Strong and Weakness

I am strong during the day keeping on track ... Sometimes in the Evening is when I am weak with the snacking .. so I been drinking Peppermint tea and it helps!! What are some ideas you can give that you do to help you

Replies

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 11,734 Member
    Pre-plan your meals for the day, rather than logging after the fact. This way you can plan to include space for snacking, and then control when in the day you eat it.

    Pre-portion out snacks into sandwich bags. Rather than grabbing a bag of chips and just going at it, take the time to portion out a large bag of chips into multiple small sandwich bags, each one serving size. Then when it's time to snack, just grab a bag and enjoy until the bag is gone...no going back for a second bag!

    When snacking from your pre-measured bag, don't just grab a handful all at once. Take it slow, eating one chip at a time, savoring the taste, swallowing, and only then reaching for the next.

    Ask yourself what about snacking is drawing you back to it again and again.
    • Are you actually hungry? Fiber and protein are great at creating feelings of fullness, so either increase amounts of vegetables at dinner (high fiber) or choose a snack with fiber and protein, such as an apple with peanut butter.
    • Do you crave sweets? Choose fruit (natural sugar), or swap your milk chocolate bar for a smaller amount of dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate.
    • Do you like the crunch of chips? Choose something crunchy that's better for you...I personally love slicing red peppers into small strips and munching on them, giving vitamins and fiber along with taste and crunch.
    • Is it just a habit with mindless eating, or you're bored? Try sipping water or having unflavored popcorn.
  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
    Plain/unsweetened hot tea is a great way to curb snacking. You can't chug hot drinks (well, it's inadvisable), so it takes time to finish, and it's basically negligible calories if you don't put anything in it.

    +1 for prepping snacks - I will also add that it is 100% valid to buy ten 1-oz bags of chips rather than one 10-oz bag of chips if you don't have time/discipline to portion the big bag out yourself.

    I bring my lunch to work every day. In addition to the entree I've meal-prepped, I usually have a side of fruit, possibly with yogurt or cottage cheese. I also bring a granola bar that stays in my lunchbox in the office fridge until lunchtime, at which point it gets moved into my desk drawer for later. I don't eat my entire lunch all at once - rather, I know I get snacky and start gravitating toward the vending machine around 3 PM, so I just...bring a snack from home to eat at 3 PM and account for it in my diary.
  • UberAya
    UberAya Posts: 94 Member
    Oh evenings are the worst for me as well. I tend to forget to eat/drink water during the day...and then I'm STARVING at night. Let's see...some of the changes I've made to keep on track...

    For hydration - got a water bottle with the times of the day printed down the side, and keep it at an obvious place on my desk. I still don't do great.

    For food management:
    1. I plan my meals out first thing every morning. I preload most of the day...immediately hit up breakfast, and schedule lunch on my work calendar to make sure I get my butt upstairs and eat lunch. Dinner is usually preplanned around the kids, so I've really only got maybe 150 to 250 calories left for snacking in the evening. (I never rob myself of evening snacks entirely.) But the fact that I've stayed consistent on eating/snacks during the day keeps me satiated.
    2. I try to maintain at least 20% of my calories from protein, usually in the morning/lunch. Again, with the focus on keeping up on habits that satiate me so I'm not prone to binge at night.
    3. I started weighing every single morning - I find that keeps my eating habits at the front of my mind. Just knowing that eating a huge meal or tons of sodium (which my snack of choice tends to be salty) in the evening will throw my metrics off in the morning is a pretty solid deterrent from going crazy at night.
    4. I make sure to work out most work days...something mentally with me where if I binge at night if feels like I've "wasted" that days workout. (I don't love working out lol)
    5. I realized that I snack when I'm bored...so I subscribed to Marvel Infinite and DC Unlimited and read comics instead (don't judge). I picked comics because Audible wasn't working. Reading novels and what not felt like work...so I needed something fun and low commitment.

    Hope that gives some inspiration.