Snacking Addict Help!

eclaireya

So I have come to the determination that snacking is my vice. The more sugar or salt, the better. It really hit me this morning though, when I was honest with myself about what I ate yesterday and entered in my food log honestly, and realized that I ate over 700 calories in snacks. Guess how many calories I went over my goal yesterday? 700. I was fine until I ate a piece of pie for a coworker's birthday in the afternoon and then it was all downhill from there. It was like once I made a bad decision, the floodgate opened and I ate and ate. Handful of peanuts here, handful of cereal there and it all added up.

A question for all the other snackaholics....how did you do it/do you do it? Is it having to just view food differently? Or do you have go-to snacks when you need a "fix". I feel like I have fairly successfully changed the way I eat and what I eat for meals and think about things like protein, what's healthy, and what my body needs in terms of nutrients- but it's the dang mindless snacking that gets me.

ForumLurker

It comes down to forming a healthy relationship with food. Not labeling food as "good" or "bad" and preparing for days where there will be celebrations for any occasion. You can't always sulk in a corner every time there's a birthday party and cake and pie is being passed around, you're going to make yourself miserable.

Eat whatever you want, weigh/measure it out, log it, eat it.

I love to snack, but I always sneak to the bathroom (at work) and log it on my phone before I eat it. That way I can look how many calories it is and how many calories I have left over for the day. If I go over my calories, I just do a little more cardio to get my calories in check.

themanda04

i pre-log all of my days in the morning. i add everything that i anticipate snacking on ahead of time, and i'm honest about it. if know i have a bag of cheddar cheese popcorn waiting for me at home, that crap is going to be eaten. so it goes in my log. if that means that after logging my breakfast and my lunch i'm left with 350 cals for dinner...then so be it.

i also don't let myself do the 'handful' thing. just last night i was munching on pistachios while i puttered around the house. i realized what i was doing, and stopped myself. pulled out a bowl, measured out a 1/2 cup of shelled pistachios, and put the bag away. portion control is crucial for me. had i just allowed myself to keep grabbing one or two here, three or four there, i would have easily gone over one serving. having the serving there, in the bowl, i actually left a few behind and didn't overindulge.

mandles82

Snacking is going to be the death of me....
I do fantastic all day long, up through dinner. But once dinner is over I see I have some calories to spend on a sweet....for me, one sweet leads to two, leads to a different sweet....then I'm WAY over my calorie budget for the day. I've done this whole thing before, I love 60+ pounds and was very good about eating only one WW ice cream bar, or the two or three cookies allowed in a serving. This time I can't do it.

ncmedic201

I save calories almost every day for chocolate. I love chocolate.

Gatus98

I, too, suffer from snack addiction. For me it comes in the afternoon when I get home from work. I guess it's one way that I unwind. My snacks dont' have to be "junk", just snacky. LOL. Try to snack on high fiber fruits and veggies. Thinly sliced apples with a tablespoon of peanut or almond butter or a string cheese, carrots with hummus, greek yogurt with berries, boiled egg whites, pop chips, things like that that won't accumulate so many calories. I love peanut butter, so I rely on PB2 a lot, and dip celery and apples into it. I still get carried away, and it's my biggest weakness regarding my diet, but it doesn't do as much damage if the options are on the healthier side.

eclaireya

YES! The snacking after work is me too. Usually when I'm cooking dinner I just eat random crap and don't really even think about it. I guess it's just old habits die hard. I'm pretty good about not buying junk food (because I'll eat it) so I have "mostly" healthy options but my problem is that it's not really hunger driving it- more habit and some boredom.

I also need to try the PB2- I've heard a lot about it and I like having my peanut butter on toast before a work-out...

Thanks everyone!

suziepoo1984

i am an eater, not only snacker..so i can eat the entire day...best suggestion i could give is to log immediately whatever goes into the mouth..This can give you an idea of how much snacking is allowed..Good luck!! i feel your pain:)

nxd10

If I'm going to something like a birthday party, I pick one or two really tasty things I want, and then eat a SMALL helping of each. Then I stop myself from snacking more by eating things like veggies WITHOUT DIP. If I'm going someplace where it's appropriate, I bring a plate of them to share - it's amazing how many other people will gnosh on them too. If I want something salty I will COUNT out the 21 pretzels in a serving and eat those. If there's nothing lo cal to eat, I keep drinking lots of water or sugarless ice tea.

Keep the mouth moving without the calories going in.

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You can also walk away from the food and chat . . . .

muguet21

Ahh totally know what you mean!

Sometimes I go on a raid where I go through everything I have at home until I get satisfied. Even if I don't have chips or cookies or whatever, I'll find some bread and next thing I know I ate three slices with whatever sweet or savory topping I could find. It's usually after a long tiring day at work or school where I didn't really take the time to sit down and eat my lunch properly. Or sometimes it's purely because I don't feel satisfied with the "healthy" stuff I ate during the day.

My only advice to you would be to limit your options at home (ie. get rid of everything threatening or tempting) and carry nuts or something guilt free around so that when you're on the go you have that to eat first. There really isn't a solution besides changing the habit slowly, in my opinion. Sometimes I feel like there's no point in refusing to eat because I get so cranky or hunger obsessed. It's just a matter in trying to rationalise what's going in and logging it immediately (I'm experimenting with leaving myself a few hundred calories only for snacks after planning meals...but it doesn't always go according to plan!). Also, I find that keeping desert-like food for snacks helps me control my cravings. It doesn't seem to work during that time of the month but for regular days it usually works.

Also, I just stumbled across this page before reading your thread. Her website is vegan so it's much better and rewarding than buying a chocolate bar or whatever your craving is.
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2013/07/18/healthy-snack-recipes/

Hope that helps!!

eclaireya

Thanks for the webpage link! All of those treats look fabulous and I love that they're mostly healthy as well!! Thanks!!!

Ahh totally know what you mean!

Sometimes I go on a raid where I go through everything I have at home until I get satisfied. Even if I don't have chips or cookies or whatever, I'll find some bread and next thing I know I ate three slices with whatever sweet or savory topping I could find. It's usually after a long tiring day at work or school where I didn't really take the time to sit down and eat my lunch properly. Or sometimes it's purely because I don't feel satisfied with the "healthy" stuff I ate during the day.

My only advice to you would be to limit your options at home (ie. get rid of everything threatening or tempting) and carry nuts or something guilt free around so that when you're on the go you have that to eat first. There really isn't a solution besides changing the habit slowly, in my opinion. Sometimes I feel like there's no point in refusing to eat because I get so cranky or hunger obsessed. It's just a matter in trying to rationalise what's going in and logging it immediately (I'm experimenting with leaving myself a few hundred calories only for snacks after planning meals...but it doesn't always go according to plan!). Also, I find that keeping desert-like food for snacks helps me control my cravings. It doesn't seem to work during that time of the month but for regular days it usually works.

Also, I just stumbled across this page before reading your thread. Her website is vegan so it's much better and rewarding than buying a chocolate bar or whatever your craving is.
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2013/07/18/healthy-snack-recipes/

Hope that helps!!

muguet21

No problem!! ^^
Her website is gold. You must try the black bean brownies...SO good!!

Hannah_Banana

Intermittent Fasting. Try giving yourself a 4-6 hour window every day for eating instead of being able to snack the whole day. I do it daily - and 1200+ calories is difficult to eat in 4-6 hours if you're eating well (ie not junk).

I only suggest this because sometimes we feel like we just can't escape food. If your snacking is an impulse-control problem, I've found IF to be VERY beneficial. :flowerforyou: