Mindless Snacking
BonnieSheridan1
Posts: 1 Member
Who has success stories for mastering not mindlessly snacking? What did you do, how did you overcome it?
I’m a busy full-time working mom, and wife, constantly balancing it all. I know I mindlessly snack as stress eating, avoiding a task, etc.
I’m a busy full-time working mom, and wife, constantly balancing it all. I know I mindlessly snack as stress eating, avoiding a task, etc.
1
Replies
-
I find logging my meals and snacks at the beginning of the day helps keep me on track. I work overnights in a grocery store. I used to eat a whole package of cookies or 1/2 box of crackers or chips. I try to always have some popcorn to snack on if the munchies hit3
-
I find that whole foods solved that problem for me. I'm basically keto and do it because of my problem with sugar but have no problem eating just 1 apple and never want to eat another one to satisfy my desire for sugar, not the case for 1 oreo cookie. There's a lot more to binge eating disorders but whole foods helps me, your results may differ.5
-
Addressing hunger head on. If I'm digging for a snack, I've worked on stopping and checking in to see if I want a full meal. I'm also noticing I snack a lot in the early afternoon/evening so I'm trying to make sure I eat something really filling that's going to stick around at the beginning of the after work/after school hullabaloo.3
-
I put it all on a plate and sit down and make a "thing" of eating. No distractions. This takes away the mindless aspect. Makes me enjoy the food more, and remember what I've eaten.
When I'm reaching for something, I get it out, plate it and leave it for a while... usually 10 minutes or so. If I come back for it, then I eat it because I'm probably hungry rather than bored. Otherwise I put it away and leave it for later.
7 -
@ToffeeApple7, that is an excellent suggestion. Since entering maintenance a couple of months ago, my, unplanned, mindless snacking has been getting out of hand. And too much of it has been unhealthy, carby junk that sets off cravings. Going to give your method a try for the next couple of weeks to see if it helps. Thanks.1
-
I log it. Every bite, as accurately as possible. Seeing how the calories add up throughout a day makes me think twice the next time to see if it is really worth it.6
-
I started earing at least 30 g of protein for breakfast and I bought snacks for me that are good like nuts, hummus with carrots, snap peas, bell peppers and fruits.
2 -
If I have 1 square of chocolate or one bite or taste of something I log it. If I am at my calorie limit. No dinner. The snacks have taken its place.
My office always has snacks and food available for staff- we have a very large canteen area .. (work about 60hr weeks minimum on chaos schedule.) My assistants are always eating snacks. I had to decide it wasn’t worth it.
I have tea or seltzer instead. Decide the snack isn’t worth it if it’s bothering you. For me - I had to decide I had the power of control over food.
4 -
Things that are a problem just don't buy.7
-
Some strategies to try. Don't buy problematic snack foods--hard to eat them if they aren't in the house. Don't buy snack foods in multi-serving bags or boxes that tempt once opened. Try buying snack items in smaller, pre-packaged portions, so you can tell when you've had a reasonable serving. Keep a variety of less caloric snack items available--cut up veggies, fresh fruit, mandarins, plums, apricots, or small apples. Personally, I do best when I "diet" in the grocery store and don't bring snacks home at all, or buy single serving portions, so I can easily pay attention to the quantity eaten. Plan a reasonable snack and enjoy it, then go on with your day.5
-
Planning snacks into my day works helps me. Three meals and three snacks, so that I have eating time and non-eating time. I find the structure helps me think about food less. Otherwise my day can turn into a snackathon.
I've pretty much worked out which snacks keep me satiated until my next main meal. Fruit is my friend. On the days that I am extra hungry for whatever reason, I will allow an extra snack - I try to check if it's real hunger though, not just tiredness or boredom or stress etc.
The other big thing for me is simply reminding myself how much more I will enjoy my main meals if I'm not filled up on snacks. It really does make quite a difference for me.3 -
I'm not saying I have over come it but this is what I am doing now.
I keep a small notebook in my pocket with a small pen. The minute I go to grab some food (specifically candy) I write it down.
One day I wrote down 17 different entries that were related to mindless grazing/eating.
So I have since purchased a doorknob lock that allows me to temporarially lock the pantry and refrigerator. I have access to the fridge and pantry keys. But it's that forced "pause" that is really helping.
I only keep the locks on during the day when my child and husband are away for the day and take them off when they come home. Crazy? maybe but I have diagnosed ADHD and have been struggling with emotional and impulsive eating for a while now. So since I have a brain like a ferrari with bicycle breaks. I need to install some external breaks.6 -
Stop eating calorie dense refined carbohydrates aka junk ultra processed foods.
Have an apple. 2 -
I swapped mindless snacking with intentional snacking. I plan snacks into my day. I look forward to snack time during the afternoons at work and it's planned so I'm much more likely to stay within my calorie goals. 3
-
neanderthin wrote: »Stop eating calorie dense refined carbohydrates aka junk ultra processed foods. Have an apple.
An apple? How dare you. We all know apples are really just little sugar bombs trying to give you diabetes.3 -
This is a tangential answer, and skews toward the "tough love" direction: My way of going about creating change in my life is to focus on what about the situation I can control, or at least influence.
When it comes to eating, I figure what I put in my mouth, chew and swallow is 100% in my control. I can make decisions about it. If I let those positive decisions go, that's a choice.
There's a lot more to managing weight than that - experimenting, finding filling foods and timing, practicing new habits, revising the plan when something isn't working, and more. But that's the core, to me: Committing to a decision to control what I can.
If I want to manage my weight, I have to take responsibility for my choices. If I don't do that, I didn't actually mean it when I said I wanted to manage my weight. I wanted the food in the moment more. If I routinely do that, I've proven to myself that I'm willing to give up my long term better health and quality of life in favor of the immediate pleasure.
This may sound harsh, but I'll point out that I did that last thing - preferring immediate pleasure over long-term benefits - for decades myself. It's kind of human nature.9 -
If I can see it, I'll probably eat it. If I can't see it, I have to choose to eat it.3
-
tmoneyag99 wrote: ». So since I have a brain like a ferrari with bicycle brakes. I need to install some external breaks.
This resonated with me. Thanks for that description and for the "Locks" story.
I think compulsion is a big problem for a lot of us. Bicycle brakes on a Ferrari would explain it!!
1 -
I'm going to start by saying--it's hard. You'll have good and bad days controlling it. I know I did.
It sounds like your mindless eating is due to stress. I could be wrong though.- Schedule time for you to destress. Even if it is 30 minutes listening to music or an ebook while you slowly drive to the grocery store alone. Thirty minutes where you don't worry about picking kids up or the grocery list, or Aunt Helen's wedding--will really help you in the long run. It lowers that stress.
- I know it isn't always possible, but try to make sure you get 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep every night. If you just can't do it, try to add in two 15 minute power naps during the day. Poor sleep makes you tired. When you are tried, your body tells you to eat--especially carbs/sugar because you need quick energy. Sleep helps.
- Make sure you are taking a multivitamin every day. If you are missing vital vitamins in your diet, your body will demand you eat to try to get them.
- Do you have trigger foods? Things you absolutely can't stop eating? Try either not having the in the house or only having them in tiny portions to help control how much of them you eat.
- Do you have any low-calorie, HIGH VOLUME snacks? Some people just have trouble feeling full. A low-calorie, high-volume snack allows a person to eat a larger amount at a low-calorie point. It tricks the body into finally feeling full.
- Try delayed gratification. Ask yourself "Do I really want this? If you aren't sure, tell yourself you can have it in 2 hours if you still want it or you can have it tomorrow. A lot of times you lose interest and don't eat it later. This works best on things like second portions or special treats.
- Try having a hard cut off for snacking in the house...such as no stacks after 8PM. It has to be the whole house though--it's hard to watch your significant other finish off ice cream at 10 PM while you watch. Most little kids are in bed by 8 PM on school nights. Older kids--you can adjust as needed. Maybe just healthy snacks after 8?
- If you just can't stop snack endless, then switch the snacks out with berries, grapes, carrot sticks, air popped popcorn--things that are lower calorie.
- Make sure you get enough fiber and protein. If you don't have enough of those two items, your hunger may not turn off.
- Try to replace the need to stack with another activity. Keep your hands busy. Play a video game. Knit. Go for a walk. Call a friend. Find something else to do that keeps you physically active or keeps your hands busy.
- DELEGATE. Find ways to lower the workload. Ask for help from your spouse, friends, and family. Yeah, that sucks, but if stress is eating you then find ways to offload some of the work. For example, create a click list for groceries. You just pick them up, no shopping is required. And family or spouse can pick them up. No impulse buying. See if you can get your kids in a ride-share for after-school activities or school pick-up. Other parents may be willing to share pick-up duties to lower all of your stress. Any kid over 10 can learn to do their own laundry once a week. Cook a few bigger meals and freeze them in smaller portions so you can skip cooking some nights. Let the kids dress themselves and get themselves up using their alarm. Teens not ready when it's time to get on the bus? Go in your PJs. Most will only do that once. Trade-off cooking or cleaning with the spouse. Every one does part of the work. Everyone does part of the planning. It may require you to let them mess up a few times. In the long run, everyone will gain new skills.
- Set up something like Sweepy (free cleaning app). You set the time when things need to be done (every day, once a week, once very six months). You can make a room list and assign it to a specific person on a shared family tablet. This way the app reminds the kids and hubby--NOT you. You are not the bad guy. Keeps the house fairly clean and it's automated reminders.
- Say no more. Don't host dinners. Don't make 40 cupcakes for school. Sometimes to save everyone--you have to put you first. Lower the stress.
If the mindless snacking or endless hunger persists, you may want to check with a doctor or therapist. Sometimes binge snacking can be a symptom of untreated ADHD, minor depression, or stress. Sometimes fixing the crisis under the skin can impact the need to snack.
For me, a lot it was stress, boredom, and untreated ADHD altogether.
Good Luck!
1 -
I haven't given up snacks, but I plan for them. Portion control is key. Read the nutrition label, and measure/weigh out 1 single portion. Put that single portion on a plate, or in a container, and eat just that amount.
If you're bored, find something to do.
If you're stressed, try taking a quick walk just to get away from your desk.
If you're at home, take 10-15 minutes for yourself, sometimes a quick workout will help to relieve stress. Youtube videos are a great resource if can't find time to get to the gym. Take your kids for a walk, play active games with them.3 -
I mostly make snacks harder to get. The things I have to snack on still have to be "assembled" in some way. I make sure there isn't anything I can just swipe a handful of. If I have cheese and crackers, I have to get out the cheese and slice it. I buy all of my produce already prepped, so I don't have that step. But I can't stand the taste of any vegetable plain, so I have to figure out a dip/marinade/topping of some kind to flavor things up. Sometimes I have half a sandwich, so have to drag everything out for that. Bonus points if it's something that makes my hands messy like cheese crackers. What I don't have are things like popcorn or cheese crackers that I can scoop up my the handful when I walk by--or worse--carry the whole container to where ever I am to snack on it.
Figuring out why all the mindless snacking is an important thing to do. I think in the meantime, strategies for the eating itself can be useful to kind of set up guardrails while you figure things out.1 -
Well first off, don't eat your kids leftovers. Next, if you're going to snack, DO NOT snack directly from a bag. Measure it out and then put the rest away. If you commute, DO NOT bring full bags of snacks with you. Again measure out a serving and THAT'S ALL YOU GET.BonnieSheridan1 wrote: »Who has success stories for mastering not mindlessly snacking? What did you do, how did you overcome it?
I’m a busy full-time working mom, and wife, constantly balancing it all. I know I mindlessly snack as stress eating, avoiding a task, etc.
Being a full time dad for my daughter till just recently, I had to do it just this way so I could just maintain my weight.
Like anything else, if you create a routine and are consistent with it, you'll follow it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
2 -
pre log my food at the beginning of the day. pre weigh snacks and put in bowls or baggies.1
-
If I buy snacks (mostly crisps) then I eat them right away. Thus I try not to buy them unless I decide to offset them with a proper meal, or decide I'll go over on calories. Otherwise I'm mostly snacking after dinner. Yesterday I had 324kcal on snacks in the evening (that includes exercise calories, mind) in the form of a piece of cheese and a piece of cake. I just make sure it fits into my calories, which seems to help with deciding what i want to snack. Like I could buy a creme brulee, but it might be a lot more calories for a lot less to enjoy.1
-
I used to snack many times/day but I knew it wasn't hunger, only boredom/stress. More than snacking, it was continuous munching (and I work from home, so my office is about two meters from kitchen...).
So, for starters I used chewing gum. A lot of that, a lot (veeery lot) of times/day. I put it in mouth, gave very few bites and discarded it. But many many times a day, I don't know how much chewing gum I've bought!
It lasted about 6 months, I think.
That won my habit: finally, I had no more continuous desire for continuous munching.
At that point, I found myself obliged to add in snacks, because I was always undereating!!
So, I worked on logging.
I was already accostumed to pre-log my two main meals (before MFP I used a personal journal), and to log my breakfast also as soon as I ate it, so I knew since from the morning how many calories I still had in the day (often since from the previous week, but that's because I meal-prep/batch cook almost every lunch and dinner of the week on the previous weekend).
So, after having logged breakfast (this I do when I eat it, because it varies on the spur of the moment), I started logging also 3 healthy snacks that I want for sure in my day 'cause they are good for my health (1 fruit, 1 chunk of parmesan and 1 yogurth).
Added these, sometimes I needed some more calories just to reach minimum; and surely I'll have some extra calories from my exercise (I only walk, but a lot, at least 20k steps a day, and I always eat half of this too, or also more/everything in two pre-defined days/week, as when it's pizza day and hamburger day) so here goes the treats: a square of dark chocolate; some nuts; a couple of biscuits; a second fruit; sometimes, even a sandwich.
HTH
PS: I'm never hungry anymore, but this I noticed happened since when I introduced the plate diet1 -
A lot of what I'd suggest has been covered, so I won't duplicate it. One small addition though: I'm in a shared office and we have a candy bowl for whoever stops by. Big bowl, and right now there are still a bunch of mini Halloween chocolate bars in there along with other stuff. I've asked one of my office-mates "if you see me starting to rummage through that bowl, tell me it's a bad idea." She doesn't have to actually stop me, or try to persuade me, or anything like that, but an external voice encouraging me to question the decision a bit can interrupt the momentum that leads to chocolate in my mouth.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 426 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions