me some pointers from there. Would be great.1
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I agree that snacking is a habit and (for me) it stems from boredom. My snack danger time is after work just before dinner...so I've taken to just going ahead and eating dinner when I get home. Plus I don't buy them if I can keep from it...lol...I do love me some Doritos
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Meal plan! On Saturdays I write out each meal throughout the day including snacks and only purchase foods on that week's plan. My snacks included yogurt, ham & cheese roll up, veggies. Snacks don't have to be unhealthy.1
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Meal plan! On Saturdays I write out each meal throughout the day including snacks and only purchase foods on that week's plan. My snacks included yogurt, ham & cheese roll up, veggies. Snacks don't have to be unhealthy.
If that works for you, more power to you!
But know that a healthy weight loss plan CAN include what you would most likely consider 'unhealthy' snacks - you just have to plan for them in your overall daily calorie 'budget.'
Eliminating snack foods that are a trigger (like opening a bag of chips and then hoovering the whole thing) is a strategy that can work for some. But for others, limiting these items - instead of eliminating them - can be a better means to compliance because a feeling of being deprived of these items can lead a lot of people to binge eating the very things they're trying to avoid.
Different strokes and all... 3 -
queenliz99 wrote: »Don't do it. That was the killer for me too! I eat two or three large meals a day and am full until the next meal.
^^^ this. I make sure each 'meal' I have is big enough to keep me going, and know that I won't die if I am hungry shortly before my next planned meal so don't feel a need to snack.
I do sometimes want something sweet after a meal - so at lunch this may be a piece of fruit, at dinner some peppermint tea or occasionally a cognac does the trick.
not snacking helps me stick better to my calorie goals, whereas snacking and having less at main meals made me still hungry for more food.1 -
elisa123gal wrote: »I wonder what you mean by snacks.. It they are small portions of fattening junk food.. all that will do is make you crave more.
So ditch those kind of snacks and go for healthy snacks that are good ..but not so good.. if you know what I mean.
For example.. i have some bird seed kind of protein bars in the trunk of my car for when I'm desperate for something before or after I work out. I don't crave the things at all. So, I only eat them when I must. If they were super tasty.. they'd be gone.
There is no such thing as fattening fooood, there is just food that is more calorie dense than others. Those foods are fine in moderation. I don't understand eating anything that you don't find tasty.
That is absolutely fine that you were able to get to goal and are able to eat this way. You might have a bigger deficit, perhaps, or other reasons that will allow for this . It is great when your method works.
I can eat most foods in moderation but have to stay away from the particular ones that have been problematic for me. Those tend to be salty, oily carbs or sweet, fatty carbs. I think that is why LCHF works for me for blunting hunger. Potato chips, ice cream, sugary cookies, chocolate things tend to make me hungrier and want more soon after even though I've had enough calories.
Foods that trigger an individual to want to overeat can be considered by them as "fattening". It is a figure of speech. Some people, as your are aware, are able to keep "fattening" foods like cookies or ice cream around and have only a little bit. Others are tempted just knowing that they are in the house. Calorie-dense snacks are fine in moderation if they can be consumed in moderation, obviously. But that is up to the individual dieter's discretion not anyone else's.
I think that having food around that I just want to eat to be healthy is a reasonable way to avoid unnecessary calories-- "Eat to live not live to eat" motto. I'm much less likely to overeat on carrots or green beans than I would on Cheetos or chocolate. So I eat Cheetos maybe twice a year and have dark chocolate every so often. I can eat a little square or two and stop. I do not feel sorry for myself and don't miss the classic what people refer to as "fattening" snacks when they are not in my cupboard. I agree that people need to define what they mean by the word snack.2 -
queenliz99 wrote: »Don't do it. That was the killer for me too! I eat two or three large meals a day and am full until the next meal.
This is the same for me--I just enjoy more saving calories for meal.
If you like snacking, though, OP, budget them in and then experiment with things that have the calories you've budgeted. If the issue is grazing and overeating, though, you might want to focus on only eating at planned times for a while.
(I realized that I don't really enjoy snacking. I enjoy meals. Snacking was mostly mindless or emotional or boredom.)4
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