Snacks

SoleTrainer60

How does everyone keep control when snacking. I have healthy snacks available ,but alway want to go for the unhealthy ones. Any suggestions would be appreciated. 😔

Love_2_Hike

I don't snack. I divide my daily calories into 3-5 meals. At the moment I'm on 1200 calories. So I have 4 x 300cal meals.
1) High protein yoghurt, fruit, granola, coffee.
2) Large chopped Salad with protein & Veggie soup
3) Cheese, crackers, olives, dip, fruit, veggie sticks
4) Protein and veggies.

But how would you stop? Dont buy them in the first place. Dont put them in the grocery trolley. Avoid those isles.

Sheffboy_1

Bought some pepitas which are basically pumpkin seeds from Walmart and they are like 9-12gs of protein and they are pretty tasty

Hollis100

SoleTrainer60 wrote: »

How does everyone keep control when snacking. I have healthy snacks available ,but alway want to go for the unhealthy ones. Any suggestions would be appreciated. 😔

I don't keep containers of food sitting around in front of me.
I also agree with Love_2_Hike. I don't buy food I can't stop eating.
Buy one treat in a small amount, so when it's gone, that's it.

I do buy food I enjoy eating that's also healthy. For example, I like lightly salted almonds. 28 almonds = 170 calories and 6 grams of protein. I add them to plain Greek yogurt or eat them with fruit -- however, I don't leave the container sitting in front of me for hours.

Remind yourself of your goals. Take a walk. Dance, listen to music, do something not related to food.

Livhere

I try not to snack if I can help it, but if I do I usually have something with low calories or 0 calories like pickles, popcorn, cucumbers, hummus & veggies, or just something that won't waste all my calories, so I can eat something for dinner. I suggest drinking at least half a glass of water before your meal so you feel full faster, but you also won't eat as much doing this, so you can still have something for later without going over your calories.

BarbaraHelen2013

Livhere wrote: »

I try not to snack if I can help it, but if I do I usually have something with low calories or 0 calories like pickles, popcorn, cucumbers, hummus & veggies, or just something that won't waste all my calories, so I can eat something for dinner. I suggest drinking at least half a glass of water before your meal so you feel full faster, but you also won't eat as much doing this, so you can still have something for later without going over your calories.

Are you suggesting a glass of water as a snack? It’s the only thing you’ve mentioned that has 0 calories!

I’d also dispute that houmus could be considered low calorie... it’s all too easy to dip yourself all the way to several hundred extra calories. Houmus is one of those things that need to be weighed carefully in my opinion!

Livhere

BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »

Livhere wrote: »

I try not to snack if I can help it, but if I do I usually have something with low calories or 0 calories like pickles, popcorn, cucumbers, hummus & veggies, or just something that won't waste all my calories, so I can eat something for dinner. I suggest drinking at least half a glass of water before your meal so you feel full faster, but you also won't eat as much doing this, so you can still have something for later without going over your calories.

Are you suggesting a glass of water as a snack? It’s the only thing you’ve mentioned that has 0 calories!

I’d also dispute that houmus could be considered low calorie... it’s all too easy to dip yourself all the way to several hundred extra calories. Houmus is one of those things that need to be weighed carefully in my opinion!

No, I'm suggesting having water before your meal so you feel full & don't eat as much. And pickles are 0 calories just high in sodium. I follow the serving suggestions on meals so unless you just eat out of the container there's no need to weigh it imo. 2 tablespoons is the suggested amount on most hummus containers.

BarbaraHelen2013

Ahh ok, you’re counting pickles as 0 calories. Now I’m less confused but I don’t agree. Pickles have calories in just the same way as their non pickled versions do! If I chose to pickle a chocolate cake and you chose to eat it it would not have magically lost its calories. 😉

There is absolutely no food that has zero calories.

Livhere

Im not home rn so I can't take a picture. But if you follow the serving suggestions on pickles it comes out to 0 calories. I want to say it's 2/3, but I'm honestly not sure on it. I eat vlasic. It's still really low if you don't do the recommended suggestions. I think they're like 7 calories per slice which is honestly practically nothing to really count imo. The popcorn I get is 100 calories I think & I think hummus is 80 calories. I know the broccoli I get is 30. But I'm not too sure on the other stuff I brought up.

neugebauer52

SoleTrainer60 wrote: »

How does everyone keep control when snacking. I have healthy snacks available ,but alway want to go for the unhealthy ones. Any suggestions would be appreciated. 😔

Seriously - do you live in a shopping centre? Those not so healthy food items which MFP warns us about never get into our shopping basket, I never carry home, (I am lucky I can walk to our shops), they never see our house from the inside, we never keep them in our cupboards / fridges / freezers. We just replace them with healthier options and make sure that they fit within the MFP calorie calculation. CICO.

Livhere

BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »

Ahh ok, you’re counting pickles as 0 calories. Now I’m less confused but I don’t agree. Pickles have calories in just the same way as their non pickled versions do! If I chose to pickle a chocolate cake and you chose to eat it it would not have magically lost its calories. 😉

There is absolutely no food that has zero calories.

Here are those pictures from those foods in my fridge. The popcorn was more calories than I originally thought it was & the hummus was less calories, but you can see the pickles say 0 for a 2/3 spear.

SoleTrainer60

Thanks everyone for your ideas. Some have more willpower than others, and this is a struggle for me. I need to work on making healthier snack choices when shopping. Do some of you never ever eat foods that are unhealthy. If so, you must have amazing willpower.

kimny72

SoleTrainer60 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your ideas. Some have more willpower than others, and this is a struggle for me. I need to work on making healthier snack choices when shopping. Do some of you never ever eat foods that are unhealthy. If so, you must have amazing willpower.

I get plenty of nutritious food in my meals. I eat cookies, popcorn, ice cream, etc for snacks. I prelog my day to make sure I have the calories for them. I don't eat them out of the package, I weigh out a portion and then eat it elsewhere so I can't "accidentally" eat too much.

And sometimes i skip the snack because im planning on having pizza for dinner.

This worked for me when I was losing, and still works for me now that I'm in maintenance.

Hollis100

SoleTrainer60 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your ideas. Some have more willpower than others, and this is a struggle for me. I need to work on making healthier snack choices when shopping. Do some of you never ever eat foods that are unhealthy. If so, you must have amazing willpower.

People on MFP have written thousands of words about this topic. There are different opinions and different approaches. Some people eat sweets, etc. in moderation, other people stay away.

I tend to stay away because I have hypertension/high blood pressure and don't want to go on medicine again. For me, if I rarely eat sweets and other "unhealthy" snacks, I lose interest in them -- which answers your question.

I had a small dish of ice cream at a birthday party this month, enjoyed it, and didn't want more. I don't want to regularly eat ice cream. I would rather have something else with better nutrition. Other people feel differently and want to include those foods as part of the enjoyment of life. Only you can decide what works for you.

Livhere

SoleTrainer60 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your ideas. Some have more willpower than others, and this is a struggle for me. I need to work on making healthier snack choices when shopping. Do some of you never ever eat foods that are unhealthy. If so, you must have amazing willpower.

It takes time to get to that point of not eating junk food like the way you used to anymore. You will get there eventually! I'm guilty of eating unhealthy sometimes. I try to do my best to restrain myself from eating more than I should with junk food & sometimes I still eat more than I should, but I try to do better the next day. Point is you should just do your best. It's not going to be easy, but you can do it!

You could also try switching to dried fruit. They're really sweet with natural sugars. They're not a cupcake, but they are a healthier choice. Try to figure out how many calories you need in a day for your age to meet the goal you want & then you can start counting your calories with a food journal, so you know what it is. And as above said it works differently for everyone. I say people can still eat the things you like, but in moderation, but that is just my take on it and I know some people with disagree with me on that.

This week I had 2 slices of pizza I got to enjoy, but I knew how many calories were in them & I knew I had enough calories in the day left for me to have those slices. I didn't regret it & I was still able to stay on my goal. Just be careful not to get obsessed over the calorie numbers, if it's over by a little then that's ok.

You should also talk to your doctor about seeing a nutritionist. They can give you a lot of information on healthier eating options & answer any questions you have with your diet. Good luck!