Are you a "Snacker? Does it affect your weight loss?

KelGen02

cartersmom06 wrote: »

Sorry...I guess I should be a bit clearer on the definition of a snacker (imo) is someone who eats 4-6 meals a day instead of 3

I guess that would be me then... I eat every couple hours throughout the day. I have been eating this way since 11/28/16 and have lost 40.2lbs and lost several inches off my body. For me the the "grazing" was something I did as I was that person who didn't eat breakfast, my first meal would be lunch and by then I was ravenous ate all the wrong things then was too full to eat dinner most nights til 8pm. Now my typical day looks like:

Breakfast- Oatmeal with dried fruit/nuts or Greek yogurt with protein powder mixed with fresh fruit or trail mix, poached eggs w/turkey bacon and multigrain bread.
mid morning- handful of raw almonds/walnuts
Lunch - Tuna on flaxseed wrap with a side of raw veggies & hummus or a bowl of homemade ground turkey veggie bean soup with a side of raw veggies and hummus / grilled chicken salad or the night before left over dinner.
Afternoon snack- rice cake with almond butter & banana
Dinner - Chicken/shrimp stir fry or Baked fish w/roasted veggies, or veggie omelet, homemade pizza, steak bowls with brown rice, avacado, black beans
Night Snack- I make a dark chocolate protein balls out of rolled oats, dark Chocolate, almond butter and cinnamon or sometime we have a 100 calorie fudge bar. I also drink 128oz of water through out the day.

I NET, on average aprox 1300 calories after exercise, at least that is what my fitbit tells me. I think I enjoy being a "grazer" because I truly am never hungry so the mindset of hungry has now turned into fuel for the body. May sound weird but its been working for me thus far.

Of course I know nothing about Thyroid and what you should and shouldn't do, I would definitely talk to your dr/nutritionist before starting anything. Good luck!

happysherri

I get hungry in between meals so I plan my day for that. Today my morning snack was baked chips and my afternoon snack was frozen grapes. My snacks change depending on my cravings, my grocery store haul and if I'm working out that day. I weigh everything at home and portion them out before I leave for work in the mornings.

inertiastrength

I'm a big snacker so I skip breakfast (not ever hungry in the am) and have a tiny lunch. The bulk of my calories are eaten post-6pm

mom23mangos

cartersmom06 wrote: »

I'm not that active and I find I snack out of boredom. Once I start snacking, I can't stop!

Me too! I don't snack because I'm hungry. I snack because either 1)I'm bored - at work, it keeps me awake or 2)It's become a reward. Totally psychological. When my children were young I was always very careful to eat healthy around them and would only 'reward' myself with junk food/snacks during those brief respites that I was alone and could sit down with a good book and relax. Now, anytime I find myself alone and time on my hands I just want to read or watch a movie and mindlessly munch.

I try now to pick slightly better snacks. Fruit, veggies with yogurt dip, Halo Top ice cream, etc. But it really does add up. I'm able to maintain at a decent weight doing this, but in order to lean out I would need to limit my snacks. By only eating planned meals I was able to drop to about 15%BF last summer. I'm hanging out now around 18-20%.

ivygirl1937

fascha wrote: »

I'm a big snacker so I skip breakfast (not ever hungry in the am) and have a tiny lunch. The bulk of my calories are eaten post-6pm

I'm usually this way too or at least I have been for the past few months but then I tended to make bad decisions in the evening because "I have so many calories left!" or because I was starving.

Now I do something similar - I still do a really light breakfast late in the morning (not until 10 or 11 at the earliest) of some cottage cheese or Skyr, then a decent lunch somewhere between 1 and 3 depending on when I have time, then normal dinner around 6:30-8 or so and a nighttime snack around 8-11 and it seems to work pretty well for me. I do bring an extra light snack to work in case I need something to get me from lunch to dinner if there is a long span of time between them but if I have a decent enough lunch, I find I often don't need it. After dinner is my prime snack time and I thoroughly enjoy it because I make sure to leave the calories for it so I don't have to feel guilty about having some popcorn or some chocolate after dinner.

Before that I tried doing the lots of little meals thing and that didn't work for me at all, I was always a little hungry and wanting another snack, I need that full feeling from eating a decent meal.

BonnieDundee78

About 20-25% of my calories every day are reserved for snacks. Usually something mid afternoon, and then some tasty things to nibble in the evening.

inertiastrength

ivygirl1937 wrote: »

fascha wrote: »

I'm a big snacker so I skip breakfast (not ever hungry in the am) and have a tiny lunch. The bulk of my calories are eaten post-6pm

I'm usually this way too or at least I have been for the past few months but then I tended to make bad decisions in the evening because "I have so many calories left!" or because I was starving.

Now I do something similar - I still do a really light breakfast late in the morning (not until 10 or 11 at the earliest) of some cottage cheese or Skyr, then a decent lunch somewhere between 1 and 3 depending on when I have time, then normal dinner around 6:30-8 or so and a nighttime snack around 8-11 and it seems to work pretty well for me. I do bring an extra light snack to work in case I need something to get me from lunch to dinner if there is a long span of time between them but if I have a decent enough lunch, I find I often don't need it. After dinner is my prime snack time and I thoroughly enjoy it because I make sure to leave the calories for it so I don't have to feel guilty about having some popcorn or some chocolate after dinner.

Before that I tried doing the lots of little meals thing and that didn't work for me at all, I was always a little hungry and wanting another snack, I need that full feeling from eating a decent meal.

I pre-log so that in the evening I get home and I know all the things I'm going to "snack" on. I literally have a protein bar at lunch and the rest I eat at night. I find pre-logging helps

kommodevaran

I have been a halfstarver/binger/grazer for long periods while gaining weight. I gained weight because I ate too much, though, not because of the meal schedule (or lack thereof). But a good meal structure makes eating well so much easier. It creates a framework for good eating habits and a mindset that support those habits:

• Eating meals and only at meals makes eating a mindful and meaningful activity.
• There is a time to eat, but most of the time, it's not a time to eat. It's time to do and think about other meaningful things. You eat for fuel and for pleasure, but not to pass time or to soothe emotions.
• Fewer eating occasions decreases number of decisions to make. Decision fatigue is a thing. Making decisions depletes willpower. Using willpower to resist temptation is risky. Having to rely on willpower to resist food, a basic need, in an environment that is overabundant in cheap, tasty food... is a recipe for failure.
• Because easy, quick calories are too easy and quick to obtain and overeat, it's so easy to gain weight, because the feeling of fullness never comes, because it doesn't nourish. Being malnourished makes you crave quick, easy calories and simple, strong flavors.
• Getting the right kind and degree of hungry makes you hungry for real, nutritious food. You will get picky, but in a good way: Almost any good meal/food will be appetizing.
• Getting in a habit of eating real, nutritious food, makes you well nourished and you'll want real, nutritious food because that makes you feel good. When you are well nourished, you can easily wait a few hours without panicking. Hunger will come in the form of a gentle reminder to eat, not a screaming desire that needs to be met now. Over time, a good eating pattern makes you relax and trust that you will be fed regularly and well. This is a state of mind where compulsion to overeat has no place.
• Having just a few meals per day will make you appreciate them more. You're more likely to make an effort to compose good, balanced meals, and you'll look forward to them - to sit down, enjoy, pay attention, and afterwards feel that you've eaten - and when you have something nice to look forward to, and you never get ravenous, and you already have a mindset that says that you are a person who eats only when it's time/appetite for a meal, it's easier to wait; in fact, not doing so would just feel not right.

Losing and maintaining weight takes an effort. But you can make that effort easier, and eating regular meals is one strategy that I find very effective.

I personally find the reasoning of the book "bad science", but it does sell books. "Just don't eat all the time, you greedy pig" doesn't really make you want to make a purchase

ivygirl1937

fascha wrote: »

ivygirl1937 wrote: »

fascha wrote: »

I'm a big snacker so I skip breakfast (not ever hungry in the am) and have a tiny lunch. The bulk of my calories are eaten post-6pm

I'm usually this way too or at least I have been for the past few months but then I tended to make bad decisions in the evening because "I have so many calories left!" or because I was starving.

Now I do something similar - I still do a really light breakfast late in the morning (not until 10 or 11 at the earliest) of some cottage cheese or Skyr, then a decent lunch somewhere between 1 and 3 depending on when I have time, then normal dinner around 6:30-8 or so and a nighttime snack around 8-11 and it seems to work pretty well for me. I do bring an extra light snack to work in case I need something to get me from lunch to dinner if there is a long span of time between them but if I have a decent enough lunch, I find I often don't need it. After dinner is my prime snack time and I thoroughly enjoy it because I make sure to leave the calories for it so I don't have to feel guilty about having some popcorn or some chocolate after dinner.

Before that I tried doing the lots of little meals thing and that didn't work for me at all, I was always a little hungry and wanting another snack, I need that full feeling from eating a decent meal.

I pre-log so that in the evening I get home and I know all the things I'm going to "snack" on. I literally have a protein bar at lunch and the rest I eat at night. I find pre-logging helps

Wow - that's awesome that you stick to it, you are much more disciplined than I am - I do pre-log as well but then if I am too hungry then it all goes out the window for me and I eat all the things. Or if I'm not in the mood for what I pre-logged, I'll change it but then it doesn't necessarily hit my goals the same way as what I originally logged does. I'm still working on that, among other things.

cartersmom06

It just goes to show you that everyone is different! I guess we just have to find what works for us as individuals and not fall into all the scientific mumbo jumbo!

lulalacroix

I have been working on relearning and eating according to my hunger cues.

That being said, I eat when hungry and the amount I eat depends upon how hungry I am. I also am not able to eat a lot of food at one time. So my meals tend to be small and sometimes my snacks are large. It's almost impossible to even differentiate between what is a meal or a snack.

All I know for sure is that how I am eating is working for me.

JacquiH73

I have to eat at least 5 times a day, otherwise I feel very sluggish between meals. I don't believe it affects my weight loss at all as long as all my snacks and meals stay within my calorie deficit.

VintageFeline

Just had to come here to say, after seeing the title of this thread about a million times today, I constantly see it as Snicker. And now I want a Snicker.

Edit. If I want the Snicker, I make it fit in my calories, just like I already do with a daily treat or two.

Lucy1752

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